Old City, New City

View from Bristol's floating harbour, from the ferry

"In 1809 Bristol was transformed by the opening of the Floating Harbour....80 acres of tidal river was impounded to allow visiting ships to remain afloat all the time. Over the next two centuries the Harbour grew as a busy commercial port until it closed in 1975. Since then, it has been regenerated for leisure, commerce and residence".

My colleague Jan and I took the train to Bristol today, to attend the biennial Bristol Artists' Books Event (BABE), whichI first visited in 2013.
http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/babe-2015-bristol-artists-book-event
https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2978038

Arriving at the Arts Centre, we were so overwhelmed by what was on offer that we sought refuge in the shop, and then the cafe, before touring the many stalls, which we were housed in several galleries over three floors. Artists' books are as varied as the artists themselves, so I shan't attempt to describe all of what I saw today, but will blip (soon, I hope) the little pile of mostly handmade treasures I brought back.

I could've bought more: I particularly liked a book called Street. It was handmade, with portraits of Indian street children photocopied onto incredibly strong tissue paper that had been covered in glue to make it a bit like like vellum. (At least that's how I remember it). The artist had recorded his impressions of this trip among the children with a few words in black ink, written on the pages with a thick twig, in a bold and irregular hand. I'd have loved to have it, but I'd purposely left some money at home, so that I didn't go too far.

Jan and I toured all the galleries but one, which took around three hours, until J casually mentioned that it was time to catch the ferry! We rushed down the quay at Prince Street Bridge, and the kind boatman, who was about to depart, came back for us so that we could cruise back up to Temple Meads station with the sun on our faces and the wind in our hair. The ferries are a regular service, no more expensive than buses, but twice as pleasant.

Arriving at Temple quay, we had drinks in a giant yurt, as one does, and caught the train back to Cheltenham, where we had to change trains and have more drinks (it was that sort of day, anyone would think we'd been sponsored by a major drinks company). Eventually we set off again, and J got off at Gloucester as she had things to do, and a bunch of pissed-up sports fans got on, and sang all the way to Stonehouse! I walked back up to the house and found that Steve wasn't there. So I headed over to our local pub garden, where I found him inside another giant yurt, where there was yet another bar with more soft drinks! This time the six parliamentary candidates (yes, six, including a Green, a UKIPper and a Wild Card) were being grilled in a hustings. Interesting stuff...

So that's enough
of yurts and books,
bars and breeze,
blue and boats,
BABE '15
in Bristol.