Bristol is the unofficial capital of the West Country of England. Bristol, England, UK.
Latitude: 51.26° North of the Equator
Longitude: 2.35° West of Greenwich
Understand
With a population of around 400,000, Bristol is the largest city in the south of England after London and the largest shipping port in England. Although Bristol suffered from extensive bombing during World War II and more recently, a steep decline in its manufacturing industry, it has remained a prosperous city thanks to an influx of commercial investment.
The port of Bristol grew up in mediaeval times around the confluence of the rivers Avon and Frome, requiring ships to navigate the tidal and precipitous Avon Gorge that flows out into the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, this tidal port was turned into the enclosed Floating Harbour by the construction of locks and the New Cut (an overflow channel for the River Avon). Because of way this was done, the floating harbour winds its way through the city centre in quite a different manner to the way most enclosed docks turn their backs on their host city.
With the advent of larger ships the tricky passage of the Avon Gorge became too much of a liability and Bristol's commercial shipping long since moved downstream to modern docks at Avonmouth and Portbury. But the floating harbour lives on as a real unique selling point for Bristol, providing mooring for leisure craft and preserved ships, a home for the city's industrial museum and a setting for numerous bars, restaurants, apartment complexes and offices.
Although it's often overlooked as a tourist destination, Bristol has a lot to offer of its own and is also an excellent base for exploring the West Country, with relatively inexpensive accommodation compared to some of the main 'tourist traps' (such as nearby Bath) and a huge choice of bars, restaurants and shops. It is one of the most culturally vibrant cities in the South of England, hosting a wide variety of visual arts, theatre, speciality shopping and live music.
Get in
By plane
Bristol International Airport is situated 8 miles south-west of Bristol city centre and offers scheduled flights from major European cities, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Paris and Prague (but not London), and as of May 2005 a daily flight from New York. There is currently no train link between the airport and the city, but there is a 'Flyer' bus service that takes 30-45 minutes and has a peak-daytime frequency of every 20-30 minutes, costs are £7 for a return ticket, £5 for a one-way.
The alternative is to use one of the London airports or Birmingham airport and travel on to Bristol by train, car or bus. The most convenient are:
By train
Bristol Temple Meads station is located approximately 15 minutes walk from the city centre and has regular inter-city and regional train services from Bath, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, London, Plymouth, Southampton, Swansea and York.
Bristol has a second main railway station in Bristol Parkway, which is located several miles north of the city centre. Although this station also has frequent services to many of the same locations as Temple Meads, it is principally aimed at suburban residents and is unlikely to be useful to visitors.
From London, you can travel from London Paddington station. There are several through trains an hour, the fastest of which take under two hours for the journey. Train times (from any location) can be found on the National Rail Planner or by calling 08457 48-49-50 from anywhere in the UK.
Alternatively, there is Megatrain, a budget train service running out of London Waterloo to Bristol Temple Meads, with one or two trains a day taking just over two and a half hours.
By bus
National Express operate services to Marlborough St Coach station, located in the city centre, from cities throughout the UK including London. The journey from London to Bristol takes about 2h30min. Tickets are much cheaper if booked in advance online.
MegaBus also operate budget coach services from London to a stop outside the Colston Hall in Colston Street (Behind Yates Winelodge City Centre). Tickets must be booked online and fares are demand responsive but can be very cheap (£1.50 if you book far enough in advance). The journey to London takes about 30 min longer than by National Express.
By car
The M5 and M4 motorways intersect near Bristol and the M32, a motorway 'spur', brings traffic directly into the city centre. The M4 links London with Bristol with a driving time of some two hours.
Get around
Maps
Visit Bristol, the official tourism website for Bristol has free maps of the city for visitors. Bristol is also home to a branch of Stanfords, a very large supplier of maps and tour guides. Maps of Bristol with all the city centre street names and destinations marked sell from £1.50. Stanfords can be found at 29 Corn Street, and the staff double as local travel experts.
On Foot
Most locations in central Bristol (the Harbourside and Old City areas) are reasonable easily walkable, and there are plenty of attractive walking routes along the quaysides and in the pedestrianised central streets. The main rail station (Bristol Temple Meads) is a little further (about 15 mins walk) but still accessible by harbourside walkways or by bus.
Bike
Bristol has plenty of bike paths and routes and is at the centre of the National Cycle Network.
Train
Bristol Temple Meads offers direct trains to many UK cities including London (Paddington). It is also one terminus of the Severn Beach Line which passes through Lawrence Hill and Stapleton Road in the East of the inner city; Montpelier, Redland and Clifton Down in the north before heading north-west to Severn Beach, although off-peak trains terminate at Avonmouth. The route is quite scenic - the line itself has been voted one of the most scenic in the world by Thomas Cook; the fares are cheap (a 7 day season ticket between Temple Meads and Clifton Down is £3.90 and an off-peak day return is £1.50), quick (Temple Meads to Clifton Down takes about 15 minutes) and usually punctual and reliable. The The Severn Beach train usually runs approximately hourly from 0600 to 2200hrs, Monday to Saturday, but check details using Transport Direct before travelling.
Bus
Most bus services in Bristol are operated by First Bristol As most of Bristol's hotels and places to visit are located near the city centre or are in the upmarket suburb of Clifton, First Bristol's number 8 and 9 buses are probably the most useful for visitors. They follow a route from Temple Meads station to Clifton, passing through the main shopping area (Broadmead), the city centre (also handy for the harbourside) and the West End on the way. Single-trip tickets are a flat rate of £1.30.
Visitors planning on using the bus service for anything more than one short return journey may wish to purchase a FirstDay ticket. This will allow unlimited travel within zones 1 and 2 on most bus services for a one-off fixed fee. Currently, a FirstDay ticket will cost between £3.50 and £4.40 depending upon concessions and when purchased.
Ferry
Because of the way the city centre is intimately interwoven with the old 'floating harbour', a boat is a good way of getting around as well as seeing a lot of interesting sights. Bristol Ferry Boat runs several ferry services around the harbour, stopping at various quays on route, and even providing a commuter service between the city centre and the main rail station.
Bristol City Council offers a useful walking and public transport journey planner at http://www.travelbristol.org/. Bristol is quite a hilly city, but if you don't mind walking up hills the walk can be pleasant on a fine day.
By Car
Driving is probably the best way of seeing the surrounding region. Many of the routes into Bristol during peak hours operate a car pool lane for cars with more than one occupant.
Driving in the centre of Bristol with its complex one-way system can be frustrating and confusing for the uninitiated - things will be worse than usual for the forseeable future thanks to the Broadmead redevelopment work.
Parking
There are plenty of NCP car parks, and street parking. The cheaper street parking is in short supply in the centre - however Queen Square can usually be counted on to have a few spaces at off-peak times.
Park and Ride
There are three Park and Ride schemes operating in Bristol, with an additional Park and Ride for the busy Christmas period based at UWE in Frenchay. The main park and rides are at Brislington, on the A4 opposite St Brendan's school. Another is in Shirehampton and a third is at the end of the A370 Long Ashton Bypass.
Taxi
Due to the heavy traffic, taxis in Bristol can be quite expensive – and don't forget to allow extra time on your journey when taking a cab. There are about 700 licensed taxis (Hackney Carriages) and these can be distinguished by roof signs and meters charged at a rate set by the council. There are a similar number of private hire vehicles (without roof signs) that need to be pre-booked. All legitimate taxi and private hire vehicles should have a predominantly yellow council-issued plate at the front and back of the vehicle. More details on taxis and private hire vehicles can be found at http://www.bristol-city.gov.uk/ccm/content/Transport-Streets/Taxis-and-Minicabs/taxis-in-bristol.en.
See
Temple Meads Area
This is the area surrounding Bristol's main rail station. Whilst certainly not the most attractive part of Bristol, there are a couple of attractions worth seeing before moving on:
Harbourside
The floating harbour is the jewel in Bristol's crown, and many of its attractions are on or close to the harbour:
Old Bristol
Between the Frome and Avon branches of the harbour, and rising up the ridge that separated these two rivers, are the remains of mediaeval Bristol most of which is of some historical interest. Here are some of the highlights:
Clifton
The old and up-market suburb of Clifton contains several more places of interest:
Eastside
Bristol's Eastside is the multicultural centre of Bristol and offers visitors a refreshing alternative side of the city, made up of a colourful collection of neighbourhoods that boast independent retailers from all around the globe. The wonderful thing about this side of town is simply walking around it - and most of the good things to do and see are free! Visit Eastside gives details of the many highlights and offers downloadable walking tours. Some of the highlights are:
Do
Special Events
Bristol generally has at least one major annual event each weekend throughout the summer. The most significant include:
Listings
There are various websites publicising these events, but probably the best thing is to pick up a copy of Venue Magazine (analogous to London's 'Time Out') from a newsagent. Venue is weekly (except around Christmas/New Year), costs £1.50, and new editions are usually available on Wednesdays.
Saturday's edition of the Bristol Evening Post has a free pull-out supplement called Seven that lists much of what is on offer in the city during the following seven days.
Cinema
Theatre
Music
Pubs offering live music of some sort are extremely numerous in most areas of the city.
Comedy
Learn
Higher education
Bristol is home to two universities: University of Bristol and University of the West of England.
Work
The largest independent employers in Bristol are the two Universities, the Orange telco, Hewlett-Packard/Compaq, and various media companies including BBC Bristol (famed for its natural history department), HTV West and Endemol.
Casual work, usually supermarket, bar and restaurant work is fairly easily available in Bristol.
Buy
Malls & Shopping Centres
Areas
Bristol also has quite vibrant district shopping centres. The best of these are probably:
Markets
There are also a number of markets around the city. St Nicholas Market in the centre, near Corn St. is a permanent fixture and has stalls selling jewellery, books, CDs and fresh food. It also hosts the 'Nails' market on Fridays and Saturdays and a Flea Market on Fridays, as well as various special markets around the end of the year. There are a number of farmers markets (and similar events) held at different venues around the city. These include:
Eat
Bristol has a huge choice of bars and restaurants to suit all tastes and budgets. There are many around the Harbourside and The West End's Park Street and Whiteladies Road, but do not be dissuaded from trying those outside the centre as many are superior to those that attract passing trade due to their location.
Budget
Mid Range
Splurge
Drink
The fact that it's the home to around 30,000 students probably says a lot for the quality of the city's nightlife. Surprisingly, though, it's relatively expensive, with prices similar to those in London. Mainstream nightlife centres on Corn Street in the 'old city', the Harbourside and Whiteladies Road which are dominated by chain bars and get extremely busy, if not rowdy, at weekends. The eastern end of King Street in the old city provides a slightly more relaxed, but popular, outdoor drinking area on sunny summer evenings, surrounded by historic pubs such as the 17th-century Llandoger Trow (reputed to have been the haunt of pirates and the model for the Admiral Benbow in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Treasure Island").
Notable Pubs include;
There are a number of pubs located around the City Docks, such as The Cottage at the Hotwells end of the Floating Harbour. These pubs can be accessed by foot or by harbour ferry.
Non-alcoholic venues include:
Sleep
There are a large number of hotels and guest houses in the Bristol area. A selection is listed below.
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
Contact
Phone
Bristol's landline area code is 117. Dial 0117 from within the UK or +44117 from outside the UK.
Internet
Bristol has easy internet access like most cities, and as a city, has the advantage of broadband being easily accessible both to install and use.
Bristol also boasts an abundance of internet cafes available for all to use. The council has also recently installed the internet in most of the main libraries in Bristol. Providing you are a member of Bristol Libraries you can book internet use. A network of free wi-fi hotspots called StreetNet is being deploying in central Bristol. It is currently available around the Watershed and along Queen's Road.
Many small "i" stations can be found in and around the centre, allowing you to surf certain approved sites such as the job search pages and the entertainment guide for the local clubs and venues. You can also send emails with media attachments: for example you are able to film a message for someone to send alongside your regular email.
Stay safe
Like many larger cities in the UK, Bristol has its rough areas. The general advice seems to be that you have to use your common sense while getting around; just as you would in your own home town. Drunken brawls and assaults do occur in the centre of town on Friday and Saturday nights as pubs and clubs close, especially near the waterfront area, "the Centre", taxi queues and fast food joints.
To avoid this in the Centre, especially at 11pm and 2am kick-out times, you'd be advised to walk along Baldwin Street (between the coffee shop and Alliance & Leicester) to hail a cab from some of the smaller, less busy ranks.
There are also specific areas that do have a reputation after dark (and some in the day.) The inner city districts of St Pauls and Easton, also some outlying suburbs such as Southmead, Knowle and Hartcliffe have a reputation but it is unlikely that a visitor to the city would travel to these parts.
Stay Healthy
Get out
Towns and cities
Outdoor activities
The Bristol to Bath cycle path
This showcase cycle path runs on a disused railway line from central Bristol to Bath. With its traffic free tarmac, gentle gradients, and only two minor road crossings on its 22km stretch, it is ideal for cycling. At a leisurely pace the journey to Bath takes a good 2h through green suburbs and some attractive countryside. If you are too tired to cycle back, you can take your bicycle free of charge on one of the frequent trains from Bath Spa to Bristol temple meads station. The journey takes 10-15 min.
From Bath, you can continue cycling along the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal all
the way to Bradford upon Avon, taking another hour or so. Though not paved and somewhat narrower than the Bristol to Bath cycle path, the towpath is still traffic free and the scenery even more beautiful. There are two or three places to stop and eat or drink on the way. The Aqueduct at Avoncliff is worth seeing. From Bradford too there are direct trains back to Bristol that carry bicycles.
Famous Residents and Former Residents of Bristol
Derren Brown, Tony Robinson, Matt Lucas and David Walliams (Little Britain), Ewan Blair (Son of Tony Blair PM), Paul McGann (Actor), Adam Hart Davies, Sophie Anderton (Model), James Redmond (Actor), Justin Lee Collins (Comedian), Massive Attack, Tricky, Roni Size, Portishead, Kosheen, Bananarama, Sean Moore (Manic Street Preachers), Andy Shepherd (Saxophonist), Kate Adie (Broadcaster), Tony Benn (MP), Tony Bullimore (Mariner), Neneh Cherry (Singer), John Cleese (Actor), Damien Hirst (Artist), Lee Evans (Comedian) Bill Bailey, Elizabeth Frasier (Cocteau Twins), James Blunt (Singer/Songwriter), Norman Eshley (Actor), Wayne Hussey, The Mission (singer/band), Patrick Stewart (Actor), Daniel Day-Lewis (Actor), Gene Wilder (Bristol), Stephanie Cole, Pete Postlethwaite, Amanda Redman, Helen Baxendale, Greta Scacchi, Brian Blessed, Jim Davidson, WG Grace (cricketer), Julie Burchill, Agatha Christie (married at Emmanuel Church, Clifton), Helen Dunmore (author), Sir Michael Berry (Physicist)
Banksy
Famous local graffiti artist at the centre of controversy about whether his work is art or vandalism. You can see one of his early tags on the bridge over the M32. A more recent stencil can be seen from the bottom of Park Street on a building in Frog Lane.
Bob Hope
Lived for the first few years of his life in Whitehall and St George, before his family emigrated to the US. His early memories include being bitten by a dog in St George's Park.
Nipper the Dog
The dog of HMV "His Master's Voice". Mark Barraud 1848-1887 owner and master of Bristol born dog Nipper 1884-1895 was employed as a scenic designer in the old Prince's Theatre in Park Row.
Cary Grant
Born Archibald Leach in Hughenden Road, Horfield, Bristol, Grant's first role in theatre was working at the Bristol Hippodrome. He made more than 70 films and became one of the best-loved actors of all time. He remained a regular visitor to Bristol, usually staying in the Royal Hotel, now known as the Bristol Marriott Royal. In 2001, to mark the 70th anniversary of Grant's arrival in Hollywood, Bristol unveiled a new Cary Grant statue in Millennium Square, At Bristol.
John Cabot
Italian-born explorer who sailed from Bristol to Newfoundland on the Matthew in 1497. May have lived in St Nicholas Street. Cabot statues can be seen outside the Arnolfini and the Council House. The Cabot Tower was erected on Brandon Hill in 1897. Cabot's ship, the Matthew, has been recreated and can now be seen at Bristol Maritime Museum next to the S.S. Great Britain, and is often available for short trips around the docks during special events and festivals.
Bristol () is a city, unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London.
With an approximate population of 400,000, and metropolitan area of 550,000, it is England's sixth, and the United Kingdom's ninth, most populous city, one of England's core cities and the most populous city in South West England. It received a royal charter in 1155 and was granted county status in 1373. For half a millennium it was the second or third largest English city, until the rapid rise of Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham in the Industrial Revolution in the later part of the 18th century. It borders on the unitary districts of Bath and North East Somerset (BANES), North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, between the cities of Bath, Gloucester and Newport, and has a short coastline on the estuary of the River Severn which flows into the Bristol Channel.
Bristol is one of the centres of culture, employment and education in the region. From its earliest days, its prosperity has been linked to that of the Port of Bristol, the commercial port, which was in the city centre but has now moved to the Bristol Channel coast at Avonmouth and Portbury. In more recent years the economy has been built on the aerospace industry, and the city centre docks have been regenerated as a centre of heritage and culture.
History
There is evidence of settlement in the Bristol area from the palaeolithic era, with 60,000-year-old archaeological finds at Shirehampton and St Annes.
There are Iron Age hill forts near the city, at Leigh Woods and Clifton Down on the side of the Avon Gorge, and on Kingsweston Hill, near Henbury.
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During the Roman era there was a settlement, Abona, at what is now Sea Mills, connected to Bath by Roman road, and another settlement at what is now Inns Court. There were also isolated Roman villas and small Roman settlements throughout the area.
The town of Brycgstow (Old English, "the place at the bridge"
)
was in existence by the beginning of the 11th century, and under Norman rule acquired one of the strongest castles in southern England.
The River Avon in the city centre has evolved into Bristol Harbour, and since the 12th century the harbour has been an important port, handling much of England's trade with Ireland. In 1247 a new bridge was built, which was replaced by the current Bristol Bridge in the 1760s,
and the town was extended to incorporate neighbouring suburbs, becoming in 1373 a county in its own right.
During this period Bristol also became a centre of shipbuilding and manufacturing. Bristol was the starting point for many important voyages, notably John Cabot's 1497 voyage of exploration to North America.
By the 14th century Bristol was England's third-largest town (after London and York), with perhaps 15–20,000 inhabitants on the eve of the Black Death of 1348–49.
The Plague inflicted a prolonged pause in the growth of Bristol's population, with numbers remaining at 10–12,000 through most of the 15th and 16th centuries. The Diocese of Bristol was founded in 1542,
with the former Abbey of St Augustine becoming Bristol Cathedral. Traditionally this is equivalent to the town being granted city status. During the 1640s Civil War the city was occupied by Royalist military occupation, when they overran Royal Fort the last Parliamentarian stronghold in the city.
Renewed growth came with the 17th century rise of England's American colonies and the rapid 18th century expansion of England's part in the Atlantic trade in Africans taken for slavery in the Americas. Bristol, along with Liverpool, became a centre for the slave trade although few slaves were brought to Britain. During the height of the slave trade, from 1700 to 1807, more than 2,000 slaving ships were fitted out at Bristol, carrying a (conservatively) estimated half a million people from Africa to the Americas and slavery.
Still standing in Bristol is the Seven Stars pub, where abolitionist Thomas Clarkson collected information regarding the slave trade.
Fishermen who left Bristol were long part of the migratory fishery to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and began settling that island permanently in larger numbers around this time. Bristol's strong nautical ties meant that maritime safety was an important issue in the city, In the 19th century Samuel Plimsoll, "the sailor's friend", campaigned to make the seas safer. He was shocked by the overloaded cargoes and successfully fought for a compulsory load line on ships.
Competition from Liverpool from c. 1760, the disruption of maritime commerce through war with France (1793) and the abolition of the slave trade (1807) contributed to the city's failure to keep pace with the newer manufacturing centres of the North and Midlands. The passage up the heavily tidal Avon Gorge, which had made the port highly secure during the Middle Ages, had become a liability which the construction of a new "Floating Harbour" (designed by William Jessop) in 1804–9 failed to overcome. Nevertheless, Bristol's population (66,000 in 1801) quintupled during the 19th century, supported by new industries and growing commerce.
It was particularly associated with the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who designed the Great Western Railway between Bristol and London, two pioneering Bristol-built steamships, the SS Great Britain and SS Great Western, and the Clifton Suspension Bridge. John Wesley founded the very first Methodist Chapel, called the New Room, in Bristol in 1739. Riots occurred in 1793 and 1831, the first beginning as a protest at renewal of an act levying tolls on Bristol Bridge, and the latter after the rejection of the second Reform Bill.
Bristol's city centre suffered severe damage from bombing during the Bristol Blitz of World War II. The original central shopping area, near the bridge and castle, is now a park containing two bombed out churches and some tiny fragments of the castle. A third bombed church nearby, St Nicholas, has been restored and has been made into a museum which houses a triptych by William Hogarth, painted for the high altar of St Mary Redcliffe in 1756. The museum also contains statues moved from Arno's Court Triumphal Arch, of King Edward I and King Edward III taken from Lawfords' Gate of the city walls when they were demolished around 1760 and 13th century figures from Bristol's Newgate representing Robert, the builder of Bristol Castle, and Geoffrey de Montbray, Bishop of Coutances, builder of the fortified walls of the city.
The rebuilding of Bristol city centre was characterised by large, cheap tower blocks, brutalist architecture and expansion of roads. Since the 1980s another trend has emerged with the closure of some main roads, the restoration of the Georgian period Queen Square and Portland Square, the demolition and rebuilding of the Broadmead shopping centre (at 2007 in progress) and the demolition of the city centre's tallest post-war blocks.
The removal of the docks to Avonmouth, downstream from the city centre has also allowed redevelopment of the old central dock area (the "Floating Harbour") in recent decades, although at one time the continued existence of the docks was in jeopardy as it was viewed as a derelict industrial site rather than an asset.
Economy and industry
As well as Bristol's nautical connections, the city's economy is reliant on the aerospace industry, the media, information technology and financial services sectors and tourism. In 2004 Bristol's GDP was £9.439 billion GBP, and the combined GDP of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and North Somerset was £44.098 billion. The GDP per head was £23,962 (US$47,738, €35,124) making the city more affluent than the UK as a whole, at 40% above the national average. This makes it the third-highest per-capita GDP of any English city, after London and Nottingham, and the fifth highest GDP per capita of any city in the United Kingdom, behind London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Nottingham. In December 2005, Bristol's unemployment rate was 5.2%, compared to 3.6% for the south west and 4.8% for the United Kingdom.
While Bristol's economy is no longer reliant upon its port, the city is the largest importer of cars to the UK. Since the port was leased in 1991, £330 million has been invested and the annual tonnage throughput has increased from 4 m tonnes to 12 m tonnes. The financial services sector employs 40,000 in the city, and the hi-tech sector is important, with 400 micro-electronics and silicon design companies, as well as the Hewlett-Packard national research laboratories. Bristol is the UK's seventh most popular destination for foreign tourists, and the city receives nine million visitors each year.
In the 20th century, Bristol's manufacturing activities expanded to include aircraft production at Filton, by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and aero-engine manufacture by Bristol Aero Engines (later Rolls-Royce) at Patchway. The aeroplane company became famous for the World War I Bristol Fighter, and Second World War Blenheim and Beaufighter aircraft. In the 1950s it became one of the country's major manufacturers of civil aircraft, with the Bristol Freighter and Britannia and the huge Brabazon airliner. The Bristol Aeroplane Company diversified into car manufacturing in the 1940s, building luxury hand-built cars at their factory in Filton, under the name Bristol Cars, which became independent from the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1960.
In the 1960s Filton played a key role in the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic airliner project. Concorde components were manufactured in British and French factories and shipped to the two final assembly plants, in Toulouse and Filton. The French manufactured the centre fuselage and centre wing and the British the nose, rear fuselage, fin and wingtips, while the Rolls-Royce/Snecma 593 engine's manufacture was split between Rolls-Royce (Filton) and SNECMA (Paris). The British Concorde prototype made its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford on 9 April 1969, five weeks after the French test flight. In 2003 British Airways and Air France decided to cease flying the aircraft and to retire them to locations (mostly museums) around the world. On 26 November 2003 Concorde 216 made the final Concorde flight, returning to Filton airfield to be kept there permanently as the centrepiece of a projected air museum. This museum will include the existing Bristol Aero Collection, which includes a Bristol Britannia aircraft.
The aerospace industry remains a major segment of the local economy. The major aerospace companies in Bristol now are BAE Systems, Airbus and Rolls-Royce, all based at Filton, and aerospace engineering is a prominent research area at nearby UWE. Another important aviation company in the city is Cameron Balloons, the world's largest manufacturer of hot air balloons. Each August the city is host to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, one of Europe's largest hot air balloon events.
Culture
Arts
The city is famous for its music and film industries, and was a finalist for the 2008 European Capital of Culture.
The city's principal theatre company, the Bristol Old Vic, was founded in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic company in London. Its premises on King Street consist of the 1766 Theatre Royal (400 seats), a modern studio theatre called the New Vic (150 seats), and foyer and bar areas in the adjacent Coopers' Hall (built 1743). The Theatre Royal is a grade I listed building and the oldest continuously-operating theatre in England. The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which had originated in King street is now a separate company. The Bristol Hippodrome is a larger theatre (1981 seats) which hosts national touring productions, while the 2000-seat Colston Hall, named after Edward Colston, is the city's main concert venue. Other theatres include the Tobacco Factory, QEH and Redgrave Theatre (at Clifton College). Bristol is home to many live music venues, including Fiddlers, Victoria Rooms, St George's and a range of pubs from the jazz orientated The Old Duke to rock at the Fleece and Firkin and indie bands at the Louisiana.
Since the late 1970s, the city has been home to a crop of bands combining punk, funk, dub and political consciousness, the most celebrated being The Pop Group. Ten years later, Bristol was the birthplace of a type of English hip-hop music called trip hop or the "Bristol Sound", from artists such as Tricky, Portishead, Smith & Mighty and Massive Attack. It is also a stronghold of drum & bass with notable artists such as the Mercury Prize winning Roni Size/Reprazent as well as the pioneering DJ Krust and More Rockers. This music is part of the wider Bristol urban culture scene which received international media attention in the 1990s.
The Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery houses a collection of natural history, archaeology, local glassware, Chinese ceramics and art. The Bristol Industrial Museum, featuring preserved dock machinery, closed in October 2006 for complete renovation and plans to reopen in 2009 as the Museum of Bristol. The City Museum also runs three preserved historic houses: the Tudor Red Lodge, the Georgian House, and Blaise Castle House. The Watershed Media Centre and Arnolfini gallery, both in disused dockside warehouses, exhibit contemporary art, photography and cinema, while the city's oldest gallery is at the Royal West of England Academy in Clifton.
Stop frame animation films and commercials produced by Aardman Animations and television series focusing on the natural world have also brought fame and artistic credit to the city. The city is home to the regional headquarters of BBC West, and the BBC Natural History Unit. Locations in and around Bristol often feature in the BBC's natural history programmes, including the children's television programme Animal Magic, filmed at Bristol Zoo.
In literature Bristol is noted as the birth place of the 18th century poet Thomas Chatterton, and the poets Robert Southey, who was born in Wine Street, Bristol in 1774, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge married the Bristol Fricker sisters; and William Wordsworth spent time in the city where Joseph Cottle first published Lyrical Ballads in 1798.
The 18th and 19th century portrait painter Sir Thomas Lawrence and 19th century architect Francis Greenway, designer of many of Sydney's first buildings, came from the city, and more recently the graffiti artist Banksy. Some famous comedians are locals, including Justin Lee Collins, Lee Evans, and writer/comedian Stephen Merchant.
Bristol University graduates include the satirist Chris Morris, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead and Matt Lucas and David Walliams of Little Britain fame. Hollywood actor Cary Grant was born in the city, Patrick Stewart, Jane Lapotaire, Pete Postlethwaite, Jeremy Irons, Greta Scacchi, Miranda Richardson, Helen Baxendale, Daniel Day-Lewis and Gene Wilder are amongst the many actors who learnt their craft at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, opened by Sir Lawrence Olivier in 1946 and Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith, The Matrix) studied at Queen Elizabeth's Hospital School.
Sport & leisure
The city has two League football clubs: Bristol City and Bristol Rovers, as well as a number of non-league clubs, most notably Bristol Manor Farm The city is also home to Bristol Rugby rugby union club, a first-class cricket side, Gloucestershire C.C.C. and a Rugby League Conference side, the Bristol Sonics. The city also stages an annual half marathon, and in 2001 played host to the World Half Marathon Championships.
In summer the grounds of Ashton Court to the west of the city play host to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, a major event for hot-air ballooning in the UK. The Fiesta draws a substantial crowd even for the early morning lift that typically begins at about 6.30 am. Events and a fairground entertain the crowds during the day. A second mass ascent is then made in the early evening, again taking advantage of lower wind speeds. Ashton Court also plays host to the Ashton Court festival each summer, an outdoors music festival which used to be known as the Bristol Community Festival.
Media
Bristol has a daily morning newspaper, the Western Daily Press; an evening paper, the Evening Post; a weekly free newspaper, the Bristol Observer; and a Bristol edition of the free Metro newspaper. The local weekly listings magazine, Venue, covers the city's music, theatre and arts scenes. All of these papers are owned by the Northcliffe Group. The city has several local radio stations, including BBC Radio Bristol, GWR FM (previously known as Radio West), Classic Gold 1260, Kiss 101, Star 107.2, BCfm (a community radio station launched March 2007), Original 106 (starting summer 2007) and The Hub (a student radio station).
Dialect
A distinctive dialect of English is spoken by some Bristol inhabitants, known colloquially as Bristolian. As with most English dialects, it is not as commonly used as it once was. Bristol is the only large English city with a rhotic accent, in which the r in words like car is pronounced. The unusual feature of this dialect, unique to Bristol, is the Bristol L (or terminal L), in which an L sound is appended to words that end in a letter a. Thus "area" becomes "areal", etc. This is how the city's name evolved from Brycgstow to have a final 'L' sound: Bristol. Further Bristolian linguistic features are the addition of a superfluous "to" in questions relating to direction or orientation, or using "to" instead of "at"; and using male pronouns "he", "him" instead of "it". For example, "Where's that?" would be phrased as "Where's he to?", a feature exported to Newfoundland English.
Given its position, it has some features that are associated with the Midlands and others that are associated with the south-west. For example, a final -y could turn into a Midlands -ay, as in "community", or a south-west -ee, as in "factory".
Stanley Ellis, a long-term dialect researcher, found that many of the dialect words in the Filton area were linked to work in the aerospace industry. He described this as "a cranky, crazy, crab-apple tree of language and with the sharpest, juiciest flavour that I've heard for a long time".
Politics and government
Bristol City Council consists of 70 councillors representing 35 wards. They are elected in thirds with two councillors per ward, each serving a four-year term. Wards never have both councillors up for election at the same time, so effectively two-thirds of the wards are up each election. The Council has long been dominated by the Labour Party, but recently the Liberal Democrats have grown strong in the city and as the largest party took minority control of the Council at the 2005 election. They are no longer in control following Labour and the Conservatives vetoing the Liberal Democrats' preferred candidate, Steve Comer, in 2007. As a result, Labour rule the council under a minority administration with Conservative backing, and the council leader is Helen Holland. The current Lord Mayor is Labour Councillor Royston Griffey.
Bristol's constituencies in the House of Commons cross the borders with neighbouring authorities, and the city is divided into Bristol West, East, South and North-west and Kingswood. Northavon also covers some of the suburbs, but none of the administrative county. At the next General Election, the boundaries will be changed to coincide with the county boundary. Kingswood will no longer cover any of the county, and a new Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency will include the suburbs in South Gloucestershire. There are four Labour and one Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament.
Bristol has a tradition of local political activism, and has been home to many important political figures. Tony Benn, a veteran left-wing politician, was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol South East from 1950 to 1983. Edmund Burke, MP for the Bristol constituency for six years from 1774, famously insisted that he was a Member of Parliament first, rather than a representative of his constituents' interests. In 1963, there was a boycott of the city's buses after the Bristol Omnibus Co. refused to employ black drivers and conductors. The boycott is known to have influenced the creation of the UK's Race Relations Act in 1965. The women's rights campaigner Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence (1867–1954) was born in Bristol. Local support of fair trade issues was recognised in 2005 when Bristol was granted Fairtrade City status.
Bristol is unusual in having been a city with county status since medieval times. The county was expanded to include suburbs such as Clifton in 1835, and it was named a county borough in 1889, when the term was first introduced. Using Census 2001 data the ONS estimated the population of the contiguous built-up area to be 441,556, and that of the metropolitan area to be 551,066. This makes the city England's sixth most populous city, and ninth most populous metropolitan area.
In the 2001 census 91.83% of the population described themselves as white, 2.85% as South Asian, 2.32% as black, 2.08% as mixed race, 0.56% as Chinese and 0.34% other. National averages were 90.92%, 4.58%, 2.3%, 1.31%, 0.45% and 0.44% for the same groups. Sixty percent of Bristol's population registered their religion as Christianity, and 25% as not religious in the 2001 census, compared to 72% and 15% nationally. Two percent of the population follow Islam (3% nationally), with no other religion above one percent. Bristol had the ninth highest proportion of people refer to their religion in the last census as 'Jedi'.
Physical geography
Bristol is in a limestone area, which runs from the Mendip Hills to the south and the Cotswolds to the north east. The rivers Avon and Frome cut through this limestone to the underlying clays, creating Bristol's characteristic hilly landscape. The Avon flows from Bath in the east, through flood plains and areas which were marshy before the growth of the city. To the west the Avon has cut through the limestone to form the Avon Gorge, partly aided by glacial meltwater after the last ice age. The gorge aided in the protection of Bristol Harbour, and has been quarried for stone to build the city. The land surrounding the gorge has been protected from development, as The Downs and Leigh Woods. The gorge and estuary of the Avon form the county's boundary with North Somerset, and the river flows into the Bristol Channel at Avonmouth at the mouth of the River Severn. There is another gorge in the city, in the Blaise Castle estate to the north.
Situated in the south of the country, Bristol is one of the warmest cities in the UK, with a mean annual temperature of 10.2-12°C. It is also amongst the sunniest, with 1541-1885 hours sunshine per year. The city is partially sheltered by Exmoor and the Mendip Hills, but exposed from the Bristol Channel, and annual rainfall is similar to the national average, at 741-1060 mm.
Education, science and technology
Bristol is home to two major institutions of higher education: the University of Bristol, a "redbrick" chartered in 1909, and the University of the West of England, formerly Bristol Polytechnic, which gained university status in 1992. The city also has two dedicated further education institutions, City of Bristol College and Filton College, and two theological colleges, Trinity College, Bristol & Wesley College, Bristol. The city has 129 infants and primary schools, 17 secondary schools, and three city learning centres. There are also independent schools in the city, including Clifton College, Colston's School, Clifton High School, Badminton School, Bristol Cathedral School, Bristol Grammar School, Redland High School, Queen Elizabeth's Hospital (an all-boys school) and Red Maids' School, the oldest girls' school in England, founded in 1634 by John Whitson.
In 2005 the Chancellor of the Exchequer recognised Bristol's ties to science and technology by naming it one of three "science cities", and promising funding for further development of science in the city, with a £300 million "Science Park" planned at Emerson's Green. As well as research at the two universities and Southmead Hospital, science education is important in the city, with At-Bristol, Bristol Zoo, Bristol Festival of Nature and the Create Centre being prominent local institutions involved in science communication. The city has a history of scientific achievement, including Sir Humphry Davy, the 19th century scientist who worked in Hotwells and discovered laughing gas. Bishopston has given the world two Nobel Prize winning physicists: Paul Dirac for crucial contributions to quantum mechanics in 1933, and Cecil Frank Powell, for a photographic method of studying nuclear processes and associated discoveries in 1950. The city was birth place of Colin Pillinger, planetary scientist behind the Beagle 2 Mars lander project, and is home to Adam Hart-Davis, presenter of various science related television programmes, and the psychologists Susan Blackmore, Richard Gregory, and Derren Brown.
Transport
There are two principal railway stations in Bristol, Bristol Parkway is located to the north of the city and Bristol Temple Meads located in the centre, and there are scheduled coach links to most major UK cities. The city is connected by road on an east-west axis from London to Wales by the M4 motorway, and on a north-southwest axis from Birmingham to Exeter by the M5 motorway. Also within the county is the M49 motorway, a shortcut between the M5 in the south and M4 Severn Crossing in the west. The M32 motorway is a spur from the M4 to the city centre. The city is also served by its own airport, Bristol International (BRS), at Lulsgate, which has seen substantial investments in its runway, terminal and other facilities since 2001.
Public transport in the city consists largely of its bus network, provided by First Group. Buses in the city have been criticised for being unreliable and expensive, and in 2005 First was fined for delays and safety violations. Use of private cars in Bristol is high, and the city suffers from congestion problems, estimated to cost the economy £350 million per year. Since 2000 the city council has included a light rail system in its Local Transport Plan, but has so far been unable to fund the project. The city was offered European Union funding for the system, but the Department for Transport did not provide the required additional funding. As well as support for public transport, there are several road building schemes supported by the local council, including re-routing and improving the South Bristol Ring Road. There are also three park and ride sites serving the city, supported by the local council. The central part of the city has water-based transport, operated as the Bristol Ferry Boat, which provide both leisure and commuter services on the harbour.
Bristol was never well served by suburban railways, though the Severn Beach Line to Avonmouth and Severn Beach survived the Beeching Axe and is still in operation. The Portishead Railway was closed to passengers under the Beeching Axe, but was relaid in 2000-2002 as far as the Royal Portbury Dock with a Strategic Rail Authority rail-freight grant. Plans to relay a further three miles of track to Portishead, a largely dormitory town with only one connecting road, have been discussed but there is insufficient funding to rebuild stations.
Despite being hilly, Bristol is one of the prominent cycling cities of England, and is home to the national cycle campaigning group Sustrans. It has a number of urban cycle routes, as well as links to National Cycle Network routes to Bath and London, to Gloucester and Wales, and to the south-western peninsula of England. Cycling has grown rapidly in the city, with a 21% increase in journeys between 2001 and 2005.
See also
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