Tuesday 12th August BRISTOL
Robyn writes: We’ve
had a lovely, if somewhat warm day here today in Bristol. A ‘heatwave’ rages,
much to the excitement and consternation of the Britons – it got to 33 today,
which my computer informs me is a near-record temperature. Actually, it’s not
too bad, but perhaps that’s because we’re Aussies!
I was a bit worried about how I would sleep in a warm,
completely closed up flat last night, but in the end, I had the fan going in
the lounge room and the bedroom door open, and that circulated the air just
fine. It’s noisy, though, so it did take me a while to get to sleep, but we
both slept fine, thankfully.
This morning, we got out early (about 8.30) while it was
still nice and cool, to see the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which Lex had walked
to yesterday. Construction was begun by the famous Victorian engineer and
polymath Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1836, but they ran out of money. It wasn’t
until 1864, five years after Brunel’s death, that it was completed. Those Victorians
were amazing engineers – the bridge is still going strong today, and in fact,
it’s currently being painted and renovated. I’d seen many photos, but they don’t
give you an idea of the depth of the gorge and how huge the undertaking was. We
walked across the bridge and back, then climbed the mountain to the nearby
observatory (which unfortunately wasn’t open, because nothing in the UK opens
before 10!) for some wonderful views of it. Much of the Avon Gorge is still
natural forest, which is lovely to see. It hasn’t changed much in hundreds of
years.
Having fully done the bridge appreciation part of the day, we navigated a tortuous route back home to our flat, and had morning tea before we left the car here and set out to walk to the city’s attractions, most quite close by. Our first mission was to look for one of Banksy’s (the famous graffiti artist) paintings. Google Maps took us on a long, winding path involving about 500 stairs to where the painting is, high on a wall. We learned that a lot of the back alleyways of Bristol smell of pee! Anyway, we finally found ‘Well hung lover’ (!) in Frogmore St, but it looks like someone who doesn’t appreciate his work has thrown paintbombs at it.
After this, we realised that we were very close to the cathedral, so walked over to have a look at its precinct. Bristol has some stunning, very old and beautiful buildings from different periods. I’ve commented before on how dry it is here, and you could really see it in the public gardens and lawns today.
We went into the Cathedral and gave them a 10-pound donation. I know it’s the same old superlatives, but Bristol Cathedral really is a stunning building. It began life as an Abbey, founded in the 1100s, but of course was taken by the Crown at the Dissolution. Luckily, they decided to keep it and renamed it a Cathedral. It was only completed in the 1800s when they finally finished building the Nave, using the 1300s plans and stone. (Why rush a project?!) Various parts date to different periods of its history – the cloisters and chapter house used by the monks are still there, for example. The Cathedral also has a lovely garden area in the old burial ground.
After this, we headed up the hill to the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. Lex took the longer, scenic route, and I took the shortest way possible, as the temperature was definitely climbing! I was glad I had my hat and water bottle. I got to the museum, and found two Grommits! To explain: Bristol currently has an Art Trail for a children’s charity campaign running using Wallace and Grommit. There are over 50 of the characters, decorated by local artists, dotted around the area, and lots of kids today were having a lovely time finding them and having their photo taken with them.
The Bristol Museum and Art Gallery is in a purpose-built Edwardian building that’s 120 years old. It’s filled with all sorts of eclectic collections from the sciences and history; I suspect a lot were brought back to Bristol by the Great and Good of the Victorian era. They have a really good Egyptian display and some exceptional stone reliefs from Nimrud in ancient Abyssinia. I know a lot of people now feel that these ancient artefacts should be returned, but when you think of how Isis totally destroyed Nimrud by deliberately blowing it up with bombs, I’m glad these survived and are safely kept.
We had a good time wandering around the museum, then up into the Art Gallery section. There were some artists there I’d never heard of, and I really enjoyed it. We had lunch in the Café there before resuming our artistic wanderings.
I left around 2 to head back home, as my feet were getting sore! However, just up the road from our flat is The Red Museum, a Tudor mansion, which I just had to go and see. Again, admission was free (I love British museums) but I gave them a 5-pound donation. The house dates back to Tudor times, and belonged to a rich merchant family. Many of the rooms still have the original wooden panelling, and the Grand Oak Room has the most marvellous fireplace. There are some very good paintings, including an exceptional one of Elizabeth 1. Apparently, people liked to commission a copy of a painting of Her Majesty to display what good and loyal subjects they were! They’ve also done the garden beautifully, so all in all, I had a most enjoyable time.
I got home around 3, and Lex arrived back soon after. I put on a load of washing, and we’ve both had a nice rest in the cool. We've had a lovely tea of Co-op's ravioli and green vegetables. So far, the fans and the fact that we are on the ground floor seem to be keeping the flat cool, despite it being 33 degrees out there. All predictions seem to agree that tomorrow will be cooler, thankfully.
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