Avon Gorge & Clifton Suspension Bridge

An Outing In Three Parts!

The main picture is a view of the Avon Gorge with Clifton suspension bridge in the distance. This was taken from the Sea Walls scenic outlook on top of the Avon rocks, looking down the Avon gorge.

It was a beautiful day today, and possibly the only good day of weather all week so I decided to make sure I was outdoors all day. I left the campsite and took a bus to Clifton on the other side of the Avon (which saved me a steep steep walk!). The main focus of my outing was to explore Clifton Downs, a large area of parkland in the town. See first Extra photo. It’s hard to believe that this large beautiful area is in the middle of the city! The large parkland had plenty of trees so that I could stay mostly in the shade. I sat on a bench (top left) and enjoyed the view for awhile, wishing that I’d brought a picnic. I ended up at the Downs Cafe in time for an early afternoon tea (no lunch!), and enjoyed a piece of Tunisian Polenta Orange cake with a pot of tea.

I then walked back to the southern edge of the Downs with a mission to look for goats! Yes, that’s right! Goats! There’s a gully in between the rocks of the gorge that is rich in botanical species and a small herd of wild Himalayan goats were brought in in 2011 to help restore wildflower-rich grassland by controlling scrub. The invasive trees and scrub were already removed and the goats help to keep down the regrowth, allowing the grass and wildflowers to reestablish. I only walked halfway down the gully (see second Extra photo). It was a beautiful setting but STEEP! Halfway down is a ventilation shaft for the railway line that passes underneath. I didn’t see any goats at first but when I was back at the top and looking down I finally saw a small group of goats, 5 I think. My photo won’t be good enough, but they are in the bottom right corner of the middle left picture in the second collage. I then went down a different path just below the ridge on the other side of the gully and got much closer to them. Still not a great picture through the trees, but two of them show in the middle right picture of the collage.

All that walking deserved a reward! I was very happy to see the ice-cream van at the outlook point. I enjoyed the ice cream while sitting in the shade in front of a very beautiful house that sits on top of the gorge - bottom left in the collage.

I headed back through the town of Clifton, intending to walk all the way back to the campsite. See the third Extra photo showing some very lovely houses and avenue of trees. Definitely the posh part of the city!

I started to run out of steam at that point, and when I discovered I was right on the bus route I decided to give my feet a break and hopped on a bus that got me close to ‘home’. I was quite surprised to find out that I had done almost 18,000 steps! I had been on my feet all afternoon but didn’t think I had actually gone very far! It was a hot day and I was glad to get back to to the site and cool down with a shower! Having over-indulged in the sweet treats this afternoon, I had a very small but much more healthy dinner.