Extraordinary Streets: Withywood

The Saxons to the Seventies: a free audio walk in Manor Woods Valley, Bishopsworth, south Bristol. Discover the amazing hidden history of Manor Woods Valley, a small patch of ancient woodland in Bishopsworth. Listen in to pockets of the wood's history from the Saxons to the Seventies retold through narration, dialogue, humour and song. Expect local history with a pinch of dramatic licence. A circular route just under one mile, lasts approx 45 mins. Some hills. Partly paved, partly woodland underfoot. Sturdy footwear recommended. Content is appropriate for children aged 8+ to adult due to the concept and length of the experience. One sound spot features a bomb explosion. You can access this walk on the 75 bus, getting off just past Bishopsworth Library. The entrance to Manor Valley Woods is opposite St Peter's Rise Convenience Store, 6A St Peter's Rise, BS13 7LU. Dogs on leads are welcome. There is street parking near the start of the walk. Written and performed by Brave Bold Drama, an award-winning theatre and community arts company based close by Manor Woods Valley, in Withywood.

Poems by Jo Eades The Underfall Yard was commonly referred to as "The Underfalls" and takes its name from the underfall sluices. The construction was completed in 1809 under the direction of William Jessop and substantially improved by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the 1830s. In the early nineteenth century the engineer, William Jessop was engaged by the Bristol Dock Company to create a Floating Harbour to eliminate the problem of ships being grounded at low tide. Jessop built a lock to retain the water in the harbour; this was completed in 1809, and allowed ships to remain floating at all times, unaffected by the state of the tide on the river. Part of the project included building a dam at the Underfall Yard with a weir, known as the Overfall, to allow surplus river water to flow into the New Cut, an excavation which by-passed the Floating Harbour and joined the River Avon near Temple Meads. The docks' maintenance facility was established on the land exposed by the damming of the river to construct the harbour, and remains sited at this location to the present day. By the 1830s the Floating Harbour was suffering from severe silting and Isambard Kingdom Brunel devised the underfall sluices based on William Jessop's original plans and recommended the use of dredgers as a solution.

Poems by David Punter Bristol Docks In the 18th century, the docks in Liverpool grew larger and so increased competition with Bristol for the tobacco trade. Coastal trade was also important, with the area called "Welsh Back" concentrating on trows with cargoes from the slate industry in Wales, stone, timber and coal.[7] The limitations of Bristol's docks were causing problems to business, so in 1802 William Jessop proposed installing a dam and lock at Hotwells to create the harbour. The £530,000 scheme was approved by Parliament, and construction began in May 1804. The scheme included the construction of the Cumberland Basin, a large wide stretch of the harbour in Hotwells where the Quay walls and bollards have listed building status.[8] Launch of the SS Great Britain, the revolutionary ship of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, at Bristol in 1843 The tidal new cut was constructed from Netham to Hotwells, with another dam installed at this end of the harbour. The Feeder Canal between Temple Meads and Netham provided a link to the tidal river so that boats could continue upstream to Bath. However, the new scheme required a way to equalise the levels inside and outside the Dock for the passage of vessels to and from the Avon, and bridges to cross the water. Jessop built Cumberland Basin with two entrance locks from the tidal Avon, of widths 45 and 35 ft (13.7 and 10.7 m), and a 45-foot-wide (13.7 m) junction lock between the Basin and what became known as the Floating Harbour. This arrangement provided flexibility of operation with the Basin being used as a lock when there were large numbers of arrivals and sailings. The harbour was officially opened on 1 May 1809

Poet: Marie Papier SS Great Britain is a museum ship and former passenger steamship that was advanced for her time. She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1854. She was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), for the Great Western Steamship Company's transatlantic service between Bristol and New York City. While other ships had been built of iron or equipped with a screw propeller, Great Britain was the first to combine these features in a large ocean-going ship. She was the first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic Ocean, which she did in 1845, in 14 days. The ship is 322 ft (98 m) in length and has a 3,400-ton displacement. She was powered by two inclined two-cylinder engines of the direct-acting type, with twin high pressure cylinders (diameter uncertain) and twin low pressure cylinders 88 in (220 cm) bore, all of 6-foot (1.8 m) stroke cylinders. She was also provided with secondary masts for sail power. The four decks provided accommodation for a crew of 120, plus 360 passengers who were provided with cabins, and dining and promenade saloons. When launched in 1843, Great Britain was by far the largest vessel afloat. But her protracted construction time of six years (1839–1845) and high cost had left her owners in a difficult financial position, and they were forced out of business in 1846, having spent all their remaining funds refloating the ship after she ran aground at Dundrum Bay in County Down near Newcastle in what is now Northern Ireland, after a navigation error. In 1852 she was sold for salvage and repaired. Great Britain later carried thousands of emigrants to Australia from 1852 until being converted to all-sail in 1881. Three years later, she was retired to the Falkland Islands, where she was used as a warehouse, quarantine ship and coal hulk until she was scuttled in 1937, 98 years after being laid down.

Poems by Agata Palmer The original Bristol Harbour Railway was a joint venture by the GWR and the Bristol and Exeter Railway, opened in 1872 between Temple Meads and the Floating Harbour. Its route included a tunnel under St Mary Redcliffe church and a steam-powered bascule bridge over the entrance locks at Bathurst Basin. In 1876 the railway was extended by 1⁄2 mi (800 m) to Wapping Wharf. In 1906, new branches from the south via the Ashton Avenue swing bridge were built to Canons Marsh on the north side of the Floating Harbour and to Wapping via a line alongside the New Cut. A Coal Concentration Depot owned by Western Fuels was established at Wapping Wharf just behind the Industrial Museum but this closed in 1987. The Bristol Gaol Site The original New Gaol was designed by Henry Hake Seward and opened in 1820. In 1831, it was destroyed during the Bristol Riots and was rebuilt to designs by Richard Shackleton Pope, but was never properly completed until 1872. The gaol was closed in 1883 due to poor conditions and was largely demolished in 1898. In 1884, Horfield Prison was built to replace it. In 1821, three days after his eighteenth birthday, John Horwood was the first person to be hanged at the Gaol for murdering Eliza Balsum by hurling a pebble at her which hit her on the right temple and she then tumbled into a brook. English Heritage designated The Gaol entrance wall and gateway and the south-east perimeter wall as a Grade II listed building. It is now the centre-piece of a redevelopment project in this area of the city. Bathurst Basin Bathurst Basin is a small triangular basin adjoining the main harbour of the city of Bristol, England. The basin takes its name from Charles Bathurst, who was a Bristol MP in the early 19th century.[1] The basin was built on an area of an old mill pond, Trin Mills.[i] The pond was supplied by the River Malago, from Bedminster to the South. It lost its water supply as the New Cut was created in 1809, running to the South of the enlarged Floating Harbour and catching the flow of the Malago. After this it formed a connecting basin, through two sets of locks, between the Floating Harbour and the tidal River Avon in the New Cut.[2] The connection enabled smaller vessels to bypass the main entrance locks in Cumberland Basin. From 1865 a deep water dock with a stone quay front was built. The area used to be an industrial dock with warehouses and numerous shipyards at the adjoining Wapping Shipyard and Docks, including Hilhouse, William Scott & Sons and William Patterson. Now there is a small marina, with residential quayside properties. The Bristol Harbour Railway connected to the main line system at Temple Meads, via a lifting bascule bridge over the northern entrance dock to the basin and a tunnel beneath St Mary Redcliffe. The tunnel still exists, but is now blocked,[ii] and the original railway bridge has been replaced with a swing footbridge. This bridge is manually swung by a hydraulic pump action.(wikipedia)

Poems by David Wynne Jones Clifton Observatory The building was erected, with the permission of the Society of Merchant Venturers, as a windmill for corn in 1766 and later converted to the grinding of snuff, when it became known as 'The Snuff Mill'. This was damaged by fire on 30 October 1777, when the sails were left turning during a gale and caused the equipment to catch alight. It was then derelict for 52 years until in 1828 William West, an artist, rented the old mill, for 5 shillings (25p) a year, as a studio. In 1977, the Merchant Venturers sold the observatory to Honorbrook Inns; however, they were obliged to maintain public access to the camera obscura whose ownership was retained by the Merchant Venturers. Suspension Bridge The idea of building a bridge across the Avon Gorge originated in 1753. Original plans were for a stone bridge and later iterations were for a wrought iron structure. In 1831, an attempt to build Brunel's design was halted by the Bristol riots, and the revised version of his designs was built after his death and completed in 1864. Although similar in size, the bridge towers are not identical in design, the Clifton tower having side cut-outs, the Leigh tower more pointed arches atop a 110-foot (34 m) red sandstone-clad abutment. Roller-mounted "saddles" at the top of each tower allow movement of the three independent wrought iron chains on each side when loads pass over the bridge. The bridge deck is suspended by 162 vertical wrought-iron rods in 81 matching pairs. Ashton Court Ashton Court has been the site of a manor house since the 11th century, and has been developed by a series of owners since then. From the 16th to 20th centuries it was owned by the Smyth family with each generation changing the house. Designs by Humphry Repton were used for the landscaping in the early 19th century. It was used as a military hospital in the First World War. In 1936 it was used as the venue for the Royal Show and, during the Second World War as an army transit camp. In 1946 the last of the Smyth family died and the house fell into disrepair before its purchase in 1959 by Bristol City Council.(wikipedia)

Misfits On The Move is a short poetry walk around the harbour - from the mirror-ball to M Shed - by The Misfits Poetry Group. Misfits Theatre Company are a unique theatre and social group, led by people with learning disabilities. To listen just download the ECHOES app!

A spoken tour to guide you through the hidden gems and untold stories of central Bristol. The recommended time is a leisurely 2 hours. There are fourteen stops altogether. Tweet @echoesxyz to tell us what you thought!

Poets: Liz Cashdan and Agata Palmer A walk around Queen's Square taking in Madame Tussaud and Kosciuszko, the Polish Patriot. The square was named in honour of Queen Anne, who visited Bristol in 1702, and it became the home of the merchant elite. It was conveniently placed for both arms of the harbour, but its low-lying position surrounded on three sides by a tidal river had disadvantages too: an 'assemblage of nastiness' floated in the river, and when the tide failed to carry this away it offended the eyes and nostrils of those living in the square. This was one of the factors which ultimately led the wealthy to the move up the hill to Clifton. Privateer Woodes Rogers lived on the west side of the square; a plaque commemorates this on the building that now occupies the site of his former home. Rogers circumnavigated the globe in 1707-1711, rescuing Alexander Selkirk (the inspiration for Dafoe's Robinson Crusoe) from Juan Fernández Island during his voyage. In 1831 Queen Square was the focus of a riot, in which half the buildings in the square were destroyed. The trigger for this was the arrival in Bristol of Recorder Sir Charles Wetherell, who misjudged Bristolians' support for some of his earlier positions to mean that they agreed with his opposition to the Reform Bill. There followed three days of rioting, looting and arson, fuelled by plentiful supplies of alcohol from the well-stocked cellars of residents, which were finally brought to a halt when Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Brereton of the 14th Dragoons led a charge with drawn swords through the mob. Hundreds were killed and wounded and the mob dispersed. Brereton was later court-martialled for leniency because he had initially refused to open fire on the crowds, but shot himself before the conclusion of his trial. In the centre of the Square is an idealised equestrian statue of William III by John Michael Rysbrack, cast in 1733 and erected in 1736 to signify the city's loyalty.