Pigs project hands over £200,000 for Two Tunnels cycle route

The £1.8million pound Sustrans' Connect2 scheme to provide a fantastic route out of Bath through two tunnels and over Tucking Mill Viaduct is closer than ever before thanks to the squealing success of King Bladud's Pigs.

The pigs - 105 life-size models decorated by local artists and displayed prominently around Bath brought home the bacon this summer. The public arts project raising a net total of £200,000 for the Bath Two Tunnels scheme - a project to turn a 2.5 mile stretch of disused railway line into a walking and cycling path linking Bath with Midford and beyond.

Last December, Sustrans' Connect2 won the Big Lottery Fund's TV vote to bring £50million to 79 communities across the UK to create networks for everyday journeys for people travelling by foot or bike.

Sustrans has pledged £1million from the lottery grant to Bath's scheme, and Bath & North East Somerset Council has offered up to £400,000 - but there was still a funding shortfall. That gap has now been halved, thanks to the impressive amount raised by the pigs - fundraisers and ambassadors for the scheme.

Gitte Dawson, the mastermind behind the project, motivated a team of talented artists to design and decorate the fibreglass pigs. Project manager Justin Braithwaite, and a team of artists and helpers, then installed them around Bath for the summer and brought them safely to auction in the autumn. 

Maps and a website encouraged visitors and locals alike to hunt the pigs across Bath and its surrounding villages, thousands of locals and tourists alike did just that an the highly decorated porkers proved a big hit in the city. In October 101 of the pics were sold under the auctioneer's hammer, and 15,000 people turned out at the farewell event to see them all gathered together in one plce. To see what all the fuss was about  go to www.kingbladudspigs.org.uk some have already appeared back in public view with more to follow.

Gitte Dawson says: "It's been great working on such a fun popular art project and at the same time, it benefits my favourite project, the Two Tunnels scheme. The public response to both the pigs and the path has been tremendous and building work should now get underway without delay. "

With the majority of funding now in place, partners Sustrans and Bath & North East Somerset Council can sign an agreement to confirm their continued commitment to the project and appoint a project engineer. Once in post, the engineer will draw up detailed designs to renovate the unused viaduct and open up two long tunnels, of which one is just under a mile long, to connect the town and countryside for journeys by foot and bike.

It is anticipated that work on the route along the old Somerset and Dorset Railway Line will begin early next year and be completed by 2012. Works will include replacing more than 14,000 bricks in the Tucking Mill Viaduct, building two new bridges across roads and renovating six bridges en route - laying the foundations for thousands of people to walk or cycle in the nearby countryside to the benefit of both their health and the environment.

Frank Tompson, Chair of the Two Tunnels Group and a volunteer ranger for Sustrans says: "I am delighted that we have now secured the majority of funding for this very important project and I look forward to the signing of the contract between the partners as this will give the green light for work to begin on the ground."

The estimated cost of the Bath Two Tunnels scheme is £1.8million, with £1million coming from the Big Lottery Fund as part of Sustrans Connect2.

The £50million overall lottery award will be added to locally sourced match-funding to transform local travel in 79 communities throughout the UK - changing the lives of six million people who live within a mile of a scheme. Over the next five years, nearly £30 million will be invested annually in creating these local walking and cycling networks from Devon to Perthshire.