Ashton Court, Bristol

I went on another long walk today. I’ve been to Ashton Court before but with 850 acres there’s lots to explore. I took the bus there on my last visit but today I walked from the campsite and entered the park at a different spot.

Once there I had lunch at the cafe, sitting in the sun on the terrace. I then did a BIG loop through grassland and woodland. There’s been a deer park at Ashton Court for 600 years. I did see a herd of deer in the distance, but unfortunately I chose a path that didn’t pass any closer.

There are several large gate lodges at various entrances to the park. The first one in the collage (bottom left) is Church Lodge near the village (and church) of Long Ashton. The second one is Clifton Lodge (bottom right). I went through this gate at the end of my walk, walked the short distance to Clifton Suspension bridge (didn’t cross it) and walked down the very steep path through Burwalls Wood (National Trust) and Rownham Hill Wood. That brought me to the bottom of the Avon gorge. I walked along the river and was soon back to my campsite at the Bristol Harbour.

It was an enjoyable afternoon and evening - an almost 6 hour outing (with breaks) and just over 22,000 steps for the day.