The Platinum Line

Tag: Bristol history

  • A house through time series 3 Guinea Street Bristol

    A house through time series 3 Guinea Street Bristol

    A house through time is a BBC 2 series that tells the story of an English city through the history of one of its houses.  Two previous series, which I very much enjoyed have focused on the northern cities of Newcastle and Liverpool.  As I belong to a history walking group and have written on…

  • Social distancing for V.E. day in Bristol

    Social distancing for V.E. day in Bristol

    It was going to be very different; our government had planned a series of events on May 8th to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of the ending of the war in Europe (V.E. day). Local groups were planning street parties, film shows and church parades. The bank holiday had been moved from Monday to Friday so…

  • 17th Century Bristol a walk with Samuel Pepys

    Did you know Samuel Pepys, the famous London diarist visited Bristol in the 17th century? No, neither did I. However, when Pepys visited in 1668 as part of his work as a naval clerk, he was very impressed with the city calling it a second London. This week our  “walk in the past” history walking…

  • Arnos vale cemetery, a walk to remember

    Arnos vale a ghostly walk for Halloween

  • Bristol and the slave trade

    Bristol and the slave trade

    This week we tackled a more difficult subject for our walk in the past walk – the Bristol slave trade. It is an uncomfortable but undeniable fact that much of Bristol’s prosperity came from the slave trade. Slavery is thousands of years old. The Romans brought slaves to Britain and Celtic tribes traded slaves. However,…

  • Brunel and Bristol

    Brunel and Bristol

    Clifton suspension bridge which spans the river Avon has become the symbol of Bristol.   This post is about the bridge’s designer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Last Sunday our walk in the past walking group walked from Temple Meads railway station to Clifton Suspension bridge to see some of his legacy to the city.  Our route…

  • The New Room Bristol and John Wesley

    The New Room Bristol and John Wesley

    Did you know Charles and John Wesley built the very first Methodist chapel here in Bristol? A lot of people visit Broadmead, the shopping district in the middle of Bristol without realising that the chapel exists.   But you can discover it opposite the Galleries shopping centre. The Horsefair entrance is close to the arcade.…