Castle Park — Attraction in Bristol

A large open space, fairly well maintained, with the galleries to one side and the river on the other. A cycle lane and a pedestrian lane allow people to easily flow through. The area is one of the few spots in Bristol which is totally traffic free which I appreciate when I'm there. In the winter the park is quite well lit with street lamps. During the late morning to mid afternoon in the summer the area attracts lots of sunbathers and various people relaxing while out shopping or on a lunch break. The top bit by the bombed out church features a memorial to the victims in the area of the Bristol Blitz. In the evening though things tend to get more boozy, there's a smell of pot in the air often and the next day a lot of rubbish is usually lying around on the grass, the few bins in the park quickly overfill with rubbish and nobody seems willing to take it away with them. You'll also notice laughing gas canisters all over the pavement. In the morning the area is often populated with a few down and outs and homeless types too. Also the band stand mostly shelters some rough looking people, often with a few dogs and music playing. All in all the grounds themselves are quite nice but it can attract a rougher...

I took a £10 Gary on a hot summers day here. As it reached the back of my throat, it hit a dry patch and lodged itself there for a moment, antagonising my gag reflex and causing me to vomit. As i stared into the warm pile of vomitus, sharp contrasting colours of pink and brown met my gaze. Then my eye was drawn to the yellow bar of shame that I'd unwillingly ejected from my gullet. I picked it out with my index finger and thumb, placed it on my tongue and washed it down with some warm Thatchers Gold. Despite the entire ordeal being witnessed by an otherwise content family of parents and small children, nobody said a word. I got off with nothing but a shocked and somewhat disapproving glare. Shortly after i threw myself into a hedge to avoid a speeding cyclist, i awoke roughly 3 hours later with both my phone and wallet still in pockets and couple of cans of Thatchers still intact. 10/10...

I like Castle Park, but it's impossible not to notice the groups of people that congregate there which make it a little intimidating to traverse at night and even, at times, in broad daylight - speaking from personal experience, I've had two unprovoked situations which were luckily avoided but left me feeling deeply wary of hanging out in certain areas of the park. I guess in a way it's a good thing to understand where is safe and where isn't, but somewhere as relatively small a space that has so much foot traffic passing through, it should be managed by the council in a way that prevents it from becoming an area for drugs misuse and littering. It's perhaps better than it has been in recent years (although the complete removal of the childrens playground is sad and mystifying) it has so much potential to be a green space that Bristol can...