Walks

A Walk can be an Open Air Museum

A BS3 Museum Walk (Others Are Available) Join me on one of my regular walks from my home to Ashton Gate, the home of Bristol City. I am highlighting the exhibits I connect with. If you were to undertake the walk you would, undoubtedly, see different things. Exhibit 1 – Perrett Park I enter Perrett Park through its main entrance at the top end and move slightly to the right. In front of me, on the skyline, I see, to my left, Dundry Parish Church. To my right I see Clifton Parish Church (Christchurch). Over the course of 12 months I am able to watch the sunsets as they move between the two churches, Dundry in the winter and Clifton in the summer. The variety of views seem infinite as do the range of colours and skyscapes to absorb. As one descends the steep concave slope which makes up the park, near the bottom entrance you encounter two anchor points. They are left over from World War. Barrage balloons were tethered there in attempts to deter the Luftwaffe bombing Bristol Docks and the goods marshalling yards at Temple Meads railway station. It’s difficult to imagine anyone bombing the harbourside in Bristol today. Or is it? I forgot to mention that, from the top of the park, you can see the Suspension Bridge. Exhibit 2 – A Victorian Post Box After leaving Perrett Park one quickly reaches St John’s Lane a long road that winds through Bedminster. At the junction with Paultow Road a Victorian pillar box is encountered. I have a thing about post boxes because they are a good way to mark the evolution of a particular location. In a place like Bristol that usually means the...

Rodborough Fields Ridge and Furrow

Rodborough Fields Ridge and Furrow When you walk down the footpath towards Kwik Fit, You can see a clear pattern of ridge and furrow (‘Like corrugated fields or waves in a land-sea’), Particularly on frosty midwinter days: A glimpse of a world before enclosure...

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An August Sunday at Rodborough Fields

Sunday August 10th 2025 You know that picture of Stroud scarlet cloth Stretched out on tenterhooks in Rodborough Fields, The one in the museum, The one on the information board at the canal at Wallbridge, The one on the information leaflets used in this campaign by...

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Our Next Walks

Our Next Walks Jill Shankleman’s Weavers, Mills and Child Labour Walk on November 9th followed the canal from Ebley down to Brimscombe, with a fine attendance of over twenty rapt walkers. The enthusiasm generated there has led us to think about our next walks. We’ll...

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The Diggers at Slimbridge

The Slimbridge Diggers Every Age Rewrites History But not always textually And the History may not even have been textual To begin with tbh   ‘Every Age Rewrites History?’: well, that takes me right back to 6th form scholarship-level history (yes, I did get a...

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