Salthouse Fields Clevedon

A 2 hour drive saw us arrive at around 11am at the Salthouse Fields, Clevedon to meet up with Mark and Erica as well as Robin, Jo, Emma and Sophie. Located about 30 mins south of Bristol on the banks of the Bristol Channel, the Salthouse and the Salthouse Fields have a colourful history. In 1689, Samuel Gorges, took the opportunity to set up a salt mine. The salt was made by letting the seawater into depressions (the now Salthouse Fields), waiting for evaporation process to take it's course and then boil off the remaining moisture.   By the mid 1800's the Salthouse became a private house with various owners. Today the Salthouse is a pub/restuarant and the Salthouse Fields are considered Clevedon's summer playground boasting a miniature railway, playground, bouncy castle, donkey rides, crazy golf and skate park. Perfect spot for the girls to burn off some energy!

I think Mark secretly chose this spot because he wanted an excuse to ride on the miniature railway, which we did first.

Next we walked along the edge of the Marine Lake, towards the Clevedon Pier stopping for a bite of lunch at Scarlett's. After lunch we decided to avoid the £2 admission for a walk on the Clevedon Pier (even though it was 2013 Pier of the Year) and instead do Poet's Walk, around the headland.

Poets Walk is named after the famous poets Tennyson and Coleridge who drew inspiration from the beauty of the views along this section of the coast.  We begin by climbing a flight of stairs which leads to a spectacular lookout shaped like a miniature castle turret. Apparently this lookout was built by a local Clevedon family who imported sugar from the West Indies and was used to spot their incoming trade ships.

The secret path, as named by Mark, continues along the cliff tops, past St Andrew's church emerging at Wain's Hill. A perfect spot for a break while admiring the sweeping views over to Wales and of the mud flats below where the Land Yeo river drains into the Bristol Channel. Plenty of flowers for the girls to pick as we walked down the hill through a few little streets and back to the car.