Waymarking August 2018
Thanks to funding secured by the Avon Frome Partnership, some additional waymarking was installed in the Woods in August 2018 as part of our Ways to Nature Project.
The waymarking highlights the routes from the top of the Hill and The Field through the Woods to Crews Hole Road. It follows the various paths created since 2008 as described below.
The waymarking was installed in response to various comments we received that the routes were difficult to follow, particularly the section of the path from the rough parking area on Crews Hole Rd below the main flight of steps.
Plan showing woodland paths and waymarker locations.
Details of woodland waymarkers.
Woodland Management Winter 2017/18
Also thanks to the funding from the Avon Frome Partnership, works were carried out in Troopers Hill Woods during the winter 2017/18 to further improve access.
The work was based on suggestions made by Friends of Troopers Hill and recommendations from an ecologist.
The first stage in December 2017 included the removal of some large buddleia bushes that were blocking the lower path and some selected thinning of trees to enhance the ecology.
We were also able to open up the overgrown route into the woods from the entrance between the Field and the Hill - 'Top of the Hill'.
This was a track originally constructed when the woods were used as a tip in the 1960s & 70s. The work was carried out for Bristol City Council by Green Mantle.
Woodland Path & Steps to Crews Hole Road
This new path gives an alternative shorter route to Crews Hole Road from the Hill than the route via Lamb Hill. At the bottom, next to the rough parking area on Crews Hole Road (next to the new houses at Old Lamb Inn Close) the entrance is through a wooden fence chicane next to the large gate. At the top, walking away from the Hill on the lower woodland path, the new path goes down to the left just after the 'Not Lost' waymarker on the Woodland Trail.
There are a lot of steps on the path and as with all the paths through the woods it is not surfaced, so the path is unfortunately not suitable for the less able.
In early 2015, through Bristol Parks Forum, we heard about an opportunity to use the ParkWork team on Troopers Hill if we could find funding for any materials they would need.
ParkWork offer training and skills development for people who need additional support to secure permanent employment.
We knew that, following the initial clearance of the route as part of our Stepping Forward Project (described below) the steps on the path needed to be built to a higher standard. This semed to be an ideal project for ParkWork.
At around the same time we heard that Beese's were kindly giving us a further donation this year and with their support we therefore agreed to use the majority of this donation to fund the materials to allow this work to go ahead.
Work on the steps started on 18th August 2015. ParkWork aims to give each group on placement an opportunity to aquire a range of skills and therefore construction of the steps was carried out by a number of groups over the following months.
ParkWork then did some further work to create the new entrance to the path near the rough parking area on Crews Hole Road, this was completed in July 2016.
We were pleased that Didac Ltd agreed to provide, free of charge, a wooden sign to mark the entrance from Crews Hole Road which is near to their Woodwise Academy, this was installed in 2017. Then in 2018 we installed some additional waymarking on this path (see above).
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