A Walk In Two Halves - Bristol

Sunday
Last night was my first of 4 nights camping in Bristol. I arrived in the evening - later than I normally do, and I was tired today so I had a relaxing morning and early afternoon right on the site. I also moved Alfie as I’d been assigned a pitch because I arrived late and was able to choose a better one once others left this morning. Sunday seems to be a big changeover day.

I finally got out for a walk mid afternoon. The main picture was from the very end of my walk but I started my walk by going round the harbour near the campsite. See first Extra photo. There’s a rowing club right next door and lots of other water activities happen right there. I watched the kayak and stand-up-paddle-board lessons for awhile. Beyond that area is Underfall Yard which is still a working boat yard where boats are built and restored. There’s a visitors centre, lots of interesting historic things to see, and you can also see the work actively being done on boats. There’s a cafe and I stopped there for a cup of tea and some cake and enjoyed the view of the harbour. The middle picture of the first extra shows the campsite right on the middle between the flats on the left and a pub on the right. You can just see the tops of the bigger motorhomes! The bottom left of the collage is a neighbourhood pub which I’ve not visited yet but it’s a popular venue with seating next to the water. The bottom middle pictures shows the Sea Cadet cottages.

I then extended my walk by walking away from the harbour. See second Extra photo. The first thing I saw was this beautiful boat, The Matthew. This may look old, but in fact it’s a reconstruction of the original Mathew. This one was built between 1994-96 and in 1997 it sailed to Newfoundland and back, repeating the original journey by Cabot 500 years ago. Today it was out on one of its tours and was waiting here for the swing bridge to open.

I continued on and crossed another small bridge over the river and walking a little ways towards the Clifton Suspension Bridge. The big red brick building is actually one of three. They used to be used for tobacco storage back when that was a prominent Bristol industry. No doubt one day they will be turned into flats. I passed an area of wildflowers called The Butterfly Junction. Bristol is known for its street art so there are lots of colourful displays around the town.

I didn’t walk too far along the river here, but it’s a popular place for walkers and cyclists and runners. I walked far enough to get a good view of Clifton Suspension Bridge, which is my main picture. I was up at the bridge last time I was here, though I drove there on my last day before driving home (no need to hike up any steep paths!!) I didn’t blip it at the time as I was coming down with a virus and missed several days of blips, but I’ve just posted a back-blip now, so you can check it out here for another view!