Bristol then and now: A city shaped by sea and war

In the third of our interactive galleries showing how Bristol has changed over the years, we take a wander down King Street to see how this thriving night-time destination used to look.

Not far away is Wine Street, one of many city centre areas destroyed and rebuilt after heavy German bombing in 1940.

Swipe left and right to reveal how each location has changed over the decades.

Taken in the 1880s, this photograph of King Street shows the Coopers Hall, the Theatre Royal/Bristol Old Vic and the St Nicholas' Almshouses. As Bristolians will tell you, Bristol Old Vic is the oldest continually-used theatre in the English-speaking world, and remains at the heart of King Street – now one of the hubs of the city's nightlife.

Every so often you come across an image that shows in the starkest terms how the air raids of the Second World War altered Bristol beyond recognition. This is Wine Street, after incendiary devices were dropped over 24-25 November 1940. Much of what was the city centre, sitting on what is now Castle Park, was destroyed. Once again, the clue to it being the same scene is a church spire - this time Christ Church with St Ewen.

The SS Great Britain may be one of Bristol's most popular attractions now, but she was in a sorry state when she returned up the River Avon in 1970 as thousands of people watched from the banks. Having been used for coal storage in the Falkland Islands and abandoned as a rotting hulk, years of painstaking work restored her to her former glory.