nb Bridge Street

Saturday 29 th June 2019 We again started the day with a walk to Green Park Station where there was a Farmers Market being held. We bought quite a bit of meat and fish and had a huge full English in one of the cafes. We called into Sainsbury’s for some water. We are really having to conserve our supplies. A 5ltr bottle costs £1.10, compared to a ½ ltr bottle that can cost anything from £1 and we have seen sold from a street trader in the city for £1.80. We dropped the dog off at the boat again and once more went off exploring beyond the Abbey. Pulteney Bridge, crossing the river, is very quaint with boutique shops along its length and the ovoid shaped weir below is picturesque. We called into the Guildhall Market with lots of quirky stalls. There is an 18 th century pillar, or “nail” in the market. Business transactions and payments took place on and around this pillar and gave origin to the phrase “paying on the nail”. ...

Friday 28 th June 2019 We walked the dog to a supermarket close to the boat. The supermarket is located outside Green Park Railway Station, formerly Queen Square Station. The last train arrived from Bristol in 1966 and the derelict site was restored as a retail and market space in the 1980’s. It is quite an atmospheric place and great to see such a building not only survive, but thrive, with lots of boutique stalls.    We then returned back to the boat and dropped the dog off. It took us quite a few months on the boat before we left Harvey alone, and then only for very short periods to begin with. We forget he is getting older, does not particularly like to walk too far and suffers greatly from the heat. Sometimes we feel he just enjoys some time to himself. We caught the hop on, hop off bus to the Royal Crescent, the furthest away touristy point, and gradually walked back, visiting the sites we had seen the day before. The whole city was actually mobbed by ho...

Thursday 27 th June 2019 We had a bit of a job leaving the mooring. The boat had become grounded and there were lots of weed and lilies surrounding the propeller. We untied all the ropes, pushed the back end off and then reversed into the centre of the river. It was a lovely run into Bath, passing under the attractive A4 road bridge and coming to Weston Lock with its big weir and flood gates. Attractive A4 Road Bridge There were two boats locking down and one boat locking up who was taking all the room on the lock landing. With no room for us we had to hold in the river with the flow from both lock and weir against us. Eventually we were able to enter the lock, another incredibly slow one. We were sharing the lock with a hire boat out from Hilperton Marina. It was their third time of hiring this year, and each time for two weeks. They will have covered a lot more miles this year than we have. ...

Tuesday 25 th and Wednesday 26 th June 2019 We have sat on this river mooring enjoying the peace and quiet, which is interrupted only by the trains, the occasional plane out of Bristol Airport and the rowing boats from the Avon Rowing Club one mile away. Apart from taking the dog out, we have not left the boat. It is not easy anyway, the way we are tied up and the gap between boat and the steep bank. River Avon Mooring on the Kennet and Avon Canal I have been compiling places to visit in Somerset where a branch of my family originated from, not far from Bath, and catching up on the diary and blog. Brenda has been reading, dealing with admin, paid the balance of our holiday and been attempting to apply for our visa’s. We have been enjoying watching all the tiny little fish between the boat and bank and two small moorhen chicks, black balls of fluff, running across the lily pads behind us. And remindi...

Monday 24 th June 2019 We disconnected the shoreline cable, having been on shore power, watered up and made ready while Brenda went shopping to the Tesco’s 100 yards away, where she bought far too much to carry back on her own. We then crossed over the harbour to empty the loo and then, reluctantly, left Bristol. It is a lovely city, lots to do and see, busy and vibrant, and we will return. However, we had overstayed and wanted to be clear of the harbour before the Harbour Master made his rounds. It was a lovely run leaving. First passing through the main harbour, under the low Prince Street Bridge and passing beside St. Mary Radcliffe Church, described by Queen Elizabeth I as “the fairest, goodliest and most famous Parish Church in all England”. Then came a stretch of old warehouses and mills, now all converted into offices and apartments. Beyond Bristol Bridge we entered the business district, nearly all modern buildings with a few old warehouses awaiting development. ...

Sunday 23 rd June 2019 We left the dog on board and visited the M-Shed, a museum of Bristol life. Many displays and artefacts. It was an interesting place that told Bristol’s story, but would have meant more to a local. We had booked for our Sunday lunch in the restaurant beside the boat. It is a modern looking development that would seem more suited to producing quirky, expensive seafood dishes than traditional Sunday roasts. However, it does advertise itself as winning awards for its Sunday roasts but I was dubious when Brenda booked it. But wow. For a Sunday lunch we had not seen anything quite like it. We had ordered a trio of meats for two. It was served on a wooden platter with thick slices of beef, pork and lamb, big Yorkshire puds, roast vegetables, a side dish of cauliflower cheese and lashings of thick gravy.       It was a gorgeous dinner and afterwards we waddled...

Saturday 22 nd June 2019 We were treated to a real spectacle this morning when no fewer than seven boats, travelling in convoy, all descended on the moorings, jostling to moor up. They had travelled across from Penarth the previous day and from Portishead this morning. Amongst them were three yachts and four cruisers, two of them huge things. One moored next to us was called “Our Eva”. She has twin 230hp engines and burns 120ltrs of fuel per day. We have used about 400 in a year.        After breakfast, we explored the Old City around the Cathedral and Park Street. While the exterior of the Cathedral is quite plain, the interior is a complete contrast and is surprisingly dramatic after viewing outside. It is a “hall” church and said to be one of the finest examples in the world; the nave, choir and aisles are all of the same height. Since buying and reading a book on “green men” s...

Friday 21 st June 2019 We crossed the harbour on the little passenger ferry that runs from the end of the pontoon we are moored on, across to the Great Britain. At £1 per person each way, it must earn the City Council a small fortune. We walked to the Harbour Master’s Office to extend our stay and Harvey got yet more biscuits from the receptionist who has clearly fallen in love with him. Back at the Great Britain, we got on the hop-on, hop-off bus for a tour of the city. We always take these tour buses wherever we go. You get to see the city and its layout, along with a running commentary, and can then plan where to revisit. Back at the boat, we left the dog and walked up to the Broadmead shopping area to collect our post and some shopping and a bit of civilisation. This whole area of Bristol was flattened during the Second World War and was rebuilt as the shopping area in the 1960’s although, thankfully, the architecture is not typical of the 60’s. It made a change fo...