Sea Mills - Blaise Castle - Kings Weston circular, Bristol

"Let's just go out and walk, whatever the weather," we said. With a one year old and a six week old baby in tow, prams seemed the sensible approach for the somewhat mercurial summer conditions.

We set off from Redland station on the train to Sea Mills, to follow (as closely as possible given the lack of information on the walk card and the lack of 4WD pushchairs) Bristol City Council's Countryside Walk No. 18 - five miles of road, river and woodland in the north-west suburbs of Bristol.



Weather: changeable, with an emphasis on torrential downpours.

The rain began as we hauled the buggies onto the train. It was heavy enough to warrant raincoats and raincovers by the time we reached Sea Mills station and from then on it got worse.



Our first bit of off-roading involved a public footpath by the River Trym that was probably not designed with prams in mind but fortunately the grass was short and we wheeled our way on to the good, hard-surface paths of Blaise Castle estate. The heavens opened and the rain hammered down and we broke pram-speed records legging it to the cafe - which turned out to be closed for refurbishment. A cup of coffee from the temporary van and some sandwiches and flapjacks later, the rain stopped long enough to fool us into discarding our raincoats...for all of five minutes.





We didn't pick up the proper path to lead us offroad to Kings Weston but that was probably a blessing given the state of the one we did try. We opted for the footpath by the road instead, following it around past Kings Weston school and down to Shirehampton Road and Sea Mills where we picked up the road on which we set out.

Veridct: when following Bristol City Council countryside walks, their advice to use "a suitable Ordnance Survey map to supplement the information on the walk cards" should be translated as "use our start and end points and plan your own route". There's simply nowhere near enough information on their walk cards or enough detail on their tiny, sketchy maps. We did bring an Explorer's map with us and basically made up our own route from that and Google Maps. Apparently their walks are "under review and are currently being updated", so here's hoping they provide a bit more information next time.

Total: 5.32 miles

Cornwall and Devon, Easter 2011

Not much in the way of walks proper but plenty of ambling and strolling on beautiful beaches, clifftop paths and narrow harbour streets. A lovely time spent with both families in turn.

Weather: heatwave!

University of Bristol botanical gardens

A wander around the University's botanical gardens with the postnatal group mamas and babies. Worth the uphill struggle and trek across the downs to get there.

Weather: warm! 17 degrees, apparently. Not bad for April.

Churston and Broadsands

Another three-miler, this one from the English Riveria website. We were picking up (yet another) computer from an eBayer in Paignton so travelled down in the morning to fit a walk into the day.

Weather: glorious spring sunshine

We started and ended the walk at Broadsands beach. The weather was fantastic - blue skies and bright sunshine. The route took us up through farmland then down along the coves on the coastal path. Clear water and spring colours.

Trellech Beacon

This was a route from 12 Easy Walks by the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean Tourism Association.

Weather: cold, overcast.

A short route but one that included spruce forest, heathland, a waterfall, wild ponies and Bertrand Russell's childhood home. What more could you want?