bombing, bikes, bollards, BRISTOL!

Our Guide book on England devoted only a half page to Bristol and basically said that the city was heavily bombed by the Nazis during WWII and there was nothing to see here.

As it turns out the city was/is heavily bombed. Bombed by some very talented and clever street artists.

Some parts of central Bristol were bombed heavily by the Nazis. The factories located in this port city were important to British war effort, but most of Bristol's old neighbourhoods were unharmed.

The beautiful and wealthy old neighbourhoods of Bristol were built on fortunes made in the slave trade. Bristolians are still conflicted by the fact that their city was build on slave money and they debated the City's legacy. Massive Attack, from Bristol, refuses to play at Colston Hall which is named after the City's most fluent slave trader, Edward Colston.


While in Bristol Kate made a pilgrimage to her dad's old school the Chemistry Department University of Bristol. Ryan made a special journey to Brandon Hill, a park in Bristol, where Brandon Manitoba gets its name from.

On our journey through the City let us see what Bristol has done make the city easier for people who bike. Most notable is reducing the speeds on most of the City's streets to 20mph (32kmh). This speed reduction is not confined to local streets most of the Bristol's arterials have also been reduced to 20mph. Bristol Council has covered the city in banners and stickers saying, "20: A little bit slower. A whole lot better."

Ilya also got to ride the train in Bristol. Short trips from, but a great treat from him.

Unfortunately Bristol is also a city of bollards. Way too many bollards. At least in some situations they have some up with creative versions of this useless bit of street furniture.

Bristol was well worth our visit. A lovely little city with very nice neighbourhood centres similar to home city of Victoria  Lots of community enthusiasm that binds people in the city a creates a nice feel.