We are staying in a B&B on the edge of Clifton Down in Bristol. It’s a rainy Saturday morning and I walk across the Downs, past parents huddling under umbrellas while they watch their wet children play football. Then I head down a tree-lined avenue and make my way towards the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
The tide has been coming in while I’ve been walking. The banks of the Avon, showing muddy when I started, are now covered by water.
I leave Portishead Marina behind me and am pleased to find a footpath (unmarked on my map) that runs alongside the edge of the marshy shoreline. In the distance are the cranes of Portbury Docks.
My walk starts on the green slopes above Mariner’s Path, Portishead.
[This wide open area – glowing a vibrant green – is clearly visible from the other side of the Bristol Channel, and its slopes become a way marker – a reminder of where I’ve been and how far I’ve come – when I continue my walk in Wales. But I’m getting ahead of myself…]
Across the bay I can see the squat lighthouse of Battery Point. And the low structure, brightly coloured, of Portishead’s open air swimming pool.
After a frustrating and frightening struggle yesterday – through brambles, obstructed footpaths and fields of mad cows – I am really hoping my route will be easier today.
My husband drops me off by St Andrew’s Church, right on the southern edge of the Clevedon coast. I walk past the cemetery chapel and head for the bank of the river with the strange name – Blind Yeo.
I am walking along the southeast bank of the River Yeo, heading for Phipp’s Bridge, only a few hundred yards away. Technically speaking I am trespassing. But this shortcut saves me over two miles of needless walking along official footpaths to get to the same place. (And there is no guarantee the official paths would be passable anyhow.)
This is farmland, with fields of cattle. There are no stiles, but the fences I come across are easy to climb over. I wave to some watching cows, who ignore me.
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I am anticipating a difficult day today. My first challenge is to find the bridleway from the Woodspring road to Wick St Lawrence. The start of this public right of way is cunningly disguised as a Private Road!
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The sun is shining. From the garden of my B&B in Kewstoke I can see right across Sand Bay to the peninsula of Sand Point. The air is a little hazy, but it’s still a beautiful view.
We leave the pub in Uphill in pouring rain. But soon, by the time we reach the beach, the rain stops and the clouds begin to clear. Out comes my camera. Ahead, across Weston bay, is the beautiful Brean Down peninsula. I can see where I sat and ate my snack yesterday. The island beyond is Steep Holm, the last English outpost before the Welsh coast.
It is raining when my hubby drops me off at Diamond Farm Caravan Park. I hate walking in the rain. But the next section is mainly boring, inland, road-walking, and so maybe it doesn’t matter very much. I obey the highway code and set off facing the oncoming traffic.
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Response ID: 328,436,497 Report number: 1222 Location: Ceredigion Coast Path (part of the Wales Coast Path) between Gwbert & Mwnt Date: 04/02/26 2 walkers, no dog, meet about 40 Welsh Black bullocks Pips report: “On the return stretch of our walk we encountered extremely treacherous terrain and a herd of about 40 Welsh Black bullocks […]
Incident number:1220 Response ID: 328,248,081 Location: Back Forest Farm, River Dane, near Wincle & DaneBridge, Peak District ///wasps.promote.homelands Date 26/01/26 Single walker, no dog SY’s Report: “I was heading back to DaneBridge/Wincle from Gradbach/Black Forest. I’d walked by Back Forest Farm along the path between their fields and came to a gate/stile. As I crossed […]
Incident number: 1218 Response ID: 320,795,463 Date of incident: 29.12.2025 Location: Below Denston Hall, Denston Suffolk Status: Lone walker with dog on lead on PROW L.Cooper’s story “I saw a group of cows ahead and waited to see if they would move. As I couldn’t get past without going near to them I backtracked and […]
Ruth's Coastal Walk (UK) 