Clifton Suspension Bridge

Bristol has made a very favourable impression on our first ever visit. We’re staying in the Clifton Village area so started off our exploring from there.

We did a great walking tour of the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Our volunteer guide told us ‘everything’ there is to know about the Bridge and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the designer.

The story of the bridge began in 1754 when William Vick, a Bristol Wine Merchant, left £1000 (about £140,000 today) in his Will to the Society of Merchant Venturers to be put towards a project to build a bridge. In 1829 that sum had grown to £8,000 so they launched a competition to design a bridge over the River Avon. Two years later, 24 year old Brunel was declared the winner.

The project faced endless difficulties and delays. The original design was changed many times.

It took 33 years for the bridge to be completed in 1864. Brunel never saw it, dying in 1859. His family refused to attend the official opening saying “it wasn’t the bridge their father designed.”