Bristol Then & Now

Bristol Then & Now

 

Two photographs depicting the same view, one taken a period of time after the other, give us an instantaneous impression of ' then ' and 'now '. Some comparisons show old views that are instantly recognisable, where the natural passage of time and technology has made only slight changes.

 

Other views illustrate major change and it can be difficult to comprehend that an area has altered so much. Unless you have lived through a change and can remember what was there before, there is often no reason to question what building was replaced or how the area functioned in the past.

 

The social history of Bristol, England is brought to life with striking visual impact in these photograph albums. Over 10,000 free to view historic images of buildings, people, fashions, customs, families, children, shops, warehouses, factories, streets, pubs, schools, churches etc, now long forgotten or barely remembered, flattened by concrete or bulldozed out of sight are now collated in a readily accessible reference source.

 

This will be most valuable for social, regional and urban historians, geographers and all those with an interest in the past as seen through photographic evidence.

 

Over the generations the buildings of Bristol have been tinkered with and trashed, blitzed and brutalised. Destruction of the city's architectural heritage has not been confined to this century, although the damage inflicted in the last fifty years is more evident through looking at photographs of what is and what once was.

 

This website is for both new and native Bristolians.  webmaster Paul Townsend