Bristol in the New Millennium

© David Hoey 2002

A view of the Avon Gorge, to the south-east, taken from the middle of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, looking upstream of the River Avon toward Bristol; Clifton being to the left, and Abbot’s Leigh to the right, with the gently rolling hills of Somerset on the horizon. The road on the left bank is the Portway, linking Bristol to the Avonmouth Docks, on the coast. The low tide in this view clearly demonstrates the large change in the width of the river between high and low water. In the centre of this view can be seen the old "White Funnel" landing stages, now largely in a state of neglect. Further upstream can be seen the Cumberland Basin road complex, built in the 1960’s, to bypass the once-notorious traffic bottleneck at the Merchant’s Road swing-bridge! Above the complex can be seen the three truly enormous red brick warehouses that where once used as the Bonded Tobacco Stores for the one-time cigarette industry in Bristol. The right-most building is now the Bristol Records Office, whilst the other two are used as commercial storage facilities. Slightly below the horizon, stretching from the centre of this view to the left edge is part of the built-up area of south Bristol.