Clifton Suspension Bridge

A competition for a bridge over the Avon Gorge was held in 1829 and the young Isambard Kingdom Brunel won the second round in 1831, aged twenty-four, after Thomas Telford had rejected all the first-round entries including Brunel's. Work stopped for lack of money and the chains were sold; Brunel died in 1859 with the towers standing and nothing between them, and his colleagues completed it in 1864 as a memorial to him, using chains recovered from another of his bridges, the demolished Hungerford footbridge. The span is 214 metres and the deck sits about seventy-five metres above high water. The two towers are deliberately not identical. The bridge carries traffic on a toll and pedestrians free, and a visitor centre on the Leigh Woods side explains the construction.

What you actually see

• The 214-metre span - a deck seventy-five metres above the Avon.
• The mismatched towers - the two piers built to different detailing.
• The recycled chains - links taken from Brunel's demolished Hungerford bridge.
• The gorge - limestone cliffs with the tidal Avon far below.

When to go

Year-round; the bridge is lit at night, which is the more striking version. The Bristol Balloon Fiesta in August fills the gorge with balloons at dawn. Walking across is free at any hour.

Honest expectations

Parking near the bridge is very limited and mostly residents-only. The bridge has a long association with suicide and barriers were added in 1998, with patrols and signage. Vehicle crossing is tolled.

Nearby

Clifton village and the observatory are on the city side; Leigh Woods lies across the gorge.