Bristol Harbour

Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of 70 acres (28.3 ha). It has existed since the 13th century but was developed into its current form in the early 19th century by installing lock gates on a tidal stretch of the River Avon in the centre of the city and providing a tidal by-pass for the river. It is often called the Floating Harbour as the water level remains constant and it is not affected by the state of the tide on the river.

Netham Lock in east Bristol is the upstream limit of the harbour. Beyond the lock is a junction: on one arm the navigable River Avon continues upstream to Bath, and on the other arm is the tidal River Avon. The first 1 mile (1.6 km) of the floating harbour, downstream from Netham Lock to Totterdown Basin, is an artificial canal known as the Feeder Canal, while the tidal River Avon follows its original route. Downstream of Totterdown Basin, the floating harbour occupies the former natural course of the River Avon, whilst the tidal River Avon flows through an artificial channel known as the New Cut. This separation of the floating harbour and the tidal River Avon allows boats in the harbour to remain floating at low tide, reduces currents and silting and prevents flooding.

Bristol (1866)

Bristol was a large sidewheel steamer launched in 1866 by William H. Webb of New York for the Merchants Steamship Company. One of Narragansett Bay's so-called "floating palaces", the luxuriously outfitted Bristol and her sister ship Providence, each of which could carry up to 1,200 passengers, were installed with the largest engines then built in the United States, and were considered to be amongst the finest American-built vessels of their era.

Both ships would spend their entire careers steaming between New York and various destinations in and around Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Bristol was eventually destroyed by a fire while in port in 1888.

Development

Bristol and Providence owed their existence to a short-lived company known as the Merchants Steamship Company, which placed the initial order for the vessels with the Webb shipyard in about 1865. Merchants Steamship was an amalgamation of three existing Narragansett Bay shipping lines, the Commercial Line, Neptune Line and Stonington Line. The Company intended to run the two steamers between New York and Bristol, Rhode Island in competition with the Fall River Line, which ran a similar service from New York to Fall River, Massachusetts (both Lines then linking up to railway lines that continued on to Boston).

Bristol, Pennsylvania

Bristol is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 23 miles (37 km) northeast of Center City Philadelphia, opposite Burlington, New Jersey on the Delaware River. Bristol was first incorporated in 1720. Although its charter was revised in 1905, the original charter remains in effect, making Bristol one of the older boroughs in Pennsylvania. 7,104 people lived in Bristol in 1900; 9,256 in 1910; 10,273 in 1920; and 11,895 in 1940. The population was 9,726 at the 2010 census. The current Mayor is Patrick Sabatini Sr. The first female Mayor was Margaret Stakenas, elected in 1979.

History

Bristol was first settled in 1681 as Buckingham (for Buckingham, England). It was originally used as a port and dock. Bristol is rich in history, boasting many historic and restored houses that line the streets of Radcliffe and Mill.

Until 1725 Bristol served as county seat of Bucks County.

From its earliest days Bristol was a center of milling. With the building of the Delaware Canal and the Pennsylvania Railroad it became a center of transportation and an attractive location for industry.

Bristol (solitaire)

Bristol is a Patience game using a deck of 52 playing cards. It has an unusual feature of building regardless of suit on both the foundations and on the tableau; it is also one of the easiest to win.

Rules

Eight piles (or fans) of three cards each are dealt onto the tableau. Any king that is not on the bottom of its pile is placed underneath. Then three cards are placed under these piles. These form the bases for the three reserve piles.

Whenever an ace becomes available, it becomes a foundation, on which it can be built up regardless of suit up to a King. The same is done on the three other aces.

The top card of each pile on the tableau and the top card of each reserve pile is available to be built on the foundations and around the tableau. Like the foundations, the piles on the tableau are built down regardless of suit. Only one card can be moved at a time and when a pile becomes empty, it is never filled.

Cards in the stock are dealt onto the reserve three at a time, one for each pile. In effect, gaps on the reserve are filled during the deal; therefore, when a reserve pile becomes empty, it is not filled until the next batch of three cards is dealt.