This gallery shows details & abstracts from Bristol architecture, industry and activities.
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A detail of ‘Brunel’s Other Bridge’. The swivel bridge dates back to 1849 and was Brunel’s first large wrought iron opening bridge. The Grade 11* listed structure was the main crossing over the Cumberland Basin until the M5 was built.
Two intriguing mosaics are to be found on properties in Clifton. One, in Upper Belgrave Road, depicts Jack Harding another, in Miles Road, shows Squadron Leader Eric P Dowling. They are the work of Oliver Budd, an East Sussex based expert in mosaic portraiture (www.buddmosaics.co.uk).
Jack Harding was the property owner’s father-in-law. He grew up in the Mendips and served during the War as a Private in Singapore. Sadly he went missing in action, never to be found. The mosaic is based on an old mono image of Jack, used by Oliver Budd to create a colour painting on which he modelled the mosaic. It depicts the Mendips, a BSA motorbike, which Jack used to ride around the Cheddar Gorge, and bombers crossing the sky.
Squadron Leader Eric P Dowling, also a relative of the owner, was from Glastonbury. An RAF navigator, he flew 29 missions in World War II before being shot down and captured. He helped excavate the tunnel at Stalag Luft III for the breakout later feature in ‘The Great Escape’. He survived the War and went on to work in Norway as an RAF crash investigator, later joining British Aerospace.
Bristol’s own ‘Poet’s Corner’ can be found in St Stephen’s Street. The Grade II Listed Number 13 boasts terracotta busts of Milton, Tennyson and Shakespeare set into the striking yellow, blue and brown glazed brick facade. Numbers 15 & 17, also Grade II Listed, include a panel inscribed ‘Bristol Times and Mirror’, referring to the local paper published between 1865 and 1932.
The Georgian and Victorian doorways around Bristol are a treat for those interested in architecture. Stripped back ready for refurbishment, this one offers a hint of the property’s multi-layered past.
Alderman Proctor’s Fountain is to be found on The Promenade close to the top end of Bridge Valley Road. It is one of about 40 drinking fountains that existed around Bristol by 1906. This fountain was designed by architect George Godwin.
Alderman Proctor ran a fertiliser production company. He was a church warden at, and a major donor to, St Mary Redcliffe.
Ivy Gate is Grade II Listed. It stands in the University of Bristol’s (http://www.bristol.ac.uk) Royal Fort Gardens.
Thomas Tyndall began building Royal Fort House in 1758. Ivy Gate was originally the entrance to the house’s walled garden.
Abstract of a hot air balloon canopy after landing.
Spring daffodils add colour to the old fountain in Tunstall Close, by Stoke Hill in Stoke Bishop. The fountain was donated by Francis Tagart of Old Sneed Park.
Detail of the facade of the former Magnet Cinema at 53 Newfoundland Circus (BS2). The premises – now occupied by building, refurbishment and fit out specialists C W Duke – were designed by Holbrow & Oaten. They opened for their first screenings in 1914. The cinema had something over 400 seats and operated until 1937.
Although the current top storey is a later addition to the original structure, the main facade has remained remarkably unchanged, despite the different uses to which the building has been put since its cinematic heyday.
A striking display of flowers complements the ornate ironwork of a balcony in West Mall (BS8), Clifton, Bristol.
A detail of the three storey kinetic art installation in the form of sun louvres on the south west facade of the WestOne development on Deanery Road, Bristol. The installation is by Kate Maestri.
WestOne, by Westmark Developments and designed by Alec French Architects, is notable as a highly sustainable building and is the national headquarters of Triodos Bank.
Bristol’s ‘Cloaked Horseman’ apparently checking out the time on the tower of the 14th Century St. John On The Wall.
The statue, by David Backhouse, stands in front of St Bartholomew’s House in the centre of Bristol. It was commissioned by Haslemere Estates and presented to the city in 1984.
One of a number of banners highlighting the diversity of attractions on the Gloucester Road in Bristol, outside a popular hardware store.
The vibrant Bristol street is believed to be the longest road of independent retailers in Europe.
Brightly coloured chairs encourage visitors to sit at this ‘window seat’ in Finzels Reach, Bristol. It is located close to the new Castle Bridge with a view, through the ancient arch, across the water to Castle Park. (The table belongs to Cafe Matariki in Georges Square.)
The 4.7 acre Finzels Reach mixed use development is on a site once occupied by brewers and sugar refineries.
The old clock tower which sits above the building which today houses Dockside Studios in Hanover Place (BS1) adjacent to Bristol’s Floating Harbour.
This building is also home to Banksy’s ‘Girl With A Pierced Eardrum’.
Up close and personal with one of the two, three metre high, unicorns on the roof of City Hall, Bristol. The unicorns are among a number that can be spotted around the city. They have been closely linked to Bristol since the 16th Century when, in 1569, they were included on the city’s official seal. According to ancient documents, unicorns only do homage to men of virtue.
Other prominent locations include the terrace of the Royal West of England Academy, the entrance to Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, the bow of SS Great Britain, Bristol Cathedral and St. John on the Wall.
The entrance to Everard’s Printing Works looks locked and forlorn in this image but may soon be given a new lease of life.
The Grade II* Listed building – on Broad Street, Bristol – was built back in 1900 as the print works for Edward Everard. It features a striking, glazed tile, Art Nouveau facade. This has been retained although the building behind was demolished circa 1970 to make way for offices.
Now it is hoped, subject to planning approval, to turn the facade into the entrance to a new, 250 room, four star hotel.
One of the navigation lights positioned along the banks of the River Avon to assist boats travelling to/from Bristol’s Floating Harbour. This light is to be found on the Portway, close to the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Whilst the unicorns on top of City Hall are familiar Bristol ’emblems’, the seahorse sculptures on the roof are less instantly recognisable.
They are the work of David McFall (1919-1988) and were created in the early 1950s. They are understood to be allegorical figures linking to Bristol’s historic role as one of the country’s major ports.
This statue of Nipper, the dog featured in Francis Braud’s painting ‘His Master’s Voice’, sits high up on a building on the corner of Park Row and Woodland Road in Bristol.
Born in 1884, Nipper died in 1895.
This trompe l’oeil, painted on a Georgian house entrance in Clifton, Bristol gives the impression of an open door revealing the interior and garden beyond.
A section of the old Bristol High Cross in Berkeley Square, Clifton, Bristol.
A Cross was originally set up in the 14th Century to mark Edward 11’s 1373 charter giving Bristol separate county status. It was taken down from the old city centre and moved to College Green in 1733, before being taken down in 1765 and moved to Stourhead. A Victorian replacement was created in 1851 but not really completed until 1889. It was moved in 1950 and subsequently suffered damage. The part remaining intact, which now sits in Berkeley Square, was saved thanks to funds raised by the Berkeley Square Association, Park Street Traders and the Bristol Civic Society.
