Wandering: Castle Park to Redcliffe

Orientation activities continued to day with lectures on staying safe, on health care options, and on becoming involved in the student union. During the lunch hour, the campus Well-being Centre gave a presentation on services available, including prayer space and classes on meditation. Though we’d planned to go into the centre of town, Lauren wasn’t feeling well and went back to her flat. Padma and I opted to go into Bristol City Centre anyway with the intent of exploring Castle Park.

Castle Park, just across the street from Broadmead, contains the ruins of St Peter and St Mary le Port which were churches before they were destroyed in the blitz. Also destroyed at that time were a few remaining mediaeval buildings, and parts of Bristol castle. There was graffiti and litter all over, which was sad to me considering the history of the place. St Peter is kept up as a memorial to Bristolian citizens killed in the bombing, but St Mary’s tower seems fairly neglected. The graffiti was worst in that corner of the park, and it looked a little sketchy to me.

Padma and I walked through the park and out onto High Street which we crossed to go into St Nicholas Market. It was fairly busy so I didn’t take many pictures, but the buildings are quite old and the architecture is interesting to take in. The Market itself is a collection of small shops, stalls, and tiny restaurants. Padma and I perused a used bookstore where I found a book on legends from around the United Kingdom. Apparently Berkeley Castle is supposed to be haunted by Richard II, and Minchinhampton is home to a number of prehistoric monoliths.

Bristol didn’t have any particularly special stories, except that at one time a whole group of people swear they saw an anchor on a rope drop down from the sky and catch around a tombstone in a church graveyard. The account states that the people all saw the rope being tugged, and then they saw a ghostly man climb down the rope out of the clouds. One of the people tried to grab him, and the ghost man allegedly appeared to drown in the air and disappear. The rope was then cut and the anchor abandoned. The record of the story apparently didn’t give a name for the church, nor does the anchor tip that the people supposedly managed to tack to the church door seem to be hanging around anywhere. Alas.

From St Nicholas, Padma and I walked along Welsh Back and the Floating Harbour, where a number of restaurants and riverboat bars are located. Among them was The Apple, which was recommended as a place for tasty, cheap, strong cider. From there we wandered to Queen Square,which was full of kids just out of school. At the centre of the park was a statue of a guy on a horse. Now where might I have seen those before? Instead of a Confederate soldier, however, this was William III, the guy who chartered the College of William and Mary.

Leaving Queen Square we wandered past a pub or two and over the Redcliffe Bridge, and around the corner was Quakers Burial Ground. We weren’t entirely sure whether anyone had been buried there, but it was a pretty place and surprisingly quiet for its location at a busy intersection. Next to a bench in the park there was a placard explaining that a cherry tree there had been planted in memory of a fellow called John who died saving the lives of others by directing his runaway car off the road.

After this, Padma and I crossed Redcliff Hill to reach our actual destination, which was St Mary Redcliffe.The walk around back was paved with bits of grave markers, I believe, some of them well over two hundred years old. I don’t think there was anyone underneath them, as a few had been cut in half or catty-cornered to make way for paths. One marker, Thomas Chatterton’s, was set in a little garden next to a rosebush. We did not enter the church, but I intend to go to evensong one night while I’m here.

Though we’d planned to stop and Sainsbury’s on our way back through town, Padma and I found ourselves much more tired than expected after walking back up Victoria Street and back around to Castle Park. We caught the U3 directly back to campus and have gone our separate ways for the night. I am getting ready to put some pasta on the stove, and another suitemate, Phillip, has just arrived. I’ve no idea what I’m going to do tomorrow, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.