12 North Somerset Life June 2012 North Somerset Life www.n-somerset.gov.uk 13

Turn right onto the bridleway and youwill pass a pretty stone cottage. This isEast End House, a listed formerfarmhouse with a small coal mine in itsgrounds. Many coal mines operated inNailsea between the 16th and 19thcenturies.

Continue on the tarmac footpath, crossthe road and continue ahead along thepath until you reach another, grassybridleway. This route runs alongsidethe eastern edge of Nailsea and isanother part of TrendlewoodCommunity Park. The parish boundaryis marked here by a small river andancient hedgerow.

Turn left onto the bridleway, cross thewide, grassy area and continueahead. You are now following part ofthe Nailsea Round route, devised bythe Nailsea and District FootpathGroup. There are wide views acrossthe valley towards Backwell.

Carry on to the end of the grassy areaand a small path will be on your right,leading to a gate. Go through here,cross the road, and go through thekissing gate opposite.

Follow the path along the right edgeof the field, go through a woodenkissing gate on your right, thenhead left and keep to the left edgeof the next field.

Turn left at thegate at thegap in thehedge andfollow thewell-markedtrack backtowards thehouses. Gothrough a kissinggate and continueahead on the paththrough the Elms housingestate. The name Bell PitBrow is a reference to theearly coal mining carriedout here.

Cross the road and continue along thetarmac path, which becomes part ofSustrans National Cycle NetworkRoute 33.

Cross Trendlewood Way and walkalong Golden Valley bridleway. This isan ancient route which was recentlyupgraded by Nailsea Town Counciland Sustrans as an all-weather surfacefor cyclists and pedestrians.

You will shortly come to another pathon your left, where the stone wall ends.This path runs around Middle EnginePit, a scheduled ancient monument

which contains the mostcomplete footprint of a19th century coalmine in England.Remains ofbuildings can beglimpsed through the

trees.

At the end, cross the road andcontinue on the tarmac path whichleads into the open grassy area.Historically this area was known asNowhere, an ancient rural hamletbetween two parishes.

Cut straight across the grass, tothe gap between thetrees, and go overthe next field tore-enterNowhereWood in thefar rightcorner.Continue onthe main pathand The OldQuarry housewill be on yourright. Follow the pathback to your starting point.

Begin at the public footpath onStation Road to the right of the pink

house, Trendlewood Cottage.

Follow the footpath to thegate and enterNowhere Wood,which is part ofTrendlewoodCommunity Park.

Nowhere Wood issmall mixedwoodland of 1.4hectares which is bothancient and ‘secondary’woodland that has grown up onthe remains of a disused pennantsandstone quarry.

Continue along the path until youreach a crossroads and go righthere. This accessible path waslaid using funds donated bythe Forestry Commission.

Keep following this maingravel path as it windsthrough the wood, pasta pond on your rightand then a quarry face.The quarry is designatedas a Regionally Important

Geological site andsince Roman times

the sandstone wasused for building,floor and roof tilesand dry stonewalls.

At a t-junction inthe path turn right,

then right again toexit the wood,

alongside a gardenwall. This leads to a public

open space with a play area on yourright.

Continue on the tarmac path. On yourright you’ll see two

sandstone gatepostswhich date back towhen the areawas farmland.

From here cutacross thegrassy area onyour left,heading

towardsTrendlewood Way

with the Old Farmhousepub in front of you. Volunteers havehelped enhance this grassy area withnew planting.

Cross Trendlewood Way and turnimmediately left beyond the railings,walking through a gap between thetrees and hedge.

A footpath will then be on your left,which leads from the park into a cul-de-sac. Continue ahead, cross theroad, and along the footpath oppositeuntil you reach a t-junction with abridleway lined with mature trees.

How to get thereStart at map ref: 478703 (OS154)Car: The walk starts in Nailsea, atthe t-junction with Station Road andAsh Hayes Road. Some lay-bys areavailable further up Ash HayesRoad. Please park considerately ifusing on-street parking.

Take a walk around

Trendlewood

Start andfinish

Glimpse into Nailsea’sfascinating history and

landscape from its newestcommunity park during this

pleasant, level walk,courtesy of the Friends of

Trendlewood Park volunteergroup and Nailsea and

District Footpath Group.

© Crown copyright and database rights 2012Ordnance Survey 100023397You are not permitted to copy, sub-license, distribute or sell this data to third parties in any form.

Walk informationDistance: 2.5 miles

Difficulty: level route, no stiles

Duration: approx 1hr

Map: OS Explorer 154