The Bristol Blitz A walk in the past


 

I was a child of the baby boom generation born just after the war.  Growing up I remember large bomb sites in the centre of Bristol in particular the area around Castle Park which was covered with grass and purple buddleia.  My husband who is older than me can even remember going into air raid shelters to escape the blitz and the big street parties which marked V.E. day in 1945.

However, when I saw a walk advertised on the “Walk in the past” website “the Bristol Blitz,” I realised I did not know very much about the actual details of the blitz itself.  My mother who was a teacher had taken evacuees to Cornwall and my father lived near Bath so they had not experienced it directly.

The Bristol Blitz memorial

Many people know St. Peter’s church which is in the centre of Castle Park close to Cabot Circus shopping centre and the galleries.  It was destroyed during the blitz and only the  bombed out skeleton remains.  It is kept as a memorial to the 1,299 civilians killed in Bristol whose names are listed on a board outside.    St. Peter’s Church

The shell of St. Peter's chuch in Castle Park
St. Peter’s church was destroyed during the Blitz. The shell has been left as a memorial.

Before the war the government did not think Bristol was  a major target so did not make much effort to protect the city.  The Germans however disagreed.  There was a large aircraft factory in Filton and Avonmouth was an important transatlantic port.  Bristol was also a vital railway hub for South Wales and the South West.  Pilots could easily find the city at night by simply following the rivers Avon and Severn.

1941-1942 Blitz

There were several major air raids in 1941 and 1942 in which thousands of houses were completely or partially destroyed and many civilians were killed or injured.  Many eyewitness accounts exist.  People recalled how at first they watched the flares and bombs and thought it was   a rather grand Guy Fawkes celebration.  However, they quickly realised the horror of the destruction and how the centre of Bristol would be changed forever. The worst air raid took place on the night of 24th of November 1940.  The area which is now Castle Park was a densely populated maze of streets. Many of the houses were made of wood and it is said that it was possible to lean out of an upstairs window and shake hands with someone doing the same in the house across the road.

The first sign that something was amiss came when several people leaving the pubs in the old city spotted white lights falling from the sky. These were “fairy lights” dropped by the first Luftwaffe planes to arrive over the city and were used to illuminate the targets for bombers. Air raid sirens sounded only minutes before the first bombs fell and soon the heart of the city was ablaze. The bombs which dropped were intended not to cause devastation by blasting away buildings but to set them alight. One of the most frightening moments recalled by eyewitnesses was a curious silver stream running into the harbour. They did not know it at the time but it was the lead roof of St. Peter’s church which had melted in the heat of the fires.

Our walk

We met by St. Peter’s church and looked at the names on the war memorial

This picture was given to my parents as a wedding present in 1947.We explo

and then explored the area round Castle Park and the site of another ruined church St. Mary Le port .   We also looked at pictures of the rather beautiful

This rail was embedded into the grass just feet away from St. Mary Redcliffe Church. It has been left to show how narrowly the church escaped damage

old Dutch house (right)which was destroyed during the blitz and other photos of the prewar city.   we then headed to St. Mary Redcliffe church and saw a section of tram track which narrowly missed the church.  We next looked at the ruins of Temple church, close to Temple Meads railway station which was built on the site of a round temple owned by the Knights Templar.  Temple Church

Temple Church with its wonky tower must have been one of the most distinctive churches in Bristol. It is nicknamed the leaning tower of Bristol and its tilt  is only 2 degrees less than the leaning tower of Pisa.

We then climbed to Beckinghamham Road in Knowle where a large, unexploded bomb nicknamed Satan lay undiscovered under the road for two years.  It was estimated to weigh 1800 kgs. and was one of the largest bombs to have been dropped in England.  It would have caused considerable damage if it had gone off but instead was paraded through London for V.E. day.

Reflections

This walk was very different from previous walks looking at the medieval city or for Tudor   architecture as many of the walkers could remember being told stories by their parents or grandparents who had lived in Bristol during the blitz .  Some knew   the people who used to live in the houses that had been damaged or destroyed.  We also talked to some of the current occupants of Beckingham Road.  It was a real experience of living history which brought the past vividly to life.


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