Bristol: 30/4/23

 Happy birthday to me! But another grey day. After breakfast I set out to walk along the river Avon to see the famous suspension bridge at the other side of town. The river is very tidal here, with a daily rise and fall of up to 9 metres, and when I started out it was very low and grey and muddy. It got higher as the day went on, but no less grey. The walk was mainly through a residential area, but one sidestreet led through the suburb of Bedminster, which had some impressive old buildings, including an old school that looks like a jail, an old police station that looks like a castle, and the old cigarette factory that featured in several of the Bristol Museum displays. This was apparently a haven of happiness and joy for the -- mainly female -- workers there, who were apparently treated very well and thoroughly enjoyed their jobs. But one wonders how much that had to do with all the tobacco dust floating in the atmosphere.

A footbridge that I had planned to cross was closed, but I got over the river at the Underfall Yard docks at Cumberland Basin. This is where the levels of the river and the alternate 'cut' waterway are controlled, and there is a free exhibit showing how it all works, along with some barges, a teashop where I had a carrot cake, and the first Butcombe Brewery pub I have seen since the Crown at Tolldown. But it was a little early for beer. I continued along the river and eventually reached a large recreation area with a track leading on under the suspension bridge, which I duly followed. Quite a few people about, jogging, walking, and cycling, and many more with dogs.

The path is a long way below the bridge, so it looks quite impressive, but if I had wanted to go up to it I would have had a long steep walk around. Even the path under the bridge was quite high above the river, with a steep unfenced drop on one side, so I didn't even feel entirely comfortable there. I had thought I might be able to loop around, but as far as I could see the only way back over the river was up at the coast about 10km away, so I turned around and went back. I crossed the river again at a rather scary old industrial estate, with an old Brunel pivoting lock gate in bad repair and a very deep lock beside it. Had I gone in there you would never have heard from me again. I thought at first I was stuck there and would have to go back, but I discovered an open gate and returned to central Bristol through the suburb of Hotwells, so named because there used to be thermal wells here with heated water.

Town was still quite dead after last night's debauch, so I walked up to the Cathedral and had a look around. Much the same as Bath and Gloucester, though somewhat smaller. Robert Southey, the poet laureate, was a local, and has a plaque up here, though I believe he is buried elsewhere.

Time for lunch at a Wetherspoons pub, though this was rather smaller than the others I have been to, and offered fewer choices. Then a quick trip down the road to the Bristol Aquarium, mainly to get in out of the rain. This was reasonable, though by this stage all aquariums are starting to look alike to me. They had quite a good display of river fish, especially local ones, and it was very popular with kids.

And so back to the hotel. No further work on the construction site today, so my hopes of seeing it finished before I go are unlikely to be fulfilled. Tomorrow the local museums are closed, so I plan to head out to the Bristol Aerospace Museum, a short train trip away.