Bristol: Over to Bamfield

Several bus routes stop at the hospital, including First Bus routes 20, 36, 51, 75, 76 and 90, and Wessex 515.

There are a number of cycle paths leading to the hospital. Secure bicycle anchor points are available at the front of the hospital.

There is limited parking at the site, which will need to be paid for, unless you are a blue badge holder.

Starting from the Community Hospital entrance, walk along the path to the right (away from the road) with the Leisure Centre and golden globe on your left. Dog-leg through the barrier.

[1] At the path “crossroads”, turn right onto the narrower path.

Safety note - look to the right at this point. If an event is taking place which blocks the path ahead, it may be preferable to leave this walk to another time.

[2] When you reach the tarmac runway, keep going straight ahead to cross the runway diagonally towards a narrow path opposite.

[3] Do not go up this path, but turn right and walk along the edge of the runway. At the end, where a broad track comes in from the left, continue round to the right for a short distance along this track (a former taxi-way of the airfield.).

[4] Where a narrow path (with a low railing beside it) branches off to the left, go up this path which slopes gently up over a ridge and then down again to a rectangular kissing gate.

[5] The gate has a minimum width of about 87 cm (34”); it is the widest of the gates on this route, and is the only gate on the shorter alternative version of the walk. Turn left after this gate, and walk along the path which runs between the park and the gardens of houses. In a short distance, you reach a second rectangular kissing gate.

[6] This second gate is the narrowest of the three on the walk, with a minimum width of about 71 cm (28”); if it is not possible to pass through, return to (5) and the alternative route.

Assuming that you have gone through the second gate, continue ahead in the same direction to a further kissing gate (which is nearly as wide as the first.) Beyond the gate, turn right to walk along the path beside a wide grassy area (Lowbourne) to the main road.

[7] At the main road (Bamfield), turn right and walk along the pavement, crossing the vehicle entrance road to the housing estate, until, by a bus shelter, you reach a second wide grassy area (Thurlestone.) Turn right, and walk along the path to return to the first gate (5).

Return route. Go through the gate and along the path over the ridge; when you reach the taxi-way track, turn right and walk along its left-hand side. At the start of the runway, walk up the left side until you reach the outward path which you follow back to the hospital.

Shorter alternative route from [5]; walk along the paths around all sides of Thurlestone, before returning to the gate and the return route.

Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport, also known as Whitchurch Airport, was the main airport for Bristol and area from 1930 to 1957. When opened, It was only the third municipal airport in the country.

During the Second World War it was, for a time, the only operational civil airport. It enabled air connections to Lisbon, to Shannon and from there to the United States, and later to North Africa. The actor Lesley Howard was killed whilst on a flight from Africa to Bristol.

The airport closed in 1957, with services transferred to what is now known as Bristol International Airport. The runway was last used in 1993 when a Cessna light aircraft landed on it in emergency.

Toilets & cafe available in the Hospital and also the Leisure Centre opposite.

The widest gate (the only gate on the shorter, alternative route) should be accessible for a manual wheelchair or a single pushchair, but long or wide chairs may have difficulty.

From the bus shelter on Bamfield by Thurlestone, the road opposite (Oatlands Avenue) leads to The Cartwheel pub and ASDA superstore in under 10 minutes, but the pavements do not have dropped kerbs and so may be difficult for wheelchairs and pushchairs.