IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
West Street, BRISTOL, BS2 0BJ

A side view of the Palace Hotel, a well-known watering hole. See Image] for a view of the entrance, being on the corner of the junction as it is.

A view of the Lawford Street side of the old gin palace. It's a pity some of the intricate details are given little respect.

Ordnance Survey cut mark bench described on the Bench Mark Database at http://www.bench-marks.org.uk/bm28933.

This OS cut mark can be found on the Palace Hotel, West Street. It marks a point 20.196m above mean sea level.

This is the Palace Hotel, previously the Gin Palace, and before that the Station Hotel. It was built speculatively in 1869 for the booming railway passenger trade brought locally by Bristol's new terminus. Sadly, the station was instead built at Temple Meads and so this ornate Victorian 'waiting room' never made that much money. Currently its owners have maintained the many decorative and elaborate features, especially the upper bar floor - which is actually parallel with the slope of the road outside! See Image] for the two supporting figures holding the roof up, and Image] for the degree of the slope.

As befits a hotel dependant on railway guests, the Palace Hotel has a clock atop its roof. Built in 1869, the hotel has many remarkable features, both inside and outside as seen here. The satellite dish is not Victorian, though. See Image] for the side view of the first floor.

The left part of this building, on the corner of West Street and Lawford Street, was "originally the Railway Hotel, ... built in 1869-70 and ... a speculative development by Thomas Morgan designed to take advantage of a new railway station planned nearby" http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1219436&searchtype=mapsearch .

Originally a branch of Lloyd's Bank built in the nineteenth century, but closed its doors to customers. Instead, the building has been used as a restaurant and is now also home to a theatre group. Interestingly, the carved stonework states it was established in (Roman numerals) in 1778; Taylors & Lloyds was opened as a private bank in Birmingham in June 1765.

A 'pretentious gin palace' according to the Bristol Pevsner, by the unknown W.H. Hawtin. It appears to have arrived from Paris and plonked itself in Old Market. Still trading as a pub.

This small business set off Braggs Lane has, apart from the omnipotent graffiti, an unusual shop front. It is covered with green glazed tiles, probably made in Bournemouth by Carter and Carter and is in the name of an American meat packing and refrifgeration company, dating from the early 1900s.