Portals 8

Leonard Lane, off Small Street, Bristol

The curve of this passageway betrays its former existence as a lane backing onto the former city walls, the latter now a mere memory.

A veritable slice through history is revealed, from the 21st-century Centrespace boards to the 19th century and beyond: cobbles; curved brick piers; the timbers of the jetty thrown over the lane; the distant gated brick archway; the worn features of the bearded stone head keystone atop the nearer arch.

Just the intrusive (and rather pointless) no-parking yellow lines to remind us of the present.