Massive Meet up at “Dirty Working End” of Bristol Harbour!

A warm summer’s evening in June saw the second meetup of the recently formed Bristol Travel Massive at the “Dirty Working End” of the Bristol Harbour. Say what?!

 Instead of a fancy hotel with designer furnishings, this time Heather Cowper and Jane Batt invited their guests to mingle at the “dirty working end” of Bristol Harbour, in the industrial surroundings of Underfall Yard, a working boatyard and visitor centre, where Edwardian pumping machines, exposed pipes and authentically peeling paint are the order of the day!

Originally designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to keep Bristol’s floating harbour free of silt, Underfall Yard remains an important part of Bristol’s industrial heritage and is currently home to maritime businesses involved in boat-building, marine engineering, metal working and training.

Guests were offered the opportunity to learn about the floating harbour and play around with hands on exhibits and a giant interactive map, while sipping a complimentary beverage from Pickle Cafe (located inside the visitor centre). Freedom organic lager seemed to be flavour of the night if the social media coverage of the event is anything to go by!!

1907 pumps which are being lovingly restored

Dom from Bristol’s SS Great Britain operating the “Human Accumulator”

Underfall’s project manager, Nicola Dyer, explained in an enthusiastic and refreshingly non-tecchy way, how the electric pumps kept Bristol Docks running for over 100 years. As the evening progressed, a handful of the ‘bravest’ guests agreed to be shut into the Human Accumulator, with no idea of what they were letting themselves in for. The idea is that visitors enter the accumulator drum to simulate 80 tonnes of scrap metal(!) and interactively demonstrate the science behind hydraulic power in two minutes flat!

The vertical ride itself proved to be pretty tame, although, have you noticed how Dom from the SS Great Britain looks like he’s enjoying being in control of their fate just a bit too much?!

But of course the evening wasn’t all educational. There was plenty of opportunity for informal networking and swapping of business cards with a mix of travel professionals, including tourist attractions, travel companies, hotels, film makers, travel writers and bloggers.

A good chance to catch up with old friends …

Gemma from Hello It’s Gemma with chapter leader Jane Batt from Taking 5

…. and meet new ones like our youngest guest, Lottie, who was attending her first (but certainly not her last) Travel  Massive event!

Liska and Lottie from New Mum Online (Thanks to New Mum Online for permission to use this photo)

The visitor centre opens out onto the harbourside, so during the humid evening, it was very pleasant to spill outside and take full advantage of the warm weather and the beautiful Bristol setting. 

Thanks once again to Heather Cowper for being a great organiser, to Underfall Yard for hosting, to Pickle Cafe for drinks and nibbles and to everyone who came, chatted, blogged, vlogged, tweeted or shared!

Nicola Dyer, Underfall’s project manager said:-

We’re so excited about the potential of our new visitor centre at Underfall Yard and see our £4 million project (supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Bristol City Council, AIM Biffa and many others) very much as the start of a process which will see this historic heart of the harbour become the focus for schools, tourists and the maritime sector in Bristol and beyond. It was great to host the Travel Massive event and see this unique new venue come to life – and we hope to host many more events here in the future.

Chapter leaders Heather and Jane are delighted with the interest the Bristol chapter is attracting and are planning four meet-ups each year, with the next being help on Wednesday, September 7th from 6.30-8.30pm. If you’re a travel professional in the South West and would like to hear about future events, then please sign up to the Bristol Chapter. You can also find out more by following their hashtag #travelmassivebristol.

Jane Batt is a video professional at PPMs TV and writer. An established figure in the travel and parenting world, she runs two of her own websites, “Practically Perfect Mums“ and “Taking 5“ as well as writing on behalf of travel destinations and brands. Jane is the chapter leader of Bristol Travel Massive.