Tuesday 18 October 2011

Beautiful Bristol

It is many, many years since I last went to Bristol so, when I saw the Premier Inn offering a room at £29 per night – I booked it.

We set off on a rather grey day but as we travelled east, the weather brightened up and the sun poked his head through the clouds.

Our Sat Nav lady took us into Bristol past the Clifton Bridge and we found ourselves down by the docks. We carried on to make sure we knew where the hotel was and then doubled back to the dockside and easily found a FREE parking space right next to a riverside cafe.

We sat outside right next to an elaborate houseboat.

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 The rear of the boat had strong railings around and when a toddler appeared, playing footie with his Dad, I knew why. The old warehouses across the river had been transformed into apartments but there were still a few buildings waiting to be modernised. The mix of old and new was interesting.

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Whilst enjoying a hot cup of coffee I smiled, watching a pigeon having a swing on the tow rope.

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After our coffee we went walkabout and the sun came out.

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Across the river was a large Amphitheatre – great piece of architecture

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Further down the river was the SS Great Britain. We could see it in the distance but ……….

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Cobbles 2

 

 

 

By that time my poor feet were killing me.

Verrucas and cobblestones are NOT compatible

Don’t worry, I am not going to post photos of my verrucas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I fell in love with this row of Georgian houses and wondered who lived there many years ago.

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After lunch we crossed the river and found many different bars including a Weatherspoons.

Much busier there than on the other side and there were the remains of a market and a guy playing a fiddle standing on a tightrope!

No, I didn’t photograph him in case he fell off. What some people do for a living eh?

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That concludes our walk around the harbour. I then hobbled on the cobbles back to the car. Ouch!

I was intrigued by the many different types of cobbles and the iron kerbs around many of the pavements

 

Needless to say I googled it and here is the answer :

A distinctive iron pavement kerbing was frequently used in Bristol streets, to prevent iron cartwheels damaging the stone paving. Many sections of the old edging still exist - Lower Park Row (below left) and Temple Street (below right) are typical examples. The iron kerb is almost unique to Bristol, Southampton being one of the few other places.

Kerb edging

Kerb edging

Iron kerbs were still being installed in the early 20th Century, when they were made by the Douglas Company of Kingswood. They used surplus metal left over from manufacture of their famous motorcycles.

Then we went to the hotel, mooched around the shopping mall and ended up seeing a movie. Tinker Taylor, Soldier Spy – very, very complex but we enjoyed it sitting back in the most comfy cinema seats ever. I struggled to keep awake.

JJ

1 comment:

  1. This looked like a fun trip Jean. I don't think I ever spent any time in Bristol, just always tried to see the suspension bridge as the good old (well it was at one time) Nat. Express passed by to and from one of the airports!

    It looks really nice there down by the water - and the story of the kerbs/curbs is interesting.

    Sorry about your foot problem Jean - they usually go away eventually, the verrucas, not your poor feet! Meanwhile there are ways to treat them or at least be able to walk with less pain. Hope all is well otherwise - love to the family.

    I'm of on Thurs. and somewhat nervous as well as excited. I'll try to blog while gone when we have Internet available.

    Love from us both.
    Mary X

    ReplyDelete

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JJ