12 Photos Of Bristol Centre Throughout The Years

Changing face of Bristol’s centre

1. Back in the late 1800s & early 1900s when the trams still ran it was known as the ‘Tramway Centre’

2. The river Frome being filled in back in 1893

3. In 1911 with the Frome river still running

4. Work starts in 1936 on creating new roads through the centre

5. Here in 1941 machinery dig up the Bristol centre to provide a pedestrian area

6. In 1946 when it was being used as a car park

7. In the 1950s it becomes known as the ‘Centre Gardens’

8. During the Queen’s coronation in 1953

9. There was little traffic back in 1957

10. Much more colourful in 1967

11. Even more colourful in the 1970s

12. 1999 more developments start taking shape

Will the future changes currently being worked on restore some of the Bristol centre’s lost beauty?

All photos by the brilliant Bristol historian Paul Townsend. You can learn more about the Bristol centre’s history by checking out this album.