Since the beginning of September last year, the weather in the West of England has been rather unsettled and Sunday 1 February was no exception. Nevertheless, a hardy group of members gathered on Frenchay Common to commence the walk down through the picturesque village to the River Frome, over the 1788 bridge and along a gently upward path through Oldbury Court Estate, which was landscaped to a design by Humphry Repton around 1800.

We descended to the river gorge, which we followed until reaching Snuff Mill, which was used to grind corn and also to process the Pennant stone quarried nearby. We stopped in the gardens here for our first break, where there were toilets and a snack bar.

We then walked further down by the river, passing Wickham Court, where Oliver Cromwell and General Fairfax held a Council of War in 1645 to plan their attack on Bristol. After crossing the oldest surviving bridge in Bristol we entered Eastville Park with its lake, where we saw some cormorants perched in the trees.

After exiting the park and passing quickly under the M32, we made our way uphill to Stoke Park and and the WWII gun battery on the top of Purdown. This is where we had our second short break, overlooking much of east Bristol and some of the surrounding hills. Fortunately, we finished our break before the heavier rain started.

We carried on through the Stoke Park Estate, designed by Thomas Wright, when it was owned by the Berkeley family, to the Dower House. We then descended downhill passing the Somerset Monument (which was hit by lightening twice!), to the impressive gateway out of the park.

After leaving the park, we made our way back partially on different paths up through the River Frome valley to the start at Frenchay. Some of the group went to the pub afterwards, to enjoy welcome refreshments in the dry.

Many thanks to all who came along and who made it such an enjoyable day. Thanks to Bill F for the splendid photos he took.

Martin and John