News / Transport
Bristol’s oldest ferry-crossing returns
The best way to get to Beese’s has always been by boat and now it’s once again possible to arrive via the ferry from the Hanham side of the bank.
The Conham ferry is the oldest ferry-crossing on the River Avon.
It has returned after a break of a few years, with its skippers now required to be fully trained due to the unpredictable nature of the river.
The skipper of the Conham ferry is now fully trained due to the tidal River Avon – photo: Martin Booth
On its first day back on Monday, the black and yellow striped boat was doing a brisk trade.
A return trip costs £2 for adults and £1 for children, with dogs but not bikes able to be transported to the Brislington bar.
The ferry operates during the opening times of Beese’s, which was founded in 1846 to provide refreshments to travellers and workers using or crossing the river.
Beese’s tea gardens opened in 1846 – photo: Martin Booth
Reminders of former ferries can be found throughout Bristol, the most famous of which is Gaol Ferry Bridge, a span built to replace a ferry across the New Cut to the New Gaol.
Just downstream from Beese’s, the St Anne’s Footbridge is on the route of a ferry that ran from medieval times; with the Pill to Shirehampton service lasting from the 11th century to 1974.
On Lower Guinea Street, close to the Ostrich pub, it’s possible to glimpse the slipway of the former Grove Ferry which used to run to the site of what is now Riverstation restaurant opposite.
Other ferries used to run close to where Pero’s Bridge and Prince Street Bridge are today. In Hotwells, there was both the Mardyke Ferry and Rownham Ferry; with the former Gasworks Ferry since 1999 getting a new lease of life as the cross-harbour ferry operated by Number Seven Boats.
Main photo: Martin Booth
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