Clifton Tourist Information

Clifton Bristol

Clifton lies to the west of the city centre. Clifton was always known as the posh end with its leafy parks and Georgian terraces. These had much of their origins in the tobacco and slave trade - the profits of which built much of Clifton. Clifton was separate from the city of Bristol until the Georgian expansion made it part of the city. Royal York Terrace is one of the most famous Georgian terraces that overlooks the Avon Gorge and can be seen from Bristol docks.

Whiteladies Road in Clifton is where you'll find a good choice of shopping, bars and restaurants along with Clifton Village. Clifton is surrounded by Clifton Down to the west, Westbury Park to the north and the Ashton Court Estate across the River Avon - location of the annual Long Ashton Bristol Balloon Fiesta where you can see an amazing array of brightly coloured hot air balloons. Some are even themed in the shapes of animals or well known brands.

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Royal West of England Academy of Arts

The Royal West of England Academy of Arts is one of the five Royal Academies of Art in the UK. It is housed in a grand Grade II listed building in Clifton in Bristol's West End.

The permanent fine art collection started from a bequest to the Academy by Ellen Sharples in 1849. It contains paintings by nineteenth century artists and has grown by additions from artist members through the twentieth century to the present day. A range of paintings, sculptures and photographs are exhibited in five naturally lit galleries and the New Gallery. The RWA holds two open exhibitions every year: one that showcases sculpture, painting or printmaking, the second, the Autumn Exhibition, comprises mixed disciplines from both national and international artists.

Check the RWA's website to view some of the collection on the Online Archive and to find out more about current exhibitions. The Academy also houses a shop and cafe and many of the exhibitions have art for sale. The gallery can also be hired for lectures, meetings and launches.

Open Mon-Sat 10am-5.30pm. Sun 2-5pm. Royal West of England Academy of Arts, Queens Road, Clifton, West End, Bristol BS8 1PX. Tel: 0117 973 5129. Fax: 0117 923 7874. Email: info@rwa.org.uk

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Bristol Zoo and Gardens Clifton

Bristol Zoo is based in Clifton just along the A4176 near Westbury Park. It is a fantastic family day out with over 400 animal species from gorillas to millipedes. The 12 acre site houses a variety of outdoor enclosures as well as indoor environments for exotic animals ranging from lions, gorillas, monkeys, seals and penguins, and even endangered native UK species such as water voles. Areas are themed to show animals from different parts of the world or different habitats like The Aquarium and Wallace Aviary or Zona Brazil that recreates the Brazilian rainforest habitat used by tapirs, capybara and gold lion tamarins. There are loads of interactive things for the kids to get involved in too like face painting and badge making in The Activity Centre or the Zoolympics - a range of activities to explore those used in the animal kingdom.

Bristol Zoo aims to educate people about the animals, habitats and ecosystems that make up the world and why it's important for these to be conserved for our own survival. Recent exhibitions have included some that help how our activities affect the planet. The Zoo Gardens are also popular and holds an important collection of plants from all over the world, some of which are rare.

Bristol Zoo is open daily from 9am to 5.30pm during the peak season. Discounted tickets and special offers are available in conjunction with First Bus and First Great Western to promote a greener way of getting to the zoo. Groups of ten or more can also get discounted tickets. What a fantastic birthday celebration idea taking a bunch of friends to the zoo for a day out - no doubt the kids would enjoy a birthday party at the zoo too!

Check the Bristol Zoo website, link right, for up-to-date information on details of the zoo, group bookings and other events hosted at the zoo throughout the year.

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Clifton Suspension Bridge

Another of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's structures in Bristol is the famous landmark, Clifton Suspension Bridge. It's a stunning and iconic sight straddling the Avon Gorge. The bridge was built after an open competition was held to find a design for the bridge. Thomas Telford, the judge for the competition, rather sneakily rejected all the designs in favour of his own! A second competition was then held, obviously with new judges, and this is the one that Brunel won. The Bristol Riots of 1831 were some of the worst in the country in response to the defeat of a Reform Bill by the Tories that aimed to get rid of rotten boroughs in many of the country's up and coming towns and cities. In 1830 only around 6,000 of Bristol's population had the vote and the Reform Act was seen as a way of changing this state of affairs. Rioters burnt down 100 houses including the Bishop's Palace, the Custom House and the Mansion House and work on the Clifton Suspension Bridge was stopped with Brunel himself being sworn in as a special constable. Work didn't start again until 1836 and the finances to fund the project caused problems from then on. Brunel didn't live long enough to see the bridge completed and it was his colleagues from the Institution of Civil Engineers that felt it would a fitting memorial to him to finish it.

The chains from Brunel's Hungerford suspension bridge were used at Clifton and a slightly altered design has made the deck slightly wider, higher and sturdier than Brunel's original design. It was finally completed in 1862. After rather alarming worries of the strain the bridge was under in 2004 during the Ashton Court Festival and Balloon Fiesta the bridge was closed to all traffic and pedestrians. This is now an annual occurrence as the bridge was never designed for such volumes of traffic!

The bridge is now run by a Trust who raise funds for the upkeep of the bridge through tolls for vehicles but pedestrians and cyclists are not charged.

There is an information point on the Leigh Woods side that give some information on the history of the bridge as well as selling guide books, postcards and souvenirs. It is open daily from 10am to 5pm. Guided tours are also offered by prior arrangement. Contact: Mr Mike Rowland (for guided tours, history, heritage, talks etc) tel: 0117 974 4664. Email: visitinfo@clifton-suspension-bridge.org.uk

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Clifton Observatory and Camera Obscura

Good views of the gorge and the suspension bridge can be seen from the Clifton Observatory and Camera Obscura on the hill on the Downs up from Suspension Bridge Road. The Observatory was originally built in 1766 as a windmill for grinding corn and was later converted to grind snuff at which time it became known as the "Snuff Mill". It was partially destroyed in a gale in 1777.

The Camera Obscura was installed in 1828 by artist William West who was renting the mill as his studio. It gives a 360 degree view of the stunning panorama from the Observatory reflected from a convex lens and sloping mirror on top of the building onto a white surface in a darkened room. Admission to Clifton Observatory is free. Clifton Observatory, Camera Obscura and Cave, Litfield Place, Clifton, Bristol BS8. Tel: 0117 924 1379.

Leading away from the Observatory with views down into the gorge is a pleasant woodland walk along the gorge.

During his time here William West also cut an underground tunnel to St Vincent's Cave which opens out from the gorge 250 feet above the valley floor. The cave is thought to have once been connected to a chapel which his first mentioned in AD305.

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Avon Gorge National Nature Reserve

The steep sided limestone Avon Gorge runs under the bridge from Bristol to Clevedon on the coast.

It is home to a varied range of wildlife including woodland, scrub and limestone grassland where you can find rare plant species such as Bristol and Wilmotts's whitebeams, green hellebore, Bristol rock cress, Bristol onion, spiked speedwell, autumn squill and honewort. Peregrine falcons can often be seen hunting along the gorge and you'll often see and hear jackdaws particularly on the bridge buttresses. Rare horseshoe bats have also managed to make a home here in caves in the gorge as well as the buttresses. The Avon Gorge is protected as both a national Site of Special Scientific Interest as well as an internationally important site due to its woodlands that include small-leaved lime and the rare whitebeams. Leigh Woods which are on the west side of the River Avon, west of Clifton is a National Nature Reserve.

For a water's-eye view of Clifton Suspension Bridge and Avon Gorge take a boat trip along the River Avon. Check details on the Bristol Ferry Boat Company, the Bristol Packet Boat Trips, Avon River Cruises and Tangaroa websites, links right.

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