History of Bristol

cities of Bath to the southeast, Gloucester to the north and Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, to the northwest. The city is built around the River Avon, and has a short coastline on the estuary of the River Severn where it flows into the Bristol Channel.

Although often overlooked as a tourist destination, Bristol has a lot to offer of its own and is an excellent base for exploring the West Country, with relatively inexpensive accommodation compared to some of the main 'tourist traps' (such as nearby Bath) and a huge choice of bars, restaurants and shops. It is one of the most culturally vibrant cities in the South of England, hosting a wide variety of visual arts, theatre, speciality shopping and live music.

In recent years, young people have flocked to Bristol thanks to the city's stunning and brilliant music scene - the likes of Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky and Roni Size have contributed some of the most outstanding back catalogue of albums in the history of British music, not bad for a city, as late as the early 1980s, considered a backwater of the British music scene. Indeed, in 2010 Bristol was voted Britain's most musical city.

The success of the Bristol music scene goes back to 1991, when Massive Attack released their magnficent opus "Blue Lines" which included the soaring "Unfinished Sympathy" and social critques such as "Safe From Harm" and "Daydreaming". "Blue Lines" was partly recorded in Bristol, at the Coach House studios in Clifton (now sadly defunct). No album in British music has captured the atmosphere and vibe of a specific city such as "Blue Lines", particularly the track "Lately". This track, with vocals by Shara Nelson and a bass groove sample from "Mellow mellow right on", by Lowrell, so perfectly captures the atmosphere of a summer's evening in Bristol, particularly on the Clifton Downs, with its warm, laid back vibe, that it is pratically a