The Frome Valley Walkway is an 18-mile (29 km) footpath which follows the River Frome from the River Avon in the centre of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

to the

Cotswold Hills The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the be ...

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Kingswood, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke. The southern p ...

. The path also links the

Cotswold Way The Cotswold Way is a long-distance footpath, running along the Cotswold Edge escarpment of the Cotswold Hills in England. It was officially inaugurated as a National Trail on 24 May 2007 and several new rights of way have been created. Hi ...

National Trail at one end with the Avon Walkway at the other. Starting in

's Castle Park, the path skirts public parks in the city, where the river is

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

ed, and only becomes rural as it passes through

Eastville Park Eastville Park is an urban park in Eastville, Bristol, England. The grounds that became the park were purchased from Greville Smyth of Ashton Court and the boundary walls are listed with Historic England. The facilities include a lake and tennis ...

. The walk then continues past

Snuff Mills Snuff Mills is a park in the Stapleton area of north Bristol, also known as Whitwood Mill. There are pleasant walks along the steep wooded banks of the River Frome, for example to Oldbury Court. The park was purchased in 1926 by the Corporat ...

and on to the

Oldbury Court Oldbury Court Estate is a park in Fishponds, Bristol, about north-east of the city centre. It is a park of Bristol City Council, and is listed Grade II in English Heritage's Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. ...

Estate, passing beneath

Frenchay Frenchay is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is part of the Bristol Built-up Area, located north-east of Bristol city centre. Frenchay was designated as a conservation area in 1975 in recognition of its unique architectural an ...

Common, then to Cleeve Bridge before passing under the

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest motorway in the United Kingdom, running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh ele ...

Hambrook Hambrook is a village in the civil parish of Winterbourne, in the South Gloucestershire district, in Gloucestershire, England, situated on the north-eastern outskirts of the city of Bristol. It lies between the larger communities of Winterbour ...

. Next, the path passes through Winterbourne Down, and under the Winterbourne Viaduct. The path continues through parkland to Frampton Cotterell, then south of

Iron Acton Iron Acton is a village, civil parish and former manor in South Gloucestershire, England. The village is about west of Yate and about northeast of the centre of Bristol. The B4058 road used to pass through the village but now by-passes it ju ...

before it reaches

Yate Yate is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies just to the southwest of the Cotswolds, Cotswold Hills and is northeast of Bristol and from Bath, Somerset, Bath. Developing from a small village into a town from t ...

and the Goose Green Fields Nature Area. A large section of the walkway is along suburban pavement here, before the final stretch of fields leading to

Old Sodbury Old Sodbury is a small village and former civil parish in the valley of the River Frome just below and to the west of the Cotswold escarpment and to the east of Chipping Sodbury and Yate, now in the parish of Sodbury, in the South Gloucester ...

where the Walkway officially stops. It is, however, possible to continue along the

Tormarton Tormarton is a village and civil parish in the South Gloucestershire district, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. The village is about half a mile north of the M4 motorway; the A46 road towards Bath passes a similar distance ...

, past the source of the

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

, where there are views from the top of the

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

Wildlife

The Frome Valley is an important place for wildlife, because it provides a green corridor of freshwater habitats, woodlands, parks and open spaces cutting through the built-up areas in

and the towns and farmlands of

. The valley has a range of animals, birds and plants, some of which are otherwise rarely seen so close to the city. One of the last British populations of the endangered native

white-clawed crayfish ''Austropotamobius pallipes'' is an endangered European freshwater crayfish, and the only crayfish native to the British Isles. Its common names include white-clawed crayfish and Atlantic stream crayfish. Distribution It is found from the easter ...

in the Bristol area was found in the river, but became extinct in 2008. Birds that can be seen along the walkway include the

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

dipper Dippers are members of the genus ''Cinclus'' in the bird family Cinclidae, so-called because of their bobbing or dipping movements. They are unique among passerines for their ability to dive and swim underwater. Taxonomy The genus ''Cinclus'' ...

treecreeper The treecreepers are a family, Certhiidae, of small passerine birds, widespread in wooded regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The family contains nine species in one genus, '' Certhia''. Their plumage is dull-coloured. As their name implies, they ...

house martin ''Delichon'' is a small genus of passerine birds that belongs to the swallow family and contains four species called house martins. These are chunky, bull-headed and short-tailed birds, blackish-blue above with a contrasting white rump, and ...

grey wagtail The grey wagtail (''Motacilla cinerea'') is a member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae, measuring around 18–19 cm overall length. The species looks somewhat similar to the yellow wagtail (disambiguation), yellow wagtail but has the yello ...

nuthatch The nuthatches () constitute a genus, ''Sitta'', of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs. Mo ...

and other more common species. A number of species of

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

are also found at dusk on the Frome, including common pipistrelle,

Daubenton's bat Daubenton's bat or Daubenton's myotis (''Myotis daubentonii'') is a Eurasian bat with rather short ears. It occurs across Eurasia, from Ireland in the west to Hokkaido in the east, and is believed to be increasing its numbers in many areas of it ...

and

common noctule The common noctule (''Nyctalus noctula'') is a species of Insectivore, insectivorous bat common throughout Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Description The common noctule's short fur is dark brown after moulting in June (males) or July/August (f ...

. The plant life that can be seen, particularly at Huckford Quarry beneath the Winterbourne Viaduct, includes polypod ferns,

hart's-tongue fern ''Asplenium scolopendrium'', commonly known as the hart's-tongue fern, is an evergreen fern in the family Aspleniaceae native to the Northern Hemisphere. Description The most striking and unusual feature of the fern is its simple, strap-shaped u ...

, stitchwort,

yellow archangel ''Lamiastrum galeobdolon'', the yellow archangel, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family (biology), family Lamiaceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia but it is widely introduced in North America and elsewhere. It is the only s ...

, and wood anemone.

References

External links

The Frome Valley Walkway

Google Map of the Frome Valley Walkway
{{Transport in Gloucestershire Footpaths in Gloucestershire Long-distance footpaths in England Footpaths in Bristol