A new view of a classic scene

A few weeks ago Helena went on a swift boat trip around Bristol's Floating Harbour and discovered that the same company ran occasional boat trips from the harbour down the River Avon towards the sea. In fact the boat takes you out to sea, if only briefly and in clement weather.

So we set forth from home with our friend J. and arriving at midday we boarded a former Dutch cruising boat designed for the canal trips around Amsterdam. The slight drawback was that the whole boat was enclosed with extensive windows but limited unfettered photo access.

Having left home on the forty mile trip to Bristol docks, with mists still shrouding the landscape, we were very lucky that the sky cleared just before we boarded. The crew let me stand on the steps and poke my head out through the doorway at times, and I managed to grab this view of the Brunel Suspension Bridge very soon after leaving the huge dock gates of the harbour. This would be the journey that countless people in times past have taken, especially when sailing for the Americas. The SS Great Britain would have done so, but only once, as we were expertly told that it only just squeezed out of the original dock gates (since replaced in more recent times) and thus couldn't use Bristol as a base for its working life.

The weather turned to overcast grey sky by the time we reached Avonmouth, and sailed past the lighthouses at the mouth of the river and out to sea into the Bristol Channel. We highly recommend this trip.