Seamills to Distance: 5 miles Walking Time: 2 1/2 hours 2 Station GRADE: Moderate/Hard 4

A walk close to the city centre which is surprisingly rugged and Maps: wooded as it involves using most of the routes up and down the Explorer 154 West between Sea Mills and Clifton. It is somewhat more 1:25 000 scale demanding than the distance suggests as there are three climbs and two descents of the Gorge. The concluding part is through Landranger 172 Bristol & Bath the side roads of Clifton with interesting architecture to see. 1:50 000 scale A - Z (Useful in Clifton) Grid Ref (start of walk) ST 540 758

PUBLIC TRANSPORT INFORMATION Train Both Sea Mills and Clifton Down are stops on the Railway. A regular service departs from Temple Meads approximately hourly throughout the main part of the day, Monday to Saturday. There is no Sunday service. Bus There are several buses that run down Whiteladies Road at the end of the walk. The no. 8/8A/9/9A could be used to shorten the walk at Christchurch, Clifton.The 902 Portway Park & Ride service operates to/from Sea Mills Station every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday during the day from Rupert Street in The Centre. Journey time is approximately 20 minutes. For further information on bus services log on to www.firstgroup.com and rail services call 08457 48 49 50 or call the traveline number below.

PUBLIC HOUSES/CAFES EN ROUTE Coronation Tap, Sion Place, Clifton (0117) 973 9617 There are several more pubs and eating places in Clifton Village Alma Tavern, Alma Vale Road Clifton (0117) 973 5171 The Pennyfarthing, Whiteladies Road, Clifton (0117) 973 3539 There are several more pubs and eating places on Whiteladies Road

CREDITS AND FURTHER INFORMATION There are five crossings of the Portway on this walk and great care must be taken as this road carries fast traffic and has no refuges or other assistance to pedestrians.

Designed by Visual Technology, Bristol City Council. Job no 0207-448BR PLACES AND FEATURES OF INTEREST Sea Mills :- By the station is the mouth of the River Trym, which is the site of the Roman port of Abona, and which was made into a small dock in the 18th century before the City Docks were built. Remains of the 18th century works can be seen. As the Sea Mills riverside is reached the old signal stations are passed. These warned ships of other traffic and informed the City Dockmaster about incoming vessels. 1 View from Sea Walls Sea Mills Station :- Rather than use the right-of-way here to climb the Gorge, use the entrance under the railway (behind the Bristol and West playing fields) into the nature reserve owned by the Woodland Trust (visitors are Sneyd welcome), which was once part of the garden Park of a large Sneyd Park mansion.

Bramble L ane d View of the Promenade A R 4 ls al Sea Walls :- There are excellent views ll Hill w Kno a ue 2 Se n here of the Gorge and Leigh Woods ve R Po A beyond, with the Suspension Bridge iv r he e tw T up river and the Welsh hills in the r A ay Bishop Knoll v Nature Reserve distance down river. on

3 Sea Walls The rest of the walk is a level walk through the streets of Clifton, The Gulch :- This is a steep and 4 with impressive houses to be seen Clif rocky descent which passes over d ton in Vyvyan Terrace and the modern R Do r wn the railway tunnel halfway down, a T Roman Catholic Cathedral in l unn u el with a distinctive ventilating shaft c le ir i Clifton Place. C M to be seen. s B ie 4 d 4 A a 6 L 7 4 Clifton P A e The Portway :- If the tide is in cruisers and m 4 Down b St Johns Rd 0 r Clifton 1 o yachts may be seen approaching the City 6 k Down 8 17 Bristol e Station Docks or heading for the Bristol Channel. 4 R A Zoo d Regrettably there is no commercial shipping 5 Rd ale now, although the Channel passenger ships New Zig e aV d lm Zag a A 'Waverley' and 'Balmoral' and occasional n C Clifton d e R o m ll College naval craft make a visit. On the left old y o e r g e

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quarry workings can be seen, which are d d V Vale R B C er st 4 e e l rc now a popular haunt of rock climbers. i o 4 g f R.C. t W 6 d o i 7 r n

B D Clifton o Park 10 w Clifton Park r The Promenade :- After climbing the New n e R T d 9 an Zig-Zag walk along the Promenade, vy Clifton Vy where impressive 19th century mansions can H 7 o Down be seen on the opposite side of the road. The tw e Clifton :- Opposite Christchurch ll Observatory first one is the Mansion House - the official R d Suspension there are two interesting residence of the Lord Mayor, and further up is Bridge Rd memorials recording the 18th the house provided for Judges visiting the city. Princes' century history of the British Clifton Sion Hill Empire in India and the Suspension Zig Bridge Zag Philippines. Bridge Valley Road :- At the foot of the 8 next steep descent, just before crossing The Zig-Zag :- Before beginning the the road the bricked up entrances to final climb, go on 50 metres towards Key two tunnels can be seen. These were Hotwells to see the old entrance to the built for the Port and Pier Railway, , which ran up to public house which ran from Hotwells to Clifton, entirely in a tunnel, and on a gradient of 1 in 2.5. It closed in 1934. walk route until 1922. They were used to store the Bristol City archives during the other paths Second World War. roads field boundary urban area N woodland 0m 500m 1km

open area © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. The Zig-zag path Bristol City Council. 100023406. 2007