After a relaxing night and start to the day Malcolm and Sarie took me back to Ladies Mile and Sarie joined me for the first part of the walk to Aust aiming to meet up with Malcolm at Blaise Castle cafe.
I was pleasantly surprised by how the route I’d looked at on the OS mapping managed to take us to discover hidden alleyways and green space from Clifton Down, through Sneyd Park, Sea Mills, Coombe Dingle and Henbury, leading us down to Blaise. Sarie pointing out old haunts and telling me about the history of how the villages on the outskirts of Bristol gradually got absorbed. Going back in time some of the old Roman roads and the fascinating Pitch and Pay Lane based on plague times when Bristol was cut off and people would pitch over supplies and Bristolians pay for them.
The scenic valley walking through Blaise Estate and to the castle and cafe was a pleasant surprise, as well as the dramatic cliffs of Goram’s Seat. The cafe proved an excellent place for meeting up with Malcolm. I was charmed by Blaise Hamlet looking exactly the same and still inhabited as it did in 1886.
Walking with Sarie and Malcolm was a great opportunity to share and reminisce on all that has happened since Martin and I lived here. But it was a real pleasure for their knowledge and different interests and insights into Bristol and its history. I would have missed this without their companionship and it has rather challenged my view of wanting to walk all the time on my own.
Bristol is for me an exceptional city and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss walking through. I think Andy Robinson wishing to avoid the city and its suburbs in his Cocerone guide “End to End” is, for me, a mistake and a missed opportunity. But it won’t be for everyone. And as he encourages, it is important that you make this walk your own and not stick religiously to his suggestions.
What was fascinating was looking across to Fulton Airport which I used to pass when getting a taxi from Parkway to the Atkins Realis offices in Aztec West. I hadn’t appreciated at the time that after the Second World War, the concrete runway at Filton aerodrome was extended westwards by John Laing & Son to enable the huge Bristol Brabazon airliner to take off safely requiring removal of a village. Despite the short life span of the Brabazon, this was also necessary for Concorde. But going full circle and perhaps appropriately the runway is currently being dismantled and the hardcore used for new housing.
We continued northward over the main rail link of London to Swansea, and the M5 and M4 motorways, contrasting starkly with the peace and quiet of the meadows leading towards the Severn Estuary. Stopping at the Farm shop and cafe at Easter Compton we were able to get back on the path by going l towards “The Wave”, an artificial bore simulating the Severn Bore itself where surfers can have fun whilst others come to spectate.
For a while the suspension bridge just didn’t seem to get closer but as the church at Aust drew closer we realised it was time to alert Sarie to come and pick us up. Focussed so much on the church we managed to miss the Blue Boar pub but on realising our mistake we turned round and enjoyed a very pleasant drink in the sun which Sarie was pleased to join. Malcolm did a great job both here and at the farm shop of telling people what I was doing and without exception they all donated and wished me luck.
All in all a very gratifying day, completed by an excellent homemade coq au vin before I as ever on these walks needed to retire early to write up my notes, ensure I’ve planned and packed all I need for the next few days and have an early night.
A massive thanks to Sarie and Malcolm for a fantastic couple of days which I will remember with great fondness and gratitude.
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