Help with this location please.

[johnd]

This article appeared in our local Bristol Evening Post,and I wonder if there is anyone that can help.
I apologise for the poor scan result,but your comments would be appreciated.

[Doug]

Can not help with the location, but this un-retouched view of the same image may help with the background details-


Larger view

Source- The Illustrated History of Douglas Motorcycles, H. Briercliffe & E. Brockway, 1991, ISBN 0-85429-799-5

-Doug

[eddie]

In this better view there also appears to be 2 towers - one just below and to the left of the large house and another further to the right. They might be church towers but 2 that close together? Also, just below the left hand tower there is what looks to be a flat area which can also be traced further along to the right, behind the shrubs - could this be a railway track? With the hills in the background, this looks very much like the Avon valley between Bath and Bradford on Avon - maybe in the area around Limpley Stoke?

[TonyC]

The location is at the site of a weir probably on the river Avon,with a Lock keepers house on the right hand side and the lock gates just visible to the right hand side of the house.

[richson]

First place I thought of was Bathampton Mill.

[johnd]

Thanks Fellas,very interesting  and informative replies.
Greatly appreciated,including the `unretouched picture which gives a much better clue to the location.
Cheers....JohnD.

[Doug]

Definitely lock gates. The horizontal line in the river is possibly site of a a weir. Towers, a long shot, but railway ventilation shafts?

-Doug

[Brian Cape Town]

Looks very much like the river Avon to me. At around this time the locks were falling into disuse but would have been flood locks, pretty primitive really. Brian

[TonyC]

Had a balloon flight from Bristol to Bath racecourse which followed the route of the river Avon, and the weir at Swineford looked like the probable location of the photograph. Alan Freke from Frenchay History Society went along to check this out at ground level but he has now found out that the photo shows the next weir along at Kelston. The house in the background is still there albeit surrounded by trees and the twin towers which are the remains from one of the former brass mills which dotted the River Avon, are also still standing.

[johnd]

That`s really great. :)and many thanks.