It’s not often you see a boat in the Avon Gorge these days but in early November we saw two, a narrowboat and a sailing boat! Boats are a rare sight here because of the extreme tidal range of the River Avon (the second biggest in the world, apparently) as it flows in and out from the Bristol Channel twice a day.

I remember how strong the current appeared when I launched my tiny Journey of Song boat on the receding high tide beneath Clifton suspension bridge, back in the summer of 2020, how “the good ship” got swept away as soon as it touched the water during the filming of the trailer for this website. (Speeding up the video made the great surge of water even more apparent.)

Also pictured above is a cardboard model boat from the Bristol Harbour Festival in July and a beautifully constructed full-size wooden boat that was on display in an artist house as part of the 2024 Windmill Hill art trail, in south Bristol this autumn. Undoubtedly, this was another unexpected boat sighting! The artist(s), listed as Trygg in the art trail brochure, exhibited the boat alongside a floor installation featuring ceramic pots made from River Avon mud. Trygg is a Norweigan word which means ‘safe harbour’ or ‘be safe’ which is an apt sentiment for this boat-y post.

The top image is another ‘local artist’ discovery. In April, during a visit to Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, I learned that the celebrated Romantic painter Turner visited Bristol in the 1790s and made this watercolour painting of the Avon Gorge (entitled ‘The Avon Gorge and Bristol Hotwell’) at the tender age of 16. The iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge is conspicuously absent from Turner’s painting as it would not be constructed for another 70 years, during a famously industrious era of Victorian engineering.
Does Turner’s ship in full sail remind you of my Journey of Song ship?