Bath to Bristol: 28/4/23

 I checked out of the hotel in Bath and walked to the station just in time to catch the train to Bristol. Lots of Brits complain about the train system here, but compared to Australia it's an absolute dream; half an hour between trains is about the most I have ever had to wait, and they have always been within a few minutes of time. The daft segregation into local private companies makes it a bit of a pain to use, but in general it all seems to work well.

Anyway, I was in Bristol twenty minutes later, and after a wrong turn at the railway station I reached the hotel by about ten. I had planned to just leave my bag, but they were happy to provide me with a room for no extra cost, so I ended up on the 7th floor, in a quiet corner, with a large warm room and a grand view over the skyscraper construction crew working next door. Yesterday afternoon they poured the concrete for the whole floor, which was fascinating to watch. 

Out again then to walk up through Bristol to the museum and art gallery in the western part of town. Bristol is quite pleasant -- in the sunshine, at least -- with a river, canals, and what seems like an almost excessive number of breweries and distilleries. The museum is in a nice old building just near the university and adjacent to the Wills Memorial Building, a massive tower in the Perpendicular Gothic style which now houses some of the university departments. Unfortunately it's only open to the public a couple of days every month, but it looks very impressive from the doorway. Wills was the father of WD and HO Wills of tobacco fame, so they had plenty of money to commemorate him with.

The museum itself was not huge, but quite well laid out in the traditional style: a high atrium with two levels of galleries around it. The art gallery is in a more modern part of the building, with paintings from several leading lights of British and French art. And there's lots of porcelain -- which Bristol was famous for manufacturing -- and glassware.

I emerged back into the student quarter, had a bagel and coffee, and climbed up to the nearby Cabot Tower, built about the same time as a memorial to John Cabot the Italian explorer, who sailed from here to North America in the late 1400s. 'John Cabot' sounds very English, but in fact he signed himself 'Zuan Chabotto'. His son Sebastian was also a noted explorer.

Down then through Brandon Hill Park to the River Avon to see the SS Great Britain, an early steamship designed and built as a passenger liner by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. There turned out to be a river in the way -- the Avon, which I have been encountering since Stratford, but an enterprising boat company provides a ferry across, so soon I was one of a relatively small number of tourists clambering all over the ship. Most of the interior has been carefully restored, and you can see the replica engines churning away -- though much more slowly than they would have done in real life. The ship has a chequered history, having been converted to sail at one time to save money, run aground once or twice, and eventually been beached in the Falklands, from which it was recovered in 1970. It's now in dry dock, and to preserve the steel plates the whole bottom section is continually bathed with warm dry air. I imagine that's a nice place to go in a Bristol winter, if you can afford the entry fee.

Walked back along the river to the hotel via the station, where I picked up some provisions for dinner. A short detour brought me to Little Martha Brewing, a shopfront under the railway line, which was already quite busy. I had a nice pint there, and returned to the hotel. Good beer, a warm room and a sunny day; quite an unusual combination. Tomorrow I plan to get the train to Cardiff for the day.