A pretty riverside walk with an optional bus ride home.

Station: Frome

Activity: Walking, hiking

Walk time: 2.5 hours (one way)

Terrain: Some uneven and steep ground

Toilets: Frome station

Refreshments: Rye Bakery (Frome), Batch (bagels, Frome), Mells Community Shop and Cafe

Additional info: The section through Frome feels complicated but it does showcase the best of Frome’s fascinating town centre. A main road option is available but I’m glad we stuck with this one.

The East Mendip Way isn’t well waymarked through Frome but this improves later on.

We returned to Frome from Mells by bus (details below), but for a shorter walk, this bus route also goes through Great Elm.

Open this route in the OS Maps app to follow, adapt or download the gpx file.

In my opinion, OS Maps is the best route planning app available because it combines detailed topographical maps with a user-friendly interface.

This linear train walk from Frome station takes you through Frome’s historic cobbled streets, out onto farmland and then along the bubbling Mells Stream to the pretty Somerset village of Mells. With a pub, a community cafe and the option of a bus ride back to Frome, it’s a gorgeous walk with plenty of variety.

From Frome station

Call in at Rye Bakery then continue down the road with B&Q on your right. Turn right onto the main road and head under the railway bridge. On the opposite side, find the footpath that runs alongside the River Frome. Follow this into town.

Frome Bridge

Not as famous as Pulteney Bridge in Bath, Frome Bridge is another rare example of a bridge with multi-storey shops built onto it. Turn left to cross the bridge and head into town along Market Place. At the crossroads take cobbled Stony Street uphill then turn right into Catherine Street. Here you’ll find a multitude of independent shops. If pretty streets and iconic images are your thing, it’s worth a quick diversion from Market Place to see the spring-fed leat that runs down Cheap Street.

Holy Trinity Church Frome

At the top of Catherine Street, turn right then right again into Selwood Road. Trinity Street will take you to view the fabulous Burne-Jones windows at Holy Trinity Church but before you get there, the East Mendip Way route turns left down a smaller street and then an alley towards Gould’s Ground and Whatcombe Road. There are a few East Mendip Way signs here so keep an eye out for them. The locals are friendly if you need to ask.

Into the countryside

When you reach Whatcombe Road, turn left to walk up the hill then left again until you see an opening onto fields. Take the track that runs alongside the housing estate on your left. Cross the fields until you come to a sign for Vallis Veg then continue to head down the steps through a metal kissing gate into the valley.

Egford Brook

This section down to Egford Brook is steep and the path is eroded in places. I recommend good walking shoes and possibly a walking pole. Once you meet the stream, turn right and follow it until it meets Mells Stream, which you need to cross on the footbridge. Watch out for signs of beavers here.

Towards Great Elm

The East Mendip Way is better waymarked here. Follow the stream on your left then on your right after another footbridge. When you meet the road bridge over the river at Great Elm, cross it and divert from the East Mendip Way to head left up the lane to meet a footpath straight ahead at top. The optional bus home stops at Great Elm so you can end your walk here if you choose.

Wadbury Valley

At the top of the hill, don’t go round the bend into Great Elm, instead take the gate to follow the footpath then the bridleway along Wadbury Valley. You’ll spot the remains of Fussell’s Ironworks before you get to the information board, which is well worth a read.

The ruins in view today show only a tiny fraction of the infrastructure that once filled this now quiet valley with noise and activity. Fussell’s farm tools were prized and exported as far as America, Australia and Russia but as steam power replaced water power, the company was liquidated in 1894 and production here ceased.

Mells Village

At the end of the bridleway, turn left on the lane (be careful of traffic here) and continue to find Mells Post Office. The cafe and shop are community run so well worth supporting. The bus from Mells to Frome is the 184 run by Libra Travel and it stops right outside the Post Office (there’s a handy bench). It only runs every two hours, so you’ll have plenty of time to explore.

If you enjoy pub walks, the Talbot Inn in Mells is lovely and has plenty of outside space as well as a cosy fire on chilly days. It’s also worth visiting St Andrew’s Church where you’ll find the stunning 1930s St Francis window in a small side area. For gardeners, Mells also offers the Walled Garden cafe, which specialises in local food and has a plant nursery.

Frome is sometimes quoted as the best place to live in Somerset, and this walk gave me a glimpse of why. From its cobbled streets, lined with independent cafes and shops to its proximity to beautiful hikes and pub walks, Frome really does have it all, and of course, a train station.

Starting the day right

I’m lucky enough to have a friend who lives in Frome but we started the day right next to the train station anyway; you will too when I tell you where we were. At The Station Frome is a hub for community food businesses, from street food lunches to evening woodfired pizza and local cheese, there’s something foodie here for everyone. And with Rye Bakery’s coffee (amazing), pastries (delightful) and sourdough sandwiches, it’s the perfect stop-off before and after a walk.

A beautiful town meadow

You can walk down the road into Frome town but we opted to follow the footpath that goes via Rodden Meadow. We stuck to the footpath on this walk but I would recommend diverting to wander through the meadows next to the River Frome. One of my favourite spots in Frome is Willow Vale; peaceful and elegant now, it was once a centre for woollen cloth manufacture.

Quirky streets and shops

We took a short diversion to another of my must-visit streets in Frome; Cheap Street with it’s overhanging upper storeys, and quirky independent shops, oozes charm and it’s tiny leat running down the middle has to be one of the town’s most Instagrammable locations.

Window shopping perfection

Still in town and back on the East Mendip Way we explored cobbled Stony Street, then headed up Catherine Hill to look in the window of Moo and Two (an award-winning tea and coffee shop) we didn’t stop because by then our window shopping had used up a fair amount of our allocated walk time.

Winding alleys and stone homes

The route out of Frome was a delight of pretty buildings. Navigation was a bit fiddly but more East Mendip Way signs started to appear as we left the town centre and OS Maps came in very useful (our route is linked above).

The Somerset countryside

We initially took a wrong turn into a housing estate but soon realised and set off across wide open fields to admire the expansive views and newly planted native hedges, which had been thoughtfully labelled to help us recognise the trees.

A place for nature

Just before we dipped into the woods, we came to Vallis Farm and chatted to some of the hard working gardeners there. To call this place eco-friendly would perhaps be an understatement, it has a wonderful ethos and I hope to explore it more.

Wild garlic anyone?

The smell of wild garlic (ramsons) as we entered the woods was delicious, I have never seem such carpets and it’s starry white flowers were just coming out. The path down and along Egford Brook had a warning sign, it was steep in places and uneven right along. We could see where floods had caused damage but they weren’t the only thing altering this landscape.

Beavers ahoy!

As we carefully made our way along the stream, I noticed some evidence of gnawing that could have been beaver related. I wasn’t sure but we soon came to what had to be a beaver lodge built across the stream. The beavers weren’t evident but the lodge was beautiful to look at and holding the water back just as it was supposed to.

River or stream?

We (and Egford Brook) eventually reached the Mells River, which we crossed via a footbridge. Instead of turning right to walk through Vallis Vale, we headed left to make our way round the riverbend at Bedlam. This is such a peaceful valley now but it was once a hub for cloth production and water-powered machinery. We found plenty of fascinating evidence of this activity.

Great Elm

We had originally thought we might catch our bus home from Great Elm but were enjoying the walk so much, we continued along the river towards Mells. This took us off the East Mendip Way but soon found us on an easy bridleway right next to the ruins of Fussells Ironworks. We enjoyed reading the information board and peering through gaps in the wall.

Mells village

We were very pleased to see the community shop in Mells was open, and enjoyed lunch in the cafe. After confirming that we could catch our bus back to Frome right outside the shop, we explored the village. A highlight was discovering the St Francis window in the church, we loved the way the light shone through the fishes. The Walled Garden Cafe was shut but we promised ourselves a visit on another walk.

A most welcome problem

My first walk from Frome train station has left me with a problem but it’s a great one to have. There are so many walk opportunities in the area, I don’t know which to choose next. Should I continue along the East Mendip Way, which is well served by buses, hike across to Longleat, or wander more of the local Somerset countryside?

Luckily, with a friend in Frome, I’m going to have plenty of opportunity to explore.

Station to station walk

Yeovil Junction to Yeovil Pen Mill

Discover winding footpaths, gorgeous green lanes and a rather surprising Treacle Eater on this walk between two Somerset train stations.