Bristol – City, coast and country life

Friday, 20 May 2011 - 03:34 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General
Reading Time:  5 minutes

River Avon from balloon © Adrian Pingstone

River Avon from balloon © Adrian Pingstone

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) with an estimated 1,006,600 residents, it is England’s sixth, and the United Kingdom’s eighth most populous city, one of the group of English Core Cities and the most populous city in South West England.

Bristol is the largest centre of culture, employment and education in the region. Its prosperity has been linked with the sea since its earliest days. The commercial Port of Bristol was originally in the city centre before being moved to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth; Royal Portbury Dock is on the western edge of the city boundary. In more recent years the economy has depended on the creative media, electronics and aerospace industries, and the city centre docks have been regenerated as a centre of heritage and culture. There are 34 other populated places on Earth named Bristol, most in the United States, but also in Peru, Canada, Jamaica, Barbados, and Costa Rica, all presumably commemorating the original.

Victoria Rooms © Robert Brewer University of Bristol - Wills Memorial Building © Adrian Pingstone Panorama of Bristol © Klafubra - Hautala Cabot Tower © Rob Brewer The Nails © Rodhullandemu Millenium Square © Steinsky Llandoger Trow © Adrian Pingstone Broadmead Shopping Centre from a balloon © Adrian Pingstone Old Vic Theatre © Rob Brewer Bristol International Balloon Fiesta © ChrisUK Bristol Cathedral © Adrian Pingstone River Avon from balloon © Adrian Pingstone
<
>
University of Bristol - Wills Memorial Building © Adrian Pingstone
Bristol has 51 Grade I listed buildings, 500 Grade II and over 3,800 Grade II buildings, in a wide variety of architectural styles, ranging from the medieval to the 21st century. In the mid-19th century, Bristol Byzantine, an architectural style unique to the city, was developed, of which several examples have survived. Buildings from most of the architectural periods of the United Kingdom can be seen throughout the city. Surviving elements of the fortified city and castle date back to the medieval era, also some churches dating from the 12th century onwards. Outside the historical city centre there are several large Tudor mansions built for wealthy merchants. Almshouses and public houses of the same period still exist, intermingled with modern development. Several Georgian-era squares were laid out for the enjoyment of the middle class as prosperity increased in the 18th century.

As a major seaport, Bristol has a long history of trading commodities, originally wool cloth exports and imports of fish, wine, grain and dairy produce, later tobacco, tropical fruits and plantation goods; major imports now are motor vehicles, grain, timber, fresh produce and petroleum products. Deals were originally struck on a personal basis in the former trading area around The Exchange in Corn Street, and in particular, over bronze trading tables, known as “The Nails”. This is often given as the origin of the expression “cash on the nail”, meaning immediate payment, however it is likely that the expression was in use before the nails were erected. As well as Bristol’s nautical connections, the city’s economy is reliant on the aerospace industry, defence, the media, information technology and financial services sectors, and tourism. The former Ministry of Defence (MoD)’s Procurement Executive, later the Defence Procurement Agency, and now Defence Equipment & Support, moved to a purpose-built headquarters at Abbey Wood, Filton in 1995. The site employs some 7,000 to 8,000 staff and is responsible for procuring and supporting much of the MoD’s defence equipment.

Read more on City Council Bristol, Bristol Tourism, Wikitravel Bristol and Wikipedia Bristol. Learn more about the use of photos. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organisations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

We wish you a peaceful Advent season, Merry Christmas and a great start into a happy, amazing, healthy, awesome and successful New Year! 🕯 🎅 ✨ 🎄 🎁 🍾 🎆

We wish you a peaceful Advent season, Merry Christmas and a great start into a happy, amazing, healthy, awesome and successful New Year! 🕯 🎅 ✨ 🎄 🎁 🍾 🎆

[caption id="attachment_224634" align="aligncenter" width="590"]Christmas tree and Hanukkah menorah on Pariser Platz in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin © Leonhard Lenz[/caption] Read more on Wikipedia Twelve Days of Christmas, Wikipedia Saturnalia, Wikipedia Advent an...

[ read more ]

Abraj Al Bait Towers in Mecca

Abraj Al Bait Towers in Mecca

[caption id="attachment_165052" align="aligncenter" width="442"] Abraj Al Bait Towers © King Eliot/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Abraj Al-Bait is a government-owned megatall complex of seven skyscraper hotels in Mecca. T...

[ read more ]

Bozeman in Montana

Bozeman in Montana

[caption id="attachment_244430" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Downtown © flickr.com - tyler craft/cc-by-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in ...

[ read more ]

Theme Week French Riviera

Theme Week French Riviera

[caption id="attachment_151928" align="aligncenter" width="590"] French Riviera map © Markus Bernet / www.demis.nl[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Côte d'Azur, often known in English as the French Riviera (French: Côte d'Azur; Occita...

[ read more ]

Ateneum in Helsinki

Ateneum in Helsinki

[caption id="attachment_214347" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Goddess of Art and Caryatids © Paasikivi/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Ateneum is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland and one of the three museums forming the F...

[ read more ]

Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in Occitania

Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in Occitania

[caption id="attachment_243971" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Roquefort-sur-Soulzon © Christophe.Finot/cc-by-sa-2.5[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Roquefort-sur-Soulzon (Occitan: Ròcafòrt) is a commune in the Aveyron department, in t...

[ read more ]

The steam frigate Jylland

The steam frigate Jylland

[caption id="attachment_152748" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Sebastian Nils/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Jylland is one of the world's largest wooden warships, and is both a screw-propelled steam frigate and a sailshi...

[ read more ]

In-N-Out Burger

In-N-Out Burger

[caption id="attachment_244056" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Cheeseburgers © flickr.com - Jef Poskanzer/cc-by-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]In-N-Out Burgers, doing business as In-N-Out Burger, is an American regional chain of fas...

[ read more ]

Yale University in New Haven

Yale University in New Haven

[caption id="attachment_222737" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Benjamin Franklin College courtyard © Helpfullguy99/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Con...

[ read more ]

The seaside resort of Opatija in Croatia

The seaside resort of Opatija in Croatia

[caption id="attachment_150817" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Hotel Kvarner © Gt-man/cc-by-sa-2.0-de[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Opatija is a town in western Croatia, just southwest of Rijeka on the Adriatic coast. The town proper h...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Asturias

Theme Week Asturias

[caption id="attachment_217299" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Gijon © Labé/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Asturias, officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive...

[ read more ]

The AIDAmar

The AIDAmar

[caption id="attachment_152551" align="aligncenter" width="590"] AIDAmar in Geirangerfjord, Norway © Drdoht/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]AIDAmar is a Sphinx class cruise ship, built at Meyer Werft in Papenburg for AIDA Crui...

[ read more ]

Germany's integration into the West

Germany's integration into the West

[caption id="attachment_238787" align="aligncenter" width="498"] Federal Republic of Germany map - January 1957 - October 1990 © TUBS/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Western integration, also known as western ties, is underst...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top