Take a look at our new gallery documenting the work we did in May. Plenty of new vistas are opening up and with the Summer practically here it’s a great time to come outr and take a look. See more in our gallery pages

Following our three-month attack on the brambles and undergrowth at Penpole Point we are moving our attention to an easier spot this month. We will be running our working party THIS SATURDAY starting at 10am from Shirehampton Road car park and tackling undergrowth and self-seeded saplings along the main avenue leading towards Kings Weston House just here.

This months task will be a lot easier than recent and involve removing self-seeded saplings and undergrowth that are challenging the growth of the ancient avenue trees. Hopefully nowhere near as many brambles!

As usual we ask that volunteers make sure they are wearing suitable clothing and footwear for the event and please do come along with your own tools if you would prefer to use them. We should have a supply of tools and gloves available if you don’t have your own.  Please provide your own lunch, or feel free to come along any time during the event. If you look out for one of KWAG’s event coordinators and report when you arrive we will be wearing out KWAG polo shirts.

Hope to see you there!

Inspirational new plan launches in important anniversary year.

A full twenty years has passed since the first attempt at a conservation strategy for the historic Kings Weston Estate in the north of Bristol. Now a new plan has been launched by Bristol City Council coinciding with the 350^th anniversary of Sir John Vanbrugh, the architect behind some of the park’s most distinctive buildings.

The new Conservation Management Plan (CMP), has been produced by the city council’s Urban Design Group with match-funding from Bristol Buildings Preservation Trust (BBPT), and with major contributions made by members of the Kings Weston Action Group (KWAG).

The parkland around Grade I Listed Kings Weston house is a Registered Historic Landscape, but has lain largely neglected and poorly understood for many years. Most of the 300 acre park came into the full ownership of Bristol City Council only in 1996 with the 80 acres of the Shirehampton Park portion of the estate being owned by the National Trust. In recent years the council, BBPT and latterly the volunteer Kings Weston Action Group have been working closely together to promote, conserve and enhance it.

The new CMP is a colourful and detailed document that sheds new light on the history and importance of Kings Weston as, perhaps, Bristol’s most important historic landscape, though it’s main aim is to detail ambitious new aspirations for its future conservation. The park contains at least five buildings designed by Sir John Vanbrugh, one of the greatest architects of the Eighteenth Century, most famous for Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. 2014 marks the 350^th anniversary of his birth and Bristol can lay claim to one of the most significant collections of his buildings in the country.

Councillor Gus Hoyt, Assistant Mayor with responsibility for Environment and Neighbourhood Partnerships, said: “This document is an important piece of work, the result of a great deal of work by officers, multiple council administrations, the Bristol Buildings Preservation Trust and volunteers.  It is a credit to all sides, and a plan which makes clear the historic and architectural importance to Bristol of this area.

“Bristol City Council, which has supported the creation of the plan, is keen to continue to work with the action group to support their efforts to gain funding in order support future conservation work.” 

David Martyn, Chairman of the Kings Weston Action Group said: “We’re delighted that this new plan is complete. It’s the road-map for the future we’ve been waiting for, and it’s now our aim to work with the City to seek out funding and come up with a plan to realise the aspirations.

“This is a major landmark for Kings Weston, but we hope it’s just the beginning of bigger things. We’re indebted to the City and Bristol Buildings Preservation Trust for having commissioned it, and this anniversary year couldn’t have been a better time to launch it.”

Councillor Anthony Negus is Chair of the Bristol Buildings Preservation Trust and as a former council Executive Member worked to kick-start and secure funding for the project.  He said: “As a former conservation architect I am acutely aware of the importance of this estate, which is undoubtedly one of the finest in the country.  In all my years I have never seen such a high quality and detailed Conservation Management Plan, and I am very thankful to everyone who put their time and efforts in to it, particularly the dedicated staff of the council’s conservation and estates teams.

“I am very proud to have worked on the project from the outset and to see it completed is a real joy.”

KWAG shared all of its own research with the City Council, much of which has now been incorporated in the CMP, and offered continuous advice, community consultation, and feedback since the plan was commissioned by the council in 2011. The CMP will be available free to download from both the Bristol City Council’s and KWAG’s website for everyone to enjoy.

It can be viewed online at www.bristol.gov.uk/kingswestonestate or www.kwag.org.uk. 

The last couple of weeks has been an explosion of gold at Kings Weston and rich reward for our efforts in clearing below the viewing terrace the last few months of 2013. A bit of an unconventional before-and-after to remind you what the scene was just in December and what it looked like on a sunny Saturday just three months later. The daffodils had been planted in about 1994 by the Kingsweston Preservation Society, but had been engulfed by brambles and lost. They have certainly made up for lost time this year!

Daffodils abound below the viewing terrace and old Inn overlooking Shirehampton Road.

Early spring celandine in front of the newly revealed main front of Kings Weston House

Daffodils abound below the viewing terrace and old Inn overlooking Shirehampton Road.

Daffodils abound below the viewing terrace and old Inn overlooking Shirehampton Road.

Daffodils abound below the viewing terrace and old Inn overlooking Shirehampton Road.

Daffodils abound below the viewing terrace and old Inn overlooking Shirehampton Road.

Daffodils abound below the viewing terrace and old Inn overlooking Shirehampton Road.

Daffodils abound below the viewing terrace and old Inn overlooking Shirehampton Road.

Daffodils abound below the viewing terrace and old Inn overlooking Shirehampton Road.

Daffodils abound below the viewing terrace and old Inn overlooking Shirehampton Road.

Daffodils abound below the viewing terrace and old Inn overlooking Shirehampton Road.

Just released is our set of before and after photos of our last month working along Penpole Point towards the Dial. As always it is so difficult to really give an impression with these  photos of quite how much has been done. I think everyone was “feeling the burn” at the end of this month’s working party as we cleared the brambles and undergrowth back as far as the estate wall below the stone dial on Penpole Point. Perhaps the most telling of the images are those taken from the wall looking up towards the dial, but we recommend you go and take a look for yourselves now we’ve reached that goal!

A few of the photos are shown here, but for the full gallery head here

Looking from the Compass Dial back towards the ruins of Penpole Lodge. The wall of brambles and undergrowth can be seen on the left

The high isolated location of the Compass Dial is revealed

Looking from the Compass Dial back towards the ruins of Penpole Lodge. The wall of brambles and undergrowth can be seen on the left

Cleared undergrowth revealed a whole new extension to the landscape

Looking from the Compass Dial back towards the ruins of Penpole Lodge. The wall of brambles and undergrowth can be seen on the left

A new gallery has been added showing some of the activities our members were engaged in in March clearing the undergrowth as far as Penpole Point and the stone Dial. Many thanks to Bob Pitchford for taking these photos and letting us post them here. Full gallery of images is available HERE!

Join us this Saturday for our final big push to clear Penpole Point as far as the Stone Dial! We made huge progress in January and February, but we need all the help we can get this coming Saturday 15th March to achieve our goal.

As usual we will be starting off at 10am and meeting opposite Oasis Academy on Penpole Lane, but volunteers are welcome along any time until we finish at 3:30. Come along wearing suitable clothing for the weather and we can provide tools and gloves suitable for removing the brambles and self seeded sapling standing in our way. Get in touch if you need more details drop us a line.

If you aren’t able to lend a hand why not come to Kings Weston to see the daffodils and maybe come along and say hi on your way.

Otherwise we hope to see you there this weekend!

It’s been a good week for adding to the Twentieth Century History of Kings Weston. Today we have acquired a new photo of the house in its time as an Auxiliary Hospital during WWI. But can you help us?

The original image comes from a postcard posted in 1916 and shows some of the patients of the hospital gathered on the main steps in front of the house. Most of them look very sternly towards the photographer and amongst them you can pick out some of the injuries they had picked up on the Front that caused them to be sent back to England for care. You’ll notice a fair few have arms in slings or hidden under jackets.

All of them are wearing  ‘Hospital Blues’  a form of uniform that was adopted for use rather than military uniforms in hospitals. It consisted of a white shirt, a bright red woven tie and a blue jacket; all of which can be seen in this image. The regimental badges were often pinned to the lapels, but where caps weren’t available soldiers were permitted to wear their uniform ones.

This is where you might be able to help us in identifying where some of these soldiers came from. The Gloucestershire Regiment’s cap badge with the Sphinx is easily identified, but can you spot any others that might help identify any of the soldiers? Drop us a line if you can help.