GP25 River Avon from Clifton Bridge West side by Keith Rodgerson

Epic 100

This attempt sadly cut off the top of the bridge and the camera obscura so I'll be back when the light is right. A cloud scudded by too, making that dark patch to the right of centre. British weather is so unreliable!!! Clifton Bridge spans the river Avon and connects the City of Bristol to Leigh Woods in Somerset. It was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and completed after his death in 1864. He won a competition to design a bridge here, but because the powers that be didn't believe that such a span could be built, he had to build a brick abutment on the Leigh Woods side to reduce the span. The chains used were second hand having been used on the original Hungerford bridge over the Thames in London. The river here is tidal although the sea (Bristol Channel) is over 5 miles downstream. This is why the water is kept in Bristol Docks by lock gates (the floating harbour) otherwise all craft ended up resting on the mud at low tide. They had to have extra strong hulls hence the phrase "shipshape and Bristol fashion!'See:http://share.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=27492 for a distant view from Dundry Balloons over the bridge at www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=30355
October 23, 2009 14:28 Edit | Delete

See the world's first ever bunjee jump at Clifton Brdge Bristol here www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8DLooHqJMc