southbristolvoice
May 2019 May 2019
southbristolvoice
No. 43
www.southbristolvoice.co.uk
1
We Sell and Let Property Like Yours
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Brewery flats OK’d – wherever they are NEW HOMES in blocks of up to nine storeys can be built at the Old Brewery at Ashton Gate, councillors have decided, in spite of 180 objections from residents. Developer Change Real Estate wants to build 94 flats plus 2,000 sq m of shops, restaurants and workspaces. It’s designed to act as a new gateway to North Street, extending the commercial area. The homes will be marketed as “Southville” – even though it is the historic site of the Ashton Gate brewery, founded in the 1820s. One local wag covered the developer’s Southville sign with a sticker reading Ashton Gate.
BLITZ ON GRAFFITI PROMISED
The Old Brewery: It’s in Ashton Gate, the sign in this view says Ashton, but it will be marketed as if it’s Southville Confusingly, the developer’s latest artist’s impression shows a sign reading Ashton – but this is a mistake and will be changed. “Neighbouring businesses use the Southville address, and the Old Brewery is on the gateway into Southville,” a spokesperson said. Councillors decided to overrrule the 180 statements of objection from the public. Residents complained that the buildings were too big, would overshadow neighbours, and would worsen traffic problems. Only 41 parking spaces will be provided, in line with the
council’s desire to reduce car use. Neighbours counter that new residents will park in side streets. One, from Durnford Avenue, wrote: “As residents we would feel overlooked, pushed out and overcrowded. As a parent I am extremely concerned about air pollution ... and increased traffic.” There are also questions over road access. A rival developer of the Old Dairy site, on Durnford Street, claims ownership of part of Baynton Road. However, the Voice understands the two sides are talking and don’t expect to go to court.
BIGGER fines, more-clean-ups and an app to report graffiti are promised as part of a £1 million council crackdown on litter and a huge increase in tagging. Reports of graffiti to Bristol Waste Company rocketed from 2,496 in 2016-17 to 3,738 in 2017-18. But whether the new
action will be enough to quell complaints about the tide of graffiti in BS3 remains to be seen. The founder of the Upfest street art festival, Steve Hayles, has apologised for failing to deal with some of the graffiti which occurred during last summer’s Continued on page 3
INSIDE • GYM TOLD ITS MODS ARE OUT OF ORDER 3 • SHOCK AS NURSERY SHUT BY OFSTED
4
• DELAY FOR HOMELESS CHARITY MOVE 5
• BRISTOL’S PINK BOAT MAKES HEADLINES 6-7
• THEY THOUGHT I WAS MAD: 25 YEARS OF THE TOBACCO FACTORY 8-9
• MAKE ROOM IN YOUR LIFE FOR A HEDGEHOG 11
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Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk
IN
May 2019
southbristolvoice
2 Paul Breeden Editor & publisher 07811 766072 paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk Ruth Drury Sales executive 07590 527664 sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk Editorial team: Beccy Golding, Alex Morss, Martin Powell & The Wicked Witch. Deliveries: Greg Champion
Intro ART OF A CLEAN-UP IT’S CLEARLY not fair to blame Upfest for all the graffiti which plagues South Bristol – and much of the rest of the city. But the message the Voice is getting from readers and traders is that it ought to acknowledge some responsibility. Almost everyone says they love the huge and colourful artworks that adorn the walls around North Street – and the same people are fed up to the back teeth with the tagging and ugly graffiti that seems to be everywhere. Brickwork, Bath stone, shopfronts – the taggers don’t care, they just want to leave their mark. It does look as if both the council and police
Independent Community News Network member Twitter: @sbristolvoice Facebook: southbristolvoice Next deadline for editorial and advertising: May 20th have taken their eye off the ball, and the council’s £1m clean-up is to be welcomed. But is it too much to ask that, when Upfest returns, it sets aside a fund for cleaning the tags which appear during and immediately after the event?
GOODBYE-EE
THIS is my last edition as editor of South Bristol Voice. It’s been a hard decision to let go of the reins but I’m doing so knowing that SBV will be safe in the hands of three experienced Voice partners. Ruth Drury will continue as sales manager and wil be joined by Voice network co-founder Richard Coulter, and by Becky Day as editor. Many thanks to all the readers and local businesses who have been so supportive of, and said such nice things about, SBV since 2015.
HOW DO I GET IN TOUCH WITH ... My MP? Karin Smyth MP By email: karin.smyth.mp@ parliament.uk By post: Karin Smyth MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA By phone: 0117 953 3575 In person: Call 0117 953 3575 for an appointment. My councillor? Post: (all councillors) City Hall, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR. Celia Phipps Labour, Bedminster
By phone: 07469 413312 By email: Cllr.celia.phipps@bristol.gov.uk Mark Bradshaw Labour, Bedminster. By email: Cllr.mark. bradshaw@bristol.gov.uk By phone: 0117 353 3160 Stephen Clarke Green, Southville By email: Cllr.stephen.clarke@ bristol.gov.uk Charlie Bolton Green, Southville By phone: 07884 736111 By email: Cllr.charlie.bolton@bristol.gov.uk
USEFUL NUMBERS Bristol City Council www.bristol.gov.uk 0117 922 2000 Waste, roads 0117 922 2100 Pests, dog wardens 0117 922 2500 Council tax 0117 922 2900 Housing benefit 0117 922 2300 Social services 0117 922 2900
Police Inquiries 101 Emergency 999 NEIGHBOURHOOD MEETINGS Informal meeting for community activators/volunteers, to share experience, ideas, hopes. May 15, Tobacco Factory, 12.30pm, hosted by Action Greater Bedminster.
COMPLAINTS Despite our best efforts, we sometimes get things wrong. We always try to resolve issues informally at first but we also have a formal complaints procedure. If you have a complaint about anything in the South Bristol Voice, contact the Editor using the details below. We aspire to follow the the Code of Conduct of the NUJ (National Union of Journalists), nuj.org.uk/about/nuj-code. Further details of the complaints process can be found on our website (below) or can be obtained by contacting the Editor by email: paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk or by post: 18 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BX or by phone: 07811 766072. southbristolvoice.co.uk/complaints-procedure All stories and pictures are ©South Bristol Voice (unless otherwise stated) and may not be reproduced without permission in this or any other plane of the multiverse. South Bristol Voice Ltd | Co. no. 09522608 | VAT no. 211 0801 76
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May 2019
n NEWS Gym alterations to ex-library are not fit: council LUXE, the new ‘supergym’ which opened in January in the former Bedminster library, is locked in talks with Bristol city council after being refused permission for some of the alterations it has made to the listed building. Luxe promises “a new level of fitness” from its redevelopment of the Grade II-listed library, with 150 pieces of hi-tech fitness equipment in a huge domed gym, open 24 hours. However, alterations made to the building were not all in line with planning permission. A further application to allow the changes was refused on March 1. The former library, designed by Sir Frank Wills, part of the Wills tobacco dynasty, is a “monument of national significance”. Sir Frank planned many of Bedminster’s tobacco buildings as well as the former NatWest bank opposite, also part of Bedminster conservation area. The council’s conservation officer complained that a new mezzanine floor is too large, while classically-styled steel balustrades have been replaced with plain steel. The original terrazzo and mosaic tiles have been “replaced in inauthentic new materials” and “intrusive new ductwork” is routed through the building, a council report says. It also makes several other complaints. The council said it was in discussions with Luxe about the work required and the need for further applications. Luxe said it would work with the council.
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Upfest says sorry over festival tags Continued from page 1 festival. It comes after readers and traders in North Street took issue with a statement in the last Voice, when Mr Hayles said tagging was “not particularly worse in Bedminster” than other parts of the city, and there was “no research to suggest a direct relationship to areas that promote street art”. Readers disagreed. “I blame Upfest for this,” wrote one. “I disagree with Mr Hayles when he says Upfest does not make it worse. I feel very sorry for houses which keep getting graffiti and tagging on their walls and as soon as it is removed it is back again.” The reader was sceptical it was worth reporting graffiti to the council, as there is so much of it: “It would be easier to report where there isn’t any, as there is far too much to report,” they said. Traders also reported problems during last July’s Upfest. “There’s a lot of graffiti that’s on my shutters at the moment that’s because of Upfest. I went to speak to the organisers on the Monday after the event and they said they would come and clean it off, but they didn’t turn up. This happened the year before too,” said Liam Docherty, manager of Lloyds Pharmacy in North Street. “I don’t have a problem with Upfest generally – the event makes it quite a busy day for us.” Another owner of a business off North Street said: “The big murals do look all right but we have new buildings opposite us
From a Lounge to a fortune
with Bath stone and they are forever being tagged – they have to get people in to steam it off. “We get numerous customers coming in to say it looks a mess. Over the Upfest weekend the side of our premises gets used as a toilet. It’s got to a stupid state now, it looks an eyesore.” For Upfest, Mr Hayles said, “As a volunteer-led festival, we do our best to clean up any issues reported by traders and residents during and directly related to the event. These tags which we apologise for missing during our post-festival clean up will definitely be attended to as soon as possible. “As part of the community of Bedminster, working with everyone in the area to make it a great place to live, visit and shop is our top priority.” The council says it will regard all graffiti that’s not obviously art as criminal damage. Fines have increased from £100 to £150. A new app will make it easy to report graffiti, though it’s not yet ready. Graffiti is Bristol’s top street cleaning issue, the communities scrutiny commission was told on April 15. Council surveys show residents think their areas are dirtier, even though there has been no increase in littering or fly-tipping, a fact attributable to much more graffiti. • Includes reporting by Adam Postans, BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporter • The Mayor, page 14 • Letters, Page 15
THE LOUNGERS restaurant chain – whose first branch opened in North Street in 2002 – is about to float on the London Stock Exchange with a value of £185 million. When the Lounge opened 17 years ago, it was on a very different North Street, lacking most of today’s trendy eating places. The Tobacco Factory café bar had only opened in 2001. Lounge founders Alex Reilley, Jake Bishop and Dave Reid created an all-day bar-restaurant with family photos on the walls and reused wooden furniture. After the North Street branch, each one had a name to reflect its origins – Totterdown’s is Banco Lounge, being in an old Lloyds bank. The share listing will help fund expansion to 500 outlets. Remaining founders Reilley and Bishop keep a seven per cent stake worth £13 million and have cashed in shares worth £9m.
Unkind cut VOLUNTEERS who look after Dame Emily Park in Bedminster are upset after maintenance workers cut down areas which were being left to grow as a habitat for wildlife. Members of the Dame Emily Park Project said there were signs to indicate the wildlife area. Yet grass in other areas which was meant to be cut was left untouched. DEPP has seen wildlife areas cut down in error by the council before – something also reported at Victoria Park and other parks in South Bristol.
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n NEWS Tell us pet tales! Cockerpoo George: Will sneeze on request
NEXT month the Voice will be writing about pets – and we want to hear your best stories about your animals, whether you have a dog, cat or a backyard chicken. We’ll feature the best stories in the paper, along with an appeal to help rehome animals being cared for by Bristol A.R.C. (formerly Bristol RSPCA). To get you thinking, here’s George. He’s the canine companion at South Bristol Voice. Trained from a puppy by Cathy Sprod of All4Paws Bristol, he’s got quite a few tricks up his paws: he can sometimes be seen collecting litter in Perretts Park, and he will also sneeze to order. Don’t believe us? See tinyurl.com/GeorgeSneeze. Send your pet stories to news@southbristolvoice.co.uk.
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Nursery closed by safeguarding fears SOUTH Bristol’s newest nursery has been closed by education inspector Ofsted over concerns that children could be at risk. The unusual move was made after staff at North Street nursery raised concerns about the behaviour of a new staff member in the baby room on March 29. Ofsted was informed of the concerns on April 1, and visited the nursery on April 9. It then issued a list of actions for the nursery managers to take, giving a deadline of April 24 – but not, at that stage, requiring closure. Ofsted’s demands included making sure a staff member takes a child protection course so that they can recognise signs of possible abuse or neglect. However, it appears that further concerns emerged, because on April 12, Ofsted
suspended the nursery’s registration, saying “we believe children may be at risk of harm”. Ofsted would not explain what risks children might have faced, but told the Voice the suspension was for up to six weeks, to allow for an investigation – though it could be extended. Bristol Live quoted a letter to parents from nursery director Vicky Collins saying it was “an incredibly sad and very difficult time for the whole team”. A staff member had been dismissed after the complaint, she said. The nursery did not respond to a Voice request for comment. It opened in November in the former Denny’s bakery, following 100 letters in support of its planning application, and was hailed as a positive use for the shop and its large rear premises.
Otter query over plan for student blocks PLANS for student flats next to the River Malago face a twopronged objection from the Environment Agency (EA). The EA has told Bristol city council it is not happy with flood risk precautions by A2Dominion, which wants to put 550 student rooms and 49 affordable homes on the Malago Road site. The agency also wants plans for the blocks of up to 12 storeys to be redrawn, saying they are too close to the river to allow for maintenance of the watercourse. The EA also objects on biodiversity grounds – asking if the developer has checked for the presence of otters in the river. It questions why the river is going to be fenced off from the future residents, calling this “a missed opportunity to design the watercourse into the development”.
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n NEWS Police appeals
Homeless charity faces wait to move Appeal for skilled welder and gardeners to help prepare new site HELP BRISTOL’S Homeless, the Bedminster charity which makes new homes out of shipping containers, is gearing up to move to its new site which will allow it to expand its work in a big way. At present, HBH is still on the site of the former Pring & St Hill works in Malago Road, where six containers have been converted by homeless people into temporary accommodation. But when HBH moves into a new site donated by Bristol city council in Spring Street, behind York Road, there will be room for up to 20 container homes – as well as separate kitchen, dining and launderette facilities. The move was due to take place in April but has been delayed until June or July as the frame that will support all the containers, and is being made with the help of energy company EDF, is proving more complex than first thought. Luckily the developer which wants to move on to the Pring site doesn’t need to do so yet, said Jasper Thompson, the guiding light of HBH. The site is earmarked for 550 student rooms and 49 affordable homes by developer A2Dominion – but, like the rest of the
POLICE have issued photos of 11 people caught up in public order disturbances at the Bristol City versus Swansea game on February 2. Eleven people have already been identified by officers. They will either be summonsed to court or given a caution – likely to include a 16-week match ban. The South Bristol Voice Facebook
Wanted: Gordon Maddocks, 60, from Bedminster page has 11 more photos of other men police still want to identify. Separately, police also want to trace Gordon Maddocks, 60, wanted over offences of false imprisonment and serious assault in the Bedminster area.
Ambitious: New site for HBH will have up to 20 container homes proposals for Bedminster Green, residents have objected in large numbers and the scheme does not have planning permission. Fundraising towards the £50,000 needed for the new site is going well, said Jasper, and likely to be boosted by an Art Auction in aid of the charity on April 25, just as the Voice was going to press. “What we really need at the moment is a welder,” Jasper told the Voice. “We need someone with the skills to join together the containers for the kitchen to the one for the dining area. “We are also looking for someone to organise planting. We have the soil ready to go in, and this can be done before the containers go on site.” The volunteers are hoping some of Bedminster’s many keen gardeners will step in to provide the new residents with a backdrop of both flowers and vegetables. To find out more, call HBH on 0117 422 6115 or go to Facebook: Help Bristol’s Homeless
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n NEWS Clean Air plan Bristol sails by September A COUNCIL plan to clean Bristol’s polluted air will go to Whitehall in September – nine months after the deadline. It is expected to back cleaner buses and taxis, scrappage of older vehicles, and a city centre charge for the most polluting vehicles – but not cars. Mayor Marvin Rees has said any charges must not hit those on low incomes. Knowle Lib Dem Cllr Gary Hopkins said: “I cannot see that the plan is going to work. A sizeable proportion of the problem is from private cars.” cleanairforbristol.org
Vale gathering ASHTON Vale Together holds a walkabout and litter pick on Thursday May 16, meeting on the corner of Swiss Road and South Liberty Lane at 10am. The group meets on Tuesday May 21 at the youth club on Silbury Road from 6.30-8pm – all are welcome.
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n NEWS Dig in at manor
Oxford Circus: Bristol activists and their pink boat, named Tell The Truth
pink boat to West End
THE CLIMATE change demonstrations which brought parts of central London to a standstill for more than a week were in large part organised by Bristol protesters – many of them from South Bristol. Bristol members of the group Extinction Rebellion installed the pink boat – which has featured in so many pictures of the protests – in Oxford Circus, one of London’s busiest junctions. It remained there for five days, surrounded by protesters, and on Good Friday was used by actor Dame Emma Thompson to address the crowds. It was removed by police later the same day – but only after specially-trained officers were brought in to prise away activitists who had glued
May 2019
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PHOTO: Stephen Clarke
themselves to the hull. As the Bristol boat was towed away by police, it was to chants of: “We have more boats!” Southville Green councillor Stephen Clarke supports Extinction Rebellion. He was at the London protests as a legal observer, helping many of the hundreds who were arrested. “I admired the way that the demonstrations were conducted,” he told the Voice. “Although they caused disruption to Londoners they were carried out very calmly and peacefully. Because of that the police have been very
peaceful as well, as far as I know there’s been no protestors or police injured. “It became apparent that Bristol’s task was to occupy Oxford Circus. There was a rather wonderful moment when the pink boat arrived down Regent Street. “The participants are very much a mix of ages – not just young activists but a lot of retired people, who think, ‘What’s the worst that can happen to us if we get arrested?’” Many Bristol members have been having a lot of training in non-violent direct action –using the peaceful
Bristol protesters target the London office of the owner of Bristol Airport, a Canadian teachers’ pension fund PHOTO: Stephen Clarke protest methods of Gandhi and Martin Luther-King. They are also trained in de-escalation – how to deal with aggression. “The Bristol protestors are hoping that there will be a Citizens Assembly in Bristol, and I would very much like this to happen,” said Cllr Clarke. “It’s a complex process but it involves selecting 100 people at random, a bit like a jury, to consider controversial issues, working over several weekends, and talking to experts in the field before coming up with recommendations on difficult
topics like the changes needed to become carbon neutral in Bristol.” Many have criticised the protesters for bringing large parts of London to a standstill, at vast cost to the economy, and the police came under fire for not removing the blockades sooner. The activists counter that the future of human civilisation is at stake. Extinction Rebellion wants the UK government to declare a climate emergency, and reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025. Facebook: Bristol South Extinction Rebellion • Your councillors: page 18
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BUDDING archaeologists are invited to join a project to reveal a lost wing to Ashton Court mansion. From June 23 to July 18, school pupils and others will join a community excavation at the historic estate, which dates back to the 11th century and is owned by Bristol city council. The hot summer of 2018 revealed “parch marks” on the
Ashton Court: The old wing, right lawn that may reveal an old wing, last seen in an 18th C engraving. Adults wanting to join the dig must pay £30. For details email archeoscan@hotmail.co.uk
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n NEWS Sing in French WANT to polish your French in a different way? Join a French singing workshop with Bristol’s Alliance Française. It’s on Saturday May 18 from 11am-1pm at the Hen and Chicken, North Street. The cost is £20. Suitable for people of GCSE standard. No singing experience necessary.
Mural celebration LAW firm Barcan+Kirby is celebrating the move of its 36-strong Bedminster team to new offices on North Street – a few doors from where it has been for more than 40 years. The interior boasts a mural by local artist Emily Ketteringham.
Walking the mines LEARN about Bedminster’s mining history on one of the 259 walks as part of Bristol Walk Fest. The Coal Mine Walk takes in Dame Emily Park, site of Dean Lane pit, at 10am on Saturday May 18. More walks at bristolwalkfest.com/events
25 YEARS OF THE TOBACCO FACTORY
Derelict, but George had a mad idea for factory A WEEKEND-long celebration will mark 25 years since the Tobacco Factory was saved from demolition and became South Bristol’s best-known cultural destination. The building was opened by architect and ex-mayor George Ferguson in 1994, years after Imperial Tobacco moved to Hartcliffe and left BS3 full of empty warehouses and offices. Not put off by the lack of electricity, running water, heating or seating, Bedminster’s own theatre group, Show of Strength, began putting on shows in the same year, starting with A Journey to Bristol, an 18th
‘I’m always encouraged when agents think you are mad!’ George Ferguson: Inspired by the re-use of warehouses in the US
century comedy. In 1999, the Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory company opened, with a mobile phone as a box office. After a shaky start, its King Lear got a rave review in the Independent. The theatre’s reputation was made – despite its rickety plastic chairs. In 2001 the café bar opened, and shortly afterwards Teoh’s Asian restaurant moved in (now
occupied by the Thali). Mr Ferguson was regarded with bemusement by property experts when he bought the derelict building. He had a vision to turn it into a centre for independent, creative businesses, inspired by warehouse conversions in Manhattan. He said: “I’m always encouraged when agents think you are mad, because they just don’t get it.” He says the secret of its success is that he didn’t rush it – because he didn’t have the money. He bought the building from a receiver for £200,000, money he then had to borrow. “I know people think I am a rich man, but I have always borrowed, otherwise I couldn’t have done all this,” he said. “I used to sleep on the floor in what is now the snug bar because
May 2019
southbristolvoice
n NEWS up to that point this area was a bit dodgy, every night there was a car broken into, and I was shouting down from my balcony. We had all this alcohol in the bar, and I thought they were going to break in. After a bit I relaxed.” The first day of the café bar in 2001 atracted so many people, “it was as if a dam had broken, it was just extraordinary,” he said. “It’s not changed much since – we changed the chairs because I bought a lot of old school chairs and they started breaking. A friend made the tables, and the slate bar was reclaimed from the laboratories that were upstairs. The top floor was full of pigeon and gull mess and buckets. “I always thought the building was fundamentally fantastic, so now I had something good.” Mr Ferguson is about to hand the theatre a 999-year lease to secure its future, and will eventually pass the rest of the building to a trust. From May 1 there’s an exhibition in the main bar of artworks depicting the building. The anniversary weekend is on
May 25 and 26, when live music and DJs will play in the bar. Outside, in The Yard, Saturday will see circus performances. Upfest artists will be live-painting in the Yard and there will be kids’ crafts from Cre8, and street food galore. A special video piece will be projected onto the Factory in the evening. In the theatre, there will be an exhibition of the story of the Factory building from 1912, and audio memories from cast and staff of past theatre shows, as well as performances by the theatre choir, and puppetry. On Sunday there will be the regular Producers Market, from 10am-3pm, while Raleigh Road will also be closed for a street banquet at the same time. Live street music will be followed by DJs in the yard from 3-9pm, with live swing and dancing from the Gin Bowlers. • An interview with George Ferguson, on the Tobacco Factory, and whether he’ll stand for mayor again, is on the Voice website. tobaccofactory.com/whatson/25-years/
Art fair inspires Southville 1994
2019
It’s 25 years since the Tobacco Factory building was saved from demolition and brought back to life, repurposed as a creative and social hub for the Bristol community. Check our website for news on celebration events throughout the year.
THERE is no Southbank art trail this year – but there are plenty of creative attractions at the Southville Centre’s May Art Fair. On Saturday May 11, more than 30 artists, performers and makers will descend on the Beauley Road centre for a day of creativity, from 11am-5pm. Highlights include the Blackbird Children’s Choir performance in the garden at 12 noon, a samba workshop with Helen Reid in the garden at
12.30pm, a Mr Brown’s Pig puppet show at 1.30pm, and a performance by a capella group The Tonic at 2.30pm. There’s another samba workshop in the garden at 3pm and Mr Brown’s Pig puppet show is back at 4pm. Children’s craft activities run from 11am-5pm. The BS3 Community nursery children will have an exhibition in the Stackpool Room, inspired by geology, astronomy and biology.
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Homeowners show how to slash energy bills SOUTH BRISTOL home owners will be showing off how ordinary homes can be made to drastically reduce the amount of energy they use, thanks to Bristol Green Doors. At open days on May 11 and 12, homes in Southville and Windmill Hill will be among those throwing open their doors. Eric Booth’s 1820s home in Alphaville Road is one of the very first built in Southville, and is in a conservation area. Yet Eric has managed to introduce solar technologies, heat recovery ventilation, rainwater harvesting, a multi-fuel stove and doubleglazing, as well as restoring the character of his 1820s home. The house has been carefully clad in external wall insulation, without affecting its Georgian looks. It now uses 64 per cent less in fossil fuels than before. Architect Carlton Bodkin’s Victorian terrace in Windmill
Invisibly insulated: Alphaville Hill has minimal reliance on gas and electricity, thanks to solar technology and almost air-tight insulation. Carlton views this as an ongoing project and recently extended the house to gain more kitchen and dining space. The expansion re-used the bi-fold doors and put in background ventilators for fresh air supply. To find out more about these and other Green Doors homes: bristolgreendoors.org
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n NEWS
CLIMATE CHANGE
We We WeBuy Buy Buy Houses Houses Housesthat that that need need needrenovation renovation renovation •• •No No No Fuss Fuss Fuss •• •No No No Delays Delays Delays •• •Quick Quick Quick Sale Sale Sale •• •Cash Cash Cash paid paid paid •• •All All All property property property types types types considered considered considered •• •No No No Estate Estate Estate Agency Agency Agency fees fees fees •• •We We We cover cover cover your your your Solicitors Solicitors Solicitors costs* costs* costs*
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May 2019
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n FEATURES
T
HE HEDGEHOG brings a dash of exciting wildness into our tamed modern lives. It is a wonder they tolerate the maladjusted city lifestyle we have forced upon them here in South Bristol. I shouldn’t assign human characteristics to animals, but I find something endearingly polite and resolute about their nature. Our prickly friends carry on steadfastly, tolerant of us, regardless of how much we have messed it all up. They potter about quietly in our gardens and parks, putting up with all the lousy weather and rubbish. And then, when things turn miserable in late autumn or winter, they just retreat into hibernation. They are remarkable urban adapters, now doing far better in built-up areas than in the farmed countryside, according to research – although hedgehog numbers have crashed by one third since 2001 even in towns and cities, says the People’s Trust for Endangered Species. Our city populations are vital for the species’ conservation. We know these elusive nocturnal mammals are still familiar garden visitors, because residents took part in a survey and campaign I ran with Avon Wildlife Trust and the Voice a while ago. These intrepid wanderers can cover up to 2km in a night in their search for food, a mate or, right now, a nesting site. But with each adventure, they risk crashing into conflict. Yvonne Cox, at Bristol’s Hedgehog Rescue charity, sees the casualties in her emergency room, stacked floor to ceiling with dozens of rehab cages. Her tales of a multitude of hog hazards make you amazed there are any of these animals left. “Zoflora was found stuck in a drain and covered in disinfectant and bleach,” recalls Yvonne. (Yes, this hog has been named after a cleaning product.) “The finder thought she was a rat. After treatment for shock, worming, feeding and rest, she was released where found – after the
LIFE OF A CITY HEDGEHOG
Let’s all assist our city hogs! Voice naturalist Alex Morss writes on the perils of being a modern urban hedgehog in South Bristol, and how we can all do our bit to help them thrive … Right, a patient at Bristol Hedgehog Rescue – one of a record 336 treated last year PHOTO: Yvonne Cox
drain cover had been replaced.” She continues: “Thomas and James were found trapped in an inspection pit at the steam railway at Bitton, totally black with oil and soot. They received many baths and, after monitoring for poisoning, and further treatment, they were released nearby to a lovely garden.” Then there was Clanger, who lost his spikes: “Found in a barn,
10 TOP WAYS TO HELP HEDGEHOGS 1. Make a Hedgehog Highway – a brick-sized hole, 13cm x 13cm, in a garden wall or fence to give them garden access. 2. Be cautious with strimmers, netting, wood preservatives, bonfires, inescapable ponds, open drains, garden forks, dogs, and trapping hedgehogs inside sheds. 3. Avoid using pesticides or rodent traps. 4. Leave wild areas with long grass, compost, logs, leaves and water.
resulted in admissions continuing to January and beyond.” Yvonne, who is also known by many for the talks she gives to schools and groups, previously entrusted me with nursing a female hedgehog with a broken leg, who’d had a painful run-in with a rat trap on an allotment – not uncommon, sadly. I also helped two brothers who had been found orphaned after their mother had eaten slug pellets. I was smitten by their cuteness, from the ends of their chocolate button noses and snuffling snouts to the tips of all 6,000 spines. The pair recovered to roam South Bristol once again. Many hedgehogs are found dehydrated or underweight each year due to drought or unseasonal weather. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society says threats are habitat loss, roads, climate change and pesticides, but also bonfires and without a mother. Named after litter – and open water, if they he contracted ringworm and began can’t find a way out. They are to resemble the characters in the eaten by badgers and foxes too. TV programme.” Clanger is eating City hedgehogs need lots of well but needs plenty of baths gardens to explore, to find – “which make him very grumpy!” sufficient slugs, snails, Yvonne said 2018 was a earthworms, beetles, caterpillars, record year for her charity, with millipedes, earwigs and fruit. 336 hogs treated. “The mild That’s why it’s so helpful if we weather meant few hibernations can make sure there are holes in and winter hog activity continued our garden walls and fences so regardless of depleted food. This they can move around easily. May is the start of breeding 5. Offer meaty (not fishy) cat or time. The female will be looking dog food – not milk or bread. for nesting sites now. Perhaps 6. Plot sightings on the national your garden could be that place? Hedgehog Street Map at She will be pregnant for up to five bighedgehogmap.org weeks from May to July, and 7. Volunteer or donate to then typically nurse 4-6 young Hedgehog Rescue to help for up to six weeks. They will be Yvonne support hedgehogs at able to roll into a ball by 11 weeks hedgehogrescue.webplus.net – but their protective prickles 8. Call the hog hotline 01584 890 will take longer to harden. 801 if you see a hedgehog in distress. PROPERTYTheir MAINTENANCE ancient defences seem 9. Make a nesting or hibernating so far removed PAINTING from the new area. More advice INTERIOR & EXTERIOR challenges of modern life. How on britishhedgehogs.org.uk FENCING • PATIOS LANDSCAPING lucky we •are to have these 10. Urge neighbours to help create and secretive night LOG STOREScharming • GUTTERING • FASCIAS a network of accessible gardens. spirits creeping among us.
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The Style Therapist
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EX, The Style Therapist, is a personal stylist based in Bristol. Many people think that personal stylists are only for rich people and celebrities but this is not true! We’re all living longer and women want to look and feel as good as they can whatever their age. Bex offers a wardrobe refresh or ‘edit’. She will visit your home and help you rearrange your clothes, guide you when putting existing items together and advise you about what gaps you may have in your wardrobe. She also offers personal shopping services – you may be looking for some new items for
Bex: Help to find the right look, whatever your personal style your Spring/Summer wardrobe, and need honest and practical advice about styles or colours which suit your shape. Or perhaps you’re looking for something to wear for a special occasion? Bex is friendly, approachable, down to earth and not a scary fashionista type! What are you waiting for?
IF YOU like visiting gardens (or are just a bit nosey), make a date for Bedminster’s Secret Gardens on June 15 and 16. More than 25 gardens are open from 12-5pm, with donations going to gardening projects for young and old people across Bedminster. A free guide and map can be picked up at Riverside Garden Centre, Southville Centre, Windmill Hill City Farm or Bristol Tourist Information Centre, or can be downloaded: bloomingbedminster.org.uk Here are some highlights – there are more on the Voice website – including a shepherd’s retreat and a garden seen on BBC’s Gardener’s World. A feminist retreat Most people
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MAKE new friends and learn something new at Greater Bedminster Older People’s Forum on Wednesday May 15, 10am-12 noon, at Monica Wills
southbristolvoice
n NEWS
n SPRING INTO ACTION ADVERTISING FEATURE n NEWS Here is an idea to Garden days lift your spirits this spring ...
May 2019
Surprises to find: Secret Gardens tend to think of the garden shed as the man’s domain, but in Carmel’s garden (30 Langton Park, open Sunday only) is a specially-designed She Shed! Get merry with perry The area around Stackpool Road was called Perry Hill, once covered by apple and pear trees used for making cider and perry. Nick’s garden, 62 Langton Park, is reviving the tradition by making Southville Cider. House in Cromwell Street, off West Street, Bedminster. There’s coffee and a raffle, and talks will be about a craft group, Yarn Over Coffee, and a reading group, Read Easy, which helps adult learners.
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May 2019
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n THE MAYOR
L
LETTERS and provide your postal address. suggest that Stephen Hayles Graffiti tagging arranges for all the people who usually attend the event and all getting worse those people who make money Please keep letters as short as possible,
MARVIN REES Mayor of Bristol
Challenge to those who treat our city as a bin ITTER and graffiti are issues that people care deeply about in their local area, and are part of the way we feel about our own communities and homes. Making Bristol’s streets measurably cleaner is a priority for many people in the city, and one shared by me and my administration. That is why at our most recent cabinet meeting, we approved the allocation of an additional £1 million for our Clean Streets action plan. As part of the investment, city centre areas and parks, which see high levels of use, will get new hi-tech bins that can compact litter and hold up to
May 2019
six times more than a standard bin. The bins will also email Bristol Waste Company automatically when they need emptying. We are also purchasing a cherry picker to help our graffiti removal crews access graffiti in hard-to-reach places. The fantastic volunteering groups who help to try to improve Bristol’s streets will also benefit from the investment. One hundred litter picking kits will be made available for schools, and new
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equipment, including graffiti removal kits, are to be purchased for community clean-ups. But we know in many cases this is dealing with the actions of a minority of people who continue to think it is acceptable to treat the city as their personal bin. I am determined to challenge the behaviour of these people, through enforcement. This means fixed penalty notices to those caught littering, and prosecuting those fly tipping in our city. My May cabinet meeting will consider proposals to increase fixed penalty charges for certain environmental offences such as littering, fly-posting and graffiti. I am grateful to the hardworking staff at Bristol Waste Company, and the many volunteers across the city, who are already working hard to make the streets cleaner and more welcoming. We want to support them all in their work to make Bristol’s streets something we can all be proud of.
I
AM very concerned about the amount of graffiti and tagging I see when I travel on the 24 bus from Ashton Vale to Bedminster. It is awful and getting worse. I blame Upfest for this: I disagree with Stephen Hayles when he says Upfest does not make it worse. I feel so very sorry for houses which keep getting graffiti and tagging on their walls and as soon as it is removed it is back again. Regarding reporting graffiti/tagging to Bristol city council – it would be easier to report where there isn’t any, as there is far too much to report. I also think it is very wrong that the Town Team money should be used to clean it up. This money could be used to pay for cameras to catch the culprits who do it, then they should be made to clean it all up. Seeing as the Upfest festival is taking a break this year, I
from it to have a clean-up event instead to clear all the graffiti in the area. It makes the area look really run down and tacky. Perhaps if all shops who sell spray cans of paint took a photo of everyone who buys it, the culprits could be caught a lot easier. Chris, Address supplied, Ashton Vale • JUST to say thank you for your headline article. I am so pleased that this issue has been highlighted. As an Ashton Gate resident, I have found the increase of unwanted tagging is creating an ugly feel to the area. I realise the Upfest murals have artistic merit but the vandalism of tagging seems to be going unchallenged. It’s scrawled all over the garages at the back of my house, over the church walls, the bank and so on. I find the arrogance of the perpetrators annoying, that they
southbristolvoice Please keep as short as possible, Writeletters to paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk and provide postal address. or to your 18 Lilymead Avenue, BS4 2BX think they have the right to scrawl over private property; it is depressing to live with the consequences. I hope you feature this issue again. Address supplied, Ashton Gate
Mayor is wrong about airport MARVIN Rees exposed his totally inadequate response to the climate crisis in two articles in the April edition of the Voice. In the first, Rees defends the expansion of Bristol airport. In the second, he claims to be taking the lead in the goal of a carbon neutral city by removing singleuse plastic cups from City Hall. The contrast could not be more striking: staff will have to bring their own mugs to work, while at the same time we will allow Bristol Airport to increase the number of flights from eight million to 20m over the next 25 years. Rees wrongly suggests that
15 Write to paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk or to 18 Lilymead Avenue, BS4 2BX
the airport’s expansion plan is in some way connected with a desire to ease Heathrow, by reducing car journeys from the SW and Wales to Heathrow and Gatwick. This is simple nonsense. Fewer may go to Heathrow and Gatwick, although even this is unproven, but more will certainly come to Bristol from the SW, Wales and the Midlands. There is no evidence that the number of car journeys on Bristol roads will be reduced as a result of this expansion. Chris Miller Stackpool Road, Southville
We need a Butterfly Plan WELL done for celebrating the Greater Bedminster Front Garden Awards in the April Voice. A great project! The article lists many useful plants that will attract butterflies, moths and other insects. Unfortunately, the article neglects an important
aspect of butterfly survival. Every butterfly was once a caterpillar. Caterpillars are often reliant on a very narrow range of plants, sometimes just one or two. Frequently, these are plants of which the careful gardener may well disapprove. The holly blue butterfly is easily the most likely ‘blue’ to be seen in Bedminster gardens. Its caterpillars live on holly and ivy. There are holly blues because there’s a fair amount of ivy around. The nymphalids, however, depend on nettles. Five nymphalids have been recorded in BS3 in recent years, but not in large numbers. They are red admirals, painted ladies, small tortoiseshells, commas and peacock butterflies. No nettles: no caterpillars, no red admirals. We need a Butterfly Plan, perhaps including a small nettle patch and some rough grass in every park. To find out more please email mywildbedminster@ virginmedia.com. Ben Barker Secretary, BS3 Wildlife Group
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16
southbristolvoice
May 2019
May 2019
southbristolvoice
ADVICE FROM A PHARMACIST
We need to realise that anti-vaxxers harm us all
T
HE WORLD Health Organisation says that the number of measles cases worldwide has tripled in the first three months of 2019, compared with the same time last year. This disease – which is entirely preventable through vaccination – is killing people. New York City recently declared a public health emergency after more than 285 cases of measles, ordering mandatory vaccinations in one neighbourhood. In the UK, take-up of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine for two-year-olds decreased for the fourth year in a row and is now at 91.2 per cent, the lowest it has been since 2011/2012.
What is going on, and does it affect us in Bristol? The UK is seeing more cases of measles. This is due in part to children who went unvaccinated 20 years ago, after now-discredited research caused a scare about the safety of the MMR vaccine. It was claimed by Dr Andrew Wakefield that the vaccine was linked to autism – but his research was found to be wrong, and Dr Wakefield was struck off. Now the anti-vaccination movement – “anti-vaxxers” – and the false information they spread about vaccines, is posing a significant health threat. They share conspiracy theories about vaccinations, peddle false scientific research and spread stories that feed distrust in governments and drug manufacturers. In a world of alternative truths, fake news and the repeated refrain “do not trust the experts’’, the power of social media means the spread of this information cannot be managed without every one of us joining in the fight. False information left unchallenged
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with Ade Williams Ade Williams of Bedminster Pharmacy shows how pharmacies can help people with a variety of health conditions, and ease pressure on the NHS is sometimes just as damaging as great truths left untold. The WHO says some people’s refusal to vaccinate threatens to reverse progress made against preventable diseases. Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective ways of avoiding disease – it currently prevents 2-3 million deaths a year, and a further 1.5 million could be avoided if global coverage of vaccinations improved. The reason why I said we all have a role to play is that, increasingly, social media influencers, some famous political figures and celebrities are now publicly stating that they support the anti-vaxxers. Such individuals do not feel responsible for the impact that
they wield on vulnerable, less educated or easily impressionable people. Seeking to protect young children forms part of our innate human behaviour. When people choose not to vaccinate – for all the right reasons but based on wrong information – not only do they put lives at risk, they also start to undo the social norms by which vaccination is a choice to protect the whole community as well as the individual. Our shared societal values start coming undone. As part of the Bristol Travel Clinic, Bedminster Pharmacy works to the highest ethical and professional standards. We signpost to free NHS provision while also providing a service with a low-price guarantee that supports charities like Meningitis Now and Water Aid. Our service was set up after a patient lost a relative to meningitis. Our response is to use our skills and the science available: from chicken pox to rabies, vaccination can protect you and your loved ones.
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n YOUR COUNCILLORS
W
May 2019
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ELL, it’s goodbye from me, but not for another year. The council will be up for re-election in Charlie May 2020, and I Bolton don’t plan seeking Green re-election to the Southville Southville ward. I’ll probably be a candidate in a seat which the Greens are highly unlikely to win. I’ll have been a councillor for 10 years come next May, and involved in local council politics since 2006. I will certainly benefit from a break, which may or may not be permanent. Politics is a fairly unpleasant and brutal business. You win by beating someone who may well not deserve to lose. And you are up against a range of forces, some of which are completely out of your control. If the stars align you can win, but well, those stars just keep moving. The years of austerity have taken their toll on the ability of
Southville
the council to do anything, and doing stuff locally has become much, much harder. And I have to say, the current administration doesn’t seem much interested in encouraging local people to get on with stuff locally. You reach the stage at council meetings where you pretty much know what’s going to happen before you start, even know what people are going to say. You see the limitations of the scrutiny process, which rarely changes things, and especially doesn’t make significant change. What power there is in the council lies overwhelmingly with the mayor. As an opposition backbencher, you make the best of it. Try to push things locally, and hold to account the administration at the Council House. The problem with this is you can end up playing the game of politics – getting sucked in to the in-fighting and nitpicking rather than pursuing the outcomes. I have noticed this in myself – not much, but enough to see the need for a break. Anyway, another year til then ...
I
How to contact your councillor: p2
Parking AM continuing to push the council on this issue and cabinet member Kye Stephen Dudd has promised Clarke to formally respond Green to our recent Southville parking survey. I have explained to him the strong views expressed to me by many residents on this issue. I have told him about the 82 per cent majority who expressed a strong desire in the survey for a RPS in the area south of North Street, around Friezewood, Carrington and surrounding streets, where life is being made very difficult by overflow from the Southville RPS. We shall see what response we receive from the Labour administration. Climate Emergency ollowing the council’s declaration of a Climate Emergency, Bristol’s youth strikes and the Extinction Rebellion protests in London, I
F
attended (in a personal capacity), one of the peaceful protests organised by Bristolians at the London offices of the owners of Bristol Airport. As regular readers will be aware, Ontario Teacher’s Pension Fund own 70 per cent of the airport and they have applied for planning permission to expand by 23,600 flights a year. As a concerned citizen, father and asthma sufferer, I cannot stand by silently whilst this investor pollutes our precious air for their own profit. I am aware that a number of difficult decisions have to be made to reduce our carbon emissions. The protesters in London are highlighting how hard it is for politicians to make these decisions as they are always worried about the next election. One of the ways we could get round this is to establish what are called Citizens’ Assemblies – I would love to see this happening in Bristol. The idea widens the democratic process by including more people in the decision-making.
May 2019
southbristolvoice
n YOUR COUNCILLORS
I
T WAS welcome news to hear the announcement about an extra £30 million to Mark deliver the rail Bradshaw link to Portishead. Labour However, many Bedminster are still unclear whether this was a formal government statement or an update on discussions between North Somerset council, the West of England Combined Authority and ministers. Let’s hope it is a firm commitment to spend and not just more warm words. The re-introduction of rail services connecting Portishead to the national rail network is really a no-brainer and, despite the real technical hurdles, it should be deliverable in a few years. The benefits are tangible for our local rail services at Parson Street and Bedminster, with the potential for more stopping services meeting growing demand. That is one reason why I have always
Bedminster
backed the Portishead proposals, taking several reports to the Bristol cabinet, meeting ministers and working with our nearby councils. It gives people another choice to the car in their daily commute across Bristol and adding to the air pollution we all breathe in. The huge escalation in cost to over £180m a couple of years ago has now been reduced to a more manageable £100m, which in rail terms equates to a modest project! Together with plans for a platform at the Portway Park & Ride, the new station at Ashley Down and other schemes, this is a positive signal that investing in rail is a cost-effective way of encouraging travel without the car. Add to this the many millions for four-tracking, new platforms at Filton Abbey Wood and Parkway, and this has the potential to revolutionise Bristol’s passenger transport far quicker than any future mass transit project or increasing the number of buses on our already congested roads.
A
19 How to contact your councillor: p2
T LAST, we are talking about mental health. May 11 marks the start of Mental Health awareness Celia week and there Phipps will be a range of Labour activities across the Bedminster city. On Saturday May 11, there will be a Moment of Mass Meditation on College Green from 12 noon, which I, as a city champion for mental health, will be attending. Thanks to the Time to Change Hub in Bristol, there are an increasing number of people with lived experience who are supporting initiatives to help others recover from mental health problems. The Hub is hosted by Bristol Independent Mental Health Network and supported by members of the Bristol Anti Stigma Alliance. If you feel you have an offer to make, you can become a Time to Change Bristol Champion by signing up on the city council website, under the heading
Thrive/Time to Change. You will receive free training and support, as well as a regular newsletter. Carbon emissions ast month the cabinet made an important decision for the City Leap initiative – approving a future energy investment partnership that will make a significant contribution to our ambition to build a carbonneutral Bristol. This comes weeks after the council revealed that it has cut its own carbon emissions by a massive 71 per cent, exceeding the target two years ahead of schedule. One of the key initiatives is to move to bio-gas buses: the M1 Metrobus already runs on bio-gas, and a large order for new buses has already been made. Surgery ur monthly surgery is on the move again! From May, we will be found in the North Street Gallery from 10.30-11.30am on the first Saturday of each month. If there is anything you would like to discuss with us, do drop in, or contact us via mobile or email.
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Each 3x3 box, every row and every column must contain the numbers 1-9, Free UK Delivery - Personal Print Manager - Fast Turnaround Free UK Delivery - Personal Print Manager - Fast Turnaround with each used only once. Can you crack it? There are a lot of crocs in the picture – but how many exactly?
This month: Music
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community use, supervised by the charity Gathering Voices. Two of the buildings are for artists – Kosar Contemporary and the Caraboo Project. The third, the Fabrication Space, is host to an innovative maker of metal cases for synthesisers, Damaru Cases, run by Aeddon Greave, as well as woodworkers and a potter. Upstairs is the Cutting Room, run by Aeddon’s partner Eva Thygoj, home to several textile makers who trade at at the Homegrown shop at Windmill
ANOTHER of Bedminster’s new creative spaces is Kosar Contemporary, Bristol’s largest artist-led contemporary gallery of its kind, the vision of artist Béa Kayani. Alongside the Arts Councilfunded Caraboo Project, which also features highly-ranked artists, Kosar is part of the creative quarter called The Works. It’s currently showing an exhibition called The Last Stop, by Bristol-based artist Jackson Woodcock, open until May 11. Woodcock’s abstract paintings draw from the rediscovered medieval fresco uncovered at a 13th-century chapel in Chartham, Kent, which was the final stop on the Pilgrim’s Way before Canterbury Cathedral. May 11 sees an artist-led tour of the exhibition. To find out more visit eventbrite.co.uk and search for Kosar.
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COULD a collection of formerly disused workshops behind East Street provide part of the answer to the decline in our high streets? The makers, artists and tradespeople of a new creative quarter at Malago Road hope that they are helping to show new ways of using city centres. Three former industrial plots at Stafford Street and Little Paradise, together known as The Works, are set for redevelopment as part of high-rise plans for Bedminster Green. Developer Firmstone is waiting for planning permission on the plots, and meanwhile it has turned the sites over for
© www.123rf.com/profile_MariaMartyshova
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Hill City Farm. Eva’s business is called Toohoi, creating handmade fashions. Also resident is Carny Valley, run by Totterdown resident Cat Jameson, selling British-made, all-weather capes designed for festival-goers. Violeta llano of Ilo Fabrics, is a maker of organic, unisex toddler clothes which are designed to grow with the child, and last longer. Other members include a maker and trader of upcycled clothes. Eva believes the success of the Fabrication Space shows that not only is there demand for workspaces for all kinds of makers, but there are customers who want to buy their wares, and perhaps learn some of the crafts. “I think people like choice and they like handmade and sustainable products – and they are also looking to make them for themselves now,” she said. “There are many more sewing [businesses] starting in Bristol, because there’s a market for it.” • More on the Cutting Rooms on the Voice website.
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n CHURCH NEWS
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Thought for the month
IMES are changing. These are significant days for the Salvation Army in Bedminster, as in the coming months we shall be moving to a new venue, leaving the Dean Lane site, as we start a new church community in Knowle. Change can either excite you and give you energy, or fill you with dread or fear. In the past few days we have celebrated Easter, a significant
With Ben Ellis, Corps Officer, Salvation Army, Dean Lane, Bedminster
date in the church calendar, where we celebrate the amazing love of Jesus, that he gave his life, so that we could be forgiven, that we could experience his grace and love. This Easter has reminded me that, when I fear,
Regular services
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May 2019
southbristolvoice
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St Aldhelm’s Church
Chessel Street, Bedminster BS3 3TT hello@staldhelms.org Minister Rev Nick Hay 07534 249338
Bedminster Church of Christ
298 St John’s Lane BS3 5AY Minister Jason Snethen 07795 560990 churchofchristbristol.org Sunday 10am Bible Hour for all ages; 11am worship; 5pm worship; Tuesday 7.30pm Bible study; Thursday 10am Coffee morning; Friday 3.45-5pm After-school; 7-9.30pm youth group.
staldhelms.org
Sunday 10am Morning service, informal with mix of traditional and contemporary songs. Creche, Sunday school, refreshments; House groups meet on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, 7.30pm.
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Bedminster Quaker Meeting House Wedmore Vale BS3 5HX Clerk Chrissie Williams 0117 923 0020 bristolquakers.org.uk Sunday Worship 10.45am; 2nd & 4th Sunday Children’s meeting; 2nd Sunday Shared lunch.
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St Paul’s Church
2 Southville Road, Southville BS3 1DG stpsouthville@gmail.com Rev Nick Hay 07534 249338
when I don’t know where to go, Jesus walks with me, and will always be with me, wherever I go. As the Salvation Army makes this significant move in their ministry, there is the knowledge that God is moving with us, and is already there. Though the road is not fully clear, Jesus is saying “Come, walk with me, take up the cross and follow me.” I wonder what that statement means to you? It doesn’t sound saintpaulschurch.co.uk Sunday 10.30am Worship is a mix of contemporary and traditional with groups for children and young people. Also: 1st Sunday 9am Traditional Communion Service; 2nd Sunday 7.30pm Praise and Prayer; 4th Sunday Sunday Sessions in Rope Walk pub.
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St Francis Church 279 North Street, Ashton Gate BS3 1JP
staldhelmsandstfrancis.org.uk Priest-in-charge Rev Andrew Doarks 0117 963 9121 Sunday 10am Communion or Morning Worship; 1st Saturday 10am Open church; Thursday 10am Eucharist.
an easy thing to do … that’s the point. Taking up one’s cross and following Jesus requires faith, to know that Jesus is walking beside you. Faith to know that you are not alone. Faith to know that whatever might be in front of you on the journey, Jesus has already walked that road for what he did on His cross at Easter. Whatever lies in front of us as Christians, may we know that God is always there!
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Victoria Park Baptist Church
Sylvia Avenue BS3 5DA Minister Rev Brendan Bassett 0117 977 2484
victoriapark.org.uk
Sunday 10.30am Service includes groups for all ages, and adults; coffee 11.30am; 2nd Sunday Parade service; 3rd Sunday Communion.
Salvation Army Dean Lane BS3 1BS
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Corps officer Ben Ellis 0117 966 4952 salvationarmy.org.uk/bristolbedminster Sunday 10.30am Morning Worship; 11.30am Kids Alive!; 5pm Evening Worship.
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n HISTORY THE MAN WHO BROUGHT LIGHT TO BRISTOL Bright light? It’ll be the ruin of us, fear the first to see the gaslight revolution Lighting up the town: Bristol’s first gas works, at Temple Back, designed by John Briellat, left. Son Ebenezer, right
Even Jane Austen reported anxieties that gaslight would destroy many of Britain’s industries. And Bristolians took several years to see the benefits ...
TOP PHOTO: Bristol Archives, 44819/3/6; Left © Bristol Culture
Part II of the John Breillat story
W
E ENDED our first instalment of the story of Bristol’s gaslight pioneer, John Breillat, with the advertisement of his first public exhibition of the new technology at his shop, 56 Broadmead, in 1811. Admission was a shilling (5p, worth £3.50 today), so Breillat was clearly hoping to cover the cost of the gas! But there was resistance, not least from those making money from the sale of oil – then the chief source of illumination in homes and workplaces. Jane Austen, in her uncompleted novel Sanditon, has one character say: “I read in the papers somewhere that it [gaslight] would destroy the whale oil trade; and that means whale fisheries, ropemakers, sailmakers and mastmakers – in
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The Breillats and the Bristol Gas Light Co WHEN John Breillat demonstrated gas light in Broadmead in 1811, some thought he had “brought up unholy fire” from hell below. He overcame this objection – but his family’s long relationship with the Bristol Gas Light Co was far from all sweetness and light. 1816 John Breillat appointed Superintendent at £150 a year (worth £155,000 today) plus a house. First gasworks built. Continued overleaf
fact one paper I read predicted the ultimate ruin of even the British Navy from the introduction of gas-light – but do you know what Sidney said? He said his company was doing more for the prevention of crime than any single body in England since the days of Alfred the Great.” It took four years to convince Bristol that gas was the future. But in the industrial North, factory after factory was being lit up. When a few more streets in the capital entered the gas age, Breillat convinced sufficient wealthy citizens to form the Bristol Gas Light Company. This minor revolution necessitated digging up the pavements, and so grave negotiations were held with the city corporation and the mayor – and even then an Act of Parliament was necessary to authorise the work. A notice in the Bristol Mirror in April 1816 promised a good profit from the investment, and cited booming demand in London, where 40 miles of gas mains were already not enough. But the board of the Bristol company cautioned: “The idea of large gain, however, should not be the only, or even the principal, motive of inducement; the grand object should be that of introducing to your city a discovery by which your expenses will be lessened, your property more secure, your comfort increased, your personal safety less hazarded, the morals of the community improved, and the
lives of many a fellow-creature saved.” Mr Breillat, the article noted, had spent two weeks in London learning the latest advances in the technology, but had refused all payment for his efforts beyond his travel expenses. The estimate was that £5,000 would be needed to build a gas store at Temple Back, enough to light only the main streets of the city – Water Lane, Temple Street, Bath Street, Bath Parade, Bristol Bridge, High Street, Broad Street, Wine Street, Corn Street and Clare Street. After pipes were laid in these streets, the first shops were lit up in May 1817, and the first public gas lamps were ignited in High Street. John Breillat had found a new occupation – as well as a retailer and maker of silk and other fine materials, he was now
superintendent of the city’s gas company. At first it was a company with private shareholders. In 1818 the need to invest more capital to meet demand for the wizardry of light brought the incorporation of the firm as a public company, with shares on open sale. The gas-making equipment was moved to larger premises in Avon Street, St Philips with the address The Gas Works, Bristol. (So important were these establishments that this was the address in most towns that acquired the innovation – The Gas Works, Cardiff, and so on.) It was also the age of the gas meter – because if gas was sold, it had to be measured. In 1815 Samuel Clegg patented a method of passing gas through rotating drums holding a known quantity, Continued overleaf
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24 Continued from page 23 and so turning a dial to record the amount of gas used. This was a huge advance, because it ended many arguments between the early gas companies and their customers. A client might register a certain number of lights and pay for gas to be used between certain hours – which meant that the company would have to keep watch that the client didn’t keep the lights on after the specified hours. In fact, many customers chose to leave the gas alight 24 hours a day, and some widened the jets to get more gas, or installed unauthorised lights. The meter put paid to these deceits – although eventually people found a way around this too and ran new pipes around the meter. There were still some who distrusted the skills of the new gas fitters – after all, gas leaks then were as serious as they are now. And many thought the light from whale oil was better. The gas habit failed to spread, until in 1821 Queen Square was lit up to celebrate the coronation of William IV. From then on gas lighting in the West Country and
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towns which wanted the benefits of illuminations, including Weston-super-Mare, Nailsea and Thornbury. John Breillat also helped install gas at Wells, and gave advice to Bath. Ebenezer cast his net further afield, working in Manchester and the North. Another son, Joseph Breillat, was connected with the Cardiff gas works. Each city needed its own gasworks because transporting gas over long distances was impossible. The pipes were made of lead or even wood, and were laborious to install. Hence every city or town had its own gas company, often backed by the council and prominent citizens.
In Bristol this led to fierce competition when, in 1823, the Oil Gas Company was formed. This made gas from whale oil in a works at Canons Marsh – the whale oil was probably offloaded straight from the harbour. The light from whale oil gas was said to be four times as bright as that from coal gas, and the new company laid claim to streets in the city centre and Clifton which it wished to light. Its rival, the Bristol Gas Light Co, forced it to mark its pipes and mains so they could be distinguished easily. It also demanded payment for the loss it would sustain from the new competitor. But the price of oil
Continued from page 25 1817 It’s found that one gas lamp can replace four oil lamps. John is told to inspect all gas fittings after doubts about Bristol workmen’s skills in this new industry. 1818 Customers roll in. John becomes Engineer, and his son Ebenezer is Superintendent. 1819 Ebenezer given five guineas (£5,000 today) plus a silver cup for stopping a dangerous gas leak. 1820 Ebenezer is accused of neglecting his duties. 1821 Queen Square lit for the coronation of George IV. A new works at Avon Street under way. A “blasphemous” worker is sacked. 1822 John’s salary now £275 p.a. (£243,000). Ebenezer marries Ann Bromhead. 1823 Ebenezer blamed for a lack of gas, due to water in the gas holder. 1824 John complains when his
salary is cut, but he is expected to work from 6 or 7am to 11pm. 1824 Ebenezer given notice to quit his job and his house. He goes to a new gasworks in Manchester. 1825 John quarrels with the board. 1826 Bedminster Coal Co (which ran South Liberty pit at Ashton Vale) replaced by a cheaper supplier. 1827 The company does well as its oil gas rival struggles. John’s salary rises to £225, and to £300 in 1831. 1831 Ebenezer returns to Avon Street as the workload increases. 1831 The Bristol riots – gasworks staff are kept onsite for a month. 1833 After the parishes of St James and St Pauls become gas-lit, the pressure drops so much that lights are blown out by the slightest wind. 1834 A third son, William, employed. 1839 John’s wife, Mary, dies. 1841 Gasworks staff complain their pay is too low for “the necessities of
life”. Their wages are not raised. 1842 John, aged 72, marries Sophia James, his former servant. Customers threaten to stop paying as the gas supply is erratic. A new 14in main is dug to Nelson Street, plus another to Bedminster. 1843 Ebenezer suggests linking pay to gas output, plus each worker to be given a suit of fustian (a tough cloth) each year. 1844 Ebenezer feels his efforts are ignored. Tobacco magnate HO Wills visits, to find Ebenezer working on plans for another firm. Wills tells the board, and Ebenezer is told off. John’s health is failing. The board gives him a horse and carriage. 1847 John resigns as Engineer; Ebenezer replaces him. 1850 Ebenezer’s son, George, is taken on. Gas street lighting extended to Bedminster. 1851 Ebenezer’s nephew, John
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n HISTORY kept rising and in 1836 the Oil Gas Co asked Parliament for permission to use coal instead. It had to pay its rival compensation for lost business of £6,000 (£537,000). Eventually the two companies agreed the same policies on charges, metering and debtors. When, in 1852, the council asked for tenders to supply gas to new areas, the two firms agreed to split the bids: Bristol Gas Light Co tendered for Bedminster, St James, St Paul and St Philip & Jacob, while the oil gas firm, now known as the the Bristol and Clifton Gaslight Company, tendered for Westbury. Their interests were closely aligned and in 1855 they merged as the Bristol United Gaslight Co. Many mergers and acquisitions of the local gas companies followed all over the country. In Bristol, the United firm changed its name to the Bristol Gas Company in 1891. It bought the Keynsham Gas Co Ltd in 1927, but did not pursue talks with the gas companies of Portishead, Yatton or Clevedon. John Breillat died in 1856. After his wife Mary died in 1839, he formed an attraction for his servant Sophia James, 36 years younger, and they married in 1842, when he was 72. Sophia died in 1877 in Gloucester, and is not buried with John and Mary in Arnos Vale. His son Ebenezer died in 1880, having also married twice, the second time to Martha Bromhead, the sister of his first
Towering: Gasholders at Days Road PHOTO: Bristol Archives 44819/3/65 beyond became a Breillat family affair. John’s eldest son, Ebenezer, born in Bristol in 1796, had began to work for the Bristol Gas Light Co in 1818, and the family sold its expertise to many
HE NEW coal gas was a wonder at producing light. But how to store it? The gasometer was the answer – a container with telescopic chambers, each sealed around the edge with water, each rising as gas flowed in from below. John Breillat’s first gas holder at Temple Back was the largest in the country at the time. It was named Aladdin, after the magic lamp character. After that gasometers popped up all over the UK. Some, like the one next to the Oval cricket ground, were regarded with affection. Fears over fire risk meant the earliest ones were enclosed by buildings – until it was realised that if there was a gas leak, gas could build up and explode. So why are gasometers – like the ones that used to be so visible off Marksbury Road, Bedminster – no longer with us? Simple: they are not needed. With modern pumps, the gas that would fill a 6 million cubic foot gasometer can be stored in just 200ft of pipe.
May 2019
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THE MAN WHO BROUGHT LIGHT TO BRISTOL Yes, there were once washing machines powered by gas – radios too, come to that. This is a 1939 newspaper advert from Bristol Gas Co, which sold gas appliances. The price is equal to about £394 today
wife, Ann, who had died in 1852.
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t was still essentially the same company that John Breillat began that was, in the 1930s, marketing gas appliances that were known nationwide – Parkinson Stoves, Ascot water heaters and Economic gas washing machines (see above). National control of the gas industry did not take place until nationalisation in 1949. Finally it was possible to plan the supply of gas in an efficient, countrywide enterprise, with gas mains connecting every area. Nowadays gas is seen as a fossil fuel, damaging because it contributes to global warming. Coal gas (once known as town gas) has long been replaced by natural gas, extracted from underground. Natural gas emits up to 60 per cent less carbon dioxide than coal gas. But its extraction also gives off methane, which is a far more damaging gas than CO2 because it traps more Cherry, brings gas to Usk. But ratepayers object to the cost, stirring opponents to say this was a vote for “dingy streets, open sewers, mud heaps and lazy pigs”. 1852 Ebenezer’s wife, Anne, dies. Ebenezer later marries her sister, Martha – against church law, though not strictly illegal. 1856 John dies. The directors praise his “moral excellences and strict integrity” – forgetting their many fallings-out. 1857 Ebenezer retires as Engineer; becomes Consulting Engineer. 1861 The jubilee, or 60th anniversary, of John’s experiments with gas is marked by a works party for 200, funded by Ebenezer. A brass bust of King George III has gas jets shooting from his crown! 1870 Ebenezer’s second wife, Martha, dies. 1880 Ebenezer dies in Bath.
heat in the atmosphere. The globe is facing a climate emergency; the IPCC, a coalition of scientists studying climate change, says carbon emissions must be halved by 2030 to avoid catastrophe. Yet even in climate-conscious Britain we may not be about to break our addiction to gas. All but one of the UK’s nuclear power plants are due to close by 2030. Renewables may not be able to fill the gap, and many experts think natural gas is the only option for keeping the lights
on in the next 10 years. That could well raise UK carbon emissions, when they should be falling. None of this was known to John Breillat when he began his one-man crusade in 1811 to persuade Bristolians of the virtues of gas. He helped usher in a world that is brighter, cleaner and safer, bringing affordable light and heat to almost everyone. Will another Bristolian emerge to light our way to a new dawn of safe and secure energy? Sources The Bristol Gas Light Company: The Breillat Dynasty of Engineers Harold Nabb, Historical Association, Bristol Branch, 1993 Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain Robert Winder, Abacus, 2004 Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History gracesguide.co.uk The Coming of the Light video performance by the Gathering Voices group on the revolution Breillat brought to Bristol: tinyurl.com/ComingOfTheLight
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Friday May 3 n SongSmith Xtra: Kala Chng + Pariah + Chinchilla + GINS The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. A chance to hear the unique pop fusion of classical Chinese music with the Bristol bass sound, from Knowle West’s Kala Chng, fka Makala Cheung. 7.30pm. thethunderbolt.net Saturday May 4 n So Crafty Party Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster. Art and craft sessions for children. All materials provided, with games and stories. Includes refreshments. Sessions at 9.30-11.30am, 12-2pm, 2.304.30pm. £12.75, ages 6-10. Details from catherineupton@ hotmail.com or 07881 994 883. windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk n Ted Milton and Blurt + Eyebrow The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Ted Milton and Blurt were one of the early signings to Factory Records (home of New Order) before they fell out with owner Tony Wilson for likening the label to the lifestyle-chain Habitat. Ted’s shouted lyrics include such gems as My Mother Was a Friend of an Enemy of the People. 7.30pm, £9. thethunderbolt.net n Keith Donnelly Redcatch Club, Redcatch community centre, Redcatch Road. Keith Donnelly, a stand-up comic and surreal singer-songwriter, is billed as “the funniest thing to happen to folk music since the
banjo”. Judge for yourselves at South Bristol’s new Knowle folk club. Doors 7.15pm, £8. BYO alcohol, tea and coffee on sale. Facebook: Redcatch Club n Josh Rouse and Grant Lee-Phillips Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster. Singer-songwriter and multiinstrumentalist Grant-Lee Phillips, often compared to Neil Young and Bob Dylan, coheadlines with American folk/ roots pop singer-songwriter Josh Rouse. 8pm, £22. fiddlers.co.uk Sunday May 5-Monday 6 n The School Trip / The Little Village of Oaktown Acta theatre, Gladstone Street, Bedminster. Double bill from Lockleaze Youth Theatre. A school trip takes a wrong turn and becomes an adventure; meanwhile, nothing ever happens in Oaktown, until the day of the new arrivals. 12 noon, £2. acta-bristol.com Wednesday May 8-Saturday 11 n Stardust Spielman theatre, Tobacco Factory, North Street. Colombian artist and Blackboard Theatre founder Miguel Hernando Torres Umba unravels his own and the western world’s responsibility for the cocaine trade that kills thousands. Ages 15+, tickets from £12, 8.15pm. tobaccofactorytheatres.com Wednesday May 8, 15, 22, 29 n Knowle West Photo Walks Knowle West Healthy Living Centre, Downton Road BS4 1WH. See Knowle West through a new
lens, on weekly photo walks. Tips on getting a great shot whether using a camera or mobile phone. There will also be cameras to try. Book a place by phone only on 0117 377 2255. kwmc.org.uk/events Saturday May 11 n Vinyl Brunch Zion, Bishopsworth Road. Browse vinyl and books, while listening to old skool tracks from James Boy Records. Café open all morning. Free admission, 10am-1pm. zionbristol.co.uk n South Bristol Skyline Walk Enjoy views you never knew across Bristol, including landmarks such as the Suspension Bridge, and discover green spaces that are not so well known. Long and short options; the long one is seven miles and four hours; some paths are unpaved, steep and muddy. Meet 2pm near the taxi rank, Temple Meads station. Part of Bristol WalkFest. Also on May 12 and 13. bristolwalkfest.com Sunday May 12 n Leo James Tobacco Factory bar, North Street. Leo draws on a passion for acoustic blues, slide guitar, bluegrass and folk, and has learned from some notable players along the way. Free, 8pm. tobaccofactory.com Tuesday May 14-Thursday 16 n Outset – Introduction To Enterprise Knowle West Media Centre, Leinster Avenue. Three-part course on starting a business, from 10am-2pm each day. A relaxed
You fools, you’ve brought us all into this!
a great time. Well, the show was great – but my big discovery was that my tension was part of the show. In fact, everyone felt it, the audience all on edge to see the sparks of inspiration strike the performers. It was an evening that was rarely silent, full of singing, laughter, shrieks and gasps. And that was just the audience. Beccy, first on, clearly did feel the pressure, but she channelled her feelings in all sorts of ways. In one moment she was Val, a social worker, acting as a kind of maternal critic. In another, she was prancing around, showing everyone the nasty bruise on her foot incurred in rehearsals, making the injury into a tragedy which the whole audience was feeling. In the next we were on the beach, as Beccy recalled sand games with her brothers, and the rest of the cast sidled on to play
the seaside, supplying seagulls and wave action. It’s hard to describe the thrill of seeing nothing turn to something. The next performer, Gen Davies, finds the word in her head is Boredom – so she makes a song out of it and we all join in. At one point I’m sure she shouts: “You’re not taking my f***king hub cap!” But I could be mistaken. At the end, she says, “There’s been no story, just one messy soup of drivel.” Well, yes. But you kept us enthralled. ‘Fooling’, it turns out, is a cherished theatrical tradition. The lead fool, Holly Stoppit, a renowned tutor in her field, said her mission was to make the world stupider, to encourage performers to express whatever came to them and make it into a performance. It’s a little miracle of spontaneous combustion. Something a bit wonderful. And foolish. Paul Breeden
I
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n WHAT’S ON
n WHAT’S ON
n Review Beyond The Ridiculous Wardrobe Theatre, Old Market WAS quite worried about this show. For one thing, it’s unscripted – nothing is planned. For another, two of the cast are also part of the SBV team – Beccy Golding and Greg Champion. They would, they told me, be walking on stage, alone, and start fooling, using whatever came into their heads. They, I assumed, were scared. I was worried not only for them but for myself – what if they dried on stage? What if nobody laughed? You’re probably expecting me to say that I found that I needn’t have worried, that everybody had
May 2019
look at business skills training, personal development and life management. Email thefactory@ kwmc.org.uk or call 0117 403 2306 to book a free place. kwmc.org.uk/events Thursday May 16 n Would Like To Meet: MixUp Party Knowle West Media Centre, Leinster Avenue. An evening for artists and creative folk to meet new people, play games and mix cocktails. Starts at 6.30pm at KWMC and ends at Filwood community centre, Barnstaple Road. Details on 0117 903 0444. Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult. kwmc.org.uk/events Your event could be highlighted like this for just £5. Email ruth@southbristolvoice.co.uk Saturday May 18 n May Fair Bedminster Methodist Church, British Road. Stalls include plants, perfumery, bric-a-brac, cakes, books, bits and bobs, raffle and refreshments. 11am-2pm. n Wild Outdoors Day Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster. A day out at the farm for all the family with lots of fun activities, all with an outdoor theme. 11am-5pm. £3 adults, £1 under 12s. windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk n Stand Up For The Weekend with Andrew Ryan & Co Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken Studio, North Street. Irishman Andrew Ryan made his comedy debut in 2008 at an open mike contest. Now his storytelling abilities and cheeky demeanour make him a natural observational stand-up. Plus guests.7.35pm, £12. thecomedybox.co.uk n Soul Tunnel Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster. Classic soul, funk, disco and rare groove with Lee Hasking, DJ PM and Al B. 9pm-3am, £8 in advance. fiddlers.co.uk Sunday May 19 n SPARK: A Festival of Art Tobacco Factory theatre, North Street. The theatre’s team of Young Producers takes over three spaces at the Factory to showcase the newest, boldest and most compelling young artists and makers from across Bristol. Includes stand-up comedy, theatre, dance, performance art, poetry and film. From 6pm, £5. tobaccofactorytheatres.com
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The power of art in times of savagery n Review Our Country’s Good Tobacco Factory theatre HERE’S a lot packed into the Tobacco Factory company’s revival of this 1988 play by Timberlake Wertenbaker. On one level it’s the story of how “civilisation” was imposed on 18th century Australia by British soldiers and a convict workforce. Disease and killings cut the Aboriginal population, while the convicts were liable to be flogged to death, or hanged for a crime as trivial as stealing a biscuit. The soldiers suffered too: they were on the same paltry rations as the prisoners. On another level, it’s
about the real value of theatre and the arts. When the far-sighted governor of the new colony, Captain Phillip, decides the convicts should stage a play, there is much dissent. Some prisoners think the drama, about genteel folk marrying, is nothing to do with them. The officers almost rebel; one says the convicts should be taught to work, not to sit about. Ah, says the Governor, the ancient Greeks believed that to watch a play is a kind of work; it requires attention, patience, judgement – all social virtues. And we certainly see what hard work it is for the diffident Second Lieutenant Clark to marshal his half-willing cast of criminals into a theatrical company. From the untameable thief Liz Morden to the wary Mary Brenham, the affectedly posh pickpocket Robert Sideway or
n Jazz night Windmill Hill community centre, Vivian Street. Jazz with the Mark Randall Six on the third Sunday of every month, 8.30-10.30pm. whca.org.uk Tuesday May 21-Thursday 23 n dressed. Tobacco Factory theatre, North Street. A show that turns a real-life traumatic experience into something beautiful. After being stripped at gun point, Lydia decides she will only wear clothes she has made herself. Combining storytelling, live sewing, music, dance and clowning, dressed. is about reclaiming one’s body. Ages 16+. Tickets from £12, 7.30pm. tobaccofactorytheatres.com Thursday May 23 n Exploring Altered States of Consciousness Loco Klub, Temple Meads. Jez Hughes, a practitioner of shamanism, talks about how in traditional societies, shamanic trance states are often seen as the bedrock of a healthy life. In the Western world, they are seen as distracting or even dangerous. A Funzing talk: £12, 7pm. locobristol.com/shows Friday May 24 n Networking with Freelance Mum Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster. Guest speakers Kirsty Northover and Ellie Bowie talk about Establishing Your Brand and their work in photography and design. 10am-12 noon. Free taster tickets, including children. windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk
Saturday May 25 n War Graves Tour Arnos Vale cemetery, Bath Road. From underage conscripts to the war on the home front, this tour reveals the individual stories of wartime told by the war memorials and family graves across the cemetery. 10.30am-12 noon, free. Part of Bristol WalkFest. arnosvale.org.uk Sunday May 26 n Producers Market and Street Banquet Tobacco Factory, North Street. 10am-2.30pm, with kids’ activities 11.30am-2pm. With around 40 food and craft stalls of produce grown, made or prepared in the local area. tobaccofactory.com • 25 YEARS OF THE TOBACCO FACTORY – pages 8-9 Tuesday May 28-Wednesday 29 n The Game of Life Acta theatre, Gladstone Street, Bedminster. World leaders struggle for power in virtual reality. Who will be the winners and losers in the game of life? An original production from Acta’s young carers’ youth theatre. No under 5s: some scary moments. Tickets £2, 7-7.45pm. acta-bristol.com Thursday May 30 n Sofie Hagen: Bubblewrap, Happy Fat Comedy Box at the Tobacco Factory theatre, North Street. After a sell-out tour in 2018, Sofie returns with the show that won her the Edinburgh Fringe Best Newcomer award. Plus, a chance to hear her read from her new book Happy Fat,
T
Coerced: Charleen Qwaye and Sasha Frost as a marine and his convict lover PHOTO: Mark Dawson Duckling Smith, the enforced bed-partner of a marine, they all vent their past here, and find some release on stage. There are many fine scenes – showing Duckling’s conflicted feelings for her marine; Morden’s savage pride that almost has her hanged; the sheer chaos of the and a Q&A. Ages 16+, 8pm, £15. tobaccofactorytheatres.com n Ashley Blaker & Imran Yusuf: Prophet Sharing Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, North Street. Comedian friends Ashley Blaker and Imran Yusuf – both stars of BBC shows – make the most unlikely doubleact since Kermit and Miss Piggy. 7.15pm, £15. thecomedybox.co.uk
Regular events n Iyengar yoga classes. Beginners welcome. Qualified teacher, equipment provided. £8 (£6 concessions). Centre for Whole Health, 12 Victoria Place, Bedminster BS3 3BP. Monday 7.30-8.45pm. Call: 07984 039737. n Baby Sensory is a learning
rehearsals as wounded souls collide. It’s a complex play, with the cast playing up to three parts each. The audience applaud the ambition, and we see clearly the redemptive potential of art. I had a problem with the staging. The same company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was intimate and exciting in set, costume and lighting. This is too bright, with jarring buzzes, half-hearted costumes of leisurewear and token braided jackets, and few props – why should a broom handle serve for a rifle? I didn’t feel as drawn in to the world of the play as I usually do at the Tobacco Factory. But I think I was on my own. The applause at the end showed real love for the company. As the play says, people with no imagination shouldn’t go to the theatre. I’ll take that as a rebuke. Paul Breeden development programme for babies 0-13 months at Victoria Park Baptist Church, Sylvia Ave BS3 5DA, on Tuesday. Email bristolsouth@babysensory.co.uk babysensory.com/bristol-south n Folks & Bairns parent and baby choir The Milk Shed, Southville, Wednesdays 1-2pm. Free taster; £60 a term (12 sessions, pro rata if you attend fewer). Email folksandbairns@ gmail.com or visit folksandbairns.com @folksandbairns n BS3 Repair Cafe Repairs for a donation, plus cream teas and home-made cakes. 1.30-4.30pm, last Saturday of every month, United Reformed Church Hall, West Street, Bedminster. Facebook: BS3 Repair Cafe
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n PLANNING APPLICATIONS Bedminster ward: Awaiting decision 95 Luckwell Road BS3 3ET Rebuild single storey lean-to as a shower room. Land west of Silbury Road, Ashton Vale Request as to whether an Environmental Impact Assessment is required for redevelopment of land north of Metrobus for residential use (up to 520 dwellings). The Old Tabernacle, Palmyra Road BS3 3JQ Change of use from offices (Use class B1a) to 10 flats (Use class C3). 4 Colliter Crescent BS3 2PA Single storey extension to side and rear. Bedminster ward: Decided Cruikshank Motors Ltd, Winterstoke Road BS3 2LG Details in relation to conditions 3 (Samples), 8 (Remediation scheme), 16 (Travel plan ) and 18
(Servicing and management plan) of permission 17/01789/F: Self storage unit, parking and landscaping (Major application). Refused in part: render panels along Bower Ashton Terrace referred for enforcement action. 177 Ashton Drive BS3 2PU Detached two storey 1-bed annexe. Withdrawn 51 Raynes Road BS3 2DJ Single storey rear extension (retrospective). Granted subject to conditions 12 West Street, Bedminster BS3 3LG Conversion of rear ground floor of shop to onebedroom flat with works to shop front (part retrospective). Granted subj. to conditions Southville ward: Awaiting decision 4 Acramans Road BS3 1DQ Convert first floor and ground floor flat to a single dwelling. Top floor flat to remain. Change rear
Bedminster, Southville, Ashton, Ashton Vale ground floor window to bi-fold doors; new window to rear.
Flat roof to rear extension with roof terrace. Refused
Asda Stores, East Street, Bedminster BS3 4JY Repollard row of 18 acers; remove one acer with significant decay. Crown raise alianthis to 5m over highway and car park.
34 Cannon Street, Bedminster BS3 1BN Replacement shopfront. Granted subject to conditions Rear of 11 Dean Lane (fronting Murray Street) BS3 1DB Construction of two storey dwelling with cycle and bin stores and replacement tree. Granted subject to conditions
23 Southville Place BS3 1AW Demolition of front and rear sections of the building, rebuild the rear section; refurbishment as a dwelling house.
1 Vauxhall Avenue BS3 1SU Conversion of house to two dwellings with a rear extension and demolition of summer house. Refused
1-2 Leicester Street BS3 4DE Demolition of buildings and construction of 30 flats. Southville ward: Decided
• The status of these applications may have changed since we went to press. Check for updates at planningonline.bristol.gov.uk
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n THE CITY PAGE
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BRISTOL CITY ROUND-UP
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79 East Street Bedminster BS3 4EX Conversion of first floor from one 2-bed flat to two 1-bed flats with refuse and cycle storage; new windows. Refused
16 Mill Lane BS3 4DG Non-material amendment to 18/03459/F: Conversion to three flats, and construction of three new flats; now proposed change to footprint of new building.
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All the hard work and investment could be about to pay off, says MARTIN POWELL. But will we be spared the 87-minute agony of ’76?
HE RECORD books show that Clive Whitehead scored a goal in the third minute of Bristol City’s game against Portsmouth in 1976 to clinch promotion to the top flight after 65 years. As Bristol City make a final push to try to clinch top flight football once again, my memories of that night – terrifyingly, more than 40 years ago – are not of the goal but the 87 minutes of tension and torture that followed. In the second half, standing in the Enclosure, where the impressive Lansdown Stand now towers, a strange desperate chant went around. It was simply “City, City, City,” over and over again. It was spine-tingling. It wasn’t
MARTIN’S SHORTS n THEY have brought back the robin at Ashton Gate. I don’t think it had ever gone away but some slick marketing people have re-introduced the bird on the first team shirts for next year. All good stuff. It would be good if “Red Red Robin” could be reintroduced as the music when City run on to the pitch.
one of the regular chants, just a desperate effort by the crowd to will the team to block every Portsmouth attack and get the ball away from danger. It seemed to do the trick. Over the last few games of the season that spirit will be needed again if Bristol City are to secure fifth or sixth place and get through the tense play-off games. Premier League football in Bristol later this year is possible. Wins against Sheffield United and Middlesbrough away, West Bromwich Albion at home, and narrow defeats to Leeds and Aston Villa, all since the start of March, show Bristol City are competing at the top. There are still tough games to navigate. The crowd certainly played their part against West Brom at home, and the away support has been magnificent. This is the time to put aside doubts about players, managers, systems, prices, robin logos and all the other stuff – and just strain every sinew for the cause. The whole of Bristol will benefit if the Premier League is achieved. What is also pleasing is the involvement of some homedeveloped talent. The latest to
Max O’Leary: Could be an asset in the top flight grab the headlines is goalkeeper Max O’Leary. The lad from Bath had an outstanding game at Villa Park and the experience he has gained in recent games shows he could be a top asset even in the Premier League. Add to that the careful way that young players such as Joe Morrell, Lloyd Kelly, Hakeeb Adelukan, Liam Walsh, Antoine Semenyo and Zac Vyner have gained top level experience when able, and City have a pipeline of talent coming through. There is a strong rumour that
PHOTO: JMPUK/BCFC
bids might be made for loan players Jay Dasilva, Tomas Kalas and Kasey Palmer when the season ends, and if the Premier League has been reached, why wouldn’t they want to come to Ashton Gate? There is everything to play for as the season reaches its climax in May. Is there a Bristol City player that will go down in the history books as Clive Whitehead did all those years ago – and put the crowd through some agony before we all burst into a chorus of Drink Up Thy Zider?
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n YOUR MP
KARIN SMYTH Labour MP for Bristol South
Local decisions shouldn’t be made behind closed doors
M
Y PRIORITY as your MP is representing Bristol South. Part of this is about making sure decisionmakers locally and nationally are doing what is best for you, that public money is spent well and that investment is put where it is needed. I’ve been working across a number of areas over the last year or so to make sure that Bristol South is considered when changes are made to healthcare and education provision, and housing and transport plans. There is concern that locally, people can’t influence decisions. Decisions which affect the lives of so many should not be made behind closed doors. They should be made with people, not for people. Brexit ONE of the main problems with the Brexit process has been Prime Minister Theresa May’s insistence that there be ‘no running
commentary’. She never reached out to heal the division evident in the very close referendum vote, instead choosing to pursue negotiations in secret and offer the choice of her deal or no deal. Working with my opposition colleagues, we have made sure that Parliament has a role to play in this so that we find the best way forward for Bristol South and for the country as a whole. Healthcare AS BRISTOL, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) undergoes an ill-advised
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tendering process where unknown bidders compete for a huge £1 billion, 10-year contract to deliver community healthcare in the region, I’ve been pushing to ensure everyone in Bristol South gets access to the high-quality care they need. As it stands, we do not know what is on offer, and will have to live with this decision for the next decade. We absolutely should have a say in this and I’ve contacted NHS and CCG bosses to seek assurances that existing provision will be retained and improved. Housing and transport IN MARCH, I was asked to support a regional Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) bid seeking a pot of government money to create infrastructure to support new housing. Obviously, I welcome investment, but included in the bid were controversial plans to create a Whitchurch Link road. I asked for clarification around alternative plans but am yet to see these. I’ve since spoken with the housing and planning minister to make sure that the concerns of local people are heard. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you’ll see posts about a number of local and regional consultations and public meetings, which I’d encourage you to take part in, and I will continue to speak up for Bristol South. Twitter: @karinsmyth Facebook: KarinSmythMP
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May 2019
INVITATION
CJ Hole Southville invite you to accept our offer of a free sales or lettings valuation. To arrange an appointment, please telephone the office or call in personally. If you have instructed another agent on a sole agency and/or sole selling rights basis, the terms of those instructions must be considered to avoid a possible liability to pay two commissions.
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