Hotwells

An ever growing page of local links for Hotwells.

Hotwells is a community in Bristol, about one mile west of the city centre.  It takes its name from the hot springs which bubble up through the rocks of the Avon Gorge underneath the Clifton Suspension Bridge.  In the eighteenth century the area was promoted as a spa, but it never could rival Bath (twelve miles away) and the waters were found to be polluted in the nineteenth century.  There is fine Georgian architecture, some great pubs, countryside within a mile, the city docks, a ferry service and lots of great people.

• Hotwells and Cliftonwood Community Association used to run the Hope Centre, but the building is has now reverted to being Hope Chapel run by Hope Community Church.  Our local school is Hotwells Primary.
• Local photographer Trevor George also builds websites.  His Hotwells Links page is well worth looking at.
• Local artist, Dirk Larsen has an interesting website, with some cool links. Here is a picture of some recent poster art next door to the chip shop - and here are some local mud revellers (or maybe they are performance artists!)
• Sui Generis a new hairdressers has just opened up further along the road. Some of our latest online local businesses are Brilliant Weekends who specialise in weekend breaks for groups of people in the UK and Europe, The Natural Smile - a dental practice, Flame and Grate Fireplaces, Christopher Cars, The Shoots Floating Restaurant.
• I run The Hotwell Press as well as working on the Bristol Packet, whose website I have just rebuilt.  Oh and I do a bit of acting as well!
• I am known to frequent "The Merch" (a rather slow loading Flash website if you don't have broadband!), the Rose of Denmark, occasionally the Adam & Eve, the excellent gastro pub La Demi Lune, (formerly known as The Spring Gardens), The Plume of Feathers, The Bear (where The Be-Bop Club holds jazz sessions), The Orchard, and the Nova Scotia. But not usually all on the same day!
• Our local vet is now on the web!
• Local pages from The Bristol Index Guide to Bristol: The Hotwell, The Clifton Rocks Railway and Windsor Terrace.   The Bristol Index is rather useful for all sorts of information about Bristol.
• An extract from Fanny Burney's novel Evelina about Hotwells in the eighteenth century.
• The story of Sarah Haberfield who founded Lady Haberfield's Almshouses.  This site contains quite a lot of good Hotwells historical references.
• The Rocks Railway used to connect us to Clifton
• St Andrew-the-Less - a church which has disappeared.
• Clifton Online - Clifton's the posh bit up the hill!
• List of pubs in Hotwells in the early twentieth century.  I'm suprised that anyone was ever sober!
• Just across the Cumberland Basin is the CREATE Centre, a City Council initiative.  All sorts of organisations are based here, with a common theme of sustainable living.
  These include: Bristol City Council's Record Office; The Forest of Avon; LifeSkills and the Centre for Sustainable Energy.
• Marcruss Stores sell camping gear, forces surplus goods and a good range of outdoor clothing. A few doors away is the Raj Bari restauarant.
• Clifton and Hotwells Improvement Society
• Right at the edge of Hotwells is The Bag O'Nails (formerly The American Eagle) which is an excellent real ale pub.   Pity about the change of name though!
• You can catch the ferry from Hotwells into the City Centre and Temple Meads railway station.
• Youth sail training is offered by TS Adventure sea cadets and Young Bristol has an activities centre at Poole's Wharf. At Baltic Wharf, there is Bristol Canoe Club.
• Adjacent to Hotwells to the east is Canon's Marsh, currently the subject of much debate as to it's future.
• Badgerline Buses through Hotwells. Find Hotwells in the list and click on the service number
• City Line buses through Hotwells. Find Hotwells in the list and click on the service number
• Baltic Wharf Loop Bus Service
• Local Councillors: Barbara Janke and Brian Price
• Bristol West MP: Stephen Williams

• Donne's Plan - circa 1799
• Chilcott's Map - 1849
• City Council map of Clifton Ward including Hotwells -.pdf file (294kb) - you need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader for this.
• City Council profile of Clifton Ward including Hotwells -.pdf file (976kb) - you need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader for this.

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