The River Malago rises in the hills south of Bristol and flows through Bedminster to join the River Avon.
Originally it flowed through Trin Mill pond into the tidal Avon. When the Floating Harbour and New Cut were created, the pond was enlarged to form Bathurst Basin. The old course of the river now joins the New Cut at an outfall opposite the abandoned entrance lock to the basin.
The Malago was always prone to flooding and, over the years, several culverts were built to divert water away from its natural course and into the New Cut.
In the early 19th century, a culvert was built from Clarke Street, behind Windmill Hill City Farm, to an outfall that can still be seen just upstream of Bedminster Bridge.
In the early 20th Century, another culvert was built from a diverter close to the railway bridge in St John’s Lane to an outfall between Gaol Ferry Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge.
Following the 1968 floods a major South Bristol flood prevention scheme intercepted the Malago at Manor Woods, near Bishopsworth, leading to the major outfall opposite the start of the Chocolate Path, just upstream of the earlier outfall.