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Every 20 minutes or so, an older diesel railway carriage pulls into a graffiti-covered stop. Close by, a law enforcement alarm cuts through the near-constant traffic drone. Daily travelers hurry past collapsing, ivy-draped fencing panels as storm clouds gather.

It is maybe the last place you expect to find a perfectly formed vineyard. But one local grower has cultivated 40 mature vines sagging with round mauve berries on a rambling allotment situated between a line of 1930s houses and a commuter railway just north of the city town centre.

"I've noticed individuals concealing illegal substances or whatever in the shrubbery," says Bayliss-Smith. "Yet you simply continue ... and continue caring for your vines."

Bayliss-Smith, forty-six, a filmmaker who also has a fermented beverage company, is among several urban winemaker. He has pulled together a informal group of growers who make wine from four hidden urban vineyards tucked away in back gardens and community plots throughout Bristol. It is too clandestine to have an formal title yet, but the group's WhatsApp group is named Vineyard Dreams.

Urban Vineyards Around the World

So far, Bayliss-Smith's plot is the only one registered in the City Vineyard Network's upcoming world atlas, which features more famous urban wineries such as the 1,800 plants on the hillsides of Paris's historic artistic district neighbourhood and more than three thousand grapevines with views of and inside the Italian city. The Italian-based charitable organization is at the forefront of a movement re-establishing urban grape cultivation in historic wine-producing countries, but has discovered them throughout the world, including cities in Japan, South Asia and Central Asia.

"Vineyards assist urban areas remain more eco-friendly and more diverse. These spaces protect open space from development by creating permanent, yielding farming plots inside urban environments," says the organization's leader.

Similar to other vintages, those created in cities are a product of the earth the vines thrive in, the unpredictability of the weather and the individuals who tend the grapes. "Each vintage embodies the beauty, local spirit, environment and history of a urban center," notes the president.

Unknown Eastern European Variety

Back in the city, Bayliss-Smith is in a race against time to harvest the vines he grew from a cutting abandoned in his allotment by a Polish family. If the precipitation arrives, then the birds may take advantage to attack once more. "This is the enigmatic Eastern European grape," he comments, as he removes damaged and rotten berries from the glistering bunches. "The variety remains uncertain what variety they are, but they are certainly disease-resistant. Unlike noble varieties – Burgundy grapes, Chardonnay and additional renowned European varieties – you don't have to treat them with pesticides ... this is possibly a special variety that was bred by the Soviets."

Collective Efforts Throughout the City

The other members of the collective are also making the most of sunny interludes between bursts of autumn rain. At a rooftop garden with views of Bristol's shimmering waterfront, where historic trading ships once bobbed with casks of vintage from France and Spain, one cultivator is harvesting her rondo grapes from about fifty plants. "I adore the aroma of the grapevines. It is so reminiscent," she remarks, pausing with a basket of fruit resting on her shoulder. "It recalls the fragrance of southern France when you open the vehicle windows on vacation."

Grant, 52, who has spent over 20 years working for charitable groups in conflict zones, unexpectedly inherited the vineyard when she moved back to the UK from Kenya with her family in recent years. She experienced an strong responsibility to maintain the vines in the yard of their new home. "This plot has previously survived three different owners," she explains. "I deeply appreciate the idea of environmental care – of handing this down to someone else so they can keep cultivating from the soil."

Sloping Gardens and Traditional Production

A short walk away, the final two members of the group are hard at work on the steep inclines of the local river valley. Jo Scofield has cultivated over 150 plants situated on terraces in her expansive property, which tumbles down towards the muddy River Avon. "Visitors frequently express amazement," she notes, gesturing towards the interwoven grape garden. "It's astonishing to them they can see grapevine lines in a urban neighborhood."

Currently, the filmmaker, sixty, is picking bunches of dusty purple dark berries from rows of vines arranged along the hillside with the assistance of her child, her family member. Scofield, a wildlife and conservation film-maker who has contributed to Netflix's Great National Parks series and television network's Gardeners' World, was motivated to cultivate vines after seeing her neighbour's vines. She's discovered that hobbyists can make intriguing, enjoyable natural wine, which can sell for more than seven pounds a serving in the increasing quantity of wine bars specialising in low-processing vintages. "It's just incredibly satisfying that you can truly make good, natural wine," she states. "It is quite fashionable, but in reality it's reviving an traditional method of making vintage."

"When I tread the grapes, the various wild yeasts come off the skins and enter the juice," explains the winemaker, partially submerged in a bucket of small branches, seeds and crimson juice. "This represents how wines were made traditionally, but industrial wineries introduce sulphur [dioxide] to eliminate the wild yeast and subsequently incorporate a commercially produced culture."

Difficult Conditions and Inventive Solutions

A few doors down sprightly retiree Bob Reeve, who inspired Scofield to establish her vines, has assembled his companions to pick white wine varieties from one hundred plants he has laid out neatly across multiple levels. Reeve, a Lancashire-born physical education instructor who worked at the local university developed a passion for viticulture on annual sporting trips to France. However it is a challenge to grow this particular variety in the humidity of the valley, with temperature fluctuations moving through from the nearby estuary. "I wanted to produce French-style vintages in this location, which is somewhat ambitious," admits the retiree with amusement. "This variety is late to ripen and very sensitive to mildew."

"My goal was creating Burgundian wines in this environment, which is rather ambitious"

The unpredictable local weather is not the sole challenge faced by grape cultivators. Reeve has had to erect a barrier on