The End of the Pier

We ended today at Clevedon Pier, which is one of only two grade 1 listed Piers (the other is Brighton, which is not in such fine condition).

It’s a really elegant structure, and unusually is constructed of wrought iron. The reason is that the contractors had found large quantities of Barlow rail discarded from Brunel’s failed broad-gage South Wales Railway. The material could be used to make superbly slender and strong supports for the Pier.

Much of the rest of the day has been spent with my friends daughter and her youngsters in Bristol. We ended with a visit to Blaise Hamlet, a green and group of picturesque cottages owned by the National Trust (and all occupied) - see extra. The cottages were designed by John Nash for John Harford in 1809 to house Blair Estate pensioners. They are said to have heavily influenced the garden city movement decades later.