Yet another need help UK question. BRISTOL UK area.

[Tomh1966]

For those who are from reasonably close. yeah, Im obsessing about a small scene but want it reasonably accurate. Understand I am a US writer.

A man takes his wife on a business trip to meet with new UK based supplier who is in the Bristol area. ( I wanted near Cotswolds and Bristol seems more scenic than Gloucester)

Anyway I need some bits of info.

1) What is the most appropriate part of the Bristol area for a small to mid-sized manufacturing company of say 50 to 75 employees? Note it is a metal casting company so not all that high tech. A simple explanation of XYZ area X miles and direction from the center city.

2) There is a part where he tells his wife to bring her 'Nipple dress' along because there will be a fancy dinner one night at some place... He loves showing her off and she is not all that shy about displaying the boobs.
Preferably near the center city. Preferably rather grand, old, and architecturally awesome.
Where women can wear a slinky dress that shows a bit overmuch but they won't be stark-ass naked. Think of the overly revealing dresses you see on the Hollywood red carpet photos. I'm hoping for a ballroom/venue/whatever for say 250 to 500 people. Think fancy and younger 27-33 years old successful people but those who make good money but from being manufacturers not moving money around or living off trusts.

3) He tells his wife that on several days of hard business dealings, she will be with the Bristol UK's man's wife and she will take her to see the sights. The obvious one is the Cotswolds... others within a reasonable distance? I was thinking of St. Ives which looks spectacular but looks to be four-plus hours away.

 

[HordHolm]

I have little knowledge of the Bristol area but I can help a little with:

1) most UK cities will have suburbs that also include light industrial units/areas. Goole Maps Bristol, zoom in, stick a pin in the map, and you'll probably be ok.

3) Glastonbury is close enough to Bristol to be a decent day trip, and is jam packed with history.

 

[HordHolm]

Sorry, meant to add that most suburbs in the UK differ from the US - they are generally less spread-out, and are often the absorption of a satellite town or village into a growing conurbation, thus siting some form of industrial area within such a place isn't out of the ordinary: it was always there, and its just that the city expanded to meet it.

 

[onehitwanda]

This is an example of a typical UK "Business Park" in Bristol proper - a small group of buildings with parking, generally close to a major road.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/City+Business+Park,+Easton+Rd,+Bristol+BS5+0SP

The UK is very higgledy-piggledy. We generally don't have vast industrial areas or light commercial areas; stuff is jammed in wherever it will fit - not the residential area literally a stone's throw away.

 

[Bazzle]

For those who are from reasonably close. yeah, Im obsessing about a small scene but want it reasonably accurate. Understand I am a US writer.

A man takes his wife on a business trip to meet with new UK based supplier who is in the Bristol area. ( I wanted near Cotswolds and Bristol seems more scenic than Gloucester)

Anyway I need some bits of info.

1) What is the most appropriate part of the Bristol area for a small to mid-sized manufacturing company of say 50 to 75 employees? Note it is a metal casting company so not all that high tech. A simple explanation of XYZ area X miles and direction from the center city.

2) There is a part where he tells his wife to bring her 'Nipple dress' along because there will be a fancy dinner one night at some place... He loves showing her off and she is not all that shy about displaying the boobs.
Preferably near the center city. Preferably rather grand, old, and architecturally awesome.
Where women can wear a slinky dress that shows a bit overmuch but they won't be stark-ass naked. Think of the overly revealing dresses you see on the Hollywood red carpet photos. I'm hoping for a ballroom/venue/whatever for say 250 to 500 people. Think fancy and younger 27-33 years old successful people but those who make good money but from being manufacturers not moving money around or living off trusts.

3) He tells his wife that on several days of hard business dealings, she will be with the Bristol UK's man's wife and she will take her to see the sights. The obvious one is the Cotswolds... others within a reasonable distance? I was thinking of St. Ives which looks spectacular but looks to be four-plus hours away.

1) Filton?

2)No idea, google will be your friend.

3)Cornwall is stunning. A good 3 hour drive from Bristol. St Ives to St Just road the B3306 is one of the top "driving roads" in the UK sweeping views over the Atlantic.

It would be a romantic destination, rather than two wives taking themselves out for the day- it would be a weekend away (if you want to go down that route )

From Bristol you have two or three good locations. To the west WALES...stunning scenery. An hour or so driving you can either be up in the mountains or in Cardiff. East yes the Cotswold, very oldy English. In danger of tripping over hundreds of tourists looking for English England. You also have South in 2 hours you can be on the Jurassic coast in Dorset with steep cliffs and fossils on the beaches. The world in your oyster in this area of the UK.

Whatever takes your fancy you should be able to find it

B

 

[onehitwanda]

To the west WALES...stunning scenery.

Wales is, like Glencoe and the area around Fort William, my personal candidate for a little slice of heaven on earth.

Wales is literally JUST across the river, and from Bristol one is maybe half an hour to an hour away from the Wye Valley AONB.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Not sure Bristol is more scenic than Gloucester, but Gloucester is basically a town, Bristol is a city. Somewhere near the M5 or M4 would be most likely.

I just looked up Bristol Industrial Estate and it came up with a small industrial estate near Lawrence Hill station which looks appropriate.

For a day trip, Bath is the obvious candidate for someone who's not been to the UK before, as it's nearby. Then Avebury which is better than Stonehenge as you can get right up to the (albeit smaller) stones.

Re venues - I looked up wedding venues in Bristol and the Mansion House Bristol looks like the right sort of venue.

 

[onehitwanda]

For a day trip, Bath is the obvious candidate for someone who's not been to the UK before, as it's nearby. Then Avebury which is better than Stonehenge as you can get right up to the (albeit smaller) stones.

It always blows my mind just how many neolithic structures like Stonehenge and Avebury litter that entire area of Salisbury plain.

 

[Bazzle]

Not sure Bristol is more scenic than Gloucester, but Gloucester is basically a town, Bristol is a city. Somewhere near the M5 or M4 would be most likely.

Both are old ports!
Bristol a little newer than Gloucester.

Depending on their desire for history...Bristol does have the SS Great Britain. The IKB ship that during the Victorian era linked London with USA... (might play well with your Americans?)

 

[Altissimus]

Lot of good answers above.

Based on what you've said, @Tomh1966, I'd query whether Bristol is the destination of choice here. Somewhere like Tewkesbury (while smaller) offers industry in the suburbs, while being in better range of quite a few places you referenced (and a lot closer to the Cotswolds). If a city is necessary in that part of the world, I'd put Bath over Bristol. Remember that cities in England aren't defined purely by size - we have large towns that are bigger than small cities, because we're odd and no one says we can't.

Remember also that a four-hour drive as a day trip may be normal in the US, but in the UK we tend to get grumpy when something is more than an hour away. Not impossible, but we don't, for example, pop up to the Lake District just to grab a nice sandwich.

 

[stickygirl]

I suspect the main difference in driving in the UK compared to most of the US/Aus/NZ is the intensity of the experience - it isn't relaxing at all. By the time you'd got stuck in traffic on the M4, then crawled behind a farmers tractor on a winding two lane road for ten miles, then waited for temporary traffic lights because they're having a new water/gas/internet cable/sewer in every other damned village, you are frazzled.

Not the Cotswolds from Brissle ( that's how they 'nounce it there my loveer ) but yes, South Wales, maybe even the Gower, which is a gorgeous seaside destination ( apart from more tractors and sheep ).
I've had sex a few times on the Gower and recommend the panoramic views from the open tent.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

This is why my stories are all around Colorado, most of the time. The Exception to this is the vampire series is set in Maine. Lazarus by the Sea, Maine, to be exact. A nonexistent town at the furthest northern part of the seaward side of Maine. There is a town there, but I pushed it off the map so my town could be there. LOL. When my story doesn't fit the facts, I create new facts that work.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Yeah, driving in much of America is a doddle, with those wide open roads.

Here, a ten-minute drive involves eyeing up the road ahead for pull-over spaces and calculating how to get down roads that have cars parked down both sides and only room for one down the middle, but it's a two-way street. Add complex junctions, blind corners, mopeds pulling out, and a nee-nah needing to get round everyone so driving down the wrong side of the road, and it's imperative to be paying attention constantly.

Two hours of it is considered hard work.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Yeah, driving in much of America is a doddle, with those wide open roads.

Here, a ten-minute drive involves eyeing up the road ahead for pull-over spaces and calculating how to get down roads that have cars parked down both sides and only room for one down the middle, but it's a two-way street. Add complex junctions, blind corners, mopeds pulling out, and a nee-nah needing to get round everyone so driving down the wrong side of the road, and it's imperative to be paying attention constantly.

Two hours of it is considered hard work.

New additions in the states have small two way roads with no room for street parking. And yet, they still park their cars, pickups, and oversized SUVs on the street. It becomes an unpleasant
experience just to get past some of them, meeting some one coming when your going is an adventure all it's own.

 

[Bazzle]

The problem with setting a story around Brizzle is that within 30 miles you are somewhere completely different...like Bath.
Those setting a story in the US you can drive 30 miles and still be in your neighbourhood

 

[MadeleineSinha]

Bath would be the obvious choice for a cultural outing from Brizzle, particularly for a US visitor.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

For those who are from reasonably close. yeah, Im obsessing about a small scene but want it reasonably accurate. Understand I am a US writer.

A man takes his wife on a business trip to meet with new UK based supplier who is in the Bristol area. ( I wanted near Cotswolds and Bristol seems more scenic than Gloucester)

Anyway I need some bits of info.

1) What is the most appropriate part of the Bristol area for a small to mid-sized manufacturing company of say 50 to 75 employees? Note it is a metal casting company so not all that high tech. A simple explanation of XYZ area X miles and direction from the center city.

2) There is a part where he tells his wife to bring her 'Nipple dress' along because there will be a fancy dinner one night at some place... He loves showing her off and she is not all that shy about displaying the boobs.
Preferably near the center city. Preferably rather grand, old, and architecturally awesome.
Where women can wear a slinky dress that shows a bit overmuch but they won't be stark-ass naked. Think of the overly revealing dresses you see on the Hollywood red carpet photos. I'm hoping for a ballroom/venue/whatever for say 250 to 500 people. Think fancy and younger 27-33 years old successful people but those who make good money but from being manufacturers not moving money around or living off trusts.

3) He tells his wife that on several days of hard business dealings, she will be with the Bristol UK's man's wife and she will take her to see the sights. The obvious one is the Cotswolds... others within a reasonable distance? I was thinking of St. Ives which looks spectacular but looks to be four-plus hours away.

3). Wells Somerset. It’s the shooting location of HOT FUZZ so you can use it as a great guide to where some stuff is and Wells Cathedral is also spectacular and Cheddar Gorge is nearby.

 

[onehitwanda]

I suspect the main difference in driving in the UK compared to most of the US/Aus/NZ is the intensity of the experience - it isn't relaxing at all. By the time you'd got stuck in traffic on the M4, then crawled behind a farmers tractor on a winding two lane road for ten miles, then waited for temporary traffic lights because they're having a new water/gas/internet cable/sewer in every other damned village, you are frazzled.

Not the Cotswolds from Brissle ( that's how they 'nounce it there my loveer ) but yes, South Wales, maybe even the Gower, which is a gorgeous seaside destination ( apart from more tractors and sheep ).

The USA (and Australia and South Africa) have vast distances between places.

A twenty mile drive in the USA is probably equivalent to about three miles in the UK. The UK has geography in a way most other countries simply cannot understand.

I've had sex a few times on the Gower and recommend the panoramic views from the open tent.

https://media4.giphy.com/media/wee5RxYFwiq7m/200.webp?cid=ecf05e47gh5g77ffbzv2b5q27bkwfo0kgf6p676atfh9qar4&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200.webp&ct=g

 

[Voboy]

I'm a many-miles American roadtripper who LOVED driving in the UK.

Except escaping the city limits of Glasgow while getting used to driving on the wrong side of the car? The rest of my three weeks around the country was a lovely experience. I even enjoyed driving in Edinburgh, which I'm told is supposed to be awful. American Interstates are sterile compared to English roads. And many of our Interstates are not planned well.

Noplace in the UK is anywhere near as bad as driving through Connecticut, for example.

 

[MajorRewrite]

Google Maps says there’s a place just south of Bristol called Chew Magna. Chew Magna?

And if I were a tourist in England I’d take a train somewhere. Trains are an interesting setting for a story, what with other people to play off of and no need to watch the road.

 

[ElectricBlue]

It always blows my mind just how many neolithic structures like Stonehenge and Avebury litter that entire area of Salisbury plain.

Garbage of the gods, maybe?

I'm of Brit descent. I always wanted my lineage to go back to the dudes who designed Stonehenge - a two thousand year window should have been do-able. But for the period in question, more likely a bog in Ireland. On the other hand, I can trace back to The Seven Kings of Ireland and the legend of The Red Right Hand, so that makes up for it.

 

[stickygirl]

https://media4.giphy.com/media/wee5RxYFwiq7m/200.webp?cid=ecf05e47gh5g77ffbzv2b5q27bkwfo0kgf6p676atfh9qar4&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200.webp&ct=g

Who hasn't enjoyed a sexy night under a ridge pole as the breeze tickles the flaps of your tent?

 

[Bazzle]

Who hasn't enjoyed a sexy night under a ridge pole as the breeze tickles the flaps of your tent?

Sex on the Gower is great fun...

 

[KachinaDoll]

I spent three months in Bristol. Loved it. Weird people though. They put an L on the end of a lot of words that end in a vowel. eg... camera becomes cameral, concertina becomes concertinal. Assuming that the time with the wife would be day trips, the Cotswolds is doable but not St Ives. There's also the Forest of Dean and the Wye valley, and Bath. Within the city, the SS Great Britain and the Clifton Suspension Bridge are a must see.

 

[Altissimus]

Yeah, driving in much of America is a doddle, with those wide open roads.

Here, a ten-minute drive involves eyeing up the road ahead for pull-over spaces and calculating how to get down roads that have cars parked down both sides and only room for one down the middle, but it's a two-way street. Add complex junctions, blind corners, mopeds pulling out, and a nee-nah needing to get round everyone so driving down the wrong side of the road, and it's imperative to be paying attention constantly.

Two hours of it is considered hard work.

Few months ago I drove from London up to the Lake District. Queues on the M6, yadda yadda - 11 hours, and when I got out I was fucked.

Pretty much every year I've dropped down to Brittany, NW France. Sandy beaches, seafood restaurants, boulangeries every six yards. London -> Dover -> Calais -> Quiberon is also 11 hours. Long, winding roads across the top of France, a sign every few miles telling you where the single speed camera is (so civilised). Get out the other end and I'm ready to go again.

The UK has the same population as France, but France has more than twice the land area. Solution? Bin half the Brits. We wouldn't even miss most of 'em.

Google Maps says there’s a place just south of Bristol called Chew Magna. Chew Magna?

Ok, don't start mentioning place names in the UK. Horton-cum-Studley anyone? Upton Snodsbury? Llanfairpwllgwyngyll? Or perhaps you'd prefer the simple-yet-charming village of Giggleswick.