Last night was the world premiere of Bristol’s Hidden River, a short film by Bristol Avon Rivers Trust. The film follows the River Frome from its quiet rural origins into the heart of Bristol, where it is channelled beneath the city through hidden culverts. it highlights the resilience of the river’s wildlife and the dedication of local communities working to protect, restore and reconnect people with this often overlooked river.

The themes explored in the film are clearly linked to Horfield Common. The springs and naturally wet ground beneath the Common once fed into Horfield Brook, a small stream that historically drained this area. Over time, the brook was culverted and incorporated into the urban drainage system, meaning it now flows underground and is no longer visible. While there is no longer a single open channel that can be followed, historical mapping, local geology and drainage patterns show that water from the Common continues to drain into the River Frome, which then joins the River Avon before reaching the Bristol Channel.

Seen in this wider context, Horfield Common is part of a much larger, interconnected water system and highlights the reasons why looking after local water sources such as springs, ditches and ponds matters. Even small, often overlooked features play a role in supporting wildlife and maintaining the health of the rivers they feed into, both locally and further downstream.

On Saturday evening you might have come past Horfield Common and seen a very strange sight! Friends of Horfield Common and The Ardagh Community Trust were holding their very first Wassail in the orchard. (In case you didn’t know, the word wassail comes for the Anglo-Saxon shout, ‘waes hael’, meaning ‘be well’ or ‘be in good health’) 
 
We started in the Ardagh café where mulled cider was available to give us good spirit. We practised the song: Here we come a-Wassailing with Rog on his melodeon and then, using torches and making a loud noise by banging pans with a spoon, lids together or whatever noise producing thing that was to hand, we processed to the orchard. Our Wassailing song was sung, loud shouts went up and the trees were each given a sprinkle of cider. Pieces of toast were hung by old and young alike on the branches of the trees, the idea being that birds will take pieces of the Wassailed toast, be well fed and then hang about in the tree, ridding it of harmful insects during the coming year. 
 
The procession moved to wassail beside more orchard trees on the Ardagh site and then finally to the oldest Apple Tree where some members of Stepford Singers choir sang a wassail called The Old Apple Tree to more noise and cheers, cider sprinkling and toast on the branch.
 
If all of that hasn’t encouraged our trees into growing well in 2026 we’ll just have to try a bit harder next year! Many thanks to all who made the evening a success. 

This has been the biggest year yet for the Friends of Horfield Common – and I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of it. Volunteering brings its own barrel of frustrations – things go wrong, there are disappointments and there is never enough time in the day! – but I’m in awe of how much everyone has accomplished together in 2025. All these successes are down to the enthusiasm, skills and kindness of our Friends. I can’t thank them enough for all for their incredible hard work, energy and patience!

Our projects this year have covered the full range from educational to physical labour! One of our biggest and most popular projects this year was the Twelve Trees Trail leaflet, which has had multiple printings and you can pick up from the Café on the Common. Everyone in the group played a hand in bringing this amazing trail of twelve of the Common’s trees of note to fruition – from selecting the trees, collating the info, designing the beautiful leaflet, testing the route and even holding onto the boxes of leaflets!

Then of course, the biggest in physical size is the New Quab Pond! We benefit so much from the fantastic knowledge of our volunteers and this was one of the most tangible results of us using in-depth knowledge of the Common to improve the space for both wildlife and people. Thanks to the support of Bristol City Council, we were able to dig out the natural spring below the orchard area – turning it from a muddy bog into what we hope will be a well-loved pond!

The group took a step forward this year, with many critical decisions on our communications, group structure and finances being put into place. Not the most exciting, but very necessary, so that we could apply for important funding. Thanks to the rigorous hard work of the Friends, we secured CIL Funding for bat boxes, to help bats regain their home around the Common. Fingers crossed for more successes in future!

It's often the small things that go unnoticed, yet keep the group thriving. A big thank you to everyone who has attended a FoHC meeting to share their views and expertise, joined in events such as collecting hundreds of bags of rubbish at our Monthly Litter Picks or enjoyed a wonderful Steve England Bat Walk, to those on both sides of the table at our info stalls, helped publicise our events, or even just wished us well.
And much of our work would have been impossible without the support of our friends at The Ardagh, so a big thank you to them there as well! Without their knowledge, friendship, and kind sharing of space and tools, we wouldn’t be able to get many of our projects off the ground.

Not all projects go successfully, but each has been a step forward. Each step bringing us closer together and learning more – about the Common, about our friends and about ourselves too! I’m so excited to develop our upcoming projects together and see the Common flourish even more over the next year. Here’s to an even bigger 2026!

Lucy Haslam, 
​Co-Chair/Secretary