Bristol; Saturday, 14 July, 2018

After breakfast in the hotel I headed down through the recently redeveloped and pedestrianised cenotaph area to the city quay.

At the quay I picked up the open-top bus to do a tour of the city, which in the already hot temperatures was a very pleasant place to be.

I did two full circuits to take in the substantial number of views before disembarking again by the city quay and going for a walk through the city centre and up to the castle park.

The park was originally home to the city’s castle, reportedly similar in size to the Tower of London, but it was torn down following the English Civil War and only small parts of it now remain at ground level. After the castle was removed the area turned into one of the main commercial and residential areas of the city and remained that right up until 1940 when much of it was destroyed in bombing raids as part of the Bristol Blitz. After the war the area was cleared and just the ruins of St Peter’s church were left as a memorial to all those who were killed in the months of bombing that the city endured.

I had a long look round the ruins of the church and a wander through the castle park before finding myself at the edge of the new Cabot Circus shopping development, with it’s large number of restaurants at which point I realised I had missed lunch and was feeling peckish, so I stopped for a late bite to eat.

After lunch I had a bit of a wander around the area and then headed back to pick up the last open-top tour of the night round the city and then back to the hotel.

After freshening up I headed out into town to grab a light dinner before returning to the hotel for an early night.