Disused railways, properly converted, make for superb cycling routes. Traffic free, with no serious hills, and relatively direct, they are ideal for cycle commuting, leisure trips, or as part of a longer tour. Many disused railways have already been used for sections of the National Cycle Network, such as the hugely popular Tarka and Camel Trails in the West Country, but there are a few converted railways which aren't part of the NCN and which are often little known except to locals.

Follow the links in this list for descriptions of the former railway routes which I've ridden:

• Bodmin North – Padstow, plus the Wenford Bridge Branch, Cornwall:
  now the Camel Trail, used by the West Country Way and the The Cornish Way



• Barnstaple – Meeth, Devon:
  now the Tarka Trail, used by the West Country Way and the Devon Coast to Coast Route



• Ilfracombe – Barnstaple, Devon:
  much now included in the Tarka Trail, used by the Devon Coast to Coast Route



• Okehampton – Lydford, Devon:
  The Granite Way, used by the Devon Coast to Coast Route



• Clearbrook (nr Yelverton) – Marsh Mills, Devon:
  the Plym Valley Cycle Route, used by the Devon Coast to Coast Route



• Chippenham – Calne, Wilts:
  much now used by the Severn & Thames Cycle Route



• Polegate – Heathfield, Sussex:
  The Cuckoo Trail*, now part of The Downs & Weald Cycle Route



• Norwich – Reepham, Norfolk:
  now Marriott's Way, used by the Hull to Harwich Cycle Route



• Brockenhurst, Hants – Hamworthy, Dorset:
  Castleman's Corkscrew, much of it now the Castleman Trailway and the Upton Trailway



• Wickham – West Meon, Hants:
  Meon Valley Railway Path



• Havant – Hayling Island, Hants:
  The Hayling Billy Cycle Path (will become a branch of the NCN South Coast Cycle Route)



• Guildford, Surrey – Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex:
  The Downs Link*



• Chichester - Lavant - West Dean, Sussex:
  The Centurion Way

Updated: 21 September 2006