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Further Information
Tourist information centres Bristol Tourist Information Centre is at The Annexe, Wildscreen Walk, Harbourside. Ffi: 0906 711 2191 (calls charged at 50p per min). You might not want to phone up and ask for information as it costs a packet, but both are well worth visiting in person if you’re looking for ideas for places to visit or things to do, as they have vast quantities of free leaflets from various visitor attractions.
Pevsner City Guides If you’re into architecture, or are just a bit curious about old buildings in Bristol or Bath, you want one of these. The Bath one came out in 2003 and was written by Bath Uni lecturer Michael Forsyth, while the Bristol one, published in 2004, was written by local architectural historian Andrew Foyle. Both are beautifully illustrated and packed with historical and architectural info (published by Yale University Press at a very reasonable £9.99). Actually, every Bristol and Bath resident should own their local copy, just because they tell you so much about places you might pass every day and take for granted. See www.pevsner.co.uk Freedom Guides (formerly the Titch-Hikers’ guides) publish two excellent books which no family should be without. Bristol for Families is packed with ideas for outings, as well as classes, clubs, kid-friendly pubs, restaurants, etc. Bristol for Young People is aimed at the 10-18-year-old age bracket. Teens can be notoriously difficult to keep gainfully amused, but this one’s packed with ideas. For further details, and online purchase, see www.freedomguide.co.uk Children’s Bristol is jaw-droppingly good, an astonishing labour of love that deserves some kind of civic award. Originally published in the 1970s, it was updated in 2007 and includes all the usual stuff on kid-friendly restaurants and pubs, ideas for family outings, courses, classes and summer schools, etc. But it goes well beyond that with fun, unpatronising info for kids about local ghosts, interesting historical facts, all the way down to things like where and how to go fossil hunting. Compiled by the folks at the Redcliffe Press, it’s just £8.50 and will be the making of any family summer. Further details at www.childrensbristol.co.uk Redcliffe also publish 24 Family Walks in and Around Bristol by Lesley Turney (£6.95) which has walks for families of all sizes and ages, from the gentle to the quite energetic and take in sites around Bristol, Bath, the Mendips and Gloucestershire that are either of historic or wildlife interest, or both. The Days Out Guide has had some very pleasant Sunday outings thanks to this book and can thoroughly recommend it. Also from Redcliffe is Julian Lea-Jones’s Beastly Bristol, all about the nature and critters you can expect to encounter in the city. It’s £6.95 and is great fun. The National Gardens Scheme persuades people to open up their gardens to the public and charge punters admission, which then goes to charity. All sorts of treats, from huge big famous estates to small quirky little suburban gardens, open up through spring, summer and autumn. To find out which gardens are opening when, you need to get hold of this year’s edition of the NGS’s famous Yellow Book, which is in all good bookshops now or can be ordered online from www.ngs.org.uk It lists over 3,600 gardens to visit across the UK and costs £8.99. Nigel Vile is the area’s most prolific author of books on local walks. Walks involving pubs, walks with kids… etc, etc, etc. You should find a selection of his works in any local bookshop or library. He’s also got a basic website with some info at www.geocities.com/vilewalks/nigel.html The Bristol & Bath Cycle Guide by Nicky Crowther (JH Haynes & Co, £10.99) contains 20 bike rides around the area, taking in urban paths as well as some Somerset and Gloucestershire countryside, with good detailed mapping. Well worth investing in if you’re new to the area, or new to leisure cycling. Countryside Books is a Berkshire-based firm which brings out loads of books on nature, history, heritage and walks for places all over England, and their site is always worth looking at for books on local rural adventures. The site also includes downloadable walks, for a small fee. See www.countrysidebooks.co.uk Bristol Publishers… There are several firms operating locally, managing to make an honest living bringing out local books for local people, from the grand old Redcliffe Press, which deserves the freedom of the city, to hip young newcomers like Naked Guides. The firms all co-operate as an umbrella group, and if you look at their website you will find loads more books with local leisure ideas. www.bristolpublishers.co.uk And don’t forget the Rough Guides. There are loads of these, and we can’t fault the information (or most of the opinions) in any of the ones we’ve used, and if you’re serious about exploring somewhere, get one. At the very least, every home should have a copy of the Rough Guide to England. See www.roughguides.com
English Heritage is the quango that looks after a lot of the country’s ancient sites and, generally, ruins from only slightly more recent centuries. Their star attraction in this part of the world is, of course, Stonehenge. The excellent website at www.english-heritage.org.uk details all their sites, including times, prices and dates of special events. Many of the bigger places, such as Old Sarum (see Rocks & Ruins section), host major living history events over the summer season, but EH is also responsible for loads of sites that are no more than things in fields in the middle of nowhere and which’ll cost you nowt to visit. They’re all detailed on the website. Ffi: www.english-heritage.org.uk The Forest of Avon has a wonderful website that’ll tell you about all the woody bits around Bristol, Bath and surrounding area. Ffi: www.forestofavon.org.uk Nothing to See Here – www.nothingtoseehere.net – is a quirky little website all about interesting places and attractions that tend not to be in guidebooks. Not much from SW England, but great fun anyway. The Conditional Exemption Incentive… Now then, if you have the time and the tenacity, this is an absolutely brilliant wheeze that can get you into the homes of big-shots or aristocrats who don’t really want you there at all. This is how it works: people who own land, buildings, works of art, etc that HM Revenue and Customs decides are of national heritage or scientific interest get exempted from inheritance and/or capital gains tax on condition that the owners look after them and make them available for the public to come and see. So the darling taxman (may his tribe increase) has put a searchable database of these ‘tax-exempt heritage assets’ online. Go to www.hmrc.gov.uk/heritage to see them broken down by region. Some of these places are already open to the public on a regular basis, while access to others is more restricted. Bristol and Bath’s official tourist websites are at www.visitbristol.co.uk and www.visitbath.co.uk respectively. Both are good, well-maintained sites that should be your first port of call for info on accommodation and general touristy things. Both also have basic info on major public events. For slightly further afield, www.visitsouthwest.co.uk has plenty of good ideas for adventures. Nature South West at www.naturesouthwest.co.uk is a site from South West Tourism on the natural attractions of the region. It’s mostly touristy guff, but has some good ideas for outings and an excellent downloadable booklet with scenic walk ideas. About Bristol has been around since before most people in Britain even knew what the internet was (no, seriously), but is still one of the best introductions to local history and architecture in the form of a series of virtual tours. Print out and have yourself an urban adventure. Ffi: www.about-bristol.co.uk Church Crawler Pretty much the complete history of Bristol’s Anglican and RC churches, all in one place. Ffi: www.churchcrawler.co.uk Memories of Bristol Not much tourism as such, but deserves a mention on account of the astonishing quantity of information about Bristol history – old photos (which you can buy), plus articles and links to articles on other sites. Not too easy to navigate around, but absolutely essential if you’re even slightly interested in this kind of thing. Ffi: www.gertlushonline.co.uk Garden Gourmets Excellent site with loads of information on garden centres, nurseries, gardens open to the public and gardening shows in Somerset and Wilts. The first place to look if you’re seeking horticultural adventure. Ffi: www.gardengourmets.co.uk
First don’t just run late, overpriced services in Bristol and Bath. They have late, overpriced buses in the country as well, along with a wide range of fares and ticket options, some of which are excellent value (it’s only the commuters they really soak) and it’s well worth investigating the various options, including the combined bus and rail offers. Obviously it’s even more worth examining if you’re a senior citizen. See www.firstgroup.com South Gloucestershire Bus runs a couple of services in South Gloucestershire and Bristol, see www.southgloucestershirebus.co.uk Ulink started out for the benefit of UWE staff and students, but the public can use its services too. It runs a number of routes, mostly in north and East Bristol, so isn’t much good for rural adventures, but it’s great for Bristol. And cheaper fares than First. Ha! See ulink.info Trains For general info, see www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk The Bristol Streets website at www.bristolstreets.co.uk is very useful, and has potential to be even better. Basically you pick a neighbourhood, and it comes back to you with lots of detail on all the transport options. Take a look at it.
And don’t forget… Venue magazine In the shops every Wednesday, price £1.50, with your complete guide to what's on in Bristol and Bath, including sections on days out and family activities. Ffi: www.venue.co.uk
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