Miner's Arms Crossroads

The Miner's Arms is a former pub situated in the lead-mining area near Priddy on the top of the Mendip Hills. It is one of three pubs, the other two still surviving, in close proximity, with the Castle of Comfort Inn (see below) a little to the north, and the Hunters Inn to the south - the names presumably giving away the type of clientele that was anticipated!

A little to the east of the Miner's Arms is a crossroads, where the B3134 terminates on the B3135, and an unclassified road continues south to the Hunter's Inn and Priddy. Whilst a fairly straightforward crossroads, it has has a bad accident record in the past, largely due to the junction lying on a kink between two long, fast straights on the B3135, which is the main through route. This seems to have led to turning and crossing traffic coming into conflict with through traffic.

Castle of Comfort Crossroads

Castle of Comfort Crossroads

About half a mile to the north of the Miner's Arms, the B3134 kinks from north to north west, with two adjacent roads joining from the east. While neither of these are classified, it is still a busy junction, with the Old Bristol Road dropping down the northern flank of the Mendips to the A368 near West Harptree, so providing an alternative route to the A39 for crossing the Mendips.

There is also a Roman Road across the Mendips, which crosses the B3134 a few hundred metres south of the Castle of Comfort Inn, and so passes through neither crossroads. The explanation for the straight roads on the Mendip Plateau is down to the fact that the landscape was all common land at the time of enclosure, so roads were laid out in straight lines between new fields.