1888 Pump House, Bristol, England (UK), 2013

This was one of the attractions that I liked the most, even if we couldn't go inside. It's a steam-powered pumphouse for the "sluice system" that Isambard Kingdom Brunel developed in 1832 to keep the Bristol Channel and other waterways free of silt. Supposedly, this pump house is occassionally opened to visitors, but not on the day we were there. One mistaken belief about it that gets passed around, though, is that Brunel designed it. That smokestack looks very much like something he would design, but in 1888 he had already been dead 29 years. Even this pumphouse was preceded by another one (now a pub) that only dated back to 1870, so Brunel must have had another means of powering his system. There's more information here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underfall_Yard#Underfall_sluices

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_engine_house,_Bristol_Harbour

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_House,_Bristol

The tall ship in the foreground is a replica of the "Matthew," which was supposedly the first British ship to reach North America in 1497. It was under repair here because the pump house is right in the middle of the Underfall shipyard.

www.matthewbristol.co.uk/home

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_%28ship%29