I try to walk home from work in different ways and see different things, and I’ve been especially interested in the former lock gates that used to lead from the Avon to Bathurst Basin, as the entrance from medium-sized boats into the Floating Harbour.
These were blocked up during the Second World War, because the Nazis were already bombing Bristol, trying to destroy the Harbour, and if the narrow divides were breached, it would cause huge flooding, as well as damage the boats that were carrying food into and around the UK from across the Atlantic. I’m always surprised that the gates were just left – I understand it in the War, but after?
Find out more about the different entrances between the Harbour and the Avon in this podcast with Ray Gallop of the Friends of the Avon New Cut, last year.
Avon Stories 