Walk 2 - Distances - via St. David`s Road - 3.42km (2.miles), via Gloucester Road 3km (nearly 2.miles)

Start at Castle Court Car Park and follow Walk.1 to St. Mary`s Church. Go past the Church and along Park Road. This is one of the best areas in Thornbury for mature trees. There is a  Beech in the churchyard and two fine Limes in front of it. Across the road in The Glebe Field there is a fine Holm Oak and Sycamore and a Sweet Chestnut a few yards up Castle Street.

There are several examples of the Stafford Knot - the badge of the Duke of Buckingham - on the south side of the Church. If you look carefully you will see that they are not identical in the way the rope ends cross.

In summer you may see a kestrel flying to and from a nest on the tower; above and behind the clock face is one site which is easy to see from the path.

Just beyond the Church and in front of St. Mary`s School is the former Pound in which stray animals were kept until their owners had paid to release them. The short stretch of Park Road from its junction with Church Road to the main entrance to Sheiling School contains a variety of planted trees not native to the area. They include Holm Oak, Holly, Beech, Bird Cherry and Yew.

Cross the road and enter Sheiling School grounds with a fine range of trees. In spring there are plenty of wild flowers by the roadside. Follow the footpath signs to a small wicket gate into Castle School grounds. Turn left and walk round the edge of the playing fields to a stile leading to a footpath. Follow this down to the Millstream and turn right along a path between the stream and houses in Victoria Close. At the point where you turn there is a ford across to Park Farm. The area immediately opposite contains a group of mediaeval fish ponds which probably belonged to Thornbury Castle. It is thought that these ponds were fish hatcheries, the adult fish being transferred to ponds nearer the Castle.

Follow the path to the pond near Hyde Avenue and cross the bridge. The pond usually has a good variety of aquatic life including frogs, small fish, snails and leeches. The four trees near the top end of the pond are alders whose seeds are eagerly sought by tits and possibly by siskins in winter. The hawthorns fringing the opposite side of the pond are a good place for  fieldfares and redwings during hard spells in winter.

As you walk along the path notice the rocky outcrop on the left. This is one of several exposures along this streamside walk of Thornbury conglomerate, a mixture of various rocks in a limestone `mortar`. Continue along the path and through the underpass at Park Road. On the left of the stream is a small enclosed garden with seats. The area on the right, now a car park and scout headquarters, was once the site of Thornbury`s gasworks in the days when many small towns produced their own gas.

The stream on this section lies in a narrow valley: there is a similar situation on the next section between the Hospital grounds and Castle School playing fields. It must be the result of the stream, presumably once much wider, cutting through the rock over the centuries. It is certainly not recent - this narrow strip is shown on old maps of the town. At the next footbridge there are two choices: cross the bridge and follow the tarmac path or take the track on the right-hand side of the stream. This track leads to a circular pool once the filter bed of Thornbury Sewage Works. There are stepping stone across the pool. If you take this route do not be deceived by the apparent shallowness of the water for there is a fair depth of silt - the pool bottom is nearly two foot below the water level, certainly more than wellie depth.

Along this section there has been considerable planting of wild flowers in recent years. Beginning with Stinking Hellebore from November onward, you should be able to see flowers for several months - snowdrops, primroses, bluebells, lily of the valley, foxgloves, campion and evergreen alkanet - in addition to those plants which have self-seeded. The circular pool has frogs and fish and some splendid yellow iris. Several kinds of wagtails enjoy the pool at different times of the year and in summer there is generally a chiff-chaff in the willows.

Beyond the next footbridge the valley opens out. The most noticeable feature is a line of pollarded willows. They were cut at intervals at 8-10 feet above the ground - above the height at which animals could graze them - to provide poles for various purposes. This routine is still followed to keep the trees to a reasonable height although there are not now the same uses for the wood.

Look over the right side of the next footbridge and notice how the stream has cut down through the soft rocks - about two feet in the last ten years. All the silt is carried downstream and much of it ends up in the two ponds causing a continual maintenance problem. After heavy rain the stream can rise two feet very rapidly and provides quite a spectacle as the water pours over the pools. A mini-bore has even been seen on the Hyde Avenue pond.

At Gloucester Road you can return to the town by turning right and walking up past the original Castle School buildings. The alternative is to cross the road and continue along the Streamside Walk to St. David`s Road where a right turn will also take you back to the town. This last section is perhaps less interesting than the previous ones but there are two good exposures of rock, one on each side of the valley. There is a good range of trees and the autumn colours, seen from the St. David`s Road end, are often very striking.

Until comparatively recently the stream ran at the bottom of  St. David`s Road gardens and under Grovesend Road but it has now all been culverted.

 

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