more bristalgia

Here's a couple more things in similar vein to the last post:

• firstly here's another demolition film, this one showing the dismantling of the old Severn railway bridge in 1967, seven years after it had been partially demolished by having two barges driven into it - just in case that wasn't destructive enough they were both laden with various highly flammable and/or explosive materials, so you can imagine what happened next. Ironically the bit that wasn't instantly destroyed in the accident seems to have been pretty tenacious as it took until 1970 to finish the dismantling job. All that's left these days is a few stumps visible at low tide and the stone base of the swing bridge section that used to span the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.
• a more recent bit of disappeared Bristol is the old flyover that you used to have to go under on the bus to get to Temple Meads railway station. Built in the late 1960s as a temporary relief measure it was only demolished in 1998 when the grandly-named Temple Circus Gyratory was built, so I remember it well. The idea was to provide a one-way-only short-cut from Temple Way to Redcliffe Way (which ploughed through the middle of Queen Square at the time). I only went over it in a car a couple of times, but it was very narrow and bumpy and frankly rather alarming. Anyway, some nostalgic photos can be found here, here and here. If you can't get your bearings I've helpfully drawn in virtual green crayon on a map, below.