Whitchurch Way 3 - Bloomfield Road to Callington Road

This is a continuation of Whitchurch Way 2 - Brock's Bridge to Bloomfield Road.

At Bloomfield Road the cycle track ends and bicycles have to go onto the road. The building on the left hand side of the road is Brislington Transport Depot.

 

At the end of the road the route turns left across the front of the Grade 2 listed Former tram depot.

 

There is then an awkward, two part light controlled crossing over Sandy Park Road, followed by a right turn and another two part crossing over the Bath Road. Because the junction prioritises motor vehicles over pedestrians and cyclists, it can take well over 3 minutes to complete these two crossings.

 

The route then enters Arno's Court Park. The entrance has a very badly designed barrier which is difficult enough to navigate on a normal bicycle. The cycle route takes the left hand fork at this point, but the barriers are the wrong way round.

 

To make matters worse there is a step down just beyond the left hand barrier, meaning that it is easier to go down the step then across the grass.

 

The cycle route then goes up the slope past the playground on the right.

 

Through the gate onto Kings Road, there isn't even a drop kerb.

 

At the end of Kings Road you go left and up Hampstead Road, a relatively quiet residential road which also acts as a storage space for private motor vehicles. The slope, though not severe, is quite significant.

 

After crossing Kensington Park Road the road begins to level out and ends at Talbot Road. Here the route continues through the gap opposite which is the entrance to Talbot Road Allotments.

 

The route then goes left through a yellow, old style Sustrans barrier, which used to be commonplace on the Bristol Bath Railway Path. 

 

After a short while the path turns right and runs down to the giant Tescos supermarket. The allotments are now on the right and to the left is the old trackbed of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway. 

 

If you look through a gap in the bushes you can see what remains of the old Brislington Station.

 

At the end of the path is another barrier.

 

The route continues on a shared use pavement.

 

It then drops down to yet another barrier, before turning left.

 

There is then a tunnel under the road,

 

followed by a right turn and another tunnel, this one goes under Callington Road.

 

The other side of the road, the route turns right along a narrow footpath beside Brislington Brook.

To be continued in Whitchurch Way 4 - Callington Road to Whitchurch