In praise of Abona

While I was in Bristol, to watch my daughter complete her first Bristol Half-Marathon, We went for a walk across the Downs towards the great muddy estuary that is the River Avon.

To Sea Mills, in fact. A place with little distinction, except for the railway line that goes through there and onwards to Avonmouth and Severn Beach. behind us lay Brunel's great Suspension Bridge, and ahead the towering M5 Motorway as it belted across the Avon Gorge.

At Sea Mills it was all privet hedges and neat, painted gates. People getting their shopping or going to the playground

I didn't know it, until we found it, that Sea Mills had once been a Roman harbour - just a little one - called Abona (to which the River Avon is clearly related). Abona might be a local goddess.

There wasn't much to see: the foundations of a couple of houses and a helpful sign. Excavations in the 1920s and 1930s had uncovered these foundations and further excavations had taken place in the 2000s. They'd found the head of a small female deity, some Samina ware, an altar and these and the rest found their way into the Bristol Museum and the British Museum. There wasn't much more to se,, but the railway bridge over the ancient harbour mouth felt somehow poignant.

Unless you're nearby, I wouldn't suggest you make a special visit to the site. There isn't a great deal to see. But if you find yourself in Sea Mills, pop round the corner and have a look.

My daughter did the half Marathon in 1 hour 52 minutes. Funnily enough, the course went all the way out to Sea Mills before looping back again. I hope she gave Abona a wave.