Bristol and Bath Railway Path

The Bristol and Bath Railway Path is a 15mi off-road cycleway, part of National Cycle Network National Cycle Route 4. It has a 3m wide tarmacked surface, and was used for 2.4 million trips in 2007, increasing by 10% per year.It was built by the cycling charity Sustrans between 1979 and 1986, which leased a 5mi stretch near Saltford, with the help of the then Avon County Council, and using volunteers turned it into its first cycleway.RouteThe path follows the route of the Midland Railway Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line, which was closed during the Beeching Axe of the 1960s in favour of the more direct former Great Western Railway between the cities, from Lawrence Hill in central Bristol to Newbridge in Bath. It passes through the suburbs of Easton, Fishponds, and Staple Hill, then the villages of Mangotsfield, Warmley, Bitton and Saltford, before ending at Newbridge.