Welsh Back Waterfront

Sunday morning, and after a restful, dog-free night’s sleep in our hotel room, I got up fairly early to take a walk around the harbourside streets. This is a unique and very photogenic part of Bristol. The skies were overcast, and I didn’t have long before the rain set in again, but I did find some interesting viewpoints along the river. This shot is taken along the waterfront by Welsh Back – a cobbled street – looking along the Avon to Bristol Bridge.

Welsh Back is a historic street situated along the waterfront in Bristol's Harbourside area. Its maritime history spans several centuries. The street derived its name from the frequent arrival of vessels from Wales, which carried cargoes such as slate, stone, timber, and coal. Before this, it was initially known as St Nicholas Back in 1673. The waterfront along Welsh Back was historically lined with merchants' houses, where goods were directly loaded onto ships, illustrating the integration of commerce and maritime activity. Opposite Welsh Back, on Redcliffe Backs, numerous granaries and mills emphasised the role of grain processing and storage in the local economy. Nearby, on King Street, the Llandoger Trow pub, housed in a 17th-century half-timbered building, remains one of Bristol's few examples of this architectural style, once celebrated for its early architecture.

The Granary, built in 1869 in the Bristol Byzantine style and located inland from Welsh Back, initially served as a grain store. It later became a well-known nightclub and has recently been converted into flats, demonstrating the adaptive reuse of historic buildings. Bristol Bridge, located near Welsh Back, dates from 1768, replacing earlier medieval structures. It has been a vital crossing point of the River Avon for centuries.

The area around Welsh Back forms part of Bristol's Floating Harbour, an engineering feat completed in 1809. This project transformed the tidal river into a non-tidal harbour, allowing ships to remain afloat continuously and enhancing trade. The Floating Harbour project also included the New Cut, a tidal bypass for the River Avon, altering the waterfront landscape. Today, the regenerated harbourside area around Welsh Back blends historic maritime elements with modern amenities, restaurants, and cultural attractions, reflecting significant investment and development since the 1980s.