Bristol: celebrated city

By Marc Kemmis

The bustling city of Bristol has the oldest working theatre in Britain; the first ocean-going iron ship; a church described by Elizabeth I as ‘ the fairest, the goodliest, and most famous parish church in England .

Add to these the city s situation bs 3 “gateway” to the West Country and a centre for touring the Cotswold Hills, Somerset, Wiltshire and the Welsh border country, and its attractions can be seen to be considerable Bristol’s famous theatre is the 207year-old Theatre Royal, now part of a comprehensive theatre centre which includes a second theatre. It is the home of the Bristol Old Vic, one of Britain’s finest companies. In constructing the new centre, opened last year, the unique 1766 auditorium has been left unchanged—it still contains some of the original seating, although these wooden benches are not used today The Bristol ship which has such an important place in maritime history is the 3,000-ton SS Great Britain, designed by the remarkable architect and engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunei. This vessel is open to the public while undergoing renovation to restore her to her former glories: when she was launched at Bristol by Prince Albert in 1843, she was the world’s first ocean-going ship to be propellerdriven, and the first large one to be built of iron. In 1970, she was towed 7,600 miles from a reef in the

Falkland Islands, back to her home port.

Brunei also designed what is per haps the city’s most eye-catching feature: the graceful Clifton suspen sion bridge spanning an impressive gorge cut by the River Avon, ~,. , , , The churchi which so impressed the r Queen Elizabeth is St Mary Red chffe* budt mainly in the 14th cen f an(i . tO PP ed b V a *J elegant 285 ft spire. Inside, the church has § reat P™ u }y in j. ts elaborate vaulting and rich decoration. It also contains a w hale-bone said to have been pre ““gd to the church by Cabot in 1 4 £ 7 - . John ., f abot and . hl . s ? on Sebastian sailed from Bristol in that y ear to discover the American mam land > and later Sebastian explored the American coast from Newfoundland to Florida. One the city s land thJ Cabot Tower on Bran don w mch commemorates these achievements, Bristol’s history goes back much further than the granting of its char ter by Edward lll—by then it was a long-established port: back in the 12th century it was described as being full of ships from every port of Europe, Today, its industries range from cigarettes and chocolate to making the Concorde, and if travel between Bristol and London is not supersonic, it is speedy—the 120 miles can be covered in about two hours by train, or by driving along the new M 4 motorway.

Clifton suspension bridge.