Notice how all the gardens are immaculately manicured.

In the 1700 and 1800s Clifton was the place where the 'mega-rich' of the city lived. Keeping up with the Joneses was just as important then as it is now. Their way of doing it was to plant exotic trees.

Take a few moment to admire the size of the Monkey puzzle tree

It's thought there are over 300 species of 'designer trees' in Clifton today.

Walk back up The Promenade but this time don't take path back up to Clifton Observatory - instead carry on up the footpath.

Look across to the the opposite site of the road. There is a street sign that says Litfield Place - Litfield quite literally means "lead field". The whole of this area was quarried for lead.

Although Clifton is very clean and tidy now the area used to be very industrial.

It was mined extensively during Roman times and the medieval and industrial periods.

If you look into the woods to your right you can see the bottom level of the ramparts from the old Iron Age hill fort on Observatory Hill.

Follow the road around to the right and head towards the children's playground.

It's thought Brunel's workers used this area for storing material when the Suspension Bridge was being built.

Take a look at the rock strata behind the play area and notice it is angled at 45 degrees.

If you were here 340 million years ago you would be on the bed of a shallow tropical sea and just north of the equator.

Today the gorge cuts through hard limestone rocks which were laid down as calcareous sediment and coral reef.

The fossilised remains of creatures that lived there then can be seen in many parts of the gorge.

Look carefully and you can see them in the rocks around here and down by the bridge.

During the last ice age the landscape around the developing gorge was cold tundra, not so far from the edge of the great ice sheets.

The gorge had not yet eroded to its full depth and the river was swollen with water from the melting glaciers.

In the summer it was the home of migrating woolly mammoths, rhinoceros, reindeer, wolf and bear.

Their remains have been found nearby...

Other walks in the area

If you enjoyed this walk you may also like to visit Leigh Woods just over the bridge.

There are many paths and you could devise a different route everyday.

There are three waymarked tracks to get you going. The purple track is an all-ability route that is mainly level and suitable for prams and wheelchairs.

For more information contact the National Trust office in Leigh Woods on 0117 973 1645 or visit the National Trust website.

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