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Each 20 minutes or so, an older diesel train arrives at a graffiti-covered station. Close by, a law enforcement alarm cuts through the near-constant road noise. Commuters rush by collapsing, ivy-draped garden fences as storm clouds form.

It is perhaps the last place you expect to find a perfectly formed grape-growing plot. However one local grower has cultivated four dozen established plants heavy with plump purplish grapes on a sprawling allotment sandwiched between a line of historic homes and a local rail line just north of Bristol downtown.

"I've noticed individuals hiding heroin or whatever in those bushes," says the grower. "But you simply continue ... and keep tending to your grapevines."

The cameraman, 46, a filmmaker who also has a fermented beverage company, is not the only urban winemaker. He's pulled together a informal group of growers who make vintage from several hidden city grape gardens tucked away in private yards and community plots throughout the city. It is too clandestine to possess an formal title yet, but the collective's messaging chat is called Vineyard Dreams.

City Wine Gardens Around the Globe

To date, Bayliss-Smith's plot is the only one listed in the Urban Vineyards Association's upcoming global directory, which features more famous urban wineries such as the 1,800 vines on the hillsides of Paris's renowned Montmartre neighbourhood and over three thousand grapevines with views of and within Turin. Based in Italy non-profit association is at the forefront of a initiative reviving city vineyards in traditional winemaking countries, but has identified them all over the world, including cities in East Asia, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan.

"Grape gardens assist cities remain more eco-friendly and ecologically varied. They protect land from construction by establishing long-term, productive farming plots inside urban environments," explains the association's president.

Similar to other vintages, those produced in cities are a result of the earth the vines grow in, the vagaries of the climate and the people who care for the fruit. "Each vintage represents the charm, local spirit, environment and history of a urban center," adds the president.

Unknown Polish Variety

Returning to the city, Bayliss-Smith is in a urgent timeline to gather the grapevines he grew from a plant left in his garden by a Polish family. If the precipitation comes, then the birds may seize their chance to feast again. "This is the mystery Eastern European variety," he comments, as he removes bruised and rotten berries from the shimmering clusters. "The variety remains uncertain what variety they are, but they're definitely hardy. Unlike noble varieties – Pinot Noir, white wine grapes and additional renowned European varieties – you don't have to treat them with chemicals ... this could be a unique cultivar that was bred by the Soviets."

Group Activities Across Bristol

Additional participants of the collective are also taking advantage of sunny interludes between showers of fall precipitation. At a rooftop garden overlooking the city's glistening waterfront, where historic trading ships once bobbed with barrels of wine from France and the Iberian peninsula, Katy Grant is collecting her rondo grapes from about fifty vines. "I adore the aroma of the grapevines. The scent is so reminiscent," she remarks, stopping with a container of fruit slung over her shoulder. "It's the scent of Provence when you open the vehicle windows on vacation."

Grant, 52, who has devoted more than two decades working for charitable groups in war-torn regions, unexpectedly took over the grape garden when she moved back to the UK from Kenya with her household in recent years. She experienced an overwhelming duty to look after the vines in the yard of their new home. "This plot has already endured multiple proprietors," she says. "I deeply appreciate the idea of environmental care – of handing this down to someone else so they continue producing from the soil."

Sloping Gardens and Natural Winemaking

Nearby, the final two members of the group are hard at work on the precipitous slopes of the local river valley. Jo Scofield has established more than 150 plants perched on ledges in her expansive property, which descends towards the silty local waterway. "People are always surprised," she says, indicating the interwoven grape garden. "They can't believe they can see grapevine lines in a city street."

Today, Scofield, 60, is picking clusters of dusty purple dark berries from rows of vines arranged along the hillside with the assistance of her daughter, her family member. The conservationist, a documentary producer who has worked on streaming service's Great National Parks series and BBC Two's Gardeners' World, was inspired to cultivate vines after observing her neighbor's grapevines. She's discovered that hobbyists can produce interesting, pleasurable traditional vintage, which can command prices of more than seven pounds a serving in the increasing quantity of wine bars specialising in low-processing vintages. "It is incredibly satisfying that you can actually make quality, natural wine," she says. "It's very fashionable, but really it's reviving an traditional method of producing wine."

"When I tread the fruit, all the natural microorganisms are released from the skins and enter the liquid," explains the winemaker, ankle deep in a container of tiny stems, pips and crimson juice. "That's how vintages were made traditionally, but industrial wineries introduce preservatives to kill the natural cultures and then add a lab-grown yeast."

Challenging Environments and Inventive Approaches

A few doors down active senior Bob Reeve, who motivated Scofield to establish her grapevines, has gathered his companions to pick white wine varieties from the 100 vines he has laid out neatly across multiple levels. The former teacher, a Lancashire-born physical education instructor who worked at Bristol University cultivated an interest in wine on annual sporting trips to France. However it is a challenge to cultivate this particular variety in the humidity of the valley, with cooling tides moving through from the nearby estuary. "I aimed to make French-style vintages in this location, which is a bit bonkers," says the retiree with amusement. "This variety is slow-maturing and very sensitive to fungal infections."

"I wanted to make European-style vintages in this environment, which is a bit bonkers"

The temperamental Bristol climate is not the only problem faced by grape cultivators. The gardener has been compelled to erect a barrier on