AN exciting step forward in the creation of the Tavistock to Plymouth cycle path was this week announced, with the purchase of Grenofen Tunnel by Devon County Council.

The tunnel, built in the 1850s, passes under the A386 and is one of the last missing links remaining in the off-road path, known as Drake's Trail.

Graham Cornish, project manager for the county, said the purchase of the tunnel was great news: 'We've been working on the Tavistock to Plymouth path for about 30-odd years — I think the Plym Valley track was started in about 1982.

'The tunnel opened on June 21st, 1859 and it was part of Brunel's Broad Gauge empire, although it might have been designed by one of his staff — the famous chocolate and cream carriages of the Great Western Railway would have rumbled through it.'

The tunnel was shut in 1962 when the railway line fell foul of the Beeching railway closures.

But new life is being breathed into the old track as piece by piece, it is re-opened as a cycle and walking path.

Mr Cornish said: 'It's great that it's all beginning to come together. The tunnel is in pretty good condition — tunnels tend to be quite good because they're not like bridges, you don't get frost underground, and the temperatures are fairly stable.

'We will be doing some repairs down there and on the immediate approach. The main work will be laying the concrete path through it, which is about two months' worth of work — the other thing we need to do is get lighting in.

'There are very steep cuttings at both ends of the tunnel and it's very difficult to get cables in there, but there is electricity where the main road crosses the tunnel.

'Because we own a bit of the verge there, we are going to drill down into the roof of the tunnel to get the cables in, which is actually by far the cheapest way of doing it.'

Mr Cornish stressed that the tunnel was still not open to the public, although the county now has the right to carry out work in it, which should start this summer.

Devon County Council paid the princely sum of £1 for the 350-metre long tunnel, which it has purchased from British Rail Property Ltd.

The tunnel comes with a £100,000 'dowry', negotiated by the county. The council will repair it and sell it on to Sustrans, leasing it back to operate the cycle path.

'This avoids the council having major liability as we have a policy of not buying tunnels,' said Mr Cornish.

The county has also bought the approach to the tunnel from the north — there are just two more agreements with landowners to be obtained before this section of the cycle path can be opened.

Meanwhile, work on the new, £2.1-million Gem Bridge being constructed in the Walkham Valley, just down-river from the tunnel, is going well.

Mr Cornish said: 'It's all on schedule and on budget. They are just doing the piling work for the piers — there's a temporary bridge there so they can get the machinery across the river.'

The bridge itself is currently being welded in Cardiff — the site is not open to the public at present but by October, people should be able to see how the bridge will look once it is opened, hopefully early next year.

Cllr Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: 'The purchase of this tunnel enables us to take another major step towards completing the cycle route to Tavistock, and we'd like to thank Rail Property Ltd for their co-operation.

'When the route opens the local economy should benefit from the cycling tourism opportunities in the area.'