Day 33 Part 1 - Knowle

My thirty-third day took me in a loop around inner Bristol. I headed up the Wells Road and found the Church of the Holy Nativity at Knowle. I spent six weeks here on placement duringf training, having asked the college to place me in as different a context as possible. Holy Trinity is an anglo-catholic church, and I found myself lost in a world of 7.30am daily office and mass, the RC Breviary, incense, services of Benediction and staunch opposition to the ordination of women. But as well as being bewildering it was fun and it was clear that though we had big differences, this was a mission-minded community. It was a good placement.

I hadn't confined myself to the church but spent a lot of time understanding the area by walking its streets. This long-distance walk is, so I had thought, quite unlike anything I've done before. But I've come to remember that walking through urban areas with eyes and ears open is something that's been very significant for a long time.

I past Totterdown and took the 1:4 side road down to the Bath Road, which I crossed into St Philip's Marsh. This is an industrial area, not of vast gleaming factories but of hundreds of small and apparently struggling firms. It was Bank Holiday Monday so all was silent. All except the Bristol Dogs Home, whose inmates howled and barked like the scariest of the French "chiens mechant".

I thought of the busyness of Bristol's leisure spots. While I was completely alone in this vast industrial estate the Downs would be full and Cribbs Causeway heaving with shoppers.

I walked through Temple Meads under the railway bridges and familiar landmarks towards Barton Hill. The Rhubarb Tavern was still standing but the school had been completely rebuilt.

(continued in Part Two)