Bristol has been a major city in England since the Middle Ages. Its
position on the confluence of the Rivers Avon and Frome, near the coast
on the west of the country, allowed it to capitalise on trade with the
American colonies and in the eighteenth century the city grew rich on
the slave trade. The city was further transformed in the 19th century by
Brunel's Great Western Railway, his pioneering ocean-going steamships
and Clifton Suspension Bridge over the Avon Gorge. The wealth of the
tobacco trade enabled the Wills family to help build the university and
the face of the city changed as the docks migrated away from the centre
and new industries grew, particularly aircraft manufacturing. Targeted
by aerial bombardment during World War 2, large areas of the city centre
were destroyed during the war and today several fragmentary churches
bear witness to this loss but Bristol has regenerated itself,
particularly around the waterfront, to become a major technological,
business and cultural centre in the UK. In this book photographer Rich
Wiltshire celebrates the new face of Bristol in a collection of stunning
images which portray not just the new buildings that characterise modern
Bristol, but also how the how the older Bristol also survives alongside
them, often turned into new uses. For all those who are proud to live
and work in Bristol, as well as those visiting, this book is a must.
Look through these photographs and you will quickly see the special
fascination of this changing city.
