The last pitch Caravanners bid farewell to much-loved city site

THE last caravans left Bristol's main city centre caravan and motorhome site yesterday after nearly 50 years - with uncertainty about the future for caravan holidaymakers in the city. Yesterday was the last day for caravans to be on site, and by mid-morning all but one or two remained after a busy weekend for people visiting the city.

- Tristan CORK

The site at Baltic Wharf, the narrowest point of Spike Island, has 56 pitches, and was regularly fully-booked, with tourists enjoying a prime location next to the Floating Harbour close to SS Great Britain and opposite the famous coloured terraces of Cliftonwood.

But the site, a former timber yard, is owned by Bristol City Council, who have handed it over to its council-owned housing development company Goram Homes, which controversially intends to build 166 new homes in blocks of flats with a prime view over the harbour and the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

After a weekend which saw the site, which is run by the Caravan and Motorhome Club, packed out with people coming to stay for the balloon fiesta, the final vehicles were seen leaving yesterday morning, after several lease extensions offered by Goram Homes and the city council eventually expired.