HISTORIC Bridgwater has been put on the map for walkers of the new Somerset stretch of the England Coast Path thanks to information boards on the banks of the River Parrett and at Bridgwater Docks.

Money for the boards came from a successful bid to EDF Energy’s Hinkley Point C Community Mitigation Fund and from Natural England which has the task of completing the England Coast Path by 2020.

The signs are designed to encourage people who are using the Path to come further down the river to the Docks and then on into town following the Town Trails.

Starting in Minehead, the latest stretch of the England Coast Path to open in Somerset is 58 miles and ends at Brean Down but it is the Government’s intention that it should eventually go round the whole of England becoming the longest waymarked coastal path in the world.

Signs for the Path take walkers from Minehead or Brean Down, depending on which end they start, and down the banks of the Parrett as far as the Northern Distributor Road where they can cross and continue back up the river on the other side.

Sedgemoor District, Somerset County and Bridgwater Town Councils felt this route meant visitors were missing out on a great opportunity to come into the town with its pubs, cafes, shops and historic buildings so the idea of the information boards was born.

Chairman of Sedgemoor District Council, Cllr Mike Cresswell, said: “We are really pleased with these boards as they give people a taste of what there is to see and do if they come into the town rather than heading straight back out to the coast.”

Mayor of Bridgwater, Cllr Graham Granter, added: “We are enormously proud of our town’s past as one of the top ports in the country centuries ago and we think visitors will be fascinated to read about its industrial and maritime heritage.”

Cllr David Hall, cabinet member for resources and economic development at Somerset County Council said: “Our stretch of the England Coast Path offers so much including Jurassic rocks, sand dunes, a waterfall, steam trains and wildlife reserves and now people can add the historic docks and Georgian terraces of Bridgwater to the mix.”

For more information on the England Coast Path including a circular walk round Bridgwater, go to visitsomerset.co.uk.