The River Avon Trail - St Annes to Hanham Weir
The run in brief:
Key facts:
Type of run: Point to point
Distance: 3.5 miles
Running surface: Tarmac and dirt paths, muddy when wet!
Elevation: 35ft (flat)
Parking: Free car parking at both ends (Co-Op St Annes and Cheqeurs Hanham Mills)
Toilet facilities: Pub toilets are available at the end of the route
Refreshments: Two pubs at the end of the route, and Beeses Tea rooms a short freshwater swim away on the opposite bank of the river!
This route starts in St Annes, a less well known area of Bristol with plenty of character and the beautiful Avon Valley minutes away on foot. This run is reason enough to make a special trip, as it really is one of the best trails that Bristol has to offer.
Taking you upstream of the Avon, this run takes in some of Bristol’s best kept secrets such as the Bristol Ariel Rowing Club and Beeses Tea Rooms, as well as tranquil river views and woodland that teems with wildlife, before ending up at two decent riverside pub, and the option of returning via the panoramic walk, up over the ring road back to Brislington, or just making a return trip downstream.
Map and GPS route
Full route description:
The route starts, handily, at a Co-op with plenty of parking. You cross over a steel pedestrian bridge, built in the 1950s to replace a ferry crossing that had existed for hundreds of years, carrying pilgrims to a holy shrine in the nearby St Annes Woods. From here, you get a picturesque run on tarmac paths along the river, with ducks and anglers competing for space with each other along the river.
At just under a mile in, you get the only road section, albeit still with a decent sized pavement, and it doesn’t last for long, soon returning to the comfort of the off-road dirt trail of Conham River Park.
This is one of Bristol’s true gems, with wildlife and nature every which way you look. In the spring, you may be lucky enough to spot the nesting herons, up high in the branches of trees on the other side of the river, while the river itself sees kingfishers and moorhens making use of the relatively clean water.
Other sites to see include the 19th Century Bristol Ariel Rowing Club’s boathouse on the opposite side of the river, and slightly further up, you have Beeses Tea Rooms, a Bristol institution, which in summer time can be reached by way of a regular row-boat service, to ferry you from one side of the river to the other.
Also in summer, and occasionally in spring, autumn and winter, you see the regular sight of wild swimmers braving the calm(ish) waters of the River Avon, alongside narrow boats, paddle-boarders and other river users. At points, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in a remote countryside location, and in some respects you are, but this is broken with regularity by the railway running along the other side of the river, transporting passengers from Bristol to Bath and beyond.
At around two or three miles in, you reach sections that regularly flood during the rainy seasons, and I have once or twice found myself wading through knee-high water in January. Nevertheless, the route is mostly passable year-round, bar some typically stodgy mud after heavy downpours. If you do reach a flooded section and don’t fancy wading through the water yourself, you can take the panoramic high trail, though I almost always prefer to take the riverside path.
At around three miles in, you pass underneath the Avon Road, a looming brutalist structure that crosses the Avon Valley. I actually really like this juxtaposition of man vs nature, but if you’re not so enamoured, you’re soon out from the other side and reaching our final destination of Hanham Weir. Here, you’re met by two pretty decent riverside pubs, Cheqeurs Inn and The Old Lock and Weir Inn, both of which serve a decent line in food and booze. From here, you’ve got the option to carry on up the river to Keynsham, climb up to the ring road to take a short-cut back to Bristol, or if you’ve parked at St Annes Co-Op, turn heel and run back the way you came.
I’m lucky enough to live not far from the start of this route, so during the summer months, find myself running it three or four times a week. While it’s not one of the most well known part of Bristol, finding itself at the opposite end of the rather uninspiring Feeder Road from Temple Meads train station, I do find it to be on of the most calming and joyful areas to run in the whole city.
Whether it’s soothing nature, or the bustle of what has come to be a busy riverway connecting Bristol and Bath, with all the accompanying aquatic activities, there’s something for everyone on this highlight of the Bristol running route network.
