Located in East Bristol, Conham River Park is part of the Avon River Trail that runs from Pill to Pulteney Bridge in Bath and is one of three woodlands that make up the Avon Valley Wood Nature Reserve.
The site was once quarried and alongside Hanham Mills, was home to 12 small quarries. The nearby Hanham Colliery mined coal from the Bristol coalfields and like the pennant sandstone was brought down to the riverside and transported by horse-drawn barges to Bristol and Bath.
There are some remains of the quarrying history including a powder house at the bottom of Hencliff Wood, which housed the dynamite for the quarries and nearby railway, the thick walls of the old smelter works near Conham River Park, and the boundary wall of Conham Hall which was demolished in 1971.
Beese’s Riverside Bar and Garden which dates back to 1846, runs a ferry service which allows visitors to cross to the other side of the river. Visitors can also partake in coarse fishing in the river. Conham River Park also has a car park accessible through Conham Road.
Here are 25 photos from our visit to Conham River Park:
1. River
The River Avon bends around the edge of Conham River Park.
2. Wildlife
Conham River Park is home to a wide range of wildlife including this robin, tawny owls, chaffinches, great spotted woodpeckers and bats like daubenton's and notules and butterflies like the small tortoiseshell and meadow brown.
3. Accessible paths
There is a surfaced accessible path running around the River Avon Trail and parts of the park.
4. Arches
These arches are part of Brunel's Great Western railway, and visitors can spot trains passing by to this date. These arches were also part of a tragic accident on the 31st of March 1876, where quarryman John Chiddy bravely removed a fallen rock from the track, averting a disaster, but he was killed by an express train. The tragic accident is remembered in a mounted stone at Memorial Cottage, and Pit Road was renamed Memorial Road.