A TIDAL barrage across the Bristol Channel would not save Birnbeck. It would obliterate it. The world's biggest tidal barrage so far is La Rance in Brittany, which is only 330 metres long. That would be dwarfed by a seven-mile barrage from Weston to So

A TIDAL barrage across the Bristol Channel would not save Birnbeck. It would obliterate it. The world's biggest tidal barrage so far is La Rance in Brittany, which is only 330 metres long. That would be dwarfed by a seven-mile barrage from Weston to South Wales.Imagine it, a huge structure that would transform the Bristol Channel. Hydrologists rate the Severn Estuary as one of the six best sites in the world for generating tidal energy, so it really could happen. That would do wonders for our economy. As for Birnbeck, we want to save this beautiful structure as nearly as possible in its original form. How can we do that? I suggest that we need a way to make it as grant-worthy as possible. This could be done by combining Victorian conservation with a modern cultural project that speaks to the world. I suggest it could be the site of a museum of slavery, something the Bristol area shamefully lacks.KEN CREFFIELD - Thornbury Road, Uphill