Wapping Wharf is shrouded in impermanence - but the area is home to some of Bristol's best independent eateries, cafes and shops that make up the lifeblood of the city. The businesses are encased in impermanent shipping cargo containers - somewhat of a novelty for people visiting the harbourside area for the first time.
It's a unique area of the city near to the M Shed museum, and many locals and tourists venture past the main front end of the harbour, or across the Gaol Ferry Bridge from South Bristol, to pay Wapping Wharf a visit. However, Goal Ferry Bridge has now shut this week (August 22) for six-nine months for urgent repair works, and as a result Wapping Wharf has lost a daily footfall of 7,000 people who wander through from Bedminster and the rest of South Bristol.
It's one of a range of blows the hospitality venues at Wapping Wharf have faced in recent months. Covid hit independents across Bristol hard, plans to knock down the impermanent shipping containers to rehouse the businesses then became concrete, the heatwaves in July and August saw the boiling containers have to shut up shop for days, and now the cost of living predicts a costly autumn and winter. And many of the shops and restaurants have already seen a sharp decrease in customers just this week alone.
