The history of the Glassboat
Berthed in the very heart of Bristol's historic docks the Glassboat has pioneered fine dining in the area since 1986.
It is a living memorial to a rich recipe of Bristol's industrial past. Just take a slice of a famous local brewery, add a pinch of the city's historic docks and a fillet of a fish market. Chopped, shaken and stirred with a few hefty spoonfuls of imagination and the result is an exciting restaurant venture in the city's dock land.
For the Glassboat, moored alongside Bristol Bridge, is built out of architectural salvage. Everything from the big glass windows from which it takes its name to the wooden floors and the barge itself are reclaimed Bristol heritage. For instance, the glass and polished walnut floors come courtesy of Courage's Brewery, the solid marble bar from the old St Nicholas's fish market and even some of the portholes came from a cross channel ferry, allegedly whilst still in traffic. A police station, the former Mardon Son and Hall print works in Temple Gate, flour mills and the former Western Daily Press offices in Silver Street, all contributed to the restaurant's fittings.
The boat itself was built by Charles Hill of Bristol in 1924 and started life as a barge carrying bulk timbers up and down the Severn estuary. It nearly ended up as a tidal breakwater submerged in Severn mud, but with a lot of effort was reclaimed in 1984, moored and restored and today it is one of the oldest surviving vessels of it's kind in Bristol's docks.
The Glassboat is the brainchild of the Swedish born Arne Ringner who originally intended it to become a 'floating botanical garden'. A hitch with the local planning authority required a change of description to a 'floating café with plants', work continued and the restaurant was completed in 1986 with a flying Swedish flag.
After 21 years of fine food the Glassboat treated herself to a contemporary refurbishment creating an entirely glass Aft section with sliding riverside doors, more riverside tables and a new kitchen. The food style and stylish interior feel has been retained yet enhanced, and the view is widely regarded as the best in Bristol.
The rest, as they say, is history!
