Another reason to love Bristol even more.
Where would we be without our local parks and outdoor spaces, eh? Green space is proven to help boost our mental health and wellbeing, and for many of us, our daily exercise has been the highlight of the day, that and sitting down to watch another episode of your favourite programme on Netflix.
But which runners and walkers are lucky enough to live near a green space with epic views? Well, home and garden supplier, Haddonstone, investigated just that. It analysed TripAdvisor to find out the top 13 parks and green spaces in the UK with the most mentions of their amazing views and low and behold, Bristol not only featured in their results once, but twice.
Bristol didn’t manage to be crowned the winner, as this went to the magnificent Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, but to have two places with the best park bench views in the list is a winner in our eyes. The Bristol landmarks which featured in the list created by Haddonstone were none other than Clifton Suspension Bridge and Brandon Hill Nature Park. And any Bristolian will tell you that the views at these locations are very hard to beat.
Clifton Suspension Bridge claimed third place, with 1,193 mentions of how great the views are, and was only pipped by two Edinburghian locations, Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park with a whopping 4,067 mentions and Calton Hill with 1,252 mentions. However, Clifton Suspension Bridge managed to beat off the competition from Minack Theatre in Cornwall, Lulworth Cove in Dorset, Beachy Head in Eastbourne, Orrest Head Viewpoint in the Lake District and Primrose Hill in London.
Haddonstone said: “Clifton Downs offers a huge green space on a cliff top overlooking the bridge, and is just a 30 minute walk from Bristol City Centre. It’s an idyllic setting, with park benches and open areas to sit and watch the world go by, as well as the famous Clifton Observatory, which is currently closed for visitors.”
As for Brandon Hill Nature Park, it was crowned ninth place beating the likes of Corfe Castle in Dorset, the Scott Monument in Edinburgh, Brimham Rocks in Harrogate and Greenwich Park in London. Brandon Hill was ranked in the top ten thanks to the iconic, Grade II listed Cabot Tower within the park which offers amazing views of Bristol city centre, Clifton and Hotwells. Brandon Hill also offers a two-hectare nature reserve, a wildflower meadow, gardens and open grasslands, making the Bristol space a firm favourite.
You can find the full results here.