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Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol – a sight to behold

In today’s virtual trip we are visiting one of the most famous bridges in the English-speaking world – Clifton Suspension

Bridge. Let our imagination take wing, fly to Great Britain and zero in on South West England, a stone’s throw from

Wales, somewhere at the mouth of the Avon River (which means River River, as Avon is Welsh for river, with this one

not to be confused with its homonymous counterpart immortalised by its association with Shakespeare's birthplace:

Stratford-upon-Avon ).

(source: Google Maps)

Clifton Suspension Bridge spans the Avon Gorge and the Avon River flowing into the Severn Estuary.

It was engineered by no less a person than Isambard Kingdom Brunel (the surname pronounced to rhyme with Chanel),

who authored numerous ground-breaking designs during the Industrial Revolution, the same that brought us steam

power). His innovations in the field of civil constructions, railways, steamships and transport earned him the second

place among 100 Greatest Britons in a BBC public poll. Way ahead of his time, he deserved to be mentioned in a video

about ... the Hyperloop (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcikLQZI5wQ).

Clifton Suspension Bridge is a toll bridge, which means that – at present – a one-pound fee is collected by an automated

machine (associate the word toll with the word teller occurring in the automated teller machine or ATM).

A magnificent view on both the bridge and the valley can be enjoyed from the Clifton Observatory, a former mill, and

from the Giants’ Cave, a tunnel that opens in the face of the cliff.

The water level was low at the moment the snapshot was taken. The tidal difference here equals ca. 13 meters. During

the ebb tide, the ships in the harbour would tilt to one side, which is why the cargo had to be properly secured. This

led to the expression coined in this region and later used nationwide: “shipshape and Bristol fashion” i.e. for well-

organised, maintained in good order.

Autor: Monika Szela

Hay-on-Wye : The Adorable Book Town of South Wales.

Miasto książęk- odkryj je z nami.

www.solosophie.com/hay-on-wye-book-town-wales-guide/