The Clifton Suspension Bridge opens
On 8 December 1864, the city of Bristol celebrated the opening of its new iron suspension bridge with a whole day of festivities – yet the finishing touches were still being made just a day earlier. The completion of this epic feat of engineering had been far from plain sailing.
If you visit Bristol in southwest England today, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to miss its most prominent landmark, standing 76m above the River Avon. The Clifton Suspension Bridge spans 214m across the Avon Gorge, and connects the Georgian suburb of Clifton with Leigh Woods in North Somerset. It’s an iconic sight in the city and one of the world’s oldest-surviving iron suspension bridges.
Bristol gets its name from a bridge – its old English name was Brycgstow, meaning ‘place at the bridge’, which over time evolved into ‘Bristol’. The first stone bridge to cross the River Avon – Bristol Bridge – was erected in the 13th century, with shops and houses built on it, but by the 18th century, the increase of traffic had made it too
