Westbury on Trym has been dealt a blow with the announcement that HSBC plans to shut its Canford Lane branch in the spring.
The bank blames falling demand as more customers move online but locals say elderly people and businesses will be hit hard.
Hilary Long, chair of Westbury on Trym Society, has urged residents to move their accounts to other banks in protest.
Report: Page 7
Photo: Daniel BroughtonREVISED plans for a retirement village on the site of the former St Christopher's School in Westbury Park have failed to win over objectors.
The developers of the St Christopher's Square scheme say they have made changes to their proposals to take account of local concerns but two groups opposing the plans say the tweaks do not address the fundamental problems.
The public has until January 5 to comment on the latest plans, to the annoyance of the St
Christopher's Action Network and Westbury Park Community Association, who suspect the timing over the festive period is deliberate.
SCAN says the proposadl include “four huge blocks of flats, completely out of character with a conservation area”.
The revisions come as it is revealed that part of the site is now being used temporarily to house refugees from around the world.
Report: Pages
Westbury on Trym is mourning George "Johnny" Johnson, the last of the wartime Dambusters, who has died at the age of 101.
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Mayor Marvin Rees hasagreed to think again about the need for 24-hour bus lanes on the A4018, which is being upgraded.
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A petition has been launched calling for any proposal to relocate Bristol's Central Library to be dropped.
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A member of the
WORK is due to start this month on an upgrade to the A4018 route into Bristol.
The project, first approved in 2019 but delayed because of the pandemic, includes bus lanes, cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings.
The roadworks between Passage Road and Charlton Road are expected to take 18 months and the cost has risen by more than a quarter – from £3.8 million to £5.1 million – since the funding was first approved.
Bristol’s Mayor, Marvin Rees has agreed to take a “fresh look” at plans for the bus lanes to operate 24 hours a day.
Conservative group leader Cllr Mark Weston, who represents the Henbury & Brentry ward, says round-the-clock inbound and outbound bus lanes will cause “mayhem” and are not needed because no 24-hour services use the route.
Mr Rees has now offered to work with ward councillors on finding a possible alternative.
Cllr Weston told a recent meeting of city council member forum: “We have made reservations regarding the proposed new bus lanes previously.
“This isn’t actually a stretch of road that buses get delayed on –feel free to ask the local bus users who on the whole agree
“It is a 24-hour bus lane without 24-hour buses and only the No 1 uses that stretch of road, [which] suffers from natural pinch-points that will cause real mayhem if this plan is proceeded.”
He said that as vehicles travelling north towards Cribbs
Causeway crested Brentry Hill, the move from one lane to two allowed a large amount of traffic flow, and that without this capacity, cars would back up over the slope and delay northbound buses. We have seen this previously when the bus lane was first installed by the White Tree roundabout,” Cllr Weston said.
“It was too long and caused massive congestion.
“We in north Bristol remember this and I can assure you this isn’t nimbyism – we understand how the traffic flows in our part of the city as we live with it all the time.”
He said that by contrast, traffic moving south towards the city centre arriving at Crow Lane roundabout on two lanes would suddenly move to one because of the bus lane, creating “entirely predictable congestion”.
Cllr Weston asked the mayor: “In light of the serious probability of causing gridlock along this stretch of road, will he look again at the length of bus lanes on A4018 and preferably abandon this part of the scheme?”
In a written reply to the meeting on Tuesday, November 8, Mr Rees said: “I appreciate your concerns.
“Can I suggest we discuss them further and take a fresh look at the proposals?”
The mayor said that if the council took no action to improve public transport on the A4018 then congestion would get worse because of the development of the massive Cribbs Patchway New Neighbourhood.
By Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service
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REFUGEES from around the world have started moving in to the former St Christopher’s School site in Westbury Park.
Developers who want to build a retirement village including apartment blocks on the site say it’s a temporary proposal while they wait for planning permission.
A spokesman said: “It’s a very small community from a number of countries who have been granted refugee status in the UK. Some of the countries they’re coming from include Afghanistan, Sudan, Russia and Ukraine.”
He said some had already moved in to the revamped Hampton Lodge, and others would follow.
Campaigners opposed to the scale of the retirement development have welcomed the decision to rehome refugees there – but say it has no bearing on the planning application, for which the developers have just announced revised proposals.
A spokesperson for St Christophers Action network (SCAN) said: "It's wonderful that the idea of housing refugees on the St Christopher's site came from someone in the community back when Russia first invaded Ukraine - so we hope they feel very welcome in Westbury Park."
The development is being put forward by investment firm FORE, in partnership with developer Socius, and care provider Amicala.
They want to build 116 homes on the site. The latest revisions to the plans they put forward early in 2022 have been dismissed by opponents of the scheme as “disappointing”.
St Christopher’s School was founded in 1945 by Catherine Grace as private residential Steiner school for children with learning difficulties.
It closed in 2020 and campaigners say they want future use to include some replacement for the Special Education Needs provision.
Pam Kaye, SCAN member and lives close to the site said: “The developers haven’t listened - again!
“This so called ‘revised’ plan completely fails to respond adequately to the loud and clear objections expressed by our community and independent experts regarding over development, road safety, loss of heritage, wildlife, trees and SEND provision.
“Surely it's now time for the developers to accept this site is fundamentally unsuited to the size and scale of enormous development they are wanting to impose?”
SCAN say the proposal includes “four huge blocks of flats, completely out of character with a conservation area”.
Westbury Park Community Association is also scathing, describing the changes as " positive but also very minor, almost cosmetic ... no more than ‘rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic’". The association is urging residents, who have already submitted more than 750 comments, to put in new objections to the revised plans.
The developers propose an extra care development to offer private retirement homes and care facilities to older people.
They say the site will offer residents the opportunity to receive increasing levels of extra care and support as and when they need it, reducing the pressure on the NHS and wider care system.
The site will include a new café, an “Urban Village Hall”, wellness centre, and activity rooms. These facilities will be shared with the neighbouring school and community groups, and support local SEN provision, an approach developed in consultation with Bristol City Council.
Mike Dodd, development director, Socius,
said: “Since our initial submission, we have been engaging with Bristol City Council officers, collating the statutory responses, and comments made directly to us and via the planning portal. With this feedback in mind, we have updated our plans to improve St Christopher’s Square.”
Changes include reducing the number of homes from 122 to 116, reducing one building from six to five storeys, and relocating the parking in the northeast corner of the site that joins Etloe Road in order to retain more of the existing trees.
He said the scheme is designed to achieve the highest standards in sustainability, one of the only Integrated Retirement Communities in the UK to be net zero carbon in operation.
Local resident and SCAN campaigner Mark Ashford is encouraging everyone to have their say.
He said: “It’s extremely unfortunate that this new consultation period falls over the festive season.
“You could argue it's a deliberate attempt to put us all off commenting. But if people want to influence what happens in their neighbourhood, then they need to let the council know what they think - even if they’ve done so already.
“The community spoke out in a strong voice before – and we can do so again.”
Turn to Page 6
From Page 5
Westbury Park Community Association said in a statement: "First of all, the developers for this very important site claim to have built their original proposals on the results of 'extensive consultation and engagement with the community last year'. Unfortunately, as we and others have shown with detailed evidence, the plans then submitted completely ignored what everybody said. Furthermore, there has been no consultation at all on the propose revisions, as there should have been.
"Secondly, this process of submitting late revisions is a deliberate ploy commonly used by developers (along with the fact that it is all happening over Christmas as it did last year) to, in effect, tire out local people and community organisations and make it difficult to get a further round of community objections. Sorry developers; that won't work with us!
"Thirdly, the original proposals received fundamental objections from almost all city council departments and teams, from many outside organisations – including the WPCA and SCAN locally - and around 750 individuals. The revisions are positive but very minor, almost cosmetic, and amount to no more than ‘rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic’. They go no way at all to addressing what is clearly the central issue of titanic potential overdevelopment of an important site in an important Conservation Area with an historically important Listed Building.
"This revised application must be refused."
The deadline for comments on the plans is January 5, 2023.
BANK customers in Westbury on Trym are being urged to ditch HSBC and move to another bank, after the multinational said it was closing the local branch.
HSBC is closing the Canford Lane branch in August next year as part of a swathe of cut backs.
The move has been condemned by some, who say it is bad news for the community, especially considering the aging population of the village.
But chair of the Westbury on Trym Society Hilary Long said if people are affected, they should simply move bank.
She told the Voice: "Plenty of other good fish in the sea, the sea. Go to Nationwide instead. One fool's loss is another's gain - and they are pretty good!”
The branch is among 114 being closed by HSBC, three of them in Bristol. In a nine page “impact analysis” report HSBC said: “After careful evaluation, we have made
the difficult decision to close this branch on Tuesday, 1 August 2023.”
It said the decision had been taken because numbers of people visiting branches had dropped by a third in the last five years, as more people use intent banking and mobile phone apps.
“Nine in ten customers now transact via Telephone, Internet or Smartphone whilst 99% of cash withdrawals are made at an ATM.”
Steve Smith, Conservative Bristol City Councillor for Westbury, said there was no doubt the decision was a blow to the village.
He said: “Westbury Village has a lot to offer but the banks are one of the things that draw people in. It looks like this decision is a done deal but we’ll do our best to talk to the remaining banks and understand their plans for the future.”
Bristol’s Labour Metro Mayor, Dan Norris, said since 2015 nearly half of the UK’s bank branches had closed.
He said: “This is concerning news. The announcement that HSBC’s Downend, Filton and Westbury on Trym branches will close next year will come as a big blow to locals, and particularly grates when the company have just announced bumper quarterly profits.
“It’s inevitable that banks and banking systems will continue to move with the times and innovate and change, but the Tories’ failure to protect these services risks cutting off thousands from essential goods and services, particularly those poorer and older residents who rely on face-to-face services more than others.
“I hope ministers do the right thing and back Labour’s proposal to protect these vital services which so many Bristolians in the city depend on.”
FIRST Bus should be stripped of its right to run its “egregiously poor” service in Bristol, furious passengers told councillors.
Residents who rely on buses voiced their anger at a meeting of the West of England Combined Authority (Weca), which is responsible for strategic transport, and urged drastic action to solve the crisis.
It comes as the company announced the “temporary” cancellation of 1,450 bus journeys a week across the city, until at least April, because of a desperate shortage of drivers to meet its own timetables.
Bristol West Labour MP Thangam Debbonaire described the cancellations to more than a dozen routes as “the apparent collapse of Bristol’s public transport system”, while passengers spoke of the devastating impact on an already crumbling network.
In response, First said it
was “extremely sorry” for the problems and said the changes would make services more reliable in the meantime.
Speaking at Weca audit committee public forum on November 17, Joe Aldous said: “Every morning I have to walk five miles to work because the three buses that are supposedly meant to operate to get me in for 9am never run.
“This is a central road that runs from north Bristol to the centre – it’s not a rural hideaway, though that’d be no excuse, even if it was.”
He told Weca: “You are enabling First Bus in killing the city. It’s time for First to ship out.”
Another passenger, James Campbell, said in a statement to the committee: “First Group’s bus services are egregiously poor and Weca must take action urgently. I see the only option available as cancelling
First Group’s contract with its respective councils or with Weca and bringing buses back into public ownership, where profits are ploughed into services.”
A third, Katherine Anthony, said the lack of decent public transport in Bristol was “shocking”. She said she would be forced to buy a car because of the stress of her daily sixmile journey from her home in Whitchurch to Redland.
Committee member Bristol Lib Dem Cllr Sarah Classick said: “First Bus and the bus system in the city are truly appalling and something needs to be done urgently.”
B&NES Lib Dem Cllr Winston Duguid, who chairs Weca overview & scrutiny commission, told the meeting: “It is a desperate situation.
“What you’ve articulated is that it’s affecting thousands of people, and it’s very powerful.”
Bristol Labour Cllr BrendaMassey said: “Something else that has impacted on residents has been changes to routes which cut off my constituents from doctors’ surgeries, and these are older people who depend on these.”
A First spokesperson said: “We are extremely sorry for the problems customers are experiencing with our services as a result of the ongoing shortage of drivers.
“In early October we implemented service changes designed to balance customer demand with available resource to deliver reliable services for our customers. Continuing driver shortages are also making it difficult to operate all journeys in our current timetables. Consequently, we have just removed some journeys across several services on a temporary basis.”
By Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting ServiceHenleaze Christmas Festival once again packed in the crowds with its stalls, selling a mix of goods from knitted teddy bears to festive food, and a variety of entertainment including choirs, bands and demonstrations of Pilates and flower arranging.
“We were delighted with the huge numbers of people who came to enjoy the fun. It is always a wonderful way to set off the festive season,” said festival coordinator Jane Emery.
Festival goers were kept entertained with a record number of entertainers performing at three different venues, the Bradbury Hall, the outside Arena in Waterford Road and at St Peter's Church in The Drive where there was also, for the first time, a designated disabled car park.
This year Cardigan Road was designated an exclusive children's area, making more room for the hundreds of children, and the adults looking after them, to enjoy the rides. “It was a huge success,” said Jane.
Among the attractions in Cardigan Road was a Santa's Grotto where Father Christmas was doing brisk business.
Every year the festival raises money for local charities through a prize draw and this year they are: the Aid Box Community, Bristol North West Foodbank, Dexter's
Odyssey and Home-Start Bristol.
With this year's festival completed, plans are already being made for the next one.
“It is a year-long process and requires a lot of work and planning. We are always looking for new volunteers to help make it happen,” said Jane Emery.
Anyone who would like to volunteer can contact Jane at: mikeandjane.emery@ blueyonder.co.uk.
A PETITION has been launched urging Bristol City Council to lift the threat to the Central Library.
Mayor Marvin Rees is considering moving the service and selling off the Grade 1 listed building on College Green. It’s part of a package including cuts to other library services across the city to try to save £1.4 million as the council looks to make massive savings.
A plan to relocate the library and reduce other services in 2018 was ditched after an outcry. Now Bristol’s Liberal Democrats have started the petition against the latest proposed cuts.
Lib Dem Councillor for Hotwells & Harbourside Alex Hartley said: “I’m so disappointed that once again the Mayor is targeting services in Hotwells & Harbourside. The Central Library is a renowned and listed library in the centre of Bristol, that has been here for 116 years. I will do everything I can to fight this closure, and I hope local residents will join me in this fight by signing our petition.
Former MP for Bristol West, Stephen Williams, said: “It’s hard to imagine Bristol without this superb facility. Selling it off for a less appropriate use and relocating it to a worse location and almost certainly downgraded size would be a travesty. The Mayor has got a fight on his hands if he thinks he can get away with this act of cultural vandalism.”
Parks, transport and care homes could also face major budget savings next year, according to a consultation asking how the council should try to balance its books. Council tax is likely to go up next April, adding further pressure on people struggling with the cost of living.
Mr Rees said: “Councils are underfunded and the government shows no partnership with city leaders to design services and places that support people in this financial crisis. As a result, we have to balance a substantial shortfall in our funding and we must make
the council smaller, do less and focus on our priorities, while making yet further efficiencies.”
Draft proposals for the council’s finances from April will be put forward this before
councillors sign off the final budget in February.
A link to the petition can be found at bristollibdems.org/ save_central_library
WESTBURY on Trym is mourning George “Johnny” Johnson, the last of the Second World War Dambusters, who has died at the age of 101.
As a member of RAF 617 squadron, Mr Johnson took part in the bouncing bomb raids in 1943 that destroyed vital dams in Germany. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal and in 2017 was awarded an MBE.
He was 21 at the time of the bomb raids, in which 133 crew members took part; 53 were killed and three taken prisoner. The raids were immortalised in the 1955 film The Dam Busters.
Squadron Leader Johnson retired from the RAF in 1962 and went on to become a teacher and a local councillor, moving to Bristol about 12 years ago. He gave many talks to local organisations, among them the 2442 Air Cadets in Westbury.
In 2021, the year of his 100th birthday, cyclists staged a two-wheeled “flypast” at his
care home in tribute to the Dambusters.
Mr Johnson’s wife, Gwyn, died in 2005. He is survived by three children, eight grandchildren and 18 greatgrandchildren.
Bristol City Council held a minute’s silence at its meeting on December 13 in memory of the heroic airman.
Mayor Marvin Rees paid tribute in a tweet: “George
‘Johnny’ Johnson came to personify one of the Second World War’s most daring missions, and the bravery of the generation who beat fascism. RIP, Johnny.”
Veteran councillor Richard Eddy called for a road to be named after Mr Johnson. He said: “Our generation and its successors owe a massive debt to the heroic sacrifices of the World War Two generation.
“Few symbolise more the service of this generation than the RAF’s Dambuster crews, and Bristol is truly privileged to have had George ‘Johnny’ Johnson as a citizen of our city.”
A spokesman for the mayor said: “How best our city remembers him, is of course a decision for the future which should be taken in consultation with Johnny’s family.”
HEALTHCARE services have received £11.5 million to try to crack a hospital bed-blocking winter crisis in the Bristol region.
The cash, split between the new local health authority Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the three local councils, is from a £500 million Department of Health and Social Care emergency pot to get medically fit patients out of hospital.
Bosses are now deciding how best to use the money, which is aimed at easing pressure on hospital wards clogged up with too many patients who are well enough to leave, but cannot be discharged because there is often no place available for them to be looked after in the community.
The “adult social care discharge fund” aims to speed up the process of getting people into the most appropriate setting, as well as relieving the knock-on effects of packed A&Es and long ambulance queues.
It can be used to pay for more adult social care staff during the current crisis and other
ways of freeing up hospital beds, such as homecare and a programme called “discharge to assess” where patients continue to have their care and assessment out of hospital.
BNSSG ICB chief executive Shane Devlin told a meeting of the board that many of its longer-term priorities had been suspended until April, with all focus now on getting as many people out of hospital safely when they have ‘no criteria to reside’ – also known as bed-blocking.
He said: “The major objective in winter is about keeping people safe, particularly with regard to ‘no criteria to reside’.
“No matter which way we cut this, the most important thing for winter is can we get ‘flow’ and can we assure ourselves that people who don’t need to be in hospital aren’t in hospital because we know that causes a massive amount of harm, not only to people in bed, both cognitively and physically, but also in flow with regard to ambulances.”
Mr Devlin told the meeting on Thursday, December 1, that BNSSG had received a
“very high proportion” of the £500million emergency funding “given the challenge that we face”.
“If we are to get patients from a hospital to a community environment, we have to build trust – trust in the clinicians in the hospital that our systems are good, trust in the community that will be receiving patients,” he said.
“Our biggest risk is we’re trying to do this at speed, when we do not have a longer period of building trust between organisations and between clinicians.”
A report to the board said the ICB had been allocated £8.3million, Bristol City Council £1.7million, South Gloucestershire Council £780,000 and North Somerset Council £770,000 for its social care departments, with all money pooled.
By Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service
BRISTOL’S new Clean Air Zone could be scrapped if pollution falls below certain levels, according to the mayor, Marvin Rees.
The Clean Air Zone (CAZ) was brought in on Monday, November 28 after lengthy delays. The scheme sees drivers of particularly polluting vehicles charged to enter an area around the city centre, but some have suggested it could be expanded to a wider area in future.
Mr Rees said Bristol City Council was legally forced to introduce the CAZ after environmental campaigners Client Earth took legal action against the government for high levels of air pollution in many cities.
During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, December 6, the mayor said: “I have been asked about the future of the CAZ recently, and asked if there’s going to be an expansion. The answer from
me is certainly no. I’m not going to expand the CAZ to the whole city.
“As soon as it does deliver compliant air in the shortest possible time, it’s possible that it won’t be needed any more at all. But whatever future there is with the CAZ or any other measures to manage vehicles moving around
the city, that would be up to any future commission.”
So far, about four in five vehicles entering the zone have been compliant and weren’t charged, the mayor said.
Opposition to the new scheme has seen thousands petition to scrap the CAZ completely, with a legal challenge also being prepared.
Mr Rees said: “It’s important to recognise the purpose of the CAZ, which is about improving air quality through cleaner vehicles and behaviour change. It’s a public health intervention, not a transport intervention, in light of its relation to clean air.
“It didn’t just drop out of the air, it wasn’t thought up in a back room of the council — our air standards across the UK didn’t meet EU standards. Client Earth legally challenged the government over their lack of action.
“The government then
rolled down responsibility to local government across the major cities with a legal requirement to have compliant air in the shortest possible time. We then entered a period of negotiation with the government, repeatedly making the points that Clean Air Zones are blunt instruments, could have negative consequences for some people, for households, businesses and our public sector partners such as the hospital.
“Now it has been launched, there are some concerns being raised by some quarters. I would say two things. The debate about the nature of CAZ was three years ago. For those groups that so vociferously advocated for CAZ in the first instance, it would be good to stay in the public debate about this. Some groups have been quite absent as the conversation has gone on.”
By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting ServiceBLACKCAPS are common Spring visitors breeding in woodlands, parks and, if you are lucky, larger gardens.
They have a lovely song but can be hard to see as they prefer dense cover. These birds will now be wintering in southern Europe or Africa. However, some breeding Blackcaps from northern Europe choose to winter here rather than joining their fellows in warmer climes.
They can be a common sight in your garden, taking advantage of your feeders. You might get several birds together when they arrive in November but they will spread out with males vigorously defending ‘their’ feeder from other birds. The females have a rusty brown cap and are less assertive.
In late Winter you might be lucky to hear the males warming up their song but just when you think they might linger and breed they disappear back across the North Sea. Keep some binoculars handy and look out for leg rings.
A Bishopston resident spotted one that was fitted with a tracker. A
licensed ringer tried, and failed, to catch the bird with a mist net in the garden.
The tiny tracker must be recovered to read the data. Next time perhaps!
IF you’re looking for things to do to alleviate the winter evening gloom, look no further - Chandos Window Wanderland returns for its eighth year on January 28 and 29.
It’s a family- friendly free event, where residents are invited to light and decorate their windows, gardens, cars, vans ... During light-up times (6-9pm), everyone is invited to wrap up warmly and enjoy a wander round the streets in the Chandos Road BS6 area, to hunt out and admire the varied, fun and inspiring displays.
The locations are marked on our Chandos event Window Wanderland map, available online at https://www.windowwanderland. com/event/chandos-bristol-2023
This year’s theme is animals but even that is optional so those with other creative ideas can happily participate. Displays can be wildly creative or very simple. Strings of lights, pictures in the windows, garden displays, favourite toys or books on the window shelf, even a home disco, karaoke session or live
handy for refreshments at a local store or hostelry.
Neighbourhood Association has a just-giving page in memory of our local landlord, Mark Farrell, who passed away this autumn. Mark opened his micropub Chums in
country and indeed, round the world, which is testimony to how enjoyable this event is. During the evening wander, it’s fun to share your favourite window sightings with fellow wanderers, and bump into neighbourhood friends.
Taking part is entirely free but we encourage those who are putting up displays to sign-up on the Window Wanderland site so that their location gets on the map and their efforts can be seen and admired. And there’s no charge for wandering round, though you might like to keep a bit of change
Chandos Road in 2016 with the aim of creating a welcoming friendly space for a drink and chat with friends, excellent music sessions and quiz nights. Mark more than succeeded in his aim - Chums became a much loved community hub and its closure has left a huge gap in our neighbourhood. Mark was always generous with his time & skills to help with all our local community events including Window Wanderland, and we all miss him greatly. If you’ve enjoyed our Window Wanderland and wish to donate, please go to https://
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ chandosna All donations will go to the RNLI, Mark’s chosen charity.
If you are in our area (or even just outside the map area – that’s OK with us!), get your creative decorating caps on and pop a display or two in your windows. Over our Window Wanderland weekend, come out to join us for an early evening stroll with a difference. Perhaps see how many animals you can find? And most importantly, don’t forget to wrap up warmly!
Fiona McVey
Liz
“My new wet room is heaven. I feel less anxious and much more safe… I get up, get in and get moving.” Dr
Barbara talks to north Bristol’s Just William about the Big Freeze of 1963
At the time of writing, north Bristol has woken up to our first snows of 2023, a light dusting of a couple of inches or so, delighting all of us who love to see the pristine white streets glowing in bright winter sunshine. A solitary walker is picking his way gingerly down our hilly road testing out each step for hidden icy bits.
The first snows remind me of my own childlike wonder at what
occurred during a much more dramatic spring, that of 1963. The frost and snow started to come across on Christmas Eve, 1962, and by Boxing Day much of England and Wales was covered in snowdrifts up to six metres deep. And it didn’t just melt away like today’s sprinkling - it lasted a full eight weeks until early March, with the thermometer plummeting down to -22 degrees, one of the coldest winters on record.
As an eight-year-old, I remember that we lived in a
bungalow with a big, open front porch. On Boxing Day, My dad opened the front door and we all gasped. All we could see right up to the ceiling was a vertical wall of packed snow with the impression of the front door stamped into it. We all gasped - it was like tearing down the fourth wall in a theatre, that moment where some famous actor like Patrick Stewart jumps down from the stage and comes to sit next to you in the audience. I couldn’t believe that we could not walk out of our own front door and we all started to claw at the wall
of snow until my mum told us to desist because of the pool of water collecting on the front room floor, As the ‘naughtiest kid in the street,’ I knew my neighbour Bill Wickens would have some good stories about his winter of ‘63. He was born in the same north Bristol house where he lives now and was also eight when the Big Freeze hit. Like me, he saw a wall of snow as a wonderful opportunity for mischief.
As we set up the photo for this article, Bill seemed to be dressed in his boyhood balaclava and had already rolled himself a six inch snowball. That’s the sort of guy he is! This superannuated mischiefmaker looked every inch the same Just William character who terrorised the teachers at Bishop Road Primary School.
“I loved every minute of it. Every day was fun and it went on so long,” says Bill. “I took lid off mum’s top-loading washing machine and it became a toboggan. We slid down the whole street, trying not to crash into Gloucester Road.” At
The cars that did try to get off the main road were soon in trouble.“We earned so much money pushing cars up the streets. We’d get them unstuck and the driver would throw a handful of coins out the window and we’d all dive for the pennies.”
“It was premeditated evil,” says Bill, rubbing his hands with glee. You’d roll a few snowballs and stack them somewhere in your front garden and then bombard anyone who ventured outside. We’d get the skipping rope across the whole road and give hell to anyone who got in our way.”
Naughty Bill and his pals at Bishop Road School made the adults lives a misery, with one boy disconnecting the brakes of the Head’s car. Bill used to get caned for regularly for not doing his homework and for rushing into the girls changing rooms to see if they were in their gym pants. When they were not in detention they were climbing on the roof of
St Michael and All Angels Church on Gloucester Road: “Throwing crackers down the chimney or in the general direction of the Girl Guides.”
But his biggest mistake during the Big Freeze was when Bill tried to distress one of his six siblings by putting a stone into a snowball. He launched it at his sister, missed, and broke the front window of the house. “It was a weekend and my dad was livid ‘cos he couldn’t get anyone to mend it for what seemed like weeks.”
After his illustrious schooldays, Bill became a factory worker, then a labourer, a bricklayer and later had his own building firm. In 1987 he went full time as a musician and made a living out of music, playing as many as 250 gigs a year in pubs and clubs in Bristol, the south west and abroad. He still plays and kept our street entertained during lockdown with his brand of music and mayhem. “My sort of show has been called caveman karaoke,” says Bill. I wonder why that might be?
A group of 27 Brownies, leaders and helpers from the 98th St Peter’s unit went to watch Cinderella at the Hippodrome. What the Brownies didn’t know before they arrived was that the leaders had asked star Craig Revel-Horwood if he would come out and meet the Brownies before the show.
Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig very happily agreed to do so and with the help of the Hippodrome staff all the Brownies were brought into the auditorium before the rest of the audience were seated. Once everyone had recovered from their surprise at meeting him, there was much discussion about who might win this year’s dancing competition.
By Sophie Irwin
The heroine of this novel is Miss Katherine Talbot, Kitty to her family and closest acquaintances, the year is 1818 and Kitty’s parents have recently died, leaving her with four younger sisters, a tiny cottage in Dorsetshire and a mountain of debt. But Kitty has everything in hand, she has been engaged to Mr Charles Linfield for two years and once they are married all Kitty’s problems will be solved.
Charles Linfield ends their engagement after learning shameful secret about the Talbot family’s past.
Without a prospect of marriage and only 12 weeks to clear her family’s debts, Kitty must take her future into her own hands. She decides to go to London for the
with hopes of finding a rich husband who will save both herself and her sisters from the workhouse.
Kitty has a plan and won’t let anything, or anyone stand in her way. With her aunt and younger sister in tow she aims to enter
the highest echelons of London society and gain an invitation to Almack’s.
Kitty’s plans fall into place, within days of being in London she meets Mr de Lacy, the younger brother of the Lord of Radcliffe, with her wit and beauty she captures his interest and is sure they will be engaged within the month. But Lord Radcliff has other ideas and will do everything in his power to keep Kitty and his brother from getting married.
With coach chases, gambling dens and elopements this book has you hooked from start to finish.
Kitty is intelligent and witty, she also cares deeply about her family and puts their happiness ahead of her own. This is a coming-of-age story, wrapped up in the glitz and glamour of the regency era. If you enjoy period dramas, romance and delightful female protagonists you will enjoy this book. This is Sophie Irwin’s
debut novel, and is book 1 in a trilogy.
Book 2 .“A lady’s guide to scandal” will be released in July 2023.
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FORMER Lord Mayor Steve Smith is calling for more defibrillators to be installed across Bristol.
It follows the death of rugby player Sam Polledri in Millennium Square last Frebruary after a cardiac arrest. Although there were five of the lifesaving devices nearby, they were all behind locked doors. Bristol has one of the lowest numbers of automated external defibrillators in the country, which can save lives if accessed quickly.
Councillor Smith’s proposal, which was put to the city council on December 13, could require new large developments to include publicly available defibrillators, and new taxi drivers to be trained on using defibrillators and basic CPR techniques. A charity could also work with the council on installation and maintenance.
He said: “For me, this reform is really a no-brainer. Importantly, such an increase in training and hardware does not impose extra costs on the authority. The Great Western Air Ambulance Charity is already working with the council to provide elected members with the skills training for CPR and defibrillation.
“One statistic which really drives home the difference this can make in life and death is quite remarkable: the chance of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest rises from 5% to up to 75% through early intervention with these techniques and technology. If fortunate to get this issue debated, I am confident that the initiative to make Bristol a CPR-friendly city will command all-party support.”
In 2022, a new defibrillator was installed in Millennium Square, and Cllr Smith said one should be installed outside City Hall too. He said a similar programme has been rolled out in Swansea, with the city council there working with charity Heartbeat Trust UK. Swansea now has 459 automated external defibrillators
By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service
Happy New Year.
As we look into 2023 and beyond, we think about the challenges we face now – not least the cost of living, energy, and climate crises – and in the future. In December, at our cabinet meeting, we took a giant leap forward on tackling all three thanks to our City Leap clean energy programme.
Decarbonising Bristol by 2030 is likely to be one of the most challenging infrastructure overhauls in the history of our city. We have secured an initial investment of £424 million from partners Ameresco and Vattenfall, creating 1,000 new jobs and cutting 140,000 tonnes of carbon emissions over the next five years.
City Leap will play an essential role in this, it’s an ambitious energy project that will accelerate investment in our city, moving
Bristol forward on our journey to net zero. The scale of investment that is needed to make our city carbon neutral and climate resilient will likely total at least £10 billion. We need to transform the way we generate, distribute, store and use energy at scale across our whole city.
The council has invested nearly £100 million in decarbonisation projects over the last five years, which includes completing the construction of Castle Park Energy Centre that houses England’s largest water source heat pump. However, we need to rapidly increase the scale and pace of low carbon delivery to be able to meet our targets. Our City Leap Energy Partnership with Ameresco Limited and Vattenfall Heat UK will secure a twenty-year framework to enable over £1 billion of international investment into low carbon energy infrastructure such as solar PV, wind generation, zero carbon heat
networks, smart energy systems, and other energy efficiency measures.
In the first five years, the City Leap Energy Partnership’s contribution to carbon neutrality will include: installing over 182mw of zero carbon energy generation, expanding Bristol’s Heat Network, installing solar panels and low carbon heating at local schools and in the council’s social housing, boosting council and community owned renewable-energy projects across our city, and offering decarbonisation support to schools and hospitals.
Reducing carbon emissions and tackling the climate emergency is a huge challenge for everybody, but through our City Leap Energy Partnership, we’ve secured the funding, knowledge, and resources to accelerate our progress. Collaborative action will usher a period of extraordinary innovation, investment, and growth – helping
to make the just transition to net zero and securing Bristol’s reputation as a leading clean energy city for many years to come.
City Leap is a big deal for Bristol – it’s the most ambitious and exciting energy project that we have embarked on to accelerate clean energy investment and is a big step towards decarbonising our whole city and on our journey to net zero.
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WESTBURY on Trym and Henleaze/Henbury take their names from the watercourses running through them. We’re lucky to have them as they provide fantastic wildlife corridors. Brown trout were confirmed in the Trym in 2021, (it’s an urban trout-stream, who’d have thought it!) and if you use your ears and listen for the whistle you could glimpse one of the local kingfishers. Visit the Trout in the Trym website - click on ‘Wildlife in the Trym’ – to find out more. Recently sightings of water voles and otters have been reported, both Priority Species in the UK’s Biodiversity Action Plan.
commissioned a professional ecological survey, funded by the Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership. This will also highlight what can be done to improve local habitats (helping voles flourish or to colonise our patch) with findings to be shared with the community, including local schools. No longer persecuted, otters are making a bit of a comeback including in Bristol’s rivers, great news. Water voles though (Ratty from Wind in the Willows, short tail, small ears, very cute) remain threatened and really need help. Restoring water voles to the Trym would be a real step forward for Bristol biodiversity – and lovely to see. Watch this space in 2023.
To confirm this (or not) the Trout in the Trym group has
AT least 100 tonnes of rubbish have been removed from Hazel Brook and the Trym and their surroundings since SusWoT and other Trout in the Trym groups started cleaning it. Cleaning began in July 2018. The earliest
rubbish included a kitchen sink. Covid helped with recruiting volunteers as river cleaning and litter picking counted as exercise! By 2020 river cleaning had become a monthly activity and since March 2021 SusWoT has been running weekly sessions on Fridays and most Sundays. The fantastic Parks Department collect the rubbish and tell us that we collect almost a tonne of rubbish each session. We have run well over 150 sessions, so we reckon we’ve removed 100+ tonnes of rubbish. We’ve cleared at least 12 motorbikes, sofas, trollies, a horse’s skull, bikes, tyres, carpets,
clothes, shoes, credit cards, masses of plastic and building materials and all sorts of metal objects. Nearly all the rubbish collected is old There are now only a few short sections of the rivers that still need to have a proper clean. There are still other problems to overcome, the silt traps in Blaise have not been emptied for years and the ponds there are very unhealthy. The tidal section of the Trym in Sea Mills will need special attention. There may be sections around Cribbs Causeway that need looking at too.
It is because so many people have spent so much time and effort on this work that wildlife is starting to come back. There is more to do if you can help, please get in touch, suswot2050@gmail.
DOZENS of pupils at Redland Green School left their lessons to join a protest aimed at highlighting their views about racism and other equality issues.
The demo happened on December 5, beginning during the morning break. The school said in a statement that the peaceful protest took place on the Astroturf and the school site and that “students remained supervised and safe at all times”.
“The fire alarm was triggered, and all students, including those protesting, quickly followed the evacuation protocol. All students were back in classrooms as usual by 12.05, and for the rest of the day. None of the exams currently taking place at the school were disrupted,” the statement said.
“Some classroom doors were closed during the protest so that learning wasn’t disturbed. An inaccurate report suggested that considerable damage was caused in the school, which was incorrect; however a bin was knocked over as students moved through the school.”
RGS said it was committed to equality, diversity and inclusion; pupils were encouraged to express themselves, and difference was celebrated throughout the school year. It has a number of student EDI groups which have been organising
of activities to widen students’ cultural knowledge and awareness.
Headteacher Ben Houghton said: “It is important that the voices of our pupils are not only heard, but also listened to, especially as EDI is one of our primary focusses for this year, and which will be externally audited next year.”
Following the protest, the school will continue to engage students, staff, families, and the community in its efforts to provide
excellent opportunities for every student, he added.
Nick Lewis, interim chief executive of Gatehouse Green Learning Trust, which runs RGS, said: “At GGLT we pride ourselves on providing an education to prepare young people for life in modern Britain. This means that we commit to educating students to oppose discrimination, which is an anathema to British Values but rather positively work for a better, more equal society”.
cherishing our Community’. Our fabulous PTA helped to fund the mosaic project, which we hope will bring a smile to everyone’s faces for years to come.
BADMINTON School Drama
Team performed the musical ‘The Wizard of Oz.
Students reflected on the production. One said: “Through Wizard of Oz, I accomplished my very first experience of participating in a school production and it is undoubtedly one of the highlights of my school year. Personally, aside from having the opportunity to portray a character on stage, the most memorable moment was seeing my friends perform on stage. The principals especially, shone with enthusiasm and seeing their passion during their performance also brought joy to me"
The school spent three weeks collecting items for the North Bristol Foodbank. Pupils chose from a Christmas ‘shopping list’ with each House being tasked with collecting the most donations to go towards points for the House Challenge Cup.
On Saturday 3 December the school held its annual Christmas Bazaar, raising money for St Peter’s Hospice. There were stalls from local independent businesses, an Arctic Grotto with Santa, festive food and refreshments and the Badminton School choir performing carols. Over 1000 people attended.
Art student Angel’s (Upper Sixth) design was chosen for the school's Christmas card. Angel’s artwork was also submitted to the UK Boarding Schools' Association Christmas Artwork Competition and she won! Her illustration of a Badminton squirrel clutching an acorn on a snowy tree branch, will be seen by many more people.
Twelve-year-old Jina, a pupil in Year 8 at Badminton, has been selected to join the elite U18s Severn Stars Netball Super League Nova Academy based in Worcester.
Jina moved to the UK at the age of 10 with no knowledge of netball, which makes her achievement even more remarkable.
MORE than 90 students at Redmaids’ High School took to the stage for their three-night run of the classic, Singin’ in the Rain. Conceived as a musical movie in 1952 starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds, Singin’ in the Rain tells the story of a 1920s film company making the transition from silent movies to “talkies” .
The school’s all-female cast from Years 8-13 encapsulated the personalities of their characters perfectly. The leads were supported by their ensemble cast; filling minor roles, creating crowd scenes and coming together for spectacular choreography. The production was choreographed by Angelina and Olivia, who also took on the lead role of Don. The cast were supported by the 20-strong orchestra.
For the show’s titular song, there was rain. Real rain. It streamed down on Don and washed away everything but the here and now for the audience. Blue washlight reflected in the water, adding to the magic in a Disney-like effect. The rain had a reprise at the end of Act 2 as well, bouncing off the fluorescent yellow mackintoshes of the entire cast.
The final curtain call was met with cheers and a standing ovation. For Olivia, credited by her fellow performers as the lead both on and off stage – encouraging, determined and inspirational – this was her final show: she will leave Redmaids’ High after her A Levels in July to begin her career at drama school in September.
Head, Paul Dwyer said: “Hours of planning and preparation by staff and students went into making the show an absolute triumph. We have been bowled over by kind words and praise for Singin’ in the Rain. It has been a true showcase of the talents of our students, and the hard work and support from staff.”
IF you go down to Badocks Wood in Henleaze and head up towards the Southmead Round Barrow you may notice small patches of a tarmac surface within the grass that surrounds it. For once this area of greenery and woodland was a busy housing estate of pre-fabricated homes put up to house those who lost their homes in the war. Until as late as the 1990s the estate road at Southmead Gardens was still shown on the A-to-Z maps, and the road was still complete with a bus stop despite the complete disappearance of the homes.
Pre-fabs were initiated by Winston Churchill in March 1944, under the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act after thousands of people in London and elsewhere were left homeless due to Blitz and later V1 rocket attacks. Most were made out of a reinforced concrete panels, set within a steel or aluminium frame (with the metals often taken from scrap wartime aircraft). There were a number of designs with one constructed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton known as the AIROH design. The name stood for the Aircraft Industries Research Organisation on Housing – not the snappiest of titles but with 675-square-foot and a fitted kitchen table, inside toilet and a bathroom they were very popular as instant homes. They could be put up in just hours and cost around £1,600. By the late 1940s more than 150,000 had been built across the UK with around 2,700 in Bristol with the largest number in Ashton Vale.
The idea was they would last 10 years when the occupants would either buy or rent another home or move into a council house or flat. However, because many people loved their pre-fabs thousands of the homes outlasted their use-by date and were still lived in more than half a century later. In 2014 the council finally replaced the last remaining pre-fabs with council houses which closed a chapter in their history – or so it was thought. Because once again pre-fabs – now called ‘micro homes’ –are being built in the city. Tiny
numbers have been planned for large back gardens in Knowle West – usually for the siblings of the owners of the main house – and with 16,000 people on the housing list it’s one small solution to the housing crisis. The bulk of the new homes, with some owned by the council, will be in high rise blocks with many going up in Bedminster over the next couple of years.
Under the 1919 Addison Act, the first council houses were built in the phrase of ‘homes fit for heroes’ following the horrors of the First World War when some homes were destroyed by German bombs but there was a consensus that returning troops should move into new homes.
In Bristol these were sometimes known at the early parlour semis which featured an extra room on the ground floor making them popular with tenants since parlours were seen a status symbol – the best room where guests could be entertained. Around 2,000 were built in Bristol by the architect Benjamin Wakefield. Usually semi-detached, they also had three bedrooms and included bay windows at the front and had generous sized gardens. Nonparlour versions were smaller with only a kitchen and living room downstairs while there were also
The lost road of the prefabs near Badocks Wood Image: Google
One of the last Bristol pre-fabs Image: BBC
short council terraced houses with several homes joined in a terrace usually without a parlour which kept costs down. Today even a home like this in the general Henleaze and Horfield areas can fetch around £350,000 or more –when they would have originally been rented out by the council for a few pounds a month.
In 1945 there was a renewed campaign to build more council houses with thousands more constructed across Bristol while the post war city saw new estates in Southmead, Hartcliffe, Kingswood and Sea Mills grow up plus council flats appearing in Ashton and
Lawrence Hill.
Under the Conservative administration of the 1980s tenants had the right to buy which saw the decline in the numbers of homes owned by the council. It was followed by a period when no council homes were built in the city – although now in the 21st century it has come full circle with a huge programme of construction under way mostly south of the river.
There is an excellent booklet written by Tony Forbes and Eugene Byrne called Homes For Heroes 100, available in local libraries, which illustrates the history of council homes in the city.
Recently we had occasion to show a couple of naturalists from Sweden around our fair city. Of course, they were only interested in one thing and so, on a brilliant November day, they scrambled about with us among the rocky crags and brambly slopes of one of the best wildlife sites in Britain, delighted to see even the dead flowerheads and dying leaves. Many of the wild inhabitants of Bristol are common but nonetheless fascinating species and I hope that over the years I have helped you to notice some of them. But it is easy to forget that the Avon Gorge is something else entirely: it supports a unique assemblage of plants found nowhere else in the world.
The Gorge cuts through Carboniferous limestone and limestone is always full of fascinating species, but our Gorge is extra special. The “famous cliffs of St Vincent” were mentioned in “Botanical Travels” by Thomas Johnson in 1634 and yet he was a latecomer - honewort was discovered in 1562 by William
Turner, another botanical tourist. Two plants, Bristol rock-cress and Bristol onion, occur in Britain only here, perched on rocky ledges where the goats now amble. Half a dozen threatened plant species can also be found together with around 15 nationally scarce species and around 500 species of plants altogether (compare to around 1,600 species in the whole of the Bristol/Avon area). Some are tiny –Turner’s honewort is so small that it is pollinated by ants. But some are quite spectacular – tall royal blue spires of spiked speedwell and the
hot pink flowers of bloody crane’sbill grow on the slopes around the Observatory. The Gorge has also produced two trees which grow nowhere else in the world – the Bristol whitebeam and Wilmott’s whitebeam – along with two other whitebeams in the threatened category.
The view from the Peregrine watch point at the edge of the Downs is gorgeous (couldn’t resist), even in winter, and our Swedish friends appreciated the drama of the limestone scenery. But in
summer you can peer through the fencing and the view is framed in pink pyramidal orchids, yellow rockrose and maroon drumstick heads of salad burnet. This wireclad view seemed particularly poignant as we gazed at it during the Covid lockdowns.
When I came to university in the 1980s an ancient and eccentric but forward-thinking botanist, Dr Frost, still took some sheep to the Downs once a year to maintain commoners’ grazing rights: most of the wildlife interest requires sunny conditions and trees and shrubs have overwhelmed huge areas since grazing ceased in the mid 20th century. Sadly he didn’t live to see the goats that have now been introduced to the Gully, but I am sure he is there in spirit, watching with huge satisfaction their great white heads tearing up the ivy and nibbling the bramble – creating, as they go, new patches of grassland, revealing rocky ledges and helping to sustain our unique and fascinating Avon Gorge Flora. And I haven’t even mentioned the birds, moths, butterflies…
HELEN Brewer of AMD Solicitors considers
July, 2014 E: news@bishopstonvoice.co.uk
impact of the introduction of the Bristol Clean Air Zone (“the Zone”) on Monday 28 November 2022, and considers whether landlords and tenants alike should be worried about whether this could have a negative impact on property prices in and around the Zone.
In 2020 emission levels across the UK were at record highs due to increased traffic volumes and in particular diesel vehicles on our roads. In an attempt to tackle this issue, the government introduced a new Environment Act 2021 which gave the Secretary of State the power to set legally binding, longerterm, environmental targets lasting at least 15 years, across a variety of areas relating to the environment.
By Shelley Faulkner, solicitor with AMD SolicitorsBristol City Councils website here: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/ residents/streets-travel/bristolscaz/view-a-map
bishopston bishopstonvoice voice
Now the big question many landlords and tenants may have is whether this will have an impact on property values and market rents where properties are located within the Zone. There is a concern amongst tenants located in Bristol City Centre that the introduction of the Zone coupled with the pedestrianisation of roads such as Princess Victoria Street in Clifton Village will have a negative impact on footfall and drive people away from these areas.
will be. However a Will can be worded to provide that a gift of 10 % of the value of your estate at that time is given to a charity or charities of your choice. The effect of this will be that the rate of Inheritance Tax payable on the whole estate is reduced from 40 % to 36 %.
Due to Bristol's poor air quality, it was included as one of the cities that would be required to meet these targets. In order to ensure compliance with these new regulations, Bristol City Council developed the Zone which came into effect on 28 November 2022. The Zone will cover most of the city centre including Park Street, Brandon Hill and St Andrews Road. The Zone’s boundary is available on
WHILE most of us support a number of charities in our lifetime, it is perhaps not surprising that a smaller number choose to remember a charity in their Will. Clearly the priority for most is to provide for a surviving spouse or children, or to ensure that the family wealth can be passed on to benefit the next generation.
However, government policy is clearly to encourage giving to charity, and a recent development in the law is intended to promote gifts to charity being made by Will. This change may also, on occasion, serve to save Inheritance Tax, or even to create a gift which literally pays for itself.
Where somebody dies after 6 April 2012 the rate of Inheritance Tax applied to the estate can be reduced from 40 % to 36 % (in other words by 10 %), provided that at least 10 % of the estate passes to charity.
Clearly it is not possible to determine in advance exactly what value the assets you leave by Will will have on your death for Inheritance Tax purposes, or what 10 % of the total value
In same circumstances, it has been calculated that this reduction in the tax bill can serve to leave the estate, even after payment of the gift to charity, with a value as high as if the gift had not been made. Thus the gift can in some cases quite literally pay for itself.
Even where a Will has not been prepared in these terms, it may be possible to take advantage of this tax break. If the beneficiaries of the estate agree, it is possible to effectively amend the terms of a Will within two years of the date of death. A ‘Deed of Variation’ can be drawn up which sets out the family members’ agreed arrangements
Following COVID-19 and the effect this has had on the high street tenants, there has been a move towards agreeing turnover rents in new leases, so if there are any future periods of closure, tenants are paying rent based on money coming in rather than a fixed sum. However, commercial landlords should be especially aware of the effect this might have if their lease contains a turnover rent provision because if footfall to areas within the Zone reduced, then this may be passed on to the landlord with a rent reduction. Not only this but as
for the distribution of the estate, and the estate can then be divided as if the Will had been made in these terms. A Deed of Variation could therefore provide that 10 % of the estate is to pass to a chosen charity or charities, making the estate as a whole eligible for the reduced rate of Inheritance Tax.
This change in the law is clearly very good news both for charities, and potentially for some estates as well. However the detail of the application can be complex. For example, the estate is divided into different ‘components’ depending on how the property will pass to the beneficiaries, in order to calculate whether the 10 % test has been met. Taking specialist advice on the implications for your particular circumstances is therefore essential.
the economy continues to struggle there is a concern that businesses may start to fail and tenants will look to either surrender their lease early or look to assign the remainder of the term to another business.
of attorney and all private client issues, contact Shelley Faulkner, Florence Pearce and the other members of the team on 0117 9621205, email probate@ amdsolicitors.com or call in at 15 The Mall Clifton, or 100 Henleaze Road Henleaze.
The good news is that the consensus amongst industry experts seems be a no. Looking at property prices when the LEZ came into effect in London in 2008 a comparison to prices inside the area to outside did not show a major
AMD’s team of experienced private client solicitors and practitioners includes full
difference in valuation.
If you are a struggling tenant or a Landlord who has just been approached by your tenant looking to assign their lease contact either Helen Brewer or another member of the commercial property team on 0117 9735647 or info@ amdsolicitors.com as soon as possible as there may be unwanted consequences of delaying seeking advice.
AMD Solicitors takes pride in sponsoring local, Bristol based charities and this year is very pleased to be supporting the Bristol branch of the Alzheimer’s Society, the local branch of this national charity which works to improve the quality of life of people affected by dementia in Great Britain. For full details of our fundraising activities visit our website www.amdsolicitors.com.
Copyright AMD Solicitors
Thank you to readers for all your support and contact in 2022 and to the Voice for allowing us to keep in touch through these articles.Very best wishes to all for 2023.
The year is not likely to start well. The Council releases its budget in mid-January. These will go to Resources Scrutiny on January 31and February 1, which I will be chairing, and then to a full council meeting on February 21.
Just to recap, the council forecasts “a gap… in the region of £37.5 million to £87.6 million over the next five years.” The initial proposals indicate a 5% increase in council tax and cuts to many services.
I have previously expressed concern about the proposal to take £1.3m from the Library budget and about the proposed saving of £1.5m of the Parks budget.
There are proposals to cut administration budgets which would be welcome if they are because of improved efficiency but which will be dangerous if they reduce support for front line services.
The council is suggesting it can make savings in adult care and children’s services. Again, it is worrying that these are being portrayed as service improvements. It is difficult to understand why, if efficiency savings were that easy, they have not been made before.
The proposal to cut £3m from the council tax reduction scheme will hit some of the poorest residents in our city.
At this stage, my comments can only be speculation. But all the details should be available for next month’s issue.
• The external auditors report on Value for money at Weca (West of England Combined Authority) has now been received by Weca.
It appeared that Weca officers were reluctant to accept the auditors concerns, but that position has now changed and they have accepted the auditors recommendations, particularly about need for politicians working together in a professional way!, Councillors and officers have now agreed an
outline action plan .
• Our next Westbury and Henleaze zoom meeting is at 7pm on Tuesday 10th January; go to http://tiny.cc/ WandHJan23 to book in. The following meeting will be on 7th February,
• Thank you to all who attended the in person ward Forum in December. We will aim to hold another in the spring.
• Email me to receive our e-newsletter that helps us keep you up to date with local matters.
• Contact. If you need help on any matter to do with Bristol City Council, email me Cllr. geoffrey.gollop@bristol.gov.uk or phone 0117 9039946.
IT’S that time of year.
Waistlines expanded. Bank balances reduced. Christmas trimmings coming down. And people are looking to the future and setting their New Year’s resolutions.
So, what are mine? Well, they’re simple, really - taking Angel, my cocker spaniel, for more walks - even when it’s chilly - and putting our brilliant West of England even more firmly on the national and global map, and ensuring our region thrives.
Hmm, that politician pledge sounds a bit vague, you may say! How are you going to measure that? My response is simple: look at all the progress we’ve made already.
I am proud of everything we’ve achieved - together - in 2022: reducing bus fares; launching the region’s first-ever Good Employment Charter - now supporting over 6,500 workers and counting; supporting buzzing bees through brand-new grants; investing £12 million in the new Bottle Yard Studios, now open for business; unblocking the Temple Quarter scheme to refresh Temple Meads and the surrounding area; investing in green hydrogen at the
Bristol and Bath Science Park; winning record levels of cash from government, like the £105 million I secured to begin to improve our buses and start the long road to deliver a public transport network our region can be really proud of.
For me, the New Year also is a chance to reflect on the year ahead politically, like ensuring government understands and learns from the pressures facing working people, with taxes, inflation and energy bills all going up and up.
With local people hungry to see decisions made in their areas, I’ll continue to call for London-style devolution, to ensure I have the powers to make our region even better.
But fundamentally, New Year is a time for hope. And in the West of England, we have much to be hopeful about.
Every day as your Metro Mayor, I’m inspired by the people I meet. The ambition and confidence of our young people; the brilliance of our businesses; the potential of our amazing towns and villages, and our two truly great cities.
But this is also a time of year when we resolve to do better.
So my promise this year to you is to continue to be the strong champion for our region, from backing our world-class creative industries to our amazing local shops - by the way, for those of you looking for a resolution, I urge you all to please ‘Love Local’, as there are so many brilliant places to explore in our great region.
So, whether it’s doing Dry January or throwing yourself full-throttle into (finally) taking up that hobby, I wish you and your friends and family the happiest of Januaries as we enter into 2023. Good luck!
I HOPE you all had a very merry Christmas and have a happy New Year. The start of a new year brings sales, and it’s important to remember that fraudsters are unlikely to have made New Year’s resolutions to stop scamming.
It is imperative that we remain vigilant and cautious of fraudulent activity. Fraud causes severe harm to both victims’ finances and mental health, with 74% of fraud victims reporting being emotionally affected.
Please don’t let this happen to you, regularly change your passwords using a capital letter, three random words and number.
I also want to touch on another type of scam I have become aware of, known as money muling. The act of money muling is when a person transfers stolen money on behalf of others, usually through their bank account. Criminals contact people and offer them cash to receive money into their bank account and transfer it into another account.
The money that money mules transfer is usually stolen or profits of crime, and is often used to fund further crimes like drug dealing, sexual exploitation, fraud and human trafficking.
Young people are vulnerable to being targeted as money mules due to pressures on social media and the appeal of ‘quick cash’ opportunities.
Around six in every ten mules are under the age of 30, with many young people unaware of the consequences of being recruited, which include bank accounts being closed, problems applying for credit and even a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
Signs of someone being used as a money mule include possession of luxury or designer goods that they cannot account for, opening new bank accounts or using crypto exchanges with money they cannot explain the origin of. When challenged, they might say they are letting someone else use their account to move
money.
If you know a young person who has been approached to be a money mule, urge them to break off all contact and not receive or move any money.
Please then contact the police or Crimestoppers as, by reporting such crimes, we can help social media companies protect their own users.
The more people we make aware of such awful schemes, the more people we can stop falling victim and becoming complicit in organised crime.
Before Christmas, I launched my annual council tax policing precept survey, asking if you agree or disagree with my proposal to increase the council tax by £10 a year for the average band D household to support local policing.
The survey runs until January 30, so there is still time for you to have your say. You can complete the survey via my website at avonandsomerset-pcc.gov.uk.
I know that times are tough for a lot of households and an increase in bills next year is a big ask from everyone.
Rising costs of living and inflation are impacting us all, including the cost of running the police service.
However, in order to deliver on the priorities and the issues you told me were important to you, I need to ask you for this additional funding.
JUICE mulling pans at Horfield Organic Community Orchard (HOCO) are being scrubbed up after a three-year wait for the Wassail.
‘Waes hail’ is an Anglo Saxon greeting meaning good health or good fortune. Apples, for eating and cidering, were a huge part of the local food economy up until the mid-20th century. Traditions of gatherings to wake up the trees were celebrated wherever orchards grew.
The HOCO event takes place on Saturday 14 January, 2-4pm.
Shannon Smith, one of the organisers said: “It’s 25 years since HOCO took root on some abandoned plots on the margins of the Golden Hill allotment site.
“The HOCO Wassail includes traditional elements like dipping branches in cider, offering toast and honey to the guardian spirits of the orchard, and making a big noise to wake up the trees from their slumbers. It’s become an amazing mid-winter community celebration with hundreds of people. We look forward to welcoming everyone, and will have plenty of mulled juice and homemade cake for sale.”
HOCO is also open to new members in the New Year. The group has ambitious plans to ensure the orchard is sustained for the next 25 years. These include projects to improve access to water, and funding
a part-time co-ordinator role. Growing the number of supporting Friends members will help make them happen.
If you are interested in becoming an active member of HOCO, then get in touch for information about this year’s Orchard Learning courses. “It’s only when we start caring for fruit trees that we find out how much we need to learn,” says Shannon. “Climate chaos makes this even more clear, and active members enjoy plenty of opportunities for hands-on problem solving!”
To find the orchard (nearest postcode BS7 8JP) - Walk down the lane beside 22 Kings Drive (between Bishop Road & Kellaway Avenue), turn left and it’s the first gate on the right or take the lane beside 134 Longmead Avenue (BS7 8QQ) until you come to the last gate on the left.
Contact HOCO c/o the website to sign up for up-to-date information: www.communityorchard.org.uk
Phone: 0117 373 1587
FIRSTLY, my family and I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year! It is a privilege to represent my home area as your Member of Parliament, and I will continue to work hard as your voice in Parliament and your champion in Bristol with whatever challenges and opportunities 2023 brings.
Starting with those challenges, as I’m sure you’re aware, nurses at Southmead Hospital joined their colleagues around the country in taking strike action in December. I fully support the right for workers to be able to go on strike for fair working conditions. For our nurses in particular, though, these strikes were about more than pay: when I talk to nurses, midwives and doctors, they tell me that they increasingly feel like they can't safely look after their patients with current staffing shortages.
Later this month, I will be meeting with North Bristol NHS Trust as concerns have been raised to me by the Royal College of Midwives and the Joint Union Office about its provision of maternity services. On a national level, the trade unions have been trying to talk to Ministers in Westminster about staffing problems within the NHS for a long time, but the Government refuses to engage with them. These frontline workers do not go on strike lightly. They want to serve the public and this is their last resort to make the case for the Government to get a grip of the
problems facing the NHS.
Sadly, these problems are not going to be quick to turn around or easy to fix, but we do need Ministers to sit at the table and to start negotiating with the trade unions.
And let’s not forget that we're in this position because of 12 years of economic failure by the Government, leading to a weak economy to pay for our essential public services.
At the end of the year, First Bus cut hundreds of services across Bristol, with about a hundred of these affecting travel across Bristol North West – including vital services for people going to Southmead Hospital. Since bus service provision and reliability were already in a terrible state, this news came as a heavy blow. I know how badly the lack of reliable public transportation is affecting constituents, so this is a high-priority area for me in the coming months.
The first stop on this journey is to meet with Doug Claringbold, the Managing Director of First Bus in the West of England, on the 20th January. I will be recording this meeting to share with constituents as you deserve answers on why the company is failing to deliver a reliable service – and trust me that I will press him to answer my questions.
Whilst it’s not a public service, easy and secure access to bank accounts is an absolute necessity. Most people these days prefer to do online banking, but for
customers who don’t have easy access to the internet, or for anyone simply doesn’t feel comfortable in dealing with their finances online, local high street banks still serve a great purpose. With this in mind, I was saddened to receive a letter from the Chief Executive of HSBC UK informing me that the HSBC branch in Westbury-on-Trym will close on 1st August 2023.
I have been assured that HSBC will write to all its customers with further information and they will also run community pop-up events ahead of the closure. I am also pleased to learn that all HSBC UK personal current account customers can access their bank accounts at Post Office branches for cash withdrawals. This point is particularly important, with nearly a quarter of free-to-use ATMs around the country removed in the past four years.
Recently, I supported a cross-party amendment to the Financial Services and Markets Bill, brought forward by the Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh, calling for the Treasury to guarantee a minimum level of provision for free-of-charge access to personal current accounts. We have a duty to protect those reliant on cash – we’re not quite ready for a cashless society yet.
Ending on some better news, I am delighted that my nomination for Bristol North West Foodbank to be a recipient of a grant offered
by National Grid’s Community Matters Fund was successful. The Foodbank received £2,000 to support its important work in December and January. I visited the charity in mid-December on one of the coldest days of the year, and it’s truly heart-breaking to know there are families in my constituency who are struggling to have hot meals every day. With the cost-of living crisis, more people are relying on foodbanks than ever before – including nurses(!), to circle back to where I started – so please donate whatever you can.
As always, if you need my help or have a question, you can get in touch with me on e-mail at darren.jones.mp@parliament. uk, by calling my office on 0117 959 6545 or by writing to me at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
Harold Stephens
50 High Street, Westbury on Trym, Bristol BS9 3DZ
T: 0117 3636212
E: office@haroldstephens.co.uk
A LASTING power of attorney is a document by which one person (the “donor”) gives another person (the “attorney”) the power to act on their behalf and in their name. There are two types of LPA – health and welfare and property and financial affairs.
Without a property and financial affairs LPA, no one is permitted to manage your financial and legal affairs should you become unable to make decisions for yourself. Even if you are married, in a civil partnership or have adult children, no one will be allowed to make important decisions without going through an extremely intrusive, time-
consuming, and expensive guardianship process.
This could lead to you missing out on new opportunities to manage your wealth effectively for your loved ones and limit the amount of support that is easily accessible to help with your care.
There are strict rules around what attorneys can do with an LPA and a lack of understanding or misinterpreting of these rules can also inadvertently lead to misuse of the LPA. It can be daunting being given the responsibility of making decisions for another person and often leads to families falling out at what can be a time of significant
stress.
Using a financial adviser to organise your LPA can ensure everyone involved understands the role of the Office of Public Guardian and the Court of Protection and what the LPA allows. With oversight of the financial position especially, an adviser can provide guidance to the attorney and therefore reassurance for the whole family that the provisions in the LPA and actions of the attorney are in the donor’s best interests.
As award-winning vulnerable customer champions, we’re well-placed to help you make a plan to protect your wealth and
prepare for the future, whatever that may hold. If you would like to have a relaxed chat about your circumstances, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
To book a complimentary meeting with Richard Higgs to discuss your later life financial planning needs, please get in touch by calling 0117 3636 212 or email office@haroldstephens. co.uk.
Richard records regular video updates on a range of later life financial topics - search ‘Harold Stephens IFA’ on YouTube.
If you want a relaxed chat about how to manage your assets in later life, then we are on hand to deliver it the good old-fashioned way – face to face right here in your local community
50 High Street, Westbury on Trym, Bristol BS9 3DZ 0117 3636 212 office@haroldstephens co uk www.haroldstephens.co.uk
Award-winning expert legal advice for you and your family.
Whether your New Year's resolution is to review your old Will, to make a Will for the very first time, to move house in 2023, or to finally put in place Lasting Powers of Attorney - we would be delighted to welcome you to our Henleaze office to assist with a full range of Private Client, Property and Commercial Services.
January 10
n THE ARTS SOCIETY BRISTOL lecture on "Understanding the Influence of Indian Jewellery" is at 8pm at Redmaids' High BS9 3AW on 10 January. We welcome new members and guests. For more information on our lectures, given by specialists in their own field, see our website www.theartssocietybristol.org.uk
n WEST OF ENGLAND BRIDGE CLUB has a new home in the RAFA Club, 38 Eastfield, Henleaze. There are five sessions every week, catering for different standards. Thursday afternoon is for Improvers, where experienced Club members help players with bidding and card play. A brief lesson is often included. Monday and Friday afternoon is for more capable players; relaxed but competitive, this is an EBUrecognised session. You may come alone to any afternoon session; a partner will be found. The evening sessions are on Wednesdays and Fridays, and are open to pairs. For information at www.woebridgeclub.co.uk or contact our Secretary, Chris Frew, on 0117 962 5281.
n PLAY BOWLS at Canford Park in a friendly, social atmosphere. Qualified coaches and equipment provided. Contact: Les on 07305695579
n WESTBURY SINGERS: if you enjoy singing, we invite you to join our friendly, non-auditioned, 4 part choir, in term-time on Monday evenings 7.30p.m. - 9.30p.m.at Reedley Road Baptist Church. Please email the Secretary: gwenalwakeel@ yahoo.co.uk.
n DICKENS SOCIETY. 7pm, at Leonard Hall, Henleaze URC, Waterford Rd, Bristol BS9 4BT. Talks, costumed readings, book club and social events. New members welcome. See www.dickens-society. org.uk or phone Roma on 0117 9279875 for further details.
n WESTBURY AND CLIFTON AREA DISCUSSION GROUP are a merry band of retired people who meet at Westbury on Trym Baptist Church every Monday morning (0945) and like to challenge ourselves with topical debate on what’s happening in the worldnear and far. We exist out of pure interest and to enjoy varied and entertaining conversations/discussions to help keep our older minds working a little bit faster and a little bit healthier. If you would like to join us and help to solve some of today's challenging issues whilst enjoying good company, tea and chocolate biscuits - please contact James Ball 01454 415165 or Ian Viney 0117 9501628. We would
very much like to hear from you.
n WESTBURY PARK WOMEN’S INSTITUTE meets on the first Tuesday of every month in the Girl Guide Hut on Westmorland Road from 7.00 - 9.30pm. We are an active and friendly group with a varied programme plus extra sessions for craft, coffee, book clubs, walks etc. Visitors are always welcome and for more information do call Sue on 07813795936 or email westburyparkwi@gmail.com
n COMPANION VOICES BRISTOL is recruiting new members We are a 'threshold choir' actively looking for new people to join us. We meet in Easton on the 3rd Tuesday of the month from 7 to 9 pm to learn soothing and uplifting songs by ear and build skills in sensitivity/compassion/loving presence to sing at the bedsides of people nearing the end of life. To join or support us in this work, contact Valerie on bristol@companionvoices.org. Visit www.facebook.com/CompanionVoicesBristol and www.companionvoices.org.
n WOMEN'S FELLOWSHIP meet on Tuesday mornings at Westburyon-Trym Methodist Church, 10.30am-noon. An interesting programme of speakers; come along to make friends. For more details, ring Kate 07905 064720.
n SCOTTISH DANCING to GET FIT and HAVE FUN and HAVE FUN with Westbury Scottish Country Dancing Club. Classes for beginners (Email: maggiekirkup@gmail.com ) and more advanced dancers (Tel: Cheryl 0117 4012416) at St Peter's Church Hall, Henleaze, Tuesdays 7.30 to 9.30 pm. Details at www.westburyscottish.org.uk
n BCCS (BRISTOL CATHEDRALCHOIR SCHOOL) CHORAL SOCIETY is now meeting at the Henleaze Bowling Club in Grange Court Road, on Wednesdays from 7.30 to 9pm. We are a small, friendly, unauditioned choir singing varied music , from choral works to more modern pieces and we would welcome new members of all standards. For information, contact Kathy, tel 0117 949362 / email www.bccschoralsociety.org. uk/
n BRISTOL SCRABBLE CLUB meets every Wednesday evening at 7pm until 10pm at Filton Community Centre, Elm Park, Filton BS34 7PS. New members welcome- first visit free so come along and give us a try. For further information contact Sheila on 01179570792 or 07435316458 or email shinett@ blueyonder.co.uk
n KNITNATTERSTITCH meet
on Wednesdays (term time only) 10-12 @ Henleaze United Reform Church’s coffee bar. For more information contact Paula at knitnatterstitch @gmail.com
n HEALING SESSIONS run by accredited healers take place 2 til 3.30pm at Westbury Park Spiritualist Church, Cairns Road BS6 7TH. Just turn up, or for info contact Marian Bishop 0117 9771629 or visit www.westburyparkspiritualistchurch.org.
n WELCOME WEDNESDAY On Wednesday 14th December from 1:30pm-3pm, Welcome Wednesday will be an intergenerational event held at Filton Avenue Primary School, Lockleaze Road, BS7 9RP. There’ll be arts & crafts, games and Christmas songs performed by the school choir. Refreshments included. Booking essential, please call 0117 435 0063.
Thursday
n LOCAL CHOIR ACTIVELY RECRUITING NEW MEMBERS. We meet at Stoke Bishop CE Primary School, BS9 1BW on Thursday, 7.45 - 9.15pm. We are a well-established mixed choir performing both sacred and secular music. See our website www.henburysingers.org or contact the secretary at secretary@henburysingers.org.
n BRISTOL MALE VOICE CHOIR are recruiting new members. Our rehearsal/practice night is every Thursday from 7pm to 9.15 pm at St Andrew's Methodist Church, Elm Park, Filton, BS34 7PS. We have a varied repertoire, ranging from traditional male voice favourites, Bach, and the Beatles, to contemporary pop music, gospel, folk standards, rugby anthems and songs from the musicals. There is no audition, but if you visit our rehearsals and decide to join there is a voice test to find out if you are a baritone, bass or tenor. If you don't read music, not a problem -you'll find that our regular practices will soon get you in shape to sing at our regular concerts and enjoy the social vibe at our postconcert gatherings. To find out more, visit our website at www.bristolmvc.org.uk see our facebook page, or contact secretary@bristolmvc.org.uk or call him on 07764447699. Join us soon !
n HENLEAZE FLOWER CLUB welcomes new members for the start of their exciting 22/23 Programme of floral design demonstrations. Annual membership £52. Demonstration meetings on 2nd
Thursday of the month 2pm Bradbury Hall,Waterford Road, Henleaze and begin at 2pm. Plus optional Practice Classes on 4th Thursday. Visitors welcome. We meet every month except December and August. Please contact Jenny York, Club Chair yorkjenny2@yahoo.com or phone/text 07880 700270.
n HIGHBURY BADMINTON CLUB: Pete Stables 0117 950 1524 or www.pete4458.wixsite.com/ highburybadminton Thurs 7:30pm mid September to End April, Westbury-on-Trym Village Hall
n HENLEAZE LADIES’ CHOIR Come and join us as we fill St Peter’s Church Hall in Henleaze with a diverse selection of music. We are a friendly choir and meet on Thursday afternoons in term time from 1.45 to 3.45. There are no auditions, and the ability to read music is not necessary. For more information contact Jean on 01179 624466 or Jane on 07752 332278.
n OPEN DEVELOPMENT CIRCLE starting Sept 8. For those interested in developing their spiritual awareness and mediumistic ability. 7.15 for 7.30pm start at Westbury Park Spiritualist Church, Cairns Road BS6 7TH. Just turn up, or for info contact Marian Bishop 0117 9771629 or visit www.westburyparkspiritualistchurch.org
n HENLEAZE BOWLING CLUB. Come along at 5.45pm on Fridays to see if bowling could be the sport for you. Coaching available. Experienced bowlers welcome. Situated in Grange Court Road, by Newman Hall. This is a friendly Club with good bowling facilities and social events throughout the year. Phone Secretary, Tom Logan, on 0117 962 1669 or email hbcsec@ henleazebowlingclub.org.uk for further details.
n U3A SCRABBLE GROUP meets at the Beehive pub , Wellington Hill West, on Fridays from 2 to 4pm. We are a very friendly non competitive group and welcome new members. For more information, please contact Heddy tel 07534717254/ email nigel.d.sara@btinternet.com
n CALLIGRAPHERS wanted to join us at St Edyth’s Church Hall, Sea Mills, on Fridays 1000-1200. We are a long established self-led group who would welcome new members. Come and meet us on Friday or call Peter at 0117 329 4516.
n LADIES BADMINTON, WoT Village Hall, Friday 10-12noon. New members welcome to join our friendly group. Contact Elizabeth on 0117-968-1759
WINTER has set in and the vines have gone dormant and dropped their leaves. We’re still spending most of our time removing the old, damaged polythene weed control and adding a thick layer of mulch to feed the soil. It’s a rather monotonous task but you become very familiar with the flora and fauna under the vines; hundreds of worms, small spiders, ground beetles and the slugs they feed upon and even the odd hibernating bumblebee or toad!
From the surface the grass looks completely devoid of life but as soon as you start scratching about you realise all the creatures are there just waiting for warmer weather.
Look out for our rosé in a new food and wine bar called Picole in Wapping Wharf. It’s run by the lovely team behind TARE restaurant which also happens to be in Wapping Wharf. Another new opening selling our wine is
just south of Bristol in Wells and is run by chef Rob Howell. RootWells is the sister restaurant to Root-Bristol and promises to be amazing. Please tell your friends and support these brave new ventures!
It’s been a year since our
crowdfunder finished. If you bought a reward but think you haven’t heard anything do get in touch as we’ve realised a few emails ended up in SPAM folders rather than being read by the recipient intended. We’re still in the process of trying to secure
some land but hope to have some good news about this soon. Sorry it’s taking so long –we will get there - please get in touch if you have any questions.
In the winery, our 2021 sparkling red and white wines should have finished fermenting by spring so we plan to start disgorging and bringing them a step closer to release. For the first time ever we have added a ‘vineyard tour’ option to our website shop. You can now book to come and see us every Friday afternoon next September. This is a great time of year to see the vineyard at its best before the harvest.
hello@dunleavyvineyards.co.uk
www.dunleavyvineyards.co.uk
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