How I discovered that there was a tower where you could see all Bristol is a quite funny story. At that time, I had been living in Bristol for 4 months and a friend from university was visiting. It was her who told me there was a tower in Bristol where you could see the whole city from. In my defence, I must say I was living in Horfield and living in Horfield you are practically not living in Bristol. Now, everytime somebody comes to visit me, to climb up Cabot Tower has become a must.
Cabot Tower is located on a hill in the heart of the city. Brandon Hill is a popular picnic spot with beautiful panoramic views over the city and Harbourside (Read the post about Harbourside). The oldest park in Bristol is a natural reserve and it is open all times. There is limited parking in the roads around the park and the nearest parking is the West End Car Park. There are many accesses to the park: Great George Street, Jacob Wells Road and Berkeley Square.
Cabot Tower was built between 1896-1898 in commemoration of John Cabot's famous voyage from Bristol to the continent of North America 400 years earlier. The red sandstone tower was designed by William Venn Gough, a Bristolian architect. It was shut in 2007 after crackers appeared in the tower. Investigators said that "the supporting ironwork had badly corroded which had in turn affected the brickwork" (Source), but the tower opened in 2011 and has been opened since.
The best thing of the tower is that you can access to it for free everyday between 8am and half an hour before dusk (dusk is 9.20pm in June). There are two balconies in two levels, which you can access climbing very narrow, steep and twisting steps. If you don't find anybody coming down on your way up, everything will be fine. If you do, take a deep breath and allow some space for those who are coming down. Once you get to the top, the panoramic view is amazing. Your eyes will reach from Cabot Circus in Broadmead to the Suspension Bridge in Clifton and from Ashton Court to the residential area in Horfield. You can also check the direction and distance to your home city.
OTHER INTERESTING POSTS ON THE BLOG
- Wills Memorial Building - Tower Tours:
http://greatlittleplacecalledbristol.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/wills-memorial-building-tower-tours.html
- Cabot Tower and Brandon Hill (City Council Website): http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/leisure-and-culture/brandon-hill
- Cabot Tower (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabot_Tower,_Bristol
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