SS Great Britain, Bristol

We’ve done trains and planes, now it was the turn of boats (remember the song?)

The SS Great Britain is one of two iconic attractions of Bristol that we visited today. And what a spectacular visit it turned out to be. The transformation since our last visit many years ago was phenomenal.

The authenticity of the setting, the quality of the museum display, the detail of life on board for passengers and the Brunel display was just amazing. We were there a good 3 hours or more.

It was a relief to sit down and refuel before setting off to another of the city’s icons, the Clifton Suspension Bridge. We cantered across the bridge to catch the visitors centre 10 minutes before it closed, then walked back over the bridge and up to the observatory on the Downs for classic views of the bridge and the Avon Gorge.

Viewing the River Avon as it winds its muddy way through the gorge never fails to impress. We were disappointed that the footpath on the gorge side of the bridge was closed so preventing views of this most striking part of the Avon.

We lingered by the observatory for a while to see the sunset and lingered even longer in the cold at the bus stop waiting for the 505 to take us back to the Park and Ride.

Another long day, we have one more attraction on the agenda tomorrow then we travel to Shropshire to see Dad’s cousin and some walks in the South Shropshire Hills.