Bristol
In June 2023, we visited the historic riverside city of Bristol for a weekend, escaping London for a couple of days.
Originally I had planned on travelling up to Macclesfield to see a dear friend but due to the rail strikes which affected all trains this particular weekend, that was off the cards.
So we ended up taking a coach from Victoria Coach station in London to Bristol. It was quite a long trip, taking approximately 3 hours each way but we did at least have a toilet on board the coach.
We left very early on the Saturday morning, returning quite late on the Sunday which meant we had 2 full days of sightseeing.
Although we didn't get to see everything, we still managed quite a number of attractions including one of the museums, the Mshed museum, the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Observatory and the Giants Cave, with its stunning views overlooking Bristol and the Avon Gorge.
We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn which was centrally located and within easy walking distance to most inner city attractions. For everything else, we used the services of the local Hop on/off bus.
We walked endlessly around the city before checking into our hotel at 3pm, had a brief siesta before heading out again and enjoying the hop on/off bus tour of the city.
Don on your walking shoes as most of the sites are best seen by foot. Collectively over the 2 days we visited I walked a total of 40km (25 miles).
By chance, we discovered this awesome bar and restaurant on the harbour called Za Za Bizarre. Not only did they serve up cheap cocktails but they had an all-you-can-eat buffet for just £13pp. So of course, we drank and ate ourselves into oblivion before heading back to the hotel and crashing. For a buffet, it sure was one of the better ones we've experienced on our travels...with a choice of Mexican, Italian, Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine, all cooked fresh throughout the day.
The highlight of the weekend was the Clifton Observatory, the Giants Cave and Brunels suspension bridge. During the Iron Age, this area of the observatory was actually a hill fort dating back about 800 B.C. years before Roman settlement in A.D. 43 and was most likely settled by a Celtic tribe.
The observatory building was formerly a corn and snuff (tobacco) mill until the fire of 1777 destroyed much of the mill infrastructure. It stood derelict for over 50 years when in 1828 it was rented to William West, an artist who established the premises as a studio. He installed various telescopes and a camera obscura which were used by artists of the day to draw the local countryside, being the Avon gorge and Leigh Woods on the opposite side. The camera remains today and is accessible to visitors for a small fee.
West also built a tunnel deep beneath the observatory to St Vincents Cave or what is known today as the Giants Cave. The tunnel, very cramped in places is 61m long, 27m from the top of the observatory, 76m from the floor of the gorge and is also accessible to visitors with lovely views of the valley below from the observation deck.
Pornstar Martini
JJ Whitley vanilla vodka, passoa, passion fruit, pineapple, vanilla syrup with a shot of prosecco to start. 2 for £12
Turbo Long Island Iced Tea
Dead Man's Fingers & 151 Rum, passion fruit, pineapple, vanilla & coconut syrup and pig orchard cider. 2 for £12
Za Za Bizarre Buffet
Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian plus fresh salads and of course, dessert.
My Favourite Dessert
Chocolate Fondue
View of the Clifton Suspension Bridge from the very top of the Observatory
Original camera obscura, 1828
Tunnel to Giants Cave
Nick and Duncan enjoying the view of Clifton Suspension Bridge from the Giants Cave observation deck.
View of the observatory & cave observation deck from the
Clifton Suspension Bridge
View of Bristol & Avon gorge from the
Clifton Suspension Bridge
Harbour Cruise
This is the floating harbour, created so boats don't sink into the mud during low tide. It's sectioned off by way of a large lock near the mouth of the River Avon (Avon Gorge).
For £10pp we took a lovely 45 minute ferry ride on the harbour with a commentary that provided some useful information about the local area. The ferry is called the Tower Belle, built in 1920 and was originally used to transport troops to and from various ships during the war.
It was a delightful afternoon with temperatures hitting the low 20's.
SS Great Britain
This ship was the largest of it's kind when launched in 1843. It was the first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic to New York, which she did in just 2 weeks. She was designed by one of the most prolific engineers of the 19th century, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Brunel was chief engineer of many projects including the SS Great Eastern and the Great Western Railway (GWR). He helped his father build the first tunnel under the River Thames plus he designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the original Temple Meads Railway station, which was the terminus for the GWR, also in Bristol. He was responsible for various other achievements which are worth reading about on his Wikipedia page.
River Avon
At the turn of the 15th century, this area was a trading hub known as The Shambles. It became meat central with traders of meat, slaughterhouses and butchers. By the end of the 1300's, Bristol had become one of the most important trading hubs in England, second only to London in it's wealth.
The bridge you see in the distance is Bristol Bridge. It was the first bridge to cross the River Avon, built in the year 1066 with structural elements like iron added as they were developed.
Temple Meads Railway Station
The Matthew
One of the standout exhibits on the harbour is this reconstruction of the ship, The Matthew. The original was built in Bristol in 1497, where it sailed across the Altantic, skippered by a Giovanni Cabboto (John Cabot) to explore new lands including North America. To mark it's 500th anniversary in 1997 this replica was constructed and sailed more or less the same route as it did centuries before.
10 Fascinating Facts about Bristol
The first ever chocolate bar was invented in Bristol by J.S. Fry and Sons, in 1847. Prior this, chocolate was only consumed in drinks or small tablets. The bar was called Delicieux a Manger, in French, meaning Delicious to Eat. In 1873 it created the worlds first Easter Egg.
The worlds first supersonic jet, The Concorde was designed and built in Bristol.
Nipper, the dog synonymous with the brand HMV was born in Bristol in 1884.
Bristol is the home to the famous cartoon, Wallace and Grommit.
Darth Vader is Bristolian. David Prowse was an English bodybuilder and actor who played the physical giant in the original Star Wars trilogy.
Bristol has it's own leaning tower, The Temple Church which leans only 1 degree less than the Leaning Tower of Pisa at 2.7 degrees.
Bristol has a reputation for being the centre of the African slave trade from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. Some 500,000 African people were enslaved and traded in the port city by rich merchants. Other commodities included sugar, rum, ivory, timber and grain. It became one of the busiest ports in England outside London.
JK Rowling was born on the outskirts of Bristol in the town Yate.
Ribena, the blackcurrent drink was invented in Bristol in 1933, becoming very popular during the war as alternative to Vitamin C.
The pirate known as Blackbeard (Edward Teach) called Bristol his home.
Anderson Bomb Shelter, 1940
Over 40,000 of these were constructed during WWII. They were essentially domestic air raid shelters made from corrugated steel sheets bolted together and buried half way in the ground in peoples gardens and covered with earth. They were built to house 6 people but often sheltered many more.
Temple Church
Temple Church, a medieval structure was bombed in WWII during the blitz in 1940. Many of the buildings were demolished post-war but the Temple Church remained as it was deemed to important to tear down.
Temple was where cloth workers lived and worked. In 1299, the weavers guild built their own temple dedicated to St Catherine. It was the largest and the most important church of it's day.
The church tower leans but this wasn't due to construction methods but the rather soggy foundations on where it was located.
After the war, archaeologists discovered the foundations of another church within it's boundaries, only this nave was round.
The round church was called Holy Cross. It formed part of a monestary that was built here in the early 12th century by the Order of the Knights Temple, who were soldier monks. They traded between Bristol, France, Portugal and the Mediterranean. For the next 150 years, the church was rebuilt and enlarged to reflect the rectangular shape you see today.
So that was our brief visit to Bristol. Fascinating city worth seeing a 2nd time so I think in a couple of years, we shall return, perhaps with our mate Charlie. There is a 3.5 hour ferry tour of the harbour which also includes a trip down the Avon gorge to the mouth of the river. We're also told that the River Avon branches off from the harbour in various directions under the city and you can organise a kayaking trip to explore these underground caverns. I'm told there's some YouTube footage of this tour. And of course, there's the Bristol museum. We did visit the Mshed, one of the smaller museums down on Princes Wharf but this had quite a limited number of items on display. So I think a repeat visit is on the cards at some point.
Additionally, Bristol is the kind of city that is perfect for a weekend break away from London. It's a much smaller city of course with plenty to see and do and as mentioned above, lots of hidden gems to discover and explore.