LOCATION: This trail connects Congresbury in the River Yeo valley with Keynsham on the River Avon, tracing the quiet, green heart of North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

DISTANCE: 20 miles / 32 km

SUMMARY: This is a walk of two watersheds — the Yeo flowing west to the Bristol Channel, the Avon east to the Severn — and a journey through the lowland landscapes that connect the Mendip foothills to the city edge of Bristol.

The route moves through wetlands, orchards, and limestone villages, following the natural corridors that shaped medieval trade, Victorian industry, and modern settlement.

Both rivers have long served as natural highways:

• The River Yeo, rising near Compton Martin, once powered mills and drained the Congresbury Levels.

• The River Avon, navigable since the 18th century, carried coal, stone, and goods between Bath and Bristol.

The Two Rivers Way links these two systems — a cross‑watershed walk that mirrors the old packhorse and droving routes between the Somerset Levels and the Avon Valley.

In many ways, this is a walk through Somerset’s working landscape:

• Congresbury and Wrington grew from medieval market villages serving the Yeo valley’s fertile floodplain.

• Pensford and Publow mark the Chew’s industrial past — mills, quarries, and the dramatic railway viaduct.

• Keynsham, once a Roman settlement and later a medieval abbey town, became a hub for paper‑making and chocolate manufacture under Fry’s and Cadbury.

The route indicates how agricultural Somerset blends with industrial Bristol, echoing the transition from rural to urban England.

ROUTE OVERVIEW (West to East)

Stage 1 — Congresbury → Wrington (4 mi / 6 km)

Start at Congresbury church, cross the Yeo floodplain via reens and footbridges, and climb gently into Wrington — birthplace of philosopher John Locke. The Plough Inn makes a fine early stop.

Stage 2 — Wrington → Winford (5 mi / 8 km)

Follow lanes and field paths through Redhill and Felton, with views of the Mendips and Bristol Airport’s plateau. Descend into the Chew Valley, crossing the Chew near Winford.

Stage 3 — Winford → Pensford (4 mi / 6 km)

A classic Somerset section: rolling farmland, stone bridges, and the Pensford Viaduct, a 19th‑century railway relic now framing the village. The Rising Sun pub sits beneath its arches.

Stage 4 — Pensford → Compton Dando (3 mi / 5 km)

Follow the Chew upstream through meadows and woodland. Compton Dando’s riverside church and Compton Inn mark the midpoint.

Stage 5 — Compton Dando → Keynsham (4 mi / 7 km)

Climb over Burnett Hill for wide views of Bristol and the Avon Valley. Descend to Keynsham Abbey and the River Avon, where the Two Rivers Way meets the Avon Valley Trail and Cycle Route 4.

PUBS: The Plough at Wrington; The Rising Sun at Pensford; The Compton Inn at Compton Dando. At Keynsham, try The Lock Keeper.