Now a tourist-friendly destination with restaurants, bars, hotels and museums, it’s easy to forget that Bristol’s Harbourside was once a busy working dock.
It was a thriving port where sailors and merchants traded goods and set sail for famous voyages on the high seas.
Walk around the docks today and you’ll still see plenty of boats and reminders of its maritime heritage, as well as people taking part in watersports like paddleboarding, rowing and yachting.
It’s also home to Brunel’s SS Great Britain, which continues to be one of Bristol’s tourism jewels, and the iconic cranes outside the Mshed museum.
Bristol’s docks have certainly altered a lot over the years so we’ve trawled through the archives to find ten photos showing the changing face of the harbourside.
Walk around the docks today and you’ll still see plenty of boats and reminders of its maritime heritage, as well as people taking part in watersports like paddleboarding, rowing and yachting.
5. Shipshape
The SS Freshspring moored in the floating harbour in 1979, alongside old warehouses. | Bristol City Council
6. Busy port
In this undated postcard, the sheer size and number of ships using the harbour can be seen. | Bristol City Council
7. Bristol Bridge
A post-war postcard looking north up the floating harbour towards Bristol Bridge from Redcliffe Bridge. It shows the devastation wrought upon the city during the Blitz, although the city’s church towers still stand proud. | Bristol City Council
8. Welsh Back
View of Welsh Back from Bristol Bridge circa 1890. Victorian warehouses mingle with older buildings on Welsh Back. The boat named Taff implies the traditional use of this part of the docks for the inland trade with Wales. | Bristol City Council