This book is the product of what I like to call recreational scholarship, which means that it was researched and written for pleasure and at leisure, with none of the constraints and demands that are currently heaped upon staff in British universities. It has been a long time in preparation. I first became interested in the urban history of Bristol one day in 1977 or 1978, soon after arriving in the city. I was cycling through Clifton to Rodney Lodge, the fine Georgian house that was then the home of the University's School for Advanced Urban Studies. The contrast between my little terraced house in Horfield and the mansions of Clifton prompted me to think about the social and economic conditions that had led to such differing areas of the city. It was thirty years before I could begin to devote much time and attention to the subject, and by then I had developed an interest in the nineteenth century, partly because of the importance of this period in the creation of so much of the physical fabric of the city. Although for a while in the eighteenth century Bristol had been England's second city, it grew much more, in terms of both population and built-up area, in the nineteenth century. Severe damage was done to its Victorian heritage during the Second World War and subsequent redevelopment, but much remains, in the form of thousands of houses, both large and small, the railways, a number of new roads and bridges and some iconic industrial buildings. The questions underlying this book are about how all this physical infrastructure was built, when and by whom.

Many people have helped and advised me during the project and I am deeply grateful to all of the following: Andy King, whose knowledge of maritime and industrial Bristol is unsurpassed; Professors Tony King and Steve Poole read drafts of several early chapters and helped to change the direction of the narrative; Dawn Dyer was unfailingly knowledgeable and helpful about resources in the Bristol Reference Library; Chris Wade and Paul Satchell at the University of the West of England produced the maps and assisted with the photographs; Adrian Nardone at the University of Bath also provided help with photographs; John Stevens interpreted a number of legal documents and Bob Lawrence advised on family histories (and saved me from several howlers).