Things to do at the Bristol Harbourside (Bristol Industrial Museum, Bristol Packet Boat, Bristol Buttery)
The focal point of bristol city centre is the harbour area, often known as the bristol floating harbour. Like most dock areas it has a slightly sleazy past. In Bristol’s case very sleazy as these docks had a major role in the slave trade. Ships transporting human cargo would pull ashore here. Much of the wealth of Bristol was made directly from the suffering of others.
The local river Avon has been used as a harbour since at least the 13th century, but was “floated” by the construction of lock gates at Hotwells in the 19th century. Over the years the industry in the harbour declined due to competition from other better positioned ports.
However, a regeneration of the Harbour area was kicked off tin the eighties. Now the harbour area is a bouncing cosmopolitan locale with new build flats, busy pubs and clubs, and tourist destinations geared at families.
What is there to see at Bristol Harbourside?
Plenty. On the far side of the harbour next to the three cranes which loom heavily over the landscape there is the industrial museum. The museum itself is closed for refurbishment until 2009. However, as you go over be sure to wait a little beside the cranes themselves as you will get a little surprise. They have been wired up to speak each other, their lights switching on to form a face, and detail some local Bristol history. This is a nice little surpirse for children and immature people like me.
The Bristol Harbour Railway is a small strip of railway, the whole trip takes about 3 minutes, outside the industrial museum. All the locomotives are steam powered. It costs sixty pence for the short ride. This is a fun way to travel along one side of the harbour. There are always plenty of families on board with the children waving to everyone walking along as the train toots along pumping out hearty clouds of steam.
If you carry on walking past the Industrial museum be sure to stop off at the Bristol Buttery. This is a little food stand which is always packed out with locals and visitors. You can order all the classic British rools and sandwiches or just grab a tea or coffee and watch the boats float up and down the harbour. There is always a queue at this little eating place which tells you just how popular it is.
Continue on down and you’ll notice some boats parked up by the bank. You can book boat trips from Bristol starting here. The Bristol Packet runs trips around the harbour and the Bristol area. You can take the City Dock tour for four pounds or a longer trip out to the Avon Gorge for six with the option to order a picnic, or bring your own, to eat onboard. Boat trips with the Bristol Packet are a great way to see the area.
Walking on you’ll come to the entrance of the famous HMS Great Britain Bristol by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (sometimes, incorrectly, known as Isamberd kingdom Brunel). The ship was the first iron hulled steam powered ocean going vessel and was constructed in Bristol in 1843 at teh Great Western Dockyard. It has had a colourful life starting off as a luxury passenger liner, then an emigrant carrier taking passengers to join in the Australina gold rush. She even took the English cricket team on their first ever overseas tour. Later on she became a cruise ship during the Crimean war and then a coal hauler before finally being scuttled in Port Stanley, the Falkland Islands, in 1937. In the 70s a restoration project was launched and the ship was towed back to bristol to be returned to its former glory.
After that little walk down the harbourside you’ll probably be finished for the day! if you get the chance you should definitely explore the harbour area of Bristol. It is a calm, peaceful place where you can step away from the city in to a world of boats and gently bobbing water.