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.

Work on the new path through the Wild Meadow was completed by habitat management volunteers as part of a Green Spaces project aimed at improving biodiversity across five sites in the Somer Valley: 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, at Bath and North East Somerset Council, 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 November 6 until December 11.

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, October 30 in the small hall of the Somer Centre, Gullock Tyning, Midsomer Norton, at 10.30am.

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

Anyone interested in volunteering with the Somer Valley Rediscovered project can view opportunities on the website, email [email protected], 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.