Volunteers help complete wild meadow footpath in the Somer Valley

Visitors to Midsomer Norton Town Park are benefitting from a new walking route thanks to work by a team of volunteers from Somer Valley Rediscovered.

The work on the new path through the Wild Meadow was carried out by habitat management volunteers as part of a Green Spaces project that aims to improve biodiversity at five green spaces in the Somer Valley area: Waterside Valley, Haydon Bath, Wellow Brook Walk, Staddlestones Riverside Park and Midsomer Norton Town Park.

Councillor Sarah Warren, deputy Leader and cabinet member for Climate Emergency and Sustainable Travel, said: “Thank you to all the volunteers for their hard work helping to conserve the landscape and making the park more accessible. It will benefit the community by allowing them to enjoy the connection to nature more easily.”

Midsomer Norton Town Park is also the focus of a new audio trail produced by Somer Valley Rediscovered in partnership with Somer Valley FM, which includes information on the history, wildlife, geology of the park. There are also audio trails for Haydon Batch, Waterside Valley and Wellow Brook and a fifth trail around Staddlestones Riverside Park will be launching in the next few months.

A free six-week course of ‘Singing Walks for Wellbeing’ will also include a focus on nature with sessions including a short mindful meditation to tune into the natural sounds around, followed by low impact walking, vocal exercises and the opportunity to learn traditional folk songs. The weekly sessions will be held at 10.30am every Wednesday from 6 November until 11 December.

Residents, particularly families and parents and carers with young children and babies, are welcome to join the course. A free taster session will be held on Wednesday 30 October in the small hall of the Somer Centre, Gullock Tyning, Midsomer Norton, BA3 2UH at 10.30 am.

The free taster session can be booked through Eventbrite here, https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/singing-walks-for-wellbeing-taster-tickets-1031072434407 and the free 6-week course here, https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/singing-walks-for-wellbeing-6-week-course-tickets-1030064740367

If you have any questions about the course or accessibility needs, please get in touch with somervalleyrediscovered@bathnes.gov.uk

Anyone wishing to volunteer with the Somer Valley Rediscovered project can browse a list of opportunities on the website, email: somervalleyrediscovered@bathnes.gov.uk or call: 01225 477593.

Somer Valley Rediscovered greenspace project is funded by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) Green Recovery Fund with match funding from Bath & North East Somerset Council, Westfield Parish Council, Midsomer Norton Town Council, Radstock Town Council, Natural England and Wessex Water.