The City and County of Bristol

Bristol (population 400,000) is the eighth-largest city in the country, the leading city in the South West and the region’s foremost centre for business, culture and education.

The city has been a port for a thousand years, and it was from here that John Cabot sailed in 1497 on his historic voyage to Newfoundland. The commercial port has moved downstream to Avonmouth, but the old docks in the city centre – now a thriving focus for leisure, the arts and chic urban living – retain many echoes of Bristol’s maritime origins.

The city is famous for its engineers – especially Isambard Kingdom Brunel, whose Clifton Suspension Bridge, SS Great Britain and Temple Meads Station are all Bristol icons. The engineering tradition continues today, with much of the city’s economic strength arising from aerospace and the new technologies.

Bristol is an economic powerhouse for other reasons, too: in financial services, media industries and tourism, Bristol is a leader among UK cities.

Its architecture, landscape and topography all help to account for Bristol’s unique character. The city has more Georgian buildings than anywhere else in the region, as well as some of the UK’s most striking modern structures; it has more open space, parkland and woodland per head of population than any other city in England; and the juxtaposition of the Avon Gorge with the Downs and the City Docks is truly spectacular.

This is a multicultural city of balloons and kites, community festivals and carnivals, theatres and museums, artists and animators, music and film. The presence of triple Oscar-winner Aardman Animations, the BBC’s world-beating Natural History Unit, the hugely successful at-Bristol centre for science, nature and art, some of the UK’s liveliest clubs and countless other innovators in the arts and sciences, gives the city its edge.

The City of Bristol has been granted the prestigious title of City of Cultural Excellence, after being selected as one of the 6 city finalists from the UK for the European City of Culture 2008.

For more information on Bristol City consult: www.bristol-city.gov.uk

Bath, only an hour away from Bristol, has been designated as a World Heritage Site. It presents some of the finest architectural sights in Europe, such as the Roman Baths, Pump Rooms and Assembly Rooms, Royal Crescent and Pulteney Bridge. It is a spectacularly beautiful city, which stands on the River Avon among the hills of England’s West Country.

WEATHER:

March is the first spring month of the year in England. The weather is typically mild, and south-westerly winds are the most common. In the Southwest this is also the driest time of year, however bring your umbrella just in case.

More information is available from http://www.weather.co.uk.

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