South Bristol Voice, September 2016

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southbristolvoice September 2016 No. 16

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Yarn bombers take a stand WINDMILL HILL residents took over the small green in front of Bedminster station on August 13 to highlight fears that the area will be covered by high-rise blocks.

Members of community group WHaM yarn-bombed the trees and handed out leaflets.

“We need family housing, not flats which get bought up for buyto-let,” said organiser Rebecca Porter.

“Ten-storey tower blocks do not create a community,” said another resident, Anya.

• Bedminster Green update: p15

Hands up for equality

A-level results round-up Page 4 Labour members keep the peace

Page 6

Arena: Road that’s still not open Page 6 Threat to unique women’s workshop

Page 9

Mayor Marvin Rees signs up to Carole Casey’s rainbow handprint to help launch Knowle West Against Racism.

Story: Page 5

People power saves the 51

Protest: Don’t damage nature, reads the poster by Lola Berry, 6

Woman found dead is named Page 3

THE 51 bus service has been saved – after a rival operator stepped in when First Bus claimed it was not economic.

Wessex will take over the 51 route, considered a vital link between Hengrove, Whitchurch and parts of Knowle to the Broadwalk, when First ends its service on September 4.

Not only will Wessex run

more buses on the route than First, but they will also offer lower fares, starting at £1. First’s lowest fare is £1.50.

News on August 2 that the 51 would be cancelled with only four weeks notice to the public brought a storm of protest.

A hastily-arranged protest meeting at the Broadwalk Continued on page 3

Free back pain consultations for readers Page 22

History: Mr Perrett of Perrett Park

Pages 30-32

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Editorial team: Beccy Golding and Alex Morss

Intro

OUR mayor Marvin Rees is a popular man. He could hardly move two paces at the Knowle West Fest before being asked to pause for a selfie, or having his hand tugged by a youngster.

In fact – and how rare is this for a party politician?

– he was spontaneously cheered when he was introduced to the gathering.

He finds it hard to leave any event he attends, because so many people want his time.

Marvin has shown he’s approachable and down to earth, and it shines through that there are two things he’s very proud of – his family, and the fact he’s been chosen

southbristolvoice

You can find South Bristol Voice on Facebook and Twitter facebook.com/ southbristolvoice Next month’s deadline for editorial and advertising is September 21st to lead the city he loves. He refers frequently to his mixed race heritage as a source of pride, and this goes down well in a city that’s keen to celebrate its diversity.

The mayor has some political capital to draw on and he will need it. At the end of his first 100 days the budget cuts loom ever larger, but the big decisions lie ahead.

We have just learned that 1,000 council jobs will be cut.

Can the arena be built on time, and at what cost? How will residents parking, both near the arena and elsewhere, be delivered? What about our many transport problems?

And can he deliver his promised thousands of affordable homes? A city awaits his answers.

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Briefly

q AS THE Voice went to press Bristol city council announced 1,000 job cuts to help it close a budget gap of £29 million. A report will be on our website.

• southbristolvoice.co.uk q SOUTH Bristol’s Toy Library holds a play session at Marksbury Road library from 2-4pm on Saturday October 1 with crazy book creations, cardboard building and scrapcostume making. The Toy Library is open weekly each Tuesday from 10am-12noon at United Reformed Church Hall, West Street, Bedminster from September 6, and Fridays 2-4pm at Oasis Academy Marksbury Road from September 9.

• southbristoltoylibrary.co.uk q WINDMILL Hill Seniors or WhiSe, meets on Friday September 9 at Windmill Hill Community Centre in Vivian Street at 10.30am to talk about ideas for speakers and visits. All over-55s are welcome for tea, biscuits and conversation. Details

September 2016

from Christine on 07901 874375.

• whca.org.uk q THERE’S a car boot sale on the first and third Sunday of the month at The Park, Daventry Road, Knowle BS4 1DQ. Pitches are £7.

It opens to sellers at 11am and to the public from 11.30am-3.30pm.

• theparkknowle.org.uk q MADAME La Fou and the Baker’s Dozen is the title of a murder mystery which will be served up to diners by Recession Productions at Mark’s Bakery in North Street, Bedminster on September 7, along with a threecourse vegetarian meal. It starts at 7pm and costs £25. Book via email: recessiongill@gmail.com q A MAN charged with killing Kamil Ahmed, found dead at a supported housing scheme in Wells Road, Knowle, on July 7, is to face court. Jeffery Barry, 55, was due to attend Bristol Crown Court for an initial hearing on August 31, charged with murder.

His trial is set for January 3.

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My MP? Karin Smyth MP Labour. Email: karin.smyth.mp@parliament.uk Post: Karin Smyth MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA Phone: 0117 953 3575 In person: Surgeries on Friday September 2, 16 and 30 at Knowle West Health Park, Downton Road, BS4 1WH, 9.1510.45am. Call 0117 953 3575.

My councillor?

Christopher Davies Lib Dem, Knowle Post: Brunel House, St George’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UY Email: Cllr.christopher.davies@ bristol.gov.uk

Gary Hopkins Lib Dem, Knowle (Lib Dem leader) Email: Cllr.gary.hopkins@bristol.gov.uk Phone: 0117 985 1491 or 07977 512159 Lucy Whittle Labour, Windmill Hill Post: Brunel House, St George’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UY Phone: 07392 108805 Email: Cllr.Lucy.Whittle@bristol.gov.uk Jon Wellington Labour, Windmill Hill Post: Brunel House, St George’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UY 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 Pest control and dog wardens 0117 922 2500

NEIGHBOURHOOD FORUMS Windmill Hill September 7, 7-8.30pm, Victoria Park Bowls Club, Nutgrove Avenue, Windmill Hill BS3 4QF Knowle September 16, 7-8.30pm, Redcatch Community Centre, Redcatch Road, Knowle BS4 2EP Neighbourhood partnership September 21, 6-8pm, Knowle West Media Centre, Leinster Ave, BS4 1NL

Council tax

0117 922 2900

Housing benefit 0117 922 2300 Social services 0117 922 2900 Police Inquiries 101 Emergency 999 Fire

Emergency: 999 Inquiries: 0117 926 2061

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

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

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

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News

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Wessex saves 51 bus after First drops out

Continued from page 1 shopping centre on August 13 drew around 100 people, and 4,000 people signed a petition against the change.

Many voiced their outrage at what they saw as First’s focus on profits above providing a service.

Maria Homer of Kingshill Road told the Voice she had given up a job in the city centre because the bus service was so bad, and had chosen to take a worse-paid job closer to home.

“I’m so angry about this,” she said. “It seems Clifton people breathe different air to us, when I see all the 8 and 9 buses go past Temple Meads empty while I wait for a 51.”

Kelvin Wyatt of Denleigh Close, Whitchurch, said the loss of the 51 would mean he couldn’t get to his bank, but older people could be cut off from all the services in the Broadwalk. “They have not thought this out very carefully,” he said.

Tim Maloney, manager of the Broadwalk shopping centre, added his voice to the campaign, saying Knowle’s shops and businesses depend heavily on good bus links.

Cllr Gary Hopkins said First thought they could force people to accept the changes because they had a monopoly.

His fellow Lib Dem councilor Tim Kent told the crowd: “I’m horrified at the idea that our bus service can be ripped away. This

Fare result: Residents celebrate the saving of the 51 with councillors is not an acceptable way to run a bus company, or an acceptable way to treat a community.”

Wessex will receive an initial subsidy to help it establish the service, which it will guarantee to run for 12 months.

At present, most South Bristol routes are in First’s hands, but Wessex is eager to take on its competitor locally. It has also promised to donate money to local community projects if it hits its targets for the route.

The deal with Wessex was set up within a few days by Cllr Kent and Cllr Hopkins, who represent Knowle and Hengrove respectively.

Both were angry that the proposals for the axing of the 51 – and many other route changes

by First – were delivered to the council by the Traffic Commissioner on July 8. But they were not publicised until

details were released by First on August 2.

This made it much harder to secure a deal in the short time available, said Cllr Hopkins.

Neither Cllr Hopkins nor Cllr Kent were named in the council statement revealing the new deal for the 51. The statement quoted only mayor Marvin Rees and his fellow Labour cabinet member for transport, Cllr Mark Bradshaw, who finalised the deal on August 19.

Cllr Bradshaw said the subsidy for Wessex was a one-off.

The money will not cause cuts in any other service, he said.

Karin Smyth MP said: “All those who lobbied and campaigned deserve great credit for this outcome.”

A longer version of this story is on our website.

• southbristolvoice.co.uk

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Name given for woman found dead at 3 Lamps THE WOMAN who was found dead near Three Lamps junction on August 9 has been named as 38-year-old Kate Cudmore.

Police initially appeared to be conducting a murder investigation after the woman was discovered near the footpath which leads from Three Lamps at Bath Road to the footbridge over the New Cut to Victor Street.

A man in his 40s was questioned by police.

However, after a postmortem was carried out, police declared there were no suspicious circumstances, and the man was released without charge.

It is not clear where Kate Cudmore lived; police were unable to provide an address as the Voice went to press.

Fountain makes a brief splash THE MARBLE fountain which once graced Perretts Park – as shown in our feature on park founder Charles Perrett on page 30 – has briefly reappeared.

The 1m-wide marble basin and its base, weighing hundreds of kg, mysteriously turned up in the park on Saturday August 20.

The Voice understands this was the result of a stag-day prank. We’ll cover the story of attempts to restore the fountain in a future issue. The remains are now in council storage.

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September 2016

A level results equal record STUDENTS across South Bristol have been celebrating after this year’s A-level results showed that most had achieved their goals.

This year, 96 per cent of pupils across Bristol achieved at least two A-levels or the equivalent Level 3 qualifications in vocational subjects.

It is the same score as last year, after an improvement from 89 per cent in 2014.

Secondary schools across Bristol are reckoned to have improved markedly in the last 10 years, with 95 per cent rated good or outstanding by Ofsted.

Students and teachers at Merchants’ Academy in Withywood celebrated the sixth form’s most impressive A-level results since opening.

All who have applied to university have won places.

As in the past two years, almost all of those who will

Jumping for joy: Students at Merchants Academy all won places at university study for degrees are the first generation of their family to do so. Principal Nick Short said: “I am extremely proud of our sixth form students, most of whom will go on to study at university and who are role models that inspire our younger students as well as the wider community.”

At Ashton Park school, staff said they were “thrilled” that all of the students who wanted to go to university will be attending

either their first or second choice.

The school drew attention to one student who got three A grades and will study politics at the University of Bristol.

Several pupils took the highest grades in vocational courses in sport, ICT, dance and health and social care.

At St Mary Redcliffe and Temple sixth form, 98 per cent of pupils achieved at least two Alevels or equivalent, and 29

pupils achieved three A levels at grades A* or A. Six students are going on to study at Oxbridge.

Headteacher Elisabeth Gilpin said: “We are delighted. As well as the impressive number of students who gained A* and A results, we are also very proud of our students who battled against tough circumstances to get grades that were a real achievement for them.”

And St Brendan’s sixth form college in Brislington is celebrating its best ever A-level results with a 97.4 per cent pass rate and 69.3 per cent of students achieving A* to C grades.

In total 19 of the college’s students were awarded A* or A grades for three or more of their A-level subjects.

City of Bristol College is also celebrating its best results, with a pass rate of 98 per cent in A levelS, almost a four percentage point increase on last year.

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News

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West Fest brings the community together HATE crime has no place in Knowle West and doesn’t reflect the people who live there – that was the message when mayor Marvin Rees came to the area’s annual festival.

The Knowle West Fest came on a blustery, wet day but that didn’t keep the crowds away from the community centre on Filwood Broadway, to enjoy food, music, games, children’s events and entertainment.

Mr Rees was welcomed with cheers when he was introduced

by Filwood Labour councillor Chris Jackson. He was there, the mayor told the gathering, because he wanted to support every area of the city, particularly those that don’t always get heard.

The many stalls ranged from various kinds of food to dementia support, South Bristol’s new toy library and a display of the winners of the Knowle West front garden competition.

With the rain beating down, those outside were less well supported – a disappointment for the musicians on the Filwood Broadway stage.

But there were cheers when Mr Rees unleashed a net full of 200 balloons – to launch Knowle West Against Racism, a symbol of how the area is standing together after a short spate of limited but malicious racial attacks.

On four occasions in June and July, bricks were thrown through the windows of two houses in Bideford Avenue and racist graffiti scrawled outside.

No one has been arrested over the attacks and there have been no incidents since then.

But the attacks sparked an immediate response from the community. Within hours of the police appeal for witnesses, a

Uniting: The peace-nic on July 31 peace picnic was organised on the green in Filwood Broadway.

It was attended by scores of local people determined to prove that those who show prejudice are a tiny minority.

Also attending were councillors and most of the city’s media including the BBC and ITV. “Knowle West and Bristol should not be judged by the crimes and racist views of a tiny minority in our city. Judge us instead by our response to hate wherever it occurs,” said Jaya Chakrabarti, a Knowle resident who helped set up the event along with Miguel Lloyd-Jones and Cheryl Martin.

It mirrored the reaction in Totterdown in January when, a week after a racist attack by four people on the Jamia mosque, 400 people came to show support for the Islamic community.

Mr Rees told the Voice he was impressed by the community’s reaction to the racist incidents.

“When I was younger, if I was ever subjected to racist abuse, it was important for me to hear the affirmation that other people

Bright idea to combat slavery THE Neon Night Walk, organised

by Bristol anti-slavery charity Unseen, aims to expose the hidden horrors of human trafficking in Britain today.

The challenge is to walk or run as many times as you can around a 2.5km route in Leigh

Woods in six hours, from 6pm to midnight, dressed in neon! Teams can walk together or do relays.

It’s on Saturday October 22 and will support Unseen’s two safe houses for some of the 13,000 people trafficked into the UK. • unseenuk.org

don’t think like that. It’s fantastic to see that there are people out there who are vigilant.”

Mr Rees added his hand-print to a rainbow picture symbolising diversity. He will hang one in his office in the Council House, while others will be put up at Knowle West Media Centre, the Park centre and Broadbury Road police station.

For the police, neighbourhood manager Inspector Nigel Colston said: “This event goes to show how strong the community is here and how well people pull together when they see injustice. Hate crime is never acceptable and we will do everything we can to stamp it out.”

The event was also attended

by MP Karin Smyth and Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens.

5

Learn new skills and crafts down at the farm

A NEW season of courses is about to start at Windmill Hill City Farm, offering adults the chance to learn new skills including painting and drawing, silver and copper jewellery making, stained glass, creative writing, and yoga.

The courses are run by the Workers Educational Association and also include art and crafts for people who find it difficult to attend mainstream classes.

Some students have progressed into further and higher education as a result, reports the WEA. One participant said: “The course is helping me manage stress from other areas of my life.

My mental health is more robust because of the course.”

To enrol or find out more ring 0845 458 2758.

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News

Cattle Market Road shut for months yet

THE reopening of Cattle Market Road – which will become the main access to the Bristol arena – has been put off again, this time until the autumn.

The road has been shut since the summer of 2014 and was due to reopen at the end of August.

But the Voice has been told that this won’t happen until October or November, because specially-designed lighting under the railway bridge is not ready.

Cattle Market Road was first scheduled to reopen in December 2015 after the £11m bidge to Arena Island was installed.

But work to make the road one-way – eastbound only – and to install a cycle track meant the closure was extended.

Also delayed is the huge project to remove the Temple Circus roundabout next to Temple Meads and replace it with public open space, better pavements and cycleways, and a traffic-light controlled crossroads.

This is expected to cause major disruption. Work was expected to start earlier this summer but has been delayed because there are so many other roadworks in the city.

Non-disruptive works will now start at the end of the year, and the major roadworks in early 2017.

• A report from arena constructor Bouygues UK detailing the costs of the project, and a timetable, is expected in the autumn.

Ask the vet:

P

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September 2016

Lab members defy MP to vote Corbyn MEMBERS of Bristol South Labour party voted at a meeting to back Jeremy Corbyn as the party’s leader by a substantial majority.

They voted by 136 votes for Corbyn to 39 for his challenger, Owen Smith. It puts the bulk of those attending at odds with the party’s MP for Bristol South, Karin Smyth.

The meeting of the constituency party on August 10 was said to be peaceful, with no reports of the alleged bullying behaviour seen at an earlier meeting of the Bristol West party.

But according to a party member who has spoken to the Voice, there was an awkward moment when one member told the councillors who were present that they should be “ashamed” and should not be representing the people of Bristol – presumably because the councillors were assumed to have voted for Mr Smith.

“There was passion, but no aggression,” a party member told the Voice. Several members said they had been inspired by Jeremy Corbyn to join, or rejoin, the party.

It was not just new members who voiced support for Mr Corbyn, said the source.

Ms Smyth declared in her

Karin Smyth: Corbyn’s position as leader “has become untenable” column in last October’s South Bristol Voice, shortly after Mr Corbyn was elected party leader, that she hadn’t voted for him, but would work with him.

But on June 27 she resigned her position as parliamentary private secretary to Labour’s shadow health secretary, Heidi Alexander, saying she could no longer work for Mr Corbyn.

“The leader of the Labour Party must have a clear plan for government, and have the credibility and competence to deliver it. It is increasingly evident to me that Jeremy Corbyn is not that leader, and

that his position has become untenable,” she said in a message to her constituents.

Ms Smyth, along with most of the party’s MPs, now backs Owen Smith to lead the party.

In all, 285 constituency Labour parties have backed Corbyn, and 53 Owen Smith.

Their nominations have no effect on the result, which will be announced on September 24.

The pro- and anti-Corbyn camps mark the sharpest division in the Labour party for decades.

Most Labour MPs have lost confidence in Mr Corbyn, but the party has seen huge growth in grassroots membership.

Corbyn supporters say his left-wing values and transparent decency will bring members flocking to the party. Opponents say his policies – like his lukewarm support for NATO – are at odds with the views of most voters.

Asked to comment on the meeting, Ms Smyth said in a statement: “It was a wellorganised, respectful meeting with some excellent contributions. Around 10 per cent of the membership were present and it was encouraging to have so many people discussing the qualities of the candidates and passion for Labour values.”

How can I help my pet in hot weather?

ETS respond differently to heat than we do, and hot weather can prove very uncomfortable, even dangerous, for them. Follow these tips to help keep your pets cool.

Don’t rely on a fan Fans do not cool pets off effectively – dogs and cats, for instance, sweat mainly through their feet, and dogs pant to regulate their body temperature.

Never leave your pet in a parked car Not even for a minute. Not even with the car running and air conditioner on.

• On a warm day, temperatures inside a vehicle can rise rapidly.

• At 85F, for example, the

temperature in a car with the windows opened slightly can reach 102F within 10 minutes.

After 30 minutes, it will be 120F. Your pet may suffer irreversible organ damage or die.

Limit exercise on hot days Take care when exercising your pet. Adjust intensity and duration of exercise in accordance with the temperature and have water available at all times.

• On very hot days, limit exercise to early morning or evening, and be especially careful with pets with whitecoloured ears, who are more susceptible to skin cancer, and short-nosed pets, who typically

have difficulty breathing.

• Asphalt and tarmac gets very hot and can burn paws, so walk your dog on the grass if possible. Always carry water.

Provide shade and water When outside, make sure they have protection from heat and sun, and fresh, cold water.

Watch for signs of heatstroke Symptoms: glazed eyes, a rapid heartbeat, difficulty breathing, excessive thirst, lethargy, fever, dizziness, lack of coordination, profuse salivation, vomiting, a deep red tongue, seizure or unconsciousness.

If you suspect heatstroke • Move your pet to a cool area.

Jenny Hamilton-ible MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon at Highcroft Veterinary Hospital, Whitchurch • Apply ice packs wrapped in a thin towel, or cold towels, to their head, neck, and chest or run cool (not cold) water over them.

Let them drink small amounts of cool water or lick ice cubes.

• Consult a vet urgently.

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News Jail for drug-rape photographer A PHOTOGRAPHER who drugged and raped two men at his home next to Victoria Park was sentenced to 11 and half years in prison at Bristol Crown Court on August 12.

Nigel Brent Wilkinson, 43, of Hill Avenue, Windmill Hill, admitted two counts of rape, three counts of administering a substance with intent to rape, and possession of class C drugs

flunitrazepam (also known as Rohypnol) and nitrazepam.

Wilkinson was suspected of offences against a 19-year-old man from Kent when officers went to his home in April 2016 to arrest him, and found a second victim asleep on his sofa.

Traces of sedatives were found in both victims. Later, DNA evidence linked Wilkinson to sexual offences against them.

Police also identified a third victim, a 19-year-old from Wiltshire.

Officers want to speak to anyone who was in a relationship with Wilkinson or had contact with him though his photography business, WilkoPhotography, or dating websites.

A longer version of this story is on our website.

• southbristolvoice.co.uk

September 2016

Riverside thrills for cycle racers CYCLING fans will be able to see the Tour of Britain passing though South Bristol on Saturday, September 10.

The start and finish line is on the Downs; the route goes over Clifton Suspension Bridge to Bower Ashton, Coronation Road and Cumberland Road.

• tourofbritain.co.uk/stages/

Park day of fun and running VICTORIA Park will come alive on Saturday September 17 when its annual fun day and festival promises something for everyone.

Music fans can enjoy live performances, children can have a go on the bouncy castle and other attractions, while those who feel guilty about relaxing can take part in a 5km fun run.

There will be arts and crafts galore: those in favour of high culture can enjoy poetry readings, while those who want to feed more than their souls can head for the barbecue and beer tent.

There will be children’s entertainment throughout the day, which runs from 12noon6pm. There’s also a dog show for

those who want to show off their canine companions, with registration at 10.30am and judging from 11am. It costs £1 per entry, with classes including best rescue dog, best pedigree and best child handler.

Proceeds from the dog show will be split between organisers Victoria Park Action Group, and

the RSCPA Blood Bank. The fun run takes place at 12noon after registration at 11.30am. It costs £5 for adults and £3 for under-16s.

Meet at the corner of Nutgrove Avenue and Hill Avenue, but register first by emailing vp5kchallenge@gmail.com • vpag.org.uk

Now supporting Children’s Hospice South West

Greenwoods – supporting local artists once again!

Come and admire our fantastic new mural by Totterdown’s very own Andy Council.

OUR HEAD OFFICE IS ON YOUR Temple Meads DOORSTEP at 148 Wells Road, Totterdown BS4 2AG

Three Lamps junction

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Workshop is at risk A CAMPAIGN has been launched to raise £50,000 for vital repairs for Bristol Women’s Workshop – the unique Totterdown landmark which has been training women in traditionally male skills for 35 years.

The women’s workshop occupies part of the building that used to be the Totterdown Centre.

Its handsaw symbol is well known to those travelling up Wells Road, but now the building needs repairs to the roof, outbuildings, staircases and other areas.

“If we cannot raise thie money within about three to six months we run the risk that this unique workshop will close down,” said tutor Abigail Coveney.

Bristol Women’s Workshop was founded in 1981 with the aim

In danger: The unique Women’s Workshop in Wells Road needs £50,000 of urgent repair works of training women in practical skills in areas such as woodwork, DIY and upholstery in which they are under-represented. It’s believed to be the only facility of

Furnishers won’t be moving in PLANS by the Bristol Upholstery Collective to move into part of the former Totterdown Centre have been dropped.

The group of upholsterers

announced in the spring that they hoped to open a workshop in the building in April, but the amount of renovation required has made this impractical.

Witnesses horrified by dog attack POLICE rushed to Wells Road on Sunday August 21 after reports that three large dogs were attacking a woman’s small dog and dragging it around like a toy opposite Banco Lounge.

A witness who posted on Facebook said the man with the three dogs – possibly mastiffs

– did little to control them and all the dogs were covered in blood.

It is not clear how badly hurt the smaller dog is. The woman owner called police to report the incident at about 3.30pm but the mastiff owner had left the scene.

Police have appealed for witnesses to call 101.

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its kind in the country. But ironically, just as its future is threatened, the courses at the workshop are more popular than ever.

“We have got plans to expand the teaching space to meet demand – there has been a huge amount of interest in the past year,” said Abigail.

In its 35-year history many thousands of women have passed through the workshop.

Organisers are hoping that supporters will mount a variety of events to raise money.

Already the workshop’s Just Giving web page has one supporter, Mark King, competing in the London Triathlon, and another is planning a sponsored bike ride. Several hundred pounds has already been pledged.

“Please get your running shoes out, dust down your baking trays and get your thinking caps on. Bristol Women’s Workshop needs you!” said a spokeswoman.

The first fundraising event – a Northern Soul night at the SouthBank Club in Southville – took place on August 20.

Extra courses are being laid on to raise more money, including classes in making items out of driftwood – details on the website.

• bristolwomensworkshop.org.uk

9

Home prices are bidding up

MORE than a third of homes in the BS3 postcode have sold for more than the asking price.

Estate agent Hamptons said 38 per cent of homes in BS3 achieved more than was asked in the last year, compared to the Bristol average of 18 per cent.

“It has been smaller homes which have been achieving most above the asking price. Areas like Bedminster, Knowle, Filton and Southville have seen increasing demand ... as young professionals priced out of the city centre seek more affordable areas,” said Hamptons.

Police car runs into ambulance A POLICE car and an ambulance, both with blue lights flashing, collided in Wells Road, Knowle, on Saturday August 19.

The police car was crossing the junction from Airport Road when it ran into the side of the ambulance at 3.20pm.

Two police officers were taken to hospital but were not found to be injured. They had been on their way to an incident involving threats of violence.

The road was blocked by the collision but re-opened by 4.30pm.

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“They communicated with me every step of the way and I was never made to feel like an inconvenience when I had a query or a problem.”

Miss J: “Wild Goose have shown us that not all estate agents are the same. They did everything they possibly could from the start to make the process as stress-free as possible, including going out of their way when our buyer had problems getting their mortgage.

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September 2016

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News

YOUNGSTERS who want to have a go at making their own street art can test their skills when Arts in the Park returns to Redcatch Park, Knowle, on Saturday September 11 from 12-5pm.

Andy Colwill will be bringing some friends from Southville’s recent Upfest event. They will have loads of boards, paint and inspiration so the youngsters can have a go. Andy will even give the young creator of his favourite masterpiece a signed print.

Older artists can take the challenge of the Redcatch Artist of the Year competition. It’s open to all amateur artists who can attend at 1pm with an easel, paints, canvasses and creativity to paint what you see in the park within a time limit of two hours.

The winner will be selected by John Palmer, a member of the Royal West of England Academy, and a fabulous prize awarded.

Bedminster’s Show of Strength theatre company will pop up with performances from 12.30pm every 20 minutes to 4.10pm.

South Bristol drama company

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11

Finding answers about dementia DO you know what dementia is? Do you know how to spot the symptoms? With more awareness of this debilitating disease, Bristol Dementia Action Alliance is holding a drop-in morning.

It’s on Saturday September 10 from 10am-12noon at Zion Bristol in Bishopsworth Road BS13 7LW. Ways to help and support people living with dementia will be discussed, and people caring for suffers are welcome.

• www.bristoldaa.co.uk

Making art before your eyes Anthony Garratt will be painting live at Arts in th Park Brave Bold Drama are in a shady spot with blankets and cushions to entertain children with their show My Way or the Highway at 2pm and again at 4pm.

Artist Anthony Garratt will be painting the scene live and auctioning his finished piece.

There will be chances to try activities from weaving willow to throwing pots, with stalls selling

art supplies, plus food, music, poetry and workshops galore.

Artist Ollie Gillard, known as Gage, who transformed the park’s toilet block with a painting of a kingfisher last year, will return to work his magic on the pavilion.

The free event is organised by Entertaining Local Knowle after a successful debut last year.

• elknowle.wix.com/elknowle

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Features

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What’s that buzzing colour riot? Get yourself into the park for a fun wildflower and pollinator hunt and discover what you can do to help pollinators, with our expert guide, ecologist Alex Morss

S

OUTH Bristol nature lovers and gardeners are being asked to join an appeal to create nectar havens for our city’s struggling pollinators.

The Get Bristol Buzzing appeal wants community groups to create a wildflower paradise in green spaces such as schools, parks and allotments, but also to let researchers know what nectar sources grow in their gardens.

Populations of many species including bees, hoverflies, moths, butterflies, bugs, ants, flies and beetle have not just declined but crashed, with several becoming extinct. Yet we need them: animal pollinators give us one third of our food and ensure that 90 per cent of all flowering plants can reproduce. They prop up the whole ecosystem. Yet we’ve destroyed 97 per cent of Britain’s meadows since 1940, wiping out their food and habitat.

The great news is there is a lot you can do. Dr Kath Baldock at the University of Bristol says city planting really is an alternative lifeline. Her UK-wide research used Victoria Park in a three-year study of 7,000 pollinators. She found many pollinator species in cities, especially bees.

Dr Baldock said: “Urban areas can be good for bees and other pollinators – and gardens play an important role in providing food sources. Even if you don’t have a garden, you can plant a few flowers in a window box.”

V

ictoria Park’s wildflower beds show what can be achieved with a lot of volunteers. A couple of years ago when I suggested creating these new native wildflower areas for pollinators, lots of brilliant local people agreed to help.

It was hard: these projects are

The red-tailed bumble bee on a Common Poppy.

Inset top, Corn Marigold; Bottom, a Cornflower PICTURES: Alex Morss

All abuzz for pollinators! the opposite of horticulture, demanding low-nutrient soil, enduring extreme weather, punished by trampling, and often yielding up to two years of weedy mud, doubt and heartache, before becoming established. We begged and borrowed tools and native wildflower seeds, thanks to Avon Wildlife Trust and help from the council.

Year 1 suffered from drought and squirrel damage, and summer annuals flowered on Christmas day. More growing and transplanting followed with help from St Mary Redcliffe and Victoria Park schools plus Victoria Park Action Group, Good Gym and Woodcraft Folk.

Year 2 saw more seeds and perennial species. We suffered a mishap in July, when council contractors accidentally mowed half the area.

If you bumble past Victoria Park’s wild flower beds for pollinators this month, get your eye in real close, take your kids and a magnifier and look for some of these beauties…

Pink flowers We have the pink blush of our rare Corncockle, almost sent extinct by intensive farming, and the crimson glow

of Black Knapweed – usually a scrum of pollinators. Low down, hunt for dainty Geraniums like the diddy Dove’s-Foot Crane’sBill with its funny long beaks.

Look for for the herbalist’s old favourite, Self-Heal in the mint family. There is Ragged Robin and its relative Red Campion.

Wild Carrot: interloper in the plot Yellow and white Zoom in on the vibrant golden sunshine of Corn Marigold to see the dense spirals of tiny miniature flowers – can you count more than 100 tiny florets sitting on one head?

They open in shifts, to maximise pollination. These minute flower heads are found in dandelions, daisies and thistles too – here in the giant heads of Ox-Eye Daisy and Corn Chamomile.

Blue and mauve The same

13

FOUR WAYS YOU CAN HELP POLLINATORS 1. SHARE IF YOU CARE… What plants are in your garden? Scientists at the RHS and Bristol University want to create a Champions League of the city’s best garden pollinator plants. surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ RHSp4pSurvey 2. CREATE A COMMUNITY POLLINATOR PATCH Find a public green space or school grounds, seek permission and plan a wildlife area.The RHS or Avon Wildlife Trust may help.

Prepare the ground and seed it in autumn or early spring. Find out more at getbristolbuzzing.org and Bristol Community Pollinator Project on Facebook.

3. BEE GREEN Put away the pesticides and the lawn mower and check nursery plants or seeds are not coated in harmful chemicals such as neonicotinoids.

4. HAVE BEE FRIENDLY PLANTS ALL YEAR Native wild flowers and some garden plants can extend the nectar season for pollinators.

For ideas see rhs.org.uk/ science/pdf/conservationand-biodiversity/wildlife/ rhs_pollinators_plantlist clustered pattern repeats on compact, dense blue-mauve heads of Field Scabious and Cornflower. Watch whether passing pollinators are fooled by the outer petals, which are often false flowers, all advertising with no sugary substance. Check out the ‘fairy ladders’ leading to purple towers of Tufted Vetch.

Red Common Poppy is humming with red-tailed bumble bees right now, as seen in our photo. Many kids imagine the pretty seed cups are fairy rattles.

You have to dig that!

Gatecrashers Wild Carrot with its fuzzy white ‘umbrellas’ decorated with a tell-tale red central dot that distinguishes it from Hedge-Parsley lookalikes.

You’ll spot Red and White Clover and Smooth Sow Thistle, like a dandelion with branched stems. This last one is among the world’s most successful weeds.

Love it or hate it, you have to admire such a clever parachuting army of feathery seeds.

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September 2016

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Bedminster Green

‘T

ELL anyone over the age of 50 that Bedminster could soon see the construction of up to 12 tower blocks of up to 16 storeys, and you will probably see a look of bewilderment as they remember the great high-rise building disaster of the 60s and 70s.

Responding to an acute housing crisis, huge swathes of Victorian streets and houses were demolished and replaced by large estates, such as Thamesmead and Broadwater Farm in London, which became bywords for misery and deprivation. In 1979 the Thatcher government responded by halting high-rise construction. But now tower

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OPINION

‘To repeat the high-rise disaster of the 1960s would be unforgivable’ blocks are back with a vengeance.

It is easy to see why, as the country faces a housing crisis equal to the 60s. Tower blocks provide an easy solution by which cash-strapped local authorities can meet their housing targets. So has anything

Urbis: We aim for homes to be affordable General Plumbing

DEVELOPER Urbis says it wants its housing plots on Bedminster Green to meet the council’s full target for 30 per cent of homes to be affordable.

But its boss warned that to achieve this, buildings will have & to be taller than neighbours want.

Clifton-based Urbis has an agreement with the council to Protest: Graffiti in Hereford Street draw up a framework plan for Bedminster Green. It envisages each home had its own boiler. It 800 homes in blocks of up to 12 will also pay for grants for new storeys with shops, a revamped boilers and other work to 20 railway station and open spaces, homes each year which can’t be and a newly-revealed Malago river. connected to the district heating Residents in next-door system, he said.

Windmill Hill, however, have Last month Urbis lost a shown they do not want to see bidding war for control of Plot 1, tower blocks (see article above). the part of the site between But Urbis managing director Hereford Street and the railway.

Richard Clarke said tall buildings It was bought by a consortium are the only way to provide the including Bristol builder Paul housing Bristol needs.

O’Brien, who proposes a “Go to any major city in the 10-storey building with 221 flats.

UK and you will see [new] It is not clear if the O’Brien high-rise everywhere,” he said. plan would include any  Design  Construction He expects to submit a affordable housing.

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planning application for a district Tiling Mr Clarke said Urbis wants all  Plumbing energy centre, capable of heating of its plots to aim for 30 per cent  Decorating  Electrical 2,000 homes, in early September. of homes to be affordable.

This has also met opposition “If we had been able to get to from neighbours as it is powered 20 storeys on St Catherine’s by gas, a fossil fuel.

Place [the nearby block approved Mr Clarke said the new plant at 16 storeys in 2015] we could would be much more efficient have had 30 per cent affordable and have lower emissions than if housing there,” he said.

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changed to make tower blocks more acceptable? Unfortunately, all the research over the past 30 years only explains why the experiment failed so abjectly in the first place. For example, numerous studies have found that people living in high-rise blocks feel more isolated and are less sociable than those in low-rise, and consequently experience more stress, depression and mental illness.

Children suffer the most, displaying more behavioural problems and lower levels of fitness due to getting outdoors less, and the elderly experience more loneliness – a killer which research has recently shown is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Tower blocks don’t promote casual street encounters, which research shows are just as important for good mental health as are friends and family. They also segregate communities between rich and poor and young and old. It is therefore hardly

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15

surprising that in a recent MORI poll 89 per cent of Britons wanted to live in streets and zero per cent in tower blocks.

The good news is that we can achieve high density housing without towers by careful low-rise planning. We also know what makes a thriving community: busy, interesting streets with shops, a mixture of high-density, low-rise housing for people of different incomes, local businesses, open spaces, balconies, gardens, and places to meet and hang out together.

What’s more, what we most love is watching each other, so we need to design an environment that enables this. We have a unique opportunity to create something special in Bedminster, but only if local people are involved in the planning. The high-rise housing disaster of the 60s was perhaps excusable, but to repeat it would be unforgivable.’

Nick Townsend, member of WHaM – Windmill Hill and Malago planning group

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16

News

T: 07811 766072

Plenty to peek at on Open Doors day DOZENS of interesting places which are usually private throw open their doors to visitors on Saturday and Sunday Spetember 11 and 12.

Among those in the south of the city, there’s the chance to see tunnels and air raid shelters beneath Temple Meads station on Saturday from 10am-4pm.

Hengrove has a Festival of Ancients at Hengrove Way, BS14 0BY. It’s billed as a surreal “fête set in the future, celebrating the past” with artist Jo Helier on Saturday from 12-4pm.

Filwood Green business park on Hengrove Way is showcasing its sustainable local companies.

And you can see film sets at the Bottle Yard studios in Whitchurch Lane, where Wolf Hall and Sherlock were made.

• bristoldoorsopenday.org.uk

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September 2016

Extension refused at former convent THE owners of the Gothic Mansion, the huge Victorian house at 100 Redcatch Road, have been refused permission to build a large PVC conservatory across the main entrance.

The Knowle building is a former convent. Now Grade II listed, it has 13 bedrooms and can sleep 50 people. It is rented out to holidaymakers at a cost of £2,000 or more for a weekend.

In 2014 it was refused planning permission to operate as a holiday venue after complaints from neighbours about rowdy behaviour.

But in November 2015 owner Misha Simonnite won a planning appeal and has been allowed to carry on renting out the property after agreeing a policy on noise control with the council.

Grade II listed: Gothic Mansion However, she has been unsuccessful in her latest planning application.

Planning officials said in a report that the proposed conservatory of 70 sq m would be “a substantial extension of the building footprint into the

garden.” Officers said the application did not address “the significant impact that the proposed conservatory will have” on the listed building. It would detract from the imposing arched front door with its stone steps, and would be too big and incongruous, the report said.

“The design proposals are poor and fail to respond to or enhance the distinctiveness of the historic building. Described as being constructed from ‘dark wood effect upvc with tinted glazing’ its materials will be entirely out of character with the traditional materials and textures of the 19th C building.”

The plan would cause “substantial harm” to the aesthetic value of the building and its setting, the report said.

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September 2016

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Marvin Rees In 100 days, we’ve pointed to a more inclusive city

A

LOT can happen in 100 days. It’s been about that long since I was elected Bristol mayor, and in that time we’ve had Brexit, a new prime minister and a £1bn devolution deal for our region agreed in principle.

In that whirlwind of context I’m amazed at how much we’ve achieved locally. There have been real actions, both large and small. These all send a clear message that this will be a fairer, more inclusive city where everyone has a chance to feel the benefits of our success.

In some cases small gestures speak volumes: like allowing blue badge holders to park in residents’ parking bays without fear of a fine, or buying back a former council flat in Lawrence Hill to once again make it available to a family on the waiting list. Other actions

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The Mayor’s view Marvin Rees tells us his vision for the city as Bristol mayor not only help us now, but lay groundwork for the future – like taking 80 hectares of public land off the market so we can build more homes; reviving plans for a new recycling centre on Hartcliffe Way; or installing the first parts of a city-wide heat network to supply tenants of 1,000 social housing flats with low carbon, fairly-priced heat. A change close to my heart was launching a review into housing priority for domestic abuse survivors.

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17

It all adds up, and one of my big takeaways from 100 days as mayor is that the city works best when it works together. So I’ve met 75 partners to talk about setting up a City Office where different organisations can work more closely together to solve big issues. We’re already working across public, private and voluntary sectors to respond to Brexit, and this is just the first of many topics where the best result for Bristol can be achieved if we pool our power, money and ideas.

None of us has a magic wand or all of the answers. Nor can we pretend there aren’t massive challenges ahead. I have inherited a huge financial challenge which is proving bigger than anyone anticipated. I will be making sure the council builds on what’s previously gone well and fully understands where more progress needs to be made. That doesn’t take away the issue, but it does help us respond, as does the city-wide budget simulator I launched to involve more people in the challenge. I’m really grateful to everyone who took part, because those ideas are now being shared widely to help the council plan for the future.

The situation is too serious to describe being mayor as exciting. But it is busy, fulfilling, challenging and really, truly rewarding. I have high hopes for our city and what we can achieve together. I hope many of you will be part of it.

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September 2016

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L

S

TER T E

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

Waste food belongs in a bin I WISH people wouldn’t leave food under bushes in parks. I don’t know if they think they are doing the wildlife a favour, but they aren’t. I don’t know any wild creatures that can subsist on old

southbristolvoice

bread and leftovers. Worse, my dog has now learned that she can find an extra snack in the bushes, and it makes her sick.

FG, Totterdown

Resurfacing was a real hazard

CAN anyone tell me what went wrong with the road resurfacing right across South Bristol?

For a week, it has seemed as though every other road is covered in chippings, and whenever anyone drives down there is a cloud of dust.

I’ve seen this on Wells Road, on Dean Lane, in St Anne’s and I believe it affected the Downs too.

Piles of chippings, no sign of anyone sweeping them up, and dust covering everything. In places it is difficult to breathe without taking a lungful of dust – this can’t be good for health.

I thought I would be clever and cycle to the Balloon Fiesta to avoid the inevitable traffic jams, but I didn’t feel so clever when I got to Ashton Road by Greville Smyth park. There the chippings had drifted into piles, right where

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you have to cycle. I nearly came off my bike. Later I saw on Facebook that a motorcyclist did skid and fall off. Another motorist had their windscreen smashed by a flying stone.

Why wasn’t this mess cleared up, or the surface sealed straight away, or whatever was meant to happen? Oh, and I remember that we had this last year, and then it took weeks for all the road markings to be reinstated.

TF, Knowle

19

• Editor’s note The council has said that work on surface dressing the roads was interrupted by the unusually hot weather.

A spokesperson said: “We have had to leave the gravel there for longer than normal to protect the new surface. Without this measure, the road would become slippery and sticky, attaching to car tyres and shoes. The road would then have to be resurfaced at a later date.”

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Redmaids’ High School incorporating Redland High School for Girls

Open Mornings Saturday 24 September Juniors, Seniors and Sixth Form Saturday 8 October - Infants Book on-line at: redmaidshigh.co.uk tel: 0117 962 2641 Independent day school | Girls and boys aged 3 to 7 | Girls aged 7 to 18

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T: 07811 766072

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September 2016

Balloon fiesta special

More lift: Drifting over Knowle in the first ascent on Saturday JEREMY PENDLETON

2nd prize Good view: Perretts park, Saturday

LUCY AVENT

Display: The Pitts Special

ROGER TURNER

Mass ascent: Helen Lafevre caught this view leaning out of

Li

Visit Oasis Academy Brislington Open Evening Thursday September 22 5.30-8pm (Principal’s Address 6pm)

Open Mornings September 26, 27 and 28 9.30-11am

THE sure gath wow disa wind take B four dam take at As only acro a gia even F 267 our p

By appointment (call 0117 377 2055 )

Saturday October 1 11am-1pm Tel: 0117 377 2055 Hungerford Rd, Brislington, Bristol, BS4 5EY @OABrislington oasisacademybrislington.org

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Dais

September 2016

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21

Balloon fiesta special 1st prize

f her window on Elmdale Road, Bedminster, to take second prize

ift-off came at last

E 39TH event in what is ely the best ballooning hering in the world, finally wed South Bristol – despite appointment when high ds meant balloons could not e off until Saturday evening.

Being robbed of two of the days’ ballooning did not mpen the joy when they did e off, however. The 100,000 shton Court enjoyed not y hot air balloons but aerial obatics, powered parasailing, ant water slide and circus nts from Cirque Bijou.

Fewer takeoffs – a total of this year – meant entries to photo competition were

fewer than last year. But the quality was high, and Greenwoods estate agents director James Grimsted presented prizes to our three worthy winners.

You can see a picture of the presentation on our website, as well as more ballooning pictures, and video of Parabatix pilot Pascal Campbell-Jones taking a running jump into the air, looking as if he is flying a very smoky armchair.

There’s also video of part of the spectacular free firework display created by Alan Christie and the team at Skyburst, featured in our last issue.

• southbristolvoice.co.uk

Stunning sky: Our winner Jane Vellender has caught swirling clouds above Perretts

3rd prize

sy Rodda, 7, took this from her gran’s flat in Brislington. Right, one by her sister Heidi, 11

Inflation: Balloons jostle for take-off space

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

JEFF WELLS

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T: 07811 766072

Offer

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September 2016

WIN free pain consultation

THE BRISTOL Back Pain Clinic is making a generous offer to readers of South Bristol Voice – the first 50 to call will get a free consultation worth £45.

The clinic, based at Paintworks off Bath Road, employs chiropractors and osteopaths to treat a wide range of conditions over the whole body, not just the back.

The clinic is making the offer to celebrate the arrival of new osteopath Siân Cook.

Most people have experienced musculoskeletal pain at some point in their lives – pain caused by problems with the joints, ligaments, tendons and nerves.

For some it can be severe and incapacitating; for others it can be less painful yet persistent and, as a result, equally debilitating.

Chiropractors and osteopaths are specialists in diagnosing and treating all types of musculoskeletal conditions and are also able to order further

Many people live with pain when there is no need.

Bristol Back Pain Clinic is offering Voice readers a free consultation

tests such as X-rays and MRI scans if necessary. You do not need a GP referral to visit.

All sorts of posture, work & sports-related pains can be treated including headaches and migraine, shoulder and arm pain, hip and knee pain, osteoarthritis, and pain associated with pregnancy and childcare.

During the initial consultation patients can explain their

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Free assessment & diagnosis worth £45* Chiropractors and osteopaths are best known for treating back and neck pain, however we are specialists at treating all sorts of posture, work & sports related pains including:

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A Will lets you protect your family’s inheritance and decide how your assets are shared out –

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CALL 0117 972 3518 TO BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION WORTH £45 For more information visit

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symptoms and how they are affecting them. The practitioner will investigate the cause; X-rays and MRI scans may be ordered.

Treatment will first aim to relieve the pain, after which the focus will be on restoring normal function by correcting the underlying problem. Safe and gentle treatment techniques range from manipulation of stiff joints, muscles and tendons, to

stretching and rehab exercises, cranial therapy and acupuncture.

Part of the service includes keeping your GP informed of your progress, but the clinic will also liaise with employers, insurance companies and other healthcare professionals.

To help aid recovery and prevent problems reoccurring, patients may be given advice on their posture and diet, and recommendations on exercises and stretches.

Osteopath Siân Cook said: “Identifying the cause of pain and giving our patients a clear understanding of the problem and how we can treat it are the first steps to recovery. More often than not, people just put up with the pain or think painkillers are the only solution, but osteopathic and chiropractic treatment really can make a difference.”

Call 0117 972 3518 to book your free consultation worth £45.

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*Offer valid until 30th September 2016 Chiropractic • Osteopathy • Massage The Paintworks (4.23), Bath Road, Bristol, BS4 3EH

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Please feel free to call us during office hours on 0800 019 4557 or email us at info@elm-online. co.uk

September 2016

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Bristol Dogs & Cats Home Belle isn’t coping with life in kennels

T

HE animals we care for at Bristol Dogs and Cats Home have a good life.

They get the attention and affection that they need from our incredibly hard-working animal care assistants and they are taken for walks by our wonderful dog walking volunteers.

Some dogs, however, are just not happy with kennel life. One of these is Belle, a beautiful Staffordshire bull terrier. Belle finds kennel life extremely stressful. She spends her time pacing around and is unable to settle. Belle is an older dog and our animal care assistants worry that she could injure herself as well as becoming more stressed.

So, here in the fundraising office, we have taken her in as our office dog! As soon as she

We’ve made her office dog, but can you give her the home she needs?

gets here, her character changes.

She is calm and affectionate, and loves cuddles and having her tummy rubbed. She spends most of her time sleeping – you can tell that she needs the chill out time as respite from her kennel experience. She barely makes a sound – except for the odd groan if she hasn’t had enough strokes!

We have also discovered her impressive talent for tricks – not only can she put her paws up for treats, she can spin around while

Bouncing Belle: She’s eager to show what she can do, but she finds kennels very stressful standing on her hind legs! All the visitors to our office love Belle, and although we will be very sad to see her go, we need to find her a new home.

She doesn’t get on well with other animals, so would need to be the only pet. But we know that

Police update

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E HAVE recently dealt with a couple of cannabis jobs in Windmill Hill, both of which were discovered thanks to intelligence from the local community. The first one was at a flat in Polden House, where we seized a number of plants and hydroponics equipment.

The second one was at Paultow Road, where we discovered 15 plants in a loft. A man in his 30s has been reported for summons for cannabis production for this offence and E-On are looking into a prosecution for electricity abstraction.

People may assume that cannabis growing is a relatively harmless crime, but larger scale operations can be run by organised crime groups, who often exploit vulnerable people and use the proceeds to fund other crime. However, smaller production sites like the ones described above can be dangerous, especially if the growers are by-passing the electrics to abstract electricity illegally. This poses a fire risk and in a block of flats, puts all the

23

other people in the building in a dangerous position.

If you suspect someone is growing cannabis, please tell us.

We can check your suspicions using infrared detection technology and don’t even need to knock on the door. Telltale signs include windows covered inside with plastic or polystyrene or fogged up with condensation; curtains always drawn; the house appearing unoccupied or with tenants who don’t engage with their neighbours; and a strong vegetable smell.

in a relaxed home she would be the perfect companion!

If you are interested in adopting Belle, you can call Bristol Dogs and Cats Home on 0117 977 6043 or visit from Tuesday to Sunday between 10am-12noon or 1-4pm.

With Sgt Caroline Crane, Broadbury Road police station

your doors with a key – simply lifting the handle is not enough.

F

inally I want to reflect on the recent sentencing of four people for hate crimes, following an incident at the Jamia mosque on Green Street earlier this year. Two of the four people convicted of the racially aggravated public order offence were jailed. What was

incredible about this incident was the effect it had on bringing the community together, to celebrate our diversity and to show support for the mosque. There is never an excuse for hate crime. We will always support anyone who is victimised and work with all communities to stamp out crimes motivated by prejudice. If you or someone you know is a victim, don’t hesitate to contact us.

I

n July there was a series of burglaries in Totterdown, all of which had the same ‘MO’ or method of entry. Properties in Oxford Street, William Street, Richmond Street and Pylle Hill Crescent were all broken into via their paddle or stub door handles. They hadn’t been locked with a key, which meant thieves could easily disengage the lock and walk in. My officers sent letters to all houses in the affected areas with similar style door handles, but please, please, please make sure you always lock

www.doorexpresssouthwest.co.uk

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

INVITATION

CJ Hole Southville invite you to accept our offer of a free sales or lettings valuation.

To arrange an appointment, please telephone the office or call in personally.

If you have instructed another agent on a sole agency and/or sole selling rights basis, the terms of those instructions must be considered to avoid a possible liability to pay two commissions.

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To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Paul on 07811 766072

September 2016

E: paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

Features

Anyone can find a voice at Acta, a theatre with a difference, finds Beccy Golding

southbristolvoice

www.southbristolvoice.co.uk

A place to tell stories

F

OR THE last 15 years South Bristol has been home to an innovative, internationallyrenowned community arts organisation that many people locally may not know about.

Once a YMCA, then derelict for years, the Acta centre is on Gladstone Street, halfway between North Street and West Street. The beautiful and peaceful community garden outside, maintained by volunteers, was once a tennis court. The centre now has a large rehearsal and performance space, a meeting room, and a props and costume store which is fabulous to explore! In 2015 a new studio and café was opened.

The group that calls this spot home is Acta, which last year celebrated its 30th birthday; an educational charity that supports communities to create original drama that is relevant to them.

There are lots of different ways of seeing community theatre – for instance, amateur dramatics – but Acta is not that.

There are no auditions: “No one at Acta is an actor, and there are no scripts,” Kathryn Harris, communications coordinator for the charity, told me.

“We don’t tell people what to do – we are participant-led.”

Meaning people bring an idea or a story and Acta helps them make it happen. The only scripts are the ones created by those involved – which emerge through stories, games and sharing. “We give people a voice and a platform to tell their stories,” said Kathryn.

Acta creates a place where everyone’s story matters.

Examples include a project with Bristol Refugee Rights, in which refugees tell the stories of their journeys to this country, and work with young carers, some of whom are working towards arts awards. Kathryn said she is always moved by how real and honest the carers’ performances are – “it’s clear the stories they tell are full of care.”

There are also drama groups

Free speech: All the scripts at Acta are made by the performers, like this Young Carers, show, Total Eclipse PICTURE: Mark Simmonds which span different generations and cultures, and work with SPAN (Single Parent Action Network) and Autism Independence. Nura, a Somalian woman with an autistic child, approached Acta – there is a higher than average level of autism in her community – to raise awareness among An Acta face ...

TRACEY Harvey, theatre bar assistant, got involved after her daughter, then 16, had mental health problems. “When she came out we came across Acta.

I was blown away by how professional it was.” Five years ago Tracey joined the Acta adult group. Since then she has taken part in 12 shows, been to Rotterdam, and co-written a book on the show Gas Girls (about Bristol women who made mustard gas in WW1).

Now she works in the café bar,

families. Her idea led to a trip to Rotterdam, and research by Bristol University.

Locally, readers might have seen Stories from the Great War, at Arnos Vale cemetery earlier this year, a project which saw First World War soldiers brought back to life to tell their stories; of doing all the cooking and baking.

“Coming here changed my life.

I have a new network of friends and finally feel like I belong.”

What’s on?

High & Dry, September 20 & 23 New show from Acta’s adult company. £2 (10yrs+) Three Green Bottles, October 6-7 By young adult company, Phoenix. £2 (not for children) Sailors’ Tales, November 2-12 Local performers of all ages retell compelling tales from late 1950s Avonmouth. Bristol. £3

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Christmas shows created by Phoenix, Acta’s youth theatre group. Acta also started Bedminster’s annual Christmas Lantern Parade, before handing it over to the community.

There are workshops for adults, children and young people (check the website), which are as much about positive change – building confidence, raising aspirations, improving self-worth and employability - as they are about performance.

There are drama sessions, of course, but also craft activities, a recorder group, the community choir, and the studio space for hire. Keep an eye out for cinema screenings, tickets are just £3 – “We want it to be affordable and accessible to everyone, like the building itself,” said Kathryn.

Anyone can get involved: the Acta team will listen to people and try to incorporate their ideas.

Volunteers are also very welcome to get involved in front-of-house, festival and event teams, gardening, prop production, technical assistants and the participant befriending scheme.

Every year Acta runs a community theatre festival. This year’s four-day event in June was a big success. Community theatre companies from across the UK (and beyond) gathered, all sharing “theatre from the heart”.

You might have seen London project Entelechy Arts and their thought-provoking “nomadic street event” BED, where an older person was literally left in a bed on East Street, as a way of starting conversations about loneliness in older people.

“We are well-respected across Europe,” Kathryn said, “and held up as a champion of the art form.” Acta also takes part in research into the health and wellbeing benefits of community theatre, in conjunction with Exeter University and others.

Acta believes that theatre belongs to everyone, and wants to engage audiences who might not usually go to the theatre. “We are really keen to be a core part of the community,” Kathryn said.

Everyone is welcome to come to the café – it’s open from 10am4pm Monday to Friday. The café team know all about the centre – they are very welcoming and really happy to chat about what’s going on. Why not start with a cup of coffee and see what inspires you?

• acta-bristol.com

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

Bristol’s Largest Indoor Window and Door Showroom is Open at Crystal Clear

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To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Paul on 07811 766072

September 2016

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southbristolvoice

Planning applications 12 Lilymead Avenue BS4 2BX Single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear wall by 3.5m, of maximum height of 3.4m with eaves of 3m.

Pending consideration St Martins Close, St Martins Road BS4 2ND Hornbeam: Thin by 5% and crown raise to 2m; reduce the crown by 3m.

Pending consideration 73 Hill Street, Totterdown BS3 4TR Minor changes to approval (15/02966/H) for a single storey rear extension to window and door configurations.

Pending consideration 29 Crossways Road BS4 2SQ Rear conservatory.

Pending consideration 285 St Johns Lane BS3 5AZ Approved details in relation to conditions 2 (SUDS) 3 (Landscaping) 4 (Further details) 5 (Sample Panels) 6 (Construction Management) and 7 (Contamination) of permission 16/01787/F: Two storey dwelling house. Pending consideration Storehouse, Pylle Hill Crescent, rear of 38 Hill Street BS3 4TS Change of use from office Class B1(a) to two residential units Class C3 (dwelling houses).

Pending consideration 57 Stoneleigh Road BS4 2RH Single storey rear and two storey side extension to provide two flats. Pending consideration 74 Park Street, Totterdown BS4 3BJ Approved details in relation to conditions 1 (Time

Limit) 2 (Ground Stability) 3 (Fencing) 4 (Construction Management) 5 (Trees) 6 (Samples) 7 (SUDS) 8 (Parking) 9 (Refuse Storage) 10 (Landscaping) 11 (Roof) 12 (Cycle Provision) 13 (Non-opening and Obscure Window) 14 (Restriction of use of roof) 15 (List of Plans) of permission 15/01814/F: Construction of two 2-storey, 4-bed apartments.

Pending consideration 41 Novers Hill BS3 5QU Single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear wall by 6m, of maximum height of 3.9m with eaves 2.5m high. Refused

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lettering to front of building: navy blue Perspex lettering mounted on existing cladding.

Granted subj. to conditions 469 Wells Road, Knowle BS14 9AG Construction of two upper floors to comprise three 2-bed flats and one studio flat.

Withdrawn 127 St Johns Lane BS3 5AE Remove 8 pennant kerbs and lower kerbs for vehicle access.

Refused 42 Langhill Avenue BS4 1TN Two storey rear extension.

Refused

184 Sylvia Avenue BS3 5DB Certificate of lawfulness for proposed loft conversion with dormer roof extension. Granted

Novers View, 5 Somer Lane BS3 5DL Conversion of garage into additional room. Granted subject to conditions

Ilminster Avenue Specialist Nursery School, Ilminster Avenue BS4 1BX Detached timber garden room. Granted subject to conditions

38 Kensal Road BS3 4QU Rear single storey lean-to extension. Granted subject to conditions

366 St Johns Lane BS3 5BA Two rear access bridges from first floor flats to garden and parking; relocation of 50% of bike lockers to rear. Granted subject to conditions 11 Maesknoll Road BS4 2HF Ground floor, rear extension.

Granted subj. to conditions 31 Lilymead Avenue BS4 2BY Demolition of conservatory and single storey rear extension; new single storey rear extension.

Granted subj. to conditions Oasis Academy, Marksbury Road BS4 5EY High level

OFFICES AND WORKSHOPS TO RENT • BE PART OF OUR COMMUNITY The Park Community Centre in Knowle has offices and a workshop available to rent. You could join the sole traders, organisations and charities working here and be part of a fun, supportive network benefiting from all the facilities at The Park, including a gym and cafe.

Prices start from £85 per week.

To find out more, pop in to see us in Daventry Road, Knowle or call 0117 903 9770.

The Park, Daventry Road, Bristol BS4 1DQ www.theparkknowle.org.uk

6 Tyning Road BS3 5DE Remove staircase to rear and replace with balcony and staircase. Granted subject to conditions 5 Holmesdale Road BS3 4QL Single storey rear infill extension. Granted subject to conditions

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89 Hawthorne Street BS4 3DA Single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear wall by 5.4m, of maximum height 3.45m with eaves 2.65m high. Granted

463 Wells Road Knowle BS14 9AG Proposed rear extension and conversion into four flats. Granted subject to conditions Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bath Road BS4 3EW Access path, fence and associated operations in woodland, which is required in connection with natural burials.

Pending consideration 4 Dunkerry Road BS3 4LB Single storey rear extension and rear roof extension. Pending consideration 43 Rookery Road BS4 2DX Lawful development certificate for loft conversion. Granted Flat B, 350 St Johns Lane BS3 5BA Rear roof extension.

Granted subj. to conditions Scout Hut, Goolden Street BS4 3BB Former scout hall demolished and land excavated to road level for construction of six three-storey family dwellings for shared ownership. Granted subject to conditions

58 Kildare Road BS4 1PR Conversion of detached garage/ store to form an annexe.

Refused

3 Cemetery Road, BS4 3DE Erection of a house to be attached to the side of 3 Cemetery Road. Granted subject to conditions

93 Oxford Street Totterdown BS3 4RL Proposed two storey rear infill extension.

Pending consideration

• The status of these applications may have changed since we went to press. Check for updates at planningonline.bristol.gov.uk

Talking therapies in Bristol Three warm, well-equipped consulting and therapy rooms and a comfortable waiting room in a landmark Georgian terrace with views over the water toward Welsh Back. Excellent parking and only 150 yards from St Mary Redcliffe Church.

Counsellors and Psychotherapists Jeanette Howlett 07789 773995; Olivia Needham 07795 250873; Julia Gresty 0117 963 7285; Pavla Radastova 07492 749399; Renata Königsman (Polski Psycholog) 07962 620011; Kathy Walsh 07737 548274; Stephanie White 07592 626410; Rachel Rodgers 07591 911491; Yvon Guest 07933 666886. Addictions Counsellor Sarah Walsh 07854 752749. Clinical Psychologists Joanne Weston 07871 863827; Becky Watkins 07730 586725; Peter Walker 0117 344 5101. Solution Focused Hypnotherapy Sarah Mortimer 07851 307062. Hypnotherapy Rob Kerley 07970 905954. Holistic massage Caroline Girgenson 07963 566887.

3 Redcliffe Parade East, Redcliffe, Bristol BS1 6SW For room hire contact Clive on 07947 023371 clive@theharboursidepractice.co.uk www.theharboursidepractice.co.uk

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

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

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T: 07811 766072

HEY say that a week is a long time in politics. It was only a week before I wrote this column that Gary Mark Bradshaw, Hopkins the assistant mayor Lib-Dem, responsible for Knowle transport, was telling my colleague Cllr Chris Davies that we were wasting our time with our 51 bus campaign as First had made their decision and there would be no replacement service.

What Cllr Bradshaw did not know, as he had not spoken to Wessex buses (and neither had council officers), was that Wessex had agreed a deal with myself and Cllr Kent (the Lib Dem councillor for Hengrove and Whitchurch) which they confirmed in writing the next working day.

The deal, complete with a new timetable, reduced fares and an offer of a profit share for community groups, was put to

officers the day after and was quite frankly so good that there were no queries or challenges.

A week later the confirmation of the new service was being held back by council officers so that a press release crediting Cllr Bradshaw could be put in front of the media.

The deal was signed off and forwarded to the Traffic Commissioner for approval.

Could the change of position from the council administration have had anything to do with the fact that our campaign was getting huge support? Our petition was breaking all records, gaining 4,000 signatures in two weeks, enough to force a debate on the 51 bus service at the next full council meeting.

The council were informed of the First cancellation on July 8 but managed to keep it secret for three weeks. That gave us only three weeks to set up a website, gain 4,000 signatures, find a new operator and negotiate a deal – and persuade the council not to block it.

How to get in touch with your councillors – page 2

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HERE is no organisation which gets everything right all the time and unfortunately that is very true of Chris Bristol city council. Davies Over 13 years as Lib-Dem, a councillor I have Knowle always had a mixture of time spent on plans for improvements, and on chasing the failures of various departments; the latter is now taking up far too much of our time. Not only are there far more complaints about the basics not being done properly, but the answers take longer to come, or have to be chased. Sometimes residents have given up trying to contact customer services.

A good example is Bristol Waste, now an in-house team rather than a contractor. There was a failure to spray the weeds properly this spring. This was followed up by a failure of street sweepers to clean the street after bin collections. Some streets,

Wessex Glass & Locks 0117 977 0033 & 0117 977 4012

September 2016

despite our chasing, are unswept and my travels around the city reveal even worse elsewhere.

We have been told that there is a new street sweeping rota but I have made five requests for a copy and have drawn a blank.

We have a subsidiary of the council, ineffectually administered by council staff, who appear to be powerless to solve problems. With huge cuts in services the previous mayor invested your money in the public relations department, who produced an endless stream of good news stories that bore no relation to reality.

We had hoped for change but little sign so far. Due to reduced government funding, the council has cut back on staffing to such a degree officers are unable to provide frontline services. The experienced officers were either made redundant or moved to other departments – the sad loss of a dedicated workforce.

Meanwhile we will battle on to ensure that more attention is paid to doing the basics properly.

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To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Paul on 07811 766072

www.southbristolvoice.co.uk southbristolvoice Reports from your councillors – Windmill Hill September 2016

A

E: paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

ROLE I was keen to take on after becoming your councillor was to sit on the council’s Jon place scrutiny Wellington commission. One Labour, of the reasons is Windmill Hill because it involves scrutinising the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone and its spatial framework, which sets out the long term planning priorities for the area. With all the discussions surrounding the arena, the development of Temple Quarter is sometimes overlooked, and much of the development will be on our doorstep just over the Bath Bridge.

While I welcome the development and believe that it will be good for the city as a whole – the promise of 100 new businesses and 2,150 new jobs along with new homes is certainly going to benefit the city – it must not be at the expense of neighbourhoods like ours which

will have to live with the extra traffic and congestion, as well as other environmental concerns.

At the most recent place scrutiny committee, I sought – and received – assurances from officers that planning decisions in the enterprise zone will not override democratic planning controls, which was my main concern. I also received an assurance that there will be no privatisation of land or impact on public rights of way, and that the community infrastructure levy will be retained so that a proportion of development costs is invested in local communities.

I also requested an impact report on neighbouring communities and in particular the effect of traffic around the Three Lamps junction. These are huge issues for the future of our ward and for the city, and I will work hard to ensure that the ward benefits. You can find out more at bristoltemplequarter. com/spatialframework – or you can contact me and I will keep you updated.

W

ORK is soon to begin on the Filwood Quietway cycle route and earlier this month we Lucy met with officers to Whittle discuss its impact Labour, on our ward. The Windmill quietway is a Hill new cycle route through Victoria Park and the Northern Slopes (both on existing paths and new paths), with a segregated cycle lane on a small part of St John’s Lane and along Wedmore Vale. This will significantly improve the safety of cycling in this area and will hopefully encourage more people to cycle to work, school or college, or for leisure.

However, this will involve some disruption while the work is completed next year, and may have impact on parking and road widths and capacity. We are supportive of the scheme but we would be keen to hear your views on this matter. Do please let us

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know what you think by contacting me via email or telephone (details on page 2).

The council’s sustainable transport team are holding a final consultation event in Victoria Park on Wednesday August 31 from 2-7pm. It’s a good chance to go along, look at the plans and make comments, particularly if you live around Victoria Park, St John’s Lane or Wedmore Vale as this is likely to affect you. Cyclists should also make their voices heard.

The next Windmill Hill neighbourhood forum is being held on September 7 at 7pm at Victoria Park Bowls Club. This is an opportunity for residents to meet council officers, councillors and police, and to raise issues affecting your area. The neighbourhood team and police base their short-term priorities on issues raised at the forum so it is worthwhile going along and making sure your area is represented. If you are unable to make the meeting, please do get in touch with either of us.

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History

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September 2016

He gave Knowle a park, and

“T

HIS may seem a silly question,” one of the mums said at the Grand Opening of the playground in Perrett’s Park on April 2, 2015, “but why is it called Perrett? Is it after somebody?”

Such is the fleeting nature of celebrity. The conversation ended as the currently famous Don Cameron arrived and began to tinker with one of his balloons. A crowd gathered round as the great balloon slowly inflated and drifted silently a few feet upward on its ropes. A cheeky dad said it was his daughter’s birthday and asked if she could have a ride.

She was hoisted up into the balloon’s basket.

Seventy-odd years ago it was a different story. There were other balloons then, barrage balloons, sinister dark shapes protecting the city from the Luftwaffe.

Each balloon was held fast to

Charles Perrett is little known today, but he founded a landmark or two, reports Doreen Lindegaard

the ground by a steel hawser, strong enough to destroy any aircraft that collided with it. The cable was locked into heavy metal rings set in reinforced concrete.

The rings were made to last and so they did, re-discovered during excavations for the playground.

Charles Rose Perrett was, in his time, certainly somebody

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famous – in his adopted city of Bristol at any rate. He originally had the idea of a park for Knowle before the First World War. The scheme was sadly overtaken by events and it was not until New Year’s Day 1923 that a James Ellis of 240 Bath Road wrote to the Western Daily Press suggesting that the local councillors, who included Mr Perrett, should try to secure land at Crowndale and Bayham roads before it was snapped up for building. The letter may have been a ruse to engage the media, for it is likely to have been discussed round a family dinner table; Mr Ellis was Cllr Perrett’s half-brother.

Thus, that spring, Charles Perrett managed to obtain an option on 10 acres, formerly part of the Greville Smythe estate, two thirds of which was allotments.

Mr Perrett stated that 18,000 people would be served by the park and offered to donate £500.

The council considered the proposal and the cost:

10 acres of land £1,000 Fencing

£900 Layout £1,000 Cost of road: £2,135 Sub-total £5,035 Less Perrett’s donation (£500) TOTAL: £4,535 The land was acquired in November 1923. In April 1925, the final total was £5,100, which included a new road. Mr Perrett had provided six seats for the elderly and it was hoped that a fountain would be installed.

The Country Boy: 1843-1873 Charles Rose Perrett was born in poor circumstances in the hamlet of Marston, near Devizes in Wiltshire, to an unmarried girl, Eliza Perrett, aged 17. Eliza lived with her widowed mother Mary and younger sister Maria.

Marston even now is a very small place, boasting a post box, a phone box, a bus stop and a village green with a duck pond.

Baby Perrett came into the world on January 6, 1843. Unlike most other children of the time, he stood out by having two Christian names. A middle name, if used, was generally the mother’s or grandmother’s surname or was included to

Tales from the cemetery

Another of our unique stories about people commemorated in Arnos Vale cemetery flatter a rich relation. The latter category could, at a pinch, apply to young Charles, as the name ‘Rose’ is likely to have been his father’s surname.

In the small world of Marston we have to assume that everybody knew of Eliza’s ‘trouble’ and two suspects enter the frame. They were brothers, local farmers, James and Job Rose. As a leap in the dark, I suggest that Mary Perrett and her daughters laboured on the Rose farm and that at some time in 1842, Eliza became pregnant by one of the brothers.

Though I should know better than to give a dog a bad name, the younger of the two, Job, seems to me to be the more likely candidate, though there is not one jot of proof.

At the very least, Job Rose had a reputation. In the year before Charles Perrett was born Job had appeared at the Devizes Petty Sessions charged with an assault on one of his neighbours, Thomas Potter.

As reported in the local press: “As Potter was going into his field, he met Rose on horseback who gave him the customary salutation “Good morning”.

“Fine morning,” Potter replied. “And you are a fine fellow,” Rose said, sarcastically, “and a shabby fellow too.”

“Having thus departed of his good manners, he quickly parted with his temper too. He descended from his horse and ... dealt him three or four blows about the face and head.”

Job Rose said that if the magistrates knew of the circumstances they would deal • THE VOICE is very grateful to local historian Doreen Lindegaard, who has researched the life of Charles Perrett at length. This is a much condensed version of her efforts; we hope to find a way of publishing the full story in due course.

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History

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31

the benefit of his opinions

Switched on: Charles Perrett turns on the fountain in “his” park on April 12, 1930, his last public appearance

Picture from Images of England: Knowle and Totterdown; used with permission of Tempus Publishing

with him leniently, to which he was told: “But you must not take the law into your own hands.”

The magistrates found the case proved and Job Rose was fined 10 shillings plus costs.

I hazard a guess that Job was the subject of village gossip, for Charles was not Eliza’s first child.

She was four months pregnant when the census man called in June 1841. Tragically, baby Lydia was buried at just four weeks old.

Eliza was barely 16. There is no indication that either of the Rose brothers fathered Lydia.

In 1845 Eliza married a farm labourer, Solomon Ellis, and two-year-old Charles came as part of the package.

In the census of 1861, Solomon was still an ‘ag. lab’.

Their elder son Joseph, 11 was already a farm labourer, and there was a brother, Henry, 4.

Charles Perrett, 18 and also working as an ‘ag. lab’, appears at the bottom of the family list.

One reason Charles Perrett gave for leaving home was his dissatisfaction with his wage of seven shillings a week and later, when his political career was taking shape, his first cause was the wages paid to agricultural labourers.

One summer morning at 3.30am he set out on foot for Bath. His dream had been to join the police force but when he arrived at the station he was told that there were no vacancies, so he went to Bristol where he was taken on by a Bedminster brewery, James & Pierce’s. After this he worked for a sack-hire

firm. In 1864, he was able to send for his sweetheart, Mary Ann Edwards, and they were married at Holy Trinity, St Philips, on September 4.

Mary Ann was the child of a large family of impoverished Wiltshire farm labourers. Like almost every young girl of her class, she went ‘into service’ at an early age and by 1861 was in a household in Worton, where she met the young farm labourer, Charles Perrett. At the time of their marriage he was living at Clarence Place and she was at Melbourne Terrace. Both signed the register with good, neat signatures. I expected to see a space where the name of Charles’ father should appear, but it read: ‘John Perrett, labourer’. Charles would not be the first to tell a little white lie to save face.

By 1871, Charles was a warehouseman, probably at the sack hire firm, and living with Mary Ann at 64 Regent Street, St Philip’s. Unfortunately, the marriage was childless. If this had not been the case, Charles may not have turned his considerable energy elsewhere.

The first evidence of his social conscience appears in 1873 when he wrote to the Western Daily Press with an impassioned and well-argued letter about a subject close to his heart: agricultural labourers’ wages.

Charles had witnessed a debate at the Greyhound Hotel, Broadmead, in which it was disputed that farm labourers were poorly paid. He wrote: “I can point to scores or hundreds

of similar cases now at the present time, not more than 30 miles from Bristol, men not getting more than 10 or 11 shillings per week. Indeed, many of them go to work, many of them milking &c at four in the morning, and work until 10 at night in the summer.”

From here on Charles aired his opinions frequently. It was not long before the local Liberal Party spotted a potential star.

No doubt Mary Ann spoke of the privations her family had endured and likewise, Charles’ own memories would have been still raw. His stepfather Solomon Ellis had remained an ‘ag. lab’, along with his step-brothers.

The Bristol Philanthropist: 1873-1925 In 1881, ‘Charles R. Perrett’ aged 38, was living with Mary

Ann at Marston House, Stanley Hill. One cannot help but believe that Charles took pleasure in naming his house. He was now a foreman manager, and they had a servant. Mary Ann had a job, as a “shop woman”.

Charles had joined the Liberal Party, the YMCA and a Friendly Society, the Ancient Order of Foresters. He was made an Honorary Member of Totterdown Men’s Adult School and also later joined the Bristol Moonrakers, a gathering of Wiltshiremen. His name appears frequently in the local press in the 1880s and 90s, attending these organisations. He championed political campaigns, such as increased wages for the labouring poor, better roads, and individuals fallen on hard times.

By 1891 he had moved to 126 Wells Road, and had become a white collar worker in the insurance industry, first with ‘the Pru’, the Prudential Assurance Company, and then with the Sun Fire Assurance Co. He was still an agent of the latter company at the time of his death. He had recently been elected to Bedminster Parish Council.

Charles did not confine himself to parochial affairs and in 1900 he took up the cause of the welfare of our armed forces fighting in South Africa and their wives and children. One letter to the Western Daily Press was headed ‘The Relief of Mafeking’: “Sir: I hear that there is a fund to be raised to help those that have been shut up in Mafeking since October 11th 1899 to take a Continued on page 32

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History

‘Some philanthropists preferred to remain anonymous, this was not Charles’ way’ Continued from page 31 trip to the sea to help them in some way. Will you please receive 21 shillings as a special thank offering for the relief of Mafeking, good little BadenPowell and all that have helped him in the noble defence.”

Charles had stumbled on a new calling, that of philanthropist.

At the time it was fashionable for the press to publish the names of those who donated to worthy causes, along with the sum of money. Though some people preferred to remain anonymous, this was not Charles’ way.

By 1901, the servant had departed and had not been replaced. Mary Ann, aged 59, was no longer in paid work. She is recorded as being with him on only a few occasions when he was out most nights at his clubs and societies. He stood for Bristol city council in 1906 and 1907 but was defeated both times.

In January 1913 the National Insurance Act was passed which allowed a grant to each new baby.

The first to benefit in Bristol was a child called Walter Coles, of 10 Devonport Street, Bedminster.

“Mr. C. R. Perrett, an ardent Liberal and admirer of the Act” announced his own award of one guinea, to go to the first two claimants of the new maternity benefit. Mrs William Cashman of 8 Paradise Cottages, New Cut received 13 shillings.”

On September 4, 1914, Charles and Mary Ann celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at the Totterdown YMCA, attended by 300 guests, mostly from religious and political circles. Charles was praised for his philanthropic work and received an illuminated address.

The happy couple also received “a handsome inkpot” and a cushion.

With the outbreak of the First World War, one might have expected Charles to be among those banging the drum encouraging young men to join up, but he is unusually silent until April 1915, when the Lord Mayor of Bristol opened a fund on behalf of Belgium. Charles drummed up support, stating: “The distress of Belgium

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among the civil population is great; the humiliation cannot be blotted out; and remembering the peace and security we are enjoying through the sacrifice of gallant Belgium it should constrain many to send to the Lord Mayor’s fund as an act of gratitude.”

Mrs Perrett contributed two guineas to the fund, and ‘CRP’ himself, three guineas.

On November 24, Mr Perrett was holding forth with advice on the Home Front, advocating the keeping of poultry and pigs.

“When I was a boy,” he said, “almost every cottager kept a pig or fowls.” He believed that “the Sanitary Authorities have been a little too particular as to where they should be kept.”

Sadly, on March 10, 1916, Mary Ann died “after nearly 52 years of happy married life, the dearly beloved wife of C.R. Perrett in her 75th year. No flowers by request.” In her will she left £1,218, or £113,000 at today’s values.

In November 1917 he was co-opted on to Bristol city council when the seat for the Somerset ward became vacant. At the time there were 2,000 homes in the city with two or three families in each, which were unfit for human habitation. Such conditions contributed to the increase in consumption and infant mortality. CRP’s interjection in the debate was unexpectedly tart: he said “Bad tenants sometimes in a few months make a dwelling uninhabitable.”

He was soon speaking in the council chamber. The plan to raise the salary of the chief constable from £800 to £1,000 per annum was “deplorable” he stated. And he went back to his old refrains, pigs and allotments.

“Councillor Perrett is a man who happily practices what he

Flats in Cumberland Road, site of the second Perrett’s almshouse

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preaches,” said the Western Daily Press leader on April 20, 1918, “he has got the pigs and the allotment holders are to feed them, so no waste there …”

Charles also brought to the Sanitary Committee’s attention the fact that householders in his ward did not separate food scraps from general waste. In this matter at least, he was years ahead of his time, and would certainly have approved of recycling and the present variety of bins.

In February 1919, he opposed the council spending money on “feasting” to celebrate the peace.

Instead, “I would like to suggest that we build or purchase some homes in different parts of Bristol, put them in good repair and tender them as almshouses rent free to old people say 50 and upwards.”

We can only blink in disbelief that less than a century ago people of 50 teetered on the brink of old age.

Perrett’s Homes Clearly Charles and Mary Ann never forgot the privations of their parents and grandparents and in 1913 they initiated the charity that was to become Perrett’s Homes.

In a letter of March 1914 he said he thought the houses which the council was building, costing £300, were far too dear and suggested six-room dwellings for the working class, costing £150 each, which could be rented at five shillings a week.

He stated: “There are plenty of men getting upwards of 30 shillings [a week] in courts who could well afford five shillings rent. What we want is to get these people out of such places and away from the many public houses. I hope the Corporation will never build more homes in flats but in rows.”

The ‘courts’ were overcrowded slums in poor areas where many families, several people to a room, lived in abject squalor.

Had councils taken on board his suggestion to build in rows rather than flats, we might have been spared those concrete monstrosities, the high rises, after the Second World War.

By September 28, 1916, Perrett’s Homes were in full swing. The Western Daily Press reported that “the philanthropic schemes of Mr CR Perrett are numerous and one of the most practical of these are his almshouses at Stanley Hill,

September 2016

Memorial: But Perrett’s grave in Arnos Vale is overgrown and faded known locally as Perrett’s Homes. Three years ago, Mr & Mrs Perrett initiated the scheme with three houses where old age pensioners or deserving poor, irrespective of religious views, could live free of rent or taxes.

Recently five houses were added

by Mr Perrett, housing 12 people in all. […] Mr. Perrett said his main object was to give a lead to people that he hoped would be followed when it was seen how successful his scheme was.”

After CRP’s death, Bristol Charities sold the properties at Stanley Hill and Totterdown. A former almshouse in Cumberland Road was acquired, named Perrett’s Almshouse. This was demolished in 1969 and the proceeds used to build sheltered housing in Redcross Street, near Old Market, called Perrett House, with a further eight flats added in 1987. Perrett’s name is still to be seen on flats at Cumberland Road and Stanley Hill.

The Reactionary: c.1912-1930 No man is a hero to his valet (it is said) and likewise the biographer may uncover a few unpalatable truths about his subject. Mr Perrett was evidently much loved in Bristol, and it comes like a slap across the face to record a less attractive side to his character.

He first aired his reactionary views in public (as far as I can tell) in a letter to the Western Daily Press on November 6, 1912 concerning women’s suffrage.

“Sir. After the election in the Somerset Ward last Friday, I am more than ever satisfied that 18 out of 20 of the women in the Register do not want the Vote and would much rather they had not got it. I have had 37 years’ experience in this ward and I

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History

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Much loved: Perrett Park has overcome its early criticism from locals have always found it is the greatest trouble in the world to get them to the poll. I flatter myself that I can do a good deal with the widows and spinsters in this district but on this point I have utterly failed and have almost made up my mind not to try any more. But what I want to say is that I hope the Members of the House of Commons will refuse to give the women any more votes. It will be one of the greatest mistakes if they do.”

The County Council Act of 1888 had allowed some women to vote in local and county elections. In fairness, Mr Perrett’s views were shared by many, including Winston Churchill.

The Representation of the People Act, 1918, gave the vote to all men over 21 and, in a typically British fudge, to women over 30 provided they met the minimum property qualifications. The women’s campaign continued.

On March 4, 1924, Charles Perrett was at it again: “Sir. I should like, as a life-long Liberal, to protest against the giving of the vote to women at 21 years of age. Thirty as at present is quite early enough. Very few understand or know what they are voting for.”

In 1928, women were granted the vote on the same terms as men, that is, over the age of 21 Game, set and match …

Mr Perrett also opposed the employment of women as police officers or council clerks, arguing that their jobs should go to unemployed men. On February 11, 1920, in council, he said: “The Bristol police women were a laughing stock. The 12 women

police cost £1,574 and were a waste of money. They paraded the streets and did very little.”

The Park Opens: 1925-30 There had long been a demand for a park in the KnowleTotterdown area and the council, spurred on by Mr Perrett’s donation of £500, swiftly put matters in hand, despite the fact that not everybody was happy – the 100 allotment holders, for instance, who had to be turfed off their plots. A sample of the complaints, before and after: “Mr Perrett’s Park faces north and gets the aroma from the Marsh.”

“The piece of land now known as Perrett Park should never have been purchased however cheaply it was obtained.”

“And what about the slope?”

“A perfect White Elephant!”

“A fiasco!”

“Was any ballot held before the land was acquired?”

“Unsuitable! What we want is flat ground suitable for old people to walk on!”

The park was nevertheless well under way by 1925 and was stated to be “very popular”. The council officially adopted the name Perrett’s Park in July 1927.

In November 1929 Mr Perrett announced his intention of donating a fountain for the park to mark his 88th birthday. On April 12, 1930, the fountain was switched on, with much ceremony and congratulations to the benefactor.

Sadly, it was CRP’s last public appearance. A month later he was taken ill and died on May 13, 1930. Referring to him as

33

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“TOTTERDOWN G.O.M.” or Grand Old Man, the Western Daily Press declared: “Starting life in a humble way, by thrift and carefulness, he accumulated fairly substantial means from which he gave generously to local institutions.

“For old and deserving people he provided eight houses in Stanley Hill and in addition to living rent free, the old people received a cash gift each week.

“He also had six cottages in his native county of Wiltshire and the occupants were all people whom he had known since he was a boy. For personal private charity it is probable that Mr Perrett had no equal in Bristol.

“Amongst his many kindly acts was the gift of £500 towards the cost of providing a recreation ground at Knowle and the park will always be associated with him as it is named Perrett’s Park.”

Mr Perrett’s will revealed a fortune of £8,706 –almost £500,000 at today’s values.

It seems astonishing that Mr. Perrett’s illegitimacy was never

‘The Bristol police women were a laughing stock.They paraded the streets and did very little.” ‘outed’. At the time such an origin was something to be hidden. That nothing was revealed in so many newspaper columns devoted to him perhaps confirms the universal respect in which he was held. He was also a determined self-publicist. He was a reactionary who didn’t give a damn what people thought of his views, yet a benefactor who basked in the adulation he received in spades from his fellow citizens. It was a life lived on a public platform.

What a help a few private recollections would have been in this enterprise. With it all, just out of reach, is the shadow which is Mary Ann. If only we had her version too.

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Why not come along to our next open day on Tuesday 20 September?

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

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

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southbristolvoice

Karin Smyth New childcare mustn’t be an empty pledge

I

T’S SEPTEMBER, so parents and children are re-focusing on school as the new term starts, but over the summer a number of constituents raised concerns with me about the high cost of pre-school childcare in parts of South Bristol.

It’s something I raised in Parliament in July when I called a special debate about childcare for three and four year olds.

Investment in the early years is important in its own right but it goes further than that because, whether we’re parents or not, we all benefit from good quality childcare. The availability of people to work is an important factor in shaping our economic circumstances so parents should be supported moving in and out of work. It helps our economy. That’s why in my view childcare should be treated as an infrastructure issue, not just one relating to individuals or families. Many Voice readers

Monday

The MP’s view Each month Bristol South Labour MP Karin Smyth gives her perspective will remember the last Labour government’s SureStart scheme, and as a parent of three children I well recall its benefits; providing quality childcare, education, health and family support.

But the current government’s approach is different, and this month sees the start of a pilot scheme ahead of the national roll-out of

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an extension of free childcare. The plan is that working parents of three and four year olds will have their free childcare entitlement raised from 15 to 30 hours.

It’s 12 months until the scheme is implemented nationally, but I called the Commons debate because I know from my duties on the Public Accounts Committee that there are genuine concerns that the delivery of the pledge is at risk.

For example, the committee found some providers only offer free entitlement if parents also pay for additional hours, a form of reverse means-testing which breaks government rules. And alarmingly there are concerns the Department for Education lacks proper plans to ensure there are enough qualified early years staff to deliver the additional hours pledge.

I was disappointed by the response from the minister. Yes, he promised an information campaign for parents ahead of next year’s launch, and a consultation on a workforce strategy for the early years sector. But worryingly he failed to provide all the robust assurances local parents need.

If you’re interested you can watch the debate at www.karinsmyth.com/childcare And remember you can contact me about this or any other issue on 0117 953 3575 or by emailing karin.smyth.mp@parliament.uk

Tuesday

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September 2016

News

Timeless, sunny harmonies from darling boys REVIEW: Darlingside, The Tunnels, Temple Meads TWO guitars, one violin; two folkie-girls and one guy with a hat. Support act Jessica Bishop delivered clear clean vocals and strong fiddle-playing. And

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Darlingside, winners of Folk Alliance International’s performer of the year award 2015, are four all-American guys from Boston, via Cambridge Folk Festival, playing at the Tunnels on their first three-date UK tour.

Darlingside mix folk, indie, world and classical and play multiple instruments, swapping guitars (acoustic and electric), bass, violin, cello, mandolin, banjo, kick drum, and a tambourine played with a

tabla-style technique I’ve not seen before.

I thought of The Waltons (for the music, and for banjo-player Don Mitchell’s John-Boy vibe); Simon & Garfunkel for the pure, sun-shiney harmonies. My friend said Crosby, Stills & Nash crossed with Bare Naked Ladies and Mumford & Sons. They’re definitely timeless – we felt we could be listening to something from the 50s, 60s, 70s or right now. The between-songs patter

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was fun – witty, intelligent stories and smiley banter that made you feel you were part of the gang. As they sang, standing around one old-fashioned mike, their palpable friendship made me wish I was on the road trip too.

The downside? The nostalgic feel-goods of it all got me and the crowd ready to dance but the energy wasn’t quite there.

Beccy Golding • Darlingside are back at the Tunnels on January 30.

Whatever your trade, you could be advertising here from as little as £15.75 a month.

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I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN. Stop negative thinking and habits, fast Sue Naughton-Marsh DPH, DSFH Psychotherapist & Coach 07967 703545 sue.naughton@yahoo.com

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southbristolvoice

ONE OF THIS YEAR’S MUST-SEE EVENTS The TimeS The SUndaY TimeS The indePendenT

AkrAm khAn’S

GISELLE The iconic BalleT, reimagined

18 – 22 OCT Book now atgtickets.com/bristol (bkg fee) Videos and more giselle.ballet.org.uk Co-produced by Manchester International Festival and Sadler’s Wells, London

www.southbristolvoice.co.uk

What’s on

Thursday September 1 Haze EP launch + Stone Theory + Silverfield + Peter Pan Syndrome, The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. 7.15pm, £5.

• thethunderbolt.net Trainspotting The stage version of the cult novel and film by Irvine Welsh returns to Bristol in this Tobacco Factory production in the Loco Club under Temple Meads station.

The first, extended run in April sold out; now the cast are back until September 18. Contains violence, drug use, nudity and swearing, as well as the infamous immersive Worst Toilet in Scotland scene: not for the faint-hearted. Do not wear your best clothes. Tickets £14 & £10 until September 4, £16 and £12 September 5-18.

• tobaccofactorytheatres.com Friday September 2 Michele Stodart (Magic Numbers) + Raevennan Husbandes. The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Michele takes a break from the Magic Numbers with songs from her second solo album. £10, 7.30pm.

• thethunderbolt.net Saturday September 3 Bristol Surf Film Festival A day and a night of films, home grown productions, local music, food and drink. Paintworks, Bath Road. With exhibitions celebrating “the creative side of ride culture”.

• bristolsurffilmfestival.com Saltcellar folk club Jez Lowe, nominated for best singer and best song at the 2015 BBC Folk Awards. Club meets on the first Saturday of each month (not August) in the basement (or salt cellar) of Totterdown Baptist Church on Wells Road, BS4 2AX. Admission £5, 7.30pm.

• jezlowe.com • saltcellarfolk.org.uk Monday September 5 Victoria Park Action Group meeting The Bowling Club, 7.30pm, everyone welcome to discuss issues affecting the park.

• vpag.org.uk Friday September 9 Talk on Tyntesfield Knowle and Totterdown Local History Society hosts a talk about the National Trust mansion near Bristol, the family who owned it and their vision. Redcatch community centre, Redcatch Road BS4 2EP. 7.30-9.30pm.

Visitors £3.

• knowleandtotterdownhistory. org.uk

September 2016

Jim Moray: Upcetera Tobacco Factory theatre. The winner of five BBC Radio 2 Folk awards launches his new album Upcetera, backed by a nine-piece band. £14, 8pm Saturday September 10 Commons Brunch Organised

by Knowle West Media Centre, but taking place at Phoenix cafe, All Saints Street, BS1 2LZ. “Join us for an informal discussion about how the collective act of ‘common-ing’ can create social change. Artists Paul Hurley and Caleb Parkin introduce hOur:Bristol, a new creative time bank for the city.” 11am-1pm.

• kwmc.org.uk Monday September 12 PlayTime Play sessions for 2-5 year olds led by drama facilitators from Bristol theatre company Brave Bold Drama.

“Simple props, music, poems, stories and lots of let’s pretend lead the children (and their grown-ups) into a magical makebelieve world.” Southville Centre, Beauley Road, Bedminster BS3 1QG. 10.30am. £5.50 in advance, £6.50 on the day • www.brave-bold-drama.co.uk Wednesday September 14 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Tobacco Factory theatre. Played as you’ve never seen it before, the much loved-film becomes a physical comedy bonanza of ridiculous characters, live music and song, by South West comedy troupe Le Navet Bete. Until September 17, 8pm; 2.30pm on Saturday only. Tickets £12 and £8; family ticket £34.

• tobaccofactorytheatres.com Sari Schorr & The Engine Room The Tunnels, Temple Meads. “Not many people can bring legendary record producer Mike Vernon (Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall) out of retirement.

She has a raw vocal power that can range from full bodied rock, the equal of Janis Joplin, to a sensitive blues and soul styling reminiscent of Etta James and Irma Thomas.” 7.30pm, £13.

• thetunnelsbristol.co.uk Sunday September 18 Ren and Romeo “Romeo Stodart of much-loved brother/ sister harmony combo Magic Numbers teams up with Ren Harvieu to perform material from their back catalogues, debuting gems from their recent songwriting partnership and reinterpretations of some choice classics.” 7.30pm, £13.

• thetunnelsbristol.co.uk

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September 2016

E: paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

What’s on

southbristolvoice

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WIN tickets for a night with grouchy Rich Rich Hall’s Hoedown Sept. 6-8, Tobacco Factory THERE’S something about Rich Hall’s grouchiness that makes Brits warm to him.

And though he’s had plenty of success in his US homeland – he won two Emmys writing for David Letterman – he’s been taken to our hearts in the UK, making frequent tours and TV appearances and spending most of his time here.

Bristol is somewhere he has plenty of fans – no doubt the reason for his musical Hoedown arriving at the Tobacco Factory for three nights from September 6 to 8.

Two lucky Voice readers will be able to see him for free (see panel). The rest will have to pay to soak up his Hoedown, billed as a mash-up of music and comedy, aided by the Hoedown band

Jazz evening with resident group The Mark Randall Six. On the third Sunday of every month at 8.30pm at Windmill Hill community centre, Vivian Street BS3 4LW. • whca.org.uk Thursday September 22 Blue Heart A double bill by acclaimed playwright Caryl Churchill at the Tobacco Factory.

Heart’s Desire sees a family awaiting their daughter’s return from Australia, as the story veers into a series of unexpected and ridiculous scenarios. Blue Kettle

From Islamic State to Minecraft ALWAYS provocative and fascinating, 5x15 returns to the Tobacco Factory on September 11 with five speakers, each given a quarter of an hour to help the audience share their world.

TV historian and writer Dan Cruickshank will reflect on the cultural and human atrocities committed by the self-styled

WIN TICKETS!

WANT to be on the guest list when Rich Hall’s Hoedown hits town? Just tell us what his latest show for BBC4 is called. Email your answer to paul@ southbristolvoice.co.uk

by September 5.

Tickets are for September 8. of “talented and chronically unemployable urchins”.

“The floor will reek of liquor and spent dreams,” says the press release – a pointer to the caustic humour that lays into all and sundry, but particularly the leaders in his homeland.

Rich has just been in the US making ‘How to Kill a President’, the latest of his BBC4 documentaries about

America – this time about negative campaigning in the presidential race.

The Hoedown will certainly be addressing whether the Donald Trump can win the election. “People come up to me all the time and ask if Trump can do it, but I promise you, he will not win.

“There is a lot of gnashing of teeth about Trump, but it’s merely entertainment. He’s

tells the story of conman Derek and the five women he misleads into believing he is their son.

Derek’s plans are scuppered as the play is invaded by a virus. “In Churchill’s ever-inventive style, the plays pull apart language and structure, in a stirring yet truthful exploration of family and relationships.” Until October 1. Tickets from £11. Matinées September 24 and October 1.

• tobaccofactorytheatres.com Big Fat Astronauts The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. “Crowned for track

of the month on BBC Introducing in Devon, three-piece post-punk/ doom-funk Big Fat Astronauts bring together vibrant punk with progressive and psychedelic influences.” 7.30pm, £5.

• thethunderbolt.net Saturday September 24 Vinyl Breakfast Zion Bristol, Bishopsworth Road BS13 7LW. “Browse classic vinyl from James Boy Records and listen to music while eating a bacon butty or full English with fresh coffee.” Free.

10am-12noon.

• zionbristol.co.uk

Islamic State and ponders the future of the monuments in the area as IS recedes.

Poet Hollie McNish talks about her new book, Nobody Told Me, with poems and stories about colours, cravings, politics, transformers, sex, tree-climbing and occasionally locking herself in toilets to cry.

Nikesh Shukla is a criticallyacclaimed novellist and editor of anthology The Good Immigrant, in which 15 writers explore what it means to be an ethnic minority in Britain. He will talk about our need to understand

the power of the far right.

Nimco Ali is a British Somali feminist and co-founder of Daughters of Eve, a group which helped to expose female genital mutilation. Based in Bristol and London, Nimco will be talking about oversharing.

Keith Stuart is games editor at the Guardian. He’ll tell how he wrote A Boy Made of Blocks, after his autistic son, Zac, discovered the game Minecraft, affecting the whole family.

The evening starts at 7.30pm; tickets £15 and £12.

• tobaccofactorytheatres.com

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doing what he has to do to get attention. He is saying the most outrageous things and tapping into a collective sense of anger.”

But, Rich adds, “Eventually Trump will come under the same scrutiny as everyone else. ‘So you want to build a giant wall along the border and make the Mexicans pay for it? How are you going to do that, then?’”

But it won’t be all politics: at the Hoedown, every night is different.“I try to tap into what is happening locally and address that musically by writing an improvised song based on the town I’m in.

“Once they realise you’re not just trotting out your regular act, people think, ‘He’s made a real effort. He’s on our side, so we’re on his side.’ Then you can take them anywhere.”

Oh, and if you think Rich’s style of delivery reminds you of someone else, it does. He was the inspiration for the cantankerous barman, Moe Szyslak, in The Simpsons.

Now that’s a tribute.

40th birthday party Windmill Hill City Farm. Attractions galore from 11am to 5pm including Farmer Tim’s BBQ with farmreared rose veal burgers, music from local bands (check website for listings), bar, woodland crafts, Poco Drom singalong, nature activities and plant sale. £3 adults, children free.

• windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Sunday September 25 Isy Suttie: The Actual One Her face is best known from Channel 4’s Peep Show but Isy has also turned her own life into a series of hilarious monologues punctuated by strange songs that have won her a devoted following. The Actual One is about that moment in your late 20s when you suddenly realise that all your mates are growing up without you. £14, Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, 8pm.

• thecomedybox.co.uk Friday September 30 The Crybabies + The Road Zombies The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. “Rompin’, stompin’, thrill seekin’, bar brawlin’, gum chewin’, jive talkin’, party crashin’ rock ’n’ roll!” £6, 7.30pm.

• thethunderbolt.net

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

(Due to Refurbishing (Due&toRebranding) Refurbishing & Rebranding)

southbristolvoiceSALE £675,000£675,000 GRAND GRAND SALE www.southbristolvoice.co.uk

T: 07811 766072

September 2016

CLEARING THE ENTIRE STORE! We closed the showroom onWe Wednesday cut priceson even lower ontoa cut wideprices even lower on a wide closed thetoshowroom Wednesday selection of clearance itemsselection throughout the entireitems store! of clearance throughout the entire store!

We must urgently sell off all ofWe ourmust stockurgently including: sellchairs, off alldining of oursets, stocksideboards, including: desks, chairs, dining sets, sideboards, desks, bookcases, bedframes, mattresses, chests, wardrobes wardrobechests, systems, coffee tables, bookcases, bedframes,and mattresses, wardrobes and wardrobe systems, coffee tables, occasional pieces, furnishing accessories, pictures, clocks, vases,mirrors, ornaments, etc... clocks, vases, ornaments, etc... occasionalmirrors, pieces, furnishing accessories, pictures, Absolutely Everything Must Be Sold Out a.s.a.p!

Absolutely Everything Must Be Sold Out a.s.a.p!

EVERY SINGLE PRICE HASSINGLE BEEN DRASTICALLY REDUCED! EVERY PRICE HAS BEEN DRASTICALLY REDUCED!

CLOSING DOWN UP TO

7 75% 5%SALE £675,000 GRAND UP TO

(Due to Refurbishing & Rebranding)

O

O

FDOORS F F F LAST FEW DAYS BEFORE THE CLOSE JUST A SAMPLE OF WHAT’S ON OFFER STORE..

JUST A SAMPLE OFIN WHAT’S ON OFFER IN STORE..

FOR REFURBISHMENT

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LOW WIDE OAK CUPBOARD HENLEY 2 DOOR WARDROBE WITH SHELF IN ANTIQUE FINISH PINE RRP £345

2 DOOR WITH 1150 xWARDROBE 750 DINING TABLE Absolutely Everything Must BexSold Out a.s.a.p!

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LOW WIDE OAK CUPBOARD WITH 2 DOORS & 3 CENTRE DRAWERS RRP £569.99

YOU PAY £349.99 YOU YOU PAY £289.99 YOU PAY PAY £289.99 £135 TAUNTON OAK

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EVERY SINGLE PRICE HAS BEEN DRASTICALLY REDUCED!

YOUSOMERSET PAY £135

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Corner TV Unit NAPLES WINCHESTER WARWICK Was £499.00 WINCHESTER

YOU PAY £374.25

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DRAWER IN DISTRESS PAINTED FINISH AND LIME WASHED TOP RRP £339.99

TALL WITH OAKBOOKCASE DOUBLE BED FRAME DRAWER IN DISTRESS WITH LOW FOOT END AND PAINTED FINISH ANDSLATS LIME SOLID WOOD WASHED TOP RRP £419.99 RRP £339.99

LOW WIDE OAK OAK DOUBLE BEDCUPBOARD FRAME WITH 2 DOORS & 3 CENTRE WITH LOW FOOT END AND DRAWERS SOLID WOOD SLATS RRP £569.99 RRP £419.99

YOU PAY £169.99

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WITH 2 DOORS & 3 CENTRE 50% OFF ENTIRE DRAWERS RRP £569.99 RANGE!

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MORE OFFERS MEMORY SLEEP IN STORE 3ft MATTRESS WITH HYPO ALLERGENIC FILLING AND 5 STORAGE DRAWERS YEAR GUARANTEE STORAGE DRAWERS WITH HUGE EFFECT DROP HANDLES YEAR GUARANTEE EFFECT DROP HANDLES RRP £357 RRPWAS £357 £179 TAKE WASAWAY £179 TODAY YOU PAY £39.89 FROM £69.00 (60x90cm) TAKE AWAY TODAY SAVINGS ON YOUSAVE PAY £125 YOU £89 YOU PAY PAY £89 £99.99 EVERYTHING! 43%! YOU 20% OFF! PAYPAY £125 YOU YOU PAY £99.99 MEMORY SLEEP VIENNA Ivory, silver or 3ft gold in WITH VIENNA MATTRESS HYPO HENLEY 2 DRAWER CONSOLE TABLE 2 DRAWER CONSOLE TABLE

Bonded leather in 2 HENLEY LARGE TV UNIT WITH 3 DVD£69.99 ALLERGENIC FILLING AND 5 colours usually various sizes LARGE TV UNIT WITHBRONZE 3 DVD WITH ANTIQUE WITH ANTIQUE BRONZE

The Showrooms, City Point, The Showrooms, City Point, Temple Gate, BristolTemple Gate, Bristol BS1 6PL Tel: 0117BS1 934 6PL 9200 Tel: 0117 934 9200

All offers correct at time of goingAll to press subjectatto availability. & OE. © GR 2016 offers&correct time of going toEpress & subject to availability.

E & OE.

© GR 2016