If You Have Ever Thought Of Travelling To See The Clifton Suspension Bridge

and the SS Great Britain,

the four day ballooning festival which will run from August 9 and 12 might be a good time to go, there will be more than 140 balloons from around the world that will take off from Ashton Court over the four day festival which has become one of the top tourism events in the UK, the balloons, some of the balloons which drifted over the city at around 7am this morning, were spotted by early risers and commuters on their way to work, with many running out of their houses to take pictures, 

so if you are going to see Brunel’s Clifton suspension bridge, have a look at the balloons as well, a bit about the bridge, for almost 150 years this Grade I listed structure has attracted visitors from all over the world, its story began in 1754 with the dream of a Bristol wine merchant who left a legacy to build a bridge over the Gorge, 24 year old Isambard Kingdom Brunel was eventually declared the winner and appointed project engineer – his first major commission, work began in 1831 but the project was dogged with political and financial difficulties and by 1843, with only the towers completed, the project was abandoned,

Brunel died aged only 53 yrs in 1859 but the Bridge was completed as his memorial and finally opened in 1864, designed in the early 19th century for light horse drawn traffic it still meets the demands of 21st century commuter traffic with 11-12,000 motor vehicles crossing it every day, also well worth visiting is his SS Great Britain, which has been made into a museum ship which was a former passenger steamship, advanced for her time, she was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company's transatlantic service between Bristol and New York, while other ships had previously 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, which she did in 1845, in the time of 14 days, pretty good by the standard in those days, so for a bridge, boat and balloon day out Bristol is the place to go, have fun!