Frome Voices is a three-part audio soundscape celebrating Bristol’s second river, the river Frome. This is a self-guided walk leading you from Frenchay Bridge to the Arnolfini. The whole walk is about 6 miles long.
Directions and information are given at each stop.
You can either walk all of it or join at the following places.
Timings for Stops
0:00 Introduction
1:24 Frenchay Bridge
3:20 Halfpenny Bridge
4:42 Snuff Mills
5:50 Quarry Workers' Cottages
6:36 Wickham Bridge
7:26 Eastville Park Lake
10:46 The Old Fox Inn
11:40 Riverside Park
13:42 Castle Park
14:29 Baldwin Street
15:25 St Augustine's Parade
16: 17 Cascade Steps
Sources for Self Guided Walk Information
About Bristol
https://www.about-bristol.co.uk/mar-02.php
Bristol Avon Rivers Trust - Secret River trail
https://bristolavonriverstrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Secret-River-Trail-Map.pdf
Bristol City Docks
https://bristolcitydocks.co.uk/bristol-frome-river/
Bristol Industrial Archaeology Society (BIAS) - The mIlls of the Bristol Frome
https://b-i-a-s.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BIAS_Journal2_MILLS_OF_BRISTOL_FROME.pdf
Gathering Voices - The lost river ‘fair and brisk’
https://www.gatheringvoices.org.uk/post/the-lost-river-fair-and-briskThe Frome Gateway Story
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/b5fc190251be438fabf992da209741f7
The Frome Valley Walkway
http://www.fromewalkway.org.uk/frome_valley_booklet.pdf
The Old Fox Inn
https://bristolslostpubs.com/easton/old-fox-2/
Snuff Mills Action Group
https://hmajid136.wixsite.com/snuffmills/events
Frome Voices Series
The other two elements in the series are
- Frome Voices: shared stories from a living waterway
- Frome Voices: a river soundscape and poem
This project is part of Bristol City Council’s Cultural Conversations Grant
Thanks to Bristol City Council and Friends of Eastville Park for supporting the project.
The Bristol Frome
The river rises just north of the M4 and runs under the A46 to appear in the Dodington Park Estate in South Gloucestershire. It then flows through beautiful countryside, towns and villages including the medieval town of Chipping Sodbury. It passes beneath the 11-arched spectacular Winterbourne Viaduct, carrying the London to South Wales main line and on past Frampton Cotterell to starts its urban section. It then winds under the M4 and the ring road, past the landscaped Oldbury Court estate, originally an old hunting lodge within the Royal Forest of Kingswood and on to Snuff Mills.
Snuff Mills will reward you with its beautiful garden created and tended by volunteers before the river reaches Eastville Park Lake. It then begins its final section some of which is now culverted underground until finally it emerges in central Bristol at Cascade Steps to flow out into the harbour at the Arnolfini.
Historically, the river supported mills, tanneries, and other small industries, while much of its urban route has been modified for flood management. The Frome Valley Walkway takes you all the way along its 20 miles, joining together two long distance trails, the Cotswold Way and the River Avon Trail.
Links
Bristol Avon rivers Trust (BART) - www.bristolavonriverstrust.org
Bristol City Council Cultural Conversations funding - https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/museums-parks-sports-and-culture/arts-culture-and-events/arts-and-culture-funding
Bristol Industrial Archaeology Society - www.b-i-a-s.org.uk
Friends of Eastville Park - www.facebook.com/groups/107934965930710
Frome Valley Walkway leaflet - www.fromewalkway.org.uk/frome_valley_booklet.pdf
Snuff Mills Action Group - www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064666570279
The Big Blue Map of Bristol - www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/791-big-blue-map-of-bristol/file
Thanks also to
Andy Gee, Friends of Eastville Park
Mo Lewis, Friends of Eastville Park
Rich Scantlebury, Bird Watcher and Photographer
Credits
Series created, hosted and produced by Pommy Harmar
