South Bristol Voice May 2019

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May 2019 May 2019

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No. 48

www.southbristolvoice.co.uk

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Steep? We know how steep it is!

INSIDE

RESIDENTS of Vale Street, Totterdown, were out in force as usual on Easter Sunday for the annual egg-rolling competition, unaffected by news that it was “officially” the steepest residential road in Britain.

The national media was full of tales of cars tied to lampposts, skiing down the road, and motorbikes being tested on the 22 degree (almost 1 in 4) slope.

What’s perhaps closer to residents’ hearts is preserving their unique neighbourhood – which means waiting for the council to replace cast iron railings damaged by a runaway vehicle in the winter freeze-up.

Cllr Jon Wellington is trying to ensure the historic railings are restored as they were.

• Intro: page 2

Is it a winner? Competitors in the Vale Street Easter egg-rolling event

• BRISTOL’S PINK BOAT MAKES HEADLINES 8

DON’T STEAL OUR HERITAGE!

HISTORIANS may call it the Battle of Beckington Road – the day that residents of a quiet road in Lower Knowle stood up for their heritage, and won the attention of the entire nation.

It began on March 25, when messages started appearing on

• TRIBUTES TO SON AFTER MURDER CHARGE FOLLOWS BIKE DEATH 17

Developer Hadley’s proposed Bath Road high-rise, as it would be seen from Park St, Totterdown

• TWEAKS FOR BATH ROAD TOWER, AS UNI UNVEILS STUDENT BLOCKS 5 • WARNINGS OVER INSULATION ‘GRANTS’ 6-7

social media about lampposts being dug up on the road, a quiet cul de sac off Redcatch Road.

For decades the inter-war style of the Beckington Road semis was out of fashion. But in recent years more people have Continued on page 3

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Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk

IN

May 2019

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2 Paul Breeden Editor & publisher 07811 766072 paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk Ruth Drury Sales executive 07590 527664 sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk Editorial team: Beccy Golding, Alex Morss, Martin Powell & The Wicked Witch. Deliveries: Greg Champion

Intro PEOPLE POWER IT’S VERY unpredictable what will catch the public imagination. Two South Bristol stories have made the national headlines since our last issue: the ‘class war’ over the lampposts of Beckington Road, and the relevation (for the umpteenth time) that the steepest residential road in Britain is Vale Street, Totterdown.

Perhaps neither is a life-changing issue; one of the residents of Beckington Road told the Voice that the lamppost row is definitely a First World problem. But what both these stories show is how much we care about the places where we live. What makes

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Independent Community News Network member Twitter: @sbristolvoice Facebook: southbristolvoice Next deadline for editorial and advertising: May 20th them special to us may not be obvious to politicians – or editors. Woe betide the officials who want to make changes to our neighbourhoods, and take the public’s consent for granted.

GOODBYE-EE THIS is my last edition of South Bristol Voice as editor. It’s been a hard decision to let go of the reins but I’m doing so knowing that SBV will be safe in the hands of three experienced Voice partners. Ruth Drury will continue as sales manager and wil be joined by Voice network co-founder Richard Coulter, and by Becky Day as editor.

Many thanks to all the readers and local businesses who have been so supportive of, and said such nice things about, SBV since 2015.

Paul Breeden

TOTTERDOWN CANTEEN

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n BRIEFLY n A DAVID Bowie tribute act and a pastie thrown in – it doesn’t get more BS4 than that. Phil Murray’s Diamond Dogz bring their Spirit of Ziggy Stardust show to Redcatch community centre on Saturday May 18.

Tickets include a pastie with the sauce of your choice. Show starts at 7.30pm. BYO alcohol, tickets £8 from Broadwalk News. elknowle.wixsite.com/elknowle/ forthcoming-events n JAZZ at the Movies returns to the Totterdown’s Old Picture House on May 10 with the film Bessie, the story of the pioneering blues singer of the 1920s and 30s, Bessie Smith. The movie will be introduced by Dave Merrick and Natalie Davis with a brief set of classic blues. Refreshments on sale from 7.30pm; tickets £10/£8.

The Old Picture House is above Patco, Wells Road, and is entered from Winton Street. For tickets email: dmerr9226@aol.com n A KNOWLE man faces Bristol Crown Court on May 10 accused of burglary. Brett Sullivan, 36, of St Barnabas Close, was remanded in custody by magistrates on April 11, accused of break-ins in Wells Road, Whitchurch, and Kingsley Road, Clifton, in March.

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n NEWS n THE FRIENDS of Knowle Library hold a launch event on Saturday May 18 at Broadwalk shopping centre from 11am-12 noon. There will be refreshments and cake for those wanting to talk about how to support the library.

Facebook: Friends of Knowle Library n THE FORMER offices of Nelson Legal at 172 Wells Road can be converted into six flats.

The offices are above the St Peter’s Hospice shop, Fox & West deli, Soap Suds laundry and SouthSide bar. Planners gave approval on condition that the flats have sound insulation to protect residents from noise from the shops and the bar. There will be six cycle spaces but no parking. n THE PARK centre in Daventry Road, Knowle has signed a deal with the Department for Education which will provide funds for a new community centre when a secondary school is built on the site. The deal gives The Park a 150-year lease to ensure its future. The Park is home to over 40 organisations including charities, social enterprises and businesses, employing more than 100 people.

HOW DO I GET IN TOUCH WITH ...

My MP? Karin Smyth MP By email: karin.smyth.mp@ parliament.uk By post: Karin Smyth MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA By phone: 0117 953 3575 In person: Call 0117 953 3575 for an appointment.

My councillor?

Post: You can write to all councillors at City Hall, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR.

Christopher Davies Lib Dem, Knowle Email: Cllr.Christopher.

Davies@bristol.gov.uk Gary Hopkins Lib Dem, Knowle (Lib Dem deputy leader) Email: Cllr.Gary.Hopkins@bristol.gov.uk Phone: 07977 512159 Lucy Whittle Labour, Windmill Hill On maternity leave Jon Wellington Labour, Windmill Hill Phone: 07392 108804 Email: Cllr.Jon.Wellington@bristol.gov.uk

USEFUL NUMBERS Bristol City Council www.bristol.gov.uk 0117 922 2000 Waste, roads 0117 922 2100 Pests, dog wardens 0117 922 2500 Council tax 0117 922 2900 Housing benefit 0117 922 2300

Social services 0117 922 2900 Police Inquiries 101 Emergency 999 NEIGHBOURHOOD MEETINGS Knowle Forum Friday June 21, Redcatch Community Centre, Redcatch Road, 7pm.

COMPLAINTS

To celebrate 50 years as a family run, independent business, we are giving away a FREE HOT DRINK with this advert!

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Despite our best efforts, we sometimes get things wrong. We always try to resolve issues informally at first but we also have a formal complaints procedure. If you have a complaint about anything in the South Bristol Voice, contact the Editor using the details below. We aspire to follow the the Code of Conduct of the NUJ (National Union of Journalists), nuj.org.uk/about/nuj-code.

Further details of the complaints process can be found on our website (below) or can be obtained by contacting the Editor by email: paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk or by post: 18 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BX or by phone: 07811 766072. southbristolvoice.co.uk/complaints-procedure All stories and pictures are ©South Bristol Voice (unless otherwise stated) and may not be reproduced without permission in this or any other plane of the multiverse.

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Lamps will return, residents promised Continued from page 1 started to appreciate their 1930s looks – which meant that when council contractors arrived to remove their cast iron, pre-war lamp standards, there was going to be trouble.

When one of the workers let slip that the lampposts might be headed for refurbishment and a future in another part of Bristol, it was just too much.

“Once again South Bristol’s history and beautiful assets are being stripped out in favour of more affluent Briz,” read a message on social media.

“Clifton is made up of lamps and paving slabs from other parts of Bristol stripped out in the 80s, remember? BCC – be ashamed!”

Residents set up a What’sApp group to raise awareness, and quickly targeted councillors, the media and the office of mayor Marvin Rees.

Someone started postering historic lampposts in Clifton with

EMAIL TRAIL SHOWS COUNCIL IN A FRENZY

T

HE HUGE media interest in the Beckington lampposts had officials at the council in a frenzy about how to respond.

The official line was that lamps were merely being upgraded – if a street had mostly modern ones, as Beckington Road already did, they would get more of the same.

But a Freedom of Information request found officials stating in private that this meant areas with existing heritage features, such as Conservation Areas, would get more.

“This has had the long term effect of concentrating heritage lampposts in affluent areas,” wrote

Council retreats as media talk about Bristol’s ‘class war’ signs reading: “Theft is theft. This light belongs in South Bristol.”

Bristol Live reported how the council policy of restoring old lampposts meant they were gradually being shifted from South Bristol and other less affluent areas of the city to the posh bits, such as Clifton and Redland.

That’s because South Bristol has hardly any Conservation Areas, where period features are meant to be retained.

Outraged, Knowle’s two Lib Dem councillors, Gary Hopkins and Chris Davies demanded the old lamps be returned.

By then, the story had been reported by the BBC, the Mail, Guardian, Telegraph and others.

International media too wanted to report on Bristol’s an official, whose name was redacted, to cabinet member Cllr Kye Dudd.

And Kevin Slocombe, the powerful head of the mayor’s office, wrote: “The historic scheme is the problem. But we need to change – we should stop removing them and leave them where they are with fixes as required. And put back the ones in Bedminster!* And then we can announce that policy.

Are we all ok with this?”

• Read officials’ emails about the lamppost saga at: tinyurl.com/BattleofBeckington * Mr Slocombe, like many council officials, thinks Beckington Road is in Bedminster. Most people think it’s in Lower Knowle.

Open garden NO, IT’S not a cottage garden somewhere in deepest Somerset – this is the garden of a modest home at 2 Fitzgerald Road BS3.

Owner John Hodge explained that he and his late wife Ann spent 28 years creating the garden.

Though small, it has lots of variety, from ponds to a fern area and an “Eden Project-style”greenhouse that’s full of cacti. John said: “I lost Ann just over two years ago and I decided to open to the public under the National Gardens scheme otherwise I am

Carted off: The 1930s lampposts “class war” policy of robbing poorer areas of their heritage to send it to richer neighbourhoods.

Cllr Hopkins was interviewed by an Irish TV channel.

Even when the mayor’s office promised the removals would stop, they didn’t – the next day

two more of the iron lampposts were removed.

But people power won in the end, with a promise that the four old lamps removed in March will be refurbished and returned.

“We are really pleased that the nationals picked up on it – we thought it was brilliant,” one Beckington resident, who didn’t want to be named, told the Voice.

“We are really happy that we are going to have our lamps back.”

The lights were due to return soon after Easter, refurbished and fitted with low-energy LED lamps.

Cllr Hopkins now hopes that all the modern lampposts on the road can be converted to look like the old ones – though the council hasn’t confirmed this.

He slammed the council for its lack of consultation: “They didn’t tell the residents, and they didn’t tell us as ward councillors,” he said. About one in three Beckington residents had complained, he added.

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The £3.50 fee goes to charities.

Book your appointment today at www.lynnefernandes.co.uk 182a Wells Road, Knowle, Bristol BS4 2AL | Tel: 0117 977 6330

Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk

May 2019

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n NEWS Tell us pet tales!

Cockerpoo George: Will sneeze on request

NEXT month the Voice will be writing about pets – and we want to hear your best stories about your animals, whether you have a dog, cat or a backyard chicken.

We’ll feature the best stories in the paper, along with an appeal to help rehome animals being cared for by Bristol A.R.C. (formerly Bristol RSPCA).

To get you thinking, here’s George. He’s the canine companion at South Bristol Voice. Trained from a puppy by Cathy Sprod of All4Paws Bristol, he’s got quite a few tricks up his paws: he can sometimes be seen collecting litter in Perretts Park, and he will also sneeze to order. Don’t believe us? See tinyurl.com/GeorgeSneeze.

Send your pet stories to news@southbristolvoice.co.uk.

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n NEWS

Homes objections overruled A BUNGALOW on Wells Road can be replaced by a block of six flats and two houses, planning officials have ruled, despite more than 50 objections.

Plans to replace the sixbedroom bungalow set in a large garden at 235 Wells Road, Knowle, provoked scores of protest letters from residents of neighbouring Belluton Road, who fear they will find it even more difficult to park.

The 10 new homes will share eight parking spaces on site – but planners said this was adequate.

Officials also overrode objections that the three-storey block of flats is too tall for the area of mainly two storey-houses, saying that because of the slope it will appear lower than its neighbour at 237 Wells Road.

Several neighbours joined the Bristol Civic Society in calling the plans “an over-intensification” of the site, harming the character of the residential area. The planners

May 2019

Allowed: Proposal for 10 homes on site of Wells Road bungalow responded that the design meets Bristol’s new Urban Living standards, which sets an

“optimum density” for the area of 120 homes per hectare. The new plan is for 86 units per hectare, and has also been designed to reflect the design of other local homes.

The new homes would not overlook neighbours any more than other homes in Calcot Road do currently, said theo’learygoss planners.

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SPRINKLERS FOR NEW HOUSES

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INE objections have been received to a plan for five terraced houses on a former builders yard on Windmill Hill. The site has been empty for years. Residents protest that access to the site, behind Mascot Road and Brendon Road, will be difficult for emergency and refuse vehicles, and the homes will overshadow some gardens. They

Protests: Houses planned at Mascot Road Land to the Rear of Mascot Road

Design & Access Statement

also protest that the overgrown plot is home to slow worms and other wildlife.

A fire appliance may have to park as far as 67m from the new homes, but this is within the permitted distance – and the new houses will have sprinklers fitted.

March 2019

See what you are missing at ...

Concern as number of student homes grows THE UNIVERSITY of Bristol has updated plans for its Enterprise Campus at Temple Meads.

It has moved all its student accommodation to Temple Island – previously earmarked as the home of the arena – proposing 953 bedrooms in three buildings up to 21 storeys high (down from 25 storeys when the plans were first unveiled in 2017).

The university also plans two buildings rather than three on Cattle Market Road, in place of the old sorting office now being demolished by the council, to allow for more public spaces and better pedestrian and cycle paths.

The student blocks will be clad in metal “to reflect the industrial heritage of the site”, with a “24-hour student hub” and shops, bars and cafes.

For many South Bristol residents, it is the height of the student blocks which will attract the most comment, at 21 storeys.

Matthew Montagu-Pollack, founder of Bristol’s Campaign Against Tower Blocks, tweeted that there is “no reason why Bristol’s new campus couldn’t be beautiful. But the mayor wanted the prestige of a high-rise stump, so that’s what they are building.”

No plans have emerged yet for the rest of Temple Island, where

CAMPUS TIMELINE

Cleve House School & Little Cleve Nursery

May 1, 2019 Consultation ends on design of student blocks July-August 2019 Consultation on design of academic buildings 2020 Start of work on site 2022 Campus due to open bristol.ac.uk/temple-quartercampus

High-rise proposals updated

Revised: The university student blocks at the former Arena Island Legal & General wants to build homes, offices, a hotel and a conference centre complex.

Totterdown community group Tresa is also opposed to the student blocks, saying the chance to “design something better” had been wasted. However, Windmill Hill Labour councillor Jon Wellington is relaxed about their height so close to the city centre.

But he objects to some of the tall buildings planned elsewhere – such as developer Hadley’s plan for a 16-storey tower next to Totterdown Bridge on Bath Road (see picture on front page).

Hadley amended its plans in April to meet objections from the Environment Agency. The number of flats is reduced from 160 to 152.

It moved the tower back from the New Cut to give better access to the river bank.

But this has reduced the amount of public courtyard space, said Cllr Wellington.

“Clearly it’s too big for the area, it’s going to grate with the terraced housing across the road,” said Cllr Wellington.

He is also concerned about the number of student homes proposed for Bedminster Green.

As revealed in the last Voice, around 1,000 student rooms are

now proposed for central Bedminster on top of 2,500 other homes, of which 1,500 would be at Bedminster Green itself.

The Green should not become a student village, he said: “I’m in favour of a mixed community but if we are looking at two in five homes on the Green being given

to students that doesn’t really fit in with trying to meet the housing needs of the community.”

Other large student blocks are also proposed for either side of the Feeder Canal, while plans for more homes at St Philips seem likely to mean more high-density, high-rise proposals.

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Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk

May 2019

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n NEWS The Voice talks to two Totterdowners who paid thousands for substandard work A TOTTERDOWN woman is warning residents to think carefully before they spend thousands with firms claiming they can get government grants to pay for home insulation after

southbristolvoice

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n NEWS

Exposed: The non-existent

energy grants that fool homeowners

she was left with a bodged job that will cost around £7,000 to put right.

Valerie Bowes of Richmond Street used her savings and was given money by relatives to pay a £7,200 quotation for external wall insulation, thinking it would finally make it easy to heat her

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Victorian terraced home, which is always cold in winter.

Instead, she has been left with unfinished walls, leaking outside pipes, a blocked drain and piles of building materials in her garden.

Valerie even climbed onto her flat roof to use a bin bag to fix to a Valerie Bowes: Left with leaking pipes drainpipe which was letting rainwater spray work right – one for £6,782 and everywhere. another for £7,488. “What do Outside the kitchen, several you do when the money you have pipes – including the soil pipe put aside has been used, and you which carries toilet waste – have are told that it’s going to cost far now sprung leaks because they more to put it right?” Valerie told were not moved to allow space the Voice. for the insulation.

“It’s paralysing, I don’t know The walls are rough and what to do. I felt humiliated. I showing hairline cracks. The job have been put on anti-depressants was abandoned after an attempt – when you are conned you feel to lay a coloured layer of render like you have been abused. was washed away in heavy rain.

“I have sent endless emails Valerie now has quotes from and texts saying, how can you two other builders to put the just walk away and leave me with

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HERE has been wide concern about firms that claim to win grants for energy-saving and insulation works when, all too often, no grant is ever applied for.

All firms registered for grants under the official Energy Company Obligation will be PAS 2030:2017 accredited. Most grants are only for those on low incomes.

MP Karin Smyth said: “I am supporting my constituent [Valerie Bowes] in this case and am concerned about doorstep sellers

misleading people into believing there is support for sustainable home improvements in Bristol South. The Government has withdrawn a lot of this funding and I’d urge people to check with the Centre for Sustainable Energy for any active schemes.

“I have written to the minister expressing my concern about these misleading sales techniques, requesting he take action. I would encourage anyone who believes they have been misled or are the victim of fraud to call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040. You can email me at karin.smyth.mp@parliament.uk.”

ORMER builder and plasterer Ray Chambers is aggrieved that he has had to spend around £2,000 putting right work done after he called EnergySavingGrants and its allied firm Climate Shield to insulate his home – only to end with water leaking into his kitchen.

He was promised he was eligible for a grant of more than £1,500 for the work – but he never saw any evidence of this.

The bill for repairs could have been far higher if Ray wasn’t prepared, despite his 88 years of age, to climb scaffolding to fix some of the problems himself.

He says he has had to fix misplaced roof tiles and also make a crucial repair to the guttering

been leaded was still unfinished, and also how the workmen had dumped rubble over his side wall.

“I asked them to come back several times but they just refused,” he said.

Ian Davies of Cosy Home said he hadn’t been made aware by Climate Shield of Mr Chambers’s complaints.

“We would have liked the opportunity to put it right,” he said.

this? How would you feel if someone did this to your wife, mum or sister?” said Valerie.

She made a down payment of £2,099 after seeing a leaflet from EnergySavingGrants.org, whose website claims: “We are able to obtain partial funding to help towards the cost of Solid Wall Insulation.” It adds: “Some grants are quite literally ‘Here today, gone tomorrow’, so act quickly.”

Valerie’s call was passed to a firm called Climate Shield, whose salesman told her grant aid would reduce the cost of her work. But if grants are made, under the Government’s Energy Company Obligation, the homeowner would have to be involved in the paperwork. Valerie saw no

evidence of a grant. In the end her work was contracted out to Cosy Home, based in Aberbargoed, South Wales, who invoiced her for £3,780. She paid £2,500 of this before relations broke down.

Andrew Richards of Climate Shield told the Voice the firm was no longer trading – although its website is still live. However, EnergySavingGrants.org was taking calls, he said, and passing the work to contractors.

He offered no help to Valerie, claiming her contract was with Cosy Home. Mr Richards said Climate Shield lost money on her job because it paid for scaffolding and materials used by Cosy Home.

Ian Davies of Cosy Home disputed Climate Shield’s version

of events. He told the Voice he was sorry if he had failed Valerie, claiming he had offered her different options to resolve matters before relations broke down. But, he said, he was no longer working with Climate Shield, which he felt had been misleading customers with promises of non-existent grants.

Climate Shield also gave quotes to customers which were far too low to pay for all the work promised, Mr Davies said. He supplied the Voice with a letter he said he sent to Climate Shield itemising the uncosted work. He said the firm owed him £6,200.

To find out about official energy-saving grants, go to simpleenergyadvice.org.uk

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Left with water leaking into kitchen, and rubble in the garden

– which had been left too short so that rain was getting in behind the new cladding.

He also paid £1,200 get one of the walls rendered again because he wasn’t happy with the finish.

Like Valerie Bowes, he found he was dealing with not only Climate Shield but also Cosy Home, the South Wales-based contractor run

by Ian Davies.

Ray believes part of the problem was because the workers were unable to reach the work properly – they worked off ladders instead of a scaffolding tower.

Altogether he was charged more than £9,200 by the two firms.

Much of the work was acceptable, he says, but he thinks the claims that he was getting a government grant was “lies”.

He showed the Voice how one corner of the roof that should have

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Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk

May 2019

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n NEWS Clean Air plan Bristol sails

by September A COUNCIL plan to clean Bristol’s polluted air will go to Whitehall in September – nine months after the deadline. It is expected to back cleaner buses and taxis, scrappage of older vehicles, and a city centre charge for the most polluting vehicles – but not cars. Mayor Marvin Rees has said any charges must not unfairly affect those on low incomes.

Knowle Lib Dem Cllr Gary Hopkins said: “I cannot see that the plan is going to work. A sizeable proportion of the problem is from private cars.” cleanairforbristol.org

Wrap lesson PUPILS at Knowle’s Cleve House school avoided single-use plastic in their Waste Week, instead bringing snacks and drinks in reusable containers. They also took part in the Great Big School Clean, carrying out litter picks.

pink boat to West End

THE CLIMATE change demonstrations which brought parts of central London to a standstill for more than a week were in large part organised by Bristol protesters – many of them from South Bristol.

Bristol members of the group Extinction Rebellion installed the pink boat – which has featured in so many pictures of the protests – in Oxford Circus, one of London’s busiest junctions. It remained there for five days, surrounded by protesters, and on Good Friday was used by actor Dame Emma Thompson to address the crowds.

It was removed by police later the same day – but only after specially trained officers were brought in to prise away activitists who had glued

Dawn at Oxford Circus: Bristol activists eat breakfast around their pink boat, named Tell The Truth PHOTO: Roisin Smith

themselves to the hull. As the Bristol boat was towed away by police, it was to chants of: “We have more boats!”

Fred, a Bristol activist, was one of the protesters at Marble Arch. He told the Voice about the group’s high level of organisation, including daily “site meetings” which everyone was invited to attend and discuss issues.

“This included health and safety issues, where to place new campers, and how to peacefully enforce our no drugs and alcohol policy over the weekend,” he said.

“Two giant hot cross buns

were passed around with the XR logo instead of a cross. We all tore off a piece for breakfast.”

Many have criticised the protesters for bringing large parts of London to a standstill, at vast cost to the economy, and the police came under fire for not removing the blockades sooner.

The activists counter that the future of human civilisation is at stake. Extinction Rebellion wants the UK government to declare a climate emergency, and reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025.

Facebook: Bristol South Extinction Rebellion

May 2019

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n NEWS

Derelict, but George had a mad idea for factory A WEEKEND-long celebration will mark 25 years since the Tobacco Factory was saved from demolition and became South Bristol’s best-known cultural destination.

The building was bought by architect and ex-mayor George Ferguson in 1994, years after Imperial Tobacco moved to Hartcliffe and left BS3 full of empty warehouses and offices.

Not put off by the lack of electricity, running water, heating or seating, Bedminster’s own theatre group, Show of Strength, began putting on shows in the same year, starting with A Journey to Bristol, an 18th

century comedy. In 1999, the Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory company opened, with a mobile phone as a box office.

After a shaky start, its King Lear got a rave review in the Independent. The theatre’s reputation was made – despite its rickety plastic chairs.

In 2001 the café bar opened, and shortly afterwards Teoh’s Asian restaurant moved in (now occupied by the Thali).

Mr Ferguson was regarded with bemusement by property experts when he bought the derelict building. He had a vision to turn it into a centre for creative businesses, inspired by warehouse conversions in Manhattan. He told the Voice: “I’m always encouraged when agents think you are mad, because they just don’t get it.”

He says the secret of its success is that he didn’t rush it – because he didn’t have the money. He bought the building from a receiver for £200,000, money he then had to borrow.

Now the Tobacco Factory is a South Bristol landmark, credited

9

25 YEARS OF THE TOBACCO FACTORY

George Ferguson: Inspired by the re-use of warehouses in the US with helping transform North Street into one of Bristol’s most vibrant streets. Mr Ferguson is about to hand the theatre a 999-year lease to secure its future, and will eventually pass the rest of the building to a trust.

From May 1 there’s an exhibition in the main bar of artworks depicting the building.

The anniversary weekend is on May 25 and 26, when live music and DJs will play in the bar.

Outside in The Yard, Saturday will see circus performances and

workshops on aerial skills with Cirque de Silk.

Upfest artists will be live-painting in the Yard and there will be kids’ crafts from Cre8, and street food galore.

A special video piece has been commissioned from Limbic Cinema which will be projected onto the Factory in the evening.

In the theatre, there will be an exhibition of the story of the Factory building from 1912, and audio memories from cast and staff of past theatre shows, as well as performances by the theatre choir, and puppetry.

On Sunday there will be the regular Producers Market, from 10am-3pm, while Raleigh Road will also be closed for a street banquet at the same time.

Live street music will be followed by DJs in the yard from 3-9pm, with live swing and dancing from the Gin Bowlers.

• An interview with George Ferguson, on the Tobacco Factory, and whether he’ll stand for mayor again, is on the Voice website. tobaccofactory.com/whatson/25-years/

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It’s 25 years since the Tobacco Factory building was saved from demolition and brought back to life, repurposed as a creative and social hub for the Bristol community.

Check our website for news on celebration events throughout the year.

TOBACCOFACTORY.COM Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk

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n NEWS

CLIMATE CHANGE

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n FEATURES

T

HE HEDGEHOG brings a dash of exciting wildness into our tamed modern lives. It is a wonder they tolerate the maladjusted city lifestyle we have forced upon them here in South Bristol.

I shouldn’t assign human characteristics to animals, but I find something endearingly polite and resolute about their nature. Our prickly friends carry on steadfastly, tolerant of us regardless of how much we have messed up it all up. They potter about quietly in our gardens and parks, putting up with all the lousy weather and rubbish. And then, when things turn miserable in late autumn or winter, they just retreat into hibernation.

They are remarkable urban adapters, now doing far better in built-up areas than in the farmed countryside, according to research – although hedgehog numbers have crashed by one third since 2001 even in towns and cities, says the People’s Trust for Endangered Species.

Our city populations are vital for the species’ conservation. We know these elusive nocturnal mammals are still familiar garden visitors, because residents took part in a survey and campaign I ran with Avon Wildlife Trust and the Voice a while ago.

These intrepid wanderers can cover up to 2km in a night, in their search for food, a mate, or, right now, a nesting site. But with each adventure, they risk crashing into conflict.

Yvonne Cox, at Bristol’s Hedgehog Rescue charity, sees the casualties in her emergency room, stacked floor to ceiling with dozens of rehab cages. Her tales of a multitude of hog hazards make you amazed there are any of these animals left.

“Zoflora was found stuck in a drain and covered in disinfectant and bleach,” recalls Yvonne. (Yes, this hog has been named after a cleaning product.) “The finder thought she was a rat. After treatment for shock, worming, feeding and rest, she was released where found – after the

LIFE OF A CITY HEDGEHOG

Let’s all assist our city hogs!

Voice naturalist Alex Morss writes on the perils of being a modern urban hedgehog in South Bristol, and how we can all do our bit to help them thrive …

Right, a patient at Bristol Hedgehog Rescue – one of a record 336 treated last year PHOTO: Yvonne Cox

drain cover had been replaced.”

She continues: “Thomas and James were found trapped in an inspection pit at the steam railway at Bitton, totally black with oil and soot. They received many baths and after monitoring for poisoning and further treatment, they were released nearby to a lovely garden.”

Then there was Clanger, who lost his spikes: “Found in a barn

10 TOP WAYS TO HELP HEDGEHOGS 1. Make a Hedgehog Highway – a brick-sized hole, 13cm x 13cm, in a garden wall or fence to give them garden access.

2. Be cautious with strimmers, netting, wood preservatives, bonfires, inescapable ponds, open drains, garden forks, dogs, and trapping hedgehogs inside sheds.

3. Avoid using pesticides or rodent traps.

4. Leave wild areas with long grass, compost, logs, leaves and water.

resulted in admissions continuing to January and beyond.”

Yvonne, who is also known by many for the talks she gives to schools and groups, previously entrusted me with nursing a female hedgehog with a broken leg. She’d had a painful run-in with a rat trap on an allotment – not uncommon, sadly.

I also helped two brothers who had been found orphaned after their mother had eaten slug pellets. I was smitten by their cuteness, from the ends of their chocolate button noses and snuffling snouts to the tips of all 6,000 spines. The pair recovered to roam South Bristol once again.

Many hedgehogs are found dehydrated or underweight each year due to drought or unseasonal weather. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society says threats are habitat loss, roads, climate change and pesticides, but also bonfires and without a mother. Named after litter – and open water, if they he contracted ringworm and began can’t find a way out. They are to resemble the characters in the eaten by badgers and foxes too.

TV programme.” Clanger is eating City hedgehogs need lots of well but needs plenty of baths gardens to explore, to find – “which make him very grumpy!” sufficient slugs, snails, Yvonne said 2018 was a earthworms, beetles, caterpillars, record year for her charity, with millipedes, earwigs and fruit.

336 hogs treated. “The mild That’s why it’s so helpful if we weather meant few hibernations can make sure there are holes in and winter hog activity continued our garden walls and fences so regardless of depleted food. This they can move around easily.

May is the start of breeding 5. Offer meaty (not fishy) cat or time. The female will be looking dog food – not milk or bread. for nesting sites now. Perhaps 6. Plot sightings on the national your garden could be that place?

Hedgehog Street Map at She will be pregnant for up to five bighedgehogmap.org weeks from May to July, and 7. Volunteer or donate to then typically nurse 4-6 young Hedgehog Rescue to help for up to six weeks. They will be Yvonne support hedgehogs at able to roll into a ball by 11 weeks hedgehogrescue.webplus.net – but their protective prickles 8. Call the hog hotline 01584 890 will take longer to harden.

801 if you see a hedgehog in distress.

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n SPRING INTO ACTION Here are some ideas to lift your spirits this spring, from finding the best fashion to getting outdoors

Facebook: BS4 Good Gardens

D

07815 08932 Instagram: bristol_style_therapist Facebook: The Style Therapist thestyletherapist.co.uk bex@thestyletherapist.co.uk EX, The Style Therapist, is a personal stylist based in Bristol. Many people think that personal stylists are only for rich people and celebrities but this is not true! We’re all living longer and women want to look and feel as good as they can whatever their age.

Bex offers a wardrobe refresh or ‘edit’. She will visit your home and help you rearrange your clothes, guide you when putting existing items together and advise you about what gaps you

BS4 Good Gardens

The Style Therapist

B

May 2019

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12

Bex: Help to find the right look may have in your wardrobe.

She also offers personal shopping services – you may be looking for some new items for your Spring/Summer wardrobe, need honest and practical advice about styles or colours which suit your shape. Or perhaps you’re looking for something to wear for a special occasion? Bex is friendly, approachable, down to earth and not a scary fashionista type! What are you waiting for?

Give yourself and your wardrobe a boost!

O YOU find it hard to gather energy to get outside every spring to tend your neglected garden?

Here’s an incentive – take part in the BS4 Good Gardens challenge and you could win a meal for two at The Knowle in Leighton Road. That’s the prize for the overall winner in this year’s front garden awards.

For 2019, more than 70 roads are joining in. All you have to do is tend your garden in an eyecatching or imaginative way, ready for the judges to stroll past in June or July. Children’s displays are welcome.

This year’s logo was designed by resident Armon Gwilym.

As always, the event has been generously supported by BS4 businesses. They include Cleverly Builders, Greenwood’s, Hunters and Matthews estate agents, Will Appleby of MW Meats in the Broadwalk centre, Blossom Decluttering, BCM Services, Green Man carpet cleaners, The Little Kitchen, Kennedy Chiropody & Podiatry and Deli@Sandy Park.

southbristolvoice

n NEWS

Top To Toe Physiotherapy

07501 339525 info@toptotoephysiotherapy.co.uk toptotoephysiotherapy.co.uk Opening soon at 184 Wells Road, Totterdown BS4 2AL. Also at Shaftesbury Park, Frenchay Park Road, Winterbourne BS16 1LG; Combe Down Surgery, Sulis Manor Road, Odd Down, Bath BA2 2AL.

L

AURA Swarbrick and Kelly Rotheram met nine years ago and quickly became good friends, united by a love of physiotherapy and finding they had similar drive and ambitions.

Kelly started Top to Toe with a previous business partner, then Laura became a joint owner 14 months ago. They will soon be opening their new clinic on Wells Road – if it’s not already open by the time you read this.

Kelly is about to have her second child – they pride themselves on running a company that recognises the importance of family life. Laura and Kelly have an approachable way of working, always treating their patients as a whole person.

‘We help people live their lives at home’

Does your garden help your street blossom?

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May 2019

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To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Ruth on 07590 527664

Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk

13

May 2019

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n THE MAYOR

May 2019

southbristolvoice

LETTERS and provide your postal address.

Please keep letters as short as possible,

MARVIN REES Mayor of Bristol

I’m determined to challenge those who want to litter and deface our city

L

ITTER and graffiti are issues that people care deeply about in their local area, and are part of the way we feel about our own communities and homes.

Making Bristol’s streets measurably cleaner is a priority for many people in the city, and one shared by me and my administration.

That is why at our most recent cabinet meeting, we approved the allocation of an additional £1 million for our Clean Streets action plan.

As part of the investment, the city centre areas and parks, which see high levels of use, will get new hi-tech bins that can compact litter and hold up to six times more than a

standard bin. The bins will also email Bristol Waste Company automatically when they need emptying.

We are also purchasing a cherry picker to

help our graffiti removal crews access graffiti in hard-to-reach places.

The fantastic volunteering groups who help to try to improve Bristol’s streets will also benefit from the investment. One hundred litter picking kits will be made available for schools, and new equipment, including graffiti removal kits, are set to be purchased for community clean-ups.

But we know in many cases this is dealing with the actions of a minority of people who continue to think it is acceptable to treat the city as their personal bin.

I am determined to challenge the behaviour of these people, through enforcement. This means fixed penalty notices to those caught littering, and prosecuting those fly tipping in our city.

My May cabinet meeting will consider proposals to increase the fixed penalty charges for certain environmental offences such as littering, fly-posting and graffiti.

I am grateful to the hardworking staff at Bristol Waste Company, and the many volunteers across the city, who are already working hard to make the streets cleaner and more welcoming.

We want to support them all in their work to make Bristol’s streets something we can all be proud of.

Mayor is wrong about airport

M

ARVIN Rees exposed his totally inadequate response to the climate crisis in two articles in the April edition of South Bristol Voice.

In the first, Rees defends the expansion of Bristol airport. In the second, he claims to be taking the lead in the goal of a carbon neutral city by removing singleuse plastic cups from City Hall.

The contrast could not be more striking: staff will have to bring their own mugs to work, while at the same time we will allow Bristol Airport to increase the number of flights from eight million to 20m over the next 25 years. Rees wrongly suggests that the airport’s expansion plan is in some way connected with a desire to ease Heathrow, by reducing car journeys from the SW and Wales to Heathrow and Gatwick. This is simple nonsense.

Fewer may go to Heathrow

and Gatwick, although even this is unproven, but more will certainly come to Bristol from the SW, Wales and the Midlands.

There is no evidence that the number of car journeys on Bristol roads will be reduced as a result of this expansion.

Chris Miller Stackpool Road, Southville

Our Broadwalk fears are real

L

IKE most Knowle residents I welcomed the proposals to redevelop Broadwalk and add much-needed homes.

I therefore attended some of the local meetings where the proposals were discussed. There were many concerns about the height and density of the housing development.

As far as I can see these concerns are shared by people all over South Bristol where similar high-rise blocks of flats are being proposed, and where local services like GPs and dentists

15 Write to paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk or to 18 Lilymead Avenue, BS4 2BX

(already overstretched) are now to be put under further pressure.

I have therefore been surprised by the attitude taken by our local councillors, Gary Hopkins and Chris Davis in response to these very legitimate concerns. They appear to dismiss them. I would expect our local councillors to at least treat these views with respect, and not to belittle them.

Knowle resident Address supplied

We should plan for rising traffic

I

WOULD like to point out to your correspondent from Totterdown that HGVs are limited to specific trunk roads.

The A37 though Totterdown and Knowle is one of them; also the A4 Bath Road, and the A38. There are no other ways to get through the city for HGVs. I managed a distribution warehouse on the Brislington trading estate. I can assure you that all lorry drivers hated driving through the south

of Bristol and Bath. We urgently need dual carriageway ring roads. Starting at Hicks Gate is fine, but putting it through a residential area is madness. That road needs to go past Pensford to the Chelwood roundabout, then north of the lakes and connect with Bristol Airport.

This will take South Bristol traffic out of Totterdown and onto the A37. The new road from Hicks Gate also needs to branch off to a South Bath ring road to the dual carriageway at Beckington, providing Bath relief from HGVs. North Somerset are also considering a road from the M5 to Nailsea that should be continued to the airport, providing a proper ring road around South Bristol.

In the past five years there have been two million more new vehicle registrations. All planning authorities should allow for a three per cent traffic increase each year. We cannot hope this goes away.

David Whittern Knowle

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18/04/2019 14:14

Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk

May 2019

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INVITATION

May 2019

southbristolvoice

n NEWS

In witch I fear the death of storytelling

I

DON’T think you can beat a good old-fashioned story, but are we losing the ability to tell them? Himself often works on building sites. Back in the day before smartphones, break time saw workers gathering, it would be loud and boisterous with lots of banter, shared jokes and storytelling. Now he walks into the packed room of burly builders and it is silent – every head bowed as thumbs flick screens.

Himself is the king of storytelling. The one I love most is this: he was taking out a girlfriend (way before he met fabulous me).

He had picked her up in his Ford Escort and was driving along a country lane in the dark. She was looking at him while recounting, in detail, a shopping trip with her mother. Suddenly, a large bat hit the windscreen. Its winged arms spread wide, its little angry face squished against the glass. It made eye contact with Himself and blinked. Himself stared in

THE WICKED Who is the Wicked Witch? WITCH OF She’s the one KNOWLE with a first aid kit on her broomstick ...

THIS WITCH TWEETS: @witchyofknowle

amazement, glanced at Girlfriend who was still looking at him, chattering. “Look,” he stuttered, “look at that!” Girlfriend frowned at the interruption. A gust of wind flicked the bat away. Girlfriend looked out of the clear windscreen, narrowed her eyes, and went back to her story, quite unaware of the close encounter with the bat.

Mr Darling (my lovely friend who is 94 years young) is a twinkly-eyed storyteller. We are doing a painting together – I am working on Clifton Suspension Bridge and he is crafting some Red Arrows swooping low over it. A court-martial offence I’m told (the low flying, not the painting!) This brought back memories of 1957 (he instantly recalled the year), when Mr Darling was a policeman.

A Vampire jet had been taken on an

unauthorised flight. The plane was flown under the Suspension Bridge, then the pilot attempted a roll during which he lost height and crashed into the Avon Gorge at Leigh Woods. He was killed instantly. A month or so later Mr Darling was patrolling the railway line along the gorge and he found the pilot’s leg! Sticking out of a bush! Oh my.* Goldilocks (Eldest’s girlfriend) also tells great stories. She went on an exotic holiday with her parents, Mama and Papa Bear. In a market they came across a man with a large camel. Papa Bear took a liking to this camel and asked the man how much he wanted for it.

Nodding towards Goldilocks, he jokingly asked if the man would trade it for his daughter! The man, sizing Goldilocks up, shook his head and then with a questioning gaze held up a chicken! “That’s all I was worth,” sighed Goldilocks. “A chicken”. I snorted with laughter.

Then there is Mr Delightful, the Redcatch Park doggy walker, storyteller and joker. He recently suffered a stroke. It is a miracle that he is still alive – or is it? He felt very

17

unwell and shouted to his wife to call him an ambulance. Usually she would respond by saying “You’re an ambulance,” but this time she didn’t, she dialled 999. Amazingly, one was cruising past his road and was with him in a flash. They got him to the BRI within four minutes as Wells Road was empty. Someone was looking out for him and he swears it was his late father.

This was a revelation – Mr Delightful is the biggest cynic I know. A strange thing then happened. He woke up one morning, soon after the stroke, and decided to finally stop working, declutter and downsize. As he told his wife the plan, he went to put on his father’s coat, the one thing he had kept. It fell apart in his hands, a sign that his Dad’s job had been done, his son would be OK now!

I just love this story – everyone has one, we just need to lift our heads from our phones and tell them. * Editor’s note: The Witch speaks the truth; this tragedy really happened (though we can’t confirm the bit about the leg). There’s more to tell, which we’ll include in a future feature on the history of the Suspension Bridge.

Family’s plea after son dies on bike

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THE FAMILY of a Knowle man who died on his motorbike in a collision which has resulted in a murder charge have have paid tribute to him.

Michael Rice, 20, from Knowle West, died in Fulford Road, Hartcliffe, at about 5.45pm on Friday April 5.

Mum Donna Rice said: “My boy was taken away from me. He was a loving, caring son, brother, boyfriend and grandson. He would have helped anyone. A part of me has gone, I can’t believe I am never going to see him again. We’re all heartbroken.”

Dad Michael Painter said: “Michael Lee was a son, brother and grandson who was loved by all for his cheeky personality. He loved motocross from the age of three, which helped us build a bond that was unbreakable.

“Mike’s laugh was so contagious, you couldn’t help but join in. We have so many precious memories that will never fade and will love him always.”

A 15-year-old boy has appeared

Michael Rice, 20: A teenager has been charged over his motorbike death on April 5 in court charged with murder and is due to face trial in October.

It is alleged that Michael died when he was thrown from a motorbike having hit a bicycle placed in the road.

Detectives have set up a web page for information (see below) under Operation Munich.

The family want people to remember their son rather than the suspect. They have asked the community to come together over the tragedy.

A police spokesperson said: “We are appealing for witnesses and are interested in mobile phone videos, dash-cam footage and CCTV.” bit.ly/2I48Mvn

Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk

May 2019

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18

n YOUR COUNCILLORS

M

ANY of you may not know Beckington Road. It is a cul de sac shaped like a tennis Gary racquet of 70 Hopkins houses that comes Lib Dem off the hill section Knowle of Redcatch Road.

It has pleasant pre-Second World War houses where people generally live a quiet and peaceful life. In fact since it moved, following a boundary change, into Knowle ward three years ago, it would have to be classed as the least troublesome and demanding of areas.

So why did so many of its residents erupt in anger towards the end of March and start writing us e-mails and letters?

The answer was that without warning to either residents or local councillors, the city council descended upon the road and removed their much-loved old cast iron lampposts and put in new ones. Residents were further

Knowle

angered to find that these lamp standards, which match perfectly the housing and the style of the street, were to be refurbished and then used in Clifton or other conservation areas. Such blatant disregard for local feeling and unfairness reached the national press and gained TV and radio coverage.

Under pressure, the mayor’s office backed down and promised to refurbish the standards and return them. It is a measure of the remoteness of the mayor’s decision making and communication these days that not one contact from any level was made to local people or councillors even after the storm broke, and promised information has still not been supplied.

There is a need to change the lightbulbs for more efficient new ones, but they can be retrofitted.

I also know through a back-door council source that there is even a kit available to make the new lampposts, some of which were fitted in Beckington Road a while back, match the old standards.

T

How to contact your councillor: p2

HERE has been a fundamental change for the worse in the running of the Chris city council since Davies we adopted the Lib Dem mayoral system.

Knowle Many have been unhappy at decisions such as the arena. Public opinion and councillor advice was completely ignored by the mayor, who plans to replace the much-desired entertainment and regeneration project with student tower blocks.

Until we move back to a democratic system for running the council and our city, there will be problems. Local decision making has been attacked and ignored and it is almost impossible to get impartial information from the council.

I will be campaigning to rid the city of the mayoral system and I give you one more reason.

Under the old system, the leader had one personal member

of staff. Everyone else worked under senior officers, answerable to the full council. The political leadership set policy and priorities, but did not interfere with the day-to-day management.

We now have a sizeable mayor’s office run by a Labour spin-doctor, recruited from Jeremy Corbyn’s personal staff and paid £95,000 a year. This office of 11 staff, costing £400,000 a year in salaries alone, exists to control all messages coming out of the council, and to promote the image of the mayor. It does not collect your bins or fix your pot holes, but does prevent journalists, councillors and the public getting straight answers.

So as well as the mayor’s salary of £77,000 (proposed to rise to £91,000) plus a £200,000-a-year discretionary spending pot, we have this vast public image machine. Next time you hear about government cuts, which are indeed unpleasant, also think about where your taxes are actually going. Join me and vote to get rid of this spare mayor.

May 2019

southbristolvoice

n YOUR COUNCILLORS Clean streets investment NE OF the most common complaints I hear as a councillor Jon is about litter, Wellington graffiti, flytipping Labour and other issues Windmill Hill around the cleanliness of our streets.

Most people take pride in their neighbourhood and it is frustrating when the council appears to be unable to match the effort that some people put in to keeping their areas clean. One of the mayor’s manifesto commitments when he took office was to make Bristol’s streets measurably cleaner. This is a difficult task. It requires not only the council to efficiently manage its staff and street cleansing operations, but to enforce penalties on people who litter, fly tip or graffiti, as well as effect cultural and behaviour change. The pilot introduced in 2017 of enforcement officers

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Windmill Hill

fining people who drop litter was one step in this. However, while 13,000 fines were dished out in the last 15 months, around 95 per cent of these were against people dropping cigarette butts, mainly in the city centre.

By contrast, the number of reports of graffiti had risen significantly on the previous year. The new contract, we have been promised, will widen the geographical area and ensure that all forms of enforcement are carried out, not just the easy targets of smokers at bus stops. A further £1m will be invested in street cleaning. This will include new smart bins, new equipment to tackle graffiti and more equipment to help volunteers and community groups remove graffiti. I know that the Victoria Park Action Group do this at the moment and their work is highly valued. Keeping the streets clean is the minimum that citizens can expect from their council and I hope that we see some noticeable improvement in our streets in the coming year.

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How to contact your councillor: p2

Windmill Hill Network ast month, Windmill Hill Network held our fifth public meeting. These meetings are organised by local volunteers and myself and replace the old neighbourhood forum for residents of Windmill Hill ward. For this one, we asked that people come with ideas of how local residents can produce child-friendly neighbourhoods.

Totterdown resident and Windmill Hill City Farm chief executive Steve Sayers chaired the meeting and shared some best practice from around the world. Clearly traffic and parking was the main obstacle to a child-friendly environment.

Unfortunately our streets are no longer safe for children to play in, though this has been the case for decades. I used to help with stewarding Playing Out street closures on Stanley Hill in Totterdown and it was a great way of getting to know neighbours and letting children play outdoors near their homes.

The meeting noted that we are

blessed with brilliant parks and green spaces. However, it is the routes to these green spaces that is the problem. Ideas included better signage to warn drivers of local schools, allocated routes for children, facilities to give pedestrians priority and more community activity.

Some ideas had been suggested before, such as giving pedestrians priority over cars at junctions, for example on Wells Road, which is a key walking route for children going to Hillcrest school. There was also a repeated request for a pedestrian crossing from Totterdown Steps across St Luke’s Road to Victoria Park. I believe this would enhance the environment for walkers as well as help to slow vehicle speeds on St Luke’s Road, which is a recurring complaint. With the help of residents I have submitted this proposal to the area committee for local funding; we will know if the application has been successful by the summer.

• Cllr Lucy Whittle is on maternity leave

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SOUTH Bristol plays host to Australia’s leading physical theatre company, Zen Zen Zo, when it brings its training to Europe for the first time this summer.

Zen Zen Zo founder Lynne Bradley has chosen the SouthBank Centre in Dean Lane, Southville, as the only UK venue for the course from July 6-10.

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HIS is your chance to suit up, jump in and be amazed when we invite you to the Newfoundland Splash!

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The large physique of the Newfoundland dog makes them perfect for water rescue – their strength is truly their superpower!

The event is run by the incredible team at Newfound Friends and their well-trained and beautiful Newfoundland

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HOW MANY CROCODILES?

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southbristolvoice

A Newfoundland rescue dog is waiting to pull you to safety

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Each 3x3 box, every row and every column must contain the numbers 1-9, with each used only once. Can you crack it?

May 2019

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Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk

n CHURCH NEWS

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Thought for the month

HE JOYFUL Easter proclamation of the Church is that Jesus, who was put to death by crucifixion and his lifeless body hurriedly buried in a tomb nearby, was then raised to life again. Ultimately to believe this actually happened is a matter of faith but on my path to becoming a Christian, one aspect of all this struck me as true. This was the effect that seeing the risen Jesus had on his disciples. This

With Rev Steven Hawkins, Holy Nativity Church is one of the most amazing facts about the Easter-story.

After all, they had run away when Jesus was arrested. Peter had denied even knowing him

Regular Services

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May 2019

southbristolvoice

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Church of the Nazarene

Broad Walk, Knowle BS4 2RD Pastor: Matthew Norris 07967 199995 bristolnazarene.com Sunday 10.30am Sunday Service; Wednesday 6pm Kids Klub; Thursday 7pm Youth club.

Bedminster Church of Christ

298 St John’s Lane BS3 5AY Minister: Jason Snethen 07795 560990 churchofchristbristol.org Sunday 10am Bible Hour for all ages; 11am Worship; 5pm Worship; Tuesday 7.30pm Bible study; Thursday 10am Coffee morning; Friday 3.45-5pm After-school; 7-9.30pm Youth group.

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Holy Nativity Church Wells

Road, Knowle BS4 2AG Fr Steve Hawkins 07834 462054 Facebook: Holy Nativity Knowle Sunday 10am Parish Mass; Friday 10.30am Weekday Mass.

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Bedminster Quaker Meeting House Wedmore Vale BS3 5HX

Clerk: Chrissie Williams 0117 923 0020 bristolquakers.org.uk Sunday Worship 10.45am; 2nd & 4th Sunday Children’s meeting; 2nd Sunday Shared lunch.

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Knowle Methodist Church

Redcatch Road, Knowle BS4 2EP Rev Andrew Orton Facebook: SBMCT Sunday 10.30am Worship and Junior

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spreading that message all round the world, even at the cost of their own lives. People don’t do that for something they know is untrue.

This was dangerous talk. In fact every one of the apostles died a martyr’s death, with the exception of John. These were men who had abandoned Jesus in his hour of need, yet now they courted death to bear witness to him. I invite you to ponder on this. Would you be prepared to die for a fantasy?

Church (Minnows for pre-school children).

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Totterdown Baptist Church

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Totterdown Methodist Church

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Victoria Park Baptist Church

St Martin’s Wells Road, Knowle BS4 2NG Rev Becky Waring 0117 977 6275 Facebook: stmartinschurchknowle Sunday 8.30am Holy Communion; 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays 10.30am Holy Communion; 2nd Sunday 9.30am Rise and Shine: informal service, breakfast; 6pm Holy Communion; 4th Sunday 10.30am Family Communion.

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St Michael & All Angels Vivian

Wells Road BS4 2AD tbc.org.uk Sunday 10.30am Morning Service; 2nd Sunday All-age Service; 6.30pm Evening Service (entrance Sydenham Road).

Bushy Park, Totterdown BS4 2AD Rev Andrew Orton Facebook: SBMCT Sunday Family Worship 10.30am; 1st Sunday Sunday School.

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TOP PHOTO: Bristol Archives, 44819/3/6; Left © Bristol Culture

Part II of the John Breillat story

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23

n HISTORY THE MAN WHO BROUGHT LIGHT TO BRISTOL Bright light? It’ll be the ruin of us, fear the first to see the gaslight revolution

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three times. They hid, scared they too would soon be arrested and executed. It has been suggested that the appearance of the risen Jesus to the disciples was some form of hallucination.

But this is hardly adequate to explain the change in those disciples in such a very short time.

They left their hideaways for the streets of Jerusalem, proclaiming that Jesus was alive, and they devoted themselves to

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magistrates at the Council House, charged “with having connected a pipe with the company’s service pipe without their consent,” “with having improperly burnt the company’s gas without the intervention of their meter,” and “with having unlawfully removed the company’s service pipe”.

According to his son Thomas,

from prison, was not a reliable witness.

But the magistrates found the case proved, and fined him almost £12 (£1,066 at today’s values) in penalties and costs. Macey was imprisoned for two months in default of payment – but within a short time he found the money, and was released.

authorise the work. A notice in the Bristol Mirror in April 1816 promised a good profit from the investment, and cited booming demand in London, where 40 miles of gas mains were already not enough.

But the board of the Bristol company cautioned: “The idea of large gain, however, should not be the only, or even the principal, motive of inducement; the grand object should be that of introducing to your city a discovery by which your expenses will be lessened, your property more secure, your comfort increased, your personal safety less hazarded, the morals of the community improved, and the lives of many a fellow-creature saved.”

Mr Breillat, the article noted, had spent two weeks in London learning the latest advances in

DIVIDENDS AND BLASPHEMY The Breillats and the Bristol Gas Light Co WHEN John Breillat demonstrated the brilliance of gas light in Broadmead in 1811, some thought he had “brought up unholy fire” from the nine circles of hell below.

He overcame this objection – but his family’s long relationship with the Bristol Gas Light Co was far from all sweetness and light.

1816 John Breillat appointed Superintendent of the company at a salary of £150 a year (worth £155,000 at today’s incomes) plus

the technology, but had refused all payment for his efforts beyond his travel expenses.

The estimate was that £5,000 would be needed to build a gas store at Temple Back, enough to light only the main streets of the city – Water Lane, Temple Street, Bath Street, Bath Parade, Bristol Bridge, High Street, Broad Street, Wine Street, Corn Street, and Clare Street. After pipes were laid in these streets, the first shops were lit up in May 1817, and the first public gas lamps were ignited in High Street.

John Breillat had found a new occupation – as well as a retailer and maker of silk and other fine materials, he was now superintendent of the city’s gas company. At first it was a company with private shareholders. In 1818 the need to Continued overleaf a house. First gas factory built at Temple Back.

1817 The giant gas holder – the biggest in the country at 36,500 cu ft – is named Aladdin.

The city’s Paving Commissioners find that one gas lamp can replace four oil lamps. John Breillat is told to inspect all gas fittings after doubts about the competence of Bristol workmen.

1818 Customers roll in. John Breillat becomes Engineer, and his son Ebenezer is Superintendent.

1819 Ebenezer Briellat awarded five guineas (£5 and five shillings, or £5,000 today) plus a silver cup Continued overleaf

Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk

May 2019

southbristolvoice

24 Continued from page 23 invest more capital to meet demand for the wizardry of light brought the incorporation of the firm as a public company, with shares on open sale. The gas-making equipment was moved to larger premises in Avon Street, St Philip’s with the address The Gas Works, Bristol.

(So important were these establishments that this was the address in most towns that acquired the innovation – The Gas Works, Cardiff, and so on).

It was also the age of the gas meter – because if gas was sold, it had to be measured. This was a huge advance, because it ended many arguments between the early gas companies and their customers. A client might register a certain number of lights and pay for gas to be used between certain hours – which meant that the company would have to keep watch that the client didn’t keep the lights on after the specified hours. In fact, many customers chose to leave the gas alight 24 hours a day, and some widened the jets to get more gas, or installed unauthorised lights.

The meter put paid to these deceits – although eventually people found a way around this too (see panel on page 23).

Samuel Clegg, a colleague of William Murdoch’s at the Soho Foundry, in 1815 patented a method of passing gas through rotating drums holding a known quantity, and so turning a dial to record the amount of gas used.

There were still some who distrusted the skills of the new gas fitters – after all, gas leaks then were as serious as they are for his action in stopping a dangerous leak at the works.

1820 John Breillat experiments with a new coke and coal mixture, and visits gasworks in other cities to find new ideas.

1820 Ebenezer is accused of neglecting his duties.

1821 Queen Square lit for the coronation of George IV. 1821 A new works at Avon Street under way. A “blasphemous” worker is sacked, and rules made to fine men 6 pence (£20 today) for drunkenness or foul speech.

1822 John’s salary now £275 (£243,000). Ebenezer marries Ann Bromhead.

1823 Ebenezer blamed for a lack of gas, due to water getting into the gas holder. His salary is to be cut to £100 if the company dividend falls.

1824 John complains that his salary is cut, but he is expected to

ALADDIN’S MAGIC LIGHT

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work from 6 or 7am to 11pm, and sometimes at weekends.

1824 Ebenezer given notice to quit his job and his company house. He is employed by a new gasworks in Manchester.

1825 John quarrels with the board but is allowed to work at Newport and elsewhere if he is not needed.

1826 The Bedminster Coal Company (which operated South Liberty pit at Ashton Vale) is replaced by a cheaper supplier, Castles & Rudgeway.

1827 The company does well as its oil gas rival struggles. John’s salary rises to £225, and to £300 in 1831.

The board pays for a gas light in Breillat’s kitchen, and buys a new tea service for company meetings.

1831 Ebenezer returns to the Avon Street works, invited back as the workload increases.

1831 The Bristol riots – gasworks

further afield, working in Manchester and the North.

Another son, Joseph Breillat, was connected with the Cardiff gas works.

Each city needed its own gasworks because transporting the gas was impossible over long distances. The pipes needed had to be made of lead or even wood, and were laborious to make and then install.

Hence every city or town had its own gas company, often backed by the council and prominent citizens. In Bristol this led to fierce competition when in 1823 the Oil Gas Company was formed. This made gas from whale oil in a works at

Canons Marsh, then known as Lime Kiln Lane – presumably the whale oil was offloaded straight from the harbour.

The light from whale oil gas was said to be four times as bright as that from coal gas, and the new company laid claim to streets in the city centre and Clifton which it wished to light.

Its rival, the Bristol Gas Light Co, forced it to mark its pipes and mains so they could be distinguished easily. It also demanded payment for the loss it would sustain from the new competitor.

But the price of oil kept rising and in 1836 the Oil Gas Co asked Parliament for permission to use

staff are kept on the premises, some sworn in as special constables. They are on duty for a month at a cost of £8 (£6,500).

1832 John’s plans for a £4,000 gasworks at Wells approved by Parliament. He also signs a £1,400 deal at Neath, South Wales.

1833 After the parishes of St James and St Paul’s become gas-lit, the pressure drops so much that lights are blown out by the slightest wind.

1834 A third son, William, employed.

1837 To improve the supply, a 14in main is laid from Avon Street.

1839 Supplies to Totterdown are disrupted when a railway cutting is made into Pylle Hill. John’s wife Mary dies and is the first person buried at Arnos Vale cemetery.

1841 Gasworks staff complain their pay is too low for “the necessities of life”. Their wages are not raised.

1842 John, aged 72, marries

Sophia James, his former servant.

1842 Customers threaten to stop paying as the gas supply is erratic.

A new 14in main is dug to Nelson Street, plus another to Bedminster.

1843 Ebenezer suggests linking pay to gas output, plus each worker to be given a suit of fustian (a tough cloth) each year. He visits several London gasworks, and asks for improvements at Avon Street.

1844 Ebenezer feels his efforts are ignored. Tobacco magnate HO Wills visits, to find Ebenezer working on plans for Bath gasworks. Wills tells the board, and Ebenezer is told off.

1844 A steam engine is used to draw gas at John’s suggestion – hiking output by 18 per cent.

1844 John’s health is failing. The board provides him with a horse and carriage, and gives him time off between 11am and 3pm.

Ebenezer’s salary is raised to £200.

1847 John resigns as Engineer; Ebenezer replaces him.

1850 Ebenezer’s son George is taken on, as the council extends gas street lighting – as a health measure – to include Bedminster.

1851 Ebenezer’s nephew John Cherry brings gas to Usk. Already lit up are Newent, Thornbury, Clevedon, Newnham, Keynsham and Radstock. But Usk ratepayers object to the extra cost, stirring angry opponents to say this was a vote for “dingy streets, open sewers, mud heaps and lazy pigs”.

1852 Ebenezer’s wife Anne dies.

Ebenezer later marries her sister Martha – against church law, though not strictly illegal.

1853 Joseph dies in Bristol, having returned from Wales.

1856 John dies. The directors praise his “moral excellences and strict integrity” – forgetting their

To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Ruth on 07590 527664

southbristolvoice

n HISTORY coal instead. Its rival also won compensation for its lost business, totalling £6,000 (£537,000).

Eventually the two companies agreed the same policies on charges, metering and debtors.

When in 1852 the council asked for tenders to supply gas to new areas, the two firms agreed to split the bids: Bristol Gas Light Co tendered for Bedminster, St James, St Paul and St Philip & Jacob, while the oil gas firm, now known as the the Bristol and Clifton Gaslight Company, tendered for Westbury.

Their interests were closely aligned and in 1855 they merged as the Bristol United Gaslight Company.

Many mergers and acquisitions of the small local gas companies followed all over the country. In Bristol, the United firm changed its name to the Bristol Gas Company in 1891. It bought the Keynsham Gas Co Ltd in 1927, but did not pursue talks with the gas companies of Portishead, Yatton or Clevedon.

John Breillat died in 1856.

After his wife Mary died in 1839, he formed an attraction for his servant Sophia James, 36 years younger, and they married in 1842, when he was 72. But Sophia died in 1877 in Gloucester, and is not buried with John and Mary in Arnos Vale.

His son Ebenezer died in 1880, having also married twice, the second time at Holy Nativity church, Knowle, in 1860, to Martha Bromhead, the sister of

Towering: Gasholders at Days Road PHOTO: Bristol Archives 44819/3/65 now. And many thought the light from whale oil was better.

The gas habit failed to spread, until in 1821 Queen Square was lit unto celebrate the coronation of William IV. From then gas lighting in the West Country and beyond became a family affair.

John Breillat’s eldest son, Ebenezer, born in Bristol in 1796, had began to work for the Bristol Gas Light Co in 1818, and the family sold its expertise to many towns which wanted the benefits of illuminations, including Weston-super-Mare, Nailsea and Thornbury. John Breillat also helped install gas at Wells, and gave advice to Bath.

Ebenezer also cast his net

HE NEW coal gas was a wonder at producing light. But how to store it? The gasometer was the answer – a container with telescopic chambers, each sealed around the edge with water, each rising as gas flowed in from below.

John Breillat’s first gas holder at Temple Back was the largest in the country at the time. It was named Aladdin, after the magic lamp character.

After that gasometers popped up all over the UK. Some, like the one next to the Oval cricket ground, were regarded with affection.

Fears over fire risk meant the earliest ones were enclosed by buildings – until it was realised that if there was a gas leak, gas could build up and explode.

So why are gasometers – like the ones that used to be so visible off Marksbury Road, Bedminster – no longer with us? Simple: they are not needed.

With modern pumps, the gas that would fill a 6 million cubic foot gasometer can be stored in just 200ft of pipe.

May 2019

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THE MAN WHO BROUGHT LIGHT TO BRISTOL Yes, there were once washing machines powered by gas – radios too, come to that. This is a 1939 newspaper advert from Bristol Gas Co, which sold gas appliances. The price is equal to about £394 today

his first wife, Ann, who had died in 1852.

I

t was still essentially the same company that John Breillat began that was in the 1930s marketing gas appliances that were known nationwide – as the Parkinson Stove Co in 1935, and Ascot water heaters and Economic gas washing machines in 1939.

National control of the gas industry did not take place until nationalisation in 1949. Finally it was possible to plan the supply of gas in an efficient, countrywide enterprise, with gas mains connecting every area.

Nowadays gas is seen as a fossil fuel, damaging because it contributes to global warming.

Coal gas (once known as town gas) has long been replaced by natural gas, extracted from underground. Natural gas emits up to 60 per cent less carbon dioxide than coal gas. But its extraction also gives off methane, which is a far more damaging gas many fallings-out.

1857 Ebenezer retires as Engineer but continues (as his father had done) to be Consulting Engineer.

1861 The jubilee or 60th anniversary of John’s experiments with gas lighting is marked by a party at the works for 200, funded

by Ebenezer. The roof is covered with evergreens and flags, and at each end an arch of gas pipes, pierced with jets, made a striking illumination. A brass bust of King George III was made, with gas jets shooting from his crown.

1870 Ebenezer’s second wife Martha dies.

1880 Ebenezer dies in Bath. He leaves several houses in Montpelier and Weston-superMare – plus the silver cup given him in 1819. In 1945, this cup was returned to the company by his granddaughter, Florence Storrow.

than CO2 because it traps more heat in the atmosphere.

The globe is facing a climate emergency; the IPCC, a coalition of scientists studying climate change, says carbon emissions must be halved by 2030 to avoid catastrophe.

Yet even in climate-conscious Britain we may not be about to break our addiction to gas. All but one of the UK’s nuclear power plants are due to close by 2030. Renewables may not be able to fill the gap, and many experts think natural gas is the only option for keeping the lights

on in the next 10 years. That could well raise UK carbon emissions, when they should be falling.

None of this was known to John Breillat when he began his one-man crusade in 1811 to persuade Bristolians of the virtues of gas.

He helped usher in a world that is brighter, cleaner, safer, bringing affordable light and heat to almost everyone.

Will another Bristolian emerge to light our way to a new dawn of safe and secure energy?

Sources The Bristol Gas Light Company: The Breillat Dynasty of Engineers Harold Nabb, Historical Association, Bristol Branch, 1993 Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain Robert Winder, Abacus, 2004 Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History gracesguide.co.uk The Coming of the Light video performance by the Gathering Voices group on the revolution Breillat brought to Bristol tinyurl.com/ComingOfTheLight

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Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk

May 2019

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Until May 11 n Our Country’s Good Tobacco Factory theatre, North Street. Founded on the true story of the first convict colony in Australia. The morality of crime and punishment is put in focus when an idealistic army officer decides to challenge the idea that criminals are “born that way”. He puts on a play, in which soldiers and convicts alike discover the lives they could have led if society had cast them in different roles. Tickets from £12, 7.30pm.

Ages 14+. tobaccofactorytheatres.com Thursday May 2 n Pub Quiz Knowle Constitutional Club, 162 Wells Road. Stretch your brain cells in a lighthearted topical quiz, on the first Thursday of every month.

8.30pm, £1, up to four in a team.

Facebook: Knowle Constitutional Club Friday May 3 n SongSmith Xtra: Kala Chng + Pariah + Chinchilla + GINS The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. A chance to hear the unique pop fusion of classical Chinese music with the Bristol bass sound from Knowle West’s Kala Chng, fka Makala Cheung. Pariah is a 23-year-old RnB singer-songwriter raised in Bristol, while Chincilla is a sassy, feminist urban pop artist from London. Gins, aka Georgie Biggin, is working on an EP fusing R&B, electronica, synthpop and hip-hop. 7.30pm. thethunderbolt.net

Saturday May 4 n So Crafty Party Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster. Art and craft sessions for children. All materials provided, with games and stories. Includes refreshments. Sessions at 9.30-11.30am, 12-2pm, 2.304.30pm. £12.75, ages 6-10.

Details from catherineupton@ hotmail.com or 07881 994 883. windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk n Ted Milton and Blurt + Eyebrow The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Ted Milton and Blurt were one of the early signings to Factory Records (home of New Order) before they fell out with owner Tony Wilson for likening the label to the lifestyle-chain Habitat. Ted’s shouted lyrics include such gems as My Mother Was a Friend of an Enemy of the People. 7.30pm, £9. thethunderbolt.net n Keith Donnelly Redcatch Club, Redcatch community centre, Redcatch Road.

Keith Donnelly, a stand-up comic and surreal singersongwriter, is billed as “the funniest thing to happen to folk music since the banjo”. Judge for yourselves at South Bristol’s new Knowle folk club. Doors 7.15pm, £8. BYO alcohol, tea and coffee on sale.

Facebook: Redcatch Club

Tuesday May 7 n The Fun History of Knitting Patterns Knowle Townswomen’s Guild, Redcatch community centre, Redcatch Road. Talk, 2-4pm, all welcome.

Details: 0117 972 1590.

Facebook: knowletownswomensguild Wednesday May 8, 15, 22, 29 n Knowle West Photo Walks Knowle West Healthy Living Centre, Downton Road BS4 1WH. See Knowle West through a new lens on weekly photo walks. Tips on getting a great shot whether using a camera or mobile phone.

There will also be cameras to try.

Book a place by phone only on 0117 377 2255. kwmc.org.uk/events Wednesday May 8-Saturday 11 n Stardust Spielman theatre, Tobacco Factory, North Street.

Colombian artist and Blackboard Theatre founder Miguel Hernando Torres Umba unravels his own and the western world’s responsibility for the cocaine trade that kills thousands. Ages 15+, tickets from £12, 8.15pm. tobaccofactorytheatres.com Friday May 10 n A History of Windmills and Windmillers in Somerset Knowle and Totterdown Local History Society. A talk by Sarah Harris at Redcatch community centre, Redcatch Road. 7.30pm, members £1.50, visitors £3. knowleandtotterdownhistory. org.uk Saturday May 11 n Vinyl Brunch Zion,

You fools, you’ve brought us all into this!

a great time. Well, the show was great – but my big discovery was that my tension was part of the show. In fact, everyone felt it, the audience all on edge to see the sparks of inspiration strike the performers. It was an evening that was rarely silent, full of singing, laughter, shrieks and gasps. And that was just the audience.

Beccy, first on, clearly did feel the pressure, but she channelled her feelings in all sorts of ways. In one moment, she was Val, a social worker, acting as a kind of maternal critic. In another, she was prancing around, showing everyone the nasty bruise on her foot incurred in rehearsals, making the injury into a tragedy which the whole audience was feeling.

In the next we were on the beach as Beccy recalled sand games with her brothers, and the rest of the cast sidled on to play

the seaside, supplying seagulls and wave action.

It’s hard to describe the thrill of seeing nothing turn to something.

The next performer, Jen Davies, finds the word in her head is Boredom – so she makes a song out of it and we all join in. At one point I’m sure she shouts: “You’re not taking my f***king hub cap!”

But I could be mistaken. At the end, she says, “There’s been no story, just one messy soup of drivel.” Well, yes. But you kept us enthralled.

‘Fooling’, it turns out, is a cherished theatrical tradition. The lead fool, Holly Stoppit, a renowned tutor in her field, said her mission was to make the world stupider, to encourage performers to express whatever came to them and make it into a performance. It’s a little miracle of spontaneous combustion.

Something a bit wonderful. And foolish.

Paul Breeden

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southbristolvoice

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n WHAT’S ON

n WHAT’S ON

n Review Beyond The Ridiculous Wardrobe Theatre, Old Market WAS quite worried about this show. For one thing, it’s unscripted – nothing is planned.

For another, two of the cast are also part of the SBV team – Beccy Golding and Greg Champion. They would, they told me, be walking on stage, alone, and start fooling, using whatever came into their heads. They, I assumed, were scared.

I was worried not only for them but for myself – what if they dried on stage? What if nobody laughed?

You’re probably expecting me to say that I found that I needn’t have worried, that everybody had

May 2019

Bishopsworth Road. Browse vinyl and books, while listening to old skool tracks from James Boy Records. Café open all morning.

Free admission, 10am-1pm. zionbristol.co.uk n South Bristol Skyline Walk Enjoy views you never knew across Bristol, including landmarks such as the Suspension Bridge, and discover green spaces that are not so well known. Long and short options; the long one is seven miles and four hours; some paths are unpaved, steep and muddy. Meet 2pm near the taxi rank, Temple Meads station. Part of Bristol WalkFest. Also on May 12 and 13. bristolwalkfest.com Sunday May 12 n Spring Flowers Tour Arnos Vale cemetery, Bath Road.

Ecologist Mary will take you on a journey around the beautiful spring flowers that bloom in Arnos Vale and tell you about the landscape, the plants and how Arnos Vale is cared for. 10.30am12 noon, £8. Meet at East Lodge. arnosvale.org.uk n Wells Road Womble Join members of Totterdown community group Tresa for a friendly hour-long “womble” walk, collecting litter along Wells Road. Meet at 11am on Zone N, Bushy Park. Litter picking equipment supplied. Part of Bristol WalkFest. tresa.org.uk n Leo James Tobacco Factory bar, North Street. Leo draws on a passion for acoustic blues, slide guitar, bluegrass and folk, and has learned from some notable players along the way. Free, 8pm. tobaccofactory.com Tuesday May 14-Thursday 16 n Outset – Introduction To Enterprise Knowle West Media Centre, Leinster Avenue. Three-part course on starting a business, from 10am-2pm each day. A relaxed look at business skills training, personal development and life management. Email thefactory@ kwmc.org.uk or call 0117 403 2306 to book a free place. kwmc.org.uk/events Wednesday May 15 n Public meeting Meeting of Tresa, the Totterdown community group, 7.30-9pm, Totterdown Canteen, 141 Wells Road. All welcome. tresa.org.uk Thursday May 16 n Would Like To Meet: MixUp Party Knowle West Media

To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Ruth on 07590 527664

Untold stories of women who made history n Review The Women Who Built Bristol Arnos Vale Cemetery

T

HERE has been a human settlement in the area of Bristol for around 300,000 years. How come, then, that out of all the people that have existed

Centre, Leinster Avenue. An evening for artists and creative folk to meet new people, play games and mix cocktails. Starts at 6.30pm at KWMC and ends at Filwood community centre, Barnstaple Road. Details on 0117 903 0444. Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult. kwmc.org.uk/events Friday May 17 n The Silverstones + The Fuzz The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Influenced by Oasis, The Jam, Arctic Monkeys and The Who, Bristol-based Silverstones only formed in October 2018 but are already building up a set of original material for an EP. The Fuzz are a Bristol indie rock band. £5 on the door, 7.30pm. thethunderbolt.net Saturday May 18 n May Fair Bedminster Methodist Church, British Road. Stalls include plants, perfumery, bric-a-brac, cakes, books, bits and bobs, raffle and refreshments. 11am-2pm. n Wild Outdoors Day Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster. A day out at the farm for all the family with lots of fun activities, all with an outdoor theme. 11am-5pm. windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk n Circus Cabaret Zion, Bishopsworth Road. Marky Jay comperes another night of top circus and cabaret acts after a sellout show in February.

From magic to acrobatics and everything in between. £10, 7.30pm, bar and nachos, age 14+. zion bristol.co.uk n Stand Up For The Weekend with Andrew Ryan & Co Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken Studio, North Street.

Irishman Andrew Ryan made his comedy debut in 2008 at an open mike contest. Now his storytelling abilities and cheeky

during that time, there are, in the main, just three women’s names that come up as of historic interest to the city? (In case you’re wondering that’s Annie Kenney, suffragette, educational reformer Mary Carpenter, and anti-slavery supporter Hannah Moore.)

Windmill Hill-based author Jane Duffus has set out to challenge this perception. Her book, The Women Who Built Bristol, features 250 women who lived, worked or played a part in Bristol’s story. The earliest is

Princess Eleanor of Brittany, born 1184, who was imprisoned in Bristol Castle; the most recent is author Helen Dunmore, who died in 2018 (all the women are deceased).

This talk at Arnos Vale Cemetery features 10 of Jane’s favourite stories from her book. It’s preceded by a walk around the site to visit some of the prominent women buried or memorialised there, including theatrical impresario Sarah McReady, journalist Emily Crawford, and aviator Elsie Joy Davison.

Jane’s list includes suffragettes and

suffragists, doctors, travellers, peace campaigners and a spy – there are heroes, those who made great contributions to their field, and ordinary women of the city, whose voices are just as important.

The second edition of the book, with another 250 women’s stories, is out in October. After that there are more stories to tell; fortunately, Jane has a drive to tell them.

Beccy Golding • Jane Duffus repeats her walk at Arnos Vale on May 4. arnosvale.org.uk

demeanour make him a natural observational stand-up. Plus guests.7.35pm, £12. thecomedybox.co.uk n Soul Tunnel Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster.

Classic soul, funk, disco and rare groove with Lee Hasking, DJ PM and Al B. 9pm-3am, £8 in advance. fiddlers.co.uk Sunday May 19 n SPARK: A Festival of Art Tobacco Factory theatre, North Street. The theatre’s team of Young Producers takes over three spaces at the Factory to showcase the newest, boldest and most compelling young artists and makers from across Bristol.

Includes stand-up comedy, theatre, dance, performance art, poetry and film. From 6pm, £5. tobaccofactorytheatres.com

a practitioner of shamanism, talks about how in traditional societies, shamanic trance states are often seen as the bedrock of a healthy life. In the Western world, they are seen as distracting or even dangerous. A Funzing talk: £12, 7pm. locobristol.com/shows Friday May 24 n Networking with Freelance Mum Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster. Guest speakers Kirsty Northover and Ellie Bowie talk about their businesses in photography and design. The theme is Establishing Your Brand. 10am-12 noon. Free taster tickets, including children. windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Saturday May 25 n War Graves Tour Arnos Vale cemetery, Bath Road. From underage conscripts to the war on the home front, this tour reveals individual stories of wartime told by war memorials and family graves across the cemetery. 10.30am-12 noon, free.

Part of the Bristol WalkFest. arnosvale.org.uk Sunday May 26 n Producers Market and Street Banquet Tobacco Factory, North Street.

10am-2.30pm, with kids’ activities 11.30am-2pm. With around 40 food and craft stalls of produce grown, made or prepared in the local area. tobaccofactory.com • 25 YEARS OF THE TOBACCO FACTORY – page 9 Tuesday May 28 n Craft Night Knowle Constitutional Club, 162 Wells Road. If you’ve got a craft project on the go, bring it along to this regular session, held on the fourth Tuesday of every month.

All crafts welcome. 8pm.

Facebook: Knowle Constitutional Club

Tuesday May 28-Wednesday 29 n The Game of Life Acta theatre, Gladstone Street, Bedminster.

World leaders struggle for power in virtual reality. Who will be the winners and losers in the game of life? An original production from Acta’s young carers’ youth theatre. No under 5s: some scary moments. Tickets £2, 7-7.45pm. acta-bristol.com n Ashley Blaker & Imran Yusuf: Prophet Sharing Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, North Street. Comedian friends Ashley Blaker and Imran Yusuf – both stars of BBC shows – make the most unlikely doubleact since Kermit and Miss Piggy (who neither Ashley and Imran can eat). 7.15pm, £15. thecomedybox.co.uk

Your event could be highlighted like this for just £5. Email ruth@southbristolvoice.co.uk n Jazz night Windmill Hill community centre, Vivian Street.

Jazz with the Mark Randall Six on the third Sunday of every month, 8.30-10.30pm. whca.org.uk Tuesday May 21-May 23 n dressed. Tobacco Factory theatre, North Street. A show that turns a real-life traumatic experience into something beautiful. After being stripped at gun point, Lydia decides she will only wear clothes she has made herself. Combining storytelling, live sewing, music, dance and clowning, dressed. is about reclaiming one’s body. Ages 16+: explores themes of sexual assault.

Tickets from £12, 7.30pm. tobaccofactorytheatres.com Thursday May 23 n Exploring Altered States of Consciousness Loco Klub, Temple Meads. Jez Hughes,

Regular events n Never Too Old To Disco Love to dance, want to dance but don’t know where? Come and feel the disco beat at this informal, fun class and get dancing to all the old fave tunes.

Second and fourth Saturday of the month: May 11 and 25, June 8 and 22.10.45-11.45am, £7.

Details: nevertoooldtodisco@ gmail.com Victoria Park Baptist Church Hall, Sylvia Avenue. n Baby Sensory is a learning development programme for babies 0-13 months. Classes at the Victoria Park Baptist Church Hall, Sylvia Avenue BS3 5DA on Tuesdays. For details email Sian at bristolsouth@babysensory. co.uk or visit babysensory.com/bristol-south n Folks & Bairns parent and baby choir The Milk Shed, Southville, Wednesdays 1-2pm.

Free taster; £60 a term (12 sessions, pro rata if you join later in term). Email folksandbairns@ gmail.com or visit folksandbairns.com

Got a story for South Bristol Voice? Call Becky on 07912 484405 or email news@southbristolvoice.co.uk

May 2019

southbristolvoice

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n PLANNING APPLICATIONS Knowle ward: Awaiting decision 59 St Martin’s Road BS4 2NH Change of use of residential home (Use class C2) to a dwelling house (Use class C3).

100 Kingshill Road BS4 2SN Detached garage in rear garden.

40 Broadfield Road BS4 2UQ Single storey side and rear extension.

35 Ponsford Road BS4 2UT Two storey side extension.

41 Newquay Road BS4 1EB Two storey side extension.

10 Priory Road, Knowle BS4 2NF Convert detached garage for residential use.

Knowle ward: Decided

75 Sylvia Avenue BS3 5BU Replace garage with single storey one-bedroom dwelling, with pedestrian access to St Agnes Ave. Granted subj. to conditions

Knowle, Totterdown, Windmill Hill

44 Leighton Road, Knowle BS4 2LL Retrospective application for lean-to conservatory to rear. Granted

52 Beckington Road BS3 5EB Two storey side extension, loft conversion and rear dormer.

Withdrawn

45 Axbridge Road BS4 2RU Single storey side/rear extension.

Granted subject to conditions

18 Wellgarth Road BS4 2SZ Single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear of the house by 4m, of maximum height 3.5m with eaves of 2.5 metres.

Granted

50 Daventry Road BS4 1DQ Two storey side extension.

Granted subj. to conditions 15 Wingfield Road BS3 5EF Single storey rear kitchen extension and hip to gable loft extension with rear dormer roof extension. Withdrawn 31 The Square, Knowle BS4 2SR Non-material amendment following permission 03/00880/H: Two storey extension to side, first floor extension to rear including dormer in new rear roof slope; now proposed extended kitchen area with glazed roof and door.

Roof line extended to meet the rear of bathroom. Not agreed

16 Algiers Street BS3 4LP Single storey rear extension with mono-pitched roof.

22 Melbury Road BS4 2RP Non-material amendment following permission 17/01772/H: Amended roof design. Agreed 13 Broadfield Road BS4 2UH Dormer roof extension to detached garage, to form an art room. Granted subject to conditions 44 Imperial Walk BS14 9AE Steel and timber framed balcony and staircase to rear; replacement of bay window with patio doors. Granted subject to conditions Windmill Hill ward: Awaiting decision

7 Haverstock Road BS4 2DA Single storey rear infill extension.

8 Marksbury Road BS3 5JU Single storey rear extension.

30 St John’s Crescent BS3 5ER Single storey rear extension.

Windmill Hill ward: Decided

35 Almorah Road BS3 4QQ Loft conversion with hip to gable and rear dormer. Granted 3 Eldon Terrace/The Windmill pub, Windmill Hill BS3 4NZ Use of the cellar at 3 Eldon Terrace as part of adjacent public house (Use Class A4) in excess of 10 years. Granted

62 William Street, Totterdown BS3 4TX Retrospective application for use of house as two flats.

7 Haverstock Road BS4 2DA Rear roof extension and three front roof lights.

10 Haverstock Road BS4 2BZ Single storey side return extension to full depth of existing two-storey projection.

38 Hill Avenue BS3 4SR Loft conversion with rear dormer and hip to gable. Granted subject to conditions 10 Eldon Terrace BS3 4NZ Conversion of garage to house with roof terrace. Granted subject to conditions • The status of these applications may have changed since we went to press. Check for updates at planningonline.bristol.gov.uk

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n THE CITY PAGE

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BRISTOL CITY ROUND-UP

Sponsored by I. Tube

Supporting City and the best in building

Premiership is still on the cards – if we strain every sinew

6 Beckington Road BS3 5EB Demolish garage; two storey side extension; alterations to windows and doors; raised decking.

Granted subj. to conditions

Malago Vale trading estate, St John’s Lane London plane tree: reduce crown height and spread by 2.5m. Granted

26 Holmesdale Road BS3 4QN Single storey ground floor extension with first floor decking/terrace.

May 2019

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All the hard work and investment could be about to pay off, says MARTIN POWELL. But will we be spared the 87-minute agony of ’76?

HE RECORD books show that Clive Whitehead scored a goal in the third minute of Bristol City’s game against Portsmouth in 1976 to clinch promotion to the top flight after 65 years.

As Bristol City make a final push to try to clinch top flight football once again, my memories of that night – terrifyingly, more than 40 years ago – are not of the goal but the 87 minutes of tension and torture that followed.

In the second half standing in the Enclosure, where the impressive Lansdown Stand now towers, a strange desperate chant went around. It was simply “City, City, City,” over and over again.

It was spine tingling. It wasn’t

MARTIN’S SHORTS n THEY have brought back the robin at Ashton Gate. I don’t think it had ever gone away but some slick marketing people have re-introduced the bird on the first team shirts for next year. All good stuff. It would be good if “Red Red Robin” could be reintroduced as the music when City run on to the pitch.

one of the regular chants, just a desperate effort by the crowd to will the team to block every Portsmouth attack and get the ball away from danger. It seemed to do the trick.

Over the last few games of the season that spirit will be needed again if Bristol City are to clinch fifth or sixth place and get through the tense play-off games.

Premier League football in Bristol later this year is possible.

Wins against Sheffield United and Middlesbrough away, West Bromwich Albion at home and narrow defeats to Leeds and Aston Villa, all since the start of March, show Bristol City are competing at the top.

There are still tough games to navigate. The crowd certainly played their part against West Brom at home, and the away support has been magnificent.

This is the time to put aside doubts about players, managers, systems, prices, robin logos and all the other stuff – and just strain every sinew for the cause.

The whole of Bristol will benefit if the Premier League is achieved.

What is also pleasing is the involvement of some homedeveloped talent. The latest to

Max O’Leary: Could be an asset in the top flight grab the headlines is goalkeeper Max O’Leary. The lad from Bath had an outstanding game at Villa Park and the experience he has gained in recent games shows he could be a top asset even in the Premier League.

Add to that the careful way that young players such as Joe Morrell, Lloyd Kelly, Hakeeb Adelukan, Liam Walsh, Antoine Semenyo and Zac Vyner have gained top level experience when able, and City have a pipeline of talent coming through.

There is a strong rumour that

PHOTO: JMPUK/BCFC

bids might be made for loan players Jay Dasilva, Tomas Kalas and Kasey Palmer when the season ends, and if the Premier League has been reached why wouldn’t they want to come to Ashton Gate?

There is everything to play for as the season reaches its climax in May. Is there a Bristol City player that will go down in the history books as Clive Whitehead did all those years ago – and put the crowd through some agony before we all burst into a chorus of Drink Up Thy Zider?

GAMES May 5 A Hull

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May 2019

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n YOUR MP

KARIN SMYTH Labour MP for Bristol South

Local decisions shouldn’t be made behind closed doors

M

Y PRIORITY as your MP is representing Bristol South. Part of this is about making sure decision makers locally and nationally are doing what is best for you, that public money is spent well and that investment is put where it is needed.

I’ve been working across a number of areas over the last year or so to make sure that Bristol South is considered when changes are made to healthcare and education provision and housing and transport plans. There is concern that locally, people can’t influence decisions.

Decisions which affect the lives of so many should not be made behind closed doors. They should be made with people, not for people.

Brexit ONE of the main problems with the Brexit process has been Prime Minister Theresa May’s insistence that there be ‘no running

commentary’. She never reached out to heal the division evident in the very close referendum vote, instead choosing to pursue negotiations in secret and offer the choice of her deal or no deal. Working with my opposition colleagues, we have made sure that Parliament has a role to play in this so that we find the best way forward for Bristol South and for the country as a whole.

Healthcare AS BRISTOL, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) undergoes an ill-advised

n LOCAL SERVICES

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tendering process where unknown bidders compete for a huge £1 billion, 10-year contract to deliver community healthcare in the region, I’ve been pushing to ensure everyone in Bristol South gets access to the high-quality care they need. As it stands, we do not know what is on offer, and will have to live with this decision for the next decade.

We absolutely should have a say in this and I’ve contacted NHS and CCG bosses to seek assurances that existing provision will be retained and improved.

Housing and transport IN MARCH, I was asked to support a regional Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) bid seeking a pot of government money to create infrastructure to support new housing.

Obviously, I welcome investment, but included in the bid were controversial plans to create a Whitchurch Link road. I asked for clarification around alternative plans but am yet to see these. I’ve since spoken with the housing and planning minister to make sure that the concerns of local people are heard.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you’ll see posts about a number of local and regional consultations and public meetings, which I’d encourage you to take part in, and I will continue to speak up for Bristol South.

Twitter: @karinsmyth Facebook: KarinSmythMP

May 2019

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Previously

Instruct us by May 31st 2019 and we’ll give you

HERE TO GET

31st May, 2019.

you

THERE

May 2019