Please help us stop a 3m (that's more than 9 feet) wide cyclists' expressway from ruining Wickham Glen forever. The Council's Cycling City Team say they want to build a ramp from Wickham Glen up to Broom Hill so that cyclists can get in to town more quickly and to enable better disabled access.
These are all good things of course, but the Cycling City Team have not taken in to account the unique character of Wickham Glen. It's a really beautiful spot next to the river between Eastville Park and Snuff Mills and has a long history dating back to the Civil War. It's not like a park but more like a bit of countryside in the city and Snuff Mills Action Group is strongly against it being covered in tarmac, spoiling this unique character.
We have objected to the planning application and urge you to send in statements objecting to the scheme too. Send your statement to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk by noon on September 14th. Please quote: Land adjacent to Frome Terrace, Blackberry Hill,Bristol(ref:10/02839/FB) in the subject field of your email.
It will then be considered by the South and East Development Control Committee of the Council the next day. In your statement you could argue that:
1) For cyclists there is a perfectly acceptable alternative to building a cyclists expressway through Wickham Glen by using Wickham Hill instead. This is a cul de sac with very litte traffic and it leads straight down to the river - it's already there so why throw more tarmac at the area?
2) A 3m wide tarmac ramp and path will spoil the unique character of the area which is part of the Stapleton Conservation Area and a wildlife site. A much narrower path surfaced with more appropriate materials would be more in keeping
In response to suggestions by Snuff Mills Action Group to reduce the width of the path or use Wickham Hill lane the Cycling City Team claim they are also trying to improve access for disabled people. We applaud this idea but have tested the proposals with 78 year old Ivor Needs and his son, Matt, who uses a wheelchair. They tell us this proposal will not help wheelchair users because:
1) It's a long ramp that leads up to Broom Hill and it needs level resting places otherwise it is too much of a long climb
2) The ramp will come out on Broom Hill higher up than the current exit on Frome Terrace. This means there is a steeper uphill climb to reach the ramp which would be difficult for wheelchair users
3) There is no provision for crossing Broom Hill which is a notorious accident blackspot and this scheme will endanger both wheelchair users and cyclists alike
Ivor does not see the need for a really wide path either. He believes a much narrower path will maintain the beauty of the area and discourage cyclists from speeding and encourage them to respect walkers. We also believes the path should exit on to Broom Hill by Frome Terrace following the line of the current footpath as this really would help wheelchair users and result in the loss of many less trees than the current plan.
You may be interested to know that we reached a compromise with Cycling City following a meeting on site a few weeks ago. They agreed a narrower path and other changes to the scheme, but then emailed us the following week to say this was no longer acceptable because of the needs of the 'disabled community'. A few of us in Snuff Mills Action Group work with people with disabilities and we have been very offended at the way the Cycling City team seem to have cynically used the needs of disabled users to promote what is really a road - but a road that just happens to be for cyclists.
About 300 people brave the ice and cold to take part in the Winter Tree Party in Snuff Mills. People made festive wreaths, animal masks, musical rattlers and lanterns for the tree procession that too place just as it was getting dark. Thanks to everyone who came along and for all the volunteers and especually Ruth Worsley who made it happen. If you visit the valey between now and New Year, look our for the specially decorated trees.
Come and celebrate the start of the festive season at our winter tree party on Sunday 5th December from 2-5pm by the mill. Come and see the trees that have been specially decorated for the season using sculptures made by children from all of our local schools.
This amazing bracket fungus is growing on this tree in Grove Wood. It's just the sort of beautiful sight that would be lost from Grove Wood if the landowner had his way and removed all of the so called 'dead, dying or dangerous trees'. This picture is a really good example of why a variety of trees of different ages and in different states are so important for wildlife. Let's hope Bristol City Council hurry up and turn it in to a nature reserve soon.
Quarrying for pennant sandstone was still taking place in the valley in the 1950s as this photo by John Dike shows.
The Cycling City revealed further adjustments to the plan for a cycle ramp through Wickham Glen at the Snuff Mills AGM. This artist's impression gives a good idea of the changes. These were:
The new loos arrived in Snuff Mills car park this morning on the back of a large trailer - they are prefabricated apparently. So it looks like it won't be long before people will feel much happier about spending a penny in Snuff Mills. This will be in contrast to 2002 when the existing toilets were judged to be the worst public loos in the whole of Britain.
Snuff Mills Action Group General Meeting - Thursday 14th October 7-9pm - Stapleton Baptist Church, Broom Hill
Update: The planning application has been resubmitted but it does not answer all of the objections. Watch this space as we may be asking for more objections to go in if there are no more changes to this proposal.
75 people joined us last night for our second owl prowl with naturalist Chris Sperring (pictured) . Luckily we were joined by two other owl experts which meant that the event could go ahead. Chris led us through the valley as far as Halfpenny Bridge where he stopped to call the owls. A female owl reponded straight away by screeching back, so we knew we were being watched.
UPDATE (Sept): Jafari is now due to have his two days in court on 17th and 18th November. (Bristol Magistrates Court - behind the Bus Station.)
After several weekends of hard work, Mark Logan and his helpers have installed the last of the eleven benches in Snuff Mills. These have been made possible through a mixture of lottery funding and donations from people who wanted to dedicate a bench to a loved one. Thanks to everyone that helped or who donated some money so we could have more benches than we'd planned.
You might remember that a kingfisher was found tangled up in fishing tackle a few months ago. Over the weekend a member of of Snuff Mills Action Group retreived these little collection of discarded >tackle between the garden and Halfpenny Bridge along with 30 foot of nylon fishing line. We love the fact that anglers can spend time in the valley catching fish. It is meant to be one of the most relaxing things to do. We just wish the few fishermen who do not retrieve their tackle or fish under trees where line could get caught up would think of the other great fisherman of the valley - the beautiful kingfisher.
Please help us stop a 3m (that's more than 9 feet) wide cyclists' expressway from ruining Wickham Glen forever. The Council's Cycling City Team say they want to build a ramp from Wickham Glen up to Broom Hill so that cyclists can get in to town more quickly and to enable better disabled access. 
1) For cyclists there is a perfectly acceptable alternative to building a cyclists expressway through Wickham Glen by using Wickham Hill instead. This is a cul de sac with very litte traffic and it leads straight down to the river - it's already there so why throw more tarmac at the area?
1) It's a long ramp that leads up to Broom Hill and it needs level resting places otherwise it is too much of a long climb
You may be interested to know that we reached a compromise with Cycling City following a meeting on site a few weeks ago. They agreed a narrower path and other changes to the scheme, but then emailed us the following week to say this was no longer acceptable because of the needs of the 'disabled community'. A few of us in Snuff Mills Action Group work with people with disabilities and we have been very offended at the way the Cycling City team seem to have cynically used the needs of disabled users to promote what is really a road - but a road that just happens to be for cyclists.
