We were pleased to be able to contribution to the Festival of Nature again this year. Here is a report on our contribution by Dave Jones.
A tree walk in Victoria Square Park
I was thinking about a venue for a BTF-led tree walk that we could organise as our contribution to the Bristol Festival of Nature, which in 2026 was focussed on trees! A few months earlier I was on the top deck of a 505 bus going around Victoria Square when I noticed how varied the trees in the square were. I thought this could make an ideal venue for a tree walk, a safe enclosed area for leading a group, easy access when using public transport and plenty of opportunities for a coffee somewhere afterwards.
We did some research and found there should be 50 different tree species, in an area of just over 100m by 100m. There were a variety of trees from temperate regions from all around the world which was considered to provide plenty of interest for a tree walk. We did a trial walk and identified 20 different trees to focus on, and did specific research on those 20 trees for a brief talk. Aiming for a walk time of around 90 minutes, that allows 5 minutes per tree and a few minutes for walking between trees.
The actual Festival of Nature walk event went well, with a full group, some Eventbrite booked people didn’t turn up and some people who didn’t like online booking just turned up and filled the spaces. There was a lot of discussion on each of the planned trees, and the trees in between usually prompted further questions and interest. The time went very quickly and everyone seemed to enjoy the walk and the learning. There was some good questions and input from the guests on the walk which was helpful.
In planning the walk we noticed that there were some dead trees, some invasive species eg holm oak and laurel that was even overtaking a planted tree that wasn’t easy to find, and quite a few self seeded species eg Sycamores. For a city centre park it was starting to look quite wild.
BTF had already had discussions with BCC about finding tasks that volunteers could assist with. Victoria Square could be an opportunity as BCC wouldn’t allow volunteers to work on roadside trees, which many of BCC trees are. BCC have offered lead volunteer training so that BTF could organise an activity when a suitable venue was found.
Helping on the BCC TreeBristol stand
At the end of the Festival of Nature week, BTF were invited to assist with interfacing with the public on the BCC tree stand. One of the people on the stand was responsible for organising the parks lead volunteer training and they were keen that Victoria Square was a potential location to get involved. Also on the stand were senior members of the tree team and they were also keen to support a volunteer-led programme to improve Victoria square. They thought that obtaining trees and materials should be quite easy. The agreed first step was to produce a map of the trees in the square, and a proposal for which trees to remove and where new trees could be placed.