Recently, I wrote about my quest to become a good blogger. The main problem for me as I stated was what might be relevant for my readers. So I gave this some thought. In doing so, it occurred to me that my life has be one of living in many different locations. Most of these locations were on or near a major river.

I come from the city of Bristol in Great Britain which is located on the River Avon, a tidal river connected to the open sea. Bristol has a long sea-faring history; it is even thought that cod fishermen sailed out of Bristol  and reached the  North American continent at Nova Scotia many years before Columbus arrived in Florida in 1492. The river is not the same Avon which runs through Stratford upon Avon,  famous as the  birthplace  of William Shakespeare. There are several rivers named Avon throughout the British Isles. In fact the very name Avon which comes from the Latin name Abona  given by the Romans and its  Celtic name of Afon, given to it  long before the Saxon invasion .

Bristol used to occupy parts of  two counties; that of   the  South of  Gloucestershire and the North of Somersetshire. The counties were separated by the river. At the center of the city is a body of water referred to as the Floating harbor. Ocean going ships that come up the river on a high tide, are able to enter the harbor through a set of lock gates. They can remain docked for loading and unloading until ready to set sail, at which time the lock gates are opened and the ship able to depart down river to the sea.

When I was about 12 years old, my father gave me a book. It had the curious title of : Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the dog) by Jerome K. Jerome. In short, it was a story about three men who decided to take a boating vacation on a river and the adventures that befell them in the process. It must have made a lasting impression on me because I have always loved the rivers on or near  which I found myself living over the years. I have also  included rivers which were significant insomuch that while I did not actually live on or near them, thy did play a large part of my life.

I’ll write about these rivers in chronological order. But, just to let you know up front, here is a list of rivers that have played a part in my life. I will be writing about:

• The River Avon – U.K.
• The River Severn –  U.K.
• The River Thames – U.K
• The Mersey River – U.K.
• The River Hen – U.K.
• Hazel Brook – U.K.
• The River Trym – U.K.
• The River Swale – U.K.
• The River Seine – France.
• The Dordogne River – France
• The Gironde River – France
• The River Elbe – Germany
• The Weser River Germany
• The Rhine River – Germany
• The Mosel River – Germany
• The Mississippi – USA
• The Chicago River – USA
• The Fox River – USA
• The Platte River – USA
• The Pearl River – China
• The Yangtze Jiang – China
• The Amazon river – South America
• The Orinoco River – South America
• The Danube – Hungary, Austria
• The Amstel River – The Netherlands.
• La Meuse River Belgium
• The Nile River – Egypt

Before I relate events in my life and the part that  the rivers themselves played, I think I should mention that as a young boy I loved to explore. I loved my city of Bristol and the I was enthralled by the very oldness and historic  place that it was. It got its name from” Bricgstow” meaning “place of the bridge.”

A few famous people are associated with Bristol including Robert Louis Stephenson,  Isambard Kingdom Brunel, John Sebastian Cabot and a few others. I’ll get to these illustrious souls in due course.

During the Roman Occupation of Britain settlements were built around Bristol and several  country villas have been uncovered over the years.A port  called Portus Abonae was established at what today is known as Sea Mills a small suburb of Bristol along the river.