The gorge is at its deepest below Lover’s Leap. You can see massive cliffs of steeply tilted white Carboniferous Limestone. It is difficult to see exactly how the Gorge was formed. It would have been directly influenced by the most recent Ice Age up to 100,000 years ago.
Description
(S/E) Start at Blaise Cafe. Walk towards the Blaise Castle House, along surfaced path with play area on left hand side. At path junction near Blaise house bear right onto path leading slightly down hill. Continue on surfaced path leading down into the gorge, with iron railings on left hand side.
(1) Cross over Mill bridge at bottom of hill, turn right and proceed along lower of surfaced paths, running parallel to Hazel Brook. Continue past Tarn Lake, as surfaced path just starts to rise, proceed to the right, down a woodland path (next to large base of upturned tree). Path continues to run parallel with Hazel Brook until wooden bridge. Cross bridge, bear right to gap in wall (area can be muddy).
(2) On passing through wall, bear left to proceed up hill, partially defined by stone and log steps. Warning this hill
is long and steep. At junction of paths at top of hill, continue straight ahead along woodland track. Past the bend and start of decline, take short track off to left which leads onto the main field. Make way across field in direction of Cafe.(S/E)
Waypoints
- S/E : km 0 - alt. 55 m - Blaise Cafe
- 1 : km 0.66 - alt. 59 m - Mill bridge
- 2 : km 1.16 - alt. 61 m - Wall
- S/E : km 1.8 - alt. 55 m - Blaise Cafe
Useful Information
Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.
During the walk or to do/see around
Blaise Estate is a Grade II listed historic landscape with recorded human activity dating back 2,000 years. It became a ‘pleasure park’ to a variety of wealthy private owners and has been influenced through the landscape designer Humphrey Repton. It was purchased by the Corporation of Bristol in 1926 for £20,175.
The Heritage Lottery funded a project to restore this historic landscape and public park – an investment of approx £6.5 million. Visitor facilities including a café, play area and performance space have been introduced whilst the historic nature of the site has been conserved. These circular guided walks have been developed to provide reassurance and information for those who wish to experience all the estate offers. This includes spectacular views, the castle folly,lakes, scheduled ancient monuments, the 18th Century mansion, unique rock formations and designed landscape features.
Varying in length, all walks will contain relatively steep ascents/descents. Care should be taken on cliff edges and steep slopes.
Why not end your walk here with a freshly made coffee and slice of homemade cake. Open daily serving hot and cold snacks, drinks and a large variety of ice cream.
