Camel Trail

Infobox Hiking trail
Name=Camel Trail
Photo=Camel trail Feb2008.jpg|thumb|right|The camel trail between Pendavey bridge and Polbrock, looking otwards Bodmin
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Location=Cornwall, United Kingdom
Length=Convert|17.3|mi
Start/End Points=Padstow
Wenford Bridge
Use=Hiking, Cycling, Horseriding
ElevChange=
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The Camel Trail is a disused and resurfaced railway line in Cornwall, United Kingdom, that provides a recreational route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. The trail is flat (and suitable for disabled access); running from Padstow to Wenford Bridge via Wadebridge and Bodmin, it is convert|17.3|mi long and used by an estimated 400,000 users each year cite web | url = http://www.ncdc.gov.uk/media/adobe/north_cornwall_matters.pdf | title = North Cornwall Matters - Partnership Improves The Trail | accessdate = 2007-10-11 | author = North Cornwall District Council | authorlink = | coauthors = | date = June, 2003| format = PDF | work = North Cornwall Matters | publisher = North Cornwall District Council| page = 3| language = English | archiveurl = | archivedate = | quote = ] generating an income of approximately 3 million a year.cite web | url = http://www.ncdc.gov.uk/media/adobe/north_cornwall_matters.pdf | title = North Cornwall Matters - Partnership Improves The Trail | accessdate = 2007-10-11 | author = North Cornwall District Council | authorlink = | coauthors = | date = June, 2003| format = PDF | work = North Cornwall Matters | publisher = North Cornwall District Council| page = 3| language = English | archiveurl = | archivedate = | quote = ]

The trail is managed and maintained by a partnership between North Cornwall District Council and by Cornwall County Council.

Background History

It was originally built at a cost of £35,000 following a study commissioned in 1831 by local landowner Sir William Molesworth of Pencarrow. The line from Wadebridge to Wenfordbridge, with a branch to Bodmin, was intended to carry sand from the Camel estuary to inland farms for use as fertiliser. In the 1840s, England's railway network expanded towards Bodmin. The London and South Western Railway purchased the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway in 1846 and intended to connect it to the rest of the system by a new line through North Cornwall.

Later the railway was used to ship slate and china clay from inland quarries to ships in Padstow and also transport fish landed in Padstow inland to London and other cities. When both quarrying and fishing died off, the railway lost most of its traffic. The last passenger train was in 1967, freight finally ceased in 1983, when a need to invest in new track forced closure of the line.

Current Trail

The railway was built so that the trains would not have any steep inclines or sharp turns. It is these characteristics which make it an excellent cycle trail. Since the trail has been open to the public cycle hire shops, cafes and other attractions have sprung up to cater for the traffic. Many families take their young children to the trail to allow them to become more confident cyclists in a traffic free environment. The local cycle hire shops have a wide range of tag-alongs or buggies to allow very young children to be safely transported behind their parents. Only a small part of the trail, through Wadebridge, is on roads and shared with normal traffic.

Car parking at Padstow, Wadebridge and Poley's Bridge allow the trail to be broken into convert|5|mi|0|adj=on sections giving an easy convert|10|mi|0|adj=on round trip back to your starting point with a break in Wadebridge or Padstow for food, drink, shopping and rest.

There have been considerable efforts to convert the cycleway back into a railway, in order to allow it to carry china clay traffic again, but these have been rejected, on the grounds that the cycleway provides more benefits to the local community than removing heavy lorries from the local narrow winding roads, many of which have had to be converted to one-way operation in order to allow them to carry the lorry traffic.

Extension to the Trail

In the year 2006 two extensions to the trail were completed. The first was from Scarlett’s Well car park in Bodmin up into the town. The second was from Pooleys Bridge near St Breward to Wenfordbridge through the old clay dries. The second extension was made possible by Imerys donating the land.

ee also

*Disused railway stations (Bodmin to Wadebridge line)
*Rail Trail
*List of rail trails

References

External links

* [http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/pdf/l/0/cway_leaflet_camel1.pdf Camel Trail Leaflet]
* [http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sID=1131377357437 Sustrans – Camel trail]
* [http://www.thisisnorthcornwall.co.uk/camel_trail.htm This Is Cornwall – About the Camel trail]
* [http://www.westcountryviews.co.uk/misc/camel/camel.htm Photographs of the Camel trail at WestCountryViews.co.uk]
* [http://www.bodminandwenfordrailway.co.uk/index.html Bodmin and Wenford Railway]