Autumn Magic At The Bristol Urban Avon

Our Bristol Avon has been truly magical this autumn. Hues of reds and orange shift daily and swimmers delight in wading through the leaves as the water drops from nippy to cold.

Our community has poured even more love into this swimming spot since I finished Rave On For The Avon.

If you've seen my documentary you will remember Chris who has lovingly build swimming infrastructure around a 'no swimming sign' put up by the council...which we all ignore! Chris walks his dog every day along the river and marvels at the mad swimmers as they have their pre-work wild adventure.

Co-Producer and avid swimmer Aggie crowdfunded for safer steps into the river. To thank her, Chris made a beautiful plaque and a much needed step for the pre-work swimmers, the 'Bathing Belles' as he named them.

As swimmers we feel Chris's care for us as well as his love for the river. We joke that one day we'll get him in for a swim but he's not convinced.

Still from documentary film Rave On For The Avon. Lucy of the 'Bathing Belles' is touched by the bench Chris built for them. It reads 'swim wild, swim safe' next to a 'swimming is prohibited' sign put up by the Bristol Council.

If you haven't seen the film you can host a local community screening or sign up to our newsletters for when we make the film available online next year.

Aggie is soon to bring Conham Bathing's youngest volunteer into this world and is getting as many swims as she can before baby arrives. In this pic Aggie and I swam on a day where the high tide brought logs and barrels up and down the river. It's a bit like swimming through an assault course!

Click on the link to watch a little Autumn joy we captured.

Autumn is the time you make new friends at the river as it's safer to swim together. It's hilarious to giggle and yelp with people you've just met. Citizen science group Conham Bathing are going strong having grown from 5 volunteers to over 40 taking turns to sample the river supported by Surfers Against Sewage. We are testing through the winter for the first time with SAS's support.

This autumn of sampling has revealed result that set our patch of the river in the 'poor' category for E. coli and Intestinal Enterococci where some samples have been a bit better. We keep testing and making the case that our river should flow free from pollution. Please keep an eye on Conham Bathing's social media if you'd like to stay up to date with their testing.

I have loved being part of Right To Roam's focus on reclaiming access to our rivers this Autumn. I agree whole heartedly with them when they say

We need comprehensive access to all rivers, not a handful of curated trails. Access should be a right, not a privilege granted (...and removed!) at the whim of landowners or ministers. Healthy rivers, healthy ecosystems, and healthy people all depend on the ability to enjoy and protect our blue spaces!

On my walks to the river for a swim I have also taken part in in Right To Roam's Wild Service in Action for rivers this November. The idea is to

Look, notice, and connect. Take a walk in your local green space, garden, or nearby park. Watch the movement of birds, the tracks of small mammals, the insects buzzing among the fallen leaves. See who shares your patch of the world and consider what their home might need to thrive.

I have loved taking more notice of the loving ways that our community is looking out for the wildlife. Encouraged by this month of Wild Service in Action I asked the Avon Valley Community why they created this. They have created a safe space for bugs to thrive and I discovered that refraining from raking your leaves can do this too.

I was so proud to see so many people who appear in Rave On For The Avon at the South West's Autumn We Are Avon event. A gathering of River Guardians who live along the stretch of the Avon. River Bride Meg organised the event and Penny spoke about how to get to your our river better. Our film was given many shout outs including a youth group Early Earth Protectors in Chippenham announcing a community screening in March.

You can sign up to become a River Guardian with We Are Avon here. A River Guardian group is any community group of 2 or more people who pledge to protect and regenerate a part of the river Avon or its tributaries, sources & springs.

Meg and I have tucked away river spirit puppet Avona and our River Joy Exhibit after a successful month at Bristol Aquarium. Messages to the Avon where collected, there's a lot of love and thanks in those messages. Keep an eye on Avonas socials to see when the exhibit will be next available.