Saturday 9 June - SS Great Britain

It was a beautiful warm and sunny day today and we walked a lot.
We went through the castle gardens and alongside the water to Shed M and straight to the Great Britain exhibit. It is evident that Britsol has a lot to offer but there is a lot of dirt and garbage in the streets and there is a great deal of graffiti.

A shallow mirror pool gives the impression of the vessel in the water

The vessel is in dry dock 

Reproduction of the novel design of propeller and rudder mechanism

Steering was out in the open

The first class passengers did very well for themselves

The visit was very well done and we were able to look at every part of the ship. It was good to see elevators/lifts so that mobility impaired visitors could go everywhere.

After the Great Britain we took a harbour tour.

The harbour is used for many leisure purposes - sailing, canoeing etc

The weeds growing on the harbour walls made an attractive splash of colour

There were good views of the Great Britain from the boat tour

We walked further down towards Clifton where there was a poor view of the suspension bridge but we were getting tired and didn't want to walk further, bearing in mind we would have to walk back

This pirate boat was sailing towards Clifton and we watched as the swing bridge was opened to allow it through

The Bristol Harbour Railway was giving short rides

The small saddletank locomotive was built in 1917 by Avonside and the crew had to keep a sharp lookout to avoid the large numbers of visitors strolling oblivious along the quay

By this time we were getting tired and found a place to get an early meal. We were amazed at the number of cocktails being prepared by the five member counter staff. The Old Town was hopping with many sitting outside drinking.  

It was a long day with much walking but it has given us a good impression of the center of the city.