The Bristol Avon: From Source to Sea

2015 | History & Politics

The crow needs only twenty miles to fly from the source of the Bristol Avon to the sea, but the river itself covers almost four times that distance. It rises in South Gloucestershire near Acton Turville, then flows in a great loop that takes it through fine Cotswold scenery. Within a few miles it is in Wiltshire, where it passes the towns of Malmesbury, Chippenham, Melksham and Trowbridge, then into Somerset where it enhances the historic city of Bath. Further downstream is the great city of Bristol, which owes its great success as a trading port to the river's navigability and access to the sea, and finally the river reaches the Bristol Channel at Avonmouth. This book follows the river's course, showing some of the stunning Cotswold scenery through which it passes. The historic towns and cities it serves are featured, together with villages such as Lacock, famed for its abbey and as the home of the inventor of photography, and historic features such as the Dundas and Avoncliff aqueducts, which carried the Kennet and Avon canal over the river.

Author Steve Wallis explores the river's past as an important transport route and its present as a home for rare flora and fauna and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Steve Wallis (Author)