BRISTOL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND SHIPPING.
49
the Severn by a tunnel which ranks amongst the engineering wonders of the world. The
total length of this tunnel is four and a half miles, and about a mile and a half is beneath
the waters of the estuary. From near the Gloucestershire end of the tunnel a branch line
is carried along the coast to the twin docks at Avonmouth. Another modern scheme has
shortened the route from Wales and the West to London by a Great Western line which
passes at a tangent to the north of Bristol. This route passes across Gloucestershire,
goes beneath an outlying section of the Cotswold range at Chipping Sodbur'y, and joins
the Great Western main line at Wootton Basset. Bristol has a link with this shortened
route, and, by a connecting line extended to Avonmouth, the boat specials regularly
use it. New connections carried out by the same company have opened up the Midlands
to their trains from Bristol, the Mecca of tourists—Stratford-on-Avon—with its many
Shakespearean associations, being on the Great Western line to Birmingham.
The Midland Railway also plays an important part in Bristol business. Carrying
a great traffic to the Midlands and the North, and linking at Bath with the Somerset
and Dorset, it gives access to the Bournemouth and other southern districts. It has
also direct connections with the two docks at Avonmouth ; its railway trucks are drawn
up on the wharves, alongside which huge steamships are berthed, and a large amount
of ship-borne goods passes over the Company’s system. Moreover, traffic from other
parts of the port can be dealt with by the Company, and its facilities and methods of con
ducting business have been often recognised with appreciation. Midland specials meet
important passenger steamships at the Pier Station at Avonmouth.
Railways play a large share in dock work at Bristol, Avonmouth, and Portishead.
With the exception of a small length of quay in the centre of the city, all the wharves
have railway lines along them, and an enormous saving is jeffected in cartage.
TRANSIT ADVANTAGES TO LONDON AND THE MIDLANDS.
Bristol possesses great transit advantages as a route from the Atlantic Ocean to
London and the Midlands. To the Midlands this matter is of extreme importance. The
busy industrial area of which Birmingham is the centre has a population of two millions,
and while these are consumers of food products of distant countries, a large volume of their
manufactures find a colonial or foreign market. The Midland area has therefore a double
interest in securing the cheapest access to the seaboard, and with the establishment at
Bristol of regular lines of steamships and the extension of knowledge of the transit
rates via Bristol, the Midlands are rapidly developing their trade through this western
port. There are still many who may be unaware of the saving they might effect by more
closely studying the schedules applicable to their particular business. An enquiry ad
dressed to the General Manager of the Bristol Docks will at all times be followed by precise
information being supplied ; often a question put over the telephone to the Bristol agency
at Birmingham would still more quickly ensure the desired reply. While the comparison
of the Bristol and other routes with the Midlands cannot be fully dealt with here, examples
are worth including.
First take the case of imports fromlCanada, and the cost of carrying them from the
dock wharf to Birmingham. The Bristol railway rates are compared with those of London
and Liverpool to the same Midland centre :—
Railway Rates for Canadian Products to Birmcnusam.—Per Ton.
From
From
Bristol
From
Bristol
Bristol.
London.
Saving.
Liverpool.
Savins;.
Apples
11/8
20/- ...
8/4 ...
... 17/6
5/10
Bacon...
17/6
22/6
5/-
... 20/- ...
2/6
Butter
17/0
22/0
5 / -
... 20/10 ...
3/1
Cheese
17/6
22/0
5/-
... 20/10 ...
3/4
Flour ...
7/8 ...
13/10 ...
6/2
... 11/3
3/7
Grain ...
7/8 ...
13/10 ...
6/2 ...
... 11/3
3/7
Timber, Deals, etc. ...
7/10 ...
13/1
5/6
... 1.1/8
3/10
