BRITAIN’S TREASURES… CLIFTON SUSPENSION BRIDGE Bristol
Before he died in 1754, Bristol wine merchant William Vick bequeathed £1,000 (around £140,000 today) in his will for one specific purpose: it should be used to build a stone bridge over the Avon Gorge, linking the village of Clifton with Leigh Woods. It was a grand ambition, yet Vick knew the project would have to wait until the technology of the day matched his vision – until that time, he stipulated that the money should be left to gather interest.
LOOKING GORGE-OUS Brunel’s bridge, now an iconic part of the Bristol skyline, was also the site of the first modern bungee jump, in 1979
LAMY X2, ALAN RUSSELL/ZEDPHOTO.COM X1, CLIFTON SUSPENSION BRIDGE TRUST X1, GETTY X3