Bristol is a Bustling City
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read
Welshie Big Adventure in England
Bristol
The dogs and I experienced a case of people/noise overload when we arrived at our hotel in Bristol. With streets full of cars, and crowds of people engaged in all kinds of activities, there was something going on everywhere I looked. Bristol is a bustling city.
It surprised me how agitated I was with all the noise and traffic. It never occurred to me that living in such a rural part of Wales for a month, where we had no sidewalks, very few cars, and more sheep than people, would leave such a lasting impression on me.
It’s not as if I am unused to city life, I did grow up near Chicago and lived in Boston for three years. But the time spent in Tregaron really made an impact on me, and it apparently left a mark on the dogs as well.
Maisie and Winston were visibly nervous walking down the streets of Bristol. Maisie’s nose was to the ground searching for discarded trash and bird droppings. Winston just shied away from the traffic noise and hugged near me.
Walking on Friday afternoon with them near the university library and up Park Street was not a fun experience for any of us.
We did enjoy our visit to the Bristol Cathedral which was founded as an abbey around 1140. The cathedral was filled with beautiful stained glass windows. The ornately carved choir stalls made me wish I could be one of the choristers.
Moving closer to the altar, the marble flooring became steadily more ornate. I read that the reason for the change in flooring style is to indicate the growing importance of the area in the church.
Clearly the altar is the most important area and the flooring reflected that. If you come to Bristol, make sure you take enough time to really enjoy the beautiful cathedral.
After dinner, we left the dogs in the hotel and strolled around the wharf. We walked past the Watershed, where they have a cinema, and good number of pubs and restaurants. The college students and tourists were out in large crowds enjoying the beautiful spring weather and the start of a Bank Holiday weekend.
Walking further along the Harbourside area, we watched college students and young people sitting along the banks of the Floating Harbor, drinking wine and eating takeaway while laughing and singing. The place was vibrant and full of energy, we heard laughing and singing wherever we walked. And without the dogs to worry about, it was less stressful for me.
The next morning, I took the dogs out for a walk before breakfast. With the town still waking up it was less hectic than the night before. The dogs went to the large College Green across from the hotel where there were dogs off lead running after balls. Maisie and Winston kept to themselves, enjoying a chance to sniff and catch up on the latest doggy gossip.
It was a good way to start the day, and we had one more area to see in Bristol before we departed for Stow on the Wold.
Clifton
I want to thank one of my readers who reached out and said we should visit an area called Clifton before we left Bristol. After checking out of the hotel, we visited Clifton to see both the Suspension Bridge and tour Clifton Village.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge is an amazing achievement. Originally designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1829, it was not completed until 1864, five years after Brunel had died. Brunel’s original design was never fully realized due to its high cost, but the span and the views are still worth visiting.
The Avon Gorge is some 245 feet below us and we walk across the bridge. There wasn’t much water flowing through the gorge, but the lush green foliage set into the stone walls, with the water running through below took my breath away.
Even the dogs stopped and surveyed where they were when we were midway across the span.
On the other side of the Avon Gorge is a free museum that gives information on the competitors who ultimately lost the competition to build the bridge. It also provides some history behind the bridge’s creation. Though it doesn’t take long to wander through the exhibit, make sure you add this to your itinerary in Bristol.
We also took some time to walk around Clifton Village and to walk up to the top of Blackboy Hill. Blackboy Hill should be another mandatory site to visit because of the views of the Avon and the surrounding countryside.
If you enjoy architecture, the houses in Clifton are more stately and the streets are tree lined and quieter. I felt more at ease in this section than in the busy city center of Bristol.
Departure for Our Next Adventure
It was time to load up the car and make our way to our next cottage in Stow on the Wold. I was filled with curiosity about what this new town would look like and how we might fit in. Tregaron, Wales set a high bar for all the home stays on the remainder of our journey.
We had about ninety minutes to drive so, we turned on the radio to listen to BBC 2, and I sang along to all the British pop songs I grew up listening to in the 1980s. I really love this place.
