On Tuesday 13th September 4 members of S.I. Bristol ( and 2 Soroptomisters) joined S.I Weston-super- Mare on their trip around the Bristol Port. The group gathered outside the Priory Inn in Portbury and were transported by coach to the H.Q. of the Port at St. Andrews House to collect our official guide.
There has been a port in Bristol since Roman times. The original Avonmouth Dock was opened in 1877 and The Royal Portbury Dock in 1977. Private investors bought the dock in 1991 to create the Bristol Port Company. It employs 600 people and over 10,000 jobs in the South West depend on the Port and businesses on Port land.
A wide variety of imports and exports pass through the docks (apart from 600 thousand cars per year), including coal and wood pellets, animal feed,grain, food and drink, paper and wood products, containers with anything from clothes to paint and aviation fuel with a direct pipeline to Heathrow.
At Avonmouth the Cruise Bristol Program has welcomed over 10,000 passengers this year and a new container port is planned which will enable 15 thousand containers at a time to be unloaded.
This was a very informative and interesting tour over a very extensive site with some good views of the surrounding scenery.
In true Soroptomist style the group repaired to Priory Inn for discussion and lunch.