Colourful Clifton

Monday October 11
Another beautiful day today, once again better than the forecast had suggested. Our destination today was picturesque and colourful Clifton, and the famous Clifton suspension bridge (see extra). We took the bus up there, to save us the long uphill walk, figuring we would get plenty of walking in later in the day.
The bridge was designed by the great Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, although he never lived to see his creation finished in 1864. Work actually 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 in 1859, at the age of only 53, but the Clifton Suspension Bridge was completed by his fellow engineers as his memorial. 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 vehicles crossing it every day. We started at the Visitor Centre, with its exhibition and very helpful and informative staff. Then we walked back across the bridge to Observatory Hill, where there is a wonderful view of the bridge, and where we visited the Camera Obscura and Giants Cave at Clifton Observatory. We then walked down into the centre of Clifton, and found a lovely French bistro for lunch. We don’t usually have much for lunch, but this was too tempting, being reminiscent of our years spent in France! We then continued to explore the beautiful architecture, magnificent mansions and colourful houses of Clifton, before walking back into the centre.
Step count: 20,689

I’ve just posted three entries, please scroll back to see the others if you have time!