South Bristol Voice, February

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southbristolvoice February 2016 No. 9

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South Bristol needs cancer services, says MP p37

LETTERS P16 | PLANNING P35 | PHOTO WINNERS P20-21 Relief as ‘hideous’ flats axed Page 4 Arena plans a new bridge Page 5 When South Bristol air is a health risk

Page 9

Music weekender for Syria Page 15

Packed out: Queues stretched up Pylle Hill as the Jamia mosque invited Totterdowners to share hospitality

Hundreds flock to support mosque ON JANUARY 17 four individuals are alleged to have committed a racial offence

against the worshippers of Totterdown’s Jamia mosque.

Seven days on, and close to 100 times as many people were thronging the Muslim place of worship in a historic show of solidarity.

“It just shows that there are no problems within this neighbourhood – except for parking,” quipped Zainab Wahid, the mosque’s children’s teacher, addressing a packed hall.

With TV and press reporters adding to the throng, Bristol mayor George Ferguson joined

leaders from a range of faith groups queuing to show their support.

The Right Rev Mike Hill, Anglican Bishop of Bristol, sent a message from Africa expressing horror that something like the attack could happen in Bristol.

South Bristol MP Karin Smyth’s message said: “If anything, last week’s events have brought the community closer together.”

George Ferguson told the crowd: “An attack on any one of us is an attack on us all.”

Support floods in: Page 3

Cooking to change your way of life

Pages 24-25

History: Pioneer jail boss Pages 30-33 STOP PRESS Fatal crash in the Feeder

Page 15

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Paul Breeden Editor and publisher

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Editorial team: Beccy Golding and Giles Crosse

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Intro

IT’S almost superfluous to add anything to the waves of support that have poured towards the Jamia mosque.

We can say nothing about the alleged attack, of course, until the court case is complete.

But what is crystal clear is that the number of people who harbour racist resentment is a tiny fraction of those in Totterdown and beyond who cherish our multicultural community and want to celebrate it.

The Oxford pub was

prominent in those backing the mosque; soon it is hosting a weekend in aid of Syrian refugees, on February 13-14 (see page 15).

Elsewhere in this issue you can read about more that our active community is doing in the name of social progress. Pioneering research into reclaiming streets from cars by students at UWE has led to groups of Totterdown residents forming groups to study which ideas they want to put into action.

Some people say there’s no community spirit any more. That’s certainly not true in South Bristol!

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Briefly ...

n GIRLS aged 5 and 6 are invited to join the 134th Totterdown Methodist Rainbow unit. The group meets on a Tuesday at 5.45pm for an hour at Totterdown Methodist Church, Bushy Park. “New members are very welcome to join with our small friendly group,” said Rainbow leader Maria Jenkins.

For details, call 0117 971 5953. n JESSIE May, the home hospice service which cares for children with terminal illnesses in Bristol and beyond, is asking people to help raise funds in 2016. Events in which the charity has teams include the Bath Half Marathon on March 13, the Bristol 10k on May 15, the Dragon Boat Race on June 12 and the Bristol Half Marathon on September 25. To find out more visit www.jessiemay.org.uk n CHILDREN keen on animals can join the Young Farmers Club at Windmill Hill City Farm, starting on February 21 and continuing each Sunday from

February, 2016

9am to noon. It’s for children aged 8 to 12 to help out in the farmyard and get to know all the animals. Activities will include feeding, mucking out and grooming the animals, as well as collecting eggs. Details: 0117 963 3252 or email info@ windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk The cost is £12 for each session. n THE MAGIC Beanstalk is the latest puppet show by the Light Theatre company at Redcatch Community Centre on February 27 at 2pm.

It’s suitable for ages 5-11. A puppet workshop at 11am is for 6 years and over and costs £1 (adults free). Show tickets are £1 for all. The event is organised by Entertaining Local Knowle and subsidised by the Neighbourhood Partnership. Tickets from Broadwalk News, Broad Walk.

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My MP? Karin Smyth MP By email: karin.smyth.mp@ parliament.uk By post: Karin Smyth MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA By phone: 0117 953 3575 In person: Surgeries on Friday February 5 and 19 at Knowle West Health Park, Downton Road BS4 1WH, 9.15-10.45am.

Appointments on 0117 953 3575.

My councillor?

Gary Hopkins Lib Dem, Knowle (Lib Dem leader) By email: gary.hopkins@bristol. gov.uk By phone: 0117 985 1491 or 07977 512159 USEFUL NUMBERS

Bristol City Council www.bristol.gov.uk 0117 922 2000 Household waste, road maintenance Recycling and waste collections, maintenance of roads and pavements, street lighting, graffiti and fly-tipping, street litter. email: customer.services@bristol.gov.uk 0117 922 2100 Pest control and dog wardens Report anti-social behaviour, noise and other pollution, risks to public health and safety (such as food risks), issues with pests or dogs 0117 922 2500

Christopher Davies Lib Dem, Knowle By post: Brunel House, St George’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UY By email: christopher.davies@ bristol.gov.uk Deborah Joffe Green, Windmill Hill By post: Brunel House, St George’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UY By email: deborah-mila.joffe@ bristol.gov.uk By phone: 07469 413308 Sam Mongon Labour, Windmill Hill By email: sam.mongon@bristol. gov.uk By phone: 07884 736112

Council tax

0117 922 2900

Housing benefit

0117 922 2300

Adult care & social services 0117 922 2900 Police www.avonandsomerset.police.uk General enquiries: 101 Emergency: 999 Fire

www.avonfire.gov.uk General enquiries: 0117 926 2061 Emergency: 999

EDITOR’S NOTE: South Bristol Voice is independent. We cannot take responsibility for content or accuracy of adverts, and it is advertisers’ responsibility to conform to all relevant legislation.

Feedback is welcomed: call editor Paul Breeden on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk.

All stories and pictures are copyright of South Bristol Voice and may not be reproduced without permission in this or any other plane of the multiverse.

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February, 2016

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News

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Support floods to mosque TOTTERDOWN’S Jamia mosque has been overwhelmed with messages, visitors and pledges of support since an apparent racist attack in which worshippers were verbally abused.

Four people are on bail accused of racially aggravated public order offences after an incident on Sunday January 17.

But hundreds have sent messages backing the mosque as a much-loved part of the Totterdown community.

An invitation to tea at the mosque on the Sunday following the incident resulted in almost 400 people turning up – 100 times the number of alleged attackers.

“We are very humbled by the outpouring of support,” Zaheer Shabir, secretary of the mosque, told South Bristol Voice.

Speaking about the hundreds of messages of support for the mosque posted on Facebook, he said: “We have seen a lot of replies from people who live around here and see the mosque as an asset to the community.”

Among those who wanted to show their support was Jon Evans, landlord of the nearby Oxford pub in Oxford Street. He opened the pub specially on the Monday after the attack, when it is normally closed, to allow people to leave messages of support.

He later delivered these messages to the mosque. Later two worshippers from the mosque made a special visit to the pub to thank Mr Evans. (The Oxford is holding an event in aid of Syrian refugees – see page 15).

Mr Shabir said the attack had caused anxiety for worshippers.

“People were minding their own business, as they always do when they come in for prayers,” he said. But he praised the

Familiar: The Jamia mosque has been in Totterdown since 1968 “excellent” police response and said from an unfortunate incident, something positive had resulted.

Chief Inspector Kevan Rowlands said the police response had been “exactly as you would expect when there is an attack on people’s freedom to worship in peace.”

The Sunday Tea in the Mosque event was promoted by

Stand Up to Racism Bristol.

Others to speak there included Abdul Tariq, vice-chair of the Council of Bristol Mosques, who stressed that Islam teaches that everyone is your neighbour no matter what their faith.

Rabbi Monique Mayer of the Bristol & West Progressive Synagogue said: “It’s so inspiring looking round this room because

SUPPORT ON FACEBOOK ...

“Great solidarity, born and bred Totterdown, love all the support for the mosque, can’t get better than Totterdowners.” IH “I think the whole of South Bristol and beyond will be annoyed. The mosque has been part of Totterdown forever and always will be.” MG “Our whole community feels insulted and we choose to respond with an overwhelming display of kindness and compassion.” NV “Totterdown is different and it always has been, the mix of people from all different backgrounds is what makes us strong.” HS

Window wanderland THE Window Wanderland movement is coming to Windmill Hill on Sunday February 28 and Monday F ebruary 29. From 6-9pm each evening, residents will be lighting their windows with colourful displays.

At least 60 homes have signed up in Windmill Hill, and there is a separate event in Bedminster and Southville from February 27-29. For a map and to find out more: • www.windowwanderland.wordpress.com

we are all united in solidarity.”

Laurie Burn, minister at Totterdown’s Baptist church, said that all the Christian churches in the area were supportive and would be praying for peace in the community.

And Father Chris Kinch of Holy Nativity, Knowle, said that when you attack someone in connection with their faith, whatever you think you are doing, you are not following British values.

The mosque is Bristol’s oldest, founded in 1968 on the site of the disused St Katherine’s church.

The dome and minaret were added in 1980.

The four accused of the attack are Alison Bennett, 46, and Mark Bennett, 48, both of Spruce Way, Patchway, Angelina Margaret Swales, 31, of West Town Avenue, Brislington, and Kevin Shaun Crehan, 34, of Springleaze, Knowle.

All have been bailed to face Bristol magistrates on February 25, on condition that they do not go within 100m of any mosque.

OPEN DAY

• The mosque is holding an open day for anyone who would like to learn more about Islam, on February 28 from 11am to 4pm, with tours and discussions.

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Who knows the mystery tagger?

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February, 2016

Developer withdraws unpopular flats plan Firm says it will revert to an earlier proposal

Unwelcome: Grafitti-ist caught on camera at 4.52am on January 24 CAUGHT on camera – this is the vandal with a spray can who made his mark at Greenwoods estate agents on Wells Road.

Tags were also left on the former Totterdown Centre.

Greenwoods manager James Grimsted posted the image on Facebook, saying: “There is nothing artistic about [the] tag that I can appreciate. Does anyone know this individual?”

A PLANNING application for a radically-styled block of flats on a Victorian Totterdown street has been withdrawn.

Developer Crossman Land axed its proposal for nine flats at the corner of Bathwell Road after they were mauled by residents.

And a report from the council’s city design team did not appear to think that the four-storey block with multicoloured cladding would be in keeping with the traditional Victorian terraces nearby.

Residents dubbed the plan

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More traditional: The scheme Crossman Land now hopes to pursue in Bathwell Road

“huge, hideous”, “unspeakably foul” and “alien to the area” in some of the 50-plus objections made to the council.

Councillors Deb Joffe and Sam Mongon opposed the plan, along with residents group Tresa.

Residents expressed their relief on Facebook when the withdrawal was announced on January 21. “Well done to everyone who pushed for community collaboration from developers.” said one. “The

system works for once,” said another.

Crossman says it will now revert to an earlier planning permission granted in 2005. This is for more homes – eight flats and two maisonettes.

But a director from Crossman, based in Bath, told the Voice he hoped it would be more acceptable to residents. The older plan is of more traditional appearance and is lower – three storeys rather than four.

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February, 2016

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Arena update

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WHAT YOU SAY

From comments on the planning applications “South Bristol is already one huge traffic jam on most mornings/evenings and this Arena will only make it much worse and quite possibly make it an impossible place to live and work.” TW, Hill Avenue

New crossing: Proposed footbridge from Albert Road to the arena, part of a separate planning application

Arena: We like the general idea, but ...

WITH 85 comments submitted on the arena planning applications as the Voice went to press, strong objections continue to emerge.

Only 20 of the submissions are logged as objections. But many more – even some which declare they support the scheme – voiced serious concern about parking and traffic.

One resident of County Street, Totterdown, logged himself as supporting the arena plan. But his letter also said: “I am concerned about the increase in traffic ... around the Three Lamps junction for example, and the need for parking. Since the arena will only have a limited amount of parking this will have an impact on local estates.”

This view is echoed time and again in the public comments, and shows that council promises to consult on residents’ parking schemes, and boost park and ride and public transport, have not reassured South Bristol residents.

Tresa, the Totterdown residents group, registered as an objector – though it also gives support to the arena in general.

The group criticised the

omission of congested St Luke’s Road from the arena transport plan. It asks for remedial work – as do many residents.

Tresa asks where parents can pick up and drop off arenagoing youngsters. Cattle Market Road and part of Albert Road will be closed on busy arena nights.

“This problem needs to be addressed with concrete proposals,” said Tresa.

Air pollution limits for nitrogen dioxide are already breached on Bath and Wells roads, Tresa added. “If traffic flow is increased around Three Lamps, how is it possible to conclude that predicted impacts from [the arena] are ‘negligible’ and no further mitigation measures are required?” the residents group asks.

Tresa also suggested that a parking scheme would need to operate until 8pm or 9pm, not 7pm as the council proposes.

It calls for a wider path the whole way from Three Lamps to Temple Meads to tackle the narrow pavements and cycleway.

Other comments voice fears over traffic levels. “Traffic flow is highly sensitive to what might

“On the whole I am fine with arena scheme, but as I cycle or walk along St Luke’s Road every day, I can not understand why you think the arena will not affect St Luke’s Road. It is already at times a horrible route, the arena will add to this.” LC, St Luke’s Crescent “Please build this. Bristol needs this development.”

EW, Bishopston

appear to be minor interruptions “I support 100% the need for caused by vehicle breakdowns, the Bristol Arena. However I traffic light failure, accidents or cannot believe you are being lane closures. All of these have so short sighted as to not happened within the last two provide any additional parking. months, and the result has been The whole of Feeder Road, near gridlock. If there was an Albert Road and the Bath arena event taking place, there Road will be chaos and will would have been total gridlock,” disrupt local business. All the says a resident of Rookery Road. neighbourhoods within walking Tresa calls for a park and ride distance will be affected and at Whitchurch to reduce traffic we already do not have enough down Wells Road. parking space.”

But there is considerable JM, Hampstead Road, support for the idea of an arena.

Brislington A Totterdown man commented: “I’m very much in favour of this, which I think will bring money into the area, not to mention enhancing its cultural life.”

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February, 2016

We still act on drugs, insist police, after unit disbanded Force answers complaints from councillors over drug operations

POLICE have responded to concerns from councillors that the disbanding of South Bristol’s drugs team has caused a resurgence of drugs activity on the streets.

Drugs enforcement will be conducted in as high profile a way as possible, Chief Inspector Kevan Rowlands said in a report to Filwood, Knowle and Windmill Hill neighbourhood partnership, which met on January 12.

He was responding to complaints from councillors that a lot of good work in discouraging drug dealing had been undone when police moved the drugs officers to other duties.

Former councillor Mark Bailey asked the previous meeting of the partnership: “Have we given up all the gains we have made on drugs, especially in Filwood? I know we are having problems in Windmill Hill. There is a noticeable lack of police presence.

“Filwood 10 years ago was awash with drugs,” he said, but police efforts had tackled the problem.

Others at the meeting spoke

Ask the vet:

D

Drugs raid: Officers prepare to enter a house to make a search of people openly flaunting drugs in a way that was not seen a year before.

Avon & Somerset’s police and crime commissioner, Sue Mountsteven, has not made drugs a specific priority. Police work is now focused on reducing harm and officers are needed for other tasks including tackling sexual exploitation and domestic extremism.

However, police in South Bristol can point to two drugs operations before Christmas. On December 4 Paul Cottrell, 18,

from Knowle West, was charged with possession of Class B drugs and obstructing an officer. A second 18-year-old from the same area was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, and acquiring, using or possessing criminal property. He has been bailed.

Cottrell pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay £280, made up of a fine and costs, by Bristol magistrates on December 23.

The arrests followed an incident in Ilminster Avenue in Knowle West on December 3.

Meanwhile on December 15, officers used a search warrant to enter a property in Silbury Road in Ashton Vale, and found around 300g of suspected cocaine, just over £2,000 in cash and a hydraulic press, all of which were seized.

A 19-year-old woman who lives at the property was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply, and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. She was held in custody. Two others have been questioned by officers and are on bail.

Ch Insp Rowlands hinted in his report to the neighbourhood partnership that the absence of the drugs team had affected police operations against drug dealers.

“The nature of drugs operations is that one thing tends to lead to another and once the virtuous circle is broken it is difficult to regain momentum,” he said.

But he said the police have “a dedicated intelligence resource that will identify and prioritise drugs intelligence in South Bristol.

“We have listened to the community and have instigated Operation Submerge with a view to maximising impact from intelligence received about drugs issues. We will ensure when carrying out enforcement action that the public are kept informed and are encouraged to add to our knowledge base,” he said.

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February, 2016

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February, 2016

The wonders of willow will grow on Perretts SCORES of volunteers and children from Hillcrest primary school banded together on a wet January day to add to the variety of trees in Perretts Park.

The spur for the event was mayor George Ferguson’s One Tree Per Child scheme, which has planted thousands of trees.

The council provided five fruit trees which will form a miniorchard on a little-used slope at the top of the park at the western end next to Sylvia Avenue.

Kevin Lindegaard, an active member of the Community of Perretts Park, (Copp) had his own contribution to make in the form of more than 150 willows.

They form two horseshoe shapes in the bend of the new path which curves up the hill.

Kevin said: “One arc will come into its own in the winter,

Digging in: Treacherous mud didn’t stop volunteers from Copp and Hillcrest primary with stem colours ranging from yellow and orange to purple and black. The other will be at its best in the summer, showcasing foliage from dark green to lime green, grey and silver.

“There are some species with

really showy catkins that the bees will love.

“Many varieties are great for basketry and the aim is to cut these down annually to provide a resource for kids’ crafts such as making willow star wands. It was

Picture: LAURIE BURN

great to see how much enthusiasm there was for the planting of the willow beds from the local community.

“It was quite hard work but everyone got stuck in and made it a really fun day.”

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February, 2016

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The hotspots in South Bristol where air’s not fit to breathe

Green calls for action spark scrutiny of city’s pollution record AIR POLLUTION caused by vehicles is killing at least 200 people every year in Bristol – and it is not clear if the numbers will be falling any time soon.

Bristol is one of the most congested UK cities, and the south of the city has several of the worst hotspots for pollution.

The Three Lamps junction where Bath Road meets Wells Road is one blackspot, as does the Parson Street one-way system in Bedminster, and St John’s Lane which runs from Totterdown to Bedminster.

Low-lying areas are worst affected as pollutants from traffic exhaust are heavier than air.

It is estimated that around 200 people die in Bristol each year as a result of air pollution.

Sometimes the cause is direct – such as a severe asthma attack – but pollution can also contribute to other conditions.

People who find it difficult to breath because of bronchitis or a range of heart and chest conditions can be affected.

Pollution also increases the risk of several types of cancer, but especially lung cancer, as soot from exhausts is made of small particles which get deep inside the lungs and can carry

EMISSIONS: WHAT IS BEING DONE?

MAYOR George Ferguson wants to have a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) to ban polluting large vehicles in the next five years.

But Bristol was not among the five UK cities selected by Government last year to have an LEZ by 2020. Bristol’s Green party – and many individuals – want an LEZ introduced

CAR-CRAZY BRISTOL BRISTOL is one of the most congested cities in the UK. • Council figures show there are 500,000 car movements every day in the city centre.

• Peak hour traffic speeds in Bristol are 15 mph, one of the slowest outside London.

• In 2016 traffic congestion could cost the local economy £600 million a year.

• The 2011 Census shows 71.1% of Bristol households have access to a car; 26% to 2 or more cars.

Jammed up: Wells Road at Three Lamps is a pollution hotspot other cancer-inducing particles with them. Children are more susceptible to the effects, which are still being investigated.

On January 19 members of the Green party made calls at a full council meeting for the city to adopt a Low Emissions Zone to ban “dirty” commercial vehicles – mainly older diesel vans, buses and lorries – from the city centre.

“There’s not enough understanding of how serious an issue this is for public health,” Green party member Glenn Vowles told the Voice.

In much of the city centre – including Wells Road as far out as Airport Road – pollution is so bad that an Air Quality

Management Area has been declared. Pollution monitors run by the council show a downward trend in breaches of the EU and World Health Organisation guidelines on exposure to pollutants, mainly nitrogen dioxide or NO2, found in diesel fumes. There was one breach of the hourly limit for NO2 at Three Lamps in 2014, two at Parson Street school, and none at the Brislington council depot at Bath Road opposite Arnos Manor hotel. (However, figures are much worse in the city centre.)

Importantly, though daily levels of NO2 are low, when averaged over a year the WHO limit is still breached at Parson Street and at Wells Road. Tresa,

more quickly than that.

Bristol has a “poo bus” running on methane.

Two low-emission hybrid powered buses are about to start work on the 72 route.

However, FirstBus has applied for 100 microhybrid buses running on biogas, which would serve the 90 route in this area.

And Bristol is one of four West councils to share £7m to start converting a quarter of their vehicles to

ULEVs – part electric, Ultra Low Emission Vehicles.

In general newer vehicles are less polluting.

But how fast will pollution come down, and how quickly will Bristolians take to walking, cycling and public transport, even when the Metrobus and other improvements begin?

• MAKE YOURSELF HEARD: If you feel strongly about pollution or any other local issue email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

• Bristol people bought 25,196 extra cars from 2001-2011. the Totterdown residents group, has asked about the added effect from traffic to the new arena.

Mr Vowles, a lecturer in environment for the Open University, has measured pollutants at Parson Street and found that levels of NO2 stay high even after the rush hours.

He believes children walking to school at Parson Street primary or at Victoria Park primary, further up St John’s Lane, are at risk because young children – especially the under-fives – are particularly vulnerable to the effects of pollution on their lungs.

But the answer isn’t to drive children to school because the pollutants collect inside cars and levels are higher than outdoors.

But experts are unsure that even low limits are safe for long-term exposure. The Government does not expect Bristol to meet the WHO safe limit for NO2 until some time between 2020 and 2025.

Back in 1989, Glenn Vowles was photographed in a Green protest at Three Lamps to highlight dangerous air quality.

He feels little has changed since.

• www.bristol.airqualitydata.com • www.bristolisopen.com/whatcan-open-data-tell-us-aboutthe-air-we-are-breathing

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Bedminster Green

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February, 2016

Residents ready to present Developer wants to work with community, but can different visions be reconciled?

THE AMBITIOUS £100 million vision to transform Bedminster Green is on course with the pioneering energy centre set to be producing power by the end of the year, according to developer Urbis.

There are hopes that the wide-ranging scheme for apartments, elderly accommodation, offices and a new Bedminster station can be agreed in consultation with the community.

A meeting on February 17 is set to reveal proposals from WHaM, the Windmill Hill and Malago community planning group, to produce a blueprint that can win community support.

Green corridor: Artist’s vision of a ‘rain garden’ to support plant life So far many of WHaM’s requests have been accepted by Urbis – for example, opening up the Malago river, currently buried or inaccessible, to become a focal point of the area and a haven for wildlife.

However, the key question of how many buildings are planned,

how high they will be and the density of the development, could prove to be sticking points.

WHaM has previously called for fewer blocks, and for heights to be lowered. Residents in Windmill Hill are upset that permission has already been granted for a 16-storey block of

188 flats at St Catherine’s precinct. Urbis plans suggest about 18 more buildings, several of between eight and 12 storeys, which could radically alter views, particularly from Windmill Hill.

WHaM will unveil details of its vision for Bedminster Green at a meeting starting at 7pm on February 17 at Windmill Hill community centre, with Urbis managing director Richard Clarke in attendance.

Chair of WHaM Howard Purse said: “At the moment we are all pretty much singing from the same hymn sheet. Urbis are very keen to listen and we hope they will try their best to action the wishes of the community.”

Mr Purse said the community group has already had the first of a series of meetings with Urbis and other stakeholders.

“We hope our vision will inspire all concerned to work towards a new development that

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OUR HEAD OFFICE IS ON YOUR Temple Meads DOORSTEP

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS

Our manager Phil Marsh was very happy to present the prizes to the winners of the South Bristol Voice Winter Photographic competition, Jane Davidson and Lowri Perrin. (Sadly third-placed Gemma Kinght couln’t make it.) You can see all the pictures on Pages 20-21.

at 148 Wells Road, Totterdown BS4 2AG

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February, 2016

Bedminster Green

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their own plan for the Green How will it look? Side view of the Bedminster Green towers in relation to Windmill Hill

Polden Tower is inspirational and community oriented. This means dwellings that are well-designed and healthy to live in, surroundings that are stimulating and live-affirming, and a commitment to ground-breaking sustainability,” he said.

Discussions in WHaM identified two concepts they want the Bedminster Green plans to pursue: “A Neighbourhood in a Garden” and “An Urban Village”.

WHaM wants these principles

BUILDING THE ENERGY CENTRE DEVELOPER Urbis says the first part of Bedminster Green, the district energy centre, is on course to open in 2016.

A pre-planning application submitted late last year was later marked as “withdrawn” by Bristol city council.

Richard Clarke, managing director of Urbis, says this was a mistake: the company is supplying more details to the

Eldon Terrace

Railway, Malago river

to underpin the plans: • Inclusive, welcoming, connected – a place to be drawn to, which attracts people; • Sustainable, productive, ecological – space for wildlife, the river and the planet; • Inspirational, creative, beautiful – a place to be proud of and to inspire; • Liveable, enjoyable & healthy – a place to socialise, meet and be active; Urbis is likely to take much of council and expects to submit a detailed application by May. If the plan is approved, as hoped, in July, construction could be finished by the year end.

The energy centre is planned for the western end of Malago Road next to the railway line. It will feature several combined heat and power generators powered by gas – 80 per cent of it natural gas and 20 per cent biomethane, all delivered through normal gas mains.

The 11 megawatt plant is

Malago Road

this on board. It has already made sustainable transport a central part of its planning, from a revamped railway station to Metrobus access and safe cycling and walking routes.

It is working with Avon Wildlife Trust to design riverside walkways and green spaces that will benefit wildlife.

But it regards WHaM’s earlier request for half the homes to be affordable housing as uneconomic. It is also likely that claimed to be much more efficient than domestic gas boilers and will deliver district heating to up to 1,200 homes, including hundreds of existing homes beyond Bedminster Green.

It will also deliver electricity to the national grid.

Hopes that the energy centre could have a sustainablypowered greenhouse on its roof for community use have hit a snag – it now appears that the roof space will be needed to

East Street housing in the Urbis plan will be more densely packed than WHaM wants.

But, said Urbis managing director Richard Clarke, though there may be more homes planned in total than WHaM desires, they will be spacious inside.

“I believe we will be supplying more living space than any other comparable development in Bristol – bigger than the national space standards,” he said.

ventilate the power plant.

However, Mr Clarke hopes that space can be found for the greenhouse on the neighbouring site, known as Plot 1.

Plot 1 will comprise several buildings including 320 flats between the energy centre and the railway station. Work will also involve uncovering buried sections of the Malago.

The public will be consulted on the Plot 1 plans before a planning application is submitted in June or July.

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News Barbecues in parks: OK or a nuisance?

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NEW bye-laws for Bristol’s open spaces could change the rules for having barbecues in parks.

Several other activities – from riding horses to flying model planes – are also affected and the council is inviting views.

“The intention is to allow barbecues in the majority of public green spaces providing certain conditions around responsible use are met,” said a council spokesperson.

Some people are opposed to

Tell us why your teacher is awesome – and win an Amazon Kindle Fire!

TO celebrate the opening of Redcliffe’s new Kip McGrath Education Centre, owner Seonaid Birkett is giving away an Amazon Kindle Fire tablet to three lucky children who give the best explanation why their teacher is awesome.

The competition is open to anyone from Bristol or South Gloucestershire between the ages of 6-16. An Amazon Kindle Fire will be given as a prize for the best primary, secondary and overall explanation in no more than 14 words. Seonaid says

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the use of disposable barbecues in parks because they can burn the grass and bring a risk of fire.

Local communities can propose preventing barbecues in certain areas. Horse riding, model aircraft and fishing will also be allowed only in designated areas.

Activities that need special permission are: erection of structures; grazing; pest control; lighting fires; overnight parking; archery; camping; field sports; charging for services; excessive

February, 2016

noise; public shows; take-off and landing of air balloons, helicopters and hang gliders.

Forbidden under the bye-laws would be: access outside opening times; damage; interfering with life-saving equipment; throwing missiles; dangerous cycling; driving motor vehicles; blocking watercourses; obstructing officials from their work.

You can have your say at: • www.bristol.gov.uk /parkbyelaws

ADVERTISEMENT “Having owned and run the successful Bristol Language Centre (BLC) for over 10 years I know that there are loads of awesome teachers out there. I can’t wait to read through all the entries and to see the imaginative descriptions students give about their awesome teachers. You can nominate your class teacher, tutor, subject teacher or even your head teacher – they just need to be awesome for some reason!”

Not only will the children win a prize, but the winning three teachers will receive prizes too in addition to the coveted Kip McGrath Awesome Teacher Award 2016.

The Bristol Central Education Centre was the first of the internationally renowned Kip McGrath brand to open in Bristol. It provides after-school tuition for students between the ages of 6-16 looking for extra support or extension in English and maths. Each student is given a FREE in-depth educational assessment and the results are discussed with parents. If tutoring is necessary, an individual learning programme is designed around the child’s requirements. Each session lasts 80

minutes and students are taught in classes of 3-6, ensuring individual attention.

Centre owner, Seonaid, adds “I’m really excited to bring the benefits of Kip McGrath to central Bristol. It really is a fantastic programme. I love the way it uses qualified teachers, a wide variety of learning resources, which are mapped to the school curriculum, as well as smart technology to support teaching, not replace it.”

To enter the competition just complete and return the entry card included in this month’s South Bristol Voice or go onto the centre’s webpage at www. kipmcgrathbristolcentral.co.uk. All entries must be received by February 29 2016.

Terms and conditions apply.

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February, 2016

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News

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MP hits out over GP funding and access NHS defends funds formula that brings cuts

BRISTOL South MP Karin Smyth challenged the head of the NHS in Parliament over a new funding formula which is set to remove £2 million from GPs serving the city’s most deprived patients.

The Labour MP, whose constituency includes wards with some of the greatest levels of deprivation in the country, is concerned that uncertainty about funding will lead to worse services.

Already several GP practices in the south of the city have experienced difficulties.

The Malago partnership in Bedminster has closed its door to new patients because it cannot cope with any more. The Bedminster Family Practice has done the same.

And in 2014 the St Martin’s practice in Knowle faced an uncertain future for a time when it was unable to recruit enough GPs. It has now been taken over by another family practice.

Meanwhile NHS England has brought in a new funding formula which means funds for GPs no longer take so much account of deprivation.

It means five surgery groups in South Bristol face losing £2m over five years from April 2016.

The five are Crest, in St John’s Lane and Knowle West; Merrywood in Knowle West; Grange Road in Bishopsworth; Hillview in Hartcliffe, and Hartwood in Hartcliffe.

Speaking as the Commons Public Accounts Committee held a hearing on Access to General Practice on January 11, Karin Smyth said: “In South Bristol there are lots of very deprived wards, with some of the greatest problems with life expectancy in the country; high incidence of coronary heart disease, cancer, diabetes, COPD, asthma and so on. But the funding formula

Full up: The Malago surgery which has recently been changed under the review doesn’t take account of deprivation and so money has been taken out of some of our practices.”

Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS, said Ms Smyth had raised “very important questions”, but he defended the move, saying the review of funding was seeking to achieve a “fairer” allocation of resources and pointed out further changes to funding in years to come.

Karin Smyth welcomed some of the new initiatives but she reiterated the impact on GP practices in her constituency.

“One practice has closed already, patient lists have been closed in two more. I am concerned about managing that risk, in particular in areas of deprivation, between now and future funding changes,” she said.

Healthwatch, a body which passes on comments from patients to health bosses, received several petitions about the changes.

Healthwatch said it had received petitions from the Lennard Surgery with 170 signatures, Merrywood Practice with 35 names, Hartwood and Hillview surgeries with 1,178 signatures and Grange Road with 300 names.

“Patients are concerned that if this goes ahead waiting times for GP appointments will increase,” said Healthwatch.

The group passed on questions including “why is funding for surgeries in South Bristol being reduced?” and “how will this address inequalities and improve healthcare?

“NHS England says ‘no decision about us, without us’ but have not undertaken a survey or impact study to involve patients in the decision making,” said Healthwatch.

NHS England said: “Some practices that have benefitted from very high premiums in the past will be likely to lose income from the review process but overall, more practices in Bristol will gain from this process.”

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Unwanted sign is removed A HOUSE in Totterdown which became adorned with an unauthorised hoarding advertising a taxi company has had the sign removed.

Residents of Lower Totterdown were mostly unappreciative when the 8ft by 4ft hoarding, plugging a taxi company, Sticker objecting appeared on a to the hoarding wall at the corner of Windsor Terrace and Stevens Crescent shortly before Christmas.

Most comments on the Totterdown Facebook page thought it ugly and out of place.

And shortly after Christmas Bristol city council confirmed the sign needed planning permission, which it did not have. It has now been taken down.

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News

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February, 2016

Trailer tests are not necessary, minister tells bereaved family

Underfall yard seeks volunteers

Unique: the historic Underfall THE UNDERFALL boatyard, the unique complex of Victorian buildings on the Floating Harbour, is seeking volunteers for its new visitor centre.

The Underfall is home to a thriving boatyard and the council’s harbour managers.

But it is also scheduled as an ancient monument because of the unique Victorian sluices, or underfalls, which still control the level of the harbour and help prevent floods.

The yard was built after the mammoth project started by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to create the Floating Harbour.

It has now won Lottery money for a new visitor centre in the old pump house, to open in March.

More than 60 people have so far helped the Underfall Yard Trust to research its history and prepare to open it to the public.

Visitor centre volunteers, tour leaders and hydraulic pump operators are now being sought.

To find out more email sarah@underfallboatyard.co.uk or call 07742 879658.

• www.underfallboatyard.co.uk

But roads chief will meet South Bristol family hit by 2014 tragedy A GOVERNMENT minister has ruled out annual safety tests for trailers, after Bristol South MP Karin Smyth raised the case of the family of three year-old Freddie Hussey in the House of Commons.

But Andrew Jones, roads minister, did agree to meet Freddie’s parents, Donna and Scott, who have campaigned on the issue since their son’s death.

Freddie Hussey was killed in January 2014 as he and his mother walked home along Parson Street after dropping off Freddie’s older brother at school.

A two-tonne portable cabin became detached from a Land Rover and fatally crushed Freddie.

The Land Rover driver, Tony Davies from Hallen in South Gloucestershire, admitted causing death by careless driving at Bristol Crown Court in April 2014.

He was spared jail and was given 200 hours community service and banned from driving for six months. He had driven 12

Freddie and his mum

Picture: ITV

miles before the trailer broke loose from the Land Rover and crushed Freddie.

In Sweden, all trailers are checked for safety annually. Of the 236,000 tested in 2010, 38 per cent failed – a quarter of those with serious faults such as brake problems.

But in a Commons debate called by Ms Smyth, Mr Jones said an EU review in 2013 found that legislation on trailers could be “disproportionately burdensome”.

Most trailer accidents involved driver error and could not have been prevented by a test, said Mr Jones. In 2014 there were 1,257 accidents involving towed vehicles, causing 39 fatalities and 214 serious injuries.

He gave his “deepest sympathies” to the Hussey family

and made a number of pledges: • The Driver and Vehicle Safety Agency (DVSA) will review all its advice about trailer safety; • Officials will examine trends at regular DVSA trailer checks; • He will consider how DVSA trailer guidance can reach more people via motorists’ groups; • The Department for Transport will study procedures in other EU countries.

Freddie’s parents told ITV West last year: “Our son has been taken away from us, and we will never have the opportunity to see Freddie have his own life. We now have to try and continue with our lives knowing this tragedy could have been prevented.

“They should’ve been able to walk safely along the pavement.

After the debate Ms Smyth said Mr and Mrs Hussey were disappointed that there would be no annual tests on trailers.

Ms Smyth added: “It was clear the minister took this issue very seriously and I am pleased he has agreed to meet them and that he has set out a number of actions.

“I want this to be the start of a process of bringing the Hussey family’s experiences to the attention of decision-makers.

“Freddie’s case was a tragedy of untold magnitude, but we remain resolute in our wish that some good comes of it.”

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February, 2016

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News Canal car plunge kills two

TWO MEN are dead after their car careered through railings and plunged into the Feeder canal.

Police had not officially identified the men as the Voice went to press. One is thought to in his early 30s and the other in his early 40s.

Several people saw the yellow Skoda Fabia fail to negotiate the turn from Short Street into Feeder Road and sink rapidly in the canal at 6pm on Sunday January 25.

A man and a woman are thought to have dived in to try to save the pair but were unsuccessful.

Police arrived quickly and eventually more than 40 emergency vehicles and two dive

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Oxford hosts fundraiser for Syrian refugees

Broken: The tragedy was not the first in which cars fell into the Feeder teams were on the scene. Feeder Road was closed until midnight while police recovered the car and examined the area.

Police do not believe anyone other than the two men was in the car, or that anyone else was involved.

Rumours that the car was being chased by police when it crashed, and that a baby was somehow involved, were denied

by officers. There have been calls to reinforce the railings along Feeder Road to prevent vehicles crashing through.

On July 28 last year, a fire crew rescued a man stuck on the roof of his car after he crashed into the canal at 1am.

Less than a year earlier, on August 21, 2014, a taxi was left teetering after smashing through the Feeder Road railings.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT…

Get your dog microchipped*

A PRIZE auction and Totterdown’s own bakeoff are just two of the activities from 2pm on February 13 and 14 when the Oxford pub hosts #Inmyname Festival, a fundraising event for refugees from Syria.

There will be music both nights with the pub open to 1am, plus dance, children’s activities, food, art sales and magic.

Donations of goods and money for refugees are also welcome.

Prizes include a hula hoop course from CatHoops (www. cathoops.co.uk); a £75 voucher towards wedding flowers from Floriography, Wells Road; a hamper from the Banana Boat, Oxford Street; a £25 voucher from Riverside Garden Centre; and a haircut by Sam Barton (Facebook: sambartonhairdressing).

• #INMYNAME Festival

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Call 01275 832410 615 Wells Road, Whitchurch 52 Charlton Park, Keynsham BS31 2ND Bristol BS14 9BE

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Windmill Hill needs one-way

S

HOW dare you only include the voice of Rev David Moss in your report of the recent public consultation to stop the rat run on Windmill Hill. He was the first to put up his hand, and spoke so long that the council representative declined any further requests to speak.

I have had two children, both of whom walked to primary school. How are we rewarded?

Endless scenes of blocked cars with the occupants shouting at each other on Dunkerry Road.

Cars coming down the hill, returning after work, refusing to give way to cars coming up who live on the hill.

This is a narrow street. My family have witnessed the most vile racist attack right on our doorstep. Should Rev Moss’s own parish’s children, that he has seen throughout primary school, suffer this? This is why there must absolutely be a one-way going up Dunkerry Road to stop this. Rat-run drivers do not adhere to the rule that they must give way to cars coming up, instead they sit in their cars and hurl abuse. It has got progressively worse over the years.

I put it to Rev Moss that he should encourage his church users who hail from Marksbury Road to ditch their car and walk, we are only talking about crossing St John’s Road.

I do understand that there has been a serious lack of response from people living on Windmill

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Hill to these proposals. Your article touched on the fact that there had been prior consultations which have ended in no outcome. We were told at one consultation that there was no funding and that there would need to be more accidents or possibly a death before anything worthwhile would be done. No wonder residents have given up.

What was clear from the latest consultation was that people from the surrounding areas, who are new to the area, such as Kensal Avenue, were vociferous in their negativity as they did not want to see a knock-on effect on their streets. They would just be happy for residents on Dunkerry Road and Cotswold Road to carry on suffering without offering any meaningful solutions.

In your article you say that the area has a high level of car ownership and much of the traffic is from residents. On what information do you base this? No facts, no figures were given out at the consultation. Obviously people on the hill own their own cars, but they are unlikely to join in the rat running hurling abuse.

No study has been carried out, certainly not on Dunkerry Road.

LF, Windmill Hill

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Have you got strong views about what’s happening in South Bristol? Email paul@ southbristolvoice.co.uk, post to Letters, South Bristol Voice, 18 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BX or call us on 07811 766072. Please keep letters short. We may edit your letter.

Brake dust and the new arena HAVING read all the copies of South Bristol Voice so far I have to congratulate you all on a very comprehensive magazine.

Each and every article has been studied and reported on in depth.

Well done.

I have followed the saga of the long-awaited new arena and the environmental impact and proposed costing.

Living in South Bristol, I am, of course, awaiting the results of any and all environmental studies. Reading in your magazine of the intended alterations to the upper skin of the arena, which is proposed to be stainless steel rather than aluminium, I would raise the question of the possible effect of pollutants in the air. It states that “aluminium was considered but rejected because it would corrode in the presence of brake dust from the trains at Temple Meads”.

If the arena is rising to a height of 21m above the Bath Road does it also suggest that this brake dust would rise to that

February, 2016

height?

Perhaps someone could answer this question on health and safety and air quality before final plans are committed.

J Maloney South Bristol resident

Long wait at the York Rd lights I CAN’T be the only one who occasionally – but infuriatingly – gets stuck at the traffic lights waiting to turn right from York Road to St Luke’s Road.

If there’s traffic coming the other way. obviously you have to wait for it to pass, and the brief period when the green arrow allows a right turn.

But sometimes you can get stuck for three or four cycles of the lights without the green arrow appearing at all – so no-one gets to turn right.

My theory is that if the driver at the front of the queue doesn’t edge forward, the traffic lights don’t know they are there, and so the right-turn arrow isn’t triggered.

When you’re driving for work, as I do, it’s infuriating to be stuck there for 10 minutes or more.

JS, Lower Knowle

Names please JUST a thought about the new arena: what will it be called?

Please let’s not have a sponsor sprung on us so that we’re all supposed to call it the Watneys Red Barrel Arena or whatever.

The Bristol Arena will be fine.

FD, Totterdown

Reclaiming Totterdown moves a step nearer TOTTERDOWN residents are following up on ideas to reclaim their streets from commuters and their cars.

Installing planters on the streets and setting up secure bike hangars to store bicycles are among the ideas being explored.

Tresa, the Totterdown residents group, started the innovative project by inviting architecture students from the University of the West of England to research possibilities.

Now residents in the Totterdown Triangle – between Bath Road and Wells Road – are looking closely at plans to cut traffic speeds in their narrow, steep streets and reclaim more

space for the wider community.

“Rat-running traffic, overcrowded parking, bins on the street, lack of community storage space or bike storage, car drivers skipping No Entry signs, and slippery hilly streets are some of the problems.

“With 540 cars counted coming through New Walls and Stanley Hill one rush hour in just one hour 40 minutes, the sheer quantity of traffic using narrow, steep, residential streets has kept many neighbours from being able to use the streets and impacted on neighbours getting to know one another,” said a statement from some of the affected residents. Several small groups

have now formed to look at ideas such as: • Putting planters on the street full of plants and flowers; • Temporary paint on the roads to urge drivers to slow down and recognise the streets as a residential area; • Improving street signage; • Bike hangars; • Building installations to create ‘slow-down’ islands; • Reducing bins on pavements; • Retaining the Park Street former skateboard park before it becomes a development site.

The UWE students’ ideas were first presented to a Tresa meeting in October, and 22 residents from the affected area

met again on January 6 to make plans.

A report can be found on the Tresa website and also includes longer-term proposals for green spaces, including the community orchard on Park Street, Zone A on Wells Road, and the park on Angers Road which despite being a large green space is currently under-utilised.

If you live in or near this area and would like to get involved with these projects or have any suggestions of your own, please contact tresacic@gmail.com • Thanks to Simon Hobeck, Rebecca Mear, Linn Waite, Roly Harrison and Jon Wellington • www.tresa.org.uk

To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Paul on 07811 766072 or Emma or Hollie on 0117 908 2121.

The very best in retirement living

Why not come along to our next open day on Tuesday 15 March?

Call 0117 949 4004 for details.

The St Monica Trust holds regular open days at our unique Monica Wills House retirement community where you will be escorted on a guided tour by one of our residents.

Offering all the advantages of independent living, but with a strong feeling of community spirit, these well-appointed 1 and 2 bedroom apartments are situated in the heart of Bedminster and provide social activities when you want them, and access to care and support when you need it.

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February, 2016

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19

Features Why don’t men do more about disease that kills every hour? peeing poster new helpline oct '14_P poster 04/11/2014 11:06 Page 1

Few symptoms, so it pays to know about prostate cancer

A

KNOWLE man is urging others of a certain age to make themselves aware of the risks of prostate cancer – and to get advice if they’re in doubt.

Retired managing director Colin Trowbridge, 77, has made it his mission to educate men of 50 and over on what they should know about prostate cancer.

As part of city-wide prostate charity, Prospect, he’s often to be found pinning up posters in local pubs, and takes part in talks and events all over the West.

Like a lot of Prospect members, he got involved after a brush with the disease.

Back in 1999, Colin was delivering leaflets for another charity in St John’s Lane. He had just knocked on a door when he felt a strong need to go to the toilet – so strongly that he didn’t wait for the householder but marched straight back to this home in Sylvia Avenue.

But he got no relief: “It was very painful but I found I couldn’t go,” he said. That sent him to his doctor, who ordered a PSA test – the standard blood test that shows the likelihood of prostate cancer.

Feeling the need to urinate but being unable to go, or starting and not being able to stop, is one of the most common signs of the disease.

Colin turned out to have a malignant tumour – meaning it

was growing. But rapid surgery cured the condition and 16 years on he is still well and his PSA count is normal.

Prostate cancer kills around 10,000 men a year in the UK but until the 1990s it was greatly overshadowed by campaigning over breast cancer, which kills roughly the same number of women.

Now the disease is much better publicised, treatment is better, and 84 per cent of men diagnosed with prostate cancer live for 10 years or more.

Colin believes men should take action if any relative ever had prostate cancer, or if they have symptoms such as pain around the pelvis.

“I know people who went for a blood test for another reason, and it can turn out they have prostate cancer that is quite advanced,” he said.

“Men need to go to the doctor, particularly if they have a relative who has had the disease.”

Men over 50 can insist on a PSA test if they are worried – even if their GP doesn’t think it necessary, said Colin.

And if there is a diagnosis, “we are here in Prospect to offer support,” he said.

“The group has found that knowledge is of great benefit to the patient. It enables him to play an active part in the decisionmaking process, for example in selecting the best treatment,” added fellow Prospect member Bernard Smyth.

If you have been diagnosed or suspect you may have prostate cancer, call the Prospect helpline, 07585 963535, or email prospect. bristol@gmail.com • www.prostatecancerbristol. org.uk

DON’T HOLD BACK! Finding it hard to stop or start when weeing?

Worried about prostate problems?

Then go and talk to your GP. But remember, men over 50 are entitled to an annual PSA test to check for prostate cancer.

Early detection is vital.

For help, support and information contact

Helpline 07585 963535 Visit www.prostatecancerbristol.org.uk/ or email prospect.bristol@gmail.com

It’s vital because this disease kills one man an hour in Britain Prospect thanks the Santa Cruz for their financial support in producing this poster: www.santa-cruz.co

Quieter way to spend Halloween ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour around Halloween dropped by almost half last year.

Reports of ASB in the week from October 31 to Guy Fawkes events totalled 80 across Filwood, Knowle and Windmill Hill, Inspector Nigel Colston told the area’s neighbourhood forum

on January 12. This compares to totals of 150 in 2014 and 166 the year before.

“There have been some slight changes in recording practices, but I think the numbers are so reduced that I am confident we saw a dramatic drop in ASB over the week,” Insp Colston said.

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

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February, 2016

Centre pages ... Winter photo competition winners and r

Fun run: Youngsters aim for Santa speed in the Victoria Park junior Sunday run, by Emily Gibbard

This dramatic sunset over the cranes on the har

A slight lack of winter w

Daffodils flower in St Lukes Road in the unseasonal weather, by Sue Avent

Black and white makes the bareness of the winter trees in Victoria park stand out even more, by Dani McAfee

WHEN we picked Winter for the theme of our photo contest, we thought that seasonal frost and even snow would have arrived by our January 19 closing date.

It wasn’t to be – the mostly warm, wet weather made things difficult for you. Still, we had lots of great entries, so good that we had trouble picking the

win £25 Gre was thir gre pri too

Runner-up Striking image of the harbour at night facing towards Mshed, by professional photographer Scott Salter

The pale winter light is caught exquisitely as the

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runners-up 1st prize

rbour was captured by Jane Davidson, the winner of our winter photo competition

weather – but you rose to the challenge

nners. First-placed Jane Davidson wins 5, generously sponsored by eenwoods estate agents. Lowri Perrin s second (£10) and Gemma Knight rd (£5) – congratulations to all. Two eat photos were excluded from the izes – Jane Vellender because she oks hers on the day after our closing

date, January 20, when the frost suddenly struck! In fairness to others we had to exclude these. Scott Salter is also a runner-up as a professional photographer – we loved your picture, Scottt, but the contest was meant to be for amateurs. We could have made that clearer, sorry.

2nd prize

e colour drains away in this view of trees and sunset in Victoria Park by Lowri Perrin

Runner-up Frost and early sunshine on Perretts Park, by Jane Vellender

3rd prize A striking sunset silhouette of rooftops by Gemma Knight, 15

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

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George Ferguson It’s time to support our Learning City

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NEW year brings new opportunities to focus our attention on different ways in which, together, we can make Bristol a healthier and happier city. My chosen theme for this year is learning and with that in mind I have dedicated my Mayor’s Fund for Bristol for 2016 to raising money for initiatives that support learning opportunities across the city.

Building on the success of the Bristol European Green Capital Schools Programme – which has so far inspired 30,000 local primary school children – we have declared Bristol to be a Learning City, where every citizen has access to good education and is able to acquire the skills they need to take control of their own futures and to join our world-class workforce. Education is always going to be a major factor in helping people breakdown barriers and overcome obstacles, whether it be language or skills. I want to do all I can to make Bristol a better, fairer place

The Mayor’s view Each month Bristol mayor George Ferguson shares his take on South Bristol life

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support hundreds of local people since it was established in 2013. Please consider donating to the fund if you can afford to.

Over the past few years this money has been making a real difference. Last year, nine different mental health and physical disability charities benefitted from citizens’ generous donations during 2015.

The fund is managed by Quartet, Bristol’s independent community foundation, and grants are distributed to charitable organisations and social enterprises which support local people. As well as giving online, donors can get involved through payroll giving or Give As You Earn, which is one of the easier ways to support the Mayor’s Fund for Bristol. It is also tax free if you are a UK taxpayer.

To find out more about the fund and how it helps Bristol projects, visit www.bristol.gov. uk/mayor/mayor-s-fund-for-bristol. If you wish to make a donation please go to: quartetcf.org.uk or justgiving.com and search for Mayor’s Fund for Bristol.

for everyone and dedicating my charitable fund to learning is one way to achieve this.

I donate 20 per cent of my salary to the fund, which, together with matching donations from Bristol donors, has helped to

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February, 2016

WILD PARK

News from the Wildlife Group of Victoria Park Action Group

Opening up the park to wildlife

M

ANAGING a nature reserve within a city park has its surprises.

When the long grass in parts of Victoria Park has had its annual cut in early autumn, it looks much like the rest of the park – for months. Not that that bothers the pied wagtails with their distinctive swooping flight and wagging tails.

Conservation work continues. Members of the VP Wildlife Group had no need to do a major clean-up leaf-rake this year; the council complied with mechanised blowers and a lorry to shift the piles. As long as the meadows are cut before the leaf-fall along the big avenue to Fraser Street, all works well.

We did, however, rake the small tree-ringed hollow near Somerset Terrace, ready for whatever flowers wish to take over. Whereas we ignored the leaves under the big sycamore by the wall of St Mary Redcliffe school, townside; the daffs are coming up anyway.

This month we’ll be doing a

bit more coppicing in the top woods, to let in more light.

Hopefully after a couple more years’ treatment we’ll see a growth of ground flora in there. In the meantime, keep an eye open for long-tailed tits and their lovely light song, and the imminent onset of patches of snowdrops and wild garlic in one of the woods.

Our wildflower patches, the patches of bare soil on the meadows, are work in progress. And something exciting may be happening to the butterfly garden by the children’s playground, too – not just the spring re-opening of Mrs Brown’s coffee stall!

Another thing under investigation is the possibility of a live-willow sculpture on one of the park’s wetter patches, possibly where the springs and occasional streamlets are in full flow at the moment.

Contact VPAG website if you’d like to join our monthly work-mornings.

• www.vpag.org.uk

To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Paul on 07811 766072 or Emma or Hollie on 0117 908 2121.

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Bristol Dogs & Cats Home Your chance to see behind the scenes

S

CRAPING the ice off the car and wearing your thickest coat and gloves will soon be over, as spring is just around the corner. But this means RSPCA Bristol & District Branch is busy preparing for our biggest event of the year, Open Doors & Dogs Home Tours.

This event is a great chance for the public and our supporters to see what goes on behind the closed doors of our veterinary clinic. You can talk to the staff about their roles, and see the equipment which is used daily to help thousands of animals that need our care every year. We will also be providing guided tours around Bristol Dogs and Cats Home, where staff can explain the daily life of the animals in our care and you can see some of the amazing residents who are

Talk to the staff and meet some of the animals we’ve helped

currently looking for new homes.

We are hoping to make this event our biggest one yet; with more stalls, attractions and games to make it fun for all the family. Head on down to us on Sunday March 20 from 10.30am3pm at Bristol Dogs & Cats Home, 48 Albert Road, St Philips, Bristol, BS2 0XA. Entry is £1 for children, £2 for adults, or £5 for a family of four. There will be free parking available.

Hook a duck: One of the attractions at the Dogs & Cats Home open day All the proceeds raised from this event will benefit our Veterinary Clinic, by allowing them to purchase more specialist equipment and lifesaving medicines, in order to treat thousands more animals who will require their care this year, and in the future. Please help us raise

Police update

A

S WELL as day-to-day policing issues, the team is currently focused on supporting an area-wide operation to reduce the harm being caused to communities across South Bristol by drugs.

A number of warrants have been carried out over recent weeks, with some large cannabis factories dismantled as well as class A drugs seized. Even if this activity isn’t focused in your neighbourhood, the positive impact in terms of crime reduction is felt much wider.

On the subject of cannabis factories, myself and colleagues often come up against criticism for a perceived ‘waste of police time’ when targeting them. This couldn’t be further from the truth. An average mature female plant could potentially yield the grower £1,000. Multiply that by 100 or several hundred and you can easily see it’s an incredibly lucrative, dangerous, illegal business. More often than not, it’s also connected to human trafficking, modern slavery, intimidation, organised crime

23

the vital funds needed to support local animals in need, whilst having a great day out with all the family.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact Harriet on 0117 3003968 or email harriet@rspca-bristol.org. uk.

With Sgt David Deakin, Broadbury Road police station

a cash reward will be Why cannabis is cases, offered for information that leads to an arrest or conviction. not so harmless N A brighter note, beat manager PC Helen Head had to communities O the pleasure of taking Knowle and represents a huge risk to the community, not least due to the fire and electrocution risks of incredibly amateur attempts to bypass electric meters. Finally, cannabis is not a ‘recreational drug’. Like all drugs, it ruins lives. So, tell us what you know and help us shut them down – any suspicions can easily be corroborated through infrared detection – we won’t need to come knocking on the door.

Our continued success in reducing drug crime will be down to the willingness of local people to share information about people they know or suspect to be dealing. You can provide this information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk. org. They cannot and will not trace your call and, in many

resident Ben Cooper out on a Ride Along last month as a 30th birthday treat organised by his parents Debra and Chris. Ben has tuberous sclerosis, which causes tumours in the brain.

Helen took Ben out in a police car, gave him the full ‘blues and twos’ experience, and showed him around Broadbury Road station. You can find out more about the Ride Along scheme on our website.

F

INALLY, I’d like to thank everyone who took time out to attend the Windmill Hill Neighbourhood Forum in December – our best turn out yet! Please keep an eye on the ‘Your Area’ pages of our website for future dates and outcomes.

Sergeant Dave Deakin • www.avonandsomerset.police.uk

Fun ride: Ben Cooper of Knowle was treated to a ride in a police car thanks to PC Helen Head

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

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Features

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February, 2016

Square Food: How cooking

W

HEN did Britain forget how to cook? Was it the introduction of ready meals, the popularity of the microwave, or the spread of fast food shops?

More importantly, what can be done about it? It’s well known that the decline in home cooking is contributing to a rise in obesity, to children becoming more unhealthy and more at risk of diabetes, and to a lack of knowledge about what’s healthy to eat.

It also means people are spending more than they need to on food – contrary to what you may think, cooking from scratch can be the cheapest way to eat.

And if people don’t know what to to do with the food they do have in their fridge, it’s more likely to be wasted – leading to the shocking statistic that 7.5 million tonnes of food is thrown away in UK homes each year,

One of West’s best chefs is leading a quiet revolution in cookery

most of it useable. That’s a lot of issues to address – but one pioneering group in Knowle West is seeking to do something about all of it, starting with local people.

The Square Food Foundation operates out of a bustling kitchen and offices in the Park Centre, Daventry Road – the large community centre that’s home to several groups and used to be Merrywood school.

Square Food is the brainchild of Barny Haughton, chef and award-winning food educator.

STEAMED UP DOUBLE GLAZING?

Heated debate: Chef Barny Haughton wants to change the way we eat He is known for several top-flight Bristol restaurants – first Rocinantes, then Quartier Vert and most recently Bordeaux Quay on the harbourside.

But the acclaim of restaurant critics could not match the zeal which Barny feels for his efforts to change the way we eat, and

Square Food – a non-profit, community interest company – is his main occupation.

The need is explained by Eloise Price, the foundation’s operations manager: “We see people come through our door who have never cooked before.

They might be 20 and they don’t

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Features

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just might change your life SQUARE FOOD: GETTING INVOLVED • Volunteers – always welcome to help cook at master classes or community sessions • Young people – over-19s can take first steps in cooking • Older people – Back to the Kitchen sessions to restore confidence and make friends • Learn finer skills – book a masterclass • Make a donation – both businesses and individuals • Private parties know what a stick of celery is.”

Square Food aims to tackle most of the things that are wrong with the way we eat today. First, there are the classes that show how easy and rewarding it is to cook from scratch.

Some of these classes serve the older population. Some are for local schools. Some are aimed at children with learning disabilities or behavioural issues.

Some have helped women working in the sex trade.

Others include master classes where businesses can send employees to learn not only cookery but team building skills.

The fees from these and other corporate events help fund the rest of the foundation’s work.

From the new year, there’s a project which has won funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner to help young people who may have left school without any cooking skills and may have attracted the attention

JUNK FOOD: WILL WE SOON SEE IT AS TOXIC, LIKE SMOKING? BARNY Haughton thinks we may be riding a sea change in our views of unhealthy, processed food and takeaways.

In the 1960s, smoking was known to be harmful but was socially acceptable. Now, tobacco use is in decline and smoking is seen as a social evil.

Will our view of foods with too much sugar and fat ever be seen in the same light?

Barny knows there’s a long way to go. In Knowle West life expectancy is 10 years less than

A warm welcome: Square Food sessions are full of friendly faces of the police for anti-social behaviour. But the foundation is about more than teaching how to use a sharp knife and saucepan.

Reducing food waste and energy use and choosing healthy,

good quality food is part of every message. But another important aim is bringing people together, as general manager Solomon Fubara explained: “The Back to the Kitchen class takes people

for someone living in Clifton, much of it due to unhealthy lifestyles.

But frequent public debates about food scandals, and the rise of campaigning chefs like Jamie Oliver, are helping to change public perceptions.

Almost everyone knows now that they should eat five fruit or vegetables a day, even if they don’t yet do so.

Crucially, he said, children are now taught how to cook at primary school. Not much has been invested in this brave initiative, but with help from Square Food and many other bodies, most schools are now

able to offer cookery lessons.

This means for the first time in two or three generations, children who don’t see much cookery at home will at least learn the basics at school.

Barny also believes we are learning that how we source our food has many impacts. “It’s not just to do with being healthy but the state of communities and agriculture, about food waste, energy use and the whole world of food,” he said.

It was his fascination with the food economy that took him from running some of the best restaurants in the West to becoming the “real food”

through basic skills such as making dough and pizza, and in the process they interact and make friends, so it’s also a social activity.”

Clearly the friendly nature of the sessions is why some people coming back not just for several weeks, but several years.

Pete, 62, from Totterdown, decided to give the Back to the Kitchen classes a try after years of living alone and eating ready meals. Like many men, he never learned cookery at school, and for much of his life he was catered for by his mother and then his wife.

Living on his own, he didn’t cope well: “It was the expense – I was spending a lot of money on bad food,” he said.

Now he has a folder of recipes several inches thick and one of his favourite ways of spending an evening is to have friends around for a three-course dinner.

And like many others who pass through the foundation’s kitchen, he gives a bit back by volunteering in other classes.

Volunteers are vital to the running of Square Food – there are about 15, some choosing to help with the community events and some with the master classes. More volunteers are always welcome, says Solomon.

In 2016 the foundation hopes to get accredited to start issuing NVQ qualifications so local people can use their new skills for employment. And with funding from the police commissioner to bring in more young people, the kitchen looks set to get even busier.

Drawing attention: Square Food pioneer of Knowle West. Many will say that Square Food deserves some of the media acclaim of the celebrity chefs.

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

southbristolvoice www.southbristolvoice.co.uk Reports from your councillors – Knowle 26

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OR many years crime was falling in our area. It fell quicker in Bristol than the national average and it fell Gary quicker in Knowle Hopkins, than the Bristol Lib-Dem, average. There are Knowle now worrying signs that the crime figures are starting to move in the wrong direction across Bristol. Knowle is still a very low crime area. In the last two years before the mayor abolished the relevant questions in the council survey, it was shown that a lower percentage of Knowle residents were a victim of crime than in any other ward in the city. The current, less precise, question now shows a similar position. Questioning thousands of ordinary citizens direct gives a far more accurate picture of reality than the police crime stats, as the majority of crimes are not reported.

The complicated funding of police forces has applied unfairly

to Avon and Somerset and a further squeeze could have a major effect. The mess over the ever changing chief constable has cost time and money. Chris and I will be writing to the “new” chief constable Andy Marsh to welcome him back to the area and suggest a catch up.

Stability and local knowledge will now be important. The new management structure brought in a year or so ago which blurred the lines between community and response policing caused concern then and is causing more now. As well as choosing to drop the only accurate local measurement of crime, the mayor has cut funding to support the PCSOs. I actually introduced this when in charge of community safety for Bristol and we have now not only lost PCSO numbers but the ability to focus them on community priorities. Having spent a number of years working very successfully with our local police team it is now becoming so thin that its effectiveness is under serious question.

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February, 2016

How to get in touch with your councillors – page 2

UCH has been reported about the lack of affordable housing in Bristol and the Chris rest of the country, Davies, a problem which Lib-Dem, has been due to Knowle central Government policy.

But here in Knowle we have planned and campaigned for many years to use what land we can to provide affordable homes for our community.

Homes will become available soon at Salcombe Road recreation ground, Knowle Park.

At the same time we made a sports field available to the local school, improved the park area with seating, trees, pathways and lighting, and made provision for a future playground.

Much of this land was formerly unused for a lot of the time. Knightstone Housing has submitted a plan for 35 dwellings – 11 tw0-bedroom and two

three-bedroom shared ownership houses and seven one-bed flats; four two-bedroom flats; 10 three-bed flats and one twobedroom wheelchair accessible apartment.

The community have been invited to choose a name for the proposed new one-way circular access road which will run off Teignmouth Road and Salcombe Road.

There was full support to the proposal from the six councillors that represent the Filwood, Knowle and Windmill Hill Neighbourhood Partnership area, and nearby residents were fully consulted.

Planning permission to build has now been granted, with a start date in April of this year.

Added to this is the bonus of the money from the sale of the land, 100 per cent of which – more than £0.5 milion – is ringfenced for improvements to local parks.

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www.southbristolvoice.co.uk southbristolvoice Reports from your councillors – Windmill Hill

February, 2016

E: paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

I

COULDN’T be more proud of the response of our community to the attack on the Jamia mosque in Totterdown. By Sam coming together Mongon, and showing love Labour, and support to the Windmill mosque, local Hill people have stood up to the handful of intolerant idiots who thought they could impose their prejudices on us. I know the mosque will draw great strength from the hundreds of cards, comments and visitors they’ve received. In fact the bonds of our community are only stronger from having resisted this attempt to divide us.

One of the things that makes Bristol a great city is its diversity.

Diversity helps foster innovation, helps grow our economy, creates a vibrant culture and, let’s face it, makes for a more interesting place to live. Ours is a history of welcoming and embracing newcomers and as a City of

Sanctuary this will continue with the welcoming of Syrian refugee families over the coming months.

Sadly many people in Bristol, regardless of race or religion, have one key thing in common; inequality. Our most deprived areas tend to be the least mixed, either mostly white or mostly BME – black and minority ethnic populations. Fearmongers like UKIP and right wing groups would have you believe that one of the causes of poverty in our country is immigration.

However, the truth is our country and city would literally be poorer if not for the benefits of diversity.

Under this government the impact of austerity will continue to entrench inequality and be used by opportunists to try to divide our society. This year, through the mayor, council and police commissioner elections, we have the opportunity to reject the ideologies of austerity and racism. One of the best responses we could give would be to elect leaders that fairly represent every part of our community.

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Sarah Greenwood lives in Victoria Park. She is a leading figure in the Calais Refugee Solidarity campaign and is passionate about social equality and human rights. Both Ellie and Sarah are campaigners for environmental issues too.

People may have heard of the Greens’ proposal for a small extra increase in council tax in order to pay for social care in the city.

Known as the social care precept, this money will pay for vital services for elderly and disabled people and other vulnerable adults. The money is needed to make up the shortfall in funding from the Government, which is being cut while demand is rising.

At the same time the Greens are calling for the council tax reduction scheme to be continued in Bristol to protect people who cannot afford to pay.

Council tax is not a very fair tax but no other options are open, so it is vital that we do not penalise those on the lowest incomes. We hope the other parties will support both these important proposals.

CELEBRATING

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L

IKE almost everyone I was saddened and ashamed by the incident at the mosque on Green Deborah Street. I lived Joffe, opposite the Green, mosque for a Windmill couple of years and Hill I was delighted to have this cultural landmark on my doorstep. At the same time I am greatly heartened by the dignified response from the people who run and attend the mosque and the wonderful, spontaneous acts of support which came from people who live in the streets around.

I would like to introduce the two new Green candidates for Windmill Hill. I am not standing in the May elections this year for personal reasons, although I will offer support to the candidates.

Ellie Vowles grew up in Knowle and now lives in Totterdown. She is active in promoting women’s issues in Bristol and in the arts.

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February, 2016

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News

Magic gift from generous Vera

A FLOWER shop owner brought a touch of magic to the new year when she left a collection of floral baskets in a Knowle park.

As if left by fairies, the baskets were strung on a tree in Perretts Park and were found by morning dog walkers on January 1.

Each posie had a poetic quotation, such as this one from Roald Dahl: “The greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”

Within a few hours delighted park-goers had shared the secret, and the baskets were gone.

Vera Fallacy, owner of Floriography on Wells Road, set up the display as a gesture of kindness. She didn’t want to be there when the posies were discovered – just to know that she was spreading some love.

“I do these things because I want people to feel something,” she said.

Half term fun in the woods at Arnos Vale

Posie question: A new year surprise in Perretts Park from florist Vera

FUN in the forest is one of the half term activities on offer at Arnos Vale cemetery.

Children will have fun building dens, making a pea shooter and a catapult plus enjoy a warming fire with a drink and snack.

The session on Wednesday February 10 starts at 10.30am and is led by learning coordinator Janine Marriott.

Adults are welcome to stay and join in.

The event is for over-7s.

Tickets are £21.96.

Other events on offer at the cemetery during half term are a family winter wander, a “stomping story” told outdoors, and a den-building adventure.

All events must be booked in advance.

• www.arnosvale.org.uk

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History

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February, 2016

Reformer or a harsh master?

O

UR STORY this month is not so much about a man – because we know little about him. It is more about his times, and in particular how we treated criminals more than 150 years ago.

The story of James Anthony Gardner is laden with irony to modern eyes. Governor of Bristol Gaol for a long period in the middle of the 19th century, he was referred to as a prison reformer – someone who applied humanity to the treatment of unfortunate men and women who strayed from what was lawful and had to be punished.

But we will see that that the system he presided over was anything but humane to our eyes.

He oversaw a regime that actually became more cruel in some ways as the 19th century progressed.

There were many calls for

Tales from the Cemetery

Every month we tell a story from Arnos Vale Cemetery

James Gardner believed that his prisoners should not be seen or heard reform, it is true, and some of them eventually bore fruit. But it’s worth remembering that, long after this story ends, and the “new” Bristol prison had been built at Horfield, birchings were

still taking place right up to the Second World War – and on young offenders too.

So perhaps we should apply a bit of historical perspective when we consider the career of James Gardner, prison reformer ...

W

HAT was it like to be in prison in Bristol before Gardner’s time? In a word, grim. Newgate gaol stood roughly at the entrance to the modern Galleries car park. It was of medieval origin, being converted from a city gatehouse in 1690, paid for by a special tax of 6d (2.5p) on householders.

Prisoners were so crowded together and sanitation so poor that disease was rife.

Outbreaks of contagion – usually typhus – carried off many prisoners in 1720 and 1728.

There was no prison doctor.

Those awaiting trial were thrown into the dreaded “night room”. It was a dark, cold, underground pit, 9ft deep and 17ft long. It had no bedding, not even straw.

One poor man, a Mr Power – not even a Bristolian – was thrown in the pit on the evidence of three children, accused of setting fire to several houses. He was held there for 14 weeks before being moved into the

Reformer: The modern plaque to Gardner in Arnos Vale cemetery main prison, where conditions were slightly better.

It took a year before he was tried, when the judge dismissed the case for want of evidence. But Mr Power was not free to go until he had paid the fee for his upkeep to the jailer.

The Enlightenment of the 18th century made popular the notion that all human beings had rights – even the lowliest slaves and prisoners. John Howard was chief among those demanding more humane gaols. When he visited Bristol’s Newgate in February 1774, he called it “white without and foul within”.

He found 38 criminals and 58 debtors, with both sexes mixed together and spending their days in a foul yard. Food was provided only for the poorest prisoners; the rest had to pay 10 1/2d (5p) a week to the gaoler, who had no

Hooded and silent: the “separate

Are you researching your family tree or looking into local history?

Bristol Record Office B Bond Warehouse,Smeaton Road, Bristol BS1 6XN 0117 922 4224 | bro@bristol.gov.uk www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/bristol-record-office Online catalogue: archives.bristol.gov.uk

IN the Victorian period jails were seen as pits of contagion – and not just of disease.

It was thought that the more contact prisoners had with each other, the more chance they had of spreading criminality.

The answer? Keep them apart, and keep them quiet.

Attempts were made – not always successful – to enforce silence between prisoners and even prevent them seeing each other.

In Bristol, prisoners wore bags over their heads and when they were moved, they had a warder in front and another behind. It took half an hour to get them all in the chapel.

Gardner told the Carnarvon committee in Parliament in 1863 that he practised the separate

system “with complete strictness”.

Prisoners were kept silent and out of sight of each other “in the cells, in the wards, in the school, on the treadwheel, in the chapel, in the exercising yards and throughout the prison”.

Prisoners “very much dislike our gaol”, Gardner told the committee, and it was a boast.

He added: ”the discipline is more severe … perhaps than in any other prison”.

He claimed he didn’t need to punish prisoners much by flogging or with bread and water diets. But he thought the official diet was “considerably too high” and should be reduced in quality and quantity.

He added: “I should not like to see flogging done away with

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History

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31

The Victorian prison leader

other income. In a policy which turned on its head the notion that anyone is innocent until proven guilty, prisoners awaiting trial received half the bread ration that a convicted prisoner received, which was 1 1/2 lb a day.

The other prison in the city, Bridewell, was, if anything, worse than Newgate, according to Howard. It stood where the old central fire station was until recently. In 1664 it held 55 women, but there were only five beds. Howard found the beds very dirty, and the air foul from the open sewers. Again, there was no bedding, the prisoners had nothing to do, and there wasn’t enough water. The rats were so numerous the prisoners kept a cat to stop them gnawing their feet.

W

HAT was to be done?

Howard’s call for humanity in prisons coincided with the rise of the socially reforming religious movements of the Methodists and Quakers. John Wesley, the great founding Methodist from Bristol, and the Quaker Elizabeth Fry, both joined the cause.

Methodists believed that the word of God could be preached anywhere, not just in a church,

system” in jail for the purposes of prison discipline. I think if it were used a little more freely, all the gaols in England would be managed better and quieter.”

And here’s the rub. In the early 19th C, prisons were squalid and dangerous. But the new regime of better conditions allied with the “separate system” of silence and isolation led to a big increase in the number of cruel punishments.

Author Michael Ignatieff estimated that in 1825, physical punishments were inflicted on one out of every 191 inmates.

But by 1835, the figure was one out of every 3.4 prisoners. He claimed: “Irons, bread and water, the dark cells and floggings followed every attempt to speak or protest.”

Open plan: The cell blocks radiated off a hall to make them easy to observe. This plan is from 1865. The treadmill is top right. Tiny cells for labour, top centre, were designed so prisoners could not see each other and Wesley and others took their sermons into Newgate.

Here, though, we find one of the paradoxes of prison reform.

Proponents like Wesley saw it as their prime duty to save men’s and women’s souls.

And though they demanded – and got – more humane conditions when Bristol Corporation finally agreed in 1816 to build a new prison, only the most basic physical improvements would be made to the lives of the incarcerated.

For in the 19th C, running a prison was almost as much a spiritual exercise as a physical place; for many involved in the prison system, it was an opportunity to save the souls of the fallen rather than a humane place for prisoners to live.

Nevertheless, the New Gaol was state of the art for the time.

The city raised the enormous sum of £60,000 – about £2 million in today’s money – and found a plot between the harbour and the New Cut at Wapping – soon to be known as Spike Island, perhaps because of the prison.

Opening in 1820, it had single cells, each 9ft by 6ft, for 197 men and women. The sexes were to be kept apart – if male warders visited the female prisoners, they

were supposed to be chaperoned by a matron.

A 100ft well was sunk to ensure there was no shortage of water. The prisoners were to be allowed to wash their hands and faces and comb their hair every day, and have a bath once a month.

And the cells were arranged in radiating rows so that minimal staff could keep the prisoners under observation.

In 1825, the Mathew’s Bristol, Clifton and Hotwell Guide enthused about the New Gaol: ”This is an extensive and commodious building. For health, convenience and excellent arrangement is not to be equalled in England, commanding extensive views of the surrounding countryside,” it said.

“The boundary wall (20 feet high) is built in hewn variegated marble which has a beautiful appearance.”

The views may have been good but the prisoners were unlikely to enjoy them because the windows were tiny. This meant not only that the air was foul – just like the old jails – but the place was so dark that at night it was impossible to supervise. Worse, an inspection by magistrates in 1840 found the water unrinkable. The baths were

not found; the prison was overcrowded and understaffed, and discipline was lax.

This was partly because in 1831 Bristol was the scene of a great riot – a protest at the lack of parliamentary reform – and the prison was ransacked. Yet 10 years later, some of the damage had still not been repaired.

We might see the reality of the New Gaol as a shattered dream for the reform-minded.

But James Anthony Gardner clearly saw things differently.

He took up the post of governor of the New Gaol in 1838 – possibly because the previous governor, William Humphris, had allowed standards to decline.

It may be that the dire inspection of 1840 reflected the conditions left behind by Humphris, who was governor at the time of the 1831 riot and was reputed to be drinking in the Bathurst Hotel opposite the prison gates (now the Louisiana pub) when the trouble broke out.

Gardner, often referred to as Captain Gardner, was at any rate a new broom. He had spent time at sea and in running Bristol’s police force. Born in 1808, he was the son of a naval officer of the same name. Gardner senior achieved some fame after his Continued on page 32

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History

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The radical idea that prison work could be useful, not punishment Continued from page 31 death with the publication of his memoirs, Above and Under Hatches – still available today, less an account of naval engagements and more a tale of hard drinking and altercations below decks.

The younger James Gardner would allow no such lapses in his prison. In fact, he didn’t want them to talk to each other – or even see each other. Incredibly, he tried to enforce a rule of silence. And when prisoners were moved they had a bag over their head so they could not recognise each other. This meant each one had to be escorted by a warder.

Misguided he may have been to our eyes, but Gardner wanted to reform his prisoners. He wanted to stop prisons being a place where crime was a contagion which was passed from one inmate to the next. Hence he wanted to prevent as much contact between the prisoners as possible. And he wanted them to have something useful to do: even though others in the criminal justice system merely wanted to punish inmates and thought breaking rocks a perfect occupation.

Gardner put his men and women to work. Twenty of them at a time could be used to walk the treadmill to draw up water from the prison well, even if it was undrinkable. The treadmill could also grind corn.

Prisoners practised tailoring, shoemaking and needlework – all honest crafts which might find

them jobs on their release. They also picked oakum – pulling apart lengths of old rope into individual fibres which was then used to make a packing material to seal the hulls of wooden ships.

And they did much more, as we see from the evidence of a marble slab, now in Bristol Museum, to mark the opening of the prison chapel in 1855.

“This chapel was designed and built in the year of our Lord 1855 by the Governor James Anthony Gardner who under the sanction of the visiting justices erected the same by the labour of the prisoners and paid the whole expensive the building by the proceeds of their industry.”

Note the claim that it was Gardner who built the chapel, not the prisoners, who clearly did the hard work. Is it reading too much into a few words on a slab to conclude that here we have the essence of the man: someone dedicated to his cause of reforming sinners by hard work?

This was “one of the best chapels” in any prison and had saved the city £3,500, said an approving inspector in 1858.

Gardner was rewarded with a silver tea service worth £200, paid for by a public subscription.

The energetic Gardner was not content with the chapel: he got the prisoners to extend the prison building, making 30 new cells, a “cooking department” and converting the old chapel into a store. The materials were paid for by the sale of oakum.

Yet critics complained that

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Claiming the credit: On this marble slab, Gardner says: “This chapel was built ... by the Governor James Anthony Gardner” – though it was his prisoners who supplied the labour.

Picture © Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives.

Pictures on right and on page 31 © Bristol Record Office. this reduced the income to the city which the prisoners could have earned if their labour was sold to outsiders.

And the lords on the parliamentary Carnarvon committee were unhappy that prisoners were allowed to practise trades instead of being punished with hard labour.

A

fter the Enlightenment, a brave few freethinkers dared to suppose that God might not exist. These newlystyled Atheists stated that they

could not see the evidence for a divine being, and asked churchmen for proof.

But this was blasphemy, and illegal, and when socialist and atheist Charles Southwell opened a freethought bookshop in Bristol in late 1841, he was soon arrested. Put on trial in January 1842, he defended himself and was sentenced to 12 months in the New Gaol.

His account of his prison year states that when he entered the gaol, the warders all hated his beliefs; but by the time he left,

Explaining policy to Parliament Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee on Prison Discipline, JA Gardner, Bristol Gaol, 1863 Chairman Are you aware of the difficulty which very often arises in law courts in identifying a previously convicted prisoner?

JAG I am.

Ch Have you ever considered ... any scheme by which previously convicted prisoners may be ... identified ?

JAG I introduced some years ago (indeed I was the first who introduced them) the daguerreotype portraits of the prisoners, and from having succeeded in one or two cases, we introduced it more freely. I think it would be very difficult for a man to escape detection in our gaol.

Ch Do you take a portrait of

every prisoner who is committed to your gaol?

JAG We do not. I do it myself, and I have no time to take so many. We merely take portraits of those whom we do not know, railway thieves, and strangers to the city.

Ch Have you found the ... advantages of that system?

JAG Yes, I have found out a great many by that means. On one occasion I recollect an officer of mine being offered a large sum of money by the wife of a prisoner to release him. I thought that as the man had only three months more to serve, he certainly must be wanting somewhere else. I took his portrait ... and sent it round to perhaps 40 or 50 gaols, and he was recognised at last at Dover. On the following Friday he was sentenced to 15 years.

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Gardner’s compassion?

Public event: Crowds massed at the jailhouse gate for executions; sometimes spectators fell in the New Cut none stuck so closely to their orthodox religion – with the exception only of the governor, and the prison chaplain, Thomas Jennings.

Southwell had nothing but praise for Gardner, reinforcing the idea that he aspired to be firm and fair in his dealings with prisoners.

He was, though, quite dismissive of Jennings, who spent the year trying to convert his godless – and surely damned – inmate.

When his sermons didn’t work, Jennings wrote to the Bristol Mercury newspaper, protesting that Southwell had been given too much freedom to converse with others, and to read ungodly literature.

Southwell responded with contempt, pointing out that the reverend – who clearly had much authority in the prison – had banned him from reading the classical author Seneca’s “Morals”, an avowedly moral work, but not Christian enough for Jennings.

“As to the moralising influence of the prayers and discourses with which he daily treats the unfortunate prisoners, I am altogether sceptical,” wrote Speedwell on his release.

“Indeed, the conclusion to which I have arrived as to such prayers is simply this, that so long as prisoners should they be

compelled to listen to them, so long will they remain vicious, degraded and miserable.”

S

o what of Gardner the reformer? Partly his reputation in Victorian England came from the zeal he brought to run a strict regime in the prison but not, in his eyes at any rate, a harsh one.

But he stood out for another reason – he was a scientific pioneer. Gardner was among the first law enforcement officials in the world to realise the value of photography.

A neglected problem of the criminal justice system was identity. In an age when no one had a driving licence or printed passport, who could prove that a man was who he claimed to be?

Gardner was convinced that though many criminals robbed and fought in their own locale and became well know, others – the more serious kind – moved from county to county to escape justice.

With no centralised records, if a sheep stealer was caught in Bristol, it might never be discovered that he had been carrying on the same crime around Gloucester for years.

By 1850 a reliable method of capturing pictures of faces and landscapes had been found.

In 1852 Gardner began taking photographs of his prisoners. Not

all of them – just those he thought most itinerant and likely to have a record elsewhere.

He made them himself with a stereoscopic camera which gave the impression of three dimensions.

At a Parliamentary inquiry in 1863, Garden was asked the advantages of his system.

He had caught out many offenders whose photographs were recognised by staff at other gaols, he replied.(see panel, left).

Gardner insisted on the advanced stereoscopic apparatus because he believed it gave a better quality image which made the prisoner more recognisable.

This was truly farsighted. It took time – decades – for the prison service and then the police to make full use of this new science. In the meantime they carried on branding deserters from the army with a D, tattooed with hot needles into a man’s arm, ignoring the modern and humane alternative of photography. Finally, in 1870, the Prevention of Crime Act ordered the photographing of every prisoner.

Gardner’s testimony to Parliament shows he believed he was in the vanguard of an important reform. The questions he was asked, such as worries that prisoners could distort their faces and make themselves unrecognisable, show how little

ON Friday April 20, 1849, Bristol’s New Gaol was the scene of the last execution of a teenager to take place in Britain. Sarah Thomas, 19, had been found guilty of murder, killing her elderly employer, Elizabeth Jefferies, in her bed. Sarah confessed only after the judge had sentenced her to death. She claimed that Elizabeth had abused her.

The prison had been designed with a flat roof on the gatehouse for public executions. Crowds were sometimes so big that people were at risk of falling into the New Cut. Sarah’s hanging was a grisly affair: she had to be carried to the noose and restrained while the deed was done. The hangman, William Calcraft, said Sarah was “one of the prettiest and most intellectual girls I have met with”.

Accounts say the event was so traumatic that the gaol’s governor fainted.

Strangely, he was not named as Gardner, though it was during his period of office. So was this one duty he could not stomach? understood photography was.

Gardner died in 1882 and was buried at Arnos Vale. Not, sadly before he had to bury his own son there, another James, a naval lieutenant who drowned in India in 1861 and was given a lavish tomb.

What is James Gardner’s legacy? To our eyes, very mixed.

But perhaps, as well as remembering his views on flogging, we should also give credit to his foresight with photography.

And there’s a footnote to his scientific enthusiasm. His name appears among an 1870 list of applicants for patents, while still prison governor, for a design to improve “apparatus for signalling between passengers, guards and drivers of trains”. Was it the forerunner of the communication cord? Did it work? Was it used?

We don’t know. But it proves Gardner was more than a disciplinarian.

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Planning applications 6 Hill Avenue BS3 4SF Application to approve details in relation to conditions 2 (Archaeological Works) 3 (Recording of the fabric of building of historic or architectural interest) and 4 (Construction Management Plan) of permission 15/03961/F Demolition of modern extension and conversion of vacant former church to provide three 3-bedroom townhouses and one 2-bedroom house; two new 3-bedroom houses; four off street parking spaces. Pending consideration 22 Belluton Road BS4 2DW Notification of prior approval for single storey rear extension extending beyond the rear wall by 5m, with a maximum height of 3.5m and eaves 2.9m high. Two options submitted. Pending consideration 31 Oxford Street, Totterdown BS3 4RJ Application to approved details

in relation to conditions 3 (Noise from plant and equipment) and 4 (Rating level of any noise created by plant and equipment) of permission 15/04935/F Change of use from A1 shop use to Class A3 restaurant/cafe. Pending consideration

subject to verification of contamination work.

285 St John’s Lane BS3 5AZ Proposed two bedroom dwelling (Use class C3) arranged over two levels. Pending consideration

239 Redcatch Road BS4 2HQ Application for a Lawful Development Certificate for proposed single storey rear extension. Granted

8 Greenleaze BS4 2TJ Proposed two storey extension, side extension and single storey extension to the front of the house. Pending consideration 5 Newry Walk BS4 1LU Application to approved details in relation to conditions 2 (Further Details), 3 (SUDS), 10 (Landscaping) and 11 (Reporting of unexpected contamination) of permission 15/02944/F Construction of a new dwelling with access, screening, parking, landscaping. Granted

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13/00132/LA Replacement of hardwood windows, painted white complete with thin glazing.

Pending consideration Priory Surgery, 324-326 Wells Road, Knowle BS4 2QJ Application to approved details in relation to conditions 2 (Construction Management Plan) of permission 15/04008/F Two storey extension to existing doctors’ surgery. Pending consideration 3 Cemetery Road, Totterdown Erection of a dwelling house to be attached to the side of 3 Cemetery Road.

Pending consideration Land to rear of 17 Stoneleigh Road BS4 2RH Erection of 2 storey dwelling with access off Stoneleigh Crescent. Withdrawn • The status of these applications may have changed since we went to press. Check for updates at planning online.bristol.gov.uk

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Karin Smyth Patients want to see cancer services in South Bristol

Y

OU might recall reading in the November issue of the Voice about a community consultation I’ve been running regarding the South Bristol NHS Community Hospital that opened at Hengrove four years ago.

I’ve been concerned for some time that it’s underused, with spare capacity, and that it is not yet fulfilling its potential. Too many people living in the south of the city are still being referred for appointments across Bristol, at Southmead and the BRI, for example.

So my survey explores people’s experiences of the Hengrove hospital and what, if any, additional services people would like to see there.

I’ve now analysed the first few hundred

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The MP’s view Each month Bristol South Labour MP Karin Smyth gives her perspective responses. Feedback from those who’ve used it is overwhelmingly positive, but nine out of 10 people would like to see more services there, not least to reduce the need to travel across the city for healthcare. That’s not surprising since two thirds of those who have completed the survey tell me they travel elsewhere. A large proportion go to Southmead, which is a difficult journey and is where people

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are often directed for cancer-related treatment.

Consultation feedback shows that cancer screening services, followed by a seven day GP service, are the most sought-after additional services for Hengrove.

I’ve now written to officials at the Clinical Commissioning Group – the body that’s responsible for funding local health services – giving them details of these findings, and letting them know that I support my constituents’ view that extending cancerrelated screening is a priority for Hengrove.

I’ve asked them for their comments and requested they set out what plans or aspirations they have to extend services, and by when, to Hengrove. Watch this space.

It took over 50 years of campaigning for the hospital to be built, but if we’re to secure additional healthcare services at Hengrove, it’s important South Bristol people continue to speak up. Voice readers who haven’t already completed my survey and who would like to make their views known are welcome to do so. It can be completed online at www. karinsmyth.com/hospital. If you would like a paper copy call 0117 953 3575.

And don’t forget, if you want to write to me about this or any other issue, you can do so by email: karin.smyth.mp@parliament.uk or by post at House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.

Entertainment

No script – so just make up a play in a week!

CHILDREN who are also carers have the chance to get away from their responsibilities and face a different challenge during half term: creating a play in four days.

The Acta community theatre in Gladstone Street, Bedminster, which runs drama groups for young carers every week.

The half term project from February 9-12 offers the chance to make an original story for the stage. The week will end with a performance for family and friends on the Friday evening.

At the last event during the October half term, 14 young people from North Somerset spent three days creating a show called Ocean Waves.

The group came up with a pirate story involving storms, sea monsters, ghosts and mutinies – but with a moral ending where only the good pirates were rewarded with treasure.

Among the young people who have attended the carers’

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The old ’uns are the good ’uns REVIEW: Barry Cryer & Ronnie Golden: Past Masters Slapstick Festival, St George’s

Total Eclipse: One of Acta’s earlier shows made by the young carers sessions, one said: “It’s helped me lots because I used to be nervous and now I’m not. It’s built up my confidence.”

Another said: “I’ve made really good friends and I can talk to people who know what I’m going through and are from similar situations at home.”

And another: “I was glad it wasn’t about my caring but it was just about having fun.”

• www.acta-bristol.com

A PLAY IN 4 DAYS

• For child carers aged 11-18 • 10am-3pm each day • Show 6pm Friday • No experience necessary; no auditions • At Acta, Gladstone Street, Bedminster BS3 3AY • Free transport available • Book on 0117 953 2448 • Bring a packed lunch

BARRY CRYER was writing putdowns for Frankie Howerd before modern stand-up was invented.

But here he is, with multitalented singer-guitarist Ronnie Golden, creasing up a Slapstick Festival audience.

Age is not a barrier to enjoying yourself, he opines .“Sex is great at 80. We live at No. 82.”

“Barry has been working on his first erotic novel,” says Ronnie.

Adds Barry: “It’s a pop-up”.

That gives you a flavour. It’s not subtle. In Zimmer Frame Blues, when Barry sings, “My short term memory’s shot to pieces,” you can guess the next line. Ronnie’s impression of Robert De Niro as a chicken is, however, unexpected. It appeared to amuse Bill Oddie, next to us.

We don’t usually cover shows that aren’t local; but Slapstick is run by Totterdowners, and it’s cracking. Go see.

PB

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

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What’s on Monday February 1 Friends of Marksbury Road library meet at 6pm in the library. The Friends organise community events, fundraising and lobbying in the community.

• www.facebook.com/Friendsof-Marksbury-Road-Library Take It On: costume design One of a series of skills classes for ages 10-13 at the Tobacco Factory Theatre, 4.30-6pm. Take It On sessions are supported by IOP Publishing. £3 per session, book in advance.

• www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com Tuesday February 2 A Celebration Of The Natural World at Paintwork exhibition space, Bath Road.

Art exhibition created by 10 local schools: Wicklea Academy, West Town Lane Academy, St Bernadette’s, St Anne’s infants, Broomhill primary, Redfield primary, Holymead primary, Oasis Academy Brislington, Waycroft Academy and Hillcrest primary. Open until Saturday February 6. Tuesday-Friday 10am-6pm, Saturday 9am-3pm.

• www.paintworksbristol.co.uk Silent Auction Knowle Townswomen’s Guild. 2-4pm, Redcatch Community Centre, Redcatch Road.

• www.facebook.com/ knowletownswomensguild Saturday February 6 Animal husbandry and care at Windmill Hill City Farm.

“Whether you are thinking of setting up a smallholding, getting animals of your own or just fancy a day finding out how to care for farm animals, this workshop is for you. Our resident farmer will teach you all you need to know.”

Cost: £35, 9am-2pm • www.windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Jim Reynolds & Dave Griffiths at Saltcellar Folk Club, held in the basement at Totterdown Baptist Church, Wells Road, Totterdown. Blues, ragtime and folk on guitar, mandolin and bass. 7.30pm, £5.

• www.mandolinexpress.co.uk/ bands • www.saltcellarfolk.org.uk Wednesday February 10 Homer’s Odyssey Tobacco Factory – performance at Circomedia, St Paul’s, Portland Square, BS2 8SJ. Until February 14. Homer’s epic poem retold in dance theatre production by the Mark Bruce Company, who created the multi-award-winning Dracula. Set to music ranging

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Heroes give vent to their passions REVIEW: 5x15, Tobacco Factory theatre PSYCHIATRIST, neuropsychopharmacologist and famously ex- government drug advisor, Professor David Nutt’s research into the effects of psychedelics has positive implications for depression and well-being. He is warm, down-to-earth and makes a lot of sense.

Author Jay Griffiths broke a rule – 5x15 talks should be non-scripted. That way you see how a person thinks, get to know them a little. So, while what she read was beautiful and especially good on her heroine Frida Kahlo, this was the speaker I connected with the least.

Jess Thom talked about the neurological condition which her alter-ego and website are named after: Touretteshero.

Jess is a funny, engaging, visual and performance artist who uses her tics as inspiration for herself and others. Her work is about dispelling fear and embracing who you are.

Matilda Temperley talked about the disappearing cultures of the Omo Valley in Ethiopia.

Her stark, monochrome photographs of tribal people are modern, somehow dreamy, timeless. She convinced me of the injustices that globalisation and modernisation are wreaking on the area.

With smart blazer, shorts and a twinkle in his eye, Michael Eavis says farming is still his first love. He told us about the origins of Glastonbury – how he took his girl to Bath Blues Festival and as a romantic gesture decided to run his own – innocently phoning the Colston Hall for

the Kinks number and when they cancelled, Marc Bolan played instead, arriving in a velvet-covered Buick (entry fee for this first event was £1 and free milk!). One of his proudest charitable achievements is the 30+ social housing units he has built in Pilton. Great anecdotes and a nod of respect to the travellers who have been an integral part of it all.

This second event, like the first, was a sell-out. The third, on April 23, is likely to be the same. The fun is in its lucky dip nature – not all subjects will float your boat, but interesting people talking about their passions makes for an inspiring and thought-provoking evening.

Beccy Golding • Sign up for future 5x15 events at bristol@5x15stories.com

from Mozart to Mark Lanegan; Sacred Arias to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and an original score. Age recommendation 14+. £19.50 & £14.50 • www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com Thursday February 11 Hamlet The world’s most famous play, directed by Andrew

Hilton, founder of Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, to mark the 400 anniversary of the great playwright’s death on April 23, 1616. “Realpolitik, madness, sex and murder all play their part in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition.” Until

Twinkling: Michael Eavis

February, 2016

April 30. Tickets from £16 to £24.

• www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com Friday February 12 Hey Bulldog + The West Indies + DJ Kev Regz, The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, 7.3011.30pm. Hey Bulldog: “Bristol’s top Mod band who love to dip into the sounds of The Who, Kinks, The Beatles and The Small Faces. The West Indies are an indie covers band from the Bristol area bringing you the cream of the 90s and 00s.” £4.

• www.thethunderbolt.net Saturday February 13 Judy’s Vintage Fair Paintworks, Bath Road. Vintage traders bring menswear, womenswear, homewares, collectibles, accessories and jewellery for a shopping extravaganza.

• www.judysvintagefair.co.uk • www.paintworksbristol.co.uk Sunday February 14 Love Food presents Valentine’s Day food festival Paintworks, Bath Road. “Taste and buy an array of sensory foods, such as oysters, unctuous cheeses and artisan chocolates from our local food market, or gorge on a selection of hot and sumptuous street food.” Free entry, 10.30am-4pm.

• www.lovefoodfestival.com • www.paintworksbristol.co.uk Tony Law: Frillemorphesis at Tobacco Factory theatre. “The brand new stand-up art show from the multi award-winning Tony Law. Experience his frillemorphesis as he explodes into the future absurdly. As seen on Have I Got News For You, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Celebrity Squares.” Age 16+. Tickets £15 • www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com Thursday February 18 Develop your novel New course at Windmill Hill City Farm. “A course to help edit, structure and enhance your story, with guides to help progress key scenes, develop plot and improve tense, point of view and dialogue. You will receive encouraging feedback from the group to assist you to advance your novel towards completion.”

Eight sessions, 7-9pm. Cost: £75 (free for those on a means tested benefit). Run by the WEA. • www.windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Attilla the Stockbroker The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, 7.30pm. “Launched into public

To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Paul on 07811 766072 or Emma or Hollie on 0117 908 2121.

February, 2016

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What’s on

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Soundscape of human voices REVIEW Mmm Hmmm, Tobacco Factory theatre THERE are loads of choirs in South Bristol. And there are tons of performers, creativetypes and live gig-goers. So it’s no surprise that there was a packed house for Mmm Hmm on January 21 – it’s a perfect combination of all these things.

I was delighted to have a ticket, having missed out on the previous run back in 2014.

This short a cappella performance - only 45 minutes – was startling in many ways. The set? Just the black floor and walls of the Tobacco Factory, lit with boxes of light. Three women in black leather shoes and block-coloured… well, you could call them dresses, but throughout the show arms were in, arms were out, hoods were up, monk-like, to cover faces, empty sleeves were tied tight, or tucked in to create formless bags of cloth. It was physical too, with pushing and shoving, mimed tea-drinking, stomping consciousness by John Peel in the early 1980s, performance poet, musician, journalist and political activist Attila the Stockbroker has spent 35 years touring the world.” £10/£8.

• www.thethunderbolt.net Friday February 19 Stained glass workshop for intermediates, from 9.30am12.30pm at Windmill Hill City Farm. “A course for students who wish to advance their skills in stained glass making and copper foiling, as well as learning new techniques such as fusing and painting on glass.” Run by the WEA. 15 sessions, £210 – free for those on a means-tested benefit, £40 materials fee payable by all.

• www.windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Saturday February 20 Friends of Avon New Cut meet for litter clearance along Cumberland Road and Rail track. Meet at Gaol Ferry Bridge at 10am for around two hours.

Followed by complimentary hot drink and cake.

• www.franc.org.uk Sunday February 21 Young Farmers Club for children aged 8-12 years at

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Note perfect: Ellie Showering, Verity Standen and Jannah Warlow

and clapping, something close to formation pogo-ing, chocolate biscuit-eating and breathlessly panting out the crumbs.

But most incredible was the sound – three human voices creating soundscapes, hair-onend harmonies, clashing discords, songs of joy and sadness. And they pulled

Windmill Hill City Farm, every Sunday, 9am-noon. “We have a new term-time opportunity for children to help us regularly on the farmyard and get to know all the animals. Activities will include feeding, mucking out and grooming the animals, as well as collecting eggs.” £12 per session. Call 0117 963 3252 or email info@windmillhillcityfarm. org.uk • www.windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Chosen Wedding Fair Paintworks, Bath Road.

“Uninspired and looking for that something that’s uniquely you?

Join us for a day of discovery and inspiration, celebrating local designer, maker and vintage talent that will help you make planning your big day as fun as it should be!” 11am-4.30pm. £3 in advance & £4 on the door.

• www.chosenwedding.com • www.paintworksbristol.co.uk David O’Doherty at the Tobacco Factory theatre. Shows at 4pm and 8pm. Extra shows by the Irish comedian. “David O’Doherty, the Lidl Enya, the broken Bublé, is delighted to present a new show of talking

the audience right along with them – we leaned in to catch breaths and whispers, laughed heads back, and, right at the end, were visibly moved – I wasn’t the only one wiping a tear away at something, not as simple as a song with a meaningful lyric – somehow they conveyed something of the human experience, without and songs played on a stupid keyboard from 1986.” Ages 16+. £16.50.

• www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com Tuesday February 23 Sisters Acta theatre, Gladstone Street, Bedminster. Also on February 26. The Acta company revive a show first produced at the theatre in 2013. “Stacey and Sharon share everything, all the ups and downs, the laughs and tears of adult life. But when an elderly relative dies, their close relationship is suddenly under threat.”

• www.acta-bristol.com Friday, February 26 Quiz and supper night Windmill Hill community centre, Vivian Street. Held last Friday of every month, 8.30pm.

• www.whca.org.uk The Feminists (Berlin) + Myst + Cosmonaut & Creature + The Backhand Jags, 7.30-11.45pm, The Thunderbolt, Bath Road.

“Berlin girls The Feminists … with a documented penchant for sweet dresses and subtle make-up, show not only skin and sweat, but also an electrical

one note of preaching or anything as simple as versechorus-verse.

Sadly this was the last run of this show. But watch out for composer Verity Standen, collaborator Ellie Showering and fellow performer Jannah Warlow, all Bristol-based, all fantastic, all guaranteed to come up with more great stuff.

Beccy Golding stage presence. With the unique Samantha Fuchs as frontwoman, the force of the band is irresistible.”

• www.thethunderbolt.net Saturday February 27 Willow weaving workshop at Windmill Hill City Farm, 10am5pm. “This one-day course is an excellent, relaxing, opportunity.

Over the course of the day we will teach you how to weave a basket from willow. You will leave at the end of the day with your finished basket and the skills to make many more.” Cost £45.

• www.windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Sunday February 28 No Such Thing As A Fish with the QI Elves Tobacco Factory theatre. “The QI Elves take to the road in the first live touring version of their multiaward-winning podcast, on the back of their sell-out Edinburgh Festival run. Join Dan Schreiber, Andrew Hunter Murray, James Harkin and Anna Ptaszynski as they serve up bizarre, extraordinary and hilarious facts from the QI universe.” 8pm. Ages 16+. Tickets £15.

• www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

T: 07811 766072

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February, 2016

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branches Opposite Temple Meads Station, | Bristol | BS1 6PL Opening Times: Mon - Sat 9.30am - 5.30pm | Sun 10.30am - 4.30pm Free parking at rear | Tel: 0117 934 9200 | www.branchesofbristol.co.uk To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Paul on 07811 766072 or Emma or Hollie on 0117 908 2121.