Bristol is, strictly speaking, not actually on the coast, being some miles
from the mouth of the River Avon. There
are no sandy beaches or towering cliffs, no watery horizons to gaze out
at. However, I felt I had to include it
in my blog, partly because I love the place, and partly because the city has such
a strong maritime heritage that it would seem wrong to leave it out. Prior to the Norman conquest Bristol was a Saxon settlement,
hence the origin of its name: Brycg stowe or 'place by the bridge'. Then along came the Normans, who were
responsible for the motte and bailey which formed the origins of the castle,
the remains of which can be seen in Castle
Park. By the Middle Ages, the city had been
transformed into the second most important port in the country after London. Wool from the surrounding rolling meadows of
the West Country was shipped out to the Low Countries, where it was turned into
cloth to be shipped back over, then later it was home-produced cloth that made the
city rich, whether being shipped out of the port or sold in the local shops and
markets.
One of Bristol's major tourist attractions is the SS Great Britain, one of seven sites in the city associated with the greatest
British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
The ship was launched in 1843 and after a varied and chequered career
which included multiple trips around the globe she was abandoned in The Falklands.
Then, after a long campaign to bring her home, she was brought back to
her original berth in 1970, watched by crowds of emotional onlookers. Now she is fully restored and open to the public. Another piece of transport history associated
with Bristol is
that of Concorde, since one of the two prototypes was built at BAC in Filton, Bristol. Concorde made its debut in 1969 and went into regular service several years later. Unfortunately the dream of supersonic flight embodied by Concorde came to an end when, for various reasons, not least a devastating crash in 2000, Concorde was taken out of service. The last Concorde came 'home' to Bristol in 2003, greeted by crowds of people lining the the Avon Gorge, where the plane made a spectacular fly-past. Many of the local people looking on expressed great sorrow that
they would never see the plane up in the air again. Planning permission has recently been granted for a new Aviation Heritage Museum at Filton Airport, where the last Concorde will be on display.
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| The SS Great Britain |
One of the more regrettable facets of Bristol's past began at
the end of the 17th century with the advent of the Slave Trade. The city's merchants were granted the right
to trade in slaves in 1698, and this human trafficking continued until the
abolition of slavery in 1807. During
this period over 2,000 Bristol
ships set sail on slaving voyages, an average of 20 per year, with captured
African slaves changing hands for cash or bartered goods. There was a concert hall in Bristol called Colston Hall; this, along with
several streets and other buildings in the city, was named after Edward Colston,
who made his fortune largely on the back of the Slave Trade. Bristolians have agonised over the city's
slaving past, to the point of debating whether to pull down the statue of him
in Colston Avenue
- in the end they decided against it, but the statue was subsequently pulled down by protesters, and Colston Hall has been renamed the Bristol Beacon.
Visitors can find out more about the city's role in the Slave Trade as well
as other aspects of Bristol's past at the M Shed
on Princes Wharf.
I could go on and on about Bristol's past, but let's move swiftly on to
the present. One of the things I love
about Bristol
is that it has made so much of its harbourside areas. Parts of the city almost resemble Amsterdam, with a heady
mix of waterside and floating bars and restaurants, and even a floating
theatre called Thekla occupying a former cargo ship. The waterfront is also home to
two of the city's most popular arts venues, the Arnolfini and the Watershed,
both of which also have excellent cafes.
The Arnolfini can be reached by a rather unusual bridge, Pero's bridge,
a bascule bridge built for the Millennium with two huge horns as its
centrepiece - it is sometimes referred as the 'Horned Bridge'. Also near the waterfront is Millennium Square,
home to the We The Curious Science Centre.
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| The Harbourside, with Pero's Bridge |
You need to be fit to explore Bristol properly on foot because some of its most attractive areas
are quite a way uphill, most notably Clifton,
which is almost a town in itself. To get
there you have to make a steep ascent of Park Street, with the Cathedral at the
bottom and the venerable Wills Memorial Tower of Bristol University at the top. If you don't want to walk it, there is always the hop-on hop-off bus which tours the city's main areas of interest. Once in Clifton,
you have a choice of attractions: the attractive streets crammed full of shops,
pubs and restaurants, and the vast green expanses of The Downs or the Avon Gorge crossed by the Clifton Suspension Bridge - another Brunel
triumph. The bridge towers 300 feet over
the Gorge, providing some impressive views along it. However, on a more sombre note the bridge has
also been the scene of many suicides over the years.
Not surprisingly for such a vibrant and
varied city, Bristol
has a rich cultural scene. During the
1990s the city became known in music circles for what was commonly referred to
as the Bristol Sound, characterised by bands such as the quirky Portishead and
the dark, edgy but utterly magnificent Massive Attack. As for the visual arts, it was Bristol that
gave rise to the shadowy graffiti artist known as Banksy, who has managed to
keep his real identity a secret in spite of the fact that his clever and often
politically motivated works appear overnight in highly public urban
spaces. In 2009 a Banksy exhibition at
the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery had people queuing for up to six
hours to gain entry. Bristol is also home to the Oscar-winning creators of Wallace and Gromit,
Aardman Animations. This summer 70
different Shaun the Sheep sculptures have been distributed around the city, an event named Shaun in the City, a
repeat of a similar event two years ago when 80 Gromit sculptures were
scattered around the city's streets, all in different designs. The sculptures have proved a magnet for
children, who love having their picture taken hugging Shaun or secreting
themselves in between his legs.
| Shaun in suspension! |
There are many festivals held in Bristol throughout the
year, too many to list here. However,
one festival which deserves a special mention is the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, a fitting event for the city which gave rise to the first
modern hot-air balloon in Western Europe, the
creation of members of the Bristol Gliding Club. This year's Fiesta was so popular that the
traffic volumes caused chaos throughout the city, prompting the organisers to
rethink how future events will be organised.
For a list of events in the city see follow this link.
Live streaming webcam view of Bristol Harbour from Underfall Yard.
Map of the area.
| Rainbow city |
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| Amsterdam? No, Bristol. |
