I’ve recently become involved in a group aiming to expand the range of walking maps we have in Bishopston, Ashley Down and the surrounding area.

Back in 2015, a group of local residents created the “Let’s Walk Bishopston” walking map, with the aim of showcasing walking routes in a bid to limit car use and improve people’s health. The highly successful maps showed features such as local facilities, benches, ease of access, and routes which avoid hills, as well as distances and approximate walking times. The themes for the map were ‘walking for a purpose’ and ‘walking for pleasure’.

Now a new group, containing some of the original team plus new volunteers (such as myself), is creating new routes on the theme of ‘walking for health’. We have created routes linking local doctors’ surgeries with Southmead Hospital, in addition to a fitness route around Horfield Common. The routes are already on the Ramblers’ website (use the search function on the left: http://www.ramblers.org.uk/).

With some money from the Dr Jazz Charitable Trust, and hopefully other sources too, we’re planning on getting the routes professionally designed, printed and distributed throughout the community. It’s great to be part of such a project and I’m excited to see it come to fruition!