Blaise Castle Folly (in distance) across the Hazel Brook Valley
The next Bristol Insight sangha walk, led by Tim Parsons, will be an exploration of the Blaise Castle and Kings Weston Estates, on Saturday 30th November.
This is a circular walk, initially tracking the periphery of the Blaise Castle Estate, visiting Blaise Castle, and then over the Iron Bridge to King’s Weston House for a refreshment stop, before returning to the Dingle via the King’s Weston ridge path.
Starting from the gate of the Coombe Dingle car park, after crossing a field and bridge, we turn right to climb steep steps for about 20 mins, out of the Dingle towards the boundary with Henbury Golf Club, with fine views from a rocky outcrop into the Dingle below. We then track through the woods, past the ‘Workman’s cottage’, and down into the field off Henbury Road. Passing through St Mary’s Church yard, we then walk past Blaise museum, crossing the field to take a rising woodland path via the ‘Giant’s footprint’ and ‘Robber’s cave’ towards Blaise Castle for another fine view. From there our path leads us to an Iron age fort, and then onwards via woodland to the Iron Bridge link to King’s Weston house estate and a refreshment stop. Afterwards, we walk a short distance on the Sevenway path, before looping back to return via the Iron Bridge and the King’s Weston ridge, eventually turning right down a stony path, along Grove Road, and left onto the ‘Donkey path’ which leads us back through woodland to the Dingle car park.
The walk will be from circa 4.5 to 6.5 miles. The exact route will adapt to the group and weather. The first part of the walk involves steps and a steep climb, good walking boots and possibly poles are recommended, especially if the ground is wet and muddy. The walk will take 2—3 hours depending on the route taken. We will stop for a tea/coffee/snack break at the café at the Kingsweston House café en route.
Meet at 10am at Coombe Dingle Car Park, The Dingle, off Grove Rd or Canford Lane, Bristol BS9 2RQ.
(Please note, this is the small car park near the river in the Dingle, NOT the larger café car park for Blaise Museum and Estate).
Friends, family, children and dogs are welcome on the walk, part of which will be in silence (30m—1hr).
Please let Gordon know in advance if you would like to come on the walk at gordonadam@blueyonder.co.uk
With warm wishes,
Gordon
HEALTH AND SAFETY – PLEASE READ
Every Bristol Insight activity is required to have a Health & Safety policy, partly for insurance purposes. Walkers are asked to abide by the following guidelines:
Please wear/bring clothing that is appropriate for the conditions and weather, for example: walking boots; waterproof (and ideally windproof) clothing; drinking water/tea; something to sit on for lunch/tea breaks; snacks; sun cream if the weather requires it; sunglasses.
Children and dogs are the responsibility of their parent(s)/guardian/owner and are not covered by BI insurance. Please be prepared to keep your dog on a lead if necessary (in certain nature reserves, or if livestock are in fields). The walk leader will carry a basic first aid kit.
The walk leader will give an advance assessment of the difficulty and conditions on the walk and will advise if any special precautions are needed. It is up to parents to assess whether the walk is within the capacity of any children. Walks are at a slow/gentle pace – we walk at the pace of the slowest person, and have frequent pauses in walking, so that no one feels pressurised to keep up.