Spanning 700 ft across the gorge that rises above the River Avon, the Clifton Suspension Bridge is one of the most distinctive bridges to be found anywhere in Britain. The story of the bridge begins in 1753, with a posthumous donation of £1000 from William Vick with instructions for a bridge to be built between Bristol and North Somerset. A competition held to determine its design was judged by Thomas Telford and was famously reduced to farce. Isambard Kingdom Brunel won the second competition with the elegant design that can still be seen today. Brunel died in 1859 and never lived to see the bridge finished, but the work was completed as a fitting memorial to the World’s most gifted and visionary Civil Engineer.