Bristol - a walk around town (1)

Bristol is a city, not without it's problems, that seems to be constantly evolving whilst keeping memories of the past.

(As you may recall from information I referred in the last two posts, Bristol was my second home for some time. Is is quite difficult visiting a place every 4 - 6 weeks for a while and then all of a sudden not doing so any more. It has been 13 months now and I have wrestled in my mind about a lot of things here .... least of all how to condense this post into one, I can't as there is a mixture of interest and unusual shots that may not excite the variety of people following, so it will have to be two.... sorry about that. )

I begin this tour just behind the ferry landing stage that you saw in the last post with the picture above and am heading into the City centre. It seems that they tried to extend the water theme into the city by building a series of fountains. On a sunny summer day, it virtually becomes a paddling pool.

Continuing down the street, the old city is entered via one of the few remaining gates at St Johns archway. There are a few interesting buildings to see on the walk up to the church on Broad street, the best being the Edward Everard building. This is the start of the shopping area

At the top of the street is an outdoor market selling a variety of locally made gifts, pictures and food...

The mix in St Nix !!

with a similar thing on the inside of the adjacent St Nicholas' market. The range of hot foods available to the rear of this building is amazing. I spent a lot of time and money in the bookshop on the left.

One of the structural problems of Bristol city centre is that it was partially bombed during World war II. With a 1950s rebuild, out of town shopping centres and inner city traffic and parking problems, the authorities have sought to improve and extend what is available.....

... with the recent addition of a blue tiled line going down the street !! ... and some stone balls !! ....

...leading to a brand new shopping centre at the bottom of the street called Cabot Circus.

"the glass roof " or ... let me out !!

It was a little unfortunate that the leading trader, House of Fraser, moved out of the large building below and into the new complex leaving the older shops of Broadmead a little exposed to either closure or the cheaper end of the retail market.

"Saile"... my combination of the words "sale" and "sail" from left to right !

A nearby shopping arcade was thankfully saved from the World War II bombs but only to find that it may be later destroyed by its distance from Cabot circus, increasing rents and current economic hardship. When I first visited Bristol, this arcade was full of life, latterly it only had a few shops occupied, one of which was my regular friday 7:30 - 9:00 am Starbucks moment at the far end .... beside the blue line.

The oldest building to survive in Broadmead is an Almshouse (it housed the elderly who could no longer work) built in 1701 which is dwarfed and incorporated by means of a coffee shop and sandwich bar into a 1991 shopping centre. It was thought that a lot of post war buildings needed improvement, while just around the corner.....

a much more modern touch is given to a piazza square in the Cabot circus - Broadmead extension.

Another building to survive near The Arcade is the oldest Methodist chapel in the world built in 1739. John Wesley (statue above in the garden) was not allowed to preach in any other church, so he had to build his own.
He also helped the poor and less fortunate at these facilities. It is very apt that he built it near where "Primark" and friends are today.

Moving slightly out of town in the direction of the railway station, I came across this unusual structure which was part of an old school wall...

This school wall indicated that Thomas Chatterton was taught here. After doing some later research, it turns out that Chatterton was a very young poet who was born in the house behind in 1752 and the school wall was moved to this site in 1940 due to a road widening scheme elsewhere... how strange. Chatterton seemed a little impatient to have success in his work and it is sad to say that his trip to London did not go well and he committed suicide at the age of 17. Little did he know where his fame was going to come from later in history.

Leaning tower of Templar

It was thought that the tower of Temple Church which was completed in 1460 was affected by the bombs of World War II. However this updated structure of the Knights Templar Crusaders was built on marshy land, paid the price for the "lean" in later years and was somehow saved from demolition. For obvious and unfortunate reasons, it is not open to the public.

In contrast, after a walk back into town, the Bristol Eye Hospital has beautiful 3 dimensional animal designs on the wall, no doubt for patients to enjoy.

Lastly, retracing my path back to the starting point, it is nice to be able to walk down Christmas steps.

This alleyway was constructed in 1669 by a wealthy wine merchant to do away with a steep muddy path up to the hospital.

These days it is more famous for small boutiques, takeaway food, Stamp / coin shops and a pub at the bottom...

All this walking is making me hungry and thirsty, so I'll finish part one with some lunch at Cafe Amore who make fantastic sandwiches sell wonderful cakes..... Enjoy ... if you can, visually !!