Bristol Industrial Museum
Encyclopedia
The Bristol Industrial Museum was a museum
in Bristol
, England
, located on Prince's Wharf beside the Floating Harbour
, and which closed in 2006. On display were items from Bristol's industrial past – including aviation, car and bus manufacture, and printing – and exhibits documenting Bristol's maritime history. The museum was managed by Bristol City Council along with nearby preserved industrial relics along Prince's Wharf, including the Bristol Harbour Railway, cranes and a small fleet of preserved vessels. There are no plans to decommission or remove the railway, cranes or vessels.
The museum closed its doors to the public on 29 October 2006. M Shed
, the new Museum of Bristol has been created on the site, keeping the same façade and many of the exhibits. It opened 17 June 2011 .
The museum's indoor exhibits were housed on the two floors of a former quayside transit shed.
to be compared with a 1950s equivalent, the Grenville steam carriage, bicycle
s, motorcycle
s, cars
, carriage
s and bus
es.
manufacture and contained a collection of Bristol-made aero engines, a Bristol-built helicopter
, a mock-up flight deck of Concorde
and scale models showing the many aircraft built in the city. On the same floor the story of the Port of Bristol
was told with models, paintings and other exhibits.
and Letterpress
. These same exhibits also printed many of the museum's own leaflets, tickets and flyers.
between the UK
, Africa
and the Caribbean
, from its early days through abolition and to recent times.
"Pyronaut" and two tug
s: John King built as a diesel tug in 1935 and Mayflower, the world's oldest surviving steam tug built in 1861.
On the quayside outside the museum are four electrically powered cargo cranes
built in 1951 by Stothert & Pitt
. A short distance to the west is much older crane, the sole surviving operational example of a Fairbairn steam crane
. Built in 1878, also by Stothert & Pitt
, it was in regular use until 1973 loading and unloading ships and railway wagons with loads up to 35 tons. It has been restored and is in working order, operating on some bank holidays and the Bristol Harbour Festival
. Bristol Harbour Railway continues to offer train rides along the quayside on bank holidays, using restored steam locomotives and rolling stock.
" opening on the same site in spring 2011. A grant of UK£
10.27 million has been obtained from the National Lottery
, contributing to the estimated UK£25 million of the change. The current exhibits were due to be "moved into storage in other parts of the city and elsewhere in the UK", according to the Bristol Evening Post.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, located on Prince's Wharf beside the Floating Harbour
Bristol Harbour
Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It has existed since the 13th century but was developed into its current form in the early 19th century by installing lock gates on a tidal stretch of the River Avon in the centre of the city and...
, and which closed in 2006. On display were items from Bristol's industrial past – including aviation, car and bus manufacture, and printing – and exhibits documenting Bristol's maritime history. The museum was managed by Bristol City Council along with nearby preserved industrial relics along Prince's Wharf, including the Bristol Harbour Railway, cranes and a small fleet of preserved vessels. There are no plans to decommission or remove the railway, cranes or vessels.
The museum closed its doors to the public on 29 October 2006. M Shed
M Shed
The M Shed is a museum in Bristol, England, located on Prince's Wharf beside the Floating Harbour in a dockside transit shed that was previously occupied by the Bristol Industrial Museum...
, the new Museum of Bristol has been created on the site, keeping the same façade and many of the exhibits. It opened 17 June 2011 .
Overview
Road transport
On the lower floor was the transport gallery, which housed various land transport exhibits with a particular Bristol slant. Exhibits included what is believed to be the world's first purpose-built holiday caravanTravel trailer
A travel trailer or caravan is towed behind a road vehicle to provide a place to sleep which is more comfortable and protected than a tent . It provides the means for people to have their own home on a journey or a vacation, without relying on a motel or hotel, and enables them to stay in places...
to be compared with a 1950s equivalent, the Grenville steam carriage, bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
s, motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
s, cars
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
, carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
s and bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es.
Aviation
On the upper floor the aviation gallery told the story of Bristol's involvement in aircraftAircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
manufacture and contained a collection of Bristol-made aero engines, a Bristol-built helicopter
Bristol Sycamore
-See also:-External links:* on the Bristol Sycamore* on the Bristol Sycamore*...
, a mock-up flight deck of Concorde
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
and scale models showing the many aircraft built in the city. On the same floor the story of the Port of Bristol
Port of Bristol
The Port of Bristol comprises the commercial, and former commercial, docks situated in and near the city of Bristol in England. The Port of Bristol Authority was the commercial title of the Bristol City, Avonmouth, Portishead and Royal Portbury Docks when they were operated by Bristol City Council,...
was told with models, paintings and other exhibits.
Print & Pack
The adjacent Print & Pack gallery told the story of one of Bristol's biggest industries with machinery and products. This was a particularly popular working exhibit, with live demonstrations of printing machinery such as LinotypeLinotype machine
The Linotype typesetting machine is a "line casting" machine used in printing. The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once, hence a line-o'-type, a significant improvement over manual typesetting....
and Letterpress
Letterpress printing
Letterpress printing is relief printing of text and image using a press with a "type-high bed" printing press and movable type, in which a reversed, raised surface is inked and then pressed into a sheet of paper to obtain a positive right-reading image...
. These same exhibits also printed many of the museum's own leaflets, tickets and flyers.
Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery gallery
Elsewhere in the museum, the Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery gallery told the story of Bristol's involvement in the trans-atlantic slave tradeAtlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
between the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, from its early days through abolition and to recent times.
Historic ships, cranes and trains
Normally moored in front of the developing new museum is the collection of historic vessels, which included the 1934 fireboatFireboat
A fireboat is a specialized watercraft and with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipment....
"Pyronaut" and two tug
Tug
Tuğ is a village in the Khojavend Rayon of Azerbaijan....
s: John King built as a diesel tug in 1935 and Mayflower, the world's oldest surviving steam tug built in 1861.
On the quayside outside the museum are four electrically powered cargo cranes
Crane (machine)
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
built in 1951 by Stothert & Pitt
Stothert & Pitt
Stothert & Pitt were a British engineering company founded in 1785 in Bath, England. They were the builders of a variety of engineering products ranging from Dock cranes to construction plant and household cast iron items. They went out of business in 1989...
. A short distance to the west is much older crane, the sole surviving operational example of a Fairbairn steam crane
Fairbairn steam crane
The Fairbairn steam crane is a type of harbourside crane of an 'improved design', patented in 1850 by Sir William Fairbairn. There is one surviving example in Bristol Docks, England.-Innovative design:...
. Built in 1878, also by Stothert & Pitt
Stothert & Pitt
Stothert & Pitt were a British engineering company founded in 1785 in Bath, England. They were the builders of a variety of engineering products ranging from Dock cranes to construction plant and household cast iron items. They went out of business in 1989...
, it was in regular use until 1973 loading and unloading ships and railway wagons with loads up to 35 tons. It has been restored and is in working order, operating on some bank holidays and the Bristol Harbour Festival
Bristol Harbour Festival
The Harbourside in Bristol, England, has hosted the Bristol Harbour Festival for 40 years, with over 250,000 visitors attending live music, street performances and a variety of live entertainment. The festival includes music stages, a dance stage, street theatre performances, and water displays...
. Bristol Harbour Railway continues to offer train rides along the quayside on bank holidays, using restored steam locomotives and rolling stock.
Closure
The museum was closed on 29 October 2006, to be replaced by a new "M ShedM Shed
The M Shed is a museum in Bristol, England, located on Prince's Wharf beside the Floating Harbour in a dockside transit shed that was previously occupied by the Bristol Industrial Museum...
" opening on the same site in spring 2011. A grant of UK£
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
10.27 million has been obtained from the National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
, contributing to the estimated UK£25 million of the change. The current exhibits were due to be "moved into storage in other parts of the city and elsewhere in the UK", according to the Bristol Evening Post.