South Bristol Voice Bedminster June 2018

southbristolvoice June 2018 No. 32

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INSIDE • APPEAL TO SAVE THE LANTERN PARADE 3 • OFSTED SHOCK FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL

4

• TOWERS WILL CREATE A ‘CANYON EFFECT’ 8-9

Animated excitement: Bart Simpson and the rest of his family will be all over Bedminster during Upfest, while Gromit has been unleashed for his second city trail, with several locations in South Bristol, including North Street

It’s Gromit vs. Bart!

SOUTH BRISTOL is getting animated this summer – not only are homegrown favourites Wallace and Gromit taking to the streets, but the most famous cartoon family of all time, the Simpsons, are joining Upfest.

Europe’s biggest celebration of street art returns from July 28-30, with more venues than ever, from Ashton Gate stadium to East Street in Bedminster.

Steve Hayles, Upfest founder, Continued on page 18

Argos is pulling out of East St ONE OF the biggest retailers in Bedminster is to close its doors in August, the Voice can reveal.

The Argos store in East Street will shut in August. Its owner, Sainsbury’s, is moving the store to its supermarket in Winterstoke Road, Ashton. It means that

customers of the catalogue chain will still be able to shop in South Bristol, but there is one less reason for shoppers to visit the largely vehicle-free shopping centre in East Street. And most customers visiting the new location are likely to use a car.

The Voice has been told that Argos will close on August 23, and reopen at Winterstoke Road on August 24.

Sainsbury’s said it was unable to confirm the dates, but said all 15 employees at the Argos branch Continued on page 3

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June 2018

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

Intro

DO WE REALLY LACK AMBITION? MAYOR Marvin Rees tells us that tall buildings show ambition – that we should aspire to change the city’s skyline with a new range of “high density, high quality homes”.

He is keen to change what he sees as the city’s ”reluctance to build up” and its decades of relying on “low level buildings”.

He is not alone. Renowned architect Yuli Cadney-Toh has just moved back to Bristol after more than 25 years away.

She was amazed, she told BBC Points West, because she looked around to see that the skyline had barely changed in that time. We are

You can find South Bristol Voice on Facebook and Twitter facebook.com/ southbristolvoice Twitter: @sbristolvoice Next month’s deadline for editorial and advertising is June 13th clearly supposed to gasp in amazement, roll our sleeves up and build some skyscrapers.

We all understand the arguments about Bristol’s skyhigh property prices. We know we have little space to build, so we must make best use of what we’ve got. But many argue that skyscrapers provide no more housing than low-rise schemes of six to eight storeys.

Perhaps most of us are delighted that Bristol’s skyline is little changed in several decades. It means the timeless elegance of St Mary Redcliffe is still a landmark, for one thing.

The Voice has yet to hear any resident – even those desperate to find a home – cry out for more high rises. And if the people don’t want them, surely we should be looking at less intrusive options?

How do I get in touch with ...

My MP? Karin Smyth MP By email: karin.smyth.mp@ parliament.uk By post: Karin Smyth MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA By phone: 0117 953 3575 In person: A surgery will be held on Friday June 8 and 22. Call 0117 953 3575 for an appointment.

My councillor?

By post: (all councillors) Brunel House, St George’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UY 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 Housing benefit 0117 922 2300 Social services 0117 922 2900 Police Inquiries 101 Emergency 999

Celia Phipps Labour, Bedminster By phone: 07469 413312 By email: Cllr.celia.phipps@bristol.gov.uk Mark Bradshaw Labour, Bedminster. By email: Cllr.mark. bradshaw@bristol.gov.uk By phone: 0117 353 3160 Stephen Clarke Green, Southville By email: Cllr.stephen.clarke@ bristol.gov.uk Charlie Bolton Green, Southville By phone: 07884 736111 By email: Cllr.charlie.bolton@bristol.gov.uk Fire Inquiries 0117 926 2061 Emergency 999 Action Greater Bedminster Forum for the public, councillors and community groups.

Next meeting None planned. facebook.com/Action Greater Bedminster

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. We strive to conform to the NUJ Code of Conduct for journalists: • nuj.org.uk/about/nuj-code 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 (unless otherwise stated) and may not be reproduced without permission in this or any other plane of the multiverse.

South Bristol Voice Ltd | 18 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BX

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n NEWS

Crowdfunding appeal to save the Lantern Parade ONLY the people and businesses of Bedminster can save the Winter Lantern Parade.

That’s what the organisers of South Bristol’s most famous street parade are telling the community after the shock decision by Asda to effectively withdraw its support.

Asda voted against continuing the Bedminster BID project, which makes a levy on local retailers to pay for projects such as the Lanterns, even though the superstore was given an 80 per cent discount on its contribution.

Asda has refused to talk about its decision or the impact on other traders or community groups.

To plug a gap in funding for this year’s Lantern Parade, organisers are raiding their reserves, and asking for more help from local businesses. But

they reckon they still need to raise £4,000 by the end of July to make sure the event can go ahead in December.

“There is a real risk the parade won’t happen,” said an organiser. “This is a three-month project, it’s not just about a parade on one day in December – we have months of work in the schools beforehand, when we have to pay for artists to help the schools make the lanterns.”

The campaign will be on fundsurfer.com from June 1, and the BWL team is asking for donations of any amount. Other ideas and offers for fundraising are also very welcome: get in touch at info@bwlp.org.uk. Follow Facebook Bedminster Winter Lanterns and Twitter @ Bemmylanterns for updates.

• bwlp.org.uk

Argos blow to the shopping centre Continued from page 1 would move to the new store.

It casts a further shadow over the future of Bristol’s second biggest shopping centre after last month’s news that Asda had pulled out of the Business Improvement District, or BID, set up to revive the retail area.

Asda voted against continuing the BID for another five years. All local retailers were given votes according to their rateable value – which meant Asda, by far the largest, had the casting vote.

The BID has raised £500,000 since 2013 and funded upgrades to BS3’s shopping streets as well as laying on activities to support the community and traders.

One of the community projects at risk is the Bedminster Winter Lanterns Parade (see above).

George Grace, manager of the Town Team, which runs the BID efforts, said the Argos closure was “a great shame”, but there was nothing that could be done.

The outlook for high streets is depressing, he said, with news of many other store closures across the UK: “If Marks & Spencer cannot survive, you have to worry about everyone else,” he said.

However, though the future

for East Street is bleaker in the short term without Argos, the arrival of up to 2,000 new residents when new flats are built at Bedminster Green will lift the whole area, he said.

He predicted East Street will change, to become more of a village centre – more akin to North Street, which has been revived by independent shops. As more people live close by, the streets will be livelier at night – helped by the promise of a cinema by the new owners of St Catherine’s Place. He predicted the Argos site will be redeveloped several storeys higher, with more flats above a shop.

“This is a great place for the city to bring forward really usable living accommodation,” he said.

A new vote will be taken on reviving the Bedminster BID in the autumn, excluding Asda.

Cllr Charlie Bolton said: “If Argos is going it’s a concern, especially given what we hear in the media about M&S.” It makes it even more important that the BID team is revived, he said.

The Town Team is consulting on what people want from the Bedminster shopping centres: tinyurl.com/BedsShops

At risk: Asda’s withdrawal has put the 2018 Lantern Parade in jeopardy

Tell us what you want to see improved across BS3 COMMUNITY group Action Greater Bedminster (AGB) is asking residents what its priorities should be.

AGB is launching an online survey on June 1, followed by a series of public meetings and street stalls from June to the end of September, aimed at developing a Community Plan.

Priorities already suggested include pressing the council and other bodies for help with: safety zones around schools; toilets; air quality; dog fouling; billboards;

littering; parks; dropped kerbs and accessibility of pavements; parking (access issues and residents parking); planning developments; transport; derelict buildings, and youth services “Over the past 11 years, AGB (formerly Greater Bedminster Community Partnership) has proved that people power does deliver improvement,” said a spokesperson.

You can find out more or offer help with the campaign at greaterbedminster@gmail.com.

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n NEWS

Arena report still on hold What’s wrong with my street?

AN AMBITIOUS idea to have volunteers looking out for problems on the streets of BS3 – and then reporting them so they can be fixed – has been launched.

Uncollected rubbish, broken paving stones and blocked footways are some of the issues that “street wardens” could deal with. The idea is in its infancy but already a handful of volunteers have come forward, each taking on a street or two.

When they find an issue, they report it – to the council, Bristol Waste, the police or whichever authority is responsible.

Anyone interested can email benbarker@blueyonder.co.uk

THE REPORT setting out options for where to build Bristol’s arena – whether on Arena Island next to Temple Meads, or at Filton aerodrome – is still under wraps.

Originally due on May 1, the

report drawn up by KPMG looks at which location offers the best value to the city. It was said to have been delayed by a council by-election in Westbury-on-Trym on May 25. But on May 24 the

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n NEWS council told the Voice the report had still not been delivered, and could not give a date for its release. Supporters of the Temple Meads option fear the balance is swinging towards Filton.

Parson Street vows to tackle issues raised by inspectors PARSON Street primary school has been given a “Requires Improvement” rating in each of five categories judged by Ofsted.

The inspectors said pupils weren’t reaching the standards expected for Key Stage 2, the quality of teaching is “too variable” and governors haven’t done enough to address problems.

However, the school says all the problems are being tackled, and Ofsted appeared to agree, saying: “Leaders understand the work they need to do to drive the improvements necessary. They

June 2018

INSPECTORS said Bedminster Down secondary school continues to be rated good.

Ofsted visited the 950-pupil school in April and praised new initiatives introduced since they made a full inspection in 2014.

Ready To Learn is a policy that makes clear to students what is acceptable behaviour. Pupils are taken out of class when they are

not meeting the required standards. No pupils have been permanently excluded in the last two years. However, persistent absenteeism is significantly higher than average.

The school should work more with parents to improve attendance, and lift attainment for disadvantaged pupils, the inspectors said. tinyurl.com/BedsDownOfsted

have a clear vision for the school and show ambition for the achievements and well-being of pupils. This underpins all aspects of the school’s work, resulting in a positive ‘can-do’ climate.”

In a letter to parents, chair of governors Jackie Smith and Mark Davies, chief executive of Trust In Learning, the academy trust which runs the school, said the report was “disappointing” but “not unexpected”.

Outcomes in Key Stage 2 have not been good enough over three years, they said, and this was why the school joined the Trust In Learning academy group.

Headteacher Jamie Barry and the school’s senior leadership team are drawing up a detailed action plan, they said.

The Voice was unable to speak to Mr Barry. However, the

school is understood to feel that some of the inspectors’ judgements are harsh.

Ofsted said pupils’ behaviour requires improvement. Mr Barry tweeted that the reason for this was because of “too high” absence rates – yet the school is doing all it can and Ofsted acknowledges that persistent absence has decreased, he said.

Meanwhile, all the school’s pupils spent a week visiting places such as ss Great Britain and meeting visitors including rower Mark Gibson to explore the themes of Bedminster, Bristol and Britain.

“It is important for our children to know about the communities they are part of and to develop a sense of identity,” said Mr Barry. tinyurl.com/OfstedParsonSt

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Hope for park lodge to help meet council savings plan HOPES are high that the halfderelict lodge building in Victoria Park could at last be on the way to being rescued.

The Victorian lodge has been in a poor state of repair for several years and the public toilets there are regularly criticised as a disgrace.

Now, however, Victoria Park Action Group (VPAG) has the council’s backing to draw up a plan to renovate the lodge and provide a purpose-built café and community facilities.

The aim is to make the project self-funding so that the lodge can contribute to council funds – helping to plug the £2.9 million hole in the parks budget which must be filled by 2020.

VPAG chair Shaun Hennessy said it was the most positive move the council had made yet to secure the future of the lodge.

Nothing is yet agreed, but VPAG is working with Steve Sayers, the chief executive of Windmill Hill City Farm, to find charitable funding for the renovation, which is likely to cost hundreds of thousands of

OFF THE LEASH PLANS to charge fitness instructors and dog walkers for using parks don’t appear to be starting yet, amid confusion about how the plans will be introduced.

The council plans to charge several types of businesses it judges are making a profit out of

BUT NO SIGN OF CAFÉ THE CAFÉ in Victoria Park will not be open for most of the summer – despite the council’s declared intention to raise more money from concessions in parks.

Under its previous tenant, Mrs Brown’s, the open-air café opened in March. But the Mrs Brown’s team bowed out last year and the council has still not put the site out for tender. It seems unlikely

the café could open before July.

“We are very frustrated that the café hasn’t opened yet,” said Shaun Hennessy, chair of Victoria Park Action Group (VPAG). “We feel they are wasting the summer’s trading.”

VPAG has asked if other mobile traders could move in temporarily, but the council won’t allow this.

It’s hoped that Mrs Brown’s can be tempted out of retirement to open for a few summer weekends.

pounds. Any work is unlikely to start before next year.

Meanwhile, work on the new shared cycle path through Victoria Park is ahead of schedule, and likely to be finished within a few weeks.

Work still remains to be done to the park entrances and a traffic-calming speed table at the corner of Hill Avenue and Nutgrove Avenue, which is expected to be finished in August.

New fitness equipment such as monkey bars will be installed in Victoria Park now that more than £150,000 from a housing spin-off at Salcombe Road,

Knowle, has been released.

Roctagon climbing frames will also be installed, next to the small basketball court in the centre of the park.

The money was promised two years ago but was frozen in late 2016 when the council imposed cutbacks. Other parks such as Northern Slopes and Perretts Park will also see benefits.

More developer cash, known as CIL, will be available to parks later this year. But councillors from across South Bristol will have to agree which parks will benefit as funds are no longer available for each ward.

using parks 10 per cent of their park-derived revenue. This includes balloon operators.

Questions about how the council can identify all the fitness instructors and dog walkers and enforce the payments remain to be answered. Fitness instructor and personal trainer Richard Finch of St

John’s Lane says he was told by a council official that officers had been photographing fitness classes in parks, to identify them.

The Voice has been told that when the charges begin for dog walkers, they will be voluntary – raising the question why anyone would agree to take part.

Wild camp is a challenge to 200 teenagers BEDMINSTER Down School has taken an entire year group on a wild camping expedition to Dartmoor to help them prepare for their GCSE school year.

Called Challenge 24, the project aims to help every one of the 200 students in Year 9 build resilience. Each week, parties of up to 12 pupils test their camp craft, problem solving, communication and team-work over 24 hours on the moor.

The opportunity is offered at no cost to families – the school provides equipment, waterproof clothing and even food.

Since starting the trips in October Wild trial: The the 13 and 14 year-olds have camp is for all met challenges 200 in Year 9 including wildfires, snow and ice, and dealing with hungry foxes.

The organiser, teacher Steve Priday, a trained mountain leader, said: “Challenge 24 has a different impact on each individual. For some it is the hike of five miles, for others being away from home, or missing access to social media.”

Year 9 student Beth Bateman said: “I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t like it but I really enjoyed it. I was in a mixed group of boys and girls and we helped each other along.”

Praise for ‘urban village’ school A SMALL Bedminster school that helps pupils who find classroom life difficult has been declared Good by Ofsted.

The LPW Independent School, which has one learning centre in Princess Street, Bedminster and another in the city centre, teaches children in small groups in what it calls an “urban village” approach.

Most of its pupils have left mainstream schools for one reason or another. Ofsted states

that “pupils behave well”, make good progress in English and mathematics, and “staff provide a high level of support for pupils”.

But attendance was “too low” and progress was not so good in subjects other than English and maths.

“Strategies to reduce smoking are having limited impact because they are not always implemented with conviction,” the inspectors added. tinyurl.com/OfstedLPW

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n NEWS

June 2018

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7

Secret and not-so-secret gardens GARDENERS in Bedminster, Southville and Windmill Hill are getting ready to make BS3 blossom in the 14th Bedminster Good Garden Awards.

It comes as plans are ready for more than 30 gardeners to show off their green spaces in Bedminster’s Secret Gardens on June 2 and 3.

Maps of all the gardens are available in many shops or from the website below.

Blooming Bedminster and the

New award: Matthew Symonds, co-ordinator at Blooming Bedminster, and Bill Willcocks, managing partner at Barcan+Kirby

sponsor, law firm Barcan+Kirby, have unveiled a new design for the Good Garden awards.

Last year’s competition saw more than 2,500 awards presented. Judging starts in June. Blooming Bedminster co-ordinator Matthew Symonds said: “Whatever size your front garden – or even if you just have space for a window box or hanging basket – you have a chance of an award.” bloomingbedminster.org.uk

MP calls for action on missing Metrobus route THE WEST of England’s new metro mayor has been accused of “shrugging his shoulders” and doing nothing to save a vital Metrobus link in South Bristol.

Bristol South MP Karin Smyth is furious that the promised route along the new South Bristol Link road from Long Ashton to Hengrove has disappeared from

the Metrobus map. A bus-only spur road at Long Ashton sits fenced off and unused – because no commercial operator wants to run the route, which has no public subsidy.

It’s thought private firms will only see the route as profitable once hundreds more homes are built at Hengrove – which will

OFF THE RAILS

to be installed at BCT’s depot in Parson Street, Bedminster.

• M2 Long Ashton-city centre Orange buses, starts autumn, operated by First. Guide rails on the concrete busway are up to 20mm out of place in several places and repair work will take until the summer.

• M3 Emersons Green-city centre Green buses, starts May 29, operated by First.

ONE OF the three Metrobus routes was set to begin services on May 29. But the other two, serving South Bristol, are delayed further.

• M1 Hengrove-city centreCribbs Causeway Magenta (pink) buses, starts January, operated by Bristol Community Transport.

Biogas buses to serve the route are on order, and gas equipment has

take years. Ms Smyth wants the metro mayor Tim Bowles, elected last year with wide powers over transport and housing in the West of England, to find a way of backing the route.

She sees Metrobus as vital for opening up the poorest parts of South Bristol.

“In place of leadership, the metro mayor has given us a metaphorical shrug of the shoulders. Instead of looking for creative ways to drive the project forward, he is scrambling around for reasons not to. It beggars

TRAIN TO THE AIRPORT? BRISTOL airport wants to be connected to the city and to Weston-super-Mare by railway. A “detailed assessment” is under way and more details will be revealed

Colour coded: Pink buses will serve the M1 Hengrove Metrobus route – but not till 2019 belief,” she said. Some have accused Ms Smyth of playing party politics – Mr Bowles is a Conservative.

The MP said the Labour-led city council is being more helpful and is looking at how to save the route, which was touted for years as one of the main benefits of the £230 million Metrobus scheme.

A spokesperson for the West of England Combined Authority, or Weca, said the mayor had no control over current Metrobus routes. Weca is only involved in planning new routes. in the winter, the airport said.

However, the long-hoped-for rail link to Portishead is on ice after ministers refused a £47 million grant to North Somerset council. It’s not clear if the plan can be saved.

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n NEWS

BEDMINSTER GREEN

Plans for towers will create a ‘canyon FIRST sight of plans for a major part of Bedminster Green have been met with horror by campaigners.

Developer Dandara unveiled proposals for 340 new flats on land between Little Paradise and Stafford Street, including an 18-storey tower.

At 700 homes per hectare, it represents a very high density, condemned as “Hong Kong levels” by community planning group WHaM. “I think we are all stunned how ugly the proposed Dandara development is. It has absolutely nothing to recommend it as it is reminiscent of the monstrous tower blocks built in the 60s and early 70s, many of which have since been demolished. This will severely damage the local community,” said WHaM chair Howard Purse.

“There has been a complete failure to consult. It is far too tall and will loom over everything

Revealing: Dandara’s plan shows the 22-storey St Catherine’s Place, left, in brown. To its right is Plot 4 with an 18-floor tower and two lower buildings.

Behind it, to the left, is a sketch of a 14-storey building Dandara is also believed to be planning for the adjacent Plot 5. and be seen everywhere in Bedminster.

“This and other tower blocks will create a wall between Windmill Hill and the rest of the city.”

Dandara’s site is known as Plot 4. Next door, developer Firmstone proposes a 22-storey

WHAT PEOPLE SAID ...

Do you think the Bedminster Green area should be developed?

Yes No Maybe All areas 184 58 60 61% 19% Southville only

57 15 8 71% 19% Do you think tall buildings are...

Good Bad Neutral All areas 32 208 6

10% 68% S’ville 13 47 21 1 6% 58% building at St Catherine’s Place.

Dandara seems also to be planning 14 storeys on Plot 5, near the station. Deeley Freed, which owns Plot 3, the NCP car park, has yet to reveal plans.

The Voice has seen an early picture prepared by the developers working together to

show how the whole area will look. It shows the tallest buildings clustered together towards the middle of the area, leaving the lower blocks – Rollo Homes’ six-to-nine storey buildings alongside the railways – looking relatively small. It’s not clear when the public will be able

June 2018

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n NEWS

9

effect’ along Malago Road ‘BE BOLD AND BUILD UP’ A PROMINENT architect has backed mayor Marvin Rees’s drive for tall buildings, claiming that skyscrapers make for a lively community and free up land for community use.

Yuli Cadney-Toh helped mastermind the massive Barangaroo waterfront high-rise scheme in Sydney, Australia.

She told BBC Points West on May 16 that she returned to Bristol after more than 25 years to find that “the skyline has hardly changed”.

She was filmed showing

colleagues how St Philip’s Marsh – already named by the Voice as a likely area for new housing – could be transformed by high-rise towers.

Building 2,500 low-rise homes

would fill the area, she said, while building high would allow three times as many homes “and a lot more besides” in community facilities.

“Bristol needs be bold in its vision and create denser centres, including taller buildings in the right places,” she wrote for Bristol 24/7. “Tall buildings are a viable alternative to building beyond the city limits into green belt land and can save and invigorate our vibrant Bristol character. Going up or outwards is our choice.”

Her employer, planning agency BDP, has no specific Bristol plans under way.

to see the whole-site plan.

The cluster of skyscrapers will create “a canyon effect” along Malago Road, says WHaM. The new Bristol Campaign Against High Rises, led by Kingsdown resident Matthew Montagu-Pollock, contends that the drive for tall buildings could

make Bristol “an entirely different city” within 20 years.

A survey by Southville councillors Charlie Bolton and Stephen Clarke has found that more than 70 per cent of respondents in the Southville ward, which includes Bedminster Green, think the Green area

should be redeveloped, but almost 60 per cent think tall buildings are a bad thing for the area. See panel (left). tinyurl.com/bedsgreensurvey • The next WHaM meeting, with a representative of Rollo Homes, will be at 8.30pm on June 11 in Windmill Hill community centre.

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Vast scale: Barangaroo, Sydney

Bringing the festival vibe to North Street NORTH Street will have a festival feeling on June 30 when BS3TIVAL takes over the road from 10am to 5pm.

The street will be car-free for the afternoon, allowing all manner of entertainment.

Live music and dance will cover all styles from African to flamenco and line-dancing, in the event organised by North Street Traders Association.

Myriad entertainments include hopscotch for children, hoola-hooping, glitter tattoos and a mini fairground. You can learn to make a music instrument, pat some puppies, or sing along to the choir.

The tastebuds will be tickled by delights from North Street cider to a Cuban sandwich, paella, burgers and ice-cream.

Facebook: North Street Summer Fair

HELP STOP FALLS

The Home Safety Assessment and Modification Service (HSAM) helps older people reduce their risk of falls.

Provided by ‘WE Care and Repair’ in Bristol it offers:

n A free assessment by a qualified Occupational Therapist in the person’s home. n Recommendations for home adaptations or modifications to reduce fall risks. n Hazard removal or home adaptation through ‘WE Care and Repair’ services (e.g.fit rails, install ramps, level thresholds, remove trip hazards, support to ‘declutter’, provide equipment, handyperson work, organise larger repairs and adaptations). n A follow up telephone call or visit once the works are completed. n Advice, signposting or referral to other services as required.

Funding:

The Dolphin Society, Bristol Benevolent Institution and Bristol Community Health have donated funds to cover the assessment and some of the recommended works. Those with sufficient means are encouraged to fund their own work to allow the funds to go to those in most need.

Who can you refer?

n Anyone who has had one or more falls, is at risk of more falls, or has a fear of falling.

n Is likely to benefit from a home environment assessment. n Owns their own home or is privately renting (work may need landlord’s permission). n The person must consent to a referral and want to engage with the service. n We also accept self-referrals.

How to identify people:

n Have they had one or more falls in the last year? n Is their mobility getting worse? n Difficulty getting around the house safely? (e.g. up and down stairs, walking around) n Finding it hard to do daily activities? (e.g. getting out of bed, using the bath/shower) n Are you aware of trip hazards? (e.g. rugs or loose carpets, trailing wires, obstacles) Recommendations for home adaptations or modifications to reduce fall risks.

If you would like the referral form please email or call WE Care & Repair (info@wecr.org.uk or 0300 323 0700) using the subject HSAM Project.

The long winter on the farm has ended and the sun is shining. It’s time to dust off the BBQ! Did you know a recent Bristol University study found that pasture-fed meat increases omega 3 and reduces fat, compared to animals reared on grain and soya feed? All our meat comes from our farm, or farms we know and trust, where animals are allowed to forage in the fresh air.

Drop into Meat Box to see our range of tasty BBQ cuts, including lamb kebabs, handmade sausages and sumptuous steaks.

If you can’t get to us, no problem, we can deliver.

Isn’t it time you really knew where your meat comes from and, most importantly, what isn’t in it.

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Festival is playing with Shakespeare

WANT to help make Dame Emily park into a brighter place?

Join volunteers who meet every second Sunday of the month with Incredible Edible Bristol to create a garden that is attractive and

name for the former Faithspace in Stackpool Road. It tells the story of the year that transformed Shakespeare’s fortunes – 1599, when his theatre was dismantled and he faced pressure from all sides. Yet he wrote Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and Hamlet within 12 months.

Billed as “the most fantastic, laugh-out-loud funny, illumination of Shakespeare and his plays you’re ever likely to see!” it runs from July 3-14.

Arnos Vale cemetery hosts the Shakespeare Heptet performing Death, Love & the Sonnets

Vale bomb find

Universal credit expected to bring problems for some

Spring is in full swing ...

and summer is round the corner, we have plenty of Spanish peaches, sweet cherries and stunning heirloom vareties of English tomatoes and carrots.

English broad beans and peas are nearly ready plus loads of beautiful local salads and lettuces. Olives are now being stocked too alongside plenty of sourdoughs, cheese, milk, eggs and pasta.

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THE NEW universal credit regime is rolled out in South Bristol from June 6 – and help is available for those affected.

The new benefit is meant to simplify help for those out of work or needing family benefits.

It rolls six benefits and tax credits into one payment.

It won’t affect everyone at once – only people whose circumstances change may be moved onto universal credit.

But it has been widely criticised for leaving some people penniless for weeks at a time – and for being hard to understand.

Zero hours workers, for example, whose pay varies from month to month, could find they earn too much in one month and

GET EXPERT HELP ON BENEFITS ARE YOU sure you’re getting all the help you’re entitled to? Bristol South MP Karin Smyth is to hold a free event to give people the chance to talk to experts about entitlements such as tax credits, pensions and benefits.

Karin Smyth said: “Most people agree it’s only fair that if you work hard and contribute to society, through taxes and other means, will lose any benefit – and then have to reapply and wait weeks for the claim to be processed.

One of the major differences with the new system is that

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Creating a garden for Dame Emily Quiz night

SOUTH Bristol figures heavily in the Bristol Shakespeare Festival.

The citywide festival kicks off at Windmill Hill City Farm from June 6-9 when the Handebards perform their versions of Twelfth Night (with an all-male cast) and Romeo and Juliet (all female).

Meanwhile 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, has a community cast from across South Bristol.

Like last year’s sellout show Shakespeare’s Worst, it’s performed at the Stackpool playhouse in Southville, the new

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS BOMB disposal experts were called to Silbury Road, Ashton Vale, on May 24, as the Voice was going to press.

BristolLive reported that two devices, thought to be incendiary bombs, were taken away after being found in a garden.

southbristolvoice

n NEWS

on July 14. Among libraries to be staging historical drama Henry V are Bedminster library on July 17 and Whitchurch on July 19.

The Natural Theatre Company use various parts of SS Great Britain for comic sketches of Shakespeare’s early life, Shakespeare Undone! from July 25-29.

The Southville centre hosts a Macbeth drama workshop for youngsters on July 26.

The festival runs from June 6-July 29, including many events we haven’t space to list. bristolshakespearefestival.org.uk

June 2018

useful for the community. The next gathering is from 2-4pm on June 10. The Dame Emily Park Project or DEPP meets to discuss ideas for the park at 4pm in the community garden on June 3.

THERE’S a quiz night at St Paul’s church, Coronation Road, Southville, on Friday June 1. It’s for teams of four and the charge is £5 per person, including a light supper. All welcome, 7.30pm.

Luckwell flats: parking fear Romeo and Juliet at Arnos Vale in last year’s festival PHOTO: Jon Craig

the system is then there for you when you need it.”

Representatives from Bristol Citizens Advice, South Bristol Advice Services, We Care and Repair and the council’s Welfare Rights and Money Advice Service will attend.

At similar events Karin has organised, many people found that they had been missing out on some kind of benefit or relief. It’s at The Park Centre, Daventry Road, on Friday June 22 from 1-3pm. claimants have to do everything online. They must have a bank or a credit union account which they manage on the internet.

Free sessions in getting online are being offered in June and July. They will show how to set up an email address, how to apply for jobs online, and more.

The first workshop is on June 12 and 13 June at The Park, Daventry Road, from 12.452.45pm. More will be run, at different venues including Filwood Community Centre, Barnstaple Road, on June 19 and 20, and July 3 and 4.

To find out more, call Lucy Fieldhouse on 07788 353446 or 0117 903 9763.

Venues like The Park offer free wifi to help claimants. To find out more about all the help on offer with universal credit in South Bristol, go to tinyurl.com/knowleunicredit

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

PLANS have been published to build 68 homes on the Kellaway builders merchant site between Luckwell Road and Colliter Crescent, Ashton.

Proposed are a terrace of eight three-bedroom houses and a four-storey block of 13 flats facing Luckwell Road, next to the indoor climbing centre.

Behind them, on the former industrial site, would be a three- storey apartment block of three flats and a five-storey building containing 44 flats.

There would be 42 parking spaces.

The scale of the development, in an area where almost all the homes are two-storey terraces, is expected to attract comment.

One neighbour on Luckwell Road has already lodged an objection, saying the flats will overlook her garden.

She also predicted that a lack of parking will bring “chaos” on surrounding streets.

The parking “will inevitably not be enough and will, no doubt, spill out onto a street which is already struggling in this respect.

The climbing centre and nearby residents-only parking mean that space is already at a premium, especially on Bristol City football and rugby match days!” she said.

New look for Luckwell Road: A terrace of houses with three blocks of flats

Another objection has come from the owner of six industrial units called the Winterstoke Centre, which shares an access road with the site. “It will be impossible and unfair to expect residents to share entrances with industrial [users]” he said.

Comments made after a public meeting earlier in the year included the suggestion of an underground car park beneath one of the blocks of flats. But this isn’t practical or affordable, architects O’Leary Goss said.

The development would include 13 affordable homes in the block facing Luckwell Road.

The site was once a clay pit and brick works, but industrial units were built there between 1920 and 1938. More recently it

was home to the builders merchant and Winterstoke Road garage – both now closed.

Celebrating good food AN OUTDOOR pizza cooking event that brings together old and young at Windmill Hill City Farm is among dozens of events in the Bristol Food Connections festival from June 11-17.

Children from Victoria Park primary school will join over-55s for a pizza decorating competition at the farm from 10.30am-1.30pm on June 15. It’s the culmination of a fiveweek Cooking with Friends course involving St Monica’s Trust care homes and children from schools.

Young chefs training at Knowle’s Square Food Foundation will serve a seasonal evening feast on June 14 and 15 at a secret city centre location – tickets from the website below.

Other events include street food and music at St Nick’s Night Market off Corn Street from 5-10pm on June 15. bristolfoodconnections.com

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n FEATURES

WILDLIFE CHALLENGE!

Come on, let’s make South Bristol a much

E

CO-GARDENING, wildlife spotting and habitat creation are very much in vogue in South Bristol right now. Everyone’s at it, from park groups and schools, to Buglife, Avon Wildlife Trust, the Hedgehog Society, Bristol Natural History Consortium, Butterfly Conservation and the My Wild Bedminster team.

South Bristol Voice is keen to hear your ideas, so we have set up a competition for this summer for you to share the joy of wildlife and wild flower havens that you create in your little green corner.

And here are some ideas.

If you take one boring boggy damp patch, any size will do, sprinkle on some magic (I’m talking insect-friendly flower seeds) you’ll soon have a rainbow of pollinator happiness.

Or why not make one brick-sized hole in your fence or wall, offer a compost pile, wait til around 11pm and watch Mr or

WHERE ARE OUR WILDLIFE SPOTTERS?

T

HERE’S a lot of wildlife in South Bristol – but few people were looking for it in the City Nature Challenge on the weekend of April 27-30.

Amazingly, the Bristol and Bath region came first in Europe in this international competition, which asked local people to go out and record whatever wildlife they found. Bristol and Bath recorded 9,496 sightings and 1,137 species.

And yet many of the 305 local participants overlooked what was under our noses in BS3 and BS4.

Why didn’t more folk go looking more closely around South Bristol?

I recorded more than 100 species in a very short time, wandering in

BS3, and a handful of naturalists found a range of plants, mammals, birds, fungi, lichen, amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates.

Knowle naturalist Megan Shersby got UK experts excited when she spotted a rarely-seen Mocha moth. “I don’t catch much in my urban garden, so this came as a shock,” she said.

Alex Morss

Mrs Prickles come waddling through your Hedgehog Highway to munch on slugs, snails and other garden beasts?

Designing-in wildlife is that simple. If you wish to think bigger and have a community space in mind, there is still time

Bringing High Street travel direct to you Introducing Bedminster’s local, independent travel service:

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Unlike a normal High Street agency, Charlotte Hingston Travel Counsellors likes to make things a little more personal. Whether that be a family fun holiday in Spain, cruising the Caribbean sea or experiencing the bustling cities of South East Asia, your trip should be about you.

We’re an independently owned and operated business right here in the heart of South Bristol and with 15 years experience in the travel industry we can plan your holiday from start to finish. What’s more we bring the agency to you! We offer face to face visits to plan your next adventure.

That way we can take the time to make sure your trip is exactly as you want it.

Exciting: the Mocha moth is a rare UK sighting, and Megan Shersby found one in Knowle

to sign up for Buglife’s south Bristol Urban Buzz project, where you’ll get help creating your own community wildlife area – contact Hayley.herridge@ buglife.org.uk In May, I teamed up with volunteers from Victoria Park Wildlife Group, Buglife, local residents and Duke of Edinburgh scheme participants to create an exciting new wet meadow area at the bottom of Victoria Park. We are transforming a soggy patch of clay and tough turf into an area rich in wetland wildflowers. It should attract a huge range of invertebrates such as bees, hoverflies, grasshoppers, spiders, bugs, butterflies and moths.

We have added gorgeous wild flower seeds including yarrow, sneezewort, betony, meadow buttercup, sorrel, great burnet, pepper saxifrage, ragged robin and devil’s-bit scabious.

This new meadow adds to other wildflower areas in the

SELLING THE

June 2018

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Meanwhile, in Raleigh Road ...

We asked for your photos of wildlife in BS3 and this one of toads mating came in from Carolyn Robinson of Raleigh Road. Well done, Carolyn; there’s a prize each month. Email to paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

park, sown with the help of Victoria Park and St Mary Redcliffe primary schools, kids’ clubs and Butterfly Conservation

in the Get Bristol Buzzing project.

The bottom of the park sits at the lowest point in a basin and the water table is high most of

the year, so it makes sense to replicate the now-rare floodplain meadow habitats that support many declining insect treasures.

VOICE GARDEN WILDLIFE COMPETITION TELL US about your garden wildlife hot spot. We will award prizes for the best.

Just send us a photo of a wildlife area you have created in your garden, school or community green space.

• Make a butterfly garden with special food plants for their caterpillars and a great nectar supply for the adults; • Plant a pollinator patch with a variety of flower colours and shapes to attract bees, hoverflies and other species, or a solitary bee nesting area; • Create a hideaway for slow-worms, insects and other small creatures; • Make a Hedgehog Highway – a hole in a fence or wall big enough for a hedgehog; • Install bat or bird boxes; • Make a green roof with plants for bees and other insects.

Email your stories and photos to Paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk – we’ll print the best each month.

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AN UNEXPECTED sighting of a kingfisher in the shadow of the stadium at Ashton Gate has come with a plea for its habitat not to be disturbed.

Voice reader Rachel Hall said: “I was walking the dog a couple of months ago and cut through the BCFC car park alongside Colliter’s Brook. When I got near to the statue of Atyeo, a flash of turquoise caught my eye.

I was amazed to see a kingfisher!”

She hasn’t seen the bird since and is worried that it’s moved on because the vegetation has been cut back. Bristol Sport told the Voice it does want to preserve the brook for wildlife and will do its best to be kingfisher-friendly.

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WILDLIFE CHALLENGE!

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Holiday fun needs business to back it A PIONEERING youth scheme that will provide a vital lifeline in the school holidays for some of South Bristol’s most challenged young people is asking for support.

Break Free is a new name for activities taking place across the summer holidays for around 50 teenagers and younger children each week, and organisers are hoping that local firms will step up to support them.

During the Whitsun holiday from May 29-June 1 activities will take place at Bedminster Down school, while during the long summer break there will be at least one week at each of three venues – The Park centre in Knowle, Bedminster Down school and Bridge Learning Campus in Hartcliffe.

“People in business might want to support something that is going on at their old school,” said Alistair Dale, chief executive of Youth Moves, the South Bristol charity behind Break Free.

“They could sponsor a junior football team sports coach, or pay for the lunches, for example.

“We aim to have three kinds of activities each day – sport, youth club activities, or something arts-based like drama or dance.” Also backing Break

Youngster wows London crowd

‘It’s a chance to break free from holiday hunger, from staring at a screen, from having nothing to do!’

Free is a local organisation called Community of Purpose, plus the Tobacco Factory, various groups at The Park, Wicketz cricket group, and the police.

Break Free costs only £1 a day and is aimed at young people who really need a break – it is not subsidised childcare for families who can afford to pay.

“We are providing high quality, low cost childcare for those who really need it. It’s aimed at families who, for example, are receiving free school meals, which aren’t available during the holidays,” said Alistair.

The need is great: whereas across the country about eight per cent of children receive free school meals, in Knowle West it can rise as high as 70 per cent.

“It’s a chance to break free from holiday hunger, from staring at a screen, from having nothing to do!” said Alistair.

Volunteers are welcome to

Plenty to do: Break Free is fun share their skills, whether it’s to help hand out the lunches or if they have an enthusiasm they could share with the youngsters.

• If you can help, contact Youth Moves on 0117 903 9796, via the website (below), on Twitter @InfoYouthMoves or Facebook. youthmoves.org.uk

A YOUNG musician from Bedminster wowed the audience at the Mermaid Theatre in London. Lakhile Dlamini, 10, was taking part in Autism’s Got Talent, a show hosted

by EastEnders actress Kacey Ainsworth and Strictly Come Dancing’s Robin Windsor.

The event featured singers, actors, musicians and Dressed up: Lakhile, 10 dancers.

Lakhile, one of the youngest on stage, gave a polished performance on the keyboard.

A pupil at Venturers’ Academy in Withywood, he rehearsed for his big night by performing in front of 300 students at the next-door Merchants’ Academy.

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New shoots for old gardeners IF YOU have green fingers and a talent for sharing your skills, how do you fancy getting an older person interested in gardening?

The Growing Support group is looking for friendly volunteers to work with older people and people with dementia in and around Bristol.

The group has found that gardening can be a major release for the elderly, especially those living in care homes.

Volunteers work alongside an expert social and therapeutic horticulture facilitator. They get training and support, and can receive travel expenses.

To find out more contact Sarah on 07581 281578 or email volunteers@growingsupport.co.uk.

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

June 2018

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n FEATURES

I’m growing my school garden idea in BS3 GETTING children interested in gardening is not always easy – but a pioneering social entrepreneur from Bedminster thinks he has found a way which will make it easy.

What if there was a website where any teacher could find easy-to-use plans for making a school garden – one where the children could not only eat what they grow, but make Christmas presents from the produce too?

That’s the formula that landscape architect Arthur Daw is developing, in a social enterprise called the What Happens Next project.

Arthur’s main job is designing

KEEPING CHILDREN GROWING REASONS TO GET KIDS GROWING • 52 per cent of UK children don’t eat veg daily • 64 per cent of people in the UK don’t get their five a day

I never knew a carrot could do that: Working with children in Bedminster Down open spaces for a major engineering consultancy where he works for three days a week.

Another two days a week he spends working with schools and drawing up plans for What Happens Next, based at the BankSpace shared office centre in East Street, Bedminster.

BankSpace owners Andy and Matt Price have given Arthur his desk space free after choosing

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him last year from a list of social enterprises they thought deserved a helping hand.

“Lots of the time I am working on the project by myself, so having a space like this has been really important,” Arthur told the Voice.

“I am enormously grateful to Matt and Andy, they have created an amazing vibe in their coworking space. I have been

able to meet new people, share technical information with the other professionals who are there and have people to stop and drink tea with, something which never happens locked in my room at home!”

The aim of What Happens Next is to design school garden spaces so that all the things that are grown can be eaten or made into Christmas presents – or both. Arthur believes this way, children and their teachers will keep up their interest in the garden, even in the winter.

“We use 14 plants that most people can grow in their gardens,” he said, “including potatoes, carrots and lavender.

“With these, children can make willow wreaths, carrot cake, herbal tea and much more.”

They can also eat produce they have grown themselves, from fruit to vegetables, making them more likely to achieve their five a day.

The Voice will keep in touch with What Happens Next – hopefully we’ll see their work take root in South Bristol schools.

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Easy ways to cut our impact on the planet TWO FAMILIES from Knowle are doing their bit to tackle climate change as part of One Home – a new project which encourages Bristolians to make simple lifestyle choices to reduce carbon emissions.

Eating less red meat, driving an electric car, holidaying in the UK, insulating your home and installing solar panels are the most important actions you can take to reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions and benefit your quality of life, according to One Home.

One Home – being piloted first in Bristol and the West Country – is a new not-for-profit website which aims to offer a one-stop shop on sustainable lifestyle choices.

It is the brainchild of environmental scientist Angela Terry who has spent 20 years working in the renewables industry and was one a pioneer of community wind farms.

Angela says: “Most people accept climate change is happening but are sometimes confused and overwhelmed by what they can do about it.

“We want to give options that offer the best quality of life while reducing carbon emissions.

“For the biggest impact, it’s all about saving energy to reduce carbon dioxide – the main

17

CLIMATE CHANGE

Two families make choices to combat climate change

Gaby, top: Decided meat rearing adds too much carbon emissions

G

ABY Amiel lives in Knowle with wife Sue and children Elodie and Gabriel. Last year he decided to stop eating meat for environmental reasons.

Gaby says: “For some years I’d been thinking about becoming vegetarian, and then last year I decided to give it a go for a month.

It was much easier than I had imagined so I am sticking with it.

“Climate change threatens everything and, for me, it’s a matter of personal conscience that motivates me to take actions that have a positive outcome for the planet, my children and me.

“The rest of the family do occasionally eat meat, but as a treat, which is a healthier and more sustainable approach.”

J

OHN Moule lives in Knowle with wife Sharon and children Spike and Toby. Two years ago he had solar panels installed on his garage roof, at a cost of £6,500, to generate electricity. He expects to break even on the investment by 2022.

John said: “For us, it’s really important that we set an example to the children on being careful with our energy use and the benefits of sustainable energy.

“Other actions I am looking into include installing a battery to store the energy from the panels. I am also researching external wall insulation and I’ve found the One Home website to be really useful in pointing me in the right direction so I can find out about feasibility and funding.”

John, below: Investment in solar power expected to break even greenhouse gas that causes climate change – and that’s why we’ve developed these five clear ways to do just that.”

Holidaying in the UK rather than flying is one of the most important changes people can make. A family of four driving to and from Bristol to Cornwall emits 92kg of carbon dioxide. The same family making a return flight from Bristol to Alicante in Spain produces 1,142kg – that’s 12 times more than the Cornwall trip. A long-haul return flight to Florida emits 2,780kg, 30 times more than going to Cornwall and back. onehome.org.uk

TOP FIVE WAYS TO REDUCE CLIMATE IMPACT 1. Eat less red meat; 2. Get an electric car; 3. Holiday in the UK; 4 Insulate your home; 5 Install solar panels.

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

June 2018

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n NEWS Gromit and the Simpsons unveil their programmes

UPFEST & GROMIT UNLEASHED

Continued from page 1 said: “We’re incredibly pumped to be celebrating the iconic characters of The Simpsons – it’s a show truly loved by people of all ages. 2018 marks a significant milestone for us. Being our 10th anniversary we wanted to go big, and the global phenomenon surrounding The Simpsons makes this the perfect collaboration.”

Three Upfest artists have been selected by Simpsons creator Matt Groening to bring The Simpsons to life in their own styles – Hong Kong freestyle artist Bao, Bristol’s own wildstyle writer Soker and the globally famous Nomad Clan.

Upfest has received 1,100 applications from artists from 84 different countries, from

Meanwhile, Gromit, the all-knowing animated dog made

by Bristol filmmakers Aardman, is appearing at more than 60 locations around the city from July 2 to September 2.

With his so-called master Wallace, and arch enemy Feathers McGraw, Gromit is encouraging people to visit as many locations as they can, raising money for Bristol Children’s Hospital’s Grand Appeal.

A map and an app will be available soon, figurines will be on sale and there will be trails for every area, including South Bristol. gromitunleashed.org.uk upfest.co.uk

South Bristol hero: Wallace (without Gromit) as he will appear at ss Great Britain, in the character of Victorian engineer IK Brunel Denmark to South Africa, Malta, Argentina and even Nepal.

Organisers now have to whittle the list down to 400, representing every corner of the street art scene.

To stay in touch with Upfest plans as they develop, sign up to the festival’s e-newsletter via the website or follow @Upfest.Bristol on Facebook and @upfest on Twitter and Instagram.

GROMIT UNLEASHED 2: SOUTH BRISTOL LOCATIONS Aardman, Gas Ferry Road Arnos Vale Ashton Court Ashton Gate stadium Hartcliffe Community Farm M Shed North Street, Southville ss Great Britain St Mary Redcliffe Temple Meads station UWE, Bower Ashton

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PEOPLE • COMMUNITY • EXCELLENCE

WASTE NOT!

Bristol Waste wants to show us how much of what we chuck out could still have a life

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HY ARE we still throwing away furniture, toys and bicycles which other people would love to get their hands on?

And why are our landfill sites still piling high with items of all kinds that really don’t need to be buried?

In an effort to make us all think more about what is really rubbish and which objects really deserve to be saved for someone else to use, Bristol Waste gave the Voice a sneak preview of some of the treasures that are taken to household waste centres or put out with the bins.

Many will be amazed that so much useful stuff is being discarded.

Second-hand furniture stores would love to get their hands on some of the armchairs, an ornate dresser, stacks of chairs and coffee tables and a tea trolley – just some of the items selected from the dozens which have been brought in to the recycling centre at Days Road, St Philips, and a smaller centre at Avonmouth.

A selection of the furniture will be on sale at the council’s waste centre in Albert Road, St Philips, on Saturday June 23.

“We want to get more people thinking about reusing some of the stuff they throw away,” said Emma Williams, marketing officer for Bristol Waste.

“We have been collecting some really good quality wooden furniture, as well as bikes and mobility aids,” she said.

To show the range of uses to which some of Bristol’s “rubbish” can be put, the waste team brought together several members of the Bristol Reuse steering group. Made up of members of the Bristol Bike

We can use it! Members of the Bristol Reuse Network with furniture and bikes thrown away in Bristol. From left, Joanna Dainton of Bristol Waste, Lawrence from Bristol’s Tantric Field, Fern from Makershed, Ellen Jones of Bristol Waste, James from Bristol Bike Project, and upcycler Delphine, who makes jewellery out of cutlery and drinks cans

QUALITY used furniture which has been given to Bristol Waste will be on sale at the Albert Road waste transfer centre in St Philips from 10am-12 noon on Saturday June 23.

Before that, some of the furnitur on offer will be on display in a shipping container, sited near Neptune’s statue in the city centre, from June 8.

Furniture in decent condition includes coffee tables, lots of chairs, cabinets, cupboards and armchairs.

Visitors will also be encouraged to think about finding a new use or a new owner for unwanted items before throwing them away.

Would you really throw all this away if someone could use it?

MAKING USE OF ‘RUBBISH’ The Makershed in St Pauls offers workshops and courses in woodworking, upholstery, upcycling or DIY. themakershedbristol.co.uk Bristol Women’s Workshop offers courses in woodwork for women in Wells Road, Totterdown.

Facebook: Bristolwomensworkshop Bristol Reuse Network is a group of organisations who promote reuse. Used clothing is sent abroad to people who need it, office waste is used for children’s play.

Unwanted wood and household items, are put to use and surplus food is distributed to people in need and used for ethical catering. bristolreuse.com Project, the Makershed, Physionet and other upcycling and bike repair groups, they believe they can turn many discarded items into things people want. Physionet, for example, collects old mobility

WHERE TO ADVERTISE UNWANTED STUFF (and find reused treasures) • reuse-network.org.uk • something-to-give • tinyurl.com/freecycleBristol • gumtree.com/bristol

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TOM’S TIPS TOM Walton, manager of the two council recycling centres and the Albert Road waste transfer station, said: “It’s not just about getting people to bring their stuff here, it’s about thinking if someone could use it. You could advertise it on social media, or give it to a charity shop.

“Most charities don’t take electrical goods. But you can put small electrical items out with your recycling, and bring large ones here.

“You would be amazed what people get rid of – they even bring in working widescreen TVs after they buy a new one!”

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FENCING • PATIOS • LANDSCAPING from their injuries. The NHS•did Bicycles are passed to one of SKIRTING BOARDS LOG STORESthree • GUTTERING FASCIAS not previously reuse these aids Bristol bike•repair schemes but it’s hoped that crutches at including Bristol Bike Project.

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Please keep letters as short as possible, Write to paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk LETTERS and provide your postal address. or to 18 Lilymead Avenue, BS4 2BX afford a new one. We fitted a mental and thoroughfare for two-wheel Rats tell us the displayed catalyst in the fuel system, and a behavioural problems. traffic.

Euro5 exhaust (at that time that The effects of high-density So, at the same time as you was the standard). After a housing for people (especially are building more high density real impact of running-in period it had no high rise) yield similar results. housing, planning to shove us emissions on three readings, and Is this the future we want to closer and closer together, you high rises 0.001 as the particulate reading, create, not only for Bedminster, are planning to turn our few EARLY experiments on rats informed our drug policies for years. A simple experiment placed a rat in a cage with a bottle of water and a bottle of water with cocaine. Time and again, the rat would go to the bottle laced with cocaine.

Except ... if cocaine were that dangerous, then everyone who took it would get addicted. Only, they don’t.

So, someone else came up with a better rat experiment. He built a rat park, populated with rats, full of things to investigate.

In it there was one bottle of water and one bottle laced with cocaine. Most of the rats didn’t go near the cocaine. Those that did only went to it occasionally.

Rat experiments also tell us a lot about high-density housing.

Overcrowd the rat park and the rats became antisocial and

but also for all of Bristol?

I can’t help but wonder how successful Marvin Rees’s mayoral campaign would have been if this high-density vision had been part of his election manifesto.

At the same time, our parks are under threat: budgets have been slashed and the council has plans for ‘low-impact’ advertising (despite a 4,000 strong petition against any form of advertising in parks), more events, business and entertainment in parks and charging dog walkers and fitness instructors to use the parks.

Yet the council has just splurged £500,000 on a bicycle and lighting scheme through Victoria Park that few people actually wanted.

Parks are meant to be a haven, a retreat from the urban chaos, and yet one of our most beloved parks is now a

havens of mental health and wellbeing into overcrowded, event-driven, advert-laden revenue streams.

Daniel Fryer, Malago Road

Clean up your exhaust pipe REGARDING the letter from AG about the problem of emissions on an old diesel car: I suggest he looks at fitting a fuel catalyst – it’s like a fuel filter. This should give a cleaner fuel burn.

However he may still need a new exhaust, to Euro6 standard. It’s not cheap, at several hundred pounds.

When the London emissions zones came in, a company I worked for had a large lorry. We had to upgrade it as we could not POLICE REPORT

More please MAY I say many thanks for the article in the South Bristol Voice a few months ago about Dame Clara Butt?

My mother is 100 years old, born on Redcliff Hill. I read the piece to her twice and I had a long conversation about her, as Mum had a memory of her, so thank you. More please of Bristol’s greats.

JE Oldfield, Dundry

With PCSO Charlotte Tait Broadbury Road police station

T

HE NEIGHBOURHOOD policing team have run a number of plain clothes operations recently, in Southville Road and Coronation Road, as well as around East Street, to deal with illegal drug use.

These operations led to one man being arrested for possession of cocaine and a knife: he pleaded guilty to being in possession of a Class A drug and was dealt with accordingly.

We also stopped and searched numerous individuals under section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, resulting in a quantity of the drug known as spice being seized. We have noticed a reduction in drug activity and reports at these locations since our operations, which is good news. Please do help us – if you notice any suspicious behaviour in your community, then use the ‘contact us’ section of our website, or call 101. You can also contact Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

W

which is below the current standard.

The fuel catalyst we used was made in the US. The UK distributor has ceased to trade.

But I understand there are UK manufacturers.

David Whittern Broad Walk, Knowle

e recently joined forces with local partner agencies including Bristol city council parking

services, highways services and Bristol Waste, under an initiative called Age Friendly City. On a walkabout, the team identified a number of issues which affect the elderly and less mobile members of our community, such as blocked pavements, dangerous paving slabs and obstructive parking.

This walkabout focused on North Street. The project is growing each month, and it is hoped this momentum will continue through the summer, in a bid to make our streets safer.

We will post updates here.

F

inally, I wanted to let you know about a fantastic boxing project involving six secondary schools, including Bedminster Down, Bridge Learning Campus and Merchants Academy. Students mix with people from different backgrounds who they perhaps wouldn’t normally get to know, helping to break down barriers and aid cultural understanding.

The pilot was so successful that we are hoping to continue it.

Until next time, PCSO Charlotte Tait

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

June 2018

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n NEWS

It’s time to look out for the carers JUNE 11-17 is Carers Week, and groups in South Bristol are highlighting the work they do to support people who spend their lives looking after someone else.

John, in our picture, attends Callington Road Dementia Carers Group, which meets the first Wednesday of the month from 10.30am-12.30pm at The Coppice, Callington Road Hospital, BS4 5BJ. Sometimes speakers are invited.

John said: “I like going – I like the people there. It’s good to know that one is not alone and that people have similar and greater problems. It helps to talk with people who aren’t involved – I don’t talk to anybody else.”

The Callington Road group is run by carers themselves, with

John, left, looks after his wife Hilda, who suffers from dementia.

Without the support group he attends, he says he wouldn’t talk to anyone

help from Bristol’s Carers Support Centre. This provides training, breaks for carers, and a phone helpline, CarersLine.

Keith Sinclair, chief executive, said: “Most carers’ first contact us through CarersLine and, when they do, they are often near breaking point. Our support workers guide them through the range of services available to make sure they are getting the best support. Our message to

someone who is caring for a relative or friend is: don’t wait for a crisis. Find out what support is available now.”

The Bedminster Carers Support Group meets on the third Tuesday of the month, from 10.15am-12.15pm, at Methodist Hall, British Road, BS3 3BW. Another new carers group is Space for Carers, which meets on the second Monday of the month, from 10am-12 noon, at

CARERS SUPPORT CENTRE For information about all aspects of caring and details of local groups CarersLine: 0117 965 2200 email: carersline@ carerssupportcentre.org.uk carerssupportcentre.org.uk

WHAT IS A CARER? Carers are people who provide unpaid care for someone who is ill, frail or disabled. There were 40,138 carers in Bristol (13.5 per cent of the Bristol population) at the 2011 census.

Bristol Community Links, Langhill Avenue BS4 1TN. Activities so far have included cookery demos, an introduction to mindfulness, arts and colouring, candle decorating, hand massage, a talk from a dietician, and nutritional therapy.

The next meeting is on June 11 To find out more contact Mandy Panes on 07872 543661 or mandypanes@yahoo.co.uk or call Kelly on 07471 797800.

Free lessons in martial arts A NEW martial arts and fitness gym in Ashton is promising students two free lessons when they sign up.

Organisers Dan Blythe and Sharon Gill have been teaching in BS3 for six years already, but the new gym in Monarch House, Luckwell Road, “will give our students a professional place to train”, they say.

The new centre is open to anyone over the age of 4 and teaches Lau Gar kung fu, as well

as kickboxing and fitness.

Dan is a third degree black sash in Lau Gar and ultra marathon runner (and also the man behind attempts to raise funds for new swings in Greville Smyth park – see page 23).

Sharon Gill is a fifth degree black sash in Lau Gar and a six-times world kickboxing champion. The pair also coach Team Bristol, a well respected kickboxing team. iamgbfit.com

Personal Assistants/Carers wanted For young independent disabled lady in the Whitchurch area.

I require help with personal care, daily living including cooking and domestic tasks, and travel to appointments and social activities.

An interest in animals preferred.

Able to drive an automatic car; no more than 3 points on licence.

Pay: £10.00 per hour, paid four weekly.

Looking for someone who can work Monday evening, Wednesday morning, Saturday and Sunday. Some flexibility required – hours and holiday cover to be discussed at interview.

For an application form call WECIL Ltd on 0117 947 9911 and quote ref. BFW17785

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

June 2018

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n NEWS

n NEWS Artists: Get your name down for Art on the Hill

Enjoying the BS3 memories THE MEMORIES of Bedminster group has a packed programme.

On June 4, Elizabeth Rhodes gives a talk on Keeping Home Fires Burning. On June 11 there’s an afternoon of musical entertainment provided by Mark Stansford and Kookyukes, while on June 18 Belinda Price will be talking about her experiences of Nepal and India. June 25’s programme is yet to be confirmed.

Meetings are held at the South Bristol Christian Centre, Churchlands Road, off West Street, at 1.30pm on Mondays.

ARTISTS still have time to register for Art on the Hill – the Windmill Hill and Victoria Park Arts Trail will take place this year on October 6 and 7.

Homes. churches, schools and

A PLAN for a street of 17 houses and three flats has been thrown out by planners after scores of objections from near neighbours.

The controversial plan to build homes on a narrow strip of former railway land set above Swiss Drive would have involved knocking down the redundant railway bridge that crosses South Liberty Lane.

A total of 57 residents objected to the plans, first submitted in 2015. They

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other venues are turned over to art displays and performances for the weekend. Registration costs £25.

Unfortunately, the Unplugged performance day planned for

June 2 and mentioned in the last Voice has had to be cancelled.

Raffle prizes are being collected for the weekend – all donations are welcome. artonthehill.org.uk/take-part

Railway land is too awkward to build homes, say planners

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complained about being overlooked, extra noise, and the loss of habitat – the land has been undeveloped for decades and was home to wildlife including birds and foxes.

It also had dense coverage of trees and plants until the trees (said to number about 65) were chopped down and the land was sprayed with chemicals in recent years, according to neighbours.

The plan also met a host of objections from other sources.

The Coal Authority, which is responsible for managing risk from former coal mines, said the site could well contain openings into the old South Liberty colliery – whose main shafts were only a short distance away on the other side of South Liberty Lane. The developer should investigate to see if there are any shallow mine workings present, the authority said. (See pages 35-39 for the history of the colliery.)

North Somerset council objected to the scheme because it would remove all hope that the railway line could be reopened, seeing it as a possible link from Weston-super-Mare to the proposed Portishead line.

Highways officials from Bristol city council also made several objections, saying the proposed junction at South Liberty Lane was not safe. There was not enough information to show that the old railway bridge could be safely removed, they said.

Planning officials voiced support for building homes on the site but concluded: “This application has been under consideration for too long. By virtue of its size, topography and relationship with the highway, it is not a site which is easily suited to residential development. This is amply demonstrated by the number of objections received from surrounding residents, particularly those in Swiss Drive.

“It has been agreed that in the interests of achieving additional housing for the city, a recommendation that residential development could be regarded as acceptable on the site if a suitable access and highways solution could be found.

However, such a solution cannot be found and as a consequence, planning permission cannot be recommended.”

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Bright idea in the shower gelled new men’s brand

Blue O’Connor’s crowdfunding appeal for to set up his new brand, Kings, is almost half way to its £10,000 target

WHEN IS an aftershave more than an appealing fragrance?

When it’s part of a new brand with a mission – to help men with mental health problems.

Bedminster entrepreneur Blue O’Connor is appealing for backers for his new brand, Kings, which he describes as “an ethical aftershave and grooming brand with a mission to empower men to live healthier and happier lives”. Blue, the father of a

idea, came the hard work of creating the product. Using his business experience, he set up focus groups and worked with them for months, trying lots of different fragrances and finally whittled it down to three.

Work on branding was done

by Bristol creative house Konichiwa. The fragrances are ethically produced in the UK from natural ingredients and are vegan and cruelty-free.

The first to be launched “is a summer fragrance which is mainstream but has its own identity – the focus groups called it fresh, sharp, light, floral – it’s very summery,” he said. “For winter, we will launch a darker and heavier scent.”

You can see more of the new Kings range at the website below, where there are also details of the brand’s crowdfunding appeal. tinyurl.com/kings-shave

ANOTHER BEAUTY BLUE O’CONNOR isn’t the only South Bristol entrepreneur trying to put a more ethical face on the beauty and grooming industry.

Corrine Thomas of Knowle has set up an online store to promote brands like Kings, many of them handmade, and all with a social conscience. rare-beauty.co.uk

seven-month-old son, knows a thing or two about setting up a business – he works full-time as an adviser to start-up companies in Bristol.

When he had what he thought was a brilliant idea in the shower for a new kind of aftershave brand, he followed it up.

“I had this idea in the shower – I couldn’t find an aftershave I wanted to buy that matched my values,” he told the Voice.

“After putting in 40-60 hours of research I thought, there’s no one doing this, I’m going to do it!”

There are other brands of men’s toiletries with an ethical edge, such as the Body Shop and Lush, but they are not specifically male, said Blue.

He goes further than most by promising to donate 20 per cent of profits into male mental health. “I’m very passionate about men’s mental health. There

was a period in my mid 20s when I was a bit low and really suffering,” he said.

Blue was then an aerospace engineer but he decided it wasn’t really for him – “I was able to go travelling and get a bit of perspective. But not everyone is as fortunate,” he said. After the

Swings fun day is off – but the appeal goes on AN ATTEMPT to raise money to replace the much-missed swings in Greville Smyth park has been cancelled because it looked likely that too few people would support it.

The Voice reported in March how fitness instructor and ulra-marathon runner Dan Blythe announced plans to organise a family fun day in the park on June 10 to raise the £6,000 needed.

He planned fun runs for children, an adult running event and food and music to keep everyone entertained.

But though the idea got shared lots of times on Facebook, not enough people came forward to get involved.

Not daunted, Dan has dropped the idea of the fun day but still plans to do his bit for the swings.

He’s running 100 miles at the Cotswold 24-hour Endurance event in August.

“I am very sorry to cancel.

Thank you to everyone who has

Empty space: Where the swings could stand again if appeal works contributed. I genuinely thought from initial responses to my idea that we would hit our target of £6,000, but we would be a long way off this,” he said.

To contribute to the swings appeal – and Dan’s incredible effort – go to tinyurl.com/gpswings

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

June 2018

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LAUN CHI N G 9 TH J U NE 2 01 8

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June 2018

Family of tragic Freddie welcome minister to trailer safety summit A FAMILY who lost their threeyear-old son in a Bedminster road accident hope that their campaigning will prevent others having to suffer as they have.

Donna and Scott Hussey’s son Freddie died in January 2014 in Parson Street, not far from their home, after Donna had dropped his older brother off at school.

A two-tonne trailer broke free from a Land Rover and ran Freddie over. He could not be saved. Donna and Scott have spent the past four years campaigning with the hashtag #towsafe4freddie with the help of Bristol South MP Karin Smyth.

On April 26 this year, Ms Smyth brought the Husseys, plus roads minister Jesse Norman and a host of industry experts and civil servants, to debate what can be done in a trailer safety summit at Broad Plain rugby club in Bedminster.

The DVLA has made the Hussey family the face of their trailer safety campaign. So far all the changes – such as advice for

MP hopeful of change in law after Lords back tighter rules on trailers trailer owners – have been voluntary. The Husseys and Ms Smyth have asked for mandatory testing of smaller trailers, but the Government has resisted so far.

Ms Smyth told the Voice the DVLA still wants to see data showing that changing the law would improve safety. But after a debate in the House of Lords on April 17 asking ministers to look again at the evidence, a trailer MOT appears to be edging closer.

Compulsory testing is the goal, Ms Smyth said. “Experts in the Lords were moved by this case and recognised this was an opportunity to look at the evidence.”

She paid tribute to Donna and Scott Hussey, saying they had shown “amazing fortitude”.

“It is a real credit to them that

Minister Jesse Norman, Donna and Scott Hussey and Karin Smyth MP we have been able to do all that we have and highlighted trailer safety,” she said.

Mr Norman told the Voice he had found speaking to the Husseys about their experience “intensely moving”.

“They have had an experience no one can imagine, coming out of nowhere on a perfectly ordinary day – a mother walking her child home from school. You really struggle to see how that can be something that anyone can deal with. I think they have been very strong to have got through as they have, and to push forward into a campaign that has already had a significant effect.”

Asked about whether it is time now to introduce compulsory testing for trailers, Mr Norman said the regulations are part of EU law and can’t be changed easily.

“There have been changes already, but we have more to do,” he said.

Donna and Scott said: “We are pleased to have met with the minister today. He was really moved by what he heard, and has

Art trail that just keeps getting better THE SOUTHBANK art trail on May 12 and 13 was the busiest yet. The Southville Centre – the largest venue –reported more than 400 visitors an hour.

They hosted 33 artists and craftspeople, with children’s workshops, an acapella group and, to add to the mix, Kate’s Kitchen, the centre’s café, sold out of cake.

Thousands more crowded other large venues such as the Tobacco Factory and dozens of artists’ homes. The art trail is one of Bristol’s oldest and is in its 16th year.

pledged to carry forward the work we have been doing.

“It was also great to see so many agencies working together, and to discuss the progress we have made – and how we can carry this work on.

“Nothing will bring Freddie back, but we hope that this work can help others.”

The Husseys live not far from Broad Plain rugby club and visited often. Freddie called it his garden.

Now a plaque, Freddie’s Garden, and a picture of Freddie have pride of place on the clubhouse.

Just before the Voice went to press, Ms Smyth added: “The last few weeks have seen further progress, with trailer safety and Freddie’s story being discussed in the Lords, while I spoke in the Commons of the need for tighter trailer safety regulations.

“With an appetite for change in Parliament, a minister willing to engage and the tireless determination of Donna and Scott, I am hopeful that we will continue to make progress.”

Vale walkabout

Hanging around: Ruth Crackett sets up her display in the Old Bookshop.

You can find her at crackettart.com and on Instagram @crackettart

THE NEXT walkabout in Ashton Vale will cover Langley Crescent, the end of Ashton Drive and part of South Liberty Lane. It’s on Thursday June 7, when members of Ashton Vale Together will meet at the bus stop on Langley Crescent at 10am.

They will be collecting litter, looking for dog mess and recording any problems with the pavements and roads.

“All are welcome to take part or just come over and tell us about any concerns you may have,” said a spokesperson.

The group meets next on Tuesday June 19 at Ashton Vale Community Centre, Risdale Road, from 7-8.30pm.

Facebook: Ashton Vale Together

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk 16/05/2018 15:56

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June 2018

southbristolvoice

n PLANNING APPLICATIONS

house by 4.6m, of maximum height 3.8m and eaves of 3m.

Granted

Bedminster ward Awaiting decision 43 Raynes Road BS3 2DJ Single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear wall of the house by 6m, of maximum height 3m with eaves 3m high.

31 West Street, Bedminster BS3 3NS Roof alterations to create additional upper floor.

58-60 Avonleigh Road BS3 3JA Rear dormer window roof extension.

16B Chessel Street BS3 3DP Use of part of 18 Chessel Street for parking.

42 Silbury Road BS3 2QF Side and rear extension, and outbuilding for kennels.

63 Garnet Street BS3 3JU Loft conversion with rear dormer extension.

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96 Smyth Road BS3 2DP Single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear of the house by 5m, of maximum height 3.4m with eaves 3m high.

4 Banwell Road BS3 2DW Single storey rear extension, two storey side extension and attic conversion.

21 Irby Road BS3 2LZ Two storey side and part rear extension with a rear roof extension to the main roof.

HELP TO BUY AVAILABLE £394,950 £19,747.50 £78,990 £296,212.50 *£981.00

*Based on a mortgage repayment term of 35 years. Prices and terms shown correct at time of going to press. Illustration refers to Mews House 13. Mortgage repayments must be made regularly or you could stand to lose your home. Ability to obtain a mortgage is subject to qualifying criteria. Mortgage payment amount is based on an average 2 year fixed rate mortgage.

Why settle for a flat when you could own a house?

Bedminster ward Decided 115 Luckwell Road BS3 3ET Single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear of the

135 Swiss Drive BS3 2RR Single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear of the house by 5.5m, of maximum height 3.5m with eaves of 2.6m.

Granted

0117 946 9838

50 Birch Road BS3 1PF Rear and side return extension and ground floor remodelling.

27 Dean Lane BS3 1DB Details for condition 2 (Construction management plan) of planning permission 16/05607/F for one and a half storey dwelling in rear garden. Granted

Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster BS3 4EA Refurbishment of nursery kitchen and staff room, demolition of storage building and replacement with new staff facilities.

80 Swiss Drive BS3 2RW Demolition of garage and replacement with new garage/ workshop. Granted subject to conditions

79 East Street, Bedminster BS3 4EX Conversion from two flats to four studio/1-bed flats and alterations to windows.

6 Longmoor Road BS3 2NZ Rear and side extension.

Granted subject to conditions Southville ward Awaiting decision Former Bedminster Library, Bedminster Parade BS3 4AQ Details for conditions 2 (External and internal finishes), 3 (Paint), 4 (Method statement), 5 (Drawings), 6 (Internal decoration) and 7 (Ornamental plaster) of permission 17/05993/ LA: change of use to gym, internal alterations including

89 Greenway Bush Lane BS3 1SG Replacement of roof to provide an extra storey of living accommodation.

86 Bedminster Parade BS3 4HL Demolition of rear two storey annexe and erection of single storey rear extension as part of proposed change of use of banking hall to use class A3 (Restaurants and cafés).

Southville ward Decided 17 Duckmoor Road BS3 2DD Certificate of lawfulness for existing use: residential (Use

15-21 Bartley Street BS3 4DY Demolition of warehouse and construction of a block of apartments. Granted subject to conditions Land at Herbert Street and Catherine Mead Street Details for conditions 2 (Construction management), 3 (SUDS), 4 (Landscape), 5 (Drawings), 6 (Materials), 7 (Lighting), 8 (Contamination), 9 (Remediation) and 10 (Implementation remediation) of permission 17/00305/F: Two blocks containing six twobedroom houses. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 Granted; 3, 8, 9, 10 Refused 12-14 Lower Sidney Street BS3 1SW Demolition of warehouse and replacement with a dwelling house (Use class C3). Granted subject to conditions Workshop, Back Road BS3 1SU Details for conditions 2 (Construction management), 3 (Contamination) and 4 (Remediation) of permission 17/03083/F: Conversion of factory to two 2-bedroom houses.

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

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installation of mezzanine levels, and external alterations.

62 Winterstoke Road BS3 2NW Single storey rear extensions to replace the existing conservatory and form a new kitchen diner, utility room and downstairs WC. Granted subject to conditions

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Land next to 6 Beauley Road BS3 1PX Details in relation to conditions 2 (Remediation scheme), 3 (Implementation remediation scheme), 4 (SUDS) and 5 (Further details) of permission 15/02852/F: demolition of garage adjoining 6 Beauley Road and erection of a 3-storey dwelling providing three 2-bed flats and parking.

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44 28

FEATURE n ADVERTISING ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

May, June 2018 2018 PRIVATE HEALTHCARE

Health & Well-being comingoftocataracts Bristol There’s no need to live Fair in theisshadow

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ATARACTS are the world’sFair THE Bristol Health & Wellbeing leading cause is coming to our cityof inblindness, a bid to and surgery to remove them encourage living well at all stages is the most regularly performed of life. operation in theand UK.Well-being More than The Health 300,000 cataract fair will be takingoperations place on are carried out inJune, England each year. As Saturday 9th between part Cataract Awareness Month, 10amof-4pm at Double Tree Hilton, which runs throughout June, Redcliffe in Bristol. This event eye experts are encouraging people to will be highlighting a number know the symptoms to seek of initiatives that will and encourage advice they think they and are overall health,ifwellness, fitness developing wellbeing tocataracts. the people of Bristol.

Mr Phil Jaycock, a consultant Spire Bristol Hospital and St ophthalmic surgeon at Spire Bristol Peter’s Hospice are proud to be Hospital, explained that although working together to bring this cataracts are common, they event to Bristol.

There will becan a be treated to restore numbersuccessfully of talks throughout the vision. said: “Cataract day onHe a variety of healthAwareness topics.

Month gives uswill a good opportunity These sessions be hosted by to make people awarefrom of theSpire Consultant specialists symptoms and reminds peoplea of Bristol Hospital and will cover the importance eye that may be variety of healthoftopics examinations. of interest to you.

“A cataract is clouding of the These leadinga Bristol based eye’s natural many lens, which lies behind consultants, who work the theare pupil.

Basically, the withiris theand NHS, inviting you to lens intoand a sharp listenfocuses to theirlight advice welcome image onthe theopportunity retina, whichtorelays you with ask messages the optic nerve questions through surrounding your health.

to the brain.talks If thewill lensinclude is cloudy Designated the from a cataract, following topics:the image you see will be blurry. ” • Women’s Health (Pelvic Floor and Cataracts develop slowly and Incontinence) hence symptoms areConcerns, gradual in • Men’sthe Health (Prostate onset. include blurred toiletSymptoms urges) or misty vision, glare around lights, • Irritable Bowl Syndrome (IBS) and poor vision in low light and • Knee Pain faded You may experience • Back colours.

Pain difficulty • Hip Painwith reading and driving, especially in low light. If you wear • Heart Problems glasses, you may feel your lenses • Breast Cancer are constantly dirty and need • Hernia Concerns cleaning.

• Skin - moles, benign skin lesions addition andInskin cancerto causing problems withThe your vision, advancedsome day will highlight cataracts may make difficult of what Bristol has toitoffer in to assess conditions that affect the the realm of Health & Wellbeing retina andinitiatives optic nerve such as that services, or products diabetes and glaucoma.

While most will encourage health, wellness, cataracts develop as a result fitness and overall wellbeingof for ageing, cataracts may be inherited, all. A variety of exhibitor’s stalls occur as a result of trauma, from & workshops will be available to using medications such asliving steroids explore, all to encourage or occur secondary to diabetes. well at all stages of life. The first involvesthe removing the 500“Surgery visitors through door will cloudy and replacing it with a receivelens a fantastic Spire Bristol clear artificial In the shopping bagone. packed fullpast of monofocal replacement lenses relevant information & samples, were predominantly used. including delicious tea samples

Cataracts: Know the symptoms Monofocal lenses are able to improve distance vision or near vision, but not both. More recently, multifocal that can achieve from Pukkalenses Herbs! bothAllnear and distance donations raised vision from as well toricand lenses thaton can correct theseastalks others the astigmatism have been used,” day will benefit the St Peter’s explained Mr Jaycock.

Hospice Room to Care Appeal.

Prior to theabout surgery, scansonly for To learn more Bristol’s evaluating theand dimensions of the adult hospice their appeal, eye are carried out, which help the visit www.roomtocare.co.uk surgeon tolimited precisely calculate the Due to space in each power the replacement lens talk theoforganisers are asking required. surgery usually attendee The to book places ontotakes a

less than 20 minutes and is performed, in the vast majority of cases, under local anaesthetic.

In the largest study of its kind, Mr Jaycock published a paper on the outcomes of 55,567 cataract operations. This work has updated national and international benchmarks for cataract surgery.

Patients are usually home within a few hours and an improvement in vision may be noticed within the first days after the surgery. It is advisable to take a week off work.

“The latest innovations in cataract surgery allow a rapid restoration of sight and allow patients to enjoy their hobbies and day-to-day life with each talk prior to thereduced fair. Although dependency on glasses everyone is welcome toand explore contact lenses,stalls. ” added Mr Jaycock. the exhibitor To book your •place, Spire Bristol Hospital are inviting please visit either the St the public to a free patient Peter’s Hospice website (www. information evening on Monday stpetershospice.org.uk) or Spire June 25.Hospital Mr Jaycock will talk about Bristol website (www. blurry vision and cataract spirebristol.com) and signtreatment. up to To book event please call a talk viaonto the the Eventbrite booking 0117 980 4080 or email info@ platform. spirebristol.com

June 2018

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n THE MAYOR

MARVIN REES Mayor of Bristol

We’re creating extra school places to deliver for our young

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NABLING our city’s young people to get off to the best start in life and raising aspirations for all is one of my key priorities. My administration, particularly my cabinet lead for education and skills, Cllr Anna Keen, is working hard with our Learning City partners on this agenda.

Central to this is increasing school places as demand is reaching an all-time high. In the past few years over 10,000 additional places have been created in Bristol.

We are looking to expand existing secondary schools to meet demand, while working in partnership with other organisations to build new schools. One example of this is the plan approved at a recent cabinet meeting to spend £25 million on a new secondary school in Bristol. CST

Trinity Academy is set to be built on land adjoining Stoke Park primary school in Lockleaze. It will be run by Cathedral Schools Trust, which already runs a number of other schools in the region, including Bristol Cathedral Choir School. It is planned to open for Year 7 students in September 2019, growing year-on-year to an eventual capacity of 1,220 students, including a sixth-form.

We have also approved £1.7 million to expand Bristol Brunel Academy by 80 places – 16 per year group – at the school in Speedwell Road over the next five years. Both of these initiatives are funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

Work is currently under way at Cotham and St Bede’s schools to provide more places by the end of this year. We know that we need new schools in South Bristol and East Central Bristol as a priority, and are in conversation with the ESFA to ensure plans are being developed which are right for Bristol.

As well as this, Whitehall primary school has expanded its capacity by a third and is now able to accept 30 extra pupils each year.

The project was delivered through a partnership between Bristol City Council, the Local Enterprise Partnership and Skanska, and is a great example of working collaboratively to achieve the best outcome.

As well as increasing school places, we are working to raise aspirations in secondary school pupils by ensuring meaningful career and work choices are widely available. Last week, I visited my old school, City Academy, to celebrate the Bristol WORKS programme.

WORKS is a Bristol Learning City Partnership initiative, a unique collaboration between employers, learning providers and communities. It is designed to help students experience work in a whole new way, to raise aspirations and help to develop a skilled local workforce. Four new schools are set to take part during the next academic year, which marks real progress in delivering for Bristol’s young people.

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June 2018

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n ADVICE COLUMNSFROM

A PHARMACIST If you’re going abroad, it makes sense to plan ahead

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RE YOU planning a trip abroad? Maybe for a gap year, holiday, religious pilgrimage or business trip?

Would you like to get your vaccinations and travel medicines at the best price, time and citywide location possible?

That’s what we are offering at the Bedminster Pharmacy Bristol Travel Clinic. An estimated 35 million travellers jet off without seeking any medical advice. Please don’t put your health at risk.

Malaria, hepatitis, rabies,

cholera and Japanese encephalitis are only some of the travel-related diseases that we can help protect you from.

Discovering another country’s health system as a patient, when you are a long way from home, is no holiday maker’s dream. The additional cost and anxiety are all part of the nightmare. Our travel clinic is run by NHS-regulated professionals providing expert advice you can rely on.

Using our service means you are supporting our communityfocused award-winning pharmacy and enabling us to donate to our charity partner WaterAid. Eight weeks before your trip is the recommended time to seek health advice but if it is late, don’t panic. We offer same-day, lastminute appointments.

We also now have partner locations across the city and in

n NEWS

Turn it orange: Campaigning to raise awareness of meningitis South Glos too. So please spread the word to family and friends. Call us free on 0800 7723575.

Meningitis e are pleased to announce that we are partnering with the Meningitis Now charity to support their work.

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Down on the Farm News from Windmill Hill City Farm with Beccy Golding

Thanks to everyone that supported our ‘‘turn it orange’’ meningitis awareness day. Do come in to pick up a symptoms card and find out more about this disease that still takes young lives and causes long-term disability.

The Meningitis B vaccination, the only prevention available for this strain of the disease, is only offered by the NHS to children born after 2015. Did you know we offer the lowest-priced Meningitis B vaccination service in the city? We now have people travelling from outside the city to use our service. Call 0800 7723575 for more details.

This article by Ade Williams of Bedminster Pharmacy aims to show how all pharmacies can help people with a variety of health conditions and ease pressure on GPs and the rest of the NHS.

windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk

Pitch perfect

T

HE FARM have invested £25,000 of the charity’s funds into a new 3G sports pitch which will open on June 1.

Work was carried out in May to install the high quality, shockabsorbing surface which will enhance the sporting experience for local teams. The goals and fence have also been repaired.

Lloyd James, who plays football for Exeter City and is the son of Vicky James, who used to work in the farm nursery and who sadly died last year, will be cutting the ribbon at an opening ceremony, and will be the new pitch’s patron.

The future of the pitch was uncertain last year when Bristol

City Council said there were potential funds for a new nursery. The project proved to be unachievable and the farm decided to improve this popular community resource instead.

Not all bard he Handlebards – the cycling acting troupe – will be performing their versions of Romeo and Juliet on June 6 and 7 with an all-female cast, and Twelfth Night on June

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Do you know anyone who’d like to read but doesn’t get it delivered?

Now they can subscribe, and get every issue delivered by post!

It costs £30 per year for 12 issues to a UK address: to find out more, email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk • South Bristol Voice prints 19,550 copies each month in two editions: Totterdown, Knowle & Windmill Hill and Bedminster, Southville & Ashton. If you have a query about delivery, email the above address.

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Wanted: 10 young people who seek an arts career THEATRE is only for the middle classes, right? Well, the folk at the Tobacco Factory disagree, and to prove it they are offering 10 youngsters from less affluent parts of South Bristol a year-long immersion in the art world.

Called Young Producers, the new scheme is open to anyone aged 16 to 25 who lives in Knowle, Hartcliffe, Bedminster Down, Withywood and Filwood.

It’s also open to anyone aged 16-25 from a BAME (black and minority ethnic) background from any part of Bristol.

Young people will see lots of live shows, meet important people from Bristol’s artistic community, and learn every aspect of staging a performance – culminating in them taking over the Factory theatre for a show in 2019.

It builds on 18 months of community work by the theatre’s Get Involved director Bryony Roberts and producer Ailee Debonnaire. “We want a real mix

COMMUNITY TAKEOVERS

Aiming high: Young Producers, left, learn all areas of stage work

project – a show to be performed at the Factory theatre in April 2019.

And in a Schools Takeover show next year, a professional director will work with students from special education centres across South Bristol.

There will also be young people’s holiday activities, Play in a Day events, summer schools, and for adults more workshops and Inside events, which give an insight into the theatre’s main shows.

• Help with the costs of learning the arts is available to young people who can’t afford to pay, thanks to the theatre’s Dan Hickey Access Fund.

lifelong interest in the arts – whether they want to work as an artist or work behind the scenes, they will have developed skills that are really transferable.”

The scheme is being run in collaboration with The Park community centre in Daventry Road, Knowle, where some of the

activities will take place.

Those taking part will be able to gain an Arts Award qualification, the arts world’s equivalent of the Duke of Edinburgh programme, which is recognised by employers. Apply at tobaccofactorytheatres.com/ young-producers/ by June 25.

THE TOBACCO Factory is unveiling several other community ventures.

A 50-strong community choir began meeting at the Park centre in May, and will take part in one of the theatre’s shows in the autumn.

The Young Theatre Makers (YTM) programme is growing – from the autumn there will be two groups for 7-10 year-olds, one for 11-13s, and one for 14-19s.

A new group, YTM Perform, will gather 13-19 year-olds to work through the winter on a special

of people so there is lots of cross-learning,” said Ailee. “We want to hear from people who may never have been to theatre on their own.” They may have an interest in acting, backstage work, or being a singer or musician.

“We hope they will develop a

Swing high: The new dragon swing was put up with help from volunteers from Ovo 8 and 9, with an all-male cast.

It’s part of Bristol Shakespeare festival. Tickets £16/£13 concs.

Here be dragons new dragon swing has been erected in the adventure playground, with help from Ovo volunteers.

Ovo, the energy company based in Temple Meads, has selected the farm as its charity of the year, and has been sending teams to carry out practical work sessions over the last few months.

All fired up oodFireEarth supper is a new regular pop-up food event at the farm.

Genevieve Taylor, described as a fire-obsessed food writer, is joined by award-winning chef/ cookery teacher Jo Ingleby. For their first event on June 30, Jo and Genevieve will take over the farm café, outdoor kitchen and wood-fired pizza oven to create a seasonal, spicy feast using plenty of produce from the farm

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and its allotments. There’ll also be a chance to see behind the scenes on a mini tour of the farm, gardens and animals. Cost: £35.

Dream business or National Freelancers Day on June 28, Freelance Mum and the IPSE (The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed) are hosting a celebration event at the farm, with a mini festival vibe promised. (More details in What’s On, page 44.)

Mind how you go n June 23 there’s a one-day introduction to mindfulness course.

Develop tools to help you create more space within yourself and in your home environment.

This secular session introduces techniques such as abdominal breathing, mindful movements, and grounding, as well as some pair work. Cost: £42 (+£2.17 booking fee).

F

O

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

n YOUR COUNCILLORS

I

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WENT to a talk about plastic waste the other week, organised by the most-excellent Bedminster Charlie Energy group (they Bolton hold events most Green Tuesday nights Southville at the Snug at the Tobacco Factory).

Anyway, it follows the renewed interest in plastic, following the campaign by the likes of City to Sea and, of course, David Attenborough. The talk by Richard Lancaster of Greenpeace highlighted the damage done by plastic waste and the real problems caused to wildlife – some of it quite shocking.

He also pointed out that plastic breaks down but does not disappear. We are starting to see it everywhere. We are already eating it. Not only does not much of it get recycled, but you can only recycle it once (or maybe twice), as it deteriorates. The good news is, most of us now

Southville

think plastic is a bad thing.

(Environmentalists have been warning about excess packaging for decades, to little avail, but at least now it is an issue).

The question is, what can you do about it? I’d suggest that ultimately it is: adjust your behaviour as a consumer.

Locally, you could join the Facebook group BS3 Plastic Free to share experiences, ask questions and get advice.

Beyond that, try out the zero waste shop, Zero Green, if you haven’t already (and I believe the Deli is creating a similar area at the other end of North Street).

You could consider getting your milk delivered in glass bottles, rather than buying tetrapaks.

But mainly – just challenge it.

If you have a choice of purchase, buy the low-waste version.

A second side to this is food waste. Bristol is ‘going for gold’ as a sustainable food city. Food is wasted everywhere – but we, as consumers, throw away vast amounts of it. So who is up for finding ways of cutting this down?

How to contact your councillor: p2

T

HE ISSUE of homelessness is is an uncomfortable one; we all see the tents on the Stephen side of the New Clarke Cut, and probably Green have a mixture of Southville emotions. Pity, relief it’s not us, maybe concerns about the people’s vulnerability.

Anyway, Jasper Thompson has decided to do something about it. He has wangled a bit of space out of a developer near Bedminster Green and, through hard work, initiative and other people’s generosity, he has developed an admirable scheme to help homeless people. He has a double decker bus (donated by First – well done them) to sleep up to 12 people for a night or two.

The main part of the project is a collection of shipping containers converted into excellent living accommodation where people can stay until they stabilise their lives. There are even plans for

houses to be built off-site to take people onto the next stage of their housing journey. Well done Jasper; we salute you!

Another campaign I support is Adblock Bristol, a group opposed to billboards and other corporate outdoor advertising.

A number of very large digital advertising displays are being proposed in central Bristol (think the size of a double-decker bus to get the scale). These should be stopped for a number of reasons: firstly they are dangerous (a study in Sweden found that they distract a driver for up to two seconds). They are visual pollution in public areas. They are very carbon-intensive with up to 10,000 LED bulbs, using the same power as up to 30 houses.

There are proven links between advertising of unrealistic body images and mental health issues.

And finally, this kind of advertising can manipulate children. Studies suggest that most children younger than 7 or 8 cannot differentiate between factual content and advertising.

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June 2018

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n YOUR COUNCILLORS

Bedminster

T

Mental health HIS month will see another conversation about Mental Health in the city. This will bring together local partnerships and individuals from across the country, who are working to improve mental health in our area. Thrive Bristol aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of everyone in Bristol and currently has 11 work streams which will begin to tackle the issues raised.

It is a new 10-year programme and will focus on those with the greatest need. It covers all ages and considers mental health in its broadest sense, from initiatives to improve the whole population’s wellbeing to interventions for people experiencing mental illness.

It will focus on how a city can keep you well, not just the NHS. The Bristol programme will learn from what has gone before and is already part of the global Thrive Cities, which include New York, London and the West Midlands.

We know that we have to look

Mark Bradshaw Labour Bedminster

33

Celia Phipps Labour Bedminster

at the bigger picture to support the wellbeing of a city. Sadly, we have factual data that supports the need for action as a priority for the city. Bristol has a higher number of people with mental ill health than the country as a whole and has higher rates of suicide and self harm compared with other cities in the UK. We know that you cannot talk about a thriving economy and good employment without talking about good mental health.

We have begun to calculate what mental ill health costs Bristol financially, in partnership with the Centre for Mental Health. The economic and social costs of mental health are

How to contact your councillor: p2

estimated at £1.37 billion per year across the city, and more is spent by our health service on the indirect costs of mental health than on the direct cost of treatment. Early intervention and prevention is key to supporting those with difficulties and we will ensure that this is acknowledged as part of the local transformation of NHS services.

So, it’s Time to Change and pick up the challenge. Celia is working with the council’s public health team and chairs the Bristol Anti Stigma Alliance, which works to reduce the stigma associated with mental ill health. In the next few months, the city will see new opportunities including a rollout of Mental Health First Aid, and the growth of the Bristol Time to Change local hub, initially focusing on men and BAME (black and minority ethnic) groups.

Alongside this, the Centre for Mental Health is developing a Thrive strand for children and young people, building on the

events that have already happened. It seems that Bristol is keen to take part in Thrive, as all the events have been oversubscribed and very well attended. Bristol has been invited to take part in the national Kings Fund Conference on mental health and Celia will take part in a panel session early in the event.

It’s definitely a Watch This Space and we hope to bring you more updates via the Voice over the coming months.

You can find out more about the Anti Stigma Allliance at basabristol.co.uk t’s good to talk, so we are available to assist constituents in Bedminster and always happy to hear your suggestions about how we can make our community better. We regularly join coffee mornings and sessions at Gaywood House in North Street. Our drop-in surgery in Mezzaluna on West Street is on the first Saturday of every month from 10.30-11.30am, or contact us on Facebook: @MarkandCeliaforBedminster

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June 2018

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n NEWS

Scouts enjoy a scorcher

Weekend of fun: South Bristol scouts tried a host of outdoor activities SCOUTS from across South Bristol met in their hundreds on the May Day bank holiday to enjoy a circus-themed Jamboree.

Beaver Scouts, Cubs, Scouts, Explorer Scouts, Scout Network members and adult volunteers from the Bristol South district took part in a host of activities over their action-packed weekend. “The scorching sun all

Win a e Composit r o Do ze Pri w r Da

weekend helped to ensure that the young people had a great time taking part in many activities and making new friends” said a spokesman.

The event took place at Scout Adventures Woodhouse Park at Almondsbury.

You can find out more about joining scouting by calling 0345 300 1818.

Childr en Game ’s s

IT’S VOLUNTEER Week from June 1-7, and the helpful people at BS3 Helping Others are celebrating by rewarding their longest-serving volunteer.

Members are giving a bunch of flowers, donated by Ivory Flowers on North Street, to Gerry Prescott.

“Gerry has been quietly helping the BS3 community for many years from helping out at the local care home, to supporting lunch clubs and dementia residents, knitting for charities and many more activities,” said a spokesperson for the group.

BS3 Helping Others was set up by Catherine Wescott when she moved to Bristol in 2014 and didn’t know anyone in the city.

She put a post on the BS3 Connect Facebook page asking “Does anyone need any help?”

Catherine received 250 likes in 24 hours and 40 comments! A

Flowers: Gerry Prescott kind person set up a Facebook group for Catherine and over time people started to help each other out, communicating via social media.

“The vision of BS3 Helping Others is to bring individuals and community together for everyone’s benefit. Catherine’s firm belief is that you do not need money to make things happen but everyone has gifts and talents to give,” said a spokesperson.

To find out more, visit one of the regular meet-up sessions at the Tobacco Factory café every Tuesday at 10.15am or visit Facebook: BS3 Helping Others

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35

THE STORY OF ASHTON VALE

Football, coal and the railways – the forces that have shaped Ashton Vale

Reward for our longest-serving volunteer

ASHTON Vale is a curious place – one of South Bristol’s newest suburbs, where most of the houses were built between the wars, yet one with a hugely significant history which has influenced the whole city.

Until last year it was almost cut off, with only two roads in, both from Winterstoke Road.

Now there’s a through-route from the South Bristol Link Road, which has brought its own problems as well as advantages.

Many residents have lived there for decades precisely because they appreciate its peaceful aspect on the edge of the countryside, and the lack of through traffic.

But Ashton Vale is changing, and it’s soon about to change much more. The surrounding open space is already being eaten up by new transport links and, if current plans are accepted, even parts of the Green Belt will not be safe.

The Ashton Vale of 10 years time could be superficially the same – retaining its quiet residential roads, its school and its church – but surrounded by housing estates, modern transport links and new businesses.

Time, then, to look back at the history of Ashton Vale, and then to see what it might look like in 15 years.

T

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HE Vale of Ashton was once just a part of the parish of Bedminster, for centuries a more important place than Bristol itself. Bedminster Down, just a short skip from Ashton Vale, was settled by the Romans, and West Street is thought to be a Roman road.

The Vale is likely to have been cultivated as farmland then – though parts of it would have been marshy, as the River Malago was then prone to flooding, and the streams we now know as Collier’s Brook, Ashton Brook and Longmoor Brook would not have been so well controlled.

By Saxon times, Bedminster was a royal manor stretching from the Avon Gorge to Brislington. After the Norman

From this month, after many requests, the South Bristol Voice is being delivered to homes and businesses in Ashton Vale. To celebrate, we’re looking at the history of this hidden district on the edge of town conquest of 1066 the manor passed to the Norman kings. It was sparsely populated – the Domesday Book of 1086 records it had 25 villeins or peasant farmers, as well as three slaves and 27 smallholders. Between them they owned 10 ploughs, one cob (a small horse), nine cattle, 22 pigs and 115 sheep.

In 1154 Bedminster was given

by King Henry II to the Berkeley family, who built a manor house and kept hold of the estate for 300 years. In 1605 it was purchased by the Smyth family, who had bought the nearby estate of Ashton Court in 1545.

The Smyths remained the lords of Bedminster until the 19th century.

Throughout the centuries Ashton and Ashton Vale remained farmland, divided into strips much as in medieval times.

Only tiny snippets of information have survived – such as the fact Modern miracle: The Newcomen steam engine at South Liberty colliery was installed in 1750 and was kept working for an astonishing 150 years. This photo of the engine’s huge oak lifting beam was taken in 1895 PHOTO: Bristol Archives

that on October 5, 1331, the master of St Katherine’s hospital in Bedminster had somehow obtained land at Ashton from a Somerset noblemen, Alexander de Alneto.

This was considered an offence as he had done so

without permission – but he was pardoned anyway. The hospital was a powerful, church-backed institution which owned farmland in Ashton as well as Bedminster. It had been founded

by Robert de Berkeley some time before 1219, to care for “the sick

and infirm and the needy traveller”. It stood somewhere on the main route of East Street, near what was then known as Brightbow Bridge.

Bedminster continued to be an important Somerset town, on Continued overleaf

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June 2018

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n HISTORY

THE STORY OF ASHTON VALE

A VERY SPECIAL AREA

New age: The primary school built at Ashton Vale in the early 1950s was light and airy, a far cry from its Victorian forebears

“A

SHTON Vale is an often forgotten part of Bedminster, on the very south-western edge of Bristol. It has approximately 650-700 homes, a mix of council and private. There is also a large number of Industrial units on South Liberty Lane.

It is served by one school, Ashton Vale primary in Avebury Road. It also has a church, community centre, youth club, social club, a pre-school and Bristol Indoor Bowling Club.

A number of families have lived in the area for many years due to the fact that Ashton Vale is a very quiet, special area.

There are only two ways into the area, both off Winterstoke Road. Generally, people only come into the area because they live here, they are visiting someone or they work in the industrial estate.

It used to have fields around it on three sides and families would enjoy the fields for picnics and watching wildlife. Alas, over a number of years these fields have gradually become less. Part of

PHOTO: Bristol Archives 40826/ SCH/1/3

some of the fields on one side were taken over by South Bristol Crematorium. Recently fields on the other two sides have been taken by the South Bristol Link road and the Metrobus route.

The opening of the South Bristol Link in May 2017 meant that the other end of Ashton Vale has

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been opened up. This has caused extra through traffic, some of which doesn’t have any respect for the 20mph speed limit in the area.

Extra cars are now parking in the area on Bristol City match days, some of which park near to and on corners, causing our only bus service, the 24, to stop coming into

Ashton Vale. This is happening with attendances of under 25,000 at the stadium, which has a capacity of 27,000. The buses then only run as far as Winterstoke Road, where they drop off and pick up Ashton Vale residents, a number of whom are old, and some disabled.”

Alan Pratley, Ashton Vale Together

Continued from page 35 a par with Frome and Glastonbury. But as related in the February issue of the Voice, its prosperity was dealt a fatal blow when it was burned to the ground during the Civil War in 1645.

Even the important church of St John the Baptist – the mother church to St Mary Redcliffe – was destroyed.

The Vale of Ashton, though was still farmland, and over the next century the citizens of Bristol began to find a more valuable resource in Ashton than

any agricultural crop – coal.

Coal was first extracted in the Bristol area by the Romans, so it’s quite possible that isolated workings were made in Ashton Vale during this time. The first written record of coal being extracted in the Bristol area was in 1223, in Kingswood, where coal could be found near the surface. But the coal in South Bristol is mainly overlaid by sandstone, and it’s more probable that it was first discovered in quantity by men digging for iron ore further up

JUST ONE DEATH AMONG HUNDREDS

their feet. A second run of water came an hour later. It was perhaps a miracle that more did not die.

Often the deaths were more mundane. Edwin Garland, 29, died at the Ashton Vale colliery on May 1, 1903, crushed when a section of coal weighting a ton or more fell on him. Moses Cowcill, the manager both of Ashton Vale and South Liberty mines, was asked at the inquest whether the the tunnel should have been shored up. But the jury, as they almost always did, returned a verdict of accidental death.

Edwin left four children and a widow, Annie, who supported herself by selling coal from the yard at the back of her house in Jubilee Street, Bedminster.

U

NTOLD numbers died in Bristol mines over the centuries: authors Mike Taylor and Maggie Shapland counted 156 from 1847 on.

Of these, 43 were at Ashton Vale colliery, one at Ashton Vale iron works, three at Fraynes Pit, three at New Deep pit, and 28 at South Liberty.

Among the horror stories is the Ashton Vale collapse of 1892. Two men died – but 100 survived – when hewers at the coalface suddenly knocked their way into an old and unknown mine shaft.

Water gushed more than a mile into the mine, sweeping men off

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n HISTORY

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37

THE STORY OF ASHTON VALE

WHITE CITY – THE VALE’S WHITE ELEPHANT

T

HE TIMING couldn’t have been worse. In the summer of 1914, as Europe tipped towards war, an ornate city of timber and whitewash was designed to celebrate the British Empire and British business.

It occupied 30 acres on what was then known as Ashton Meadows, but struggled to attract visitors.

On the breakout of war, the exhibition closed and the centre became instead a recruiting station and training ground for thousands of troops on their way to the trenches. Yes, we’ll do a story on this in the future.

Ashton hill. Up to 10,000 tons a year was being extracted in the Bristol area even in Tudor times.

Coal was mainly used by blacksmiths, while householders preferred to burn wood, until the huge need for wood for shipbuilding led to a shortage of timber. By the 1680s it was estimated that 100,000 tones of coal a year was being dug out, as new industries such as sugar refining and glass making increased demand.

The first pit, later known as the Old Pit, was sunk near Yanley Lane, between the Vale and Long Ashton, in the 1720s. This land was owned by the Gore family of Barrow Court, Barrow Gurney.

Other pits bearing the Gore name, Gores Pit and (confusingly) Gores Old Pit, were sunk near South Liberty Lane, somewhere near today’s Ashton Vale town green.

RAIL IN THE VALE

A

SHTON Vale has been defined by its railway links – it has railway lines on two sides, and many businesses, from the collieries to packaging firm Ashton Containers, have benefited from their own rail links.

The irony is that you can’t now catch a train here. The mainline to Exeter, opened in 1841, never had a halt nearer than Bedminster station at Windmill Hill.

But the Portishead line, opened in 1867, acquired a new importance when Bristol City FC won promotion to Division 1 of the Football League in 1906. A wooden structure was built next to Winterstoke Road, known as Ashton Gate Platform.

‘Bristol’s Own’, part of the Gloucestershire Regiment, on parade at the White City in 1914-15. The disused, PHOTO: Bristol Archives BRO 43207/8/064 exhibition centre became a recruiting ground and training centre The Gores’ alliance by marriage with the Smyths of Ashton Court was to provide the foundation of the Bedminster coal industry.

In October’s South Bristol Voice, we related how an enterprising mining engineer, Henry Bennett, gambled that the rich coal seam which could be found near the surface at Kingswood could also be exploited in South Bristol.

When Arabella Smyth married Edward Gore some time before 1742, her dowry included land at Ashton Vale, which contained coal – already seen as a valuable bounty. But it took another, unrelated Smith to marry into the Ashton Court Smyths to found the coalfield dynasty.

Jarrit Smith (note the different spelling) was a lawyer who had worked on several cases relating to rights to coal It closed during World War 1, but reopened in 1926. Regular services halted with the Beeching cuts in 1964, but football specials continued to visit until 1977, when fans were instead told to get off at Parson Street.

Land has been set aside for a new Ashton Gate station alongside the new council homes at Alderman Moore’s. But, with huge cost overruns on reopening the line to Portishead, plans are well behind schedule. It is not clear that any new service to Ashton Gate could cope with the demands of thousands of football fans. Rolling stock, signalling and platforms would all have to cope with a sudden surge in numbers.

Any new station is years away.

extracting in East Bristol, which is where he met the colliery manager Bennett.

Jarrit married Florence Smyth, elder sister of Arabella, and inherited the Ashton Court estate in 1741. Before long he was made a baronet and was known as Sir Jarrit Smyth – having acquired the more sophisticated spelling along with his new title.

Smyth was convinced by Bennett’s argument that the Bristol coalfield could be profitably exploited from the farmland of Ashton. It was a colossal gamble, and one that could only be made by someone who could afford to lose a fortune.

Smyth sunk three deep shafts at South Liberty Lane, close to where the pedestrian footbridge now crosses the railway. In order to reach the Ashton Great coal seam, 460m below, he needed a downcast shaft 13ft in diameter, and upcast shaft 10ft across and a third shaft 6ft across for the pumping gear. These large apertures were needed for the ventilation, and to pump water out of the whole coalfield by use of a then-revolutionary Newcomen atmospheric engine, one of the very first steam engines. The cost of Sir Jarrit’s mining works is not known, but we do know that he paid £1,235 for another Newcomen engine in South Gloucestershire – equal to at least £2.3 million today.

Whatever the cost, the gamble paid off. The deep coalfields stretch from Dundry and Bedminster Down in the south, and under the River Avon to the north. The western extent was Long Ashton; to the east they got

to Temple Meads. A story – probably a little embellished over time – says that miners sent in on a Sunday to inspect the latest workings were startled to hear the rattle of wheels on a rail.

There should have been no trucks full of coal as the mine was empty; and it took them some time to work out that they had tunnelled directly under the station and it was trains that they were hearing!

I

n our earlier article on South Bristol’s mines we didn’t have space to mention all the mine workings even in the Ashton area. The first known shafts were the Old Pit, near Long Ashton, as stated above, followed by Gore’s Pit and Gore’s Old pit by 1724.

Gummers Pit was sunk in 1844, named after its owner, Mr F Gummer, somewhere close to the corner of Ashton Vale Road and Winterstoke Road. Coal was struck within 10 weeks, winning praise from the Bristol Mercury “for so laudable an undertaking, in causing additional employment for the working classes”. A more major works was the Ashton Vale colliery, opened in 1831, on the site where Babcock Engineers is today, near the junction of Winterstoke Road and the A370. Its Old Pit was opposite the south gate of Ashton Court, where its owners still resided and could see quite clearly the source of their fortunes. The New Pit was closer to Winterstoke Road – soon to be absorbed into a vast complex that also included the Ashton Vale iron works and later a rolling mill, the opposite side of Continued overleaf

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June 2018

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n HISTORY

THE STORY OF ASHTON VALE

CITY FAIL TO SCORE IN THE VALE

not to drag its heels, and to recognise the opportunities the stadium presented the city.

But 200 people packed a meeting against the big new Tesco in September 2009. Soon afterwards, a council report in late

2009 said there was no need for another superstore, given that Sainsbury’s was already at Winterstoke Road. Mr Lansdown urged fans to make their voices heard, and decided to back a nee Sainsbury’s instead of a Tesco.

City councillors backed the plan. But protestors had already asked for the site to be designated a “town green,” meaning that it had been used as a public open space.

In 2010, all of Bristol’s MPs declared their backing for the new stadium. But consultants hired by the council said the new superstore would damage local traders.

The battle tipped back and forth. In 2011 supporters gathered 30,000 signatures and councillors gave planning permission for the store. The council decided half the site should be a town green, meaning the other half – once used as a rubbish tip – could be built on.

But this decision was challenged in a judicial review in 2012. The next year, plans were made to revamp the existing stadium. Work started on the 27,000 seat venue in April 2014, and finished in 2016.

was probably used as ventilation for its larger neighbour. It was disused by 1882.

Further west, just off today’s Silbury Road, was the Starve-all or Starvehall Pit, which was worked from 1803 to about 1877.

The location of the shaft was revealed in 1979, when work was being done on the grounds of the Ashton Vale Boys’ Club (now the youth club). Excavators uncovered the main shaft – more than 1,000ft deep – a few yards from the entrance to the club.

There was also the New Deep Pit, known sometimes as Kill Devil Pit and Nine Bottle Pit, due to the nine bottles set into the stonework of the engine house, which stood just off Gores Marsh

Road until 1949. This was worked from 1833 to 1887.

And we haven’t mentioned the two great pits of central Bedminster, the Dean Lane and Malago collieries, which also had several smaller shafts.

During the 19th century workers were flooding in to work in the South Bristol coalfield.

Many walked in from Bedminster Down and others crowded what rapidly became the Bedminster slums, as the population soared from 3,278 in 1801 to 19,424 in 1854 and 70,107 by 1901.

Ashton Vale was the beginning and the end of this industry. For by the end of the 19th century, the coal was mostly worked out, at least profitable

quantities. Malago Vale colliery shut in 1896, Dean Lane in 1906.

Ashton Vale closed the same year.

Only the South Liberty colliery lasted through World War I, producing coal until 1925.

The next-door quarry and brickworks survived until 1930.

It was the end of an industry that not only employed hundreds of miners underground – 240 at South Liberty and 170 at Ashton Vale, for example – but laid the foundation for South Bristol’s expansion throughout the Victorian era.

The coal came in different kinds: for household use, for manufacturing, and for coke to fuel blast furnaces like the one at

Home from home: An early 1950s Bailey caravan, the Maestro – the first for mass production, with (we think) a Wolseley. Bailey has always been based in South Bristol

1945 the lorry was found in Yugoslavia, repainted by the Germans but with the Patterson logo still visible through the burned paintwork!

Bailey – now one of the biggest caravan factories in Europe, Bailey, off South Liberty Lane, supplies one in every three caravans sold in the UK. It makes 7,500 vehicles a year and is midway through rebuilding its 14.5 acre site into one of the most advanced caravan production lines anywhere.

Founder Martin Bailey made his first home-on-wheels in his garage in Bedminster Down in 1947, and sold it at Ashton Gate market (on the site of the current stadium) for £200. Yes, there is another Voice feature in the making here …

I

T’S too long a tale to do justice to here – but Ashton Vale has avoided the prospect of a Premier League-scale football stadium on its doorstep.

The story begins in 2007, when Bristol City owner and multimillionaire Steve Lansdown revealed his ambition for a world-class 30,000-seat stadium on open space at the Vale.

Perhaps expecting little opposition, Lansdown unveiled plans in 2008, and claimed it could host World Cup matches if it got the go-ahead.

But to make it pay, City needed to sell their Ashton Gate site to Tesco for a superstore. This, and the opposition of Vale residents, brought a noisy tide of opinion against the plans.

Lansdown urged the council Continued from page 37 Winterstoke Road. Just one trace remains today: a fragment of railway line embedded in the Babcocks entrance.

The New Land Pit stood very close to Gummers and probably also became part of the ventilation for the Ashton Vale workings.

The opposite site of Winterstoke Road was the Marsh Pit; few of the visitors to Halfords and Iceland in the South Bristol retail park realise they are parking their cars above an old mineshaft. This too was known to exist in 1831 and probably became part of Ashton Vale.

The nearby Gummers Pit became known as Frayne’s, and

How it could have been: One of the proposals for a 30,000-seat Bristol City stadium at Ashton Vale. But opposition to a superstore was fierce

HISTORIC FIRMS IN ASHTON VALE Robbins Timber – the timber merchants in South Liberty Lane was founded in 1881 and, as well as supplying builders and DIYers, still does a roaring trade in specialist timber for boatbuilders.

It suppled wood for the royal barge used in the Queen’s 2012 Diamond Jubilee.

Pattersons – the unusually graceful metal warehouse on Winterstoke Road is the latest home for this historic family firm supplying the catering trade.

Founded in 1889 by Robert Patterson in Redcliffe, it used a horse and cart for deliveries until the purchase of a single Bedford

lorry in 1939. The precious lorry was taken by the army when war broke out and was thought lost in the evacuation of Dunkirk. But in

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June 2018

n HISTORY THE FUTURE FOR THE VALE – LOSING ITS GREEN SURROUNDINGS

L

AST decade, residents of Ashton Vale saw off the prospect of a new Ashton Gate stadium on their doorstep.

They can, however, expect soon to see a new training ground for Bristol Sport.

Residents already routinely find their pavements and driveways blocked when there are home matches at the stadium and fans look for somewhere to park. They will hope for more enforcement of parking regulations by the police and council – and perhaps, within a few years, for residents’ parking permits.

The Metrobus guided busway cuts across Ashton Vale town green, ready – though no one is sure when – to start whisking passengers from this cut-off corner of Bristol into the city centre and beyond.

And there are yet more changes to come. The Metrobus route and the South Bristol Link pass through what was green open space, and much of the land they enclose is earmarked for building.

The land next to Alderman Moore’s allotments is reserved for 133 homes to be built in a council-led development, 53 of them for rent to council tenants.

Even the Green Belt is not safe.

If the city’s Local Plan Review, announced in February, is accepted, land to the north of Ashton Vale town green could be Ashton Vale which made iron.

Coal could also be burned to make gas for light and heat.

And the mines brought up iron ore to go straight in the furnaces, as well as clay to make bricks, tiles and drainage pipes.

Vast quantities of red bricks from Ashton Vale, South Liberty, Dean Lane and Malago mines built not only Bedminster but much of Bristol.

The iron was cast by smaller manufacturers into gates –like the grand pair at Bristol General Hospital – railings, lampposts and drain covers. Some survive on our streets with the maker’s name still visible.

A

shton Vale had become an important place. What had been a feudal network of fields was, by the end of the Victorian era, bounded by two railway lines – the Bristol-Exeter

southbristolvoice

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THE STORY OF ASHTON VALE

ASHTON VALE: WHAT’S NEXT?

METROBUS ROUTE

PARK & RIDE

THE VALE: proposed Village 1 ASHTON VALE

SOUTH BRISTOL LINK ROAD

THE VALE: proposed Village 2 POSSIBLE HOMES

developed for housing. More Green Belt land to the west of the Pavillions office complex off Bridgwater Road could be developed – it’s not clear if the buildings could extend to the railway, which would mean the loss of the green buffer which runs opposite South Liberty Lane.

Even more significant is the plan for The Vale. This is the name for developer Taylor Wimpey’s plan for not one, but three new “villages” on land around the South

Bristol Link and containing around 10,000 homes.

The land is in North Somerset but at its closest The Vale butts up to Ashton Vale, filling in the gap to the South Bristol Link. Village One is proposed to the west of Ashton Vale town green, cutting off open views to the countryside.

Villages Two and Three are to the south of the South Bristol Link road, Village Two between the A38 and the A370, and Village Three (not visible on our map) being

between the south side of the A38 and Bedminster Down.

The Vale is in the Green Belt, and is currently opposed by the leadership of North Somerset council. But many politicians – including some Bristol councillors – think it would be more sensible to site thousands of new homes close to the transport links of the city, rather than building homes in villages such as Backwell and Nailsea, where the infrastructure will struggle to cope.

route alongside South Liberty Lane, opened in 1841, and the Portishead line, opened in 1867.

(See panel on page 37 for the railway story.) With the road to Long Ashton to the north, and the Ashton and Collier’s brooks to the west, the Vale had become a kind of backwater – but with excellent communications which encouraged a succession of industries.

Ashton Containers is one example. Founded in 1917, on the site of the current Imperial Tobacco headquarters, it began as Ashton Sawmills, making packing cases out of wood, but switched to cheaper fibreboard in 1923. Its own railway sidings were built in 1918 and extended in 1947. The factory was enlarged again and again, until the paper board industry started to decline in the 1960s.

The opposite side of

Winterstoke Road was the much-missed 1931 art deco premises of the Bristol Motor Company, one of the city’s first purpose-built car showrooms.

(It’s being redeveloped as a self-storage site with the art deco wheel symbols and clocktower rebuilt.)

The Bristol Motor Co sold Morris and later Riley, Vanden Plas, Rolls Royce and Bentley.

Commercial vehicles were an important sideline and when the former Ashton Vale colliery was rebuilt as a trading estate after World War II, the Morris commercial business moved in there. The main showroom later became the home of Mercedes dealer Charles Cruickshank and the Mercedes star adorned the tower.

A more recent innovator in Ashton Vale was British Cellophane, whose subsidiary,

Colodense, made coloured bags for supermarkets at a works off West Street, Bedminster. Then in the 1980s a new technique, Colodense Liquid Packaging or CLP, was given its own factory in Ashton Vale. This was the beginning of the “bag in a box” or plastic wine container – originally sold for cider too. By 1988 it had three factories in Ashton Vale, making cellulose and polyethylene film, and bonded fibre fabric.

The Vale’s trading estates are thriving still, as our panel (on the left) shows.

Sources Bristol’s Forgotten Coalfield: Bedminster Mike Taylor and Maggie Shapland, South Glos Mines research Group, 2012 Bristol In The Great War Jacqueline Wadsworth, Pen & Sword, 2014

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

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n WHAT’S ON Tuesday May 29 & Wednesday 30 n A Taste Of Your Own Medicine Acta theatre, Gladstone Street, Bedminster.

Three time travellers are sent to help young victims of bullying.

What better way than by giving the bullies a taste of their own medicine? A Young Carers Youth Theatre annual production.

Tickets £2, 7.30pm. acta-bristol.com Tuesday May 29 n Stomping Story – Pirates Love Underpants Arnos Vale cemetery, Bath Road. “Join us on the pirate ship Black Bloomer in search of the Pants of Gold!

Will you fall victim to the angry crocodiles or scary sharks in fancy pants? When we have successfully nabbed the booty, make a pirate hat to take home.”

For ages 3+, £5, at 10.30 am and 1pm. Booking advised. arnosvale.org.uk/events Wednesday May 30 n Den Building Family Fun Arnos Vale cemetery, Bath Road.

Learn how to make a den out of natural and man-made materials.

Discover techniques to build a sturdy woodland shelter. Explore ways to tie knots and engineer structures. £6, 10.30-11.45am.

Each child must be accompanied by an adult (who doesn’t need to pay). Session led by forest school leader Janine Marriott. arnosvale.org.uk/events n Spring Tea Dance Southville Centre, Beauley Road, Southville. Tickets £5 in advance from Southville Centre reception.

Live band, tea and cake included. £6 on the door, 3-5pm. bs3community.org.uk Thursday May 31-June 2 n Garland or Me! Tobacco Factory theatre, North Street.

A comedy by Peter Read. Dave, an ardent Bristol City fan, is married to football-hating Holly. It is the 1976-77 season and Dave is determined not to miss one game as the Robins enjoy their first time in the top flight in over 60 years with star player Chris Garland. Holly has other ideas and asks, “Who do you love more? Garland or me?” £14, 7.30pm, matinee Saturday 2.30pm. NB: the performance advertised for May 30 has been cancelled. tobaccofactorytheatres.com Thursday May 31 n Over 55s Lunch club Southville Centre, Beauley Road Café opens at 12.30pm;

Tuesday June 5 & Wednesday 6 n The Damned United Tobacco Factory theatre, North Street. The beauty and brutality of football is brought to life in this adaptation of David Peace’s ingenious novel, The Damned United, about the troubled and brilliant career of Leeds United manager Brian Clough. The year is 1974 and Clough, the enfant terrible of British football, is trying to redeem his career and reputation by winning the European Cup with Leeds, his new team. But it’s a club he has openly despised for years, a team he hates, and they hate him.

There is a post-show talk after the performance on June 5. tobaccofactorytheatres.com £4.85 buys soup, quiche or a filled jacket potato, followed by homemade cake and a free cuppa. No need to book. To find out more email ruth.green@ bs3community.org.uk or call Ruth on 0117 923 1039. bs3community.org.uk Friday June 1 n Quiz Night St Paul’s church, Coronation Road, Southville.

Teams of four, £5 per person, including light supper. All welcome, 7.30pm. n The Garage Flowers + Velvet Hands + White Parker Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Londonbased dirty-sweet guitar pop anthemists Garage Flowers have “big barnets, bigger ambitions”.

Cornish band Velvet Hands are “full of bolshy spirit”, according to NME, and have an album of the week on Radio 1. White Parker are “raw rock and roll from Bristol”. 7.30-11.45pm, £5 on the door. thethunderbolt.net Saturday June 2 & Sunday 3 n Secret Gardens 2018 Bedminster, Southville, Ashton and Windmill Hill. More than 30 private gardens will be open to visit during the weekend. Pick up or download a free guide (below). Suggested £2 minimum donation at the first garden you visit. Get inspiration, enter a world of plants and see creative, productive and beautiful gardens that are normally hidden from the public eye. tinyurl.com/ bedsecretgardens2018 Saturday June 2 n St Mary on the Quay Summer Fayre St Mary on

Rage against the regime: 1970s football cleverly brought to the stage the Quay, 20 Colston Avenue (opposite the war memorial) Summer Fayre including cream teas, international cuisine, stalls, games and more. 50p entry, 1-5pm n Iron and Oak Saltcellar Folk Club, Totterdown Baptist church, entrance off Cemetery Road.

Americana-folk duo Sarana and Heather from the US are supported by Saltcellar regular James Slater. £5 entry and £3 for floorsingers, BYO alcohol, refreshments available, 7.30pm. saltcellarfolk.org.uk n Wonderful Women Tour Arnos Vale cemetery, Bath Road. The cemetery is the place of remembrance for an estimated 160,000 women and girls. This guided tour tries to find the women that history forgot, focusing on the interesting, talented, great and good women from Victorian, Edwardian and 20th century Bristol. 11am-12.30pm, £5. arnosvale.org.uk n Stand Up For The Weekend with Andrew Doyle & Co Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken Studio, North Street. Writer and comedian Andrew Doyle is the co-writer of spoof journalist and internet sensation Jonathan Pie. He has also taken six solo stand-up shows to the Edinburgh Festival. £11, 7.45pm. the comedy box.co.uk Sunday June 3, 10, 17 & 24 n Sunday Market Tobacco Factory, Raleigh Road. Thriving community market, with around 40 food and craft stalls. Kids activities 11.30am-2pm. tobaccofactory.com/whats-on

Monday June 4 & 18 n Life Drawing Tobacco Factory bar, North Street. Life drawing class on the first and third Monday of every month, in the Snug. £5 and £4 (students/ NUS), spaces limited. tobaccofactory.com/whats-on Friday June 8 & Saturday 9 n The Nature of Forgetting Tobacco Factory theatre.

Following a sell-out run at the 2017 London International Mime Festival, Latitude and the Edinburgh Fringe, Theatre Re presents a “powerful, explosive and joyous piece” about what is left when memory is gone.

Tom is 55. As he dresses for his birthday party, tangled threads of disappearing memories spark him into life, unravelling as a tale of friendship, love and guilt. Tickets from £12 (limited availability), shows at 8pm and at 2.30pm on Saturday. tobaccofactorytheatres.com Friday June 8 n Everyone Create!

Creative Workspace, Queens Road, Withywood. Free intergenerational creative event, 11am-12.30pm. Bringing together people aged 55+ and families with pre-school children. “We explore a different art form each month and in June we will be singing favourite songs, making and playing instruments together.” Café selling drinks, snacks and homemade cake. creativeworkspacebristol.co.uk n Bristol From The Air Knowle and Totterdown History Society, Redcatch community centre, Redcatch Road. Mike Hooper will show photos of Continued overleaf

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

June 2018

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All-day party for Zion’s 7th birthday Saturday June 9 n Zion’s Free 7th Birthday All-Day Party Zion, Bishopsworth Road. From 10am to 10pm, there’s music, food and entertainment.

Free entry all day, with messy play for kids from 10am, a hip hop Mexican brunch from 12-2pm, drumming with legendary reggae musician Troy Ellis from 3-4pm, open mike and local band slot from 5-6pm, and Bristol soul-jazz band Nightlarks from 7-8pm. From 9-10pm it’s more live music from the Funkinsteins. zion bristol.co.uk including Bristol Old Vic. “A drawing room. We are going to philosophise our heads off!

How should I make the most of being alive in this moment? How should I try to enjoy life while also being a good person who makes space for a better future?

What is love and where do I find it? Why do the men in this play have all the lines?” Tickets from £12 (limited availability), 8pm. tobaccofactorytheatres.com Tuesday June 12-Saturday 16 n Natural History Photo Exhibition Paintworks, Bath Road. Falmouth University final year students’ Marine & Natural History Exhibition featuring underwater species, successful conservation stories and philosophical views of nature itself. Open to the public each day, 10am-5pm. Film screening in the

A respectable woman who didn’t judge REVIEW: Ladies Mile Acta theatre, Bedminster ROM Victorian times, Ladies Mile, the long straight road which dissects the Downs from the Water Tower across to Clifton, was used for promenading – the rich and beautiful would saunter up and down and perhaps initiate a liaison. Between the wars Ladies Mile was still used, but the liaisons were often of a less

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n WHAT’S ON

n WHAT’S ON Continued from page 41 Bristol, highlighting Knowle taken from the air. Members £1.50, visitors £3. knowleandtotterdownhistory. org.uk n Hicktown Breakout Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Debut headline show for the Bristol band performing country and southern rock music from artists including Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Blackberry Smoke, The Cadiliac Three and Jason Aldean. 7.30pm, £5 on the door. For YouTube link, see Thunderbolt website. thethunderbolt.net n Benjamin Damage Loco Club, Temple Meads. A threehour DJ set from Benjamin Damage, hailed as injecting soul and warmth into the cold industrial world of Berlin techno with his 2013 debut Heliosphere.

With a live art creation by Bristol-based illustrator James Yeo on the big screen. Age 18+, 10pm. Ticket price not stated. locobristol.com Sunday June 10 n Tim Key: Megadate Tobacco Factory theatre. New show from Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Tim Key, who has performed with Alan Partridge as well as in BBC2’s acclaimed Inside No. 9. Expect “poeticals, talking, standing, spotlights, cables, Kronenburg, foot-stamping and old school wistfulness”. Age 16+. £16, 8pm. tobaccofactorytheatres.com Monday June 11 n Daytime Baby Comedy Depot Zion Bristol, Bishopworth Road. Specially for parents and those too young to understand, this is an adult comedy event for those with childcare issues.

Mature content, swear words and the odd birth story flashback from West Country comedian Cerys Nelmes. Bar and café for adults, bottle warming and baby changing facilities for young ones. 12-2.30pm, £8 on the door (if available). zion bristol.co.uk Tuesday June 12-Saturday 16 n Three Sisters, by RashDash, after Chekhov Tobacco Factory theatre. A new show from RashDash, who were last in Bristol in September 2017 with their award-winning hit Two Man Show. RashDash reimagine Chekhov’s classic play in a new version commissioned by the Factory theatre, with partners

June 2018

Multi-tasking: Reggae legend Troy Ellis will not only be drumming at the Zion all-day party, he’ll be cooking up some treats in the kitchen too courtyard, June 16, 6-10pm. paintworksbristol.co.uk Wednesday June 13 n Seize It, Mix It, Make It? Harnessing Digital Differently Knowle West Media Centre, Leinster Avenue. An afternoon and evening of events exploring how people relate to digital technologies. Starts at 2pm with a workshop on women and Artificial Intelligence.

Discussion and guest speakers from 6-8pm, cocktails and chat from 8-9pm. kwmc.org.uk/events Thursday June 14 Stuart Moxham (Young Marble Giants) + Helen McCookerybook + Steve Bush and Fran Fey Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Stuart Moxham, founder of Young Marble Giants Ladies Mile: A refuge for women PHOTO: © MSP

salubrious sort.

Work was hard to find in the 1930s depression. Victoria Hughes took a job as a cloakroom attendant at the pretty Swiss chalet-style Edwardian women’s toilets at the foot of the Water Tower. She soon discovered that many of her visitors were working women – sometimes going through brutal and degrading

and The Gist, makes a rare live performance, backed by South Bristol’s own Bush & Fey and John Peel favourite Helen McCookerybook. 7.30pm, £9. thethunderbolt.net Friday June 15 & Saturday 16 n Farm Flavours Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster. From 11am to 3pm on Friday, join local chef Jo Ingleby as she takes the family cooking project Farm Flavours out and about in Bedminster.

Jo will be running fun, free and healthy demonstrations and tasting sessions to show how easy cooking can be, using fresh local ingredients. Find her on the corner of Mill Lane and East Street in Bedminster. Bring the family and get tasting! Free, no need to book. Also on June 16 with food blogger and nutrition guru Melanie Rodriguez. windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Saturday June 16 n A Baroque Evening Bristol Cathedral, College Green, with Bristol Choral Society & the Corelli Orchestra, conducted

by Hilary Campbell. “Join us for an evening of some of the most invigorating choral music Bach ever committed to paper, including motets and his wellknown Magnificat”. Tickets from £10 to £27.95 incl. booking fee; under 25s £5, seniors 10% discount. 7.30pm. Book online or on 0117 203 4040. bristolchoral.co.uk n Nuttyness The Tunnels, Temple Meads. Acclaimed as the best tribute band to pay homage to Madness. 7.30pm, £10. thetunnelsbristol.co.uk experiences to make the money to feed themselves and their families.

She kept the job for the next 33 years, offering tea and a nonjudgmental ear to the women.

After her death a blue plaque was installed in her honour.

Writer and director Ingrid Jones came across Victoria Hughes’ memoir, and has worked with Acta to create this warm, moving performance. It’s a six-hander, with each character played with humanity and respect, narrated by Sarah Cogzell as respectable but unshockable Victoria. Respect to the cast and team for another important enactment of Bristol social history.

Beccy Golding

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

Tragic tangle that deserves its ovation REVIEW: A View From The Bridge Tobacco Factory HIS is probably the most traditional thing I’ve ever seen at the Tobacco Factory.

No smoke and mirrors or exploratory theatre – just a straight play performed by an ensemble of actors. Let’s re-phrase that – a 20th century classic by a heralded playwright, immaculately directed and performed by a committed, convincing cast, which received a standing ovation at its close.

The performance is carried by

the key trio of lead actors. There are two strong female roles – perhaps unusual for a play which premiered in 1955 and is set in an Italian neighbourhood in 1950s Brooklyn. Katy Stephens is fascinatingly watchable as Beatrice, with a great accent, a splash of comic timing and proving her versatility following her recent role as the disintegrating Lady Macbeth, and Laura Waldren, who only graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School last year (this is her professional stage debut), plays Catherine, with a perfect balance of youthful energy, teenage stubbornness, and confused little girl.

Every role has depth and a tangle of human emotions, none more so than head of the

n Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre – Superheroes! Zion, Bishopsworth Road. Catch the footwear superheroes in their latest adventure in this adult show (over 18s only), created by Kev F, before they head to the Edinburgh Fringe. “Had every single audience member laughing until they cried,” said the Edinburgh Evening News.

7.30pm, £10. zion bristol.co.uk Sunday June 17 n Pocket Opera Arnos Vale cemetery, Bath Road. Mystical and magical music for summer, plus “the Pocket Opera which Mozart never wrote!” With well-known Bristol baritone Martin Le Poidevin; pianist and organist at Holy Nativity church, Knowle, Kathy Gibbs; and Helen Roberts, who has sung contralto in Handel’s Messiah and

soprano in Brahms’ Requiem, as well as creating the music for Borderland, a play based on the writing of Charlotte PerkinsGilman. See Helen perform: tinyurl.com/HelenRobertsMedley Tickets £10, 2.30-4pm. arnosvale.org.uk n Jazz night with Mark Randall Six Windmill Hill community centre, Vivian Street.

Third Sunday of every month, 8.30-10.30pm. whca.org.uk Wednesday June 20 n Why We Die & the Science Behind It Arnos Vale cemetery, Bath Road. Another in the series of Funzing Talks: comedian and science communicator Simon Watt delves into the surprising science behind why we die, and what the alternatives might be.

Watt is founder of the comedy night Ugly Animal Preservation Society, which found global

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Much more than the story of Take That REVIEW: The Band Bristol Hippodrome F YOU, like me, were a fan of Take That, the musical The Band will leave you buzzing. It took me back in time so eloquently, reminding me of my youth and my boy band crush!

I showed up with no expectations. I thought it was a musical telling the story of the band – it was nothing of the sort.

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Dark currents: Eddie, played

by Mark Letheren PHOTO: Mark Dawson

household and linchpin of the whole thing, Eddie Carbonne, played by Mark Letheren. Overly protective and attached to his niece Catherine, he develops a homophobic hatred of her boyfriend Rodolpho, who he’s convinced is only with Catherine to gain US citizenship. His actions bring tragic consequences. Simon

Armstrong was strong and safe as narrator and lawyer Alfieri – I almost felt he was the playwright himself. There are additional, amateur cast members. 26 people have attended a weekly theatre course since January – each night five of them join the ensemble to play peripheral roles.

Beccy Golding

notoriety when it helped host an online campaign resulting in the election of the blobfish as the ugliest animal on the planet.

7.30-9pm, £12. arnosvale.org.uk

Without the aid of Theseus, the leader of the vastly wealthy state of Athens, she doesn’t stand a chance. But Theseus is arrogant and motivated by profit. A swaggering opposition circles, impatient for insurrection. Ages 14+, tickets £12 (limited availability), 7.30pm, matinees Thursday and Saturday 2.30pm, no show Sunday. tobaccofactorytheatres.com Friday June 22 n Gro Tro, Comedy Depot Zion, Bishopsworth Road.

Headliner Gary Tro has been on BBC Radio 4 and as a stand-in for BBC’s Mock The Week. His Edinburgh show SupercalifragilisticexpiGARYTROcious had rave reviews last year and he is taking up a new show, IDOIT, this August. Plus support.

7.30pm, £6. zionbristol.co.uk Continued overleaf

Highlighted entries in What’s On from only £5. Find out more by emailing Ruth at sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk Thursday June 21-Saturday 30 n Welcome to Thebes Tobacco Factory theatre. The graduating students of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School present Moira Buffini’s Welcome to Thebes, which premiered at the National Theatre in June 2010 to critical acclaim. Faced with an impoverished population, a shattered infrastructure and a volatile army, the first democratic president of Thebes, Eurydice, promises peace to her nation.

The boys: Not the only stars of the the Take That show PHOTO: Matt Crockett

In fact, it was an elegant ode to Take That’s musical journey, but the real strength was the story of five girls and their fates. It had it all: teenage boy band crushes, bffs, heartbreak, growing up and a reunion.

The audience was drawn in to every emotion, from being

overjoyed to heartache, laughing out loud to silently shedding a tear.

It was kept so real we could all relate in one way or another.

I’d like to say that the five boys were the stars of the show but I’d be lying. Don’t get me wrong – they were brilliant entertainers and did Take That fans proud (and they

were pretty fit, too!) They sang and danced their hearts out and made us feel like we were actually at a Take That concert more than once.

But the five young girls were also brilliant actors and amazing singers, as were the adult versions of the girls. I can’t choose a best bit, neither can I choose the best singer. I was blown away and wanted it to never end.

Do yourself a favour and go see it if you can. If for nothing else than to experience the grand finale where actors and audience alike had a blast singing, dancing and cheering, celebrating one of the biggest bands ever, Take That!

Britt Andreasen Ryan

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

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REVIEW: Instant Wit, Redcatch community centre, Knowle NSTANT Wit came to Redcatch community centre by invitation of Entertaining Local Knowle (a group of BS4 friends bringing affordable events to our area). For under a tenner we were entertained and fed – it was a bargain.

On arrival I opened a bottle of wine from home and had a go at the just-for-fun quiz left on our tables, giving me and my friends something to argue over while we devoured a delightful soup supper.

Twinkling tea lights created a warm comfortable ambience and when the three performers (Chris Grimes, Stephanie Weston and

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Continued from page 43 Friday June 22 n Speaking in Tongues Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Talking Heads tribute act play hits from Stop Making Sense, the seminal concert film. 7.30pm, £10. the thunderbolt.net

n Oli Brown (above) The Tunnels, Temple Meads. Oli Brown celebrates 10 years since the release of his first blues album, Open Road.“The hottest young pistol in British blues,” said the Times. 7.30pm £10. thetunnelsbristol.co.uk n Hopkins-Hammond Trio El Rincon, North Street. Jazzfunk trio led by guitarist Matt Hokins, who has played with the likes of Andy Sheppard, joined

by Ruth Hammond on organ and Scott Hammond on drums. elrinconbar.com/music Saturday June 23 n Mindfulness Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street.

From 10am-4pm, a one-day introduction to mindfulness, “giving you the tools to let go of excess baggage” and techniques

southbristolvoice

n THE CITY PAGE

n WHAT’S ON A naughty audience can’t put this lot off

June 2018

Leah Fletcher together with cheeky young musician James Oram), bounded onto the stage we were ready for them.

It takes real talent to think on your feet like this group. Suggested words shouted out by the audience resulted in crazy improvised scenarios which had us erupting in laughter. My favourite, very apt, sketch was when Chris interviewed Stef and Leah (who became one person), the girls took turns to speak, one word at a time; the subject “Where to park your bike in Knowle?” Their hilarious rendition resulted in all the houses in Knowle being knocked down in order to park bicycles amongst the dog poo.

Chris Grimes owned the stage, he only had to look at the audience with that face (think Mr Bean) to create a buzz of laughter. Ultra-intelligent Stef Weston kept control of the crowd

with her sharp no-nonsense witticisms, leaving tiny, tirelessly bubbly Leah Fletcher bouncing between them perfectly. Music by the talented James Oram skillfully knotted the show together. I can’t wait for the next one.

Rachel Heaton

to help you “create more space within yourself”. A secular introduction to some practices such as abdominal breathing.

Cost: £42. windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Saturday 23 June n Stand Up For The Weekend with Markus Birdman & Co Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken Studio, North Street. Edinburgh veteran Markus Birdman is “one of British comedy’s most experienced and well-travelled performers, in demand all over the UK and abroad.” Plus guests.

7.45pm, £11. thecomedybox.co.uk Sunday June 24 n Dexter Selboy and the Shonky Trio Tobacco Factory bar. Formed in 2012, Dexter Selboy and the Shonky Trio “are a quartet of talented yet lazy musicians who may finally have got their act together”. Elements of reggae, gypsy jazz and hiphop. Free, 8-10.30pm. tobaccofactory.com/whats-on Wednesday June 27 n Street Philosophy Martin Parr Foundation, Paintworks, Bath Road. Geoff Dyer will talk about his new book The Street Philosophy of Garry Winogrand, about the US street photographer. Followed by Q&A with Martin Parr. 7pm, £8/£6. martinparrfoundation.org Thursday June 28 n National Freelancers Day

with Freelance Mum & IPSE Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street. A mini-festival for those who work for themselves, 10am4pm. Stalls available. Includes Linda Davies-Carr on being ready for success, entertainment from the Bristol Business Choir, How to Build Your Dream Team – the value of others as a freelancer. Tickets for morning, afternoon or the whole day from £15 (children free). windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Saturday June 30 n FoodFireEarth supper Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street. New pop-up from Bristol locals and friends of the farm – fire-obsessed food writer Genevieve Taylor and chef/cookery teacher Jo Ingleby.

From 7-11pm, at the café and outdoor kitchen, with a chance to see behind the scenes at the farm. An outdoor-cooked seasonal, local feast, with spices and herbs. Cost: £35. windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Saturday 30 June n Stand Up For The Weekend with Ivo Graham & Co Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken Studio, North Street.

Ivo Graham has had so much TV exposure these tickets will not hang around for long. Etoneducated, he plays on his gauche character and self-deprecating wit. Plus guests. £11, 7.45pm. thecomedybox.co.uk

Regular events

To advertise your event here from just £5 per month, contact Ruth at sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk

All made up: Chris Grimes, right, leads Instant Wit impro troupe

n Danceblast “Bristol’s most exciting dance school.” Every Saturday and Sunday at St Francis Church Hall, North Street, Southville. Saturday: juniors, 3-4 years 10-11am, 5-6 years 11am-12 noon, 7-9 years 12 noon-1.30pm, 10-11 years 1.303pm, 12-13 years 2.15-4.15pm.

Sunday: seniors 14-18 years 1.304.30pm, Tobacco Factory studio.

Call Anne on 07984 069485. danceblast.co.uk n JollyTots Music & Singing Workshops. Fun drop in music class for 0-5 years and their grownups. No booking, just turn up! Tuesdays 10am (Term Time) Southville Centre, Beauley Road. £3.50 (siblings under 1 are free). jollytots.org.uk n APPilates Qualified teacher Anna Pearson holds classes Tuesday evenings at Holy Cross primary school, Dean Lane.

Intermediate Level 6-7pm, 7.158.15pm, Beginners 8.20-9.20pm.

Starting soon: Mixed ability group at North Street venue, 11.30am12.25pm. Private sessions available. Booking essential. From £7.50. Email: annapearson@ hotmail.com 07980 937726.

EVENTS AT BS3 COMMUNITY BS3 Community is the charity that runs the Southville Centre in Beauley Road and the Chessel Centre in Chessel Street.

Lunch Club Southville Centre For £4.85 you can enjoy a delicious bowl of soup or quiche or a filled jacket potato followed by homemade cake and a free cuppa.

Booking required. June 28.

Exercise class Chessel Centre.

Pilates on Thursday evenings is run

by Jacqui Swenson, an experienced practitioner. For more info contact her on hello@jaxpilates.co.uk 07544482775 • The Southville Centre will host two new gentle exercise classes for those aged 50+. Zumba Gold will run fortnightly on Wednesdays, 1.30-2.30pm from June 27.

Qi Gong will run monthly on Thursdays, 10.15-11.15am, starting on June 7. Free transport can be arranged. To find out more call Ruth on 0117 923 1039 or email ruth.green@bs3community.org.uk

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

45

BRISTOL CITY ROUND-UP

Sponsored by FOXON & FOXON, supporting Bristol City – Your Local independent Kitchen and Bedroom Manufacturer

We had half a chance of promotion, if we played our best more than half the time City started the season so well, but they ended it with some results that showed they aren’t yet ready to go up, laments MARTIN POWELL

B

RISTOL City ended the 2017-2018 season pretty much half-way in the championship table and the word “half” just about sums up everything about their efforts.

Half the time the team looked excellent, playing entertaining, flowing football and, during the Caraboa Cup run, holding their own against the best in the business. The rest of the time they were camped out in their own half, allowing sides to dominate them and making elementary errors. The first half of the season saw the team build up a head of steam to give the impression that they could actually make automatic promotion to the Premier League this season. The second half of the season fizzled out with some jaw-droppingly poor results.

Conceding eight goals in your last two home games is never going to be good – but the other part of that equation is they scored seven. The crazy 5-5 draw against Hull was both a high point and a low point of this topsy-turvy season.

It was fitting that the season ended with a game of two halves against Sheffield United. The Blades walked all over City in the

Lap of honour: The end of the Sheffield United game that marked the end of a very mixed season PHOTO: BCFC first half to end half-time leading 3-0. City dominated the second half and clawed back two goals, helped by repeated loudspeaker announcements inflicting a kind of torture on the Sheffield players by unnecessarily warning fans not to invade the pitch.

Those fans who hadn’t gone home to enjoy the sunshine were treated to a suitably half-hearted lap of half the pitch by the players. Shame they couldn’t engage a bit more by signing a few autographs or actually getting a bit closer to the young fans that were applauding them.

Meanwhile, for some reason, police in riot gear arrived to make sure that the families enjoying the sunshine at this pointless (in City’s case literally) end of season romp didn’t commit any major crimes.

There are lots of things Bristol

City need to improve on next year (well, about half of the things they do) but it would be nice if the club can work out a way for players and fans to celebrate together at the end of a season.

Maybe there is some way to get players to appear in the huge new stand while fans get to wander on to the hallowed turf briefly.

More importantly, thoughts will turn to which of the players are able to improve next year; which of the huge number of young players can make it at championship level; and what new faces are needed – as well as who should leave in the summer.

I’m sure half the players are already enjoying their summer break, and after being on strict nutrition and training regimes for so many months who would deny them the odd pint? Well, they have earned a half, at least.

MARTIN’S SHORTS n CHELSEA paid tribute to Bristol-born legend Roy Bentley, who has died at the age of 93, with the whole Stamford Bridge stadium standing to applaud him and special banners paid for by John Terry. Bentley was skipper when Chelsea won their first ever trophy.

Born in Shirehampton, he made his Bristol City debut aged 16 and was transferred for a club record of £8,500 to Newcastle as the club tried to make ends meet after the war.

Certainly “one of our own” that got away; and all fans will hope that in future the club are able to hang on to young Bristol talent.

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

n YOUR MP

KARIN SMYTH Labour MP for Bristol South

Saving this vital Metrobus route must be priority for metro mayor

S

OUTH Bristol Voice readers will be all too aware of the continuing issues surrounding the long-awaited Metrobus system. Launched to great fanfare in 2015, the project has had more than its fair share of challenges since, with technical glitches and increasing costs delaying the launch. Until March of this year there was still reason to be cheerful for many South Bristol residents, with the Ashton Vale to Hengrove Metrobus route promising to transform public transport in an area with historically poor links.

These challenges make the unceremonious axing of the route in late March doubly galling. Though there has been some back-pedalling since – the route has apparently not been axed, just removed from the first tranche of announced routes – it

seemed that, once again, South Bristol was at the back of the queue for much-needed infrastructure investment.

And while the Metrobus saga has a negative impact on the ground, it has also provided an insight into the peculiar ways that decisions are taken locally – or, as is the case with Metrobus, how decisions are avoided.

It is crucial that we secure a guarantee of the promised Ashton Vale to Hengrove line, and at some point there must also be a discussion around how the route was dropped to begin with. Metrobus – a peculiar entity

n LOCAL SERVICES

AERIALS

itself – apparently operates with little or no democratic oversight or accountability. This is not good enough, especially for a project of this size and cost.

I have urged metro mayor Tim Bowles to make saving this crucial route a priority, using his considerable powers to drag the project back on track. The route cuts across local authority boundaries, underpins access to vital NHS and education services, and boosts economic activity in the region – in short, it should tick every box on his “To Do” list. It would also demonstrate tangible value for a role that has yet to make a significant impact on residents’ lives.

But instead of rising to the challenge, the metro mayor has shown a staggering lack of leadership and given residents a metaphorical shrug of the shoulders. Instead of looking for creative ways to drive the project forward, he is scrabbling around for reasons not to. It beggars belief.

There is cause for some optimism, with the response from Bristol city council more positive. Cabinet Member Mhairi Threlfall has agreed to meet local stakeholders to listen to concerns and see what steps Bristol City Council can take to ensure that this route is delivered. It is my hope that this discussion can act as a springboard to getting this particular problem fixed.

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

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June 2018

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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