Henleaze & Westbury Voice June 2023

Off with its head!

Royal postbox topper is stolen - but defiant knitters vow to keep on yarn bombing

GUERRILLA knitters in Bristol who decorate street furniture with woolly creations say they won’t be put off by spoilsport thieves.

The crafters say they are the new Banksys –so stealing or defacing their work is no surprise, and they will carry on making them.

In the latest theft an ornate woolly post box topper in the shape of a crown was stolen from Henleaze Road on Coronation Day.

The Voice has discovered that the theft is just one of hundreds happening across the UK. Some communities have even stopped decorating street furniture with toppers after repeated thefts.

But local knitting and crochet enthusiasts say the items are akin to a Banksy mural – and once they are put in public places, removal or damage is inevitable.

Wendy Florey who owns Pins and Needles in Canford Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, runs courses in knitting and crochet, and has seen a huge rise in the crafts since lockdown.

She told the Voice: “It’s a social art – like

Banksy, a community thing. Once you put it out in public, you no longer own it and cannot control what happened to it. If it is taken or damaged that does not matter, so long as a few people have seen the art you created.

Turn to Page 5

Happy 105th birthday, Jim

Jim Mearns, who lives at St Monica's Trust's Cote Lane Community, has celebrated his 105th birthday.

PAGE 18

Officers say No to development

Planning officers have recommended refusal of plans for retirement homes at the former St Christopher's school site in Westbury Park.

PAGES 2 & 3

Police appeal on woman's death

Police are appealing for information following the "suspicious" death of a 37-yearold woman in Southmead.

PAGE 7

The knitted crown briefly in place in Henleaze Road on Coronation Day

Planning officers recommend refusal –Campaigners' relief over first victory

CAMPAIGNERS fighting the controversial St Christopher’s development in Westbury Park hope to have won a battle - but say there is still a long way to go.

As the Voice went to print, Bristol City planners published a 75-page report recommending refusal of the scheme to build 116 retirement flats on the site.

They said it should be rejected because the design and scale of some proposed five-storey blocks which would “crowd and overbear”.

They also warned about the impact on local traffic and parking, and the detrimental effect on the green environment including the loss of 38 trees.

A City Council Development Control committee was due to consider that advice on Wednesday May 31.

Despite advising refusal, the report said the development was “considered to be acceptable in principle”. So it’s likely if councillors throw out the plan, the developers will either appeal

or submit a revised proposal.

Residents’ campaign group St Christopher’s Action Network (SCAN) said they were relieved the officers had taken on board local concerns.

A spokesperson said: “From the moment these plans were submitted, thousands of people across Bristol have told the developers this scheme is damaging and dangerous to our environment, our heritage and our roads.

“It fails to offer any genuine community benefit either through affordable housing or by respecting the site’s legacy of SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) provision.

“SCAN fully supports Bristol City Council’s recommendation to refuse this insensitive and inappropriate planning application. We are relieved officers have seen through the

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marketing spin and we trust that our elected councillors will robustly refuse the plans outright.

“We look forward to the future and the whole site being sensitively developed by people who really understand the needs and values of our community and the wider city.”

Westbury Park Community Association said it supported the idea of extra care housing on the site but felt the scheme was “crammed inappropriately into this site, the height of all the new blocks and the distances between the new blocks and from the new blocks to surrounding properties.

“This is massive overdevelopment which damages the recognised character of this area as a whole,” a spokesman said.

The planning report said the development was acceptable in

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principle, subject to agreement of a contribution towards alternative SEND provision, which was lost when St Christopher’s, a private school, closed.

But it said the proposed development was unacceptable in terms of design, “in particularly in relation to its scale and massing given the context of the Conservation Area and the Grade II Listed building, Grace House, on the site”.

“The proposed new build ‘Villas’, which are blocks of flats ranging between three- and fivestoreys in height, would be above the prevailing height of existing retained buildings on the site and in the surrounding area.”

The report said concerns about impact on traffic and parking overspill could add to safety concerns - though this may be overcome with new parking

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but scheme 'acceptable in principle'

restrictions in the area.

There were also concerns raised by officers and an objection from the council’s sustainability officer about the quality of living environment for future occupiers.

The report said: “Insufficient information has been provided to determine whether the apartments would be adapted to future climate impacts in accordance with Policy BCS13, and the new build Villas would likely create a sense of overbearing for new occupiers on lower levels based on the proximity.

The loss of 38 trees including a possible “veteran tree” would affect the “verdant landscape character” of the site, and officers felt it “unfeasible” for the proposed landscape scheme to deliver sufficient tree planting in accordance with the Bristol Tree Replacement Standard.

The report said other issues, including drainage, contamination and highway

mitigation could be controlled through conditions and obligations placed on the development.

The report said the scheme provides a number of benefits, including the provision of much-needed housing for older persons, and reopening of the site to the public and increased visibility of the Listed building.

The report also recommended, following legal and expert advice, that the application should fall into a category C3 development –which means the developer would not be liable to provide affordable housing on site.

The developers, investment firm FORE, in partnership with developer Socius, and care provider Amicala, were not available for comment.

The plan attracted more than 1,300 objections from people living nearby, local councillors and MP Darren Jones. Report and agenda: https:// tinyurl.com/46tje4ep

Let's make 'tired and shabby' village blossom

WESTBURY residents are being urged to take to the streets –with brooms and litter pickers.

The village has been branded “tired and shabby” by the Westbury on Trym Society – and it has asked everyone to get out and help smarten it up.

Society members were recently joined by members of Sustainable Westbury (SusWoT) armed with spades, trowels, and scrapers to give the War Memorial and shop fronts a weed and tidy.

SusWoT hold a monthly litter pick around the village - now they are asking everyone to make a regular commitment to help.

Society chair Hilary Long said it was time for residents to “wake up” and get involved.

She said: “It was this a superb piece of teamwork from our two groups, for just two hours, that resulted in a clean, smart village centre. Blaise nurseries have provided us all with a magnificent display of flowers

and amazingly coloured, resilient tulips this year, crowning the pots of primulas and pansies –the clear up set them off to great advantage”.

Donations from residents are being collected to replenish the Society’s ‘Flower Fund’ and a further summer display is planned, supported by many Westbury businesses with their hanging baskets.

“Our intention is to make this Sunday working party a regular one at the end of every month and gradually to clear other streets of weeds – they are OK in fields and woodlands, but they make the village look neglected and sad if left to flourish.

“We are fighting to restore the looks and life in this historic place. We would love to have some more volunteers joining us at the end of each month - it shows how much can be achieved in a short time if a few people show willing and it also makes you feel good afterwards!”

The clean-up volunteers at the War Memorial

Photo: Bill Long

We're the new Banksys, say guerrilla knitters

From Page 1

She said displays of knitting and crochet to decorate public spaces were empowering for women.

“Traditionally graffiti is seen as a make thing, while these crafts are seen as more female works, so they are female expression.

She said her customers did a “yarn bomb” in the village with hundreds of knitted and crochet items on lamp posts, benches and public street furniture. Within weeks they had been removed, either by people taking them home, or council street cleaners.

“It is a reflection of society – years ago no-one would have touched them. Maybe if we keep putting more of our creations out there eventually the message will get through.”

The brightly coloured Henleaze Road crown was hand knitted by grandmother Anthea Page, and placed on a pillar box

on Coronation Day, Saturday May 6. She made the crown while recovering in Southmead Hospital from a hip operation.

“I just managed to get it finished in time for the Coronation,” she said.

“During the short time it was in place it became a sort of community fun project as people were taking selfies. It had jewels and sparkly things in it to make it attractive.”

It vanished that evening – some reports say a car pulled up and someone got out and drove off with it.

Anthea said: “I’ve heard it was captured on CCTV and the police now have the footage.”

“I’m glad it brightened up the street for while – it is just a shame someone spoiled that by taking it away.”

Anthea says she won’t be put off –and is planning a “save the bees” themed topper for the summer.

Wendy Florey, her granddaughter Rosie, three, in a knitted crown made by the team at her shop Pins and Needles, below

Four charged with wounding NHS worker Exploring Loss through art

ST Albans Church is hosting an exhibition by artist Chaja Verkerk next month on the theme of Loss.

The multimedia art installation comprises different mediums - textile art, paintings, photography and poetry.

It will be open daily from July 2-9, 9am to 5pm, at the church in Bayswater Avenue.

Events planned include an official opening on July 2 with a Requiem mass at 6.30pm; a spoken word open mic around the theme of Loss hosted by Chaja Verkerk on July 4 at 7.30pm and a bereavement café on July 5 at 11am.

For more information see: https://www. chajanadiaverkerk.com/loss

FOUR men are due to appear at Bristol Magistrates' Court this month charged with wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm after an NHS worker was struck by a car as he walked home from work in Bristol.

Katungua Tjitendero, now 24, suffered significant injuries including a broken leg and nose and extensive facial injuries and reported being racially abused in the incident on Monks Park Avenue, Horfield, on Wednesday 22 July 2020. He is now recovering physically and has since been able to continue performing music and return to work.

A dedicated team of detectives has worked with data forensic specialists, collision investigators, crime scene investigators and forensic scientists in the complex two-

year investigation, with progress monitored by both the Avon and Somerset Police chief officer group and the Police and Crime Commissioner.

The men facing charges are:

• Phillip Adams, 25, of Southmead

• Patrick James, 21, of Lawrence Weston

• Jordan McCarthy, 21 of Lawrence Weston

• Daniel Whereatt, 49, of Bedminster

A fifth man who was arrested in connection with the investigation faces no further action.

Patrick James also faces a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in connection with an earlier, similar incident. On Sunday 12 July 2020 a vehicle mounted

the pavement on Broadlands Drive, Lawrence Weston, Bristol, injuring a man on a bicycle and failing to stop.

The cyclist, a man in his fifties, was hospitalised for treatment to injuries including fractured ribs, a collapsed lung and bruising.

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Mike Buck said: "We understand the length of time this complex investigation has taken has been difficult and frustrating, taking its toll on Katungua and his family.

"Criminal proceedings are now under way and the defendants have a right to a fair trial. It's important that there is no reporting, commentary or online posting which could prejudice this case and prevent justice from being done."

Appeal for information over 'suspicious death'

A MAN has been released on conditional police bail pending further investigation into the death of a woman in Southmead, Bristol.

Officers were called to an address in Greystoke Gardens just before 10.10pm on Tuesday 16 May by the ambulance service.

The death is being treated as suspicious pending the results of further examinations to establish the cause of death, after an initial post-mortem examination was inconclusive.

The deceased is a 37-yearold woman from Southmead. Police say her family are being supported by a specialist family liaison officer.

A man in his fifties of no fixed abode was arrested from the address in connection with the investigation. He was later released on police bail until August, with conditions including regularly reporting at a police station

Detectives Inspector Mark Newbury said: "We're carrying out a thorough investigation into the circumstances which led to this woman's untimely death. While the cause remains unexplained we are keeping an

open mind and exploring all possibilities.

"Our thoughts are with the family and we'd ask people not to speculate while we piece together what has happened. If you can help, please call 101 and give the

reference 5223114111."

Residents will continue to see an increased police presence in the area while enquiries continue and anyone with concerns following this tragic incident can speak to officers at the scene.

Investigators continue to ask anyone who was in the Greystoke Gardens area between Monday evening, 15 May, and Tuesday night, 16 May, to get in touch if they haven't already. Officers are especially keen to hear from anyone with any dashcam or other footage of the area in that time.

Anyone with any information about the circumstances leading up to the woman's death is asked to call 101 and give the reference 5223114111. Alternatively contact the independent charity Crimestoppers 100 per cent anonymously by calling 0800 555 111, or online at https:// crimestoppers-uk.org/giveinformation.

The scene at Greystoke Gardens after the death Photo: @MPowerBristol

‘Car-centric approach takes us back to the 1960s’

GREEN councillors have accused Bristol’s Labour leadership of “car-centric” policies following a failure to act on concerns about the diversion for cyclists using Concorde Way.

After safety fears were raised in March, Bristol mayor Marvin Rees promised to take a second look at the diversion via Boiling Wells Lane and Muller Road, which is in place for a year while a new train station is built in Ashley Down.

However, he has since told local councillors that no changes will be made.

Green Councillor David Wilcox, coshadow cabinet member for transport and active travel, said: “The diversion of the Concorde Way is not fit for purpose. It brings pedestrians and cyclists into conflict on a shared pavement, and through Boiling Wells cyclists must dismount because it’s so steep.

“If we’re going to reduce traffic and tackle the climate emergency, we need to be making it easier, not harder, for people to walk and cycle to work. This diversion — which is expected to be in place until at least next March — undermines the council’s own policy aims and will only encourage more people to drive, causing more pollution and congestion for all of us.”

Green group leader Cllr

Emma Edwards

added: “The failure to address this dangerous diversion for Concorde Way is part of a worrying trend we have seen of late, with this Labour administration not only not improving things for cycling in Bristol, but in many instances actively making things worse.

“Far too many decisions by Bristol Labour — whether it’s removing cycle lanes, projects that don’t meet official standards, or simply dragging their heels on basics like new bike hangars — seem calculated to show contempt for cycling and walking. Labour’s car-centric approach belongs in the 1960s — it’s getting us nowhere fast.

“With our buses in a state of nearcollapse, and constant steps backwards on active travel, it’s not surprising that Bristol is consistently one of the worst UK cities for traffic under this administration. Our city deserves better.”

Greens also criticised long delays to a new cycle lane on Nelson Street in the city centre; removal of a bike lane on Cheltenham Road near Stokes Croft; poor maintenance of existing cycle lanes; pavement parking blocking cycle lanes blocking key routes like Gloucester Road and Park Row; and bike storage hangars being rolled out only at some council flats.

But Labour hit back at the criticism and

pointed to many new projects where the council is investing in cycling. These include building new segregated cycle lanes along Victoria Street and Temple Way, two key city centre routes, as well as expanding its School Streets programme, providing more bike hangars and reducing pollution through the Clean Air Zone.

Labour Cllr Don Alexander, cabinet member for transport, said: “A section of Concorde Way had to be temporarily closed due to the construction of the new Ashley Down train station. We appreciate that this closure is inconvenient and thank everyone for bearing with us.

“With Portway station close to opening, Ashley Down station will be only Bristol’s second train station constructed in nearly a century and will provide a valuable new transport option for local residents, so I am certain that any inconvenience will be worth it. “We have a proud record of delivery but there is, of course, much more to do. Only last month, the government cut active travel capital funding for councils for the next two years by two thirds. If Green councillors want increased spending on active travel schemes, they need Labour in government.”

By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service

From the streets to the Lord Mayor's Parlour

A FORMER rough sleeper who has battled mental health issues and now champions against the stigma has become Bristol’s lord mayor – and then got engaged minutes later to his longtime partner.

Labour's Cllr Paul Goggin promised to “recognise the unrecognised” during his year in the ceremonial role as “first citizen”.

He was sworn in during the annual full council meeting of Bristol City Council on May 9, and, during the interval, proposed to Deborah Griffiths, his girlfriend of 17 years, in the lord mayor’s parlour before returning to tell the chamber she had said yes.

The Hartcliffe & Withywood ward councillor succeeds Green Cllr Paula O’Rourke, who becomes deputy lord mayor.

In his acceptance speech, Cllr Goggin outlined his chequered life, from growing up in London and dropping out of school because “life happens to us all” to sleeping rough in Bristol.

“In no particular order, I’ve built motorbikes, sold investment grade diamonds, been a croupier in a smoky casino and gone door to door selling carpet cleaner.

“I moved to Bristol in 2003 but in 2005 I became homeless through no fault of my own and had to sleep on the streets and sofasurfed with friends.

Cllr Paul Goggin and fiancee Debs

council bungalow in Knowle West where he still lived.

“And, as some of you know from my previous speeches in this room, I live with bipolar disorder and complex PTSD,” Cllr Goggin said. “In a way they don’t hamper me, they enable me to think slightly differently from most others – my secret superpower.

“I also have chronic anxiety, and I can’t put into words how difficult this is today because I’m talking about myself. But we must keep speaking out about our mental health issues, not be ashamed or embarrassed – own it, normalise it to fight against the stigma so many suffer from.”

Tabling the motion for Cllr Goggin to become lord mayor, Labour group leader Cllr Steve Pearce said that for many of the eight centuries the position existed, it was reserved for Bristol’s elite.

“Then Bristol Council stepped in to help me. I lived in emergency accommodation for six months, alongside refugees, asylum seekers and other unfortunate Bristolians. “It was a difficult time to say the least and I saw things that would make the devil blush.” He said local mental health charity Second Step helped him find temporary accommodation before he moved into a

“Anyone who knows Paul will know that that label doesn’t quite apply to him,” he said.

“He’s been very open about his past and it’s why there’s nobody better suited to becoming Bristol’s first citizen, someone who truly understands the lives of all Bristolians, especially those that are underrepresented in the council chamber.

By Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service

Tour de Bristol raises £100,000

A CHARITY cycle challenge for the region’s only adult hospice has raised over £100k. The sun came out for the 1,200 riders taking part in the Tour de Bristol sponsored bike ride on April 15. Fundraisers set

off from the Centre for Sport at UWE’s Frenchay campus riding distances of 40km, 65km and 100km through the Bristol and Gloucestershire countryside in aid of St Peter’s Hospice.

One competitor, Jim Reynolds aged 90, was in a category of his own. The former PE teacher rode the race with his daughter Louise Vandyke, completing the 40km circuit in three hours and 15 minutes.

Riding in memory of his wife who received treatment from St Peter’s Hospice, Jim Reynolds said: “I don’t think there are many 90 year olds doing it. Two years ago I was the only person in the 80 – 90 year group but a young one – an 80 year old I think – came in last year, so then there were two. This year I’ve moved up a group so I’m now in the 90 – 100 age group so I’m hoping that there’s no one else there!”

Husband and dad of three,

Mike Freeman from Westburyon-Trym, was cared for by the Hospice when he was diagnosed with terminal Bladder Cancer. His family and friends take part in the annual Tour de Bristol race in his memory as team, Bike for Mike. Johnny Freeman, Mike’s son said: “The Tribute fund was set up to fundraise for the amazing work that St Peter’s Hospice did in the final weeks of our Dad’s life and the support that we as a family were given. It was hugely valuable to us and made an incredible difference to his quality of life.

“We’ve raised over £42k for the charity so far. The event is a nice way to reconnect with people and I would encourage anyone to get involved.”

Another team was riding in memory of Marc Davies, from Westbury-on-Trym, who died five years ago, having received support from the hospice after being diagnosed with a brain

tumour.

The Tour de Bristol is now in its ninth year and has raised over £1 million in total for the hospice. It’s a magnificent sum that will help to provide vital funds for patient care during the most difficult of times.

St Peter’s Hospice director of fundraising and communications, Sarah AllenGunn said: “This year’s event was one of the best yet. We’re incredibly grateful to each and every one of the 1,200 participants who signed up to take on the challenge in aid of the hospice.

"They all fundraised incredibly hard to help us reach the £100k target. In the current cost of living crisis, when people have less to give, we have been overwhelmed by people’s support and generosity.”

Register your interest for the 2024 Tour de Bristol: tourdebristol.co.uk

Teams riding in memory of Marc, above, and Mike, right

Jim Reynolds, 90, and daughter Louise Vandyke

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Pupils and staff have a story to tell

The day we met Queen Camilla

QUEEN Camilla’s first solo engagement since the Coronation was in Bristol – and some children from two local schools were lucky enough to share it.

The Queen is patron of the National Literacy Trust, which has been spearheading a campaign to improve primary school libraries in recognition of the role they can play in fostering a lifelong love of reading.

The Primary School Library Alliance campaign will include 50 Coronation libraries at schools around the country, the first of which is at Shirehampton Primary in north Bristol.

Children and staff from ten schools in the West, including Avonmouth Primary, were invited to visit Shirehampton for a celebration event with leading authors and illustrators.

It was only after they arrived

that the pupils, librarians and teachers learned that the Queen was also attending.

The day involved a “draw your dream library’ workshop alongside two former Children’s Laureates, How to Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell and Noughts and Crosses author Malorie Blackman. This was followed by reading sessions with Francesca Simon, who wrote the Horrid Henry series, and contributions from illustrators Chris Smith and Rob Biddulph and author Jasbinder Bilal.

Shirehampton's pupil librarians showed Her Majesty their new library, which has been enriched by more than 400 new titles. Queen Camilla was then presented with the Coronation Collection – a selection of 23 books voted for by over 12,000 children across the UK. One of

A BOOM in births a decade ago has left Bristol secondary schools too full and primary schools too empty. A bulge in pupil numbers is now working its way through school year groups.

City Hall chiefs are now grappling with how to change the capacity of schools across Bristol to cope with the flux in demand. About three in four pupils starting Year 7 this September were offered their first preference, less than last year, with pressure higher in north Bristol.

Details of the challenges facing education bosses were revealed in a recent report to

the aims of the Primary School Library Alliance is to improve access to age-appropriate and diverse books. It also wants to create inspirational reading spaces and train more staff to deliver reading activities.

National Literacy Trust CEO, Jonathan Douglas said: “Astonishingly, 1 in 7 state primary schools does not have a library so we are very proud to be working with our partners and helping to enhance 1,000 reading spaces in primary schools across the UK. It has been fantastic to launch the Coronation Libraries project and to mark such an important milestone for the Primary School Library Alliance.”

Former Children’s Laureate should be the right of every child to have access to well-stocked, local and regularly replenished public and school libraries.

Pressure on places

the council’s schools forum.

Reena Bhogal-Welsh, director of education and skills, said: “Although it was possible to offer all pupils a place at secondary school, there will be very few remaining spaces within secondary schools across the city. There remain whole areas of the city without places in some year groups. There will be very few places in any year groups for pupils moving into the city or requiring a change of school."

braries are places of inspiration and our children deserve nothing less.”

Shirehampton's headteacher Louisa Munton said: “The library will harness our children's enthusiasm for reading even more, help them to continue to see the pleasure books bring, and enable them to secure better outcomes in reading. It will support our ongoing commitment to providing rich reading experiences for all of our children, some of whom have limited access to books outside of the school environment.”

“To see, first hand, the passion the Her Majesty Queen Camilla has for reading, and share with her the difference our new library will make to the school community was a privilege."

Britain’s birth rate began to increase around 2003, rising to a peak in 2012 before falling again. Demand from primary school places therefore peaked in 2016.

Building work to make some high schools larger has been stalled, including at Brunel Academy and Orchard School. This is because of the ongoing economic situation, but also due to the complex contracts the council signed with private companies to build the schools in the first place, known as private finance initiatives (PFI).

By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service

The Queen with Cressida Cowell and others at Shirehampton Primary School and, above, talking Horrid Henry with Francesca Simon

n FROM OUR MP

The long and bumpy road to reach Net Zero

REGULAR readers will know that energy and climate policy is an area of work that is close to my heart. It’s therefore with an air of sadness that I no longer lead Parliament’s oversight of energy and climate policy, following the name and remit of my Committee changing. I am now Chair of the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee.

Why did this happen? The Government recently restructured its Departments, which includes creating a new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Committee. Since the role of the committees is to scrutinise the work of Government Departments, they needed to change in tow.

Rest assured I remain committed to the cause for a greener future. As I said in a farewell speech at Ofgem, I will continue to do all I can to deliver our Net Zero mission. (You can watch the speech in full on my YouTube channel: www.youtube. com/@darrenjonesmp)

Locally, there are innovative companies that could help us to reach our Net Zero goals. In May, it was great to visit Vertical Aerospace in Hallen, which is pioneering electric aviation – a cutting-edge company choosing to invest in Bristol and one that will help to build on our proud aerospace history. The following week, I was in Avonmouth to open Herschel Infrared’s new UK Production Facility. Infrared heating will play an important part in the technology mix for decarbonising heating, so it's

great that we're designing, making and selling these heaters in Bristol.

The Government scrapping its industrial strategy has made it harder for innovative start-ups like these to scale up. We need to do more to keep investment here in the UK.

Even long-established UK industries, such as car manufacturing, are in trouble. You may have seen the recent news about the car manufacturer Stellantis, which owns Vauxhall, considering leaving the UK. It is the first, but sadly won’t be the last unless the Government renegotiates the Brexit trade deal.

Compounding the problem, the Government has failed to secure the production of electric car batteries, which we’re going to need if we’re going to keep making cars in the UK, as the sale of petrol and diesel cars will be banned from 2030.

I suppose the warning signs for achieving this electric car future have been flashing for some time. Back in 2017, I raised during a House of Commons debate that we need the Government to put the charging infrastructure in place for this to be a reality. At the time, there were only three public electric car charging points across Bristol North West. We now have five, clustered in Avonmouth and Horfield – not a great improvement.

My Committee has launched an inquiry into the future of car production in the UK, so please follow my social media channels for updates. My Committee

work has also reignited my determination to make Bristol North West electric car friendly, with charging points easily accessible across the constituency. Watch this space!

In other local transport updates, I’m pleased to see our pothole-ridden roads are starting to be fixed. And, following several constituents contacting me about the removal of timetables from bus stops – with posters instead displaying QR codes to view them online, if they have data and a smartphone – I’m pleased to see new timetables are starting to appear in our bus stops.

Of course, having access to a bus timetable is only helpful if services turn up as scheduled, and my Better Buses or Bust! campaign has revealed the scale of the problem of ‘ghost buses’ in Bristol North West. At the time of writing, the campaign is in its final couple of weeks of data collection, so I won’t go into too much detail. But I did take the opportunity to raise the problem of ghost buses in Parliament recently, in response the Government announcing the extension of the £2 cap on bus fares. What good is a cheap ticket if the bus doesn’t show up? (See the clip on my Facebook page.)

Finally, if you haven’t yet booked your ticket for my Summer Coffee Morning at Henleaze Bowling Club on Saturday 1st July, don’t delay. At the time of writing, spaces are still available, but we expect it to fill-up quickly now that event promotion is revving up.

If you’d like to attend, please

head to www.darren-jones.co.uk/ events for the Eventbrite booking link. If you don’t have internet access, or if you have accessibility needs, please call my office on 0117 959 6545 to book. If you’d like to have a go at lawn bowls, please pay the £1 fee for 30 minutes of instruction and play directly to the club on the day. (There’s no charge for children to have a go with lightweight bowls while the grown-ups talk politics.)

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.

Darren Jones writes for the Voice

Team behind The Ardagh plans big expansion

VOLUNTEERS who run the café and gardens at Horfield Common have announced an ambitious expansion plan.

The Ardagh Community Trust took over running the Ardagh site in 2019, and rebuilt the café and some of the gardens.

Now they have agreed a deal with Bristol City Council to take over other parts of the site including the bowling green and ten tennis courts.

Chair Peter Walker told the Voice the move meant they could go ahead with a major fund-raising project to expand their activities, and open the site to more people.

He said: “The café has been very successful – and now we want to do more.

“We can now make a better case for fundraising to make the whole site accessible to everyone in the community. We have a company doing a survey for us looking at the best ways forward.

“It will be quite a challenge as many parts of the area have deteriorated over the past 20 years, as the City Council did not have the funds to maintain it fully.”

Currently the site includes a seven-daya-week café, food bank, and gardens which provide fresh produce. Activities include tai chi for older residents and new basketball hoops for teenagers, a regular repair shop, and mother and baby group.

Peter said the plan is to offer a range of

sport, leisure and community activities –including a Changing Places facility, using some tennis courts for multi sports, and improved wheelchair access.

The café employs part-time staff, while unpaid trustees and volunteers help with garden maintenance and running events.

They hope many of the changes will be in place in time for the Ardagh’s 100th birthday in 2026 – the site on Kellaway Avenue was established as a bowling green in the 1920s. It used to be maintained by Bristol City Council, but by the early 2000s had fallen into disrepair.

Peter has lived at the bottom of common for 40 years – and remembers playing there as a child when a council attendant was on hand to rent out tennis courts and a putting green.

“It became very dilapidated during all the council cutbacks, and local people wanted to restore it for use by everyone.”

Trustees hope the plans for expansion will help the Ardagh be financial sustainable for long term community benefit.

Local BCC Green Party councillor Emma Edwards, a supporter of the Trust, said: “The Ardagh is a much-loved and valued community space, and the trustees and volunteers work incredibly hard to keep it running – so I am so pleased that this community asset transfer is going ahead.

“This measure will give the community trust more scope to develop and grow the space, while still allowing for the bowling club to carry on, a concern that some members have had. I am so pleased that a solution has been reached that works for everyone.”

• Read a history of Ardagh on the Friends of Horfield Common website https:// historyofhorfieldcommon.weebly.com/

• There is more about the Ardagh Community Trust, events and how to become a volunteer on their website https://theardagh.com/

The Ardagh has become a green haven in north Bristol - and more delights are planned

Cllr Emma Edwards, second left, with Sam Thompson, CEO of Ardagh Community Trust and others at an event at the community space

Members of the Misfits Theatre group performing in the gardens at The Ardagh in 2022

Changes to NHS stroke services

NEW services have been launched at Southmead Hospital as part of the reconfiguration of stroke treatment across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG).

As part of the changes from last month, the Hyper Acute Stroke Unit (HASU) for the area has opened at Southmead Hospital for the initial emergency treatment of patients who have a stroke.

The HASU will provide a 24/7 service bringing specialised services to one location.

Alongside the HASU, an Acute Stroke Unit (ASU), is opening at Southmead Hospital, staffed by clinicians with expertise in stroke, to provide ongoing care for patients.

The changes to stroke services have been designed to help more people in the area survive a stroke and to also improve the quality of life for stroke survivors.

As well as the services at Southmead Hospital, there are Stroke Sub-Acute Rehabilitation Units (SSARUs) at Weston General and South Bristol Community Hospital, to support patients who have recovered from their stroke but need further rehabilitation before going home. Stroke survivors can also access enhanced community rehabilitation through the Integrated Community Stroke Service.

The transformation of stroke services has been established following a 2021 review.

The stroke ward at the BRI (ward A528) will become a General Internal Medical ward from Monday 5 June.

£1m appeal launches

A NEW research centre is being built at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children (BRHC).

Bristol & Weston Hospitals Charity has launched the South West Children’s Research Appeal, working with University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) to make this development a reality.

The £1 million project will give up to 20% more young patients the opportunity to take part in research projects that could help in the development of cures for rare conditions.

Currently, children undergoing pilot treatments often have to travel as far away as Birmingham, London or even Liverpool. Paul Kearney, chief executive of Bristol & Weston Hospitals Charity, said: “The ground-breaking facility will transform treatments, cures for poorly children will be discovered, and countless lives will be improved today,

n MESSAGE FROM AVON & SOMERSET PCC

Stand with us against knife crime

IN May I attended the first ever Avon and Somerset Police Outstanding Policing Awards, a remarkable opportunity to honour the outstanding achievements of the men and women who dedicate their lives to keeping our communities safe.

May also marked the start of Operation Sceptre, a national targeted initiative to reduce knife-related violence, increase public safety and engage communities in the fight against knife crime.

Proactively tackling knife crime is central to my police and crime plan, and I would encourage people to safely discard any weapons or knives they may carry in the ‘weapons surrender bins’ installed by Avon and Somerset Police.

The bins are in areas where we know they are needed, and offer people a safe and anonymous way of getting rid of a weapon. If you know someone who carries a weapon, please encourage them to surrender it. You can find your nearest bin in the crime prevention advice section of the police website.

Avon and Somerset Police and partners already carry out a large range of activities to raise awareness of and combat knife crime, and the Violence Reduction Units’ work is at the heart of this, delivering talks to young people in schools, running Blunt Truth workshops in partnership with the NHS and hosting pop-up information stands.

While we have seen a reduction in street-based knife crime across Avon and Somerset, more still needs to be done to ensure people feel safe in their communities. Let’s raise awareness, educate, and stand against knife crime.

As the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners’ national fraud lead, I also welcome the publication of the government’s long-awaited strategy, setting out how it plans to tackle fraud and bring more offenders to justice.

This strategy, and the accompanying Economic Crime Plan, is an important step forward. I fully support the Government’s three-pillar approach to stop, block, pursue, and

to educate the public.

I have been able to have a direct impact on two important areas within the strategy, which will ensure there is national central coordination of prevention and awareness messaging, and ensure banks are delaying and doing extra due diligence checks on large BACS payments out of accounts that could be fraudulent.

However, the strategy does not recognise some fundamental challenges, including the highly complex landscape of investigating fraud, which needs to be fully supported.

I am calling for more to be done to recognise this crime’s significant impact and harm on victims. Fraud can leave lasting mental and physical trauma, with some victims taking their own lives.

Finally, I am pleased to say that the Commissioner’s Crime Prevention Fund grant has opened for applications.

This grant, set up by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in partnership with Somerset

tomorrow and into the future.

“We need the people of Bristol to rally with us to help this centre feel like a homefrom-home for poorly children and help us unlock hope and find cures for families.”

Professor A.V.Ramanan, consultant rheumatologist and professor of paediatric rheumatology, said: “The South West Children’s Research Appeal will enable us to participate in trials which can be life transforming and potentially curative, like gene therapy studies.

“Due to the lack of clinical research facility, Bristol has not been a site for cutting-edge treatments for rare paediatric disease.

"This has meant either children having to travel, or often missing out on novel therapies for rare conditions.”

To support the appeal, visit the Bristol & Weston Hospitals Charity website.

With Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Shelford

Community Foundation and Quartet Community Foundation, aims to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour through community projects and activities.

Community groups previously awarded this grant have delivered some fantastic crime-reducing initiatives and activities.

I implore local organisations to apply for this worthwhile funding, to reduce anti-social behaviour and make our communities safe.

Jim's on song for his 105th birthday

ASKED for the secret of his long life, retirement village resident, Jim Mearns joked that: “It’s wine, women and song, that keeps me going.”

And all three were very much in evidence as Jim was joined by his second wife, Margaret, family, friends and fellow St Monica Trust residents to celebrate his 105th birthday.

Born on 15 May, 1918, Glaswegian Jim emigrated to the United States with his parents when he was five years old.

Jim and his family lived in Lorraine, Ohio where his father worked at the local steelworks.

While Jim was attending high school, he won a state singing competition, which led to an offer of a scholarship to study music at Oberlin College.

Unfortunately, Jim’s parents had already made the decision to return to Glasgow after he graduated from high school.

Back in the UK, Jim pursued a successful career

as a pharmacist, earning his master’s degree in pharmacy and eventually settling in Bath to teach in the Pharmacology department of Bath University. But Jim never lost his passion for music and continued to sing ballads and love songs in pubs, clubs and at family gatherings throughout his life.

A multi-recorded artist, Jim is also a member of 1904 Bristol Arts, a society which celebrates art, music and the performing arts.

After the cutting of the birthday cake, one of the society’s members read out a song, which was written in honour of Jim’s 105th year.

The last two lines read:

“Others have soared, then in an instant gone Jim, unassuming, simply ‘carries on’”

This is Jim’s second time around as a resident of the St Monica Trust. He lived at the Bristol retirement village in 2000 for three years, before moving out to live with Margaret in Bournemouth.

After getting married and travelling, Jim and Margaret returned to live at the St Monica Trust in 2014.

Cote Lane Retirement Village Manager, Ruth Taylor said: “Jim is so well loved and admired within our Cote Lane community, where he has lived with Margaret for the last nine years.

“It was wonderful to celebrate Jim’s very special birthday with Margaret, his family, friends and, of course, a magnificent cake.”

THE Get Growing Garden Trail – a showcase for Bristol’s inspiring community food growing projects – takes place over the first weekend in June. The city-wide event is a brilliant opportunity to visit thirty different growing spaces. One of the these, the pioneering Horfield Organic Community Orchard (HOCO), was set up on some former allotment plots in 1998. This year it celebrates its silver anniversary as an orchard project, growing fruit, community, wellbeing, and learning.

Orchard member Shannom Smith said: “It’s hard to believe HOCO is 25 years old. It thrives thanks to all those years of voluntary activity and public support. Planting fruit trees is relatively easy. Looking after them as they grow up, and age, asks more of us. We are delighted to be celebrating HOCO as a successful project, although less-than-perfect, with the potential to keep on growing for another 25 years, or more.”

As an established organic orchard, HOCO is home to microorganisms, fungi, insects, plants, birds, and animals, as

Horfield Organic Community Orchard celebrates 25 years

and in the following one. We are also concerned about the impacts of climate emergency chaos, and how to prepare and adapt for an unpredictable future. This event is open to all – and we are keen to show and share actions that can help sustain future harvests.”

Home-made cakes and refreshing cordials, as well as plants and produce, will be on sale. The event takes place from 2pm-5pm Refreshments, plants and produce will be on sale.

well as many varieties of apples, pears and plums.

Visitors to the Summer Orchard Open Day on June 3 will be able to ask fruit growing questions and learn about nature-friendly solutions. They are also invited to take a closer

look at experimental projects, such as the passive water capture channel in the Home Orchard Plot area.

Shannon added: “We know the growing conditions of high summer affect the quality and quantity of fruit – in any year

• How to find Horfield Organic Community 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 Field (BS7 8QQ) until you come to the last gate on the left.

Email: hocohello@gmail.com

Phone: 0117 373 1587

Trail returns in time for growing season

BRISTOL'S Get Growing Trail returns this month with 29 sites opening to the public for the weekend.

The trail offers everyone the chance to explore the city’s community allotments, orchards, smallholdings, mini market gardens, city farms, productive parks and even a unique berry maze.

It will be the first time since 2019 that the Get Growing Trail has taken place in June. For the last three years, the event has taken place in September, or as an online event, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Running the trail in early summer allows visitors who get inspired to get growing, enough time to get planting now and to reap the edible rewards from this growing season, rather than having to wait patiently through the autumn and winter for the next spring to come.

Bristol Food Network, which organises the trail, is welcoming some old-favourites back to the event on June 3 and 4. The New Roots Garden opens for the trail for the first time since 2018, Horfield Organic Community Orchard and Metford Road Community Orchard are joining for the first time since 2019. Fishponds Community Orchard, The Haven and Sustainable Westbury on Trym

(SuSWoT) are also happily back on the trail this year after a two-year absence. Other highlights include:

• Explore Bristol’s first dementia-friendly allotment in Brentry (as seen on Gardeners’ World) .

• Tour the University of Bristol Botanic Garden, discovering more about the exotic vegetables grown there.

• Visit Herbalists without Borders, Bristol: a community plot growing all kinds of medicinal herbs. The plot is at Ashley Vale

Allotments.

The weekend offers the opportunity to learn about permaculture systems, no-dig methods, food justice and other aspects of community growing. There are so many examples of nature-friendly garde¯ning across the trail, showing that it is possible to share the city’s precious green spaces between people and wildlife, and to continue to grow productively.

Some examples include:

• Blaise Community Garden has a woodpile left undisturbed for bugs and mini beasts, plus there are beehives that focus on pollination rather than honey.

• Easton Community Garden collects its own water and makes compost and plant feeds, as well as uses permaculture methods.

• Filton Community Garden is adapting planting for dry summers.

• The Golden Hill Community Garden boasts a solar-powered pump supplying water to the allotment and has a straw bale eco house.

Full details of all 29 garden openings can be found at https://www. bristolfoodnetwork.org/blog/get-growinggarden-trail and Trail maps are available across the city.

Herbalists without Borders

Photo: Jane Stevenson

n NATURE WATCH

With Dawn Lawrence

THERE is one family of plants that almost always impresses. It is one of the largest with around 28,000 species, but it is not always about size, is it! This family contains some of the most specialised, surprising and valuable plants in the world: it is the orchid family.

Orchids are usually pollinated by insects and many rely on a single species: it seems reckless to tie your reproductive fortunes to one particular pollinator but it works for this family. One of my fondest wildlife memories is from watching fly orchids: in front of my eyes a wasp landed (a tiny thing that looks like a fly – hence the confusion in the orchid’s name) and the orchid gave a purposeful twitch that left a package of pollen stuck to the wasp’s head. I probably imagined the wasp’s surprise at this sudden assault, but it launched itself off, no doubt quickly returning to visit another fly orchid having forgotten the startling experience. Orchids also have a precarious start to life. Their seeds

are microscopic and contain no nutrient store. Upon germination the seed has to rapidly establish a connection with a fungus via its roots; if successful a mycorrhizal association is created and they grow together exchanging nutrients, if unsuccessful the seedling will wither or even be overwhelmed and consumed by the fungus.

We have more than 50 native species in the UK (it is quite hard to get agreement on the exact number) and around 20 in the Bristol area with bee, pyramidal and common spotted orchids being the most commonly seen in our part of the city in June to August, whilst green-winged and early purples appear earlier in spring.

Like so many plants, the common spotted orchid has suffered huge declines since the intensification of farming in the 1960’s but it remains relatively easy to find and can form a colourful carpet across an accommodating

stretch of grassland. It has a spike of white, pink or lilac flowers with a frilly lower lip splashed with darker

pink or purple. These spikes can be around 60cm tall and contain 50 flowers. It grows on woodland rides, verges and cuttings but favours open grasslands - the best place to see it locally is the Downs. Orchids have the unusual facility of springing up unexpectedly where they were previously unknown or have long been absent – this is both a comfort and an exciting spur to keep looking. A couple of years ago I was surprised by the sight of a single pyramidal orchid lighting up a front lawn on Redland Road with its neat spike of candy pink flowers (they are held in a rounded pyramidal shape).

Orchids can survive for many years without flowering and this one may even have derived from the turf originally used to lay the lawn.

Look out also for bee orchids, with a fat brown velvet lower lip and three lilac petals, popping up on dry banks, sparse grassland and even waste ground.

Common spotted orchid, Stoke Bishop

Photo © Rupert Higgins

Ready for action?

Heat Pump Ready Programme: SusWoT and its partners, the Centre for Sustainable Energy, and the Bristol Energy Network, are looking for suitable homes with owners interested in being part of this programme.

Get Growing: SusWoT sold over 200 tomato plants at the Community Fair in May. SusWoT will be part of the Get Growing Trail across Bristol on Saturday 3 June. The Community Garden between Stoke Lane and Reedley Road will be manned in the afternoon, 2-4pm and 47 Abbey Road will be open 11am4pm for the sale of vegetable plants. If you are interested in buying plants, but can’t get to this event, email SusWoT to find out what is available. There will be many different plants and seeds available including various beans, squash, courgettes, and cabbages. The recent cold weather means many plants are well behind as the ground has not yet warmed up. Weeds are doing well.

Festival of Nature: SusWoT as part of the Trout in the Trym group are part of this festival. On Friday 9th June 10am to 12noon there will be an event on the Blaise Castle estate to do litter picking, cleaning of the Trym and seeing what life there is in the Trym. The precise location will be determined nearer the time,

email SusWoT for details.

Litter Picking in Westbury and Henleaze: One Sunday morning in May SusWoT joined with the Westbury on Trym Society to clear the War Memorial and surrounding traffic islands of weeds and rubbish. There were about 20 people involved and it looks much smarter now. There are about 60 people who regularly litter pick in Westbury and a further 20 or so in Henleaze. If you would like to help email SusWoT.

Supper Club: This has been a success so far, attendances have increased each month. The aim of the club is to have fun and a nice meal and to support our local restaurants. If we do not use them, we will lose them. The supper is the second Thursday of the month.

Monitoring the Trym and River Cleaning: Every Friday from 10am to 12 noon weather

permitting SusWoT clear rubbish from the Trym or Hazel Brook and its associated green space as part of the work of the Trout in the Trym group. The historic rubbish on the land has now all been removed and there is only a short stretch of river in the Crow Lane Open Space that has not been cleared. This work has taken four years and during this time the water quality has been regularly monitored. The good news is that the variety and amount of life in the river is increasing. Trout have been seen in the Trym again this year. There remains the challenge of cleaning out the silt traps in Blaise, some silt has been removed but the ponds are completely full of silt which means it continues to pass into the river.

SusWoT email is suswot2050@gmail.com if you want to join or wish to learn more about any of these activities please be in touch.

BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT NOW!

n NEWS FROM THE METRO MAYOR

Many happy returns (and singles)

AS your Metro Mayor, there are three things that are constantly on my mind.

The first is the cost-of-living crisis, which is frightening to many of the one million people I proudly represent.

The second is the climate emergency, with the latest research suggesting things are far worse than feared.

The third is, how do we encourage people to voluntarily change their behaviour on an ongoing basis to meet the huge challenges of the modern world?

With these three things in mind, I’m delighted to tell you about a special birthday initiative I’m introducing as your regional mayor.

Starting soon, you’ll be able to ride the buses of the West of England completely free throughout the month of your birthday. This will help your pocket, the planet, and, I hope, see positive change in the way we all travel in future to reduce congestion, pollution and delays.

This innovative offer - which applies to the vast majority of buses running in the West of England, as well as the region’s WESTlink bookable minibuses - begins for lo-

cals with a July birthday and runs 12 months until every resident has had the chance to benefit from their free Birthday Month Bus Pass.

If you’re not a regular bus user, this birthday month of free bus travel is particularly aimed at you. Give it a go - you’ve literally got nothing to lose.

If you are a car user, think how many times you could avoid filling up at a petrol station during the month of your birthday? I hope, with a whole birthday month to try the bus for free, we come to like (even love) bus travel to continue to use it into the future.

Other places in the UK have tried free bus travel for a day, or a weekend, but this is very different. It’s about encouraging lasting behaviour change. Try a whole month - maybe you won’t look back!

This offer is also for you if you’re already a bus user. I hope this birthday bonanza is a boon to you too. A free month to help during the cost-of-living crisis. Plus, you can use it for extra days out too - perhaps to enjoy the amazing attractions and beauty of our fantastic region. You could be better off by one twelfth of the bus costs you shell

Metro Mayor Dan Norris

out annually. It’s super easy to claim your free Birthday Month Bus Pass – simply go to www.birthdaybus.co.uk. We’ll send you your pass in the post, and you’re away!

People tell me buses are important. That affordable transport is critical. That behaviour change of an ongoing kind is key to overcoming the climate emergency.

This initiative to give free bus travel in the month of your birthday is a UK first. It is innovative and new. It allows our brilliant region to show the rest of the country how to take on the big challenges of our time.

I wish you many happy returns - and singles!

A RETIREMENT VILLAGE WITH A CRICKET PITCH AT ITS HEART

To learn more about village life book your place on a guided tour now by calling 0117 919 4251, or visit www.stmonicatrust.org.uk for more information and details of available properties.

Registered Charity 202151

n FROM THE MAYOR’S OFFICE

£8 million more support with national cost of living crisis

SIGNIFICANT pressures remain for many households across Bristol, in particular our city’s most vulnerable residents and families, with no sign of the national cost of living crisis slowing down or coming to an end. The support from national government has been lacking but we’ve worked hard to target supported funding that we have received to help those most in need. Our Household Support Fund has been instrumental in Bristol’s response to the national cost of living crisis, so we welcomed the news that we were receiving an additional £8 million for this financial year.

There are many people who fall through the gaps and are unfortunately not eligible. We used some of the money last year to top up our £1.4 million Local Crisis Prevention Fund, enabling us to provide around 10,000 households

with emergency payments. Over 2,600 of these were through our Household Support Fund. Additional help included in the Mayor’s budget provides support to almost 33,000 households with up to 100 per cent off their council tax bills through our £41.3 million Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

The spend for this year’s Household Support Fund has been approved by Cabinet to provide:

• Free School Meal Vouchers to approximately 22,600 young people for all school holidays from May 2023 half term to February 2024 half term

• Targeted support to those with No Resource to Public Funds (including Refugee and Asylum Seeker households known directly to us)

• Targeted support to care leavers and foster households to assist with their food and heating costs

• Support for 1,100 low-income

households via Discretionary Housing Payments

• Help to around 4,000 low-income households in need through the Local Crisis Prevention Fund who are not eligible for the other payments outlined above

Similar to last year, money is also being allocated to some local support organisations, including Bristol Age UK, Feeding Bristol, Centre for Sustainable Energy and WECIL to help them to continue to provide essential support.

Earlier this year, the government provided us with funding to assist around 13,500 households already receiving partial Council Tax Reduction, allowing us to deduct up to £75 from their remaining council tax bills. This new allocation for the Household Support Fund will enable us to extend this offer for pensioners with up to an additional £25 being taken off remaining bills.

Housing Forums

There is no application process for our Household Support Fund and we, or one of the associated charities also distributing funds, will contact people directly if they’re eligible. If you are not eligible and need financial support there is other help available. For cost of living advice and signposting please visit bristol.gov.uk/costofliving or call the We Are Bristol helpline for free on 0800 694 0184, Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5pm.

for Bristol council tenants – get involved!

Evening: Tuesday 13 June, 6–8pm

Afternoon: Thursday 29 June, 1–3pm

Your opinions help us make decisions!

If you’re a council tenant, you can have your say on how the housing service is run and make suggestions about improvements. For June 2023, we are hosting online meetings focussing on issues we know matter most to tenants.

● Come along and find out about the action we are taking to ensure fire safety for residents in our high rise blocks of flats. At the meeting you will also be able to hear about how we are shaping our plans to improve energy efficiency in our homes.

● Places must be booked, you can do this online at: www.bristol.gov.uk/LocalHousingForums

● If you are not online but would like to take part, there is also a free dial-in option which you can join using your phone. For more information about how you can access the meetings contact Tenant Participation 0117 352 1444 or email  tpu@bristol.gov.uk

Guest column from Councillor Craig Cheney, Deputy Mayor

CONTROVERSIAL plans for 60 homes in Redland have been rejected on appeal.

A planning inspector has dismissed a bid by developers to overturn a decision by Bristol city councillors to refuse permission for two five-storey blocks on a site next to The Vincent retirement complex in Redland.

The local authority’s development control committee voted 4-3 in October 2021 to turn down the application amid concerns for the safety of elderly and disabled pedestrians.

Its decision came despite officers recommending approval and warning that the council would have a “very slim chance” of successfully defending an appeal, which the applicants Elizabeth Blackwell Properties then submitted.

But the Planning Inspectorate has now thrown that out, concluding that the buildings on land called Home Gardens, near the junction of Blackboy Hill and Redland Hill, would be overbearing on two nearby cottages down the slope in St

‘Bulky and overbearing’ flats refused on appeal

Vincents Hill.

It did not agree that the development would have an unacceptable impact on residents at The Vincent, either during construction or long term, and awarded partial costs against the council on these grounds.

The planning inspector;’s report said one of the two proposed blocks would be “of significant bulk and height, looming above the boundaries” of numbers 7 and 9 St Vincents Hill and would “tower over the skyline and create a foreboding relationship with the simple, modest cottages”.

It said: “I find that the proposed development would create a bulky and overbearing form positioned within an intimate distance of these properties.

“This would visually dominate

the outlook for both properties and create a foreboding sense of enclosure which would be harmful to occupiers both within and outside of the properties.”

The report said the developers argued that the scale and design of the scheme reflected the buildings in the wider area and that the council’s planning and transport teams had deemed the plans acceptable, but it concluded that “these matters do not mediate the harm identified”.

The inspector said: “I find that the proposed development, by nature of its scale and proximity to the occupiers of properties on St Vincents Hill, would result in a significant level of harm to the living conditions of those occupiers.”

They said residents at The Vincent had a “real perception

that they would be fearful of accessing the car park during the construction phase” but that this could be dealt with by a planning condition.

The inspector added: “I find that the proposed development would not result in a level of associated vehicle movements that would be detrimental to the living conditions of the occupiers of The Vincent.”

The report said that although 20 per cent of the homes would be classed as affordable, this would not overcome the harm to neighbours at St Vincents Hill.

The plans received 52 objections during four rounds of consultation before being rejected by councillors 17 months ago.

By Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service

n PHARMACY BLOG

Flights booked, passport ready - don't forget your travel jabs

TRAVELLING can be such a great adventure, discovering local food and culture. No surprise that the travel industry has been reporting a post-pandemic international travel boom!

People are ticking off bucketlist destinations, heading off to exotic holiday destinations, and taking up delayed Gap Year travel or Career breaks to recharge and seek new experiences.

For many, it is not the lure of a five-star holiday break or a safari adventure; going abroad is the chance to meet up again with friends and family after the separation brought about during the pandemic years. Whatever the inspiration reason for the trip, it is vital to do so safely.

Discovering your destination

country's health system is not usually on your wish list or a memory to cherish. Still then, worryingly, there could be up to 42 million trips abroad each year where the traveller doesn't seek any travel health advice before heading off.

Putting aside the Channel 4 documentaries, you know, the ones … where "Unfortunate person stranded on a hospital bed in Paradise" … travel insurance was not taken out ("I knew I had forgotten something") or invalidated cover ("I did not know they required me to have travel jabs!").

The unplanned additional cost and anxiety could become an endless nightmare.

Many countries will have

REDLAND GREEN CLUB

health risks that require vaccinations for protection. First thing is to contact your local GP to find out about availability for NHS travel health consultation and also obtain records of your previous vaccinations. Many people's records will now be available on their NHS App. Getting all the information together saves time and ensures you only obtain the required private vaccinations. The recommended time to seek health advice is eight weeks before your trip. Last-minute? Don't panic, just get in touch with Bristol Travel Clinic on 0800 7723575.

Our prices reflect our ethos that money should not be a barrier to accessing health services. We also offer treatment

0117 9246579

18 Kellaway Avenue, Westbury Park, Bristol, BS6 7XR

to delay periods while on holiday and for with altitude sickness. If you are not travelling but need vaccinations to protect you from Chicken-Pox, Meningitis B or any other work-related risks, we can help.

To get advice or book an appointment, Call Bristol Travel Clinic on 0800 7723575, Complete the online query form : www. bristoltravelclinic.co.uk or drop into Kellaway Pharmacy today. We'll get you ready for wherever your journey takes you.

Unicorns to deliver history lessons ...

UNICORN statues will be placed in more than 50 locations in Bristol and the surrounding area over the summer to raise money for the charity Leukaemia Care.

They will be decorated by local artists including Inkie, Silent Hobo and Holy Moly.

The art trail, named Unicornfest, is due to run from July 1 to September 3. Unicorns have been chosen because they are on Bristol’s coat of arms. The city is this year marking Bristol 650, the anniversary of a charter granted by King Edward 111 in 1373 granting it important rights and privileges.

Unicornfest has now launched its education programme in collaboration with Bridging Histories and the Bristol History Commission.

The education pack, a free resource written by Bridging Histories, will help students explore their personal and local histories. The programme involves poetry, recipe =

creation and sharing, research of local and family history, and exploration of what it takes to be a changemaker.

More than 40 schools and community organisations have each agreed to donate £750 to take possession of a unicorn foal

Care in your own home

which they can decorate.

To find out more, visit the unicornfest website https:// theunicornfest.co.uk

Care in your own home

Care in your own home

A unicorn statue in Broadmead and, left, launch of the history pack

Rachel Dickinson, solicitor at AMD Solicitors discusses how to protect your home from property fraud

to date with the land registry (free service – complete and send COG1 form to the Land Registry)

Advertising Feature

• Use the New Property Alert Service to notify you of any applications that have been made against your property. (free service – www.gov. uk/property-alert )

The gift that pays for itself

ONE of the issues which is currently in the media is the risk of property fraud whereby individuals use various means to obtain money or property using properties at risk. This is often to benefit other criminal activity.

What properties are at high risk?

• Empty properties

• Tenanted properties

• Properties which could become empty

• Properties not subject to a mortgage

• Unregistered properties

There are benefits associated with all these alternatives but there are also some pitfalls. If you would like advice on which option fits your circumstances or assistance with completing the necessary forms please contact us.

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 %.

• Properties which are not occupied all the time

How can you protect your home?

By Shelley Faulkner, solicitor

• Register your unregistered property

with AMD Solicitors

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.

Property Alert

Using the Property Alert service is very simple.

• Go to the website address above

• Complete your details including your email address and a safe password and register

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.

• Add a Restriction to your property which sets out certain requirements which need to be met before registration of a transaction takes place.

• Keeping your contact details up

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.

reportafraud@landregistry.gov.uk.

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.

Reduced rate of Inheritance Tax

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

• Add the property(ies) you wish to monitor (maximum 10)

• Monitor your emails

• Keep your details up to date

The service notifies you if anyone makes an application to register something against the title. It relies on you to check that the transaction is legitimate. If it is not you can then contact the Land Registry fraud line on 0300 006 7030 or at

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

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.

It does not prevent transactions being registered but it enables you to be warned and take action.

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.

If you find you are notified and do not know what to do next, first contact the Land Registry.

The writer, Rachel Dickinson, is a Solicitor at AMD Solicitors having recently joined our Shirehampton office as a Conveyancer. Rachel assists clients in their property transactions including buying, selling and transferring between

AMD’s team of experienced private client solicitors and practitioners includes full

individuals and has been conveyancing for over 20 years, bringing a varied insight into the intricacies of property transactions. Sorting out your property affairs could cost less than you think and can give you peace of mind. If you need any assistance relating to the ownership of your property please do not hesitate to contact Rachel or our conveyancing team for a quote on 0117 923 5562 or email info@ amdsolicitors.com

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

Bristol to get new version of

A NEW version of Monopoly is coming and it could feature your favourite Bristol landmark.

To celebrate the 650th anniversary of Bristol being granted independent county status, a special version of the popular board game will be produced. Not only will a new edition be created, but Bristol residents will have a say on what landmarks are included.

The new edition of the game is expected to be available to buy in November this year, 23 years after the original Bristol Monopoly came out.

The most expensive square on the old version of the board is Anchor Road as ‘Mayfair’, while Temple Street as ‘Old Kent Road’ is currently the cheapest. However, this could all change in the new edition.

Some popular landmarks that

are expected to feature are the Clifton Suspension Bridge, the University of Bristol, and both football clubs.

The property sets will be themed in different genres such as tourism, shopping, business and charity. Another potential category is a street art set, which would be unique to any Monopoly ever made.

Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, said: “We can’t wait for this new edition of the world’s most famous board game to be released, helping celebrate our great city.”

John Keen-Tomlinson, Custom Games Executive at Winning Moves UK, who are producing the game under licensing from global branded entertainment leader Hasbro, said: “It’s a new game for a new generation”.

These are just some of the reasons (not to mention having fun, meeting new people and feeling awesome!!) why semi private Personal Training could be just what you’re looking for.

Gill started training with me in December. She’s 65 yrs and a very busy Grandmother!!

“I spend a lot of time with my three pre-school age grandchildren, something I would like to continue for as long as possible”

She regularly attends strength and mobility classes online and at the gym.

“The range of exercise is great but there is little opportunity for feedback on how I am doing, how to develop and how to improve without incurring injury.”

Gill was frustrated as she has a shoulder injury which she kept on making worse and wasn’t sure how to train safely.

“I joined Semi private Personal Training sessions with Polly in December and It was just what I needed! The size of the group means Polly is able to give each person individual attention and to be mindful of our specific injuries and needs. I feel more confident to push a little further each week, and so far, remain injury free!”

Gill has done amazingly well. She’s never missed a session; walks there and back and despite her busy work and childcare schedule, has been able to make the most of fitting in extra sessions where she can.

“Polly has created an environment in which exercising with others is both motivating and fun. I leave every session feeling more mobile and energised, with a spring in my step as I walk home! I always look forward to the next session!”

If you’d like help with getting stronger and fitter, in a safe and friendly environment AND have fun at the same time, do get in touch, I’m happy to help.

“I’m too old to build muscle”

“I just need a little push”

“I can’t keep up the motivation on my own”

“I’m not really sure what I’m doing”

“I’m worried about injuring myself”

“I don’t like lots of people looking at me!”

Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees expects the new edition to be a winner

n ADVERTISING FEATURE

Room 212: it's so Gloucester Road!

TEN years ago, Sarah Thorp took over a little pop-up gallery on Gloucester Road with the idea of turning it into a permanent exhibition space and shop for local artists.

As a participant in the popular North Bristol Art Trail, Sarah felt that her fellow artists could do with a space to show their artwork for more than just one weekend in November and she invited a selection to show their work in her shop. This idea proved so popular that the space rapidly expanded to offer paintings, prints, jewellery, lampshades, ceramics, gifts, cards and more, all by local Bristol artists and creatives.

Sarah became an active member of the community, helping to enliven her section of Gloucester Road, known as Glos Rd Central, putting on Mayfest, the Christmas Street Party, the Art Banners and fund-raising events. She loves being one of the longtime traders on her favourite high street of independent shops!

Many of the first artists to join still sell their work at Room 212 and have become good friends. For instance Rosie Webb brought her popular paintings of quirky animals directly to Room 212 the day it opened and she returned home from London, Katie Johnston's beautiful enamel jewellery has evolved over the years but is still a firm favorite and Hannah Turner's ceramics are best sellers even though they are

now made by a women's cooperative in Sri Lanka. Toni Burrows's fascinating mosaics and Jenny Urquhart's beautiful paintings of Bristol always look wonderful in the windows.

Many of the artists are still North Bristol Artists and have exhibited on the Art Trail with Sarah in her studio downstairs and in the Eco House in the garden round the back.

Lockdown was a turning point for Room 212, luckily in a positive way, when Emma Catherine started displaying her beautiful teal and gold Full Moon paintings in the window - the first one was appropriately snapped up by neighbouring business Lunar Optical!

Sarah was honoured that Room 212 was selected as the only shop to feature in the bestselling book '111 Places in Bristol You Shouldn't Miss' which gave her the boost to continue during lockdown, as did the support Room 212 received through online sales.

As nearly all the artists live close by, it's likely you'll meet one or two of them popping in with their latest creations. The big windows are perfect to display original works, tying in with the seasons or Bristol events. For instance there'll be a celebration of unicorns for the upcoming Unicornfest in July and a display of balloon related art for the Balloon Fiesta. Electric the Cat can often be spotted in a sunny spot on top of greetings cards, watching the passersby.

Sarah fondly remembers the first week Room 212 opened, when a customer walked in and exclaimed 'This is SO Gloucester Road!' She quickly learned how much people love unique arty cards and stocks a huge variety and her window displays are always a delight to behold. Her own creative output has changed over the years, from knitting and upcycling with decoupage to her current popular range of brass and copper jewellery. So, if ever you're passing do pop in for a browse and a chat - you'll always be welcome! Follow www.room212.co.uk Instagram and Facebook for more info.

Sarah Thorp at Room 212 Photo: Barbara Evripidou

Night at the musicals

FAIRFIELD High School delighted its audience with three evenings of A Night at the Musicals including classics from these much loved musicals: Greatest Showman, Moana, Billy Elliot, The Lion King, Hamilton, Hairspray, Mamma Mia and Grease.

The 40 strong cast appeared in multiple musicals, with a fine balance of minor and major parts, meaning that many had their own moment to shine.

Natalie, Thompson, head of performing arts, said: “It was a tough decision choosing just one musical, which is why we decided to perform eight from different genres and eras. This was an even harder task for our young people as they quickly changed between character, costume, accents and staging. I’m bursting with pride and awe at our fantastic students who portrayed their characters so beautifully.”

Competition success

A TEAM from V6 sixth form at Montpelier High School won two awards at the area finals of the annual Young Enterprise competition.

The scheme empowers young people to set up and run a student company under the guidance of a business volunteer. Students make all the decisions about their business, from deciding on the company name, managing the company finances and selling to the public, with participants gaining practical business experience and key skills along the way.

The Year 12 team - Hayley, Sara, Saayam, Charlie, Evee and Hoang - have been developing their product and attended several trade events this year, winning the award for Best Company at the Spring Trade Fair at Cabot Circus.

At the area final, the team talked to judges about their product, submitted a detailed

report and presented about thei journey, business and product to the judging panel. Their effort paid off, and led to the team winning Best Report and the Sustainability Award.

Team member Sara said “We took part in the Young Enterprise programme as a chance to expand our skills and get a real sense of what running a business is like— from the process of design to manufacturing and selling a product. Our colouring book for children age 2 to 6 was educational, fun and fully sustainable. We have had really enjoyed the experience of working together and really recommend participation to future Year 12 students.”

Miss Blything, Head of Year 12 said “A massive well done to the YE team. Everyone at V6 is incredibly proud of what you have achieved.”

Grease is the word ... One of the classic musicals showcased at FHS

PROGRESS has been made on how one of Bristol’s largest green spaces is run after heavy criticism over a lack of transparency.

Following a survey last year, a series of reforms were brought in to overhaul the running of Clifton Down and Durdham Down.

Clifton Down is owned by the Society of Merchant Venturers and Durdham Down is owned by Bristol City Council. Together the Downs are run by a committee made up of councillors and members of the Merchant Venturers, which has faced several major issues recently.

The outgoing chair of the committee, Green Councillor Paula O’Rourke, said she had accomplished the four goals she set out to do last year. She was previously Lord Mayor of the council, a role that usually lasts one year and includes chairing the Downs committee.

Speaking at a Downs committee meeting on April 25, she said: “I’ve always said that the weakest link of the Downs committee is the Lord Mayor. I feel even more strongly

'Progress made' on how Bristol's Downs are run

that that’s true having been in the role for a year. It’s a very difficult role. The Lord Mayor is very busy doing a lot of other things and there isn’t a huge amount of resources to support the activities in between the meetings.

“In previous years when I was a member of the committee, very often it was business as usual. It’s very hard to get anything proactive done in between meetings. Somebody has to drive it, and unless you have a Lord Mayor who has got specific interests in this, it doesn’t necessarily follow that that’s going to happen.”

Cllr O’Rourke represents Clifton, which borders the Downs. The previous Lord Mayor was Conservative Cllr Steve Smith, who represents Westburyon-Trym and Henleaze, also

bordering the Downs. The new Lord Mayor is Labour Cllr Paul Goggin, representing Hartcliffe and Withywood in south Bristol.

Controversies on the Downs include previous plans to use part of the parkland as overspill car parking for the Bristol Zoo, which has since closed. This saw campaigners Downs for People take the committee to court, ramping up steep legal fees.

This issue also prompted questions about why the Merchant Venturers were at all involved in running the Downs, whereas most parks in Bristol are managed solely by the council. The survey last spring asked the public about how the Downs should be governed, including whether the Merchants should remain involved.

Now reforms enacted include setting up an advisory panel

with the volunteer group Friends of the Downs and Avon Gorge; improving communications with the public; and hiring a fundraising manager to get external grants and cash to pay for the parkland’s upkeep.

Cllr O’Rourke said: “We needed to get an agreement on the new governance arrangements. We needed to get a strong ally, which we did with FoDAG. We’ve set up the advisory panel so that we’re reaching out to the broader community and we have a very strong conduit for communication into and out of this committee. And we needed to get ourselves in a position where we could recruit a Downs manager. I’m very pleased that we’ve achieved all those four things."

By Alex Seabrook, LDRS

A tale of conflicts, Covid and Colston

AN award winning documentary film maker from St Andrews has published a memoir, trigged by his thoughts about the pandemic.

Martin Smith spent most of his working life making films about wars across the globe.

Now his book Mattters of Life and Death: Living with History in a Pandemic reflects on the connections between those conflicts, and the impacts of the pandemic on 21st century life.

He says that during Covid, as an eighty-something “at risk” man he found himself confined to his home – watching an eerily empty city, at a time when no one knew what the future would hold.

“Covid caused a lot of thought about the past and present for all of us, and that gave birth to my book,” he said.

“Being faced with possibility of having to say goodbye to this world, you think about what have you done in your life, what have you witnessed.”

Martin got into the world of

n BOOK REVIEW Trespasses

by Louise Kennedy

THE year is 1975. Chinatown is showing at the cinema. Jim’ll Fix It is on Saturday night television and Mud are top of the music charts.

Trespasses is set in Belfast at the height of the Troubles. The main character in the novel is Cushla, a 24 year old Catholic primary school teacher whose social life is limited to driving her alcoholic mother, Gina to Mass and the odd shift at the family bar managed by her brother Eamonn. It is in the bar that Cushla meets Michael Agnew, a married, middle aged Protestant lawyer who takes on civil rights cases for Catholics. Michael invites Cushla to an Irish Language evening where she meets his bourgeois bohemian friends, with their liberal republican sympathies. They start a secret affair, involving many illicit meetings including a derelict farmhouse and a dirty weekend in Dublin with

film making with his first job - as a rewind boy at his local cinema in Middlesex in the 1950s rolling back reels of film.

He finally broke into documentary and film making in the 60s, and found himself focusing on some of the darkest and most shocking events in British and international life.

As film editor he worked on Granada TV's World in Action, and his first notable success as a director was in the acclaimed series The World at War.

He made 18 films for Thames Television's series This Week, including Death in the West' - an expose of Philip Morris's Marlboro advertising campaign.

His awards, as a director or producer, include an EMMY for

Peace is at Hand, one of several films he made for the PBS/ATV series 'Vietnam : A Television History'.

His work as exhibition director at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. resulted in a Design Award from President Bill Clinton.

Martin moved to Bristol 25 years ago. His book looks at some of the historic wars and events of his working life, alongside 21st century events, like the toppling of the Colston statue in Bristol.

“Colston is one of the big events of lockdown – news about it travelled wordwide and helped Black Lives Matter be heard across the world.

“To me being in Bristol and staying at home and seeing Colston demonstration when statue came down was shocking, I was pleased to see it came down, but it did change the world.Bristol is now called the

Woke capital of the country, that spurred me on to find out more and research this book.”

He also reflects on other public protests through the decades.

“I look at Extinction Rebellion today about the climate crisis, and that takes me back to my youth and the threat of nuclear war. I served two months in prion sewing mailbags after demonstrating outside an American war base in my 20s.”

“I have spent a lot of my film life on wars – perhaps too much time, but people wanted me to do them. I was driven to explore why these things happened and why people did these things, and bring it to the public attention.”

You can meet Martin and get a signed copy of his book at Max Minervas book shop in Henleaze Road on 24th August at 7pm.

Martin’s book Matters of Life and Death is available from Amazon in hardback or Kindle version.

far reaching consequences for them both. The novel is full of believable characters including Gina who was born above a pub in 1920, during the first Troubles, after her parent’s home was burnt out by her protestant neighbours and whose nine pregnancies resulted in only two children. We also get to meet Gerry, a guitar playing teacher colleague and ally to Cushla at her school, which is

ruled by a dogmatic priest called Father Slattery. Each day, at school, Cushla invites her pupils to update the class with the latest news. Every report refers to booby traps, petrol bombs, Saracens, incendiaries, rubber bullets and internment , common words in every seven year old’s vocabulary in Belfast. The novel also includes several acts of human decency and kindness, breaching the sectarian divide, with Cushla & Gina delivering food to the home of a protestant pupil Davy whose father has been savagely beaten by paramilitaries. This is an engaging love story, written in beautiful intimate prose with skillfully drawn characters and convincing dialogue, told with empathy and with style by Louise Kennedy. If you are not a library member, please visit us at 100A Gloucester Road, and obtain a library card, giving you free access to over two million books including this novel.

Bob Deacon, Bishopston Library

OPENING HOURS

Henleaze Library 0117 9038541

Mondays 11am-5pm

Tuesdays 11am-5pm

Wednesdays 1pm-7pm

Thursdays 11am-5pm

Fridays 1pm-7pm

Saturdays 10am-5pm

Westbury Library (Staffed) 0117 9038552

Mondays 2pm-7pm

Tuesdays 11am-4pm

Wednesdays 11am-4pm

Thursdays 11am-4pm

Fridays 11am- 4pm

Saturdays 11am- 4pm

Bishopston Library

Mondays 1pm-7pm

Tuesdays closed

Wednesdays 11am-5pm

Thursdays 11am-5pm

Fridays 11am-5pm

Saturdays 11am-5pm

n WHAT'S ON

June 2 and 3

n BRISTOL STITCHERS EXHIBITION Lots of embroidery, textile art and mixed media work to see and buy. Sales, demos, raffle, book stall and tasty refreshments. Stoke Lodge Adult Education Centre, BS9 1BN

June 17

n HENBURY SINGERS SUMMER CONCERT at Tyndale Baptist Church, Whiteladies Road BS8 2QG. Saturday 17 June 2023 at 7.30pm. £10 on the door or from Eventbritehttps://www.eventbrite. co.uk/e/631575698917 Music by – John Rutter, Faure, Mozart and others.

June 17

n BRISTOL BACH CHOIR presents a celebration of British Choral Music. 17th June 2023 at 7.30pm in St Mary Redcliffe. Including music by Byrd, Handel and Britten. For information visit bristolbach.org.uk.

June 17

n A CAPELLA SINGING for Square Food Foundation with The Chandeliers and the Gasmen Collective at St Peter’s Church Hall, Henleaze, BS9 4LD, doors open at 7pm. Tickets are £10 cash on the door, or from https://snappytickets.co.uk/ events/

June 26

n HENLEAZE SENIOR FILM CLUB at 2pm The Railway Children Return (PG)

A group of children are evacuated to a Yorkshire village during the Second World War, where they encounter a young soldier who, like them, is far away from home. Starring Jenny Agutter and Tom Courtenay.

Tickets: £4.00 including refreshments. Carers welcome, easy access For more information, please call 0117 435 0063.

St. Peter’s Hall, The Drive, Henleaze BS9 4LD

July 6

WESTBURY SINGERS present "Sing We and Chant It" - a concert of songs and ballads old and new, at Westbury Village Hall BS9 4AG on Thursday 6th July at 7:30pm. Tickets £10 (to include a complimentary drink), from cutler.family@ gemac.me.uk or phone 0117 9621438 or on the door.

Regular events

Various days

n WEST OF ENGLAND BRIDGE CLUB based at RAFA Club, 38 Eastfield, Henleaze. Five sessions every week, catering for different standards. Thursday afternoon is Improvers. Monday and Friday afternoon is for more capable players; this is an EBU recognised 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. www.woebridgeclub.co.uk or contact Secretary, Chris Frew, on 0117 962 5281.

Monday

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 meet at Westbury on Trym Baptist Church every Monday 9.45am to challenge ourselves with topical debate on what’s happening in the world. If you would like to help to solve some of today's challenging issues with good company, tea and biscuits - contact James Ball 01454 415165 or Ian Viney 0117 9501628.

n WESTBURY ON TRYM WOMEN'S INSTITUTE meets on the third Monday of the month in the Westbury Village Hall, Eastfield Road, BS9 4AG, from 2.00 - 4.00 pm. We have interesting speakers, and extra activities of crafts, lunch club, skittles and outings. Our lively, friendly and inclusive group welcomes visitors at any meeting. For more information call Sascha on 07961619806 or Traci on 07766073917

Tuesday

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 sooth-

ing 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 SCOTTISH DANCING to GET FIT 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 WOMEN'S FELLOWSHIP meet on Tuesday mornings at Westbury-onTrym Methodist Church, 10.30amnoon. An interesting programme of speakers; come along to make friends. For more details, ring Kate 07905 064720.

n BRISTOL HARMONY WEST GALLERY CHOIR AND BAND sing and play lively church and village music from the 18thcentury. St Edyth’s Church Hall, St Edyth’s Road, Sea Mills, 7.30 pm on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday each month. All voices (SATB), string, wind and reed instruments welcome. No auditions but ability to read music helpful. www.bristolharmony. wordpress.com or call Fritjof 0117 924 3440. Contact before attending.

Wednesday

n BCCS (BRISTOL CATHEDRALCHOIR SCHOOL) CHORAL SOCIETY meets at Henleaze Bowling Club, Grange Court Road, Wednesdays 7.30 to 9pm. A small, unauditioned choir singing varied music. New members welcome. For info, contact Kathy, 0117 949362 www.bccschoralsociety. org.uk/

n BLAISE COMMUNITY GARDEN, behind Blaise Museum, open Wednesday and Saturday 10-2. Originally a walled kitchen garden. Free to enter. We’re looking for volunteers. Our Café (+ homemade cakes) open 10-2, 18 March and 8 April.

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 Friendly

and free coffee afternoon on the last Wednesday of the month, 2-3.30pm at The Beehive Pub, Wellington Hill West, BS9 4QY. Meet new people, have fun, and find out what’s happening in your area. 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 website www. henburysingers.org contact secretary at secretary@henburysingers.org.

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 BRISTOL MALE VOICE CHOIR

Always been keen to sing? Come along to our rehearsal nights, 7pm - 9.15pm on Thursdays in St Andrew's Church, Elm Park, Filton, BS34 7PS. No need to read music, no audition, just a voice test to establish whether you are tenor, baritone of bass. We cover many musical styles, enjoy singing in a great social vibe as we prepare for our regular concerts in local and national venues. From the Beatles to Mozart, from classical choruses to classic pop. Ffi : www. bristolmvc.org.uk ; facebook; or contact Steve: secretary@bristolmvc.org.uk;or ring 07776447699; or 07587143220

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

n WHAT'S ON n NEWS

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. Contact Jeanette on 9685409 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, contact Marian Bishop 0117 9771629 or visit www. westburyparkspiritualistchurch.org

Friday

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, 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

Sound system appeal

ORGANISERS of the Henleaze Christmas Festival are appealing for help to run a sound system for acts using the Outside Arena in Waterford Road – a popular feature of the evening.

Volunteers are needed to run the sound system for entertainers. It will also be used to play background music in breaks between the acts and for announcements including the result of the Prize Draw.

One or two people with the necessary skills are sought to set up and operate the hired sound equipment on the day of the Festival (6 December) between 3.30 and 8.00 pm.

“The Outside Arena is an important feature for the Festival and we are keen to ensure we can have good facilities for the entertainers which will also provide a more enjoyable experience for the many people who come to the event” says Committee Member Sandra Flower who books the acts.

Festival Coordinator Jane Emery says: “We are constantly seeking to improve the Festival and the sound system would certainly do that. But we can`t do it without volunteers who can operate the equipment”.

Anyone who can help is asked to contact Sandra Flower at: sflower2@outlook.com

Night of music fit for the King

BRISTOL Bach Choir presents a celebration of British Choral Music on June 17 at 7.30pm in St Mary Redcliffe.

The 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd is marked with the masterpieces Infelix ego and Ad Dominum cum tribularer. These richly scored works occupy an extraordinary sound world and explore a huge range of textures and emotions.

The choir also celebrates Music for the Coronation with Handel’s My heart is inditing and The King Shall Rejoice, and Howells’s Behold, O God our defender, which was written for the 1953 Service. There is the chance to hear Britten’s fabulously colourful Rejoice in the Lamb, with its rhythmically thrilling choruses and magical solos, and Finzi’s lyrical Magnificat. This will be paired with David Bednall’s Nunc dimittis, which was written as a tribute to Finzi’s musical style. The concert will finish with the uplifting joy of Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens.

Tickets: £22 (reserved), £14 (unreserved)

Students and under 18s, £5

Phone: Bristol Bach Choir Box Office 0117 214 0721

News and views from our city councillors

Sharon Scott (W-on-T & Henleaze)

As I write this article, I have recently arrived home from a family holiday in The Netherlands. I have to say their transport system is so well advanced. I felt a little envious as the variety of public transport is so efficient, especially the trams and there never seemed to be any traffic jams. We spent a few days using public transport to travel around seeing all the wonderful sites. If only we could have the trams back in Bristol. I was especially impressed by them. At the moment I can only dream!

Pot holes!

What is going on in Bristol? What are the Council doing regarding maintaining our roads many of you are asking. I personally

agree and have never seen so many pot holes. I have been dealing with many emails regarding this issue. Please keep them coming! They are dangerous and are showing that our roads need maintenance urgently. I have contacted the Council on so many occasions regarding pot holes and will continue to do so. If you do see any in our ward then please can you let me know the exact location and I will report this directly to the Council for immediate attention. If you can, please send a photo as well.

SusWot

I recently had the pleasure of being involved in litter picking with SusWot. I found it an extremely rewarding and worthwhile exercise and I would like to thank the incredible team for all the time and effort involved in helping to keep our ward clean, tidy and litter free. It’s a great way to make new friends and achieve your

daily steps! Should you wish to join one of the SusWot sessions then please contact the team on suswot2050@gmail. com

Staying in touch

We hold regular zoom meetings for people to stay in touch with us, ask questions or raise concerns. Our next Westbury and Henleaze zoom meeting is at 7pm on 6th June; go to http://tiny.cc/ WandHJun23 to book in.

If you need any help on a matter to do with Bristol City Council, you can contact me by email on cllr.sharon. scott@bristol.gov.uk – I also have a facebook page where I post regular updates: Scott-10433537851413www.facebook.com/Cllr-Sharon-

At Field House care home in Horfield, the safety, care and well-being of our residents are at the centre of everything we do.

If you are looking for a home or a home for a loved one, we would be happy to show you around our beautiful, family-owned home in Horfield, Bristol.

“The care that she received from everyone was above and beyond what we could have expected. All the staff who looked after her were brilliant. Really kind and respectful.”

Hilary, Sister of Resident at Field House (source: carehome.co.uk)

News and views from our city councillors

Steve Smith (Westbury-on-Trym & Henleaze)

St Christophers School Site

As I write in mid-May we expect the long-running planning application for a retirement village on the former St Christopher’s School site to be decided at a planning committee meeting on the 31st May. I know that by the time this issue comes through your door that may well already have happened. We will post updates on Facebook (see below) once we know the outcome, and of course update in next month’s Voice.

Our position on this hasn’t changed since the application was first put in. We support the idea of developing the site and in particular opening it up to the public, but it has to be at a level that won’t harm an already heavily-congested area. We think the current plan is just too big and would put too much pressure on roads and parking, and we have opposed it for that reason.

We know that many people oppose the

scheme for this and for many other reasons, including the impact on nature and particularly some very old and important trees. We will be asking the committee to refuse the application, and to acknowledge the varied concerns of all those who have opposed it. Whatever happens this month, it is unlikely to be the end of the matter. If the application is refused we expect that the developer will appeal to the national Planning Inspectorate, so this is likely to run for some time yet.

Street Cleaning

Bristol Waste reduced the frequency of street cleaning in April in response to Council budget cuts. I am still trying to get a straight answer about how often we can expect our streets to be cleaned, and to what standard. I have had several complaints from different parts of the ward that streets haven’t been cleaned for a long time. If your street needs a clean, you can report it on the Council website by going to the “Report a Street Issue” page. If that doesn’t get action, please let me know.

Stay in Touch

We hold regular monthly community forum meetings via Zoom, which are an opportunity for you to hear a little about what we’ve been doing, but more importantly to ask questions, raise any concerns and share local information. The next ones will be on the 6th June (please visit http://tiny. cc/WandHJun23) to register in advance) and 4th July (http://tiny.cc/WandHJul23). We will also be attending an in-person Henleaze Forum due to be held on the 29th June – more to follow on that. You can contact me by email on cllr. steve.smith@bristol.gov.uk, or phone on 07769 285266. I also try to post regular updates on my Facebook page at fb.com/ CouncillorSteveSmith. We publish regular email updates – please contact me if you’d like to be added to the mailing list for these.

Building Excellence

Our local, reliable, friendly and trustworthy team of specialist tradesmen can manage all aspects of your home from simple refurbishments to complete building projects.

News and views from our city councillors

Geoff Gollop (Westbury-on-Trym & Henleaze)

Bristol Waste has announced that the Avonmouth recycling centre will now be closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. They have assured us that as you now have to book to use the recycling centre, these are the quietest days and it will not impact on fly tipping or availability. Let me know your experience and whether you agree with this. To book your slot and to see opening times search for “book-a-visit-to-a-reuseand-recycling-centre”

We have been advised that Kellaway Crescent, South Grove, Henley Grove and Cransley Crescent are due to be surface dressed with a provisional date of 19th June. Residents should receive more details from the contractor.

Grass cutting seems to be the latest problem area for the Council. We are told public spaces should be cut regularly, but local roads had to wait until mid May for the first cut of the year. The grass in Hobhouse Close was cut shortly after I made enquiries and Harbury Road was cut at the same time, before I could action a request. Let me know if you have public green space that is waiting to be cut.

The Council proposed charges on Westbury Hill Car Park are still being developed. The Mayor says he thinks the Traffic Order will be made public in the autumn. This will be your last opportunity to object, and you are likely to only have three weeks to make your comments.

If you share our concerns, please register at wotcarpark@gmail.com. We can notify you as soon as we know the details and deadline for submission.

As Bristol residents have voted to do away with an elected Mayor from next May, details of the new committee

system are starting to come together. From May 2024 year the Council will be run by a Leader and Deputy Leader and 8 decision making policy and strategy committees, each led by a Chair appointed by a meeting of all Councillors. I am vice chair of the group designing the structure and will provide more details in the coming months.

• Our next on-line forum meeting, open to all, will be on 6th June at 7.00pm. Go to http://tiny.cc/WandHJun23 to register. Our following meeting is on 4th July at 7pm. There will also be an in person Henleaze Forum on 29th June.

• 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.

Frederick, 25, has Coronation role

A BRITISH Red Cross volunteer from Bristol was part of the ceremony for the Coronation of King Charles III.

Frederick Botsford, 25, from Westbury-on-Trym, will form part of the guard of honour during the ceremony on Saturday, May 6, as part of the Civilian Services Contingent.

Frederick is an ambulance support volunteer with the British Red Cross and helps the charity by looking after its emergency vehicles, driving them between Red Cross offices, cleaning them and making sure that their MOT and servicing is up to date.

He was selected to be involved in the Coronation alongside 21 other volunteers from the charity.

He said: “I thought it would be really interesting for me to see the British Red Cross in the public view, because I feel like what we do is often less well known and more behind the scenes.

“I thought it would be nice for us to be able to represent the organisation nationally alongside the other services, and also for the public to see us and recognise the volunteers for what we do.”

Frederick has previously taken part in the Remembrance Day service in London as part of the CSC, and he is thrilled to also be part of the Coronation.

“When Queen Elizabeth II died last year, I was quite moved. It was a moment of change that I had never seen before and my parents had never seen before. Even my grandparents were too young to remember King George VI dying in 1952.

“So this change, with King Charles III becoming the monarch, is something that as a country we haven’t seen for such a long time,” he said.

Plea for volunteers

THE British Red Cross needs volunteers in Somerset and Bristol to step forward and help vital local services to run.

The charity is asking people to give up some of their free time to support people in their community. Independent Living Service Volunteers are needed to support people leaving hospital in Somerset. The charity is also recruiting Transport Support Volunteers to help people to get to essential oncology appointments in Somerset and Bristol. Attending hospital appointments can be a stressful experience for many people, especially when you don't have the means to get there or return home. Volunteers play a vital role, supporting people who often live alone or have mobility challenges get to appointments.

Gemma Wood, British Red Cross Service Coordinator for Independent Living in Somerset, said: “Volunteering with us is a win-win. Not only do you get to help your local community, but you can get enormous fulfilment from it too. Whatever your background, if you have some time to spare, you should consider volunteering with our amazing, kind and inclusive team.”

Applicants will need to be able to volunteer regularly, and must be at least 18 years old. To apply for the Transport Support Volunteer role and find out more, click here. To apply for the Independent Living Service Volunteer role and find out more, click here. Alternatively, you can call 01823 273707 or 07925 638091

FINANCE

With Richard Higgs BA (hons) CFP FPFS

Harold Stephens

50 High Street, Westbury on Trym, Bristol BS9 3DZ

T: 0117 3636212

Exploring options for self-funding care

WHEN it comes to paying for care, if your savings exceed £23,250, it is likely that you will need to self-fund your care needs. The average cost of a residential care home is between £27,000 and £39,000 per annum, increasing to £35,000 - £55,000 per year if nursing care is required. While this may seem overwhelming, understanding the available options can help you make informed decisions about paying for care.

A major decision upon moving into residential care will be whether to retain or sell the family home. A Deferred Payment Agreement (DPA) can

be helpful if you don't want to sell your home immediately. The local authority agrees to help pay care costs and recoups the cost of the 'loan' once the home is sold. Renting out your property can also generate an income to help pay for care fees. This can be a standalone option or used alongside a DPA. Equity release is a highly flexible option allowing funds to be raised against the value of your home to pay for care at home.

If selling the family home, then decisions need to be made around what to do with the proceeds in order to fund care. Are they simply left in

cash savings and drawn down upon? Are they invested for potentially higher longer term returns? Another option is an Immediate Needs Annuity which is specifically designed to cover the costs of care, usually to cover the difference between care fees and your existing income. In exchange for a lump sum payment, an Immediate Needs Annuity will provide a regular income to cover care fees for the remainder of your life. It is likely that a combination of all three might be optimal once we have explored your individual circumstances and wider family priorities.

So many options and navigating the complexities of paying for care can be challenging at an already stressful time. Engaging with a SOLLA Accredited independent financial adviser can help you to make a bespoke strategy for your long-term care planning, ensuring you have peace of mind that you will be comfortable and free from worry about care costs.

To discuss your circumstances with us, please call 0117 3636 212 or email office@haroldstephens. co.uk. Our office is located at 50 High Street, Westbury on Trym BS9 3DZ.

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

ONE of the first migrant birds to arrive and lift our spirits after the long winter is the chiffchaff. They will have migrated from the Mediterranean or North Africa and announce their presence by sitting on a tree and loudly calling their name ’chiff-chaff chiff-chaff chiff-chaff ‘ Stand for a while in your local park or woodland and you may hear the insistent, rhythmic call. Catching sight of the chiffchaff is more of a challenge as it darts among the branches pecking at the new leaves and flowers to find small insects, with its tail pumping up and down as though full of joy to be here for the summer. How would you recognise a chiffchaff ? They are small, pale brown or olive green warblers with a creamy yellow chest. I watched one recently that flitted from branch to branch, pecking at the new leaves and chiff-chaffing with enthusiastic tail pumping, seemingly without drawing a breath !

They will nest among brambles or nettles, quite close to the ground, building dome shaped nests of stems and leaves, lined with feathers.This reminds us how important the wild bramble patches are for the many birds that nest there in relative safety from predators.

Alastair Fraser

Bristol Ornithological Club

n VINEYARD NEWS with INGRID BATES

Look - our Martin Parr photolabel!

A HAZE of green is gradually appearing across the vineyard as the vine buds begin to lengthen to form stems and leaves. It’s so lovely to see! Within a few weeks the vineyard will completely change in appearance from a very sparce and open space to something much denser in appearance.

The swallows have returned in greater numbers and are swooping and calling overhead. The ground is much wetter than is normal for this time of year but a couple more weeks of drier weather and things should be back on an even keel. I’m actually quite pleased the vines have plenty of water to get them going this spring but I’d like it if we get some warmth soon as well!

On the wine front, our new sparkling red and white wines are out. Our 2021 sparkling white has a beautiful photolabel featuring an

image created by the celebrated Bristol-based photographer Martin Parr. The sparkling white wine is made with a variety called Seyval blanc which is a lovely grape that is pretty much naturally resistant to mildew. It’s great for making sparkling wine because it maintains high acid levels even when ripe which is good for creating interesting flavours in a sparkling wine. This year’s sparkling red is paler than previous years but still packs the same fruity punch. We’re really excited to share both these new wines with people.

hello@dunleavyvineyards.co.uk

www.dunleavyvineyards.co.uk

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