Your say / Bristol
Bristol’s most iconic buildings
Before we start this article, I’m going to let you into a little secret.
At Bristol24/7, we have a style guide which reminds our writers of house rules such as never using an exclamation mark in indirect speech; not writing harbourside with a capital H; or making sure that there remains an apostrophe in St Paul’s, St Werburgh’s and St Jude’s.
Within the style guide is also a polite plea never to use the word ‘iconic’.
So it’s somewhat painful to be writing this but also one of the reasons why you will never normally see the ‘i’ word on the pages of Bristol24/7.
Because its regular usage to describe buildings, events and the like diminishes its meaning.
Not its original meaning as a religious work of art, but the Cambridge Dictionary definition as “very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time”.
I doubt that most people in Bristol would know about the dome on top of the former General Hospital overlooking Bathurst Basin, let alone describe it as iconic as does the marketing spiel for the flats now contained within the development.
Marketeers take a lot to blame but there also seems to be someone at Bristol City Council who is very fond of the term, using it to describe the Hippodrome, Academy and Beacon when promoting a consultation on the future of Denmark Street; describing Pero’s Bridge as “one of Bristol’s most iconic harbour crossings” on a sign notifying the removal of the love locks from the span; and writing on a poster that Bristol Museum is “one of the most iconic buildings in Bristol”.
Someone at Bristol City Council is a big fan of the word iconic – photo: Martin Booth
A quick email search reveals that in just the last fortnight I have been informed that the Brabazon hangars in Filton, Wallace and Gromit, Turtle Bay’s jerk chicken, the Galleries shopping centre, a silent disco at Bristol Aquarium, and the County Ground in Ashley Down are all iconic.
If I was forced to name one iconic landmark in Bristol, it would without question be the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Not one of Bristol’s other buildings associated with Brunel, Temple Meads, despite large signs recently appearing describing the station as iconic when its roof was finally revealed again.
But will we ever describe the suspension bridge as iconic in Bristol24/7? Not if I have anything to do with it. But rules are there to be broken!
It could soon rise to £1.50 to cross the iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge -photo: Martin Booth
Discover some of the lesser-known sights of Bristol’s Old City and Castle Park on a walking tour with Martin Booth. For more information and to book, visit www.yuup.co/experiences/explore-bristol-s-quirkiest-corners
Main photo: Martin Booth
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