Nostalgic memories of Bristol's local history
Share your own memories of Bristol and read what others have said
For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.
Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.
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Displaying Memories 21 - 30 of 82 in total
I visit family and friends occasionally on returning to my birth place of Bristol. I still enjoy as I did as a child 'The Downs' and 'Blaise Castle Estate'. Then particularly the paddling pool in the summer which we all frequented, taking a picnic. The woods at all times of year with the beechwood being my favourite and which I often visit now. They take me back to my childhood where we could then spend ...see more
My grandfather was born in Bristo,l he was Henry Fisher born 1900, his father was also Henry Fisher and was a master hairdresser, his mother was Lavinia. He had brothers Reginold and Ronald and sisters Mabel, Beatrice and Doris. My father came to live in Bristol with his father and mother Hilda with his brother George and sister Dorothey around 1930. My grandfather and grandmother had two more children while they ...see more
I had my wedding reception here in 2004, after marrying at Quakers Friars, we were lucky enough to be some of the last couples to marry there. I am Bristol born and both my husband and I love history, so it seemed appropriate. Llandoger Trow is a beautiful place as is Bristol. Long may it survive.
The street shown in your photograph is Small Street. The shop with the blinds on the extreme right was rented by my father about 1942/3 (The fact that the shop blinds are drawn suggests the photo' may have been taken on a Sunday.) My father owned and managed the boot and shoe retailing business at the corner of Stokes Croft and Jamaica Street from about 1924 until the building was destroyed ...see more
Bristol's historic King Street. The Llandoger Trow inn on right of photograph.King Street is a 17th-century street in the historic city centre of Bristol. The street lies just south of the old town wall and was laid out in 1650 in order to develop the Town Marsh, the area then lying between the south or Marsh Wall and the Avon. The north side was developed first and the south side in 1663, when the street ...see more
This shows an early Victorian horse-drawn omnibus on the Park Street, Clifton, City Centre Bristol Zoo route. The fleet commenced with various horse trailers, totalling 109 with 678 horses. These were eventually replaced by electric cars which totalled 237.
The last new batch was built in 1920 to the same basic open top design and style as those of twenty years before. With a few ...see more
Two of the cranes were purchased by 'City Dock Ventures' and two by the city council. All four were put into the museums care in 1989. Although the electricity supply to them was cut in 1974, one has been restored and another is in the process of being restored by a dedicated team of volunteers, led by Dave 'The Crane' Cole.
One crane is now fully working and sometimes open for the public to go up to the ...see more
Cabot used only one ship with 18 crew, the Matthew, a small ship (50 tons), but fast and able. He departed on either May 2 or May 20, 1497 and sailed to Dursey Head, Ireland. His men were frightened by ice, but he forged on, landing somewhere, possibly on the coast of Newfoundland, possibly on the coast of Cape Breton Island, on June 24, 1497.
As so little is known about this voyage, which landing-place to ...see more
Bristol's Cabot's Tower, and the penny pinching Council.
Bristol's most prominent land mark, the Cabot Tower, was 100 years old in 1998. But the official opening was marked by a disastrous fire, a confidence trick and some rather clever council penny pinching.
The foundation stone of the Cabot Tower was laid on Brandon Hill in 1897, the 400th anniversary of John Cabot's journey to the New World. It was ...see more
Clifton Zoo was founded in 1835 by a group of eminent local citizens and opened to the public in 1836. It is the fifth oldest in the world, and the oldest one that is not in a capital city. There were 220 shareholders who subscribed the capital to enable the land to be bought and the Zoo to be built. Some of the descendants of these original shareholders are still connected with the Zoo to this day, ...see more
