As to whether Bristol should have a 'Brunel Museum', I think it should - and if the Heritage Lottery Fund agree, it will!
Like most famous Bristolians, Brunel came from somewhere else, in his case being born in Portsmouth of French parents, and learned his trade elsewhere, this time Universit^ de Caen Basse-Normandie. Most things in Bristol with a tourist twang to them have Brunel in the name somewhere, the rest allude to John Cabot (otherwise the Venetian Zuan Chabotto). Cabot was the first adopted hero, and was an explorer in a time when seafarers feared falling off the edge of the earth, but he deserves credit not so much for getting to Newfoundland under sail, and without GPS, but for getting back to tell the tale.
The signature of Brunel is seen on engineering works from London westwards, but arguably, Bristol bears the greatest debt of gratitude, and has some of the better parts of the legacy covering many different aspects of engineering. In the Clifton suspension bridge, we see art and engineering combined, although Victorian "value-engineering" claimed some of
IKB▸ 's intended flourishes. Sadly, it was built in his memory, but I am sure he saw the whole thing in his mind's eye, long before he put pencil to paper. One side is a metre higher than the other, not as an engineering solution, but to keep the artistic perspective. You don't get that with Bust Rabid Transit. In the SS Great Britain, we see a "proof of concept" design that established the screw propeller as a far better bet than paddles in propelling ocean liners, and of iron as more durable than wood for the hull. SS Great Britain had a maritime endurance of one sort or another of nearly 90 years, arguably extended to 170 years by her current use. Then we have the iconic Bristol Temple Meads, not Brunel's first choice for a terminal station, but firstly a mock-Tudor building, and now an example of a station that would never now be built from scratch because function now trumps form.
His greatest, yet most understated and misunderstood, gift to the city is surely the Underfall Yard, by the Nova Scotia in the soon-to-be desecrated Avon Crescent. For those forum watchers who have yet to visit Bristol, and you are missing much, I shall explain the significance.
The original Bristol docks stood at the confluence of the Avon and the Froom, where Bristol Bridge now stands today. It silted too much and too frequently even for mediaeval ships, so King John, after lobbying by the West of England Partnership, decreed that the Froom be moved slightly to the right. So in 1245 the men of Bristol, aided by the grumbling, but under Royal orders, men of the then entirely separate Port of Redcliffe, diverted the course to its present, now largely underground, course along River Street, then under the city centre, to join the Avon next to the Analfoni.
This was all very well, and re-established Bristol's trading links with not just France, Portugal, and Spain, but also Wales in pre-Severn Bridge days (think: why was Welsh Back so named), but ships began to grow with technology. The harbour remained tidal, with the Avon connecting to the Severn, and thus the second highest tidal range on the planet. So, some of the ships, on settling on irregular mud as the tide rushed out, broke their backs, and only those with extra-strong keels and backs, who were "ship-shape and Bristol fashion" could cope with this stranding.
For Bristol to survive as a port in the face of growing ships, it was essential to provide a "Floating Harbour", the ultimate contract going to a tender for a design by William Jessop. He designed a harbour accessible by locks, with the New Cut to carry the river around the docks, allowing it still to flow, and taking up the slack of the tide. Bristol's docks are thus the original course of the Avon, along with the re-aligned, and re-spelled, Frome. It was magnificent - ships would once again visit Bristol without being at the mercy of the tides, and could moor up knowing they would not have to sit on the mud, with the risks that entailed. Jessop included in his design and Overfall Yard - a dam slightly lower than the lock gates, so that should excessive river flow fill the docks, the lock gates would not be inundated. Masterpiece!
The problems became apparent after Jessop became unavailable for remedial works, because of death. The Frome continued to flow, the Avon to a lesser extent, and silt appeared. As many drains still led directly to the river, this silt was far from pleasant, and as well as hazards to navigation, cholera resulted. This led to the rise in prominence of yet another famous Bristolian, George Muller (born Johann Georg Ferdinand M^ller in Kroppenstaedt, in the then Kingdom of Prussia), who found a steady supply of orphans, in part because of the epidemic. Something had to be done, decided Bristol City Council, and a letter was sent to Mr Brunel.
In a tradition that continues to this day, Bristol had chosen the cheaper option, only to find that it cost more in the end. IKB's father, a then youthful Marc Brunel, had tendered his own scheme for the docks, but had been rejected because of cost. Jessop was no mean engineer, but had erred this time. Isambard, son of Marc, decided the solution lay in the construction of the Underfall Yard, a system of sluices that when opened at the proper times create a strong outward current that to this very day scours much of the silt from the harbour.
Jessop saved the harbour, and the city, as a commercial port, although as ships grew in size, so they could not navigate around the Horseshoe Bend, between the Roman port at Sea Mills and Shirehampton. The main port was moved to Avonmouth, and then additionally Portbury, both of which now prosper, and may well flourish. But Jessop missed a detail that could have killed the city as a habitat.
Cabot's first voyage was a triumph. It is said that he outdid Christopher Columbus (himself, as a Venetian sailing under a Portuguese flag, famous as the son of a nation he wasn't born in) because Columbus, when he left had no idea where he was going. When he got there, he had no idea where he was, and when he got home, he had no idea where he had been. The replica
Matthew voyage used the same technique as Cabot did to get out of the Bristol Channel - let the ebb tide carry you, then anchor to let the tide pass you. Two days into the journey, she was still visible off Clevedon. Cabot did the same voyage again. To this day, no-one knows whether he made it back to Newfoundland, to open a chain of pizza restaurants, or whether he sank with all hands off the Gower.
Muller saved a generation of Bristol's orphans, never asking for donations, relying entirely on his faith in God, and famously giving thanks for breakfast with 30 orphans at his first orphanage in Wilson Street (next to my place of work), knowing there was no crumb of food in the house. As he said "Amen", there was a knock at the door from a baker with some excess bread, followed by a milkman whose cart had suffered a broken wheel.
Against these giants, I think Brunel's achievements put the stovepipe hat on it, so to speak. He connected the city of Bristol to the east, by his railway, and to the west by his ships. He connected the north to the south by his bridge, and he literally saved the city by his unsung Underfall Yard.
I would argue strongly for a museum but for the fact that, as Red Squirrel so eloquently points out, so much of what he built remains in daily use to this very day, and is about to be updated for yet anther century's use. The city harbour has gone from commerce to leisure and residential use, made practical only by the Underfall Yard. The Great Western Railway is about to be electrified - Brunel's Atmosphere Railway was a stab at separating the power supply and fuel from the vehicle, and I think he would approve wholeheartedly. I don't oppose a museum, but would hope it firstly outlines the context in which Brunel's engineering feats were made, as well as the difference thay made. I hope especially that it also includes a guide to a trail around his still extant works. In less than 500 working days, I will be available as a volunteer guide.
I have based this on my memory of things I have read over the years, and am open to correction.
Fin
