By Chris Guy posted on 19 Jan 2020 in Urban, Rural

Bristol: these are some of my personal favourite images from 2019. They mainly feature some of the more mundane and less photographed parts of the city, but that’s the way I like it!

In March I was able to get access to the demolition site of the old Sorting Office to capture the last days of that infamous brutalist landmark / eyesore that stood next to Temple Meads station but had lain derelict for the past 20 years. Over the Easter weekend I did an Instagram takeover for Visit Britsol, which was great fun and pushed me out to parts of the city that I hadn’t explored before.

I also spent quite a few hours of 2019 wandering around South Bristol / Ashton Vale with a camera in hand, mainly during breaks from studying Python which was a big part of my focus for 2019 and is indeed for 2020. Enjoy the pics…

Foggy industrial scene beneath a bus bridge: bold pink 'MORSA' graffiti on a concrete pillar, empty gravel lot, metal‑clad warehouses and a palisade fence.

Metrobus Bridge, Winsterstoke Road

Sunny park basketball court with a colourful 'JOHNBOIZ' graffiti on a low wall; a person walks a small white dog past the hoop, surrounded by grass and trees.

John Boiz R.I.P.

Quiet suburban street with rows of low‑rise semi‑detached houses, a tall lamppost and a bright red hatchback parked at the kerb under a pale, overcast sky.

Romney Avenue, Lockleaze

A lone car drives along a quiet road past a low industrial operations building atop grassy embankments beneath an overcast sky.

Building Brabazon: the site of the former Filton Airfield

Monochrome image of a cyclist on a folding bike passing graffiti that reads "NEVER GIVE UP" on a foggy day.

Never Give Up (on your dreams)

Black-and-white image of an empty BMX pump track with undulating asphalt humps, a fence and leafless trees along the skyline.

The Tumps BMX Track

Black-and-white street scene: a cyclist rides past a multi-storey car park and historic stone gate, misty atmosphere with a lone pedestrian on the pavement.

West End

Corner convenience shop 'Ashton News' with red signage on a suburban street, cars parked outside under an overcast sky.

Ashton News Convenience Store

Quiet suburban street at dusk with semi-detached houses, one with weathered green cladding and bunting. Lamppost, bins and children's toys sit by a fenced yard, hills beyond.

British steel framed houses, Ashton Vale

Empty rooftop car park beside a green industrial building, two parked cars and a couple of shopping trolleys under a clear pale sky.

Broadwalk Shopping Centre, Knowle

Empty rooftop car park under bright winter sun, lined bays and lampposts, concrete walls; a modern curved building and rolling hills visible in the hazy distance.

South Bristol Skills Academy

Modern dark 'Village Hotel' block behind a brick wall beside a quiet multi‑lane road with lampposts and a central refuge.

Village Hotel, Filton

Wide concrete steps lead up to a bold brutalist building (Clifton Cathedral) with a tiered, pyramidal tower topped by a slender vertical spire against a pale sky.

Clifton Cathedral

Modern industrial plant with tall silos and storage tanks, a covered loading bay and ramp beneath a clear pale-blue sky.

Wainwright’s Asphalt Plant

Empty rooftop of a multi-storey car park with brick ramps, NO PARKING painted on the parapet and a few cars parked below under a clear blue sky.

Broadwalk Shopping Centre, Knowle

Excavator on a demolition site dismantling a partly demolished industrial building with graffiti, surrounded by rubble under a bright sky.

Demolition of the old Sorting Office at Temple Meads

Partially demolished multi-storey concrete building with exposed floors and graffiti, surrounded by rubble and safety barriers under a pale blue sky.

Demolition of the old Sorting Office at Temple Meads

Black-and-white photo of a brutalist multi-storey NCP car park beside a tall office tower, with layered concrete terraces and sharp vertical lines.

Castlemead

Corner shop 'Bargain Workwear' with red trim and a window display of high-visibility jackets, cream walls and tiled roof on a quiet street beneath a pale sky.

Bargain Work Wear – Whitchurch

Corner convenience shop 'Shorts News & Booze' in a terraced house, many bikes parked outside, graffiti on the wall, clear blue sky above.

Shorts News & Booze – Bedminster

Low-rise peach-coloured flat blocks beside a quiet road, grassy verge and a large pollarded tree under a clear blue sky.

Patchway / BS34

Empty road junction with traffic lights, pedestrian island and large 'Urban Quarter' hoardings; bare trees and a pink car in the distance.

Urban Quarter

Three-storey red-brick and rendered corner building with ground-floor shopfronts, closed shutters and a colourful mural, facing a quiet street at dusk.

The Ambassador

Terraced two-storey houses with cream render and a brick gable, set beside a quiet road with overhead wires and a pale sky.

Bedminster Down

Large brick civic building on a street corner, with construction barriers, parked cars and a lone pedestrian on the pavement beneath a pale winter sky.

Tower Hill

Black-and-white street scene: three gabled Victorian houses at the road end, cars parked along a narrow lane, a tall construction crane and wires against a grey sky.

Osborne Villas

Curving concrete ramp leading to a multi-storey red-brick car park with white bands, bathed in low sunlight under a clear sky.

Clifton Down

Weathered yellow wall with a red arched door labelled 'Glenthorne House Offices', diamond‑pane window above, old metal sign for T.E. Thorne and faint graffiti.

Weed!

Red barrier blocking a pedestrian island on a city road, with a lamp post and modern brick office buildings behind black construction hoarding.

Crossing

A foggy, empty road curves beside a long brick wall plastered with colourful graffiti beneath a pale, misty sky.

Metrobus Guideway

Modern glass-fronted office building with reflective windows behind neatly trimmed green hedges and bare trees beneath a pale sky.

Aztec West

Industrial exterior with large silver ventilation ducts and HVAC units against a pale warehouse wall, a parked silver car at the side.

Aztec West

Row of boxy suburban two-storey houses with pale pastel facades, small front gardens and low fences, a tall streetlamp in the centre and cars parked beside the homes on a quiet road.

Romney Avenue, Lockleaze

Misty country track flanked by wire fences, a lone tree to the right and a tall, circular radio tower looming through thick fog at dawn.

Purdown BT Tower

Thanks for reading

If you enjoyed these you might also like Thirty from 2017.

Tagged with:
bristol brutalist suburban

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