Trail watchers can help look after the Coleridge Way

A SCHEME which encourages local residents to help look after public rights of way is being extended to include the Coleridge Way through West Somerset.
The Coleridge Way stretches 36 miles across the Quantock and Brendon Hills over Exmoor, linking Nether Stowey with Porlock.
It celebrates the landscape which inspired the works of one of England’s best-known poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Coleridge wrote works such as Kubla Khan, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and Frost at Midnight while living in Nether Stowey.
His presence attracted other poets, such as William Wordsworth, to the area and inspired the film Pandemonium, directed by Julien Temple, who lives in Holford.
Residents of West Somerset can now ‘adopt’ their favourite section of the Coleridge Way and help Exmoor National Park Rangers and Somerset County Council’s rights of way team to look after it.
It is part of the county council’s Trail Watchers scheme which was launched last summer on the River Parrett Way.
County council community and volunteer development officer Grant Turner said: “We ask Trail Watchers to walk the section they have adopted three or four times a year and let us know if they come across any problems such as a broken stile or gate, missing signposts, or overgrown paths.
“We can then work with landowners to quickly resolve any problems and make sure the trail remains open and easy to use for everybody to enjoy.”
County portfolio holder for planning, transport and waste, Councillor Hazel Prior-Sankey, said: “The Coleridge Way has attracted a huge number of visitors to the county from far and wide since opening in 2005, and has helped support a number of small local businesses.
“It is a jewel in Somerset’s rights of way crown and, thanks to the Trail Watchers scheme anybody can now get actively involved in helping to look after it.”
The Coleridge Way is supported and funded by a partnership including West Somerset Council, Exmoor National Park Authority, Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and ARTlife.
A survey of businesses along the route has shown more than 60 per cent were experiencing significant economic benefit from walkers.
On the back of the success of the walking route, one new B&B has set up, baggage transfer services have been established, and several companies and hotels offering walking packages now include the Coleridge Way.
Anybody who wants to join the Coleridge Way Trail Watchers scheme should contact Grant Turner on 01823 356156 or visit www.somerset.gov.uk/rightsofway.
The Coleridge Way also has its own website at www.coleridgeway.co.uk.

• Our photograph shows ‘Trail Watcher’ Ian Thompson (left) receiving his Coleridge Way Trail Watchers pack from county rights of way community and volunteer development officer Grant Turner, watched by Coleridge Way trail officer Alan Martingell. Photo by Heather Lowther, ENPA.