With nearly 2,000 people thronging through the Wills Memorial Building and almost 1,000 at Royal Fort House, the University’s volunteers and porters were kept busy greeting the public and directing them to the guided tours that took place throughout the day. Cotham House and the former Baptist College also tallied up record visitor numbers.

‘Every year on Doors Open Day, we ask for University staff volunteers, as well as arranging for extra porters to be on hand,’ said Joan Lewis, University Tours Organiser. ‘But on Saturday, as dozens of people flooded in during the first minutes, we soon realised we could do with additional help. Volunteers who had agreed to do a couple of hours stayed all day and family members pitched in to meet and greet visitors and hand out information brochures. Our guides, who were conducting free tours around the buildings, said they had never led such large groups before.’

‘We’ve had some very appreciative feedback from Saturday’s visitors’, she added. ‘Coming inside these University buildings has been a first for many Bristolians who have lived here all their lives.’