Portishead, a pretty little village on the south-east bank of the Severn, is well worth a visit; and, by going in the morning steamer and returning in the evening, several hours may be agreeably spent along the shore below the hotel; and fossil plants and shells, from the blocks of millstone grit, and numerous rock specimens may be collected.
A sail to Chepstow, and up the Wye as far as Tintern Abbey, returning on foot, or in a carriage, by Piercefield to Chepstow, is an excursion replete with the highest interest and enjoyment. The picturesque beauties of the Wye are dependent, like those of Clifton and Matlock, on the disruptions which the strata of mountain limestone have sustained. The magnificent scenery as we pass up the river, and the interesting associations connected with the ruins of Tintern Abbey, cannot fail to delight the traveller; but the enchanting scene that bursts upon the sight from the heights of Piercefield is magnificent in the extreme, and equal to the grandest views on the Rhine. Looking down from those elevated pinnacles of rock, which are covered with the most luxuriant vegetation, and crested with forests of pine, oak, and beech, we perceive the Wye pursuing its tortuous course at our feet, and winding along, around promontories of limestone, towards Chepstow; while immediately beyond, and apparently separated from the opposite bank of the river only by a precipitous rampart or mountain limestone, the Severn appears as a vast inland sea, bounded in the remote distance by the country around Gloucester, and extending on the right to the Bristol Channel.
Among other interesting geological sites within a few miles of Clifton and Bristol, may be mentioned—
1. Aust Cliff; a section of the Lias, from which many interesting fossils have been procured.
2. Banwell Cave; which is particularly deserving of examination (see p. 809).
3. Cheddar Cliffs; which are equally interesting to the geologist and to the lover of picturesque scenery. They are about twenty miles from Bristol; and a carriage and pair will be required, if the visitor intends to return the same day. The best arrangement is to visit the cavern at Banwell, remain in the neighbouring town the following night, and make an excursion to Cheddar Cliffs the next day.
There has lately been opened at Cheddar a cavern which surpasses in the beauty of its stalactites any hitherto discovered in England. The Rev. W. D. Conybeare states, that it is the only one that at all realizes any idea we have of the far-famed Grotto of Antiparos. It consists of one grand arch, or porch, and three or four lateral branches and narrow fissures, about ten or twelve feet broad, and from thirty to forty feet high, vested and draped with the most fantastic hangings of stalactite. The floor is a mass of stalagmite, covering a bed of gravel of the mountain limestone, which fills up about ten feet of the bottom. I am not aware that any fossil bones have been observed.
When visiting Banwell, inquiry should be made if there be any Cave at Hutton accessible to the visitor.
The above remarks must be regarded only as suggestions; for it would require a volume to particularize the geological objects of interest within a short distance of Bristol. The coal-mines in the neighbourhood of Bath and Bristol should be visited, and fossil plants collected.