The spirit of the Railway Trail runs deep for the Nichols family.

As a teenager, Jake spent his Sundays voluntarily clearing a stretch of the trail near his family’s home in Paget.

His father, Jay, recently donated $120,000 towards the Friends of the Bermuda Railway Trail initiative to re-establish one of the most picturesque sections between Crawl Hill and Coney Island.

For Mike Murphy, one of the men behind the huge project to resurrect the trail, the Nichols family are the perfect example of how a family can make a difference.

“Jay’s generosity and dedication to improving the trail is extraordinary,” said Mr Murphy.

“He has not lived here for many years but continues to see the trail as a very special community resource.

“He strongly believes that the people living within the community should tend, maintain, clean and keep secure the trail themselves, preserving it as a tranquil, most natural place to meet, exercise or simply come to reflect — an experience free to all users.

“As a founding member of Friends of the Bermuda Railway Trail, Jay Nichols offered his vision and contributed $120,000 towards the project, as did each of the founding members.

“Many years ago, he inspired his son at a young age to make the physical effort to maintain a section of the trail.

“While Parks is doing a very good job today in keeping our diminishing natural habitat in shape, it is for Bermudians’ own well being that they step forward to preserve the natural beauty surrounding us, especially for projects that have a clear, direct impact on health and well being.

“Imagine if others followed his example — what a unique special resource a connected trail would become.”

The huge operation to resurrect the section from Crawl Hill to Coney Island has taken about a year to complete and has involved the assembly of 740-feet of bridge spans. It has already proved a huge success with scores of walkers and cyclists descending on the new stretch every week. The project has been spearheaded by Olympian Tucker Murphy, and his father, Mike, as well as a host of business partners and volunteers.

Jay Nichols works for Axis Re-Insurance and spends a large part of his time working in Switzerland.

His son, Jake, is based in the United States, where he works as the Assistant Vice President of Guy Carpenter and Co. Jake Nichols told The Royal Gazette: “We moved to Bermuda when I was five and I pretty much grew up on the Railway Trail, which was right next door to us.

“It was a big part of my childhood.

“In 2001 to 2002, my church was trying to promote community service and my family came up with the idea of clearing up the trail.

“There were stretches that were overgrown and needed general maintenance, so every Sunday for around two years myself and friend would spend our Sundays after church working on the trail.

“It was our way of giving back. It was also a lot of fun.

“Our link as a family to the trail has continued right up to the present day.”

The total cost of bridges and all of the improvements made so far has totalled around $900,000, which has been financed primarily by the private sector.

The bridges help create a continuous linear park in Hamilton Parish, stretching from Coney Island to the foot of Crawl Hill where it diverts to North Shore Road for a short distance then continues through Shelly Bay on to Flatts.