Inland Water
October 2025
In October 2025, a group of photographers signed up for a photowalk around Cumberland Basin and the Floa�ng Harbour in Bristol. The walk was part of the Talk Walk Talk project, which is a joint ini�a�ve between the Landscape and Digital Imaging Special Interest Groups of the Royal Photographic Society. The project aims to bring photographers together to work on a specific theme. The events are in three parts and involve a talk by an expert in the field, a walk in their own area, and a talk together to discuss the photos taken on the walk.
Inland Water was the topic for this par�cular event. Previous TWT events have focused on Parks and Gardens, Woodlands, Architecture and the Built Environment and Coastal loca�ons. This Bristol based event was my second as a walk leader, but I have par�cipated in all four previous events, as I find them to be really enjoyable social events, as well as great opportuni�es for photography on a specific theme.
The Inland Water TWT began with an inspiring talk by Vanda Ralevska and what follows in these pages is a selec�on of images taken by the eleven photographers on the day of the walk, and, in some cases, a few words too. The discussion a�er the event took place in person in a local hotel two weeks a�er the walk (three a�ended via Zoom) and par�cipants viewed and discussed all the images on screen and were also able to view A3 prints. A vote was taken on the two images that were to represent the walk on the TWT online gallery and Balmoral’s Helios Reflec�ons by Booker Skelding ARPS was the outright winner, with Pano by Bernard Yeo the second one chosen.
We hope you enjoy leafing through this zine as much as we enjoyed the walk, the photography and the discussions a�erwards.
Neil Purcell LRPS Walk Leader
Walking Through Colour
Echoes of Industry
A�ernoon reflec�ons
Whilst I know Bristol reasonably well, the Cumberland Basin and that end of the Floa�ng Harbour were new to me before this TWT. It was interes�ng to explore the inland waterways, the cra� and the surrounding landscape, really looking for composi�ons.
I par�cularly enjoyed picking out details, as well as soaking in the wider vistas. The late a�ernoon light was very welcome and allowed the coloured houses to reflect in the water with a much greater vibrance. As always, the camaraderie of the TWT events was clearly evident and most enjoyable.
STEVE HARTLEY LRPS
In case of emergency
GEOFF HUGHES ARPS
Brunel’s Masts
Cli�on Wood Colours
Many areas of Bristol feature brightly painted houses and the most famous terraces can be seen looking North across the busy harbour.
This composi�on picks out the boats berthed alongside Hotwells Road, beneath the Cli�onwood Terrace houses and emphasises horizontal layers of colour and reflec�ons.
Man vs Nature
Hotwells Wharf in the Avon Gorge, once a busy docking point for paddle steamers, connected tourists with steam trains and ferry services and sits directly opposite the now defunct Cli�on Rocks Railway terminal.
It was surprising to see such a large tree trunk caught in the ro�ng �mbers way above the riverbed (illustra�ng the River Avon’s huge �dal range) and I liked the comparison of the ro�ng, rusty manmade structure set against a background of nature’s autumn beauty.
Avon Pa�erns and Flows
The River Avon has a huge �dal range and the day of our walk coincided with an excep�onally low �de. Although this revealed huge areas of mud with very li�le water, I found the various pa�erns, shapes and flow lines quite interes�ng. Unconvinced that a single image would be par�cularly strong, I focused on a series of scenes which might combine to form a more interes�ng panel. This collage combines four areas of drab, brown, slimy mud, processed to bring out the various forma�ons of the riverbed.
When the topic of Inland Water was men�oned by the TWT team as the next topic in the series, the first place that came to mind was the Cumberland Basin and the Floa�ng Harbour. Both were areas I had spent a lot of �me in exploring with a camera and I thought it would be good to lead a walk in my home town and in a place I enjoyed shoo�ng. I was sure others would enjoy it too.
Many people will be familiar with the mari�me history of the dock area of Bristol, the SS Great Britain, the Ma�hew, the M Shed and the fabulous cranes. For me, there is always something new and interes�ng to find and this proved to be the case, par�cularly in the Cumberland Basin, where I focused most of my a�en�on in the images in this zine. I am always drawn to specific details in the landscape, as well as experimenta�on with different styles of shoo�ng, like mul�ple exposure.
