Every couple of years the city of Bristol hosts a sculpture trail based on the characters of Wallace and Gromit. Plus a few more from the films of the same titles.
Aardman animation, the studio behind the beloved characters is based in Bristol.
This is how, at 6am in the morning on Friday 18th July 2025 I found myself at Gloucester Services Southbound, drinking from a very large cup of tea.
The services are exceptional. No fast food chain in sight, plenty of ev charging pods and the cleanest loos I’ve seen at a services.
Waiting until the farm shop opened at 7.30am took a while, during which I was able to people watch. Especially delighted at those who missed the right turn for the exit and had to go around a small loop of the car park. Was I judging them, totally. However it was 7am in the morning.
Arriving into Bristol, hyped up on tea and the delicious bakery treats from the farm shop, we had one mission on our mind. We needed to find a paper map of the sculpture trail. Look, I’ll spend an exorbitant amount of money on a sweet treat but I draw the line at spending on an app! I didn’t say I was perfect.
Studying the various news sites, we figured the best place to grab a map and see some sculptures would be The Mall, a large, out of town shopping centre with a John Lewis and an M&S. We arrived at 8am to find that most of the shops would be open at 10am or 10.30am. Not my proudest of moments. Especially as the official Gromit Unleashed shop, which had paper maps, would be open around then.
The building was open, if none of the shops, so we could visit the three statues in the area.
Yellow Submarine
Darth McGraw
Gromit Woody
(picture adjusted due to poor lighting in the building)
Our next plan was to visit the sculpture in the Aerospace Museum, however, it was too early and we were learning which symbols on the map meant that the sculpture was inside a building or outside. The one in the museum was inside and we’d need to wait an hour.
So, off we went to find the outside ones.
The Birds is at the new housing estate being built at Brabazon. The car park is a little bit of a walk away from the sculpture. It took me a good 5 mins to walk along the couple of streets from the car park to the Gromit. It is a housing estate and it being very early in the morning, I tried to stay quiet.
The Birds
The Birds is found easily if you follow the blue paw prints on the street.
Next was a quick pitstop at Willow Brook to visit the T.E.A.minator and to also nip into the very large Tesco supermarket and grab some snacks.
T.E.A.minator
T.E.A.minator is a Wallace sculpture sitting on a bench. Plenty of room to take a moment and snap a quick photo with Wallace.
Of course, any good T.E.A.minator also has a cup of tea with them!
This is the default for the Wallace sculptures. He is sitting on a bench with a cup of something. The perfect spot to relax for a moment while checking the map.
Tea and sandwich break over, we headed back to the Aerospace Museum and to the Beagle 3 Gromit sculpture.
Beagle 3
I do love this sculpture, especially the plates and rivets to make him look like Gromit really is ready to visit space. This sculpture is in the cafe, I believe they do allow dogs, however I did not check with the staff. The route we took to the sculpture was via the cafe entrance, which I do not think is totally accessible, however, there is a main entrance and the cafe can be accessed via the shop.
Onwards! To the West Country Water Park next for Fisherman’s Friend. Not the popular lozenge, but the Wallace Sculpture.
Fisherman’s Friend
This sculpture is accessible, up the gangway to the cafe. However, the car park is a small stone, dusty type, which hurts both underfoot and under the wheels. The window also looks out onto the staging area for all the people wanting to get onto the water. Trying to find an angle without minors in it was tricky.
And last, but by no means least. We have Edelweiss, at Henleaze, by the gym.
Edelweiss
The sculpture is right on the corner and parking can be a little tricky. There is a car park in the streets behind, however, do take care to note whether you are parked in the 30mins free spaces, or the car park as normal.
And so, the North of the city is completed. A large distance between the sculptures, so do be prepared for a good few hours travel time. We ended the day with a good rest at the campsite we were staying at, after a quick visit to another Tesco to grab snacks and supplies for the evening.
