Bristol In The 1920s

Very rare moving pictures of Bristol (UK) filmed 80 years ago. A world in which old cars, buses, lorries and motorcycles share the roads with trams and a surprising number of horses and carts. A charabanc and even a hand-pulled cart are glimpsed. Policemen direct traffic, women exhibit the 'flapper' look, men wear hats or caps. Clips feature The Centre, Corn Street, Bristol Bridge, Park Street, The Docks, Bedminster Bridge, Redcliff Hill, and Ashton Swing Bridge.

[@debbydodahdidleem]

Fasinating, thank you. born in Bristol, lived there till i was five. forty six now. Good to see old and new. My father would have been four. Grandparents now long gone would have been a young couple. My goodness youve made me feel old.

[@Hairnicks]

Absolutely priceless, a must see for anyone who loves Bristol.

[@emayl]

I spent 5 months in Bristol as Erasmus and I miss it so much! It's really nice to see how was in the 20s!!! thanks for sharing it!!;))

[@denniskeogh]

Thank you! Came to visit 40 years ago - been here ever since. Love it! (...and if you don't like it, move over and make more space for us as do!)

[@brownsugarsheri]

wow! my family still lives there, seeing those pics make me miss home. The footage is great.

[@whatshisname3304]

you were around in the 1920s?

[@blowingfree6928]

What fantastic footage, priceless. It is always disconcerting knowing that every person in shot is no longer with us. I always wonder who they were and what happened to them. Many historical buildings, including medieval, all gone now. Bristol had so many great features; unfortunately, Bristol was never a city that was looked after or valued by BBC. I lived in Bristol from 1966 to 2005, particularly in Clifton and Cotham from the mid 70's until I left. It was a really pleasant place to live, bright and clean with lots to do and the Downs were a joy to the inhabitants. Visiting recently it was sad to see what a dump Bristol has become; driving over the Downs from Westbury-on-Trym it definitely is no longer a rewarding sight. Has half of that attractive school on the edge of the Downs with the Elizabethan chimneys been knocked down to build a warehouse? The Downs, Blackboy Hill, Whiteladies Road, The Center, Harbourside, around St Ann's Square, all dirty, rubbish, signs everywhere, roads divided by orange poles, dreadful buildings, literally just a concrete jungle in Bristol's headlong rush to look like some soviet era concrete city.

[@moredoran]

thank you that was facinating. Old videos are so interesting past and present. thank you. x

[@rositaallen]

Thanks for posting this. I moved to Bristol in 1942 and worked in Baldwin Street near the Centre. Now living in Spain so it was nice to reminisce.

[@brabazon10]

Bristol Bridge looks busier with traffic then, than it does now. Great video!!

[@jeffnz]

Fabulous, really enjoyed that... from an ex Bristolian now in New Zealand

[@christophernewman5027]

Thank you; I enjoyed that very much. Don't know about you but l'd give almost anything to be able to go back in time and stroll around pre-war Bristol...

[@MrDaiseymay]

This is like watching 'Reece Winston' Photographs come to life--Not so clear as his pics of course. I like the sound effects---motorised traffic was very noisy then, unlike today's better engineered mechanics, but I like it. As someone said earlier, horse drawn traffic was still common in Bristol up to the 1960's. 'Georges Beer' used Dray Horses too. After 60 years here--I'm still a 'furrener'.

[@123Scears123]

Great film. Thanks for the posting. The sound track was good as well.

[@JeremyHuggett]

Brilliant video !! I am from Bristol and it was grea to see how it looked in the 1920's.

[@iyers]

The New Cut (under Bedminster Bridge) is tidal so the water level changes twice daily.

[@Dandeft]

quality!! i like the copper directing the kiddie with the rickshaw on bristol bridge innit!

[@connect4glyn]

a very well made video thanks for putting it onto youtube

[@Beniceimnice]

How very, very cool!! I'm so grateful to you for posting this excellent video. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! :-))

[@MikeDragon87]

Using the present day view before each clip was an inspired idea. Great video.

[@superstereomike]

Nice piece of work, thanks for sharing

[@MeT2338]

Love Bristol, thank you.

[@JontyTrain]

That's really great thanks for sharing this. Never seen a moving Bristol tram before

[@lorreva]

Well done, I enjoyed watching, thanks for sharing

[@iStormUK]

Wow, the centre looks far superior in the 20's to how it feels today. :o

[@pro4291mo]

iStormUK i totally felt the same thing watching this :)

[@medrecs]

Great footage, didn't realise how busy the city centre was in those days, that poor policeman on Bristol bridge.

[@bristolian1970]

Nice to see and very nicely done, Thanks

[@PETRISA123]

Bring back the trams

[@TheMJKnight]

I agree with that

[@abbi699]

I LIVE IN BRISTOL AND IT IS GREAT!

[@mesmoland]

wow fantastic great sound effects too ! Redcliff should be spelt Redcliffe btw,but that is a bit picky of me.

[@azto19]

good work well done. so many great sights to see in bristol i highly recommend coming here.

[@sugarkitty2008]

@illkubb i have anxiety disorder too. nice to meet you. watchin this makes me want to go back in time and walk in streets like that. i'm from bristol also

[@Maliceuk]

Wow!!That is great,the creepy clip clooping of old feet.

[@mandybearski22]

unbelieveable! thats incredible footage!

[@sharrow2]

Thanks for uploading this :)

[@BobBishopDiagonal]

Thank you for sharing this

[@davidreynolds87]

Priceless!

[@Aspire85]

This is almost surreal. Thanks for uploading.

[@JumpinPakFlash]

i love bristol

[@vamtim]

lovely video! I love Bristol!

[@Gulliverschannel]

very good. Bristol is an amazing place

[@sophieosaurus]

wow :) i go to bristol grammar school, right at the top of park street, and its amazing to think of how it was 90 odd years ago. i see the famous parts of bristol a lot, and this was very interesting. great vid :P

[@atomage2006]

Nicely done including the sound effects. The intermingling of pededstrians and vehicles is interesting in many of the sequences - a less controlled and managed society maybe!

[@STEPASAUR]

the traffic was bad even then! hehe, lovely insight, thanks for posting

[@VisorView]

very nicely done!

[@timcolledge3732]

Absolutely fascinating!!

[@BrettKeepin]

Great footage, very interesting! :D

[@warbabe1951]

It is fantastic I love it being a Bristolian

[@mushroomgods4707]

Great stuff.

[@timcolledge3732]

Fascinating film!

[@iyers]

great work Aztec!

[@trauermusik]

Nice video! :)

[@brogers0106]

Bristol is the best city in the world

[@smudger671]

Well, that might have been true 40 odd years ago when it actually had some character.

[@johnchablo]

Wow, that was great! Have we progressed though? The planners at BCC should take a look at this!

[@tomsega]

Bristol is one of the coolest cities in Europe! Trendy and liberal but never self-consciously so. It could do with a great stadium and a premier league football team, though - City and Rovers should merge or do a ground-share.

[@meandmymouth]

Great work ! More please. Just comparisons of good quality still photos would be welcome.

[@Addehiovy]

A most interesting set of films indeed. Quite a lot of the scenes are still recognizable to this day, including the Tramways Clock and Bristol Bridge among others.

[@rwalker811]

2:40 look at the change in the water level!?

[@BS15RED]

GWR mentioned this on the radio today.

[@bahaar2825]

Beautiful

[@StratosIsMe]

Very cool!

[@brucematthews5556]

Glad to see the traffic was as bad then as it is now.

[@abbi699]

corn street is cool cuz in the background there is that tower and then wen it turns to the short vid it is still there in the same place :)

[@skunkfacewoody]

Very good little video. Wasn't Redcliffe different back then? Thanks for posting the clip. Well done.

[@stevenwilkins2277]

Where did you get this footage from?

[@kirksART]

That is brilliant

[@ConalRF]

I used to wonder a lot about what my city would look like around this time. Very nice. Could I get a source for this without watermark?

[@MrDaiseymay]

FOR THE BEST RECORDED HISTORY OF BRISTOL, FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS OF PHOTOGRAPHY, SEEK OUT ''REESE WINSTONE'S'' BOOKS, ''BRISTOL AS IT WAS'' , THEY ARE STILL AVAILABLE SECOND HAND , IF YOU GOOGLE THEM

[@catherinesmith7109]

Traffic seemed to go faster then!

[@doozer2011]

Wow, it just shows how much was destroyed in the second world war. Bristol was a very different place back then.

[@blowingfree6928]

Late response, but BCC destroyed more than the Luftwaffe ever did. Absolute vandalism and the destruction of the world's first shot tower in the 1970s is a disgrace. So much heritage and history destroyed to make room for concrete blocks.

[@gixxerracer1980]

Brilliant

[@audax67]

The number of horses and carts isn't that surprising. They were still commonly used for small haulage jobs in the 50s and 60s: John Harkness & Co used them in Belfast, and Sean Connery once delivered milk from one in Edinburgh.

[@robinsummerhill102]

Dating clips such as these can be very difficult, but the buses that appear at 0:36, 0:53, 1:04 and 1:47 appear to be Bristol "B" types, built between 1927 and 1937

[@oliverhorne6035]

Our country was beatiful... :'(

[@badnewswade]

Wow!

[@arunproductions]

its all about redcliffe hill and the aston swing bridge - they were much cooler back in the day

[@TravisGlover-TheArtfulDodger]

WOW

[@ChristopherJonesyoungbia]

Cool

[@emmdoubleyou]

me to!

[@pro4291mo]

I love my city i really do

[@TotalLily]

I am Tying to find some hings on Brisol in the 190's/80's especally of the Tiffany's (Glen) anyone got or know of any stuff?

[@sjewitt22]

im suprised to see so many cars back then show's what i know allthough i would love to see more horses which did'nt have a pig on top.

[@MLTooDoubleOh8]

WOAH looked near enough the same baack then but obviously older fasion

[@serendipity3864]

Well, the cars look about right, as is the mix of horse drawn carriages with automobiles. Check out some of the fashions as well- one of the womens' hats is particualrly of the '20s.

[@rosietroy]

Reece Winstone eat your heart out......didn't see Uncle Bonnie in his straw boater outside the Chinese Jazz Club (Corn Exchange).

[@rwalker811]

I feel foolish not to have known this, being a bristolian myself...

[@chrisrebar2381]

And here we are, Bristol 2023 .... woke capital of the UK!!!!!!!

[@stalefish99]

too true man too true i think anyone whering burbery (ie a chav) might as well just be put in jail

[@playfultopnotch]

OMg [;thts crazzzzzzzzzyy

[@SuperBandstand]

@dmcc20012 yes we cant get those bristolians to leave.....lol