Bristol

I visited Bristol on the way to Cornwall a few years ago, but have just spent a weekend there; these photos are from both visits - and consequently this is a long post! 

The harbour, called the Floating Harbour, was formed from a section of the River Avon by building a lock at the western end; it opened in 1809, in response to the rise of Liverpool as a port for tobacco trade. A channel, called the Cut, was built to the south to allow water from the river to bypass the dock. A further channel, the Feeder, was built to the east to do the opposite; to provide water from the river to the dock. The harbour closed to commercial traffic 1975, but there are still dock facilities at Avonmouth, six miles northwest of the city.

From the western end of the harbour, you can look northwest, down the Avon Gorge, at the suspension bridge. The bridge was initially designed by Brunel, and work started in 1831, but the money - and time, as dictated by the Act of Parliament - ran out. Brunel ended up reusing the iron work on the Royal Albert Bridge over the River Tamar. The bridge was eventually completed in 1864 to a revised design by William Henry Barlow and Sir John Hawkshaw after Brunel has died.

This image shows the point where the harbour connects to the river.

A bit to the east, this is the Cumberland Basin. From here, two locks gave access to the tidal river. One is still extant, a bit left of centre. The second was to the left of that. The suspension bridge is again just visible.

The is from a little south of that, looking eastwards, up the Cut. Low tide, and looking decidedly unglamorous.

Back to the harbour... Two channels connect the Cumberland Basin to the Floating Harbour. To the south of them is the colourful Nova Scotia.

And on the northside, the Pump House. Originally called the Cumberland Basin Hydraulic Engine House, this provided hydraulic power to operate lock gates and swing bridges. The tower is an accumulator, a way to store hydraulic energy.

Back on the south side, the Pump House was replaced by this building in 1888, the hydraulic engine house. The squat tower is, again, the accumulator.

A curious industrial building. The graffiti on the side is Girl with a pierced eardrum by Banksy.

Aardman Animations is close by.

The SS Great Britain stands in drydock. Designed by Brunel, when launched in 1843, it was the most advanced and by far the largest ship in the worls. However, it was not a financial success, and ended up being scuttled in the Falklands in 1937. It was eventually rescued, and returned to the Bristol dock where it was built.

The old gas works on the north side.

The docks were served by a railway line, and a section has been preserved. Here you can see Henbury pulling (or possibly pushing) a short train.

The railway runs in front on "M Shed", an old transit shed. The cranes are still there. The shed is now a museum.

An arm of the Floating Harbour heads north. This is St Augustine's Reach, and seems to be a section of marshland that was dug out in 1240 and 1247. The River Frome was diverted to flow through it - I guess to stop it silting up. The northern half has been filled in; this is looking south from its new limit.

Note the footbridge in he centre of the photo. This is Pero's bridge; a Bascule bridge that opens by rocking back on the curves to the left of the lifting sections. The horns above the curves are counterweights. During routine testing in August, the curves somehow slipped from their bed. The photo below is just zoomed in from the one above.

King Street seems to be lined with pubs, and is thriving at night.

King William Ale House, built in 1670, though only becoming a pub somewhat later.

The Old Duke, built around 1775.

The Llandoger Trow dates from 1664. A trow is a flat-bottomed boat, and Llandogo is a Welsh town where they were made,

At night, the area is packed...

Back at the Floating Harbour, this is the view looking back westwards, with Prince Street Bridge in the centre. An iron swing bridge, built 1879, the building to the right housed the hydraulic engine that powered it, and the tower to the right of that the accumulator.

Just to the left of the above photo is Bathurst Basin. This provided an alternative exit from the harbour to the river for smaller boats. The lock has been filled in, and that is no longer possible, but the basin offers one of the most attractive scenes on the harbour in my opinion.

The Ostrich on the east side of it.

The Harbour Railway crossed Bathurst Basic where the footbridge now is, and disappeared into a tunnel.

It then passed under the church yard of St Mary Redcliffe Church. the church was built at various times between 1185 to 1872. Most notably, the top of the spire, rebuilt in 1872, the original having fallen off in 1445 or 1446 after being struck by lightning.

The nearby Bell closed in 2013, and looks unlikely to reopen...

The Double Tree hotel has converted an old kiln into a restaurant; it was part of a pottery beside the Harbour Line .

Back at the harbour, this is looking back down the river from Redcliffe Bascule bridge.

As the Floating Harbour follows the old course of the river, it twists around a lot, especially in the next section. 

The Left Handed Giant is a brewery and pub that has opened up in an old brewery. This is the view from Castle Bridge, an curious 'S'-shaped footbridge.

And this is from the upper floor, looking out the large glass side of the building.

The church you can see is St Peters, which was bombed in WW2, and maintained in its ruined state in memory to civilians who died in the war.

Further north, beyond the church, are the main shopping areas, with the Galleries being a modern arcade.

To the west, more traditional. This is St Nicholas Market.

There is a nearby outside market.

In Broad Street, we find Edward Everand Print Works. This is just the facade of the building, which dates from 1900.

At the end of Broad Street., this church, St John on the Wall, was built into the city wall, in the fourteenth century, though much rebuilt in the nineteenth.

The church is very narrow as it sits n top of a wall.

Heading through the arch we get to the top end of the now-filled-in St Augustine Reach. 

And on the other side, the Christmas Steps. The dark blue building is a wonderful pub of the same name, with lots of strange little rooms. Apparently "Christmas" is a corruption of Knifesmith.

The steps themselves go up to the right of the pub.

This is the view looking back down.

Turn left at the top, and you find the Gyphon, fitted into a sharp corner.

Back on the south side of the harbour, the King's Head pub was built mid-seventeenth century, and is notable for being only about ten foot wide (not an exaggeration). Also boasts the second a mid-Victorian bar, the second oldest known to CAMRA.

Temple Mead, the main station is at the east end of the Floating Harbour. This is the original station, built by Brunel, for the Great Western Railway, which was created in 1833 to build a railway from London to Bristol, to keep the port competitive with Liverpool.

Over the next few years several other lines were built, many by other companies, and it was realised a through station was required. This was achieved by curving the lines to the south.

Beside the original building, there is a section of flat ground with tracks laid in it. This was where the city trams terminated.

Beyond the station, this is the top end of the Floating Harbour, looking west, along the original course of the river. The river originally flowed from the left. When the harbour was constructed, a lock was built; now filled in.

To the right of the above image, the Feeder brings water to keep the harbour full of water, taking water from a point a mile up river.

The Fox, formerly a pub, now a cafe.

This is the River Avon once more, before it becomes the Floating Harbour or the Cut.

A bit further east is Arnos Vale, which seems to have previously been Arno's Vale, referencing the Italian River. Arno's Manor is now a hotel.

Across the road is the Black Castle, a folly built 1745-55, and connected to the manor.

Nearby, this was the tram depot.

Arno's Vale Cemetery was opened in 1837 and laid out as an Arcadia landscape, hence the Arno name. It covers a large area. As you can see in this image, there are some big mausoleums here.

A road runs though it, rising steeply. As one gets further from the entrance, the graves seem rather haphazardly laid out.

West of the cemetery is Totterdown, from which you gets some interesting view of the city. It is curious that most of the buildings here have flat rooflines. Behind the facade there is a sloped roof, but instead of rising to a peak along the centre line, instead the roofs slope down towards the centre. Many are bright colours.

Of special note is Vale Street, officially the steepest in England. And someone is pushing a pushchair up it!

This is Park Street; apparently not as steep. You can see Temple Meads Station in the background.

And that is Bristol. It is a great city with lots of history and a vibrant nightlife.