Tuesday's news day

Well, not really...

J had another day off (sadly unpaid - when is she going to realise she has to keep me in the manner I'm accustomed to. That is, unkempt, dishevelled, ragged.) We decided to have a look at one of the most famous of Brunel's designs, the Clifton Suspension Bridge. We got a closer look that expected when, despite the only navigational instruction being "don't take us onto the bridge", we ended up on the bridge. Luckily this year everything is C's fault, so neither of us took the blame. We paid the toll, drove over, turned around, paid the toll again and drove back again.

Clifton Village (now a suburb of Bristol) was an enclave of expensive shops, restaurants and cafes, with the odd interesting architectural and historical features. There had been a thermal spring (imaginatively called Hotwells) close by and even though there is no indication it is still used, what's left of the Pump Room has been incorporated into a Hotel. Next to this is a cliff railway that was drilled through the cliffs so as not to spoil their outlook. It was filled in after WW2 (when it was used for an air-raid shelter, a BBC broadcasting station and a store-room for barrage balloons) but is being excavated again by a local group. It would be nice if they could eventually get it all going again, but there would be a huge amount of work needed to do so.

After wandering around for a while and checking out a few shops we had lunch then headed off to see the bridge on foot. It has a fantastic view down the Avon gorge and over Bristol, though I wasn't too keen on getting near the sides. While it was designed by Brunel he never saw it finished as the company involved collapsed, and he moved on to other things. It was completed by other engineers as a memorial after his death. There was an observatory (though not astronomical) on a cliff overlooking the bridge and from there a tunnel had been carved through rocks to a cave with a natural viewing platform over the gorge. Apparently an artist had wanted a private view for painting, so had engaged some of the reduntant workers from the bridge company to dig the tunnel. Some people are crazy.

We had a look at more shops for various items we needed, of which we found none. We had bought a foam bed overlay in NZ for $25 or so, so looked here for similar. The closest we found was L49! It really is expensive over here, even factoring in the exchange. Another example is the L80 J was quoted for a hair-cut, and 96p for a litre of petrol. And before you say "Ah, but you salary makes up for it", no it doesn't. Whinge, whinge, moan, moan.

This time, and from now on, picks of Bristol will be found by clicking on the link in the top of the right hand column on this page. I'll just keep adding to that Web Album. Pics of other adventures will get their own Albums and their own links on this part of the Blog. Alles klar? Ja? Sehr gut!