Bristol in Photographs

Bristol has been a major city in England since the Middle Ages. Its position on the confluence of the Rivers Avon and Frome, near the coast on the west of the country, allowed it to capitalise on trade with the American colonies and in the eighteenth century the city grew rich on the slave trade. The city was further transformed in the 19th century by Brunel’s Great Western Railway, his pioneering ocean-going steamships and Clifton Suspension Bridge over the Avon Gorge. The wealth of the tobacco trade enabled the Wills family to help build the university and the face of the city changed as the docks migrated away from the centre and new industries grew, particularly aircraft manufacturing. Targeted by aerial bombardment during World War 2, large areas of the city centre were destroyed during the war and today several fragmentary churches bear witness to this loss but Bristol has regenerated itself, particularly around the waterfront, to become a major technological, business and cultural centre in the UK.

In this book photographer Rich Wiltshire celebrates the new face of Bristol in a collection of stunning images which portray not just the new buildings that characterise modern Bristol, but also how the how the older Bristol also survives alongside them, often turned into new uses. For all those who are proud to live and work in Bristol, as well as those visiting, this book is a must. Look through these photographs and you will quickly see the special fascination of this changing city.