The guided tours, led by experts in science, history, archaeology and architecture, provide a unique opportunity to see inside many University buildings, gardens and departments not usually open to the public.
The series builds on the tremendous success of the Autumn Tours Programme and includes some University buildings that are opening their doors to the public for the very first time together with Saturday and evening weekday tours.
On the first tour, Wednesday 16 February and repeated on Wednesday 11 May, people will have the opportunity to find out just what happens when they visit the dentist for a filling. A live demonstration with the 'drill' takes place at the University's Clinical Skills Laboratory. The 'patient' will be a training simulator, a life-like head and mouth, that the Dental School uses to train future dentists. The state-of-the art laboratory is the most up-to-date of its kind in the country. The tour costs £4.
Over the next few months, the University's new Botanic Garden will emerge to provide the city with a unique botanical and cultural attraction. The Curator, Nick Wray, will conduct a new tour on Saturday 19 February, Saturday 16 April and Saturday 4 June around the grounds of The Holmes and people will be able to experience the Garden's present growth. The tour costs £3.50.
The south west has some of the earliest evidence for human activity in Britain. A new tour led by Dr Paula Gardiner of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology , on Wednesday 16 March, will show how today's archaeologists use a variety of techniques to build a picture of past societies. The tour costs £4.
Manor Hall and Clifton Hill House gardens have an interesting history and a wealth of botanical interest. Led by Malcolm Kinch, Horticultural Co-ordinator of the University's Ground Services, a new tour on Wednesday 13 April will take in both gardens, giving some general historical background and pointing out botanical features. The tour costs £4.
A new tour on Wednesday 20 April will explore the most important collection in the country of electoral literature held in the University's Special Collections. Visitors will be able to see posters, handbills and pamphlets, ranging from a 19th-century broadside to the modern mail shot. The tour costs £4. (Due to space constraints places on this tour are limited).
A new evening walking tour looking at the architectural development of the Victorian suburbs of Sneyd Park and Stoke Bishop takes place on Wednesday 15 June. The walk will start and finish at the University's Wills Hall, built around Downside, an early 19th-century house. It will take in The Holmes, the 17th-century Stoke House, the Village Hall and the Church of St Mary Magdalene. The tour costs £4.50.
Other University properties on the tours programme include the landmark Wills Memorial Building, Churchill Arboretum, the Bristol Dinosaur at the University's Department of Earth Sciences, and Burwalls, the dramatically-sited Victorian house overlooking the Suspension Bridge.
Places on the tours must be booked and paid for in advance.
Ways to book:
- Contact Joan Lewis, Tours Organiser at joan.lewis@bristol.ac.uk
- or fill out the application form in the University's Spring and Summer Tours brochure
- or download an application form
Copies of the Spring and Summer Tours Programme brochure can also be obtained by calling 0117 928 7157.
The Tours Programme is arranged by the University of Bristol's Public Programmes Office whose main aim is to strengthen the links between the University and the people of Bristol and to increase the University's capacity for local engagement.