150 Years of Clifton Suspension Bridge

An international symbol of the city of Bristol since its opening in 1864, Clifton Suspension Bridge was Brunel’s first major project. The legendary engineer, once voted the second greatest Briton, famously described it as ‘my first child, my darling’. And certainly the strength of feeling for the bridge has not diminished, as it remains one of Britain’s best-loved – and most useful – landmarks. However, its journey into being was not a smooth one. The funding, design and construction of the bridge were all fraught with difficulty, as Brunel and his contemporaries worked at the forefront of engineering in their time, trying and testing unknown materials, techniques and theories. In fact, it was not until 1864, five years after Brunel’s death and an astonishing thirty-three years since construction began, that the completed bridge was finally unveiled and pronounced ‘a fitting monument to [a] late friend and colleague’. Here Michael Pascoe, an authority on its history, uncovers many previously unknown facts about the bridge, Bristol and Brunel himself. With outstanding archive and modern photography, this volume records the history of the Clifton Suspension Bridge from construction through to present day, celebrating 150 years of this magnificent structure.