Tagged: is
A Trip to the Library
08 Jun 2021
I had to return a book to the library—Ellic Howe's Magicians of the Golden Dawn, very interesting, thanks for asking—so I decided to pick the Central Library as my drop-off point and walk down a segment of Deanery Road that I've surprisingly overlooked so far. In any normal time I'd have been walking to work that way quite often, or heading through at the weekend on the way to do some shopping in the city centre, or for a coffee at St Nick's, but those excursions have been quite thin on the ground for the last year or so, for obvious reasons.
I've never been inside a single building on Deanery Road itself; the Library is technically on College Green and the rest is mostly student accommodation or Bristol College buildings, by the looks of things. It's a fairly mediocre street, used merely to get to other places. (St George's Road, which merges into it, at least has the distinction of several good shops verging from the practical and long-lived car radio fitters to the excellent little Dreadnought Books, sadly currently closed for refurbishment...)
After dropping off my book I came home via the harbourside, the better to enjoy the nice sunny blue skies of the day.
Tags: Bristol Places UK onemilematt united kingdom harbourside Canons Marsh
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Text Recognition Tags: THIS IS A PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT No dogs No cycling No roller skating No skateboarding No sunbathing THIS IS A PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT No dogs No cycling No roller skating No skateboarding No sunbathing
I'm afraid that this is a bit of a badly-curated wander, where I mostly just popped out to find out a little of the history of Underfall Yard and poke around the various open workshops, and, in hindsight, really didn't take pictures in any kind of coherent order. So there's a lot of pictures, but they don't really tell the story that, in hindsight, I seem to have been trying to tell, of the unusual electrical substation in Avon Crescent, the Bristol Electricity that predates the National Grid but is still in use, the history of the hydraulic power house... It's a bit of a mess.
But I suppose sometimes these wanders—always chronologically presented in the order I walked and took photos—simply will sometimes be a bit of a mess. Let's hope you still get something out of it, anyway...
Tags: Bristol Places UK onemilematt united kingdom Hotwells Underfall Yard Spike Island Docks Heritage Weekend
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Text Recognition Tags: Bristal City Cup aping Masbina Made by Hde and Cengany of Mabeeter, the 1880/90 a A versatle acbine whih is witel nalaly te the prouction af vrge pe of w Shaping asbin ar reative of the planing maina e tr tararta Day han reelprocating toel. The naphine la tort long vera sd a halt en frem e shafting tbrg fu g puley at the ieft hand vod The langth af vtroke can be variel by thn takng of tw large wa on the drive trie The ram is fed siung the machine ty s esd sorew whiut can be rotatad wtber by hand u A pew and ratchet mechanin rlvn by the sam att w prs the rem mehastan The ram reciprocating speed an be variet tn 10 d 30 vtroke pe ita The foothrake which is operatel fron the right hand end of the saibine was t ly the Port of Bristul Autherity to stop noveent qickty. Without the trsks De sautios 'ne o codd be for uo to balf minute which wan nnint and a tengtatian for the operatar to ne dangeraun metos to adieres sker stas Bristal City Cup aping Masbina Made by Hde and Cengany of Mabeeter, the 1880/90 a A versatle acbine whih is witel nalaly te the prouction af vrge pe of w Shaping asbin ar reative of the planing maina e tr tararta Day han reelprocating toel. The naphine la tort long vera sd a halt en frem e shafting tbrg fu g puley at the ieft hand vod The langth af vtroke can be variel by thn takng of tw large wa on the drive trie The ram is fed siung the machine ty s esd sorew whiut can be rotatad wtber by hand u A pew and ratchet mechanin rlvn by the sam att w prs the rem mehastan The ram reciprocating speed an be variet tn 10 d 30 vtroke pe ita The foothrake which is operatel fron the right hand end of the saibine was t ly the Port of Bristul Autherity to stop noveent qickty. Without the trsks De sautios 'ne o codd be for uo to balf minute which wan nnint and a tengtatian for the operatar to ne dangeraun metos to adieres sker stas
I only found out from a recent Times crossword that "shivers" are splinters.
Tags: Bristol Places UK onemilematt united kingdom Hotwells Underfall Yard Spike Island Docks Heritage Weekend
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Text Recognition Tags: SLIPWAY RESTORATION TIMBERS There has been a slipway at Underfall Yard since at least the 1850s and records show that the wooden cradle has been renewed every thirty to forty years. It was last restored by Underfall Yard Trust in the 1990s and after accommodating a variety of vessels weighing up to 150 tons, it is now in need of repair. This challenging project is being completed by Underfall Yard's boatbuilders. Parts of the cradle will be rebuilt using a hardwood called Greenheart The density, hardness and stiffness of Greenheart make it ideal for use in marine environments where strength and durability are paramount. Greenheart is also rot-resistant and can last for many years even when fully submerged which means the end of the cradle nearest to the harbour can remain underwater. GREENHEART n so bevSETHAT THONE OFTHE EW TSOr WOOD THAT DORINT OATHE sornst WOO0INTHEWORLD BALSA WHCH HASA DEND TY OF 1KG R CUBIC ETRL CABINHEART HASA DNSITY OF ID40 KG PE CUBICHETR THE SZFANDwtICHT OFTHETHIEEMA THISA CHA vON HOECY THE TOUHES OF TH WOOD ALO HAEESIT DCAT TO WOM WITH UNDERFALL YARD SLIPWAY RESTORATION TIMBERS There has been a slipway at Underfall Yard since at least the 1850s and records show that the wooden cradle has been renewed every thirty to forty years. It was last restored by Underfall Yard Trust in the 1990s and after accommodating a variety of vessels weighing up to 150 tons, it is now in need of repair. This challenging project is being completed by Underfall Yard's boatbuilders. Parts of the cradle will be rebuilt using a hardwood called Greenheart The density, hardness and stiffness of Greenheart make it ideal for use in marine environments where strength and durability are paramount. Greenheart is also rot-resistant and can last for many years even when fully submerged which means the end of the cradle nearest to the harbour can remain underwater. GREENHEART n so bevSETHAT THONE OFTHE EW TSOr WOOD THAT DORINT OATHE sornst WOO0INTHEWORLD BALSA WHCH HASA DEND TY OF 1KG R CUBIC ETRL CABINHEART HASA DNSITY OF ID40 KG PE CUBICHETR THE SZFANDwtICHT OFTHETHIEEMA THISA CHA vON HOECY THE TOUHES OF TH WOOD ALO HAEESIT DCAT TO WOM WITH UNDERFALL YARD
...is worth a thousand words. As you can see from the map, hydraulic power from the accumulator can be used to power things all around the harbour, including to swing Prince Street Bridge, about a mile away. Impressive.
Tags: Bristol Places UK onemilematt united kingdom Hotwells Underfall Yard Spike Island Docks Heritage Weekend
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Text Recognition Tags: U BRISTOL'S HYDRAULIC SYSTEM WHAT IS HYDRAULIC POWERI Hyde poerp e k y opertra. Powe canbeet overlang ditares Detan yctae pow, oratonsn a opering lok go Snging bigen and uadryc wth ty a te n A he eat O Te oura tect poarh pir a b britgd The H Ri U BRISTOL'S HYDRAULIC SYSTEM WHAT IS HYDRAULIC POWERI Hyde poerp e k y opertra. Powe canbeet overlang ditares Detan yctae pow, oratonsn a opering lok go Snging bigen and uadryc wth ty a te n A he eat O Te oura tect poarh pir a b britgd The H Ri
The more I research it, the more I find that Hotwells had far better transport links back in Victorian and Edwardian times than it has today. Along with buses that went to more useful places than the City Centre, there were trams, the funicular up to Clifton, the landing stage for paddle steamer services and two railway stations all within easy walking distance of me.
Today I took a day off work as preparation for doing the bookkeeping for my tax return1, and took a wander along to the site of what would have been my nearest station, Hotwells (or Clifton, as it started out in life), nestled in the shadow of the suspension bridge, the Bristol terminus of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier.
From there I wandered down the Portway, following the original line, until I got to the area around Sneyd Park Junction, where the tunnel from the slightly later Clifton Extension Railway joined up with this originally-isolated BPR line. Then I headed up to Clifton through the "goat gully" at Walcombe Slade, seeing the few above-ground bits of evidence of the tunnel (which is still in regular use) along the way.
It was a lovely day, and a good walk, and it was interesting to daydream of the times when I could have walked a few minutes from my flat down to Dowry Parade, caught a short tram ride to Hotwells Stations, and then headed from there to Avonmouth, perhaps even to board a transatlantic passenger service. The completion of the Clifton Extension Railway that linked the Avonmouth station with Temple Meads made relatively direct transatlantic travel from London via Bristol possible, with passengers travelling up from Paddington to Temple Meads, on to Avonmouth on the Clifton Extension Railway and Port Railway and Pier line, then perhaps catching a Cambpell's paddle steamer—which sometimes acted as tenders for large steamers—to a larger ship that was headed out for Canada, say.
1 I've learned that the best approach is to take two days off and deliberately do something that's not my bookkeeping on the first day, as otherwise I just inevitably end up procrastinating and feeling guilty on the first day no matter what. I have an odd brain, but at least I'm learning strategies for dealing with its strange ways as I get older...
2 Information mostly gleaned from Colin Maggs' The Bristol Port Railway & Pier and the Clifton Extension Railway, The Oakwood Press, 1975.
I did not see hide nor hair of a single goat the entire time I was in the goat gully. I clearly need to spend a bit more time there.
Tags: Bristol Places UK onemilematt united kingdom Goat Gully Gully Walcombe Slade
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Text Recognition Tags: Goat news ... New Kashmir goats!!! Some new, young Kashmir goats have recently arrived in the Gully. They join our existing herd of two old Kashmir goats (the big white ones) and the four Bagot goats (the small brown and white ones). Please help us to help them settle into their new home by: Keeping your dog on a lead Not approaching them - Not feeding them. They have plenty of natural food - If you feed them they may become sick. Their job is to carry out vital conservation work by nibbling invasive scrub and bramble. By doing this they're helping to make space for rare plants like the Bristol onion and Bristol rock-cress to thrive. Both of these wild flowers grow nowhere else in the UK! www.avongorge.org.uk Goat news ... New Kashmir goats!!! Some new, young Kashmir goats have recently arrived in the Gully. They join our existing herd of two old Kashmir goats (the big white ones) and the four Bagot goats (the small brown and white ones). Please help us to help them settle into their new home by: Keeping your dog on a lead Not approaching them - Not feeding them. They have plenty of natural food - If you feed them they may become sick. Their job is to carry out vital conservation work by nibbling invasive scrub and bramble. By doing this they're helping to make space for rare plants like the Bristol onion and Bristol rock-cress to thrive. Both of these wild flowers grow nowhere else in the UK! www.avongorge.org.uk