A small and select group of students from such diverse places as Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Japan met at 9:30am on Saturday by the Clifton Suspension Bridge for a guided walk led by the famous Elvyn Griffiths with Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the theme. We discovered how Brunel's father was a clever French engineer, and many other interesting facts throughout the day. To start with, we had a good look at the Bridge and walked across it to the exhibition centre and back. The Bridge was designed by Brunel for a competition, which he won. Therefore his design was built, although unfortunately not finished until after his death. Then we walked down through the Clifton and Hotwells areas of Bristol, learning much more about each other as we chatted, and about Bristol's history from Elvyn. Having arrived at the SS. Great Britain, we took a nice lunchbreak, then proceeded on board the ship which has been turned into an award-winning museum. She was the world's first ocean-going, propeller-driven iron ship, and we could see what life was like for the passengers, as well as how the whole ship worked. I think we will certainly be going back to the Museum, as there was such a lot to take in!Click here for photos.
