Living in Bristol
Bristol is a lively university city, home to the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England. It has a good network of buses, plenty of parks and open spaces, great shops and themed attractions. The harbour area is an attractive place to wander round, with its small boats and larger ships such as the SS Great Britain, M Shed, the new (free and child friendly) museum of Bristol life, the At-Bristol planetarium and hands-on science centre, the Aquarium and IMAX cinema, the Arnolfini Gallery of modern art, and many restaurants. Bristol also has a zoo, a museum and art gallery, a cathedral, theatres and concert halls, and lots of shops including the large out-of-town shopping centre, Cribbs Causeway, and the newly opened Cabot Circus in central Bristol. In August/September there are spectacular international hot-air balloon fiesta and kite festival.
Historically Bristol is known for its connections with
• Evangelical revival and the Wesleys. John Wesley preached his first open-air sermon in Bristol. His New Room (1739, bottom photo), a chapel and rooms where the Wesleys and other preachers stayed, can be visited in central Bristol. Charles Wesley lived in Bristol with his family (1766-71); his house is open to the public by arrangement.
• Shipping. Bristol used to be one of England's main ports with ships sailing up the river Avon to the central harbour. Large ships now dock in deeper waters at Portbury, while the central harbour (main photo) is used for smaller ships and pleasure boats, and has many restaurants. John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto, second small photo), the first European to discover America, sailed from Bristol in 1497; a replica of his ship Matthew (top small photo) can often be seen around the harbour. There is an annual Harbour Festival.
• Engineering and invention. The great engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel built the Clifton Suspension Bridge (completed 1864), as well as the SS Great Britain, the first ocean-going, propeller-driven iron steam ship (launched 1843), which is now permanently moored in Bristol's harbour and open to the public. He was responsible for the design and buiding of the first London-to-Bristol railway, which became the Great Western Railway, including Bristol's Temple Meads Station (1839). More recently, Filton has become a centre of the aircraft industry, particuarly famous for the construction of Concorde.
Find out more at http://www.visitbristol.co.uk
Bristol has a variety of churches, and you are encouraged to get involved in your own church as much as you can. Those training in context will be involved in the local churches in their own communities.
Trinity College is in an attractive situation on a hill with views across the Severn estuary to the Welsh hills. It is close to the Downs, a large flat area, ideal for walking or running, from which you can see the Avon Gorge and Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Bristol is also in the centre of the beautiful south-west England, which includes attractions such as Cheddar Gorge and caves, Slimbridge Wetlands Centre, Westonbirt Arboretum, Bath, Wells, the Somerset and Devon coasts, Longleat Safari Park, the Wye Valley, the Forest of Dean and South Wales across the Severn Bridge, Oxford and the Cotswolds. London is easy to get to by public transport (two-and-a-half hours by bus and one- and-three-quarter hours by train) and Bristol is close to several motorways if you are travelling by car.
