BRUNEL TRAIL - SATURDAY 17th MAY 2008

It was a lovely Saturday morning that a group of more than 10 students gathered at 9.20 a.m. by the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Elvyn our guide shared his extensive knowledge on Brunel with insights on a competition that conceptualised the present day bridge. We were also given a glimpse of Brunel’s life.

It was through two design competitions that were held, and the great bridge designer Thomas Telford was the committee's expert. Brunel presented a total of four designs and won the competition. Unfortunately, he only got so far as to put up the end piers in his lifetime. The Clifton Suspension Bridge was completed in his honour by his engineering friends in 1864.

The walk continued to Clifton Village towards the docks. There are plenty of Brunel features around the docks. Brunel himself had a hand in their construction and there are capstans and swing bridges in the Cumberland Basin that can still be seen today. The Great Western Dockyard is commemorated with a plaque above the entrance to the industrial museum on Spike Island.

Our next stop was one of the best features of the day - the ss Great Britain. The world’s first propeller-driven, ocean going iron ship was salvaged from the icy waters around Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands in an operation made possible by the property tycoon Sir Jack Hayward. Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s ship almost ended her days as a rusting hulk but was rescued from decay by a dedicated team of salvage experts who oversaw the process of preparing the ship and sailing her back across the Atlantic to her homeport of Bristol. The ship came back to Bristol exactly 127 years after her launch (back in 1843) and was returned to the same dock where she started her ocean-going life.

We continued on towards Queens Square where Elvyn shared more interesting facts about Brunel before the walk ended at 3.00pm.