We met at Temple Meads railway station on a bright but cool sunny morning, with many of the walkers having travelled a long way, quite a few by rail and bus. Initially, we followed the waterside path past the lead shot tower, then crossed by the Generator building, which used to supply power to the tramway system. Soon we passed by the old brewery and across the curvy Castle Bridge into Castle Park, the site of the old shopping centre before the 1940 Blitz. We then went through part of the former administrative, business and legal centre of the city viewing several fine buildings and exiting through part of the old city wall with St. John’s Chapel built over the archway.
Crossing over the road to Christmas Steps with its quaint medieval buildings, we started our climb up via Park Row to the Cabot Tower on Brandon Hill for our first break. On the way through the city we saw the sites of several former LGBTQ establishments, including the Elephant, the Radnor, the 49 Club, the Griffin and the Oasis among others. Full details of these with interesting memories can be found at https://outstoriesbristol.org.uk/places/pubs-clubs/ .
The views from Brandon Hill to the south were very clear as the weather was fine. We then moved on through the many fine terraces and squares of Clifton until we reached the Suspension Bridge, where we had our second break overlooking the Avon Gorge. Our route now took us downhill via some excellent terraces with fine gardens down to the harbour. From there it was a level walk past the SS Great Britain and other ships and buildings back to the city centre and on to Temple Meads where the walk ended. A number of the group joined us for refreshments afterwards at the Knights Templar, near the station.
Thank you to everyone who came along and made this such an enjoyable day. We would also like to thank Bill F and David M for taking great photos, some of which we have included with this report.
John and Martin