March 2018

Steve Day reports: there were 7 intrepid souls on this tramp from the Portway Park and Ride to Bristol Floating Harbour. Steve started by giving a Geek’s lecture on the stuctural integrity of the 1970s Steel Box girder bridge at Avonmouth and at Sheffield his home town.

The walk over the bridge was noisy and windy but we were treated to good views of the Avon and the Welsh hills still partially covered with snow. The tide was fully in and we stopped for coffee at the Marina.

It was a beautiful early Spring day. We proceeded upstream to take in the old isolation hospital at Ham Green with a good show of primulas and daffodils, then on to the Horseshoe bend, Sea Mills harbour and lower Leith woods. The tide was on the way out by this time and the paths partially muddy but drying out. After passing under the Suspension Bridge we arrived at the Cumberland Basin. Thank you to Dick Dennett for finding us a lovely cafe at Underfall Yard with picnic tables and a great view of the yachting and paddle boarding in the floating harbour. Here we ate our sandwiches or purchased some light  food  before dispersing to catch buses or the Portway Park and Ride back to Avonmouth. Some of us rounded the afternoon off with a drink at the Lamplighters.

Thank you for coming and making it a very sociable and interesting walk. It was clocked at over 8 miles in the end, not 6 as estimated. Well done to participants. I found it quite strenuous, and next time I will try to get the right bus stop for the ride back , as the first bus went sailing past.  Steve.

Photos from Gordon ; can you pick out one I call A and Modern?