Great Western Coffee Shop

Indeed, brilliant photo  :)

A night time photo would be quite good at the moment, assuming the Clifton bridge is lit, as they recently strung up some fairy lights on the Severn Bridge




Edit note: Quote from previous post inserted, purely in the interests of continuity and clarity. CfN.  ;)

Next time my delivery route takes me up over Dundry - and if I have a moment or two to spare - I shall see whether I can replicate that image!  ;) :D ;D

I mighttry it anyway, when I've a minute. Although it gets dark after my bed time at present. (And I'm in Spain).

Amazing photo. I've never noticed both bridges together from any point on Dundry; is that definitely where it's taken from?

Well, that's where the Bristol Post says the picture was taken - and they wouldn't get it wrong, surely?   ;)

Actually, by the simple expedient of laying out my Ordnance Survey map on the floor of my study, and lining up a long piece of wood along it, I reckon that image was indeed taken from a vantage point on Dundry Hill, between West Dundry Lane and North Hill Farm.

I shall endeavour to replicate that image, next time I'm up there on Dundry.  ;D

My bit of wood, or rather tape measure, puts it further east than that. But further west is higher and thus a better vantage point.

I think I got close to Dan Regan's location, but my angle and focal length are different. I was maxed out at 300mm on a crop sensor DSLR (Nikon D5300). I suspect the original was a slightly longer focal length and possibly full frame sensor.
 
(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt68/bignosemac/rps20170518_190531_zpszi8ptj67.jpg)

A touch to the east and you'll pretty much be there! All we need now is that night time shot...  ;D

I would have gone further east down the lane I found were it not for the young 'uns sitting under a tree smoking something with a distinct odour. There was also the problem of power lines being in shot further east.

I have a feeling the original was taken in the middle of the field above the lane I found. Slightly higher and the deck of the Severn Bridge wouldn't be obscured by Kings Weston Hill. I'd stick to a hedge line without permission, but would never traipse into the middle of a field without asking the landowner.

So as well as being a good photographer and a railway buff BNM also has hidden Circus skills  ;D.

Great photo BNM!  ;D

I have now split off these previous posts from the 'Severn Bridge Tolls' topic, and created a new topic here, for our ongoing discussion of the photographic aspects.  ;)

My delivery route this morning, perhaps fortuitously (or more likely mischievously on my part!) happened to take me up over Dundry Hill.  I therefore turned off the official route and found a vantage point - encouraged by my noticing a gap in the hedge, apparently trampled by previous voyeurs:

(http://i.imgur.com/FaNofge.jpg?1)

The view was thus:

(http://i.imgur.com/RsVjxt3.jpg?1)

... and, from a few feet further to the left of that vantage point:

(http://i.imgur.com/StSvCdq.jpg?1)

However ... on my return journey, I realised that there was probably an even better vantage point, behind my own, at a slightly higher elevation.

My apologies for the poor quality of my images - they were taken with my mobile phone - but if bignosemac and I could get together sometime, with our combined geographic and photographic skills, I reckon we'd get some blinding images up there on Dundry!

CfN.  ;D

I know exactly where you were Chris. Just past the Glamping pods in a little lay by. I scoped that spot too but couldn't keep the power lines out of shot. Middle of that ploughed field would be perfect. Landowner permission of course! I took my shot from the bottom of that field where there's a restricted byway just off Broadoak Hill.

You're absolutely right about where I was - indeed, I parked my van briefly in one of those 'passing places' on that lane.  ;)

However, to gain the extra height needed to include the whole deck of the Severn Road Bridge in the picture, I realised afterwards that there is an even higher vantage point - around the back of the houses at Maiden Head.  I reckon that's where Dan Regan took his picture.

Wouldn't the roof of your van give you about another 9 or 10ft?!  ;D

The overall height of a Mercedes Sprinter van is 9' 6" - but I reckon I needed a lot more than that, to gain the required view.  ;)

My opinion remains that the best vantage point is located on the ground even higher up on Dundry - with a powerful telephoto lens.  :-X

And, as it was, I received a quizzical look from a passing Royal Mail van driver, who saw me climbing down from that hedge: what he would have thought if he'd seen me attempting to climb up onto the roof of my van defies belief.  ;D

Attached is a view of the Severn Bridges taken from the site of the former Aust Services. It's a bit cheeky of the newer service area calling itself 'Severn View'. No view of the Severn whatsoever from there. You have to drive up to the Travelodge and then walk up the hill. In my case telling a member of Travelodge staff that I wasn't planning on jumping off the cliff when she asked where I and the dog were going.

And crucially you also caught the longest power line span in the UK (1618m) which also has, if I have correctly determined, the second tallest pylons in the UK at 147.75m

I rather think that you two really ought to 'get outdoors a bit more' ...   :P

Oh, hold on a minute.  ::)

Two Bridges? I see only one broken bridge. Has there been an earthquake? ;D

Edit... Oh, I've just seen the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the picture. Yes, there are two bridges :-[ :'(

Didn't notice that. It was a phone camera panorama shot. Badly stitched it seems.

Well you learn everyday.  I didn't realise Aust Services had gone. Used to stop there on the way to grandparents in Swansea.  Took some black and white pictures there. Wish I knew what happened to them.

You could try this: http://motorwayservicesonline.co.uk/Gallery:Aust  ;)

The site of Aust Services is now the headquarters of insurance broker Brightside Group.

Severn View (no real view, just the tops of the Severn Bridge towers) services are further down the hill nearer the motorway junction.  That junction being M48 J1, formerly M4 J21.

The building used for the current services is the former truckers cafe. It's probably the smallest services building on the motorway network. The reality is it's all that's needed. The M48 is such a quiet stretch of motorway since the M4 was diverted over the Second Severn Crossing.

Hmm.  ::)

Any such relocation of the Clifton Suspension Bridge would completely screw up that perspective view of the First Severn Crossing, so I really do hope that it doesn't happen.  :P