We walked to the museum; about a 25-minute walk and across two bridges. On any given Sunday the harbor is bustling with activity, so the walk was eye candy. The museum
Brunel's train system was represented by a model train layout for the kids and a live steam train running up and down the wharf. Next came the "Bristol" buses - many of what we think of as London double-decker buses were Bristol-built. Heavy lorries were also built in Bristol as well as motorcycles and a line of cars, built in the early '50's. There were several engines built for other manufacturers but they are hard to relate to.
The upstairs display promoted the Bristol airplane industry. Bristol has been into airplane manufacturing since the beginning. Starting with a box-kite knockoff of the Wright brother's early models up to a full mockup of the Concord front end. Lots of aircraft engines, from radial gas to the Harrier's ducted flow jets.
Next was an impressive display of Bristol Marine and shipbuilding history. Then a complete change in pace - the printing and box manufacture. Bristol was a major importer of tobacco. Cigarettes and other tobacco product were manufactured here in large numbers. The tobacco industry generated a need for packaging. Bristol had a huge cardboard factory on the river for making the kind of cardboard used to make cigarette boxes, cereal boxes and all the containers that are so much a part of our daily lives.
You will notice that there are no pictures of the museum displays - I wouldn't even know where to begin. I could have spent weeks photographing the interesting stuff in the museum, but seeing it live would mean so much more to you. Well, I did take some pictures of the cranes outside
This week B&P are hosting their friends from the US, Jonathan and Catherine (J&C). The four of them arrived here Wednesday to see the Bristol regional sights. They left Southwell on Wednesday about 9:00 AM and got here about 1:00 PM. The travel time was of interest to us because we now know how long the train and bus take. Surprisingly, driving falls sort of between the train and the bus. The main reason the bus is slower is because there is a 45-minute wait in Birmingham where we changed buses. The time on the road, bus vs driving, in not surprisingly - equal. That's not counting the time it takes for us to get to either the train station or bus terminals
The dinner was followed with a get-to-know-ya chat and hot showers. B&P's heat and hot water had stopped the morning we left the Midlands and still hadn't been fixed yet. So, all four of them were more than ready for a hot shower and a warm house. The repairman that the homeowner had scheduled, when hearing about the problem, had not shown up and so far there were no excuses except that the part had not arrived.
Nancy had a little Birthday celebration for Pam with a nice card, birthday gift and special cake. Pam was very pleased and surprised but told us that her birthday wasn't until next month. So we celebrated early.
Thursday morning all six of us crammed into B&P's car for a trip to Stonehenge and Salisbury. Our day trip is covered on the next page.
They lived in the Long Ashton part of Bristol. It is a community built on a fairly steep side hill with the benefit of having a fantastic view overlooking parts of Bristol and the rural area to the south. Peter and Lesley's home was very nice with a very large garden in the back. Despite our fears, were not much older than us. Dinner was a delicious bacon and egg pastry - this part of England is famous for Cornish pastries and various meat pies. Desert was a meringue with fresh local strawberries followed by a nice cheese course. Jonathan had brought a very fine port from California, which was served after dinner and then we had a pleasant time swapping stories and lies.
Peter and Lesley, I'm sure, gained considerable stature within their circle of friends for having hosted six unknown Americans on the same night. Their gracious hospitality will remain one of the highlights of our adventure. We finally had to leave and head back to the flat, but it was hard to tear ourselves away as we were so enjoying our evening.
Having heard nothing that their hot water had been fixed, B&P and J&C lined up to take one last shower before going back to Southwell. Our shower is a little tricky. I remember that we went through a considerable learning curve ourselves before we made friends with the beast. Our shower is an "electric, hot-water-on-demand" system that regardless of the setting at first puts out first ice and then scalding hot water. I have learned to just step out of the way until the temperature settles to something bearable, but new people dive for the controls and generally freeze. It is a challenge.
Friday morning our guests packed up and were on the road by 8:45. Their plan was to travel to Stratford-upon-Avon to visit William Shakespeare's hometown, a castle and then head back to Southwell. The Normans alone built over 500 castles in England in the years following their invasion in 1066.
The rest of Friday we just vegg'd. The weather had finally turned nice and without the rain to clean the pollens from the air, both of us were suffering from allergies. The local press is convinced that "Global Warming" is imminent and that two days in a row of sunshine is all the proof one needs. By the way: May was the wettest May in 23 years in England.