The Downs, Bristol

The Downs are an area of limestone downland in Bristol, on the Gloucestershire side of the city. They consist of Durdham Down to the northeast, and the generally more picturesque and more visited Clifton Down to the southwest. Both areas are open to public recreation.

Wide view over the downs

Durdham Down

Main article: Durdham Down

Durdham Down is the part of the Downs northeast of Stoke Road, extending to Westbury Park and Henleaze. It is owned by Bristol City Council.

Clifton Down

Main article: Clifton Down

Clifton Down is the part of the Downs southwest of Stoke Road, between Sneyd Park and Clifton and extending to the edge of the Avon Gorge. It is owned by the Society of Merchant Venturers.

Ventilation tower on the Downs

Management

Since an Act of Parliament in 1861, when Bristol Corporation acquired Durdham Down, the Downs have been managed as a single unit by the Downs Committee, a joint committee of the corporation and the Merchant Venturers.

The Downs are used for leisure, walking, team sports and sightseeing, the latter especially at the cliff edge of the Avon Gorge. There are permanent football pitches here, used by the Bristol Downs Football League (the lowest tier any club has ever joined in order to be promoted to the Premier League). Temporary attractions are erected too on the Downs, such as circuses and the annual Bristol Flower Show.

A grey concrete water tower of 1954 stands on the Downs near the top of Blackboy Hill, with a long, low, covered reservoir alongside it.

Miscellany

In 1982, 6,000 people assembled on the Downs, in response of to a local newspaper advertisement placed by the makers of the new breakfast television show TV-am. The 6,000 people were used to make the words 'Good', 'Morning' and 'Britain', used for the opening titles of the TV-am show, of the same name. It took 2 hours to get the volunteers into place, and another 2 hours to shoot.

Pictures

• 
  The Observatory on Clifton Down
• 
  Kites on the Downs in early autumn
• 
  The Avon Gorge from the Downs

Outside links

• Bristol City Council page on the Downs
• Photographs of the Downs air vents
• "Downs Management Plan 2006" (PDF). Bristol City Council. http://www.bristol.gov.uk/committee/2006/wa/wa017/0904_3.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-03. 
• Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project
• Map of The Downs circa 1900

References

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about The Downs, Bristol)