Portishead

In this intriguing new collection of old images, the Portishead of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is recreated in this volume of over 200 photographs, postcards and engravings, many of which have not been previously published.

During the early years of the nineteenth century Portishead was developed as a seaside resort, a residential village for Bristol businessmen who wanted to live outside the confines of the city and as an industrial centre. These developments continued during the Victorian period when steam packets, new roads and Brunel’s railways brought visitors to enjoy the simple delights of the seaside.

Today’s visitors can witness the changes shaping Portishead from a quiet seaside village into the rapidly expanding town of the present day. The jobs created by former big employers – the Central Electricity Generating Board, the Port of Bristol Authority, Albright and Wilson, Mustad’s Nail Factory, the railways and the Radio Station – have all gone and the background of the town’s workforce is changing from heavy to light industry and office work. The dock area, formerly a site where a power station and factories could be found, is being re-developed with new homes and a yacht marina.

Portishead is a valuable pictorial history of this vibrant West Country town which will delight those who have lived in and visited the area and gives a brief glimpse of the exciting new developments at Portishead Quays that have begun in recent times.