Out & About
Bristol Industrial Museum
Bristol Industrial Museum is situated in the Floating Harbour in an old transit shed for goods coming into the city. Printing, flying, trains, cars, buses, ships are just some of the subjects you can expect to experience at the Industrial Museum, which contains over 700 exhibits relating to Bristol’s long and varied industrial past.
The Transport gallery displays most forms of land transport with a particular Bristol twist almost all were built here, in a city fascinated by anything that moves. Favourites include the world’s first holiday caravan and a 1950s equivalent, the Grenville steam carriage and a working Gauge 1 model railway. There are also bicycles, motorcycles, cars, carriages and a Lodekka bus which is still used to this day to carry visitors from the City Museum to the Industrial Museum for Sunday Fundays.
Sea Mills Circular Walk
It appears that the Sea Mills Circular Walk is no longer described on the Forest of Avon website.
However the Bristol City Council website has details of other Countryside Walks including a walk from Sea Mills to Shirehampton.
The walk follows the much of the same route as the Sea Mills Circular Walk (but obviously excludes the return trip to Sea Mills. The walk starts at Sea Mills station and visits Sea Mills Harbour, Coombe Dingle and the Trym Valley, Blaise Castle Estate and Kings Western Hill Fort .
You can download a PDF file map of the walk.
The walk is 5 miles long with a walking time of two and a half hours. It’s graded as “Easy/Moderate 3”.
Bristol Zoo Gardens
Bristol Zoo Gardens is a 12 acre site in Clifton that is run by the The Bristol, Clifton and West of England Zoological Society, registered charity no. 1104986.
The Society is governed by a Council of 12 members who are elected by the shareholders. The Director and Senior Managers report to the Council on a regular basis.
Awarded ‘Zoo of the Year 2004’ by the Good Britain Guide, Bristol Zoo Gardens has a continuous reputation for excellence, innovation, and dedication to conservation. It’s the fifth oldest zoo in the world and the oldest outside of a capital city, and a long established major tourist attraction in Bristol.
The SS Great Britain
Step back in time on board Brunel’s ss Great Britain – the world’s first great ocean liner. Launched in 1843 to provide luxury travel to New York, the ship set new standards in engineering, reliability and speed. She was the world’s first large iron ship and the first to be driven by a screw propeller.
Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the ship was built in 1843 at the Great Western Dockyard in Bristol, under the supervision of Brunel and his colleagues at the Great Western Steamship Company & Thomas Guppy, Christopher Claxton and William Patterson.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge
Just a short walk along the River Avon and the scenic Avon Gorge, you’ll find the Clifton Suspension Bridge. This Grade 1 listed landmark was designed by the then 24 year old Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but only completed five years after his death.
More information regarding the bridge can be found on the The Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust website.