South Bristol Voice Bedminster August 2017

southbristolvoice August 2017 No. 22

www.southbristolvoice.co.uk

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Mayor calls for cuts protest MAYOR Marvin Rees has answered those who asked him to “stand up” to the Governmentimposed cuts.

He has called on all the groups that oppose cuts to join him and representatives of the UK’s 10 core cities in a lobby of Parliament. He warned that if the energy behind the anti-austerity movement isn’t harnessed, it could become destructive.

Mr Rees and the other city leaders are due in Downing Street on September 12 to hand over a green paper containing alternatives to council cuts.

The Bristol and District Anti-Cuts Alliance (BADACA) welcomed Mr Rees’s appeal for protests. But it also called on him to halt the cuts and use council reserves and borrowing to fill the gap.

Mr Rees has said failing to set a balanced budget would be illegal and would lead to civil servants taking over at City Hall.

CUTS IN FOCUS: Pages 14-15

WIN a great junior karting experience p4

Does this look like a convenience store?

INSIDE • An underground line to South Bristol?

Page 3 • New site suggested to footballers Page 7 • I saved a man’s life on the golf course Page 9 • FREE TEA & COFFEE: Toast Room Page 10 • Doctors want to create super-surgery Page 11

A BRANCH of Iceland’s Food Warehouse, like the one above, is proposed for Winterstoke Road, next to Ashton Gate stadium. It’s been allowed as a convenience store – but it sells in bulk. The area has had its planning battles in the past over supermarkets, when Bristol Sport wanted to turn the stadium over to Sainsbury’s. STORY: Page 5

• Wildlife pictures from BS3 Pages 12-13 • Lovers’ holiday tragedy that shook the city Pages 30-32

“Incredible personable service…

Friendly, professional & honest” Rose – Southville

oceanhome.co.uk

IN

August 2017

southbristolvoice

2

To To homes, not houses, homes, not houses, we’re here to get you there! houses here not to get you there!

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 & The Wicked Witch.

Deliveries: Greg Champion

... we’re to get o homes, nothere houses,

Intro

you we’re here to there! get you there!

WE NEED TO DECIDE OUR VIEW ON NEW VILLAGES

To homes, not houses,

we’re here to get you there!

READ between the lines, and there is an awful lot of development coming our way in South Bristol.

It’s not only the tower blocks being planned for Bedminster Green, along Bath Road (see our Totterdown edition online at issuu.com for more on that) or the £300m university campus at Temple Meads.

Look at the transport strategy for the region, helpfully leaked last month, and we can see that the hopedfor new rail, bus and road links are to serve a purpose.

Bristol Airport wants to double in size in 20 years.

And there’s another possible

You can find South Bristol Voice on Facebook and Twitter facebook.com/ southbristolvoice Twitter: @sbristolvoice Next month’s deadline for editorial and advertising is August 16th destination: The Vale, a plan by builder Taylor Wimpey for three villages built from scratch next to the South Bristol Link Road.

The site is not in Bristol; it’s in North Somerset. But it’s on our doorstep, so we need to care.

Do we want to preserve our Green Belt and what remains of open country near to us?

Or do we agree with the developers – and many politicians – who say that it makes sense to build new homes next to roads, railways, schools and other infrastructure?

Even thousands of new homes within South Bristol won’t meet local demand: more are needed outside the city.

North Somerset council prefers to expand villages like Nailsea and Backwell. But they lack the facilities Bristol has.

This is a tide which may turn.

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: Email karin.smyth.mp@ parliament.uk or call 0117 953 3575.

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 a free valuation and By email: Cllr.stephen.clarke@ Ask forvaluation aAsk freefor valuation and why our customer satisfaction is 96%. k for a free and see why our see customer satisfaction is 96%.

My councillor? bristol.gov.uk see why our customer By post: councillors) Brunel House, Charlie Bolton Green, Southville customer for our industry is 73%* Theaverage customer average for our industry is(all73%* ee why ourThe customer satisfaction is 96%.

St George’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UY By phone: 07884 736111 By email: satisfaction is 96%. erage forour our industry is 73%* Celia Phipps Labour, Bedminster Cllr.charlie.bolton@bristol.gov.uk Using extensive local knowledge our regional The customer average for ourcombined industrywith is 73%*.

Using our extensive local knowledge combined with our regional database ofour buyers, we match theisperson to the home. knowledge combined with regional Ask Using for a free valuation and seelocal why our customer satisfaction 96%. USEFUL NUMBERS our extensive knowledge combined Bristol City Council The customer average for our is 73%* we match todatabase the home. withthe ourperson regional ofindustry buyers, we match www.bristol.gov.uk 0117 922 2000 database of buyers, we match the person to the home.

Using our extensive local knowledge combined with our regional the person to the home. database of buyers, we match the person to the home.

TOWN & COUNTRY HOMES

Waste, roads 0117 922 2100 Pest control and dog wardens 0117 922 2500 Council tax 0117 922 2900 Housing benefit 0117 922 2300 Social services 0117 922 2900

Besley Hill, Bedminster, 165 East St, Avon, Bristol BS3 4EJ

Police Inquiries 101 Emergency 999 Fire

Emergency 999 Inquiries 0117 926 2061 Greater Bedminster Community Partnership Local forum for the public, councillors, police, council officials and other bodies. See story on page 14.

TOWN & COUNTRY HOMES

TOWN & COUNTRY HOMES

*On average 96% of Besley Hill customers who responded to our customer service team between Jan-Dec 2016 EDITOR’S NOTE: South Bristol Voice is independent. We cannot take responsibility said HOMES they we’re happy with our services. 73% source: 2016 The Property Academy Survey.

WN & COUNTRY Besley Hill, Bedminster, 165 East St, Avon, Bristol BS3 4EJ for content or accuracy of adverts, and it is advertisers’ responsibility to conform to all If you are under contract with another agent* You maybe still liable to pay their fee.

Besley Hill, Bedminster, 165 East St, Avon, Bristol BS3 4EJ relevant legislation. We strive to conform to the NUJ Code of Conduct for journalists: nuj.org.uk/about/nuj-code is welcomed: call editor Paul Breeden on 165 East Avon, Bristol BS3 *On St, average 96% of Besley Hill customers who 4EJ responded to our customer •service team between Jan-DecFeedback 2016 *On average 96% of Besley Hill customers who responded to our customer service team between Jan-Dec 2016 said they we’re happy with our services. 73% source: 2016 The Property Academy Survey.

If you are under contract with another agent* You maybe still liable to pay their fee.

07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk. said they we’re happy with our services. 73% source: 2016 The Property Academy Survey. *On average 96% of Besley Hill customers who responded to our customer stories are copyright of South Bristol Voice and may not be o responded to our customer between Jan-Dec 2016 with If service you areteam under contract with agent* maybe stillAll liable to and paypictures their fee. service team between Jan-Dec 2016 said they we’reanother happy our You services. rvices. 73% source: 2016 73% The Property Academy Survey.Academy Survey. reproduced without permission in this or any other plane of the multiverse. source: 2016 The Property another agent* You maybe stillIfliable to under pay their fee. with another you are contract South Bristol Voice Ltd | 18 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BX agent* You maybe still liable to pay their fee.

Co. no. 09522608 | VAT no. 211 0801 76

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August 2017

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n NEWS

Underground trains part of £8.9bn wishlist for transport NEW Metrobus routes through South Bristol and even an underground railway seem to be on the cards following the leak of a long-term vision for transport.

The idea of an underground system for Bristol – with links to the south of the city – may seem like a pipe dream but it’s being seriously considered, according to a report for the West of England Partnership published in the Bristol Post on July 20.

The ambitious “wishlist” of schemes would cost an estimated £8.9 billion. But it’s a sign the region’s bosses are taking seriously the frequent logjams in Bristol traffic.

Unless public transport improves, these will only get worse, given a target for 105,000 homes in Bristol, Bath and South Gloucestershire by 2036.

Paul Matthews, head of property firm Bruton Knowles’ Bristol office, said a rail link to Bristol airport must be considered. It would speed

commuting times into the city and ease the burden on the already congested A38 and A370 routes into the city.

He pointed out that all of the airport’s 7.5 million annual passengers have to get there by road, because Bristol is one of the few major European cities which doesn’t have a direct rail link to its airport.

The new track could link to the main line at Flax Bourton, he said. However, transport bosses may be considering a Metrobus – or even a light rapid transit route – through Bedminster.

Airport buses already pass through Bedminster on their way to the A38.

The leaked transport report talks about expanding Metrobus (see panel, right) – and a new Metrobus lane along Malago Road already seems to be in the planning.

The leaked report will be amended before its official public release in the autumn by the

NEW HOMES AT THE VALE?

Metrobus network to serve the development, connecting through to the A38 and Bristol Airport, said Paul Matthews, of business property group Bruton Knowles.

“Either way we believe any airport rail link being brought forward should also serve the new population at the Vale. This could serve to strengthen the business case for the new line,” said Mr Matthews.

ANY NEW transport link to Bristol Airport could make a new housing development more likely between Long Ashton and Ashton Vale.

Known as The Vale, the plan by Taylor Wimpey is for three villages with thousands of homes.

The new South Bristol Link road goes through one corner of The Vale. This provides an opportunity to extend the

West of England Authority, the body created this year before the election in May of a regional mayor, Tim Bowles.

Mark Bradshaw, a Bedminster Labour councillor and, until earlier this year, Bristol’s cabinet member for transport, said it was important to have a long-term vision for transport in the area.

A new rail or guided route to the airport would be vital if the airport is to double in size over coming decades, he said. A road-based system like Metrobus would not be able to cope.

But he urged transport planners not to get hung up on the “geekery” of new systems like self-driving cars and lorries.

An underground system is worth exploring, he said, but Bristol’s complex geology makes it difficult. “There are some new approaches to tunnelling, such as how you lay pipes, but it’s not a cheap or quick option,” he said.

It is more important to focus on basics, like giving Bristol commuters a ticket valid anywhere, and making buses and trains run on time, he said.

It will be vital for the West of England region to prove its credibility to government by delivering transport schemes on time, he added.

A park and ride at Portway has been on the cards for eight years but is not yet ready, he pointed out, yet it is a relatively simple scheme, involving a platform next to a railway line.

METROBUS: NETWORK GROWING BEFORE A WHEEL HAS TURNED

Metrobus route at Paxton Drive THREE Metrobus routes are due to open by the end of 2017.

But even before that, seven more are being considered.

An orbital route could connect South Bristol with the ring road, it is suggested, along with new routes to Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon, Avonmouth, Thornbury and Yate.

It’s clearly more than a pipe dream. In Bedminster Green, the two high-rise developments so far revealed have had to be redrawn to allow for a new bus lane along Malago Road. Some official documents have referred to this as a Metrobus lane.

The vehicles are like a normal bus, but they run mostly on segregated lanes, so the aim is to cut journey times dramatically – for example from South Bristol to the city centre, or Frenchay.

The first route from Ashton Vale to the centre and Temple Meads will be run by First Bus. • East Street, Bedminster will be shut for six weeks from August 16 to install a new MetroBus stop outside Wilko.

• Novers Lane will have temporary traffic lights at the junction with Hartcliffe Way until about August 12 to allow a gas main to be diverted.

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

August 2017

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n COMPETITION WIN hands-on experience for the young would-be motor racer

BankSpace

BS3 Co-Working Offices • Monthly Rental • Single or Multiple Desks • Open Plan or Private Office • High Speed Internet • Breakout Space

HAVE YOU got what it takes to make a top-class racing driver?

Anyone aged between 10 and 15 can find out, if they become the lucky winner of our Junior Karting competition.

We’ve got the fantastic prize of a free karting session at the Castle Combe racetrack in Wiltshire, provided by the track training experts, Drive-Tech.

There are three levels of karting at Drive-Tech, depending on experience. Novices will get full training in kart safety before progressing to braking and driving exercises, then taking full laps around the 350m kart track.

Those who’ve been karting at Castle Combe before are classed as Experts, and start with advice about choosing a “racing line” to go round corners and building up speed, as well as more training on safety awareness, before taking part in practice races.

On average it takes four or five sessions before youngsters are up

to the top level, Racer. After that they can sign up for Drive-Tech’s Junior Championships, held in spring and autumn.

Drive-Tech also offers adult sessions in karting, 4x4 offroading and skid control, as well as tuition for groups, stag and hen parties, and corporate events.

Our prize is a Junior Karting Voucher, normal price £36, which can be used for any of the three levels, depending on experience. Anyone aged 10-15 who is over 4ft 8in (142cm) in height can take part.

• drivetechltd.co.uk

HOW TO WIN

To win a voucher for Junior Karting at Drive-Tech’s Castle Combe circuit, answer this question: What is the top level of Junior Karting at Castle Combe called?

Email answers with name, address and phone number to paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk by August 15.

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To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Ruth on 07590 527664 DT_0045 New advert 60 x 90 d .indd 1

03/02/2017 12:53

August 2017

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n NEWS

Iceland set to open – but is it really a convenience store?

Retail park next to Ashton Gate wins change to rules AN ICELAND supermarket is set to replace the Staples stationery outlet on Winterstoke Road.

Staples is closing down and the owners of the South Bristol retail park, next to Ashton Gate stadium, persuaded the council that they should be allowed to operate a food store there.

The change in planning conditions was allowed on the basis that the new shop would be a “convenience store”.

That’s because the council does not want too much competition for local town centres like Bedminster, which could cause high street stores to close.

Iceland says it will keep its store in East Street, which it has “no plans to close”.

The Ashton Gate site will be a branch of its new Food Warehouse brand – not a conventional Iceland store but a larger outlet with bigger ranges, and lots of items sold in bulk.

This would appear to stretch the definition of a convenience store.

An Iceland spokesman said work on the store is expected to begin next month, with opening scheduled for November.

“The Food Warehouse stores are more than twice the size of a typical Iceland high street store

Bulk buys: Iceland’s new brand and typically trade on retail parks that offer ample car parking,” said the spokesman.

“In addition to the complete Iceland range they stock extended ranges of luxury and speciality frozen food, chilled meat and fresh produce, fine wines and craft beers, a wide selection of value bulk packs of grocery products, and selected bargain homeware lines.”

Cllr Mark Bradshaw, whose Bedminster ward includes the retail park, said he hadn’t been made aware of the application and would look into it.

“There’s a world of difference between a convenience store for top-up shopping and a destination store where you go by car,” he said.

A store that became a major destination could cause traffic problems, he said.

A planning application for a refrigeration plant for Iceland’s freezers is still being considered.

The 800 sq m store is small by supermarket standards. The

retail park is owned by BAE Systems pension fund, which argued that it would be hard to find another store as a tenant if it was unable to sell food. The other stores on the site are fast food outlet KFC, the B&M bargain store, electrical retailer Currys and motoring store Halfords.

Costa has recently been allowed to open a prefab café in the car park.

BAE had to submit a study to prove that having a food store on Winterstoke Road wouldn’t harm the main shopping areas of Bedminster, in East Street and North Street.

They also had to show that there weren’t any stores of a similar size that Iceland or another supermarket could have used in Bedminster town centre.

Arena: we’re still waiting THERE is no sign of progress on a deal to build the Bristol Arena.

The council is in discussions with developer Buckingham Group after failing to reach an affordable deal with its first-choice builder.

An update is expected some time in the autumn.

The council is to demolish the old Royal Mail sorting office next to Temple Meads now that a deal has been struck to sell the land to Bristol university.

A £300 million new campus could include a 25-storey tower on Arena Island.

Upfest is back EUROPE’S largest street art festival was due to take over Bedminster from July 29-31, just after the Voice went to press. So no report in this issue – but we’ll have full coverage next month.

• upfest.co.uk

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Cotham Park Rugby Club who play in Beggar Bush Lane are recruiting both boys and girls for their Years 6 and 7 squads.

Everyone gets a game in a friendly and inclusive atmosphere with the emphasis on enjoyment Register at

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

southbristolvoice

6

n NEWS Young chess players make right moves

August 2017

Car smashes railings to hang over river

PRIMARY school pupils from South Bristol scored highly in the city’s biggest annual chess tournament, which attracted 120 young players to City Hall.

Victoria Park primary won the Best Year 5 prize, while Compass Point primary in Bedminster topped Year 4. Lilly, from Ashton Vale primary, was awarded the Sportsmanship Cup after she pointed out that she had lost her game after an arbiter mistakenly recorded it as her win!

Mayor Marvin Rees, a keen chess player, attended the event on July 7, organised by Chess in Schools and Communities.

Mr Rees said: “The game is an excellent way to learn problem solving skills, and it can also help children to become more resilient and learn how to lose gracefully.

“I would really like to see more of our schools taking up the lessons by Chess in Schools – this competition is helping to break down the myth that chess is only a game for the elite.”

• chessinschools.co.uk

Hunt’s promise BRISTOL South MP Karin Smyth won a pledge from the heath secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to look into a decision by NHS Property services to lease a new HQ in the City of London at a cost to the taxpayer of £1 million. Ms Smyth said the same NHS body has tripled the rent for GPs at Knowle West Health Park.

POLICE summoned divers to search a stretch of the New Cut after a collision between two cars left one of them overhanging the river.

The vehicles collided at about 11pm at the junction of York Road and Spring Street in Bedminster on June 23.

One car went through railings and was left hanging over the water’s edge.

A search of the river was

carried out as a precaution, but no one was found.

Two men were rescued from the car and taken to hospital.

One of them was taken to Southmead Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The second man was taken to the BRI. Both men have been released under investigation.

The three occupants in the second car were taken to the BRI. The male driver had minor

injuries, the female front seat passenger suffered concussion and the female rear seat passenger had a suspected broken back. It is not clear how well any of the victims are recovering.

Police enquiries into the incident are continuing.

Anyone who was in the area at the time of the collision is asked to call 101, quoting reference 5217142426.

Cycleway routes about to be unveiled for Slopes and park RESIDENTS living near Victoria Park and Northern Slopes are awaiting details of the Filwood Quietway – the cycleway which will pass through both open spaces.

Planning applications for both parts of the route are expected any day, but weren’t available as the Voice went to press.

Volunteers who help look after Northern Slopes are largely against the route, believing it will be an expensive white elephant.

People living near Victoria Park are now more receptive to the idea, after an initial plan for a 4.7m cycle superhighway was withdrawn following hundreds of objections.

The new plan for Victoria Park mostly follows existing paths. It largely meets the objections of campaigners,

though it is expected to retain lighting along the railway side leading to Windmill Close, which some residents do not want.

At Northern Slopes, though, opposition is still entrenched.

Bob Franks, chair of the Northern Slopes Initiative (NSI), said most members feel the cycleway is a waste of money.

“I don’t think it will be well used,” he said. When NSI did its own consulation, the reaction was very negative.

The route is supposed to attract new people to cycling, but they will find it difficult to tackle the steep slope alongside Wedmore Vale. And many people living near the Slopes will find it hard to afford cycles, he said.

The route suggested by the council’s Cycling Ambition Fund team cuts across the Slopes from

Kenmare Road down a steep incline to Wedmore Vale.

The NSI has been suggesting an alternative route since 2015, which is less intrusive and not so steep – crossing the Slopes higher up to emerge on Cavan Walk.

NSI presented the plan twice to the council and received no response, said Mr Franks. When NSI put it forward a third time recently, the council said it had no knowledge of the plan, and no time to research it.

People don’t want lighting, Mr Franks said, but they do want CCTV on the path, where there have been attacks.

In the latest incident a woman believes her dog scared off a would-be attacker on July 22.

The council is expected to propose lighting, but no CCTV.

ASK A VET: CAN CATS GET TICKS AS WELL AS DOGS?

T

HE ANSWER is yes. Ticks are more commonly seen in dogs, as dogs tend to walk in grassy areas, but cats get them too, particularly if they live near woodland or fields.

September and October is peak tick season, but they are often seen earlier in the summer. Last year saw an increase in these nasty little critters. Ticks can carry infectious diseases, including Lyme disease, which is also thought to be on the increase.

Ticks wait in the grass for warm-blooded mammals to brush

The longer a tick is attached, the greater is the risk of infection past, then attach themselves and feed off the blood. The longer the tick is attached, the greater the risk of infection, so check your pet’s

skin every day. If you find one, don’t pull it off – they should be twisted off with a tick remover tool so that the mouth part is also removed. If the mouth part is left, it can pass on disease or fester and become infected. Ideally, call us for an appointment to see a nurse who will remove it for you free of charge.

The recent humid weather is a perfect breeding ground for ticks and we recommend using tick protection. Your vet will be able to prescribe an effective treatment for both dogs and cats to last three

Simon Webb BVetMed MRCVS Ashton Veterinary Surgery, Ashton months. For more information, or to book an appointment, don’t hesitate to call us on 01275 832410.

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

August 2017

southbristolvoice

n NEWS

Farm footballers wait to hear if they will have to move out Is Victoria Park a possible home for five-a-siders?

FOOTBALL players who use the five-a-side pitch at Windmill Hill City Farm are waiting to hear whether they will have to make way for a new children’s nursery.

It’s been suggested that they might be found a new pitch in Victoria Park – a plan which is likely to meet local objection.

Thirteen teams use the artificial pitch at the farm in Philip Street, Bedminster, many of them having played there for 20 or 30 years. They have been trying to persuade the trustees of the farm to let them stay.

Bristol city council is anxious to take advantage of government

funds for new nursery places – which will only be available if the new building can open next term.

The trustees of the farm are eager to accept the plan, because the £300,000 turnover from the nursery could secure the farm’s financial future.

An alternative site – putting the nursery on the farm’s woodland paddock – has been ruled out by the trustees, because it would cost an extra £200,000, and would mean less space for farming and animals.

However, objections to the loss of an urban football pitch would be many.

They would come not only from the five-a-side players, who are represented by a Pitch User Group, but by various sporting bodies and charities including the Football Foundation. If no

alternative pitch is provided, it’s possible a planning application for the nursery would be refused.

Andrew Price, one of the long-term football players at the farm, said the players were sceptical that an acceptable alternative pitch will be possible in Victoria Park.

But the Pitch User Group is reserving its judgement to hear what recommendations the council comes up with.

The farm trustees have backed putting the nursery on the pitch site, but only if the council provides “good mitigation” such as an alternative pitch.

Shaun Hennessy, chair of Victoria Park Action Group, said members were willing to explore the idea of a pitch in the park, though they know the idea will be controversial.

7

Pharmacy is a record breaker A SOUTH Bristol pharmacy has taken home more awards than any other in the country, for the second year running.

Bedminster Pharmacy in Bristol took four trophies at the C+D (Chemist and Druggist) awards on July 12. None of the national pharmacy chains won any awards. Ade Williams received both the Community Pharmacist of the Year and Manager awards, while his staff were crowned Pharmacy Team for the second year in a row.

Delivery driver Shirley Jamieson was awarded Pharmacy Staff Member of the Year, after being lauded by the C+D judges as “a true ambassador” for the business, and taking the lead on a winter cold homes campaign.

“In a part of Bristol with high social deprivation, the Bedminster team have a range of innovative ideas to tackle health issues and become a stand-out healthy living pharmacy,” said the judges.

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

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August 2017

n NEWS

n BRIEFLY Free yoga FREE taster classes for all ages are on offer at the Flow Yoga studio at 15 Whitehouse Street, Bedminster on Saturday September 2.

Sessions in yoga for 5-7 year-olds, 8-11 year-olds and teenagers are offered, as well as several adult classes, including Pilates and restorative yoga, all suitable for all abilities. Instructors will be available to offer advice as well as discounts – and cakes. Places are limited so booking is needed.

• flowyogabristol.co.uk n AS CALLS grow to cut air pollution in Bristol, a petrol station wants to install a charging point for electric vehicles.

Southville service station in Coronation Road has made a planning application for one rapid charging unit on the forecourt. n KARIN Smyth has won a new post as shadow leader of the House of Commons. As deputy to Valerie Vaz MP, Ms Smyth will be central to Labour input into the arrangement of Commons business. It means the Bristol South MP has stepped down from her role as parliamentary private secretary to Sir Keir Starmer, shadow Brexit secretary. n CHILDREN at Victoria Park primary school have won the Green Team award from the Worldwide Fund for Wildlife. “This amazing group of mini eco champions work tirelessly to deliver themed assemblies to get the whole school involved in their green projects and work hard to create green areas for all pupils to enjoy,” said the charity. Last year the school’s Eleanor Walker won a WWF award as best green teacher.

A-mazing amount of help for the Malago maze PLANS to turn a field full of weeds into a Berry Maze for the people living near Malago Greenway are attracting more and more support.

The idea has proved so popular that it quickly hit its fundraising target of £3,800 – but still the help is coming in.

Extra funds will now come from Tesco’s Bags of Help scheme – which it’s hoped will also benefit the new community fruit farm in Redcatch Park, Knowle.

The Retired Gentlemen’s Woodwork group, which meets at The Park centre in Knowle, have built the first of the wooden planters needed.

The Friends of Parson Street Station have donated a colourful mosaic that’s currently at the entrance of the station.

The mosaic was designed by children from Parson Street primary school.

Victoria Park primary school is appealing to its parents to lend a hand, and some of the children will be joining in when the maze design is chalked onto the ground for “Mock a Maze Day” as part of Bristol Open Doors Day on Saturday September 9.

Popular South Bristol outdoor artist Ollie Gage will help with the chalk picture on Mock a Maze day.

Ollie, who has made giant murals at Oasis Academy in

BERRY MAZE DIARY September 2 Litter picking, 10am-12noon September 9 Mock a Maze Day: marking the maze, tea and cakes, familly activities, 8.30am-4pm September 16 Spreading the mulch, 9am-4pm September 23 Placing the posts and wires, 9am-4pm September 30 Setting up planters, 9am-4pm November 18 Planting the berries, 9am-4pm November 25 or January 13 Painting the design in the centre Marksbury Road and at Parson Street school, is giving his time free, and will later paint the design as a centrepiece.

Knowle cakemaker Shareena Marshall, also known as Cake by Shaz, has offered to create a cake in the shape of the maze for the grand opening in June next year.

It’s hoped that mulch will be donated by Withywood Tree Services and by the contractor working with the council’s parks department, although the details are still to be agreed.

Still needed, though, is help from a local builder in repairing the cement slab that will be the centrepiece of the maze.

• yourberrymaze@gmail.com.

• Facebook: @TheBerryMaze2017

Ban this route, council told after HGV crash THE COUNCIL is to be asked to stop heavy lorries using Winterstoke Road to get to South Liberty lane after a crash closed the road for hours.

An HGV that was heading for the Freightliner depot in South Liberty Lane shed its shipping container onto the busy junction in the rush hour on July 19, causing hours of chaos for traffic.

Residents are furious, because they had been told lorries would by now be using the new access route to the new South Bristol Link, open since May. Bedminster Labour councillor Mark Bradshaw told the Voice that he would ask the council to see what powers it has to stop heavy lorries using the old route – which entails crossing a narrow, light-controlled railway bridge which was never meant to cope with such large vehicles.

“It’s very daunting walking over the bridge, on a narrow footway, while a huge container lorry comes towards you, not necessarily at 20mph,” said Cllr Bradshaw.

Freightliner has promised for years that once the new link road was open, it would alter the entrance to its depot to make it easier for trucks to head the other way. This has not happened, and the firm has suggested it wants the council to install new yellow lines first.

Karin Smyth MP, who has campaigned on the issue, said she was seeking an urgent meeting with Freightliner.

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

August 2017

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n NEWS Writers in running for global award TWO SOUTH Bristol authors are on the longlist for a global literary award.

Despite its name, the Bristol Short Story Prize has a global reach. This year there were 2,000 entries from 51 countries, with 93 per cent from outside Bristol.

So it is a big achievement that

two local writers have made it to the longlist of the 40 best stories.

Anita MacCallum, from Bedminster, said, “It’s an honour to be on the longlist. It is also a powerful validation of my writing and has encouraged me to keep going. My story, The Land of the Pretty, is about the journey of a girl who is navigating society’s messages around body image.

“For me, it is also a celebration of being a woman in my own power and embracing being in my forties.”

Grace Palmer, from Knowle,

9 childhood visits to my uncle’s farm, but the story is fictional.

It’s a piece about love, grief and the patterns that shape our lives.

Technically, I aimed to fuse poetic expression, compression and telling detail for effect.”

Winner of the first prize, 10 years ago, was Rebecca Lloyd, Southville resident and author of Oothangbart, interviewed in the Voice recently. The 20 shortlisted stories will be published in an anthology, and the winner announced in October.

• bristolprize.co.uk

Anita MacCullum Grace Palmer said, “I’m thrilled to be on the longlist of this prestigious competition.

“My story, The Cows Are Out For Spring, was inspired by

Golfer saves a player’s life with CPR Man ‘already looked dead’ but Scott kept pumping his chest A BEDMINSTER man started the day looking forward to a round of golf – and ended it a lifesaver.

Scott Kilmer, a tool hire manager at Keyline builders merchants in Hartcliffe Way, had just teed off at the 17th hole at Knowle Golf Club when one of the players ahead of him collapsed – and the other began frantically waving for help.

Scott rushed to their aid, while his playing partner Gavin Carpenter ran to the clubhouse to grab the defibrillator.

Luckily Scott had just taken a first aid course at work and is the branch’s official first aider. The training kicked in and, with the support of a 999 call handler helping him count the

compressions, he began pumping the stricken golfer’s chest.

Scott said the man, 63-yearold Richard Pembury, was grey and “looked dead” when he began, but he carried on the CPR. For 14 minutes, Scott conducted CPR, and gave Mr Pembury several shocks from the defibrillator. Eventually, paramedics took over and, remarkably, Mr Pembury lived.

He was rushed to the BRI by air ambulance, put into an induced coma for three days, and has since had five stents fitted to his arteries. He is now well enough to revisit the golf course, though only for a walk.

“If it hadn’t have been for Scott and Gavin then I wouldn’t be here today. I really do owe them my life,” said Mr Pembury.

Doctors said there was no doubt Scott saved Mr Pembury’s life. The pair have spoken a couple of times, but Scott said all Mr Pembury needed to do was buy him a drink to say thanks.

Now Scott said the episode showed the value of everyone taking training in first aid.

Phil Hooper of BS3 Training, a Bedminster firm which gives first aid and other safety training to companies, said many people who see an emergency call 999, but don’t know what else to do.

Phil recently stepped in when

he witnessed a motorbike crash in Wales. Bystanders wanted to removed the rider’s helmet but Phil stopped them because this can worsen any neck or spinal injuries. The rider turned out not to be seriously hurt.

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August 2017

n NEWS

Take control of Beds Green plans, residents tell mayor RESIDENTS of Windmill Hill are demanding the council sets out a strategy for the whole of Bedminster Green.

Altogether the Green could provide more than 1,000 homes.

Clifton-based developer Urbis wants to build an 18-storey tower close to Bedminster station, while Rollo Homes has made an application for 207 flats in up to 10 storeys along Malago Road.

Both firms are proposing their own energy centres, when only one is needed – a situation described as “bloody minded” by Howard Purse of Windmill Hill planning group WHaM. Mr Purse said WHaM had asked to meet the planning officer with responsibility for the Green three times since April – but has not received a reply.

Meanwhile an open letter from Windmill Hill residents to mayor Marvin Rees asks him to take control of the situation.

When the St Catherine’s site nearby was allowed a 16-storey tower in 2015 it was seen as a one-off landmark, says the letter.

But now Urbis proposes a larger, 18 storey tower, while also building 300 student homes over Whitehouse Lane. It would cut down trees and make the green in front of the station smaller, while leaving it in shadow from the high rises, it is claimed. The full letter is on the Voice website.

Mr Rees will no doubt turn to his latest recruit to the council cabinet, Cllr Nicola Beech, who took charge of strategic planning and city design on July 14.

Rollo Homes, which has been

criticised for failing to talk to residents, exhibited a new version of its 10- and 6-storey blocks. The number of flats is reduced from 217 to 207 and the buildings are pulled back from Malago Road to allow room for a possible future Metrobus route.

The firm said it was “committed to consultation” and had responded to comments by putting retail or community spaces on the ground floor, and having larger landscaped areas.

But WHaM said the plan was little different from before, and is so big it will separate Windmill Hill from Bedminster.

Neil Sellers, chair of the BS3 Planning group, said its members also felt that the latest Rollo plan was little different from the first one. The group has asked Rollo

to prove that flats will not overshadow homes on the other side of Malago Road.

Also unveiled in June was Urbis’s striking plan for an energy centre, which could serve around 2,000 homes in the area, on the site of the NCP car park.

Mr Sellers called the Urbis proposal “an exciting building”.

He said: “The only remaining question is, what’s coming out of the chimney?”

In a letter to the Voice, WHaM said Urbis had given no data on emissions, and voiced fears that pollution would blow onto St Mary Redcliffe primary school.

• Letters: page 23

‘IT WON’T HARM HEALTH’

ready for the public meeting in June, but would be released soon.

“I couldn’t live with myself if I felt we were polluting the air,” he said. “Do you really think we would be allowed to put the health of children and the public in jeopardy?”

The exhaust from the 100ft chimney would be ejected at 45mph and so wouldn’t fall to

earth nearby. It will disperse at about 1,000ft, said Mr Clarke.

The gas-fired plant could generate heat and electricity for at least 1,243 homes in and around Bedminster Green.

It will produce less of the harmful particulates – PM10s and PM 2.5s – than the energy sources currently used for the three nearby

council blocks – Northfield, Holroyd and Polden house. Even when 1,000 new homes are built the energy centre will still have reduced emissions compared to current uses, he said. A similar plant being built in Cambridge has been assessed as having an “imperceptible” effect on NOx, the other main harmful air pollutant.

THE ENERGY centre proposed to go next to Windmill Hill City Farm will not rain down dangerous pollution on the farm or St Mary Redcliffe primary school, says the man behind the plan, Urbis managing director Richard Clarke.

Mr Clarke said details of the emissions form the plant weren’t

Dramatic: A sketch for the timber-clad Urbis energy centre

Free tea for readers at new café EVERYBODY loves toast – but did you know that almost every country in Europe has its own version of the snack?

Kate Smith and John Cassettari, who have just opened The Toast Room café in Bedminster Parade, spent six months touring Europe on a shoestring to glean inspiration.

They discovered toasted snacks such as zapiekanka in Poland, Portugal’s francesinha, Spanish tostadas, and tartines from France, and the idea for The Toast Room was born.

Kate and John also loved the café culture of Europe and wanted to make The Toast Room family-friendly, part of the local community and good value for money, while always using fresh, good quality ingredients. They are starting small but have plenty on the menu, including takeaway

items from ciabattas and salads to quiches and several varieties of toast – Bristol bloomer, farmhouse granary, sunflower and linseed, and sourdough.

For a different take on breakfast, there’s a chorizo, avocado and poached egg on Victoria Park sourdough and leaves for £6.50.

All ingredients are locally sourced, with the bread coming from the Park Bakery in St John’s Lane. Coffee is roasted in St Werburgh’s at Extract, tea from Pukka teas, and meat is from Kelvin’s butchers in East Street.

• IF YOU’D like to try out The Toast Room for yourself, cut out their advert, left. The first five readers of the Totterdown edition and the first five of the Bedminster edition to present the ad will get a free cup of tea or coffee.

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August 2017

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11

n NEWS

Doctors band together in BS3 super-practice IT’S HOPED that a move to merge five GP practices will help end the situation where full-up practices have closed their books to new patients.

Bedminster Family Practice, Gaywood House Surgery, Malago Surgery, Southville Surgery and the Wedmore Practice have asked NHS England for permission to join forces. They expect the go-ahead to form a new super-surgery in August.

In the past 18 months, all the surgeries have closed to new patients at some point because they could not meet demand.

They hope that by pooling resources, they can give patients more options. For example, if they need an urgent appointment and their surgery is full, they could be directed to one of the other practices. All the surgeries are within a mile of each other.

If approved, the new

Bedminster Medical Group would have 46,000 patients.

That would make it the largest surgery in Bristol, North Somerset or South Glos by some way. The next biggest is in Nailsea, with 32,000 patients.

The new practice would have 32 GPs. It could also make it easier to recruit GPs, who have been reluctant to seek jobs in smaller surgeries in South Bristol.

• Pharmacists are to work in some GP surgeries in South Bristol to help ease the pressure on doctors. A total of 14 clinical pharmacists will start work in family practices, including the new super-practice in Bedminster, as well as Wedmore practice, Priory surgery and Wells Road surgery in Knowle, and Stockwood medical centre.

However, the new posts will have to cover an area from Bristol to Weston-super-Mare.

Dramatic: The new proposal for 47 Bedminster Down Road.

Public toilets used to occupy the right hand end of the plot.

Eyecatching shop and flats plan A NEW PLAN has been submitted for a traffic-bound site which used to contain public toilets on Bedminster Down Road.

Owner Paul Delaney, from Ashton, has revised an earlier plan after objections.

It now has three rather than four storeys, and two shops on the ground floor rather than offices. Above would be five flats – two of one bedroom and three with three bedrooms.

The dramatic building at 47 Bedminster Down Road comes to a point at one end, where the site

is pinched by the road and the railway on the other side.

Mr Delaney said in his application: “I wanted to build something a bit special on the site, to help improve the area and be visually stunning on what is a bit of a gateway into the city. I have spoken to countless people local to the area, and almost all are fully supportive of the project.”

He wants to move his signmaking business into the building.

No comments had been lodged by the public as the Voice went to press.

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

n FEATURES

L

August 2017

southbristolvoice

12 OCAL wildlife is taking centre stage in south Bristol this summer, thanks to interest from thousands of South Bristol residents and schools in our My Wild Bedminster appeal, and efforts by conservation charities.

The Voice has teamed up with ecologist Alex Morss, community leader Ben Barker, children’s TV star Andy Day, Avon Wildlife Trust, Butterfly Conservation and River Visions, to put our struggling flora and fauna back on the map. So far, we have together supported wildlife and habitat creation workshops, urban safaris, walks, talks, wildlife recording, a monthly photography contest and a children’s wildlife art competition.

The Voice team has offered expert help and ideas to seven primary schools, including visits, talks, a competition, workshops or free wildlife guides, while Butterfly Conservation has visited more than 1,000 local primary school children for its Munching Caterpillars project.

MY WILD BEDMINSTER

Children find out how to make

Planting out: Children learn how to attract butterflies to school grounds The children have been planting pollinator-friendly flowers in their school grounds, rearing caterpillars and handling moths.

At Ashton Gate primary school, a workshop with Alex Morss and Ben Barker challenged

the children to map the good and bad areas for wildlife in their grounds and come up with ways to make it more wildlife-friendly.

Teacher Charlotte Thomas said: “The children got a lot from the workshop. We are now

hoping to create a proposal and take it to the school’s senior leadership team. We have been approached by one of our parents who is keen to help us put the changes in place.”

Butterfly Conservation then stepped in to help deliver the school’s children’s habitatcreation wishlist, with a workshop on caterpillars, butterflies and moths, planting of caterpillar food plants and nectar-rich flowers for pollinators. The charity has now visited more than 1,000 school children across South Bristol.

The charity’s Munching Caterpillars project officer, Matt Brierley, said: “Thanks to the amazing support of our student volunteers, we’ve been able to reach out to even more primary schools. If any local garden centres or nurseries have plants they are happy to donate to the project, we would be very grateful and could use these in

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August 2017

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13

n FEATURES

MY WILD BEDMINSTER

their school butterfly-friendly our school visits with the children – just email me at mbrierley@butterflyconservation.org.”

Butterfly Conservation is also running a Plant Pots for Pollinators campaign and the Big Butterfly Count, launched by Sir David Attenborough, who has appealed for people to sign up to help our struggling butterflies.

Sir David said: “Worryingly, we are now seeing the fortunes of some of our once common butterflies mirror those of our rarest species and they too are now suffering significant declines, with butterflies declining more rapidly in urban areas than in the countryside.”

A Butterfly Conservation spokesperson said more counts by the public in South Bristol would be extremely valuable because several species have dropped in our city more than elsewhere – for example the small copper butterfly, grayling and small heath. Also, our area suffers from a lack of wildlife recording data. That’s why The Voice has appealed for people to get out and find what lives in their green patch, send in records and post photos on our iSpot page (see panel, right).

GO ON SAFARI

• Children across BS3 still have time to go wild on their own urban safari and draw what wildlife they find for our wildlife art competition. TV star Andy Day will judge the artwork, with prizes for the winners, and the chance to feature in our public art exhibition later this year.

• southbristolvoice.co.uk/mywild-bedminster.html

THANKS to Besley Hill Bedminster, who are sponsoring our schools work as part of My Wild Bedminster.

WINNER: A bumble bee on a borage flower in Joanna Seal’s Bedminster garden.

Joanna wrote: “I just feel so content when I look out at the back garden, which a year ago when I moved here was just gravel and concrete, and now see so many insects and birds.”

• Thanks for all the wildlife photos – we’ll print more next month.

WILDLIFE IDEAS FOR YOU TO DO THIS SUMMER

£10 PHOTO WINNER

RUNNERS-UP: Agapanthus flower

by Silas Clarke, 9, of Clift Road

Cinnabar moth caterpillars by Raluca McKett, Willada Close

Young smooth newt found in pond in Camden Road by Kyle Harris

HEDGEHOGS ARE CARED FOR TILL THEY CAN GO BACK TO THE WILD MEANWHILE, on Windmill Hill and Victoria Park, Voice wildlife writer Alex Morss has been leading a hedgehog rescue rehabilitation project, which aims to re-release rescued or injured hedgehogs back to the wild after vet care.

Alex is appealing to residents to make more gardens accessible to hogs in order to increase their habitat range.

Alex and her family have fostered two. They nicknamed the

• Enter our wildlife photography or children’s art competition: • southbristolvoice.co.uk/ my-wild-bedminster.html • Visit iSpot to share your local wildlife photos and get ID help: • goo.gl/6nHzGU • Send local wildlife records to Ben Barker: • benbarker@blueyonder.co.uk • Open up your garden for hedgehogs: • hedgehogstreet.org • Plant for pollinators: • plantpotsforpollinators.org • Do the Big Butterfly Count: • bigbutterflycount.org • Join a local bat monitoring survey: • nbmp.bats.org.uk/surveys. aspx • Come to Victoria Park’s Owl Day and learn about wild birds on Saturday August 26, 1- 4pm.

Houdini: Named because of his escape attempts PICTURE: Alex Morss male hedgehog Houdini, because they soon found that he could squeeze through amazingly small

gaps! The girl was named Minnie by the vets. She is a one year old female who had a broken leg from a mouse trap injury and is now recovering, after a long stay in the vets, and she will be released back to the wild soon.

Houdini is a young male who was found very under-weight and was seen out in the day – not a good thing for a hedgehog. He was taken in by a hedgehog charity and passed to Alex for rehab.

More information about how to help wild hedgehogs: • hedgehogstreet.org

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southbristolvoice

14

August 2017

n NEWS COUNCIL CUTS IN FOCUS out now because they know they local meetings to divide up on July 13.

Mayor and his centre won’t be able to use a toilet. This planning levies might now have Mayor Marvin Rees and his is isolating a huge chunk of the to cover a much larger area. senior cabinet colleagues were population.”

TOILETS to hear views on cuts, top team hear there Mr Rees countered that he One man from Knowle made a totalling £6.5 million, to wants to see more toilets made bitter protest about the effect of neighbourhood services and the impact of available, by cafés, pubs and closing public toilets. He cares social care – themselves only a other businesses who are willing for his severely disabled sister. fraction of the £33m the council to open their toilets to anyone “To take her out, I have to to save this year. their proposals needs who needs them. know there is a toilet we can use, The proposals will see more PROTESTS about closing public toilets, axing lollipop patrols and closing branch libraries were made at a public consultation meeting held at Knowle’s Park

than half of Bristol’s libraries close, along with all its public toilets, except for those in parks.

Half of the 80-odd school crossing patrols would go, while

with disabled access, at very short notice,” he said.” We cannot do that any more.

“We have lots of elderly people in Knowle who won’t go

Library users scrabbling for rescue plans as row deepens LIBRARY users are being faced with a choice of three options for cuts to the service – all of them unacceptable, according to an opposition councillor.

Several South Bristol libraries are listed for the axe under all three options: Marksbury Road in Bedminster, Wick Road in Brislington, and Bishopsworth and Whitchurch.

The Friends of Marksbury Road Library protested that as all three options will close the library, many people said they could not see any point in responding.

“The area is one with few amenities and increasing numbers of new houses and flats, and it includes pockets of high deprivation. The library is a greatly valued resource,” said a statement sent to the council by Friends secretary Sarah Murch.

The Friends called for the

Use of volunteers is being ignored, claim Lib Dems council to install other services in the building, pointing out that it had been given to the community by a benefactor in 1933.

Windmill Hill Labour councillor Jon Wellington said he hoped to set up a meeting with the Friends, other councillors and deputy mayor Cllr Asher Craig to see if the building could be kept in public use.

Bedminster library, which is located in busy East Street, is well-used and is not threatened under any of the options.

However, unlike many other libararies, it doesn’t have a Friends group to support it.

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Lib Dem leader and Knowle councillor Gary Hopkins said he had heard that the most common response to the consultation so far from the public was “none of the above”.

Under one of the options Knowle library would be saved –with reduced hours – but the other two options would close it.

Yet the council has ignored the possibility of getting volunteers to help run libraries and reduce the costs of keeping them open, said Cllr Hopkins.

He claimed the council had had a briefing from civil servants on how other councils have used library volunteers alongside paid staff – but this wasn’t mentioned in the consultation.

Meanwhile people in Brislington are adamant that Wick Road library needs to be saved as the only building of its type for the local community. But some see no point in giving the council their views.

“People aren’t completing the consultation because there isn’t an option for Wick Road to stay – people think it’s a done deal,” said one man at the Knowle public consultation (see above).

Cllr Craig held out hope that libraries chosen for closure might be saved if other libraries can be found new homes in multi-use buildings. She has arranged to meet the Brislington residents.

• The full statement from the Friends of Marksbury Road Library is on the Voice website.

• epetitions.bristol.gov.uk

But many of those toilets will not have disabled access, countered the Knowle man.

SCHOOL CROSSINGS “I understand people’s concerns,”

Bedminster may have a blueprint for public toilets BEDMINSTER appears to have its own answer to one of the most controversial of the current cutbacks – the call to close all public toilets.

In BS3, this would mean that the toilets in East Street and in Greville Smyth park would close.

(Some toilets in parks would remain, but they may be closed by future cuts to parks funding.)

The council’s aim, though, is to increase the number of toilets available to the public by encouraging shops, pubs, cafés and other businesses to open their facilities to non-customers.

The council argues this will provide more well-cared for toilets to the public, and win goodwill for the businesses who take part. The firms will display a sign saying their toilets are open to anyone.

Bedminster already has just such a scheme. The Greater Bedminster Toilet Map was published a couple of years ago

LOCAL GROUP PLANS AUTUMN RELAUNCH GREATER Bedminster Community Partnership (GBCP) has lost its council funding for local meetings and for making grants to community groups.

But the group was being run by volunteers long before it won backing from the council, and the new regime is being treated as “an opportunity rather than a threat”.

One of the aims will be to

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

August 2017

southbristolvoice

15

n NEWS COUNCIL CUTS IN FOCUS mayor Marvin Rees told the Voice after impassioned pleas from the public to save the lollipop patrols at Hillcrest primary in Totterdown and Christ the King primary in Hartcliffe.

Mr Rees and his deputy mayors learned two things they admitted they didn’t know prior to the meeting. A crossing patrol worker from Christ the King school, Hartcliffe spoke up to say she was receiving a double payment – being paid for two

hours a day, instead of the one she actually works. The payment was an incentive added some years ago when it was hard to recruit crossing patrols, she said, but she’d be prepared to give it up if it would save the service.

The Voice also reminded the mayor that Holy Cross school, which is on a very dangerous double blind bend in Dean Lane, Southville, has offered to pay for its own patrol – but the council has never responded to its query on how to go about this.

SOCIAL CARE WHILE protests were made about libraries, toilets and school crossings, no-one from the public spoke up at the Knowle meeting about cuts to adult day services, or the Supporting People system which helps residents at home.

This may be because the cuts will affect individuals differently, and many of those affected haven’t yet been consulted.

People with learning disabilities or autism, for example, may receive less help in

their own homes.

The council also wants to farm out care for people with serious learning disabilities to other providers.

It will keep drop-in centres open, but it needs to save £1.2m, or a third of the Community Links budget for people with disabilities.

It also needs to cut £1.8m from the Supporting People budget, for people with mental health problems living in their own homes or sheltered housing.

MAYOR PROMISES TO LOOK INTO HOLY CROSS LOLLIPOP MIX-UP

Nowhere to go: The toilets slated for closure at the end of East Street

by Greater Bedminster Community Partnership (GBCP).

It has 21 toilets including the Thali in the Tobacco Factory, Windmill Hill City Farm, the Southville centre, Create Centre, and pubs including the Steam Crane, the Robert Fitzharding and the Assembly. All have agreed that anyone can use their

toilets whenever they are open.

On the face of it, this is just the kind of scheme that the council wants to encourage.

Any new edition of the Bedminster toilet map is on hold, though, while the GBCP group decides on its future after the council cutbacks (see panel below).

reach out to people who traditionally don’t get involved in community groups, like the young and the disadvantaged.

The group wants to make more use of social media and may come up with a new name to replace its unwieldy title.

GBCP is staying quiet for now while a small working group comes up with plans.

In a statement, the group said: “For over 10 years, the GBCP has worked with the four Southville and Bedminster councillors, and

more than 100 local groups and organisations to deliver projects, events and activities aimed at improving the quality of life in the Greater Bedminster area.

“Upgraded parks, refurbished pavements, more street trees and benches, new pedestrian crossings, events such as the Lantern Parade, and the Bedminster Business Improvement District are just a few of the results. We intend to continue this work – and more.”

• Facebook @greaterbedminster communitypartnership.co.uk

MORE PROTESTS can be expected in the new school term in September as parents absorb the news that several schools are to lose their lollipop patrols.

Parson Street primary, on one of the busiest junctions in Bristol, is earmarked to lose two of its theoretical four crossing patrols (in reality, only two are at work).

Compass Point primary in South Street will lose its patrol because it’s judged to have a lower need, based on traffic data.

Holy Cross primary on Dean Lane won’t get a lollipop, again because the need is supposed to be low. The council says no accidents have been recorded there, though school staff and parents know of several.

Mayor Marvin Rees promised to look into the situation at Holy Cross after the Voice told him that the school had asked the council how it should go about funding the lollipop patrol itself – and received no reply (see story above).

St Mary Redcliffe primary will

Parson Street school: Busy roads lose its crossing patrol at Whitehouse Lane because there is an engineered crossing, which the council thinks is enough to protect children.

In Knowle, there have already been protests from parents who say an engineered crossing is not safe on busy Wells Road without a lollipop patrol. Parents at Hillcrest primary school won themselves TV coverage in July when they marched back and forth across the road with placards.

Parents at Knowle Park primary are also gearing up for a protest.

Ashton Gate, Luckwell and Victoria Park schools will all keep their crossing patrols under the proposals.

Council consultation – open until September 5: • bristol.gov.uk/ yourneighbourhood

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

August 2017

southbristolvoice

16

n EDUCATION

Advertisement feature

What can young students expect when As parents and pupils start to think about their secondary school choices, three of South Bristol’s post-11 schools outline their appeal in this sponsored feature.

More next month

L

Bridge Learning Campus OOK at us! Which one of us can program a computer game? Which of us can cook up a storm in the kitchen?

Which one of us can read DNA sequences? Which of us can discuss Chinese politics? Which one of us can build a plane?

Answer – we all can!

How? Through expert teaching and an inspiring curriculum! We’re given the opportunity to try anything, experience everything. Learning

isn’t bound by classroom doors.

Our resources let us create and innovate.

We are supported and challenged by our peers and teachers, we respect one another.

From nursery to GCSE we are a community.

We expect and we deliver, we aspire and we achieve.

Independence and resilience are the basis of our culture. Our successes are shared and rewarded.

Enrichment is as inclusive and personalised as our learning.

We aim to master it all. We are preparing, for building brilliant futures – so come on look at us.

Bridge Learning Campus, because learning means we can!

Keziah Featherstone, headteacher, and Neil Willey, associate headteacher at the school in William Jessop Way, Whitchurch Park add: “As one of the genuinely all-through schools in Bristol, students may

‘What we are doing at BLC is very special and we were delighted that this was recently recognised by Ofsted; but it is the positive feedback from students and families that we are most proud of’

learning. We have extensive sports fields, great outside areas, plenty of IT facilities and even some old fashioned books.”

Ofsted said after an inspection in March 2015: “Behaviour in lessons and around the academy is good. Pupils of all ages get on well together and are safe. Staff and pupils are proud to be part of the academy.”

The school is rated Good by Ofsted: it is aiming to achieve Outstanding during 2018.

join us at any point. All any parent wants from a school is for their child to thrive – to be happy, safe and learn well. What we are doing at BLC is very special and we were delighted that this was recently recognised by Ofsted; but it is the positive feedback from students and families that we are most proud of.

“Bridge Learning Campus is a large, well-resourced school. It is light, airy, and conducive to

Bedminster Down School tudents starting at Bedminster Down School in September have already enjoyed a whole week in their new secondary school in July.

Transition week is a key feature at the school, where students are joined by their primary school teachers for a week of getting to know the school routines, each other and a taste of languages, science and sport at the school.

S

Bridge Learning Campus

Building brilliant futures together Open evening: Tuesday 26 Sept 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm Quiet open morning: Saturday 30 Sept 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Call 01173534472 or visit www.bridgelearningcampus.org.uk

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

August 2017

n EDUCATION

southbristolvoice

17

Advertisement feature

they move to secondary school?

Feedback from families gave a whopping 98 per cent satisfaction at the week-long event.

For those considering secondary schools for September 2018 the school has two open days lined up on September 14 and October 7.

It’s a chance to get a tour of the school, drop in on subject areas of interest and meet teachers and current students.

More details are available at www.bedminsterdown.com At the end of term headteacher Gary Schlick was recognised for his work in inclusion. This included, with other headteachers, setting up a Bristol-wide panel that helps schools ensure no child misses time in school. The Bristol Inclusion Panel brings headteachers together to reduce permanent exclusions. Gary attended an event hosted by Lord Mayor Cllr Lesley Alexander to receive his award. The school is

‘Transition week is a key feature, where students are joined by their primary school teachers for a week of getting to know school routines ... Feedback gave a whopping 98 per cent satisfaction’ also keen that pupils experience a wide range of sports and experiences outside the classroom. The Voice reported in June how a dozen students all completed the tough Ten Tors overnight trek on Dartmoor.

Tennis is another speciality, and thanks to new grants and support from the Tennis Foundation, the school has been able to train staff and students in coaching, run more clubs, get in

expert tuition, create new mini courts and replace equipment.

In March this year the school was one of only 40 nationally to win a £5,000 grant to improve facilities and promote the sport.

During Wimbledon fortnight, eight of the year 9 and year 10 tennis ambassadors for the school spent the day at the All England Club to experience the sport at its highest level.Head of sport Dave Chaplin said: “This time last year we had just a small handful of students taking part in our after-school tennis club. Thanks to the grant, we have a lot of enthusiastic students and teachers, with more than 20 girls turning up for one of the lunchtime clubs.

“Our trip to see the finest international players is the icing on the cake and a fitting reward for the commitment of our tennis ambassadors, who give up lunchtimes to help younger children get started in the sport.”

NEWS Firearm find sparks alert

n

VOLUNTEERS who clean up the riverbank along Coronation Road have found all kinds of rubbish in the past – but the alarm was raised when one of them picked up a gun. The newsletter of the Friends of Avon New Cut, or Franc, reports that on April 22 one volunteer picked up what looked like a gun that had been wrapped in cloth and discarded.

After a 999 call, armed officers were on the scene within minutes. The firearm, however, turned out to be a replica.

Murder charge A 42-YEAR-OLD man is charged with attempted murder after a Bedminster attack said to involve a broken bottle. A 23-year-old man was seriously injured in Dean Lane at 11.30pm on June 13. Robert Harrison Brown, of Camborne Road, Horfield, is due to face trial on November 27.

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

August 2017

southbristolvoice

18

n NEWS Piano pounded

Play me: Luke Jerram and piano MAKING music out of money – rather than the other way round – will be the aim when one of Bristol’s Street Pianos comes to North Street.

The Bristol Pound, the city’s alternative currency which can be used in hundreds of businesses, is sponsoring a piano in the Tobacco Factory courtyard.

It will be adorned by first-edition Bristol Pound notes.

All are welcome to join a jam session in the courtyard on Thursday August 17 from 6-8pm.

The street pianos are the brainchild of Southville resident and internationally-acclaimed artist Luke Jerram.

• streetpianos.com

The famous

THE OWNERS of the Bed Workshop in Braunton Road, Bedminster, are to be allowed to turn the site over to housing, providing three one-bedroom flats, three two-bedroom flats and a two-bedroom house.

The furniture company used to make about 25 beds a week in the Victorian buildings, but they say most of their stock is now antiques bought in from France, and the building is not suitable to allow them to expand.

The premises were built as a vinegar and pickling factory, but in recent years it has largely become a bed showroom, with only about two or three beds being made there each week.

The firm plans to look for modern premises nearby, possibly in South Liberty Lane.

It has won planning permission to knock down a single storey lean-to, and another structure which links the main three-storey building with a store next door. To replace them it will construct a new two storey building and a glazed link.

Ten objections were made to

Bed Workshop to be turned into homes

This drawing is copyright and may not be reproduced without permission responsibility is not accepted for errors made by others in scaling from this drawing. All construction information should be taken from figured dimensions only.

All dimensions and levels are to be checked on site by the contractor before commencement of work and discrepancies reported to the designer.

Drawings issued electronically may lose some detail.

AMENDMENTS Revision:

A.

Unit A

Units B, C, D

Units E + F

Unit G

Stairwell arrangements amended to incorporate bin day collection store. Entrance to Unit B amended accordingly to street frontage. Living room window to Unit G amended. 220517 jmh

datum 14.00m

Living space: How Braunton Road will look after the redevelopment South West (Braunton Road) Elevation to the plan, including residents worried about parking. The road is one of those outside the residents parking scheme begun in autumn 2015, and has seen more congestion ever since.

The council’s transport development manager said the development wouldn’t lead to “dangerous or illegal parking conditions”, though some parking could be displaced to other streets.

Four new spaces will be created on Braunton Road when

Proposed Materials Pallette Roof Units B/C/D + E/F Roof: As existing.

dropped pavements to the old factory are removed.

Planning Application Issue Objections about neighbours being overlooked were also overridden.

The landlord of the Hare pub feared conflict between the new residents and his pub garden.

But planners said that noise insulation and obscure-glazed windows could protect the new residents, and prevent their neighbours from being any more overlooked than is normal in Victorian terraces.

Roof Units A + G + Stair Link: Reclaimed terracotta red bold rolled tiles Walls B/C/D + E/F Roof: Existing brickwork with limestone window surrounds as illustrated).

Doors and Windows Units B/C/D + E/F Roof: Painted timber frames.

Proposed Redevelopment at Victoria Works Braunton Road Bedminster Bristol

Doors and Windows Units A + G + Stair Link: Powder coated aluminium frames.

Ms L Chamberlain + Dr S Jones

Walls Units A + G + Stair Link: Reclaimed brickwork with limestone parapets as illustrated.

Rooflights B/C/D + E/F Roof: Velux MK08 conservation rooflight with recessed flashings

2087-14A

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August 2017

southbristolvoice

n YOUR MP

19

KARIN SMYTH Labour MP for Bristol South

Tory move to overturn hunting ban was a real miscalculation

D

URING the recent election campaign there were some politicians, and some in the media, who claimed Theresa May’s pledge to overturn the ban on foxhunting wasn’t a significant issue for voters. How wrong they were.

Animal welfare is very important to huge numbers of South Bristol residents, and a sizeable proportion of emails I get from constituents relate to these matters.

Being out and about and listening to local concerns since becoming your MP in 2015, it’s been very clear that most people share my view: how we treat animals is a measure of how civilised a society we are. Any plan to repeal the 2004 Hunting Act would be a big step backwards.

The dwindling numbers of those who support the barbarity of foxhunting have long

said just about anything to try to justify their wish to hunt. They always have done. I recall they claimed the introduction of the 2004 ban would lead to thousands of rural jobs being lost. They were wrong. They keep losing the arguments, and polls consistently show the overwhelming majority of people support the ban. There have been several hundred

successful prosecutions under the Hunting Act and the Government should focus on enforcing the law, not looking to undermine it. Indeed, any proposals to change this law distract from significant issues affecting rural communities, like low wages and a lack of affordable transport and housing.

So it will have come as a relief to many people when early in July we learned the Government looks to be backtracking on its election pledge. Ministers confirmed there will be no House of Commons vote on the issue during the current parliamentary session, which runs until summer 2019.

That’s welcome news, and is testament to effective campaigning by animal and environmental groups.

So the ban continues for now, but we can’t be complacent. I know South Bristol residents will remain vigilant to any moves to undermine animal welfare – whether on foxhunting or any other similar issue.

I’m proud of the Hunting Act and as long as I am Bristol South’s MP I’ll continue to oppose a return to the vicious cruelty of foxhunting.

As ever, please do let me have your views on this or any other issue, or if you need help with any specific problem you’re facing right now. My contact details are on page two, so do please get in touch.

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

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

pool, a roof terrace with panoramic view of the Bristol skyline and a host of other facilities.

Located just off West Street, Monica Wills House has a fully licensed restaurant, gym/

www.stmonicatrust.org.uk info@stmonicatrust.org.uk

Why not come along to our next open day on Tuesday 26 September?

Call 0117 919 4267 for details.

To book your place, or to join our re-sales mailing list, call 0117 919 4267. Or type ow.ly/a39s307mSEP into your browser to find out more.

Delivering well-being Registered Charity 202151

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

southbristolvoice

20

August 2017

n BALLOON FIESTA SPECIAL

Cameron Balloons cap and hi-viz x 2

Cameron Balloons bodywarmer

WIN SOME GREAT BALLOONING PRIZES!

A

S WELL as our fantastic First Flight balloon flight (see panel, right) we have lots of other great prizes generously donated by Cameron Balloons.

Founder Don Cameron started a new era of hot air ballooning when he made the Bristol Belle, the first modern hot air balloon, in Bristol in 1967.

The prizes are: • A Cameron Balloons bodywarmer; • Two sets of a Cameron Balloons baseball cap and hi-viz Crew vest; • Take Flight: Celebrating Aviation in the West of England Since 1910 – 320 page hardback book.

Book on West’s aviation story

We’ll draw four winners at random on August 15 from the correct answers to this question: • When did Don Cameron make the first modern hot air balloon?

Answers by email to paul@ southbristolvoice.co.uk or by post to South Bristol Voice, 18 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BX. Include address and a phone number.

CONDITIONS 1. The first name drawn from among all those who have answered the question correctly can choose one of the prizes – book, bodywarmer, or cap and hi-viz vest set.

2. The second name drawn will be able to choose from the remaining prizes.

3. Not open to anyone connected to any company involved in the competition.

4. The competition is only open to readers of South Bristol Voice who live within our circulation area: BS3 and most of BS4.

5. The editor’s decision is final.

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Keeping it personal brings the magic to hot air ballooning – especially when it’s all a big secret

B

ALLOON pilot Nigel Appleton has seen it all – from African wildlife on the plains of the Serengeti, to soaring views of the Austrian Alps and the Canterbury plains of New Zealand – but he keeps coming back to Bristol.

Nigel and his partner Gill have been running balloon trips through their company First Flight since 1990. And apart from the occasional winter foray to somewhere where the weather is better, they have specialised for 27 years in flying over Bristol, Bath and Somerset.

In that time they have flown thousands of passengers – but they have chosen to keep the company small, so that they can provide a personal service.

Where some ballooning companies fly baskets that can hold 16 or 20 people, most of First Flight’s trips are in a balloon – in the livery of St Austell brewery’s Tribute ale – that holds eight people.

Nigel has just taken delivery of a new smaller balloon, this one sponsored by Thatcher’s cider, that holds two or three passengers plus

BALLOONING FOR ALL SCARED of heights? You’ll probably still enjoy a balloon flight.

The high sides of the basket keep you safe, and there’s no wind, because the balloon is moving at the same speed as the air currents.

“The basket is absolutely stable when it’s flying, there’s no sensation of movement – you don’t even feel that you are going up and down as you would in a lift,” said First Flight’s Nigel Appleton. Because there’s no wind, it’s usually warmer than it is on the ground.

People of all ages take part: Nigel has flown people in their 90s. There’s no legal minimum but children need to be about 7 years old and 4ft tall.

Hot air pilot Nigel Appleton loves being part of the act when a surprise balloon flight leads to an engagement the pilot. This one is popular for engagement trips – many of them arranged without one of the passengers knowing about it.

“We have done crazy things, like driving to a pub in the country where the guy has taken his girlfriend out cycling, and she doesn’t know she’s going ballooning!” Up in the air, the magical question is popped, and before they land, the couple are engaged. “It’s always fun, and we make it something special for them that we know they will remember,” says Nigel. He makes several engagement flights every year.

Champagne is obviously part of the engagement experience, and it’s offered on some of First Flight’s other packages too. With St Austell and Thatchers as sponsor, there’s often a refreshing beer or cider on landing as well.

First Flight’s larger balloon in the Tribute colours is a Cameron Z210.

The number means that the envelope contains 210,000 cubic feet of air. The Cameron factory in Bedminster, founded by Don Cameron and now run by his daughter Hannah, make “the best equipment money can buy,” he says.

Nigel and Gill have fought hard to keep the personal touch.

Ballooning is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many, and by keeping the firm small – Nigel is the only regular pilot – they can keep in direct contact with their passengers.

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

August 2017

southbristolvoice

21

WIN A CHAMPAGNE BALLOON FLIGHT WITH FIRST FLIGHT AND MORE GREAT PRIZES!

First Flight pilot Nigel Appleton, left, and the Tribute balloon, right

WIN A CHAMPAGNE BALLOON FLIGHT WITH FIRST FLIGHT!

T Unbeatable view: First Flight have been flying people over the West for 27 years “When people ring us, they will be talking to the person who they are going to meet in the launch field, rather than someone in a call centre,” says Nigel.

The couple pride themselves on giving advanced warning to passengers if the weather is going to prevent a flight – often that’s obvious from a forecast two days ahead, says Nigel.

Their local experience means they have a pretty much unrivalled experience of the landscape and weather – and goes some way to explain why Nigel always lands where he intends to.

Though some people assume that balloons are swept wherever the wind takes them, Nigel says the pilot is actually in full control. “I have

BRISTOL INTERNATIONAL BALLOON FIESTA 2017 Thursday August 10–Sunday August 13, Ashton Court estate As usual the Fiesta is free to enter, at Ashton Court from 12noon on Thursday. Premium parking can be prebooked at the website below. Up to 150 balloons expected including the Bristol Belle, made by Don Cameron in 1967, which began the modern industry of hot air ballooning.

• Balloon flights may be sold out, but check the website.

• Morning mass ascents take place at 6am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

never landed where I didn’t want to – I have never landed in a field of crops, for example,” he said.

“We know lots of lovely farmers who welcome us.”

Nigel’s long experience as a balloon pilot – they are regulated, just like airline pilots, by the Civil Aviation Authority – means he’s sometimes sent aloft first at the Balloon Fiesta to check out the wind direction.

Often the wind changes at different heights, but even at take-off Nigel usually has a good idea where he will land – sometimes he’s even predicted the farm he will land at while driving into Ashton Court.

Find out about First Flight at: • hotair-balloonrides.co.uk • Evening mass ascents at 6pm on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

• Night glow and fireworks from 9pm on Thursday and Saturday. Last entry to car park 5pm.

• Model hot air balloon competitions at 8am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

• Arena entertainment from 12noon -5.30pm on Saturday and Sunday. No details as we went to press.

• Programmes are on sale and buying one helps keep the fiesta free.

• Twitter: #balloonfiesta • Facebook: Bristol International Balloon Fiesta • bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk

O CELEBRATE the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta 2017, First Flight is offering a fantastic prize – a champagne balloon flight for one.

We’ll draw the winner at random on August 15 from the correct answers to this question: • How much air is held by First Flight’s Tribute balloon?

Answers by email to paul@ southbristolvoice.co.uk or by post to South Bristol Voice, 18 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BX. Include address and a phone number.

CONDITIONS 1. The prize will be a champagne balloon flight for one, at a time to be arranged with First Flight – not at the Balloon Fiesta; 2. The winner of the balloon flight must be willing to be photographed for publicity.

3. Not open to anyone connected to any company involved in the competition.

4. The competition is only open to readers of South Bristol Voice who live within our circulation area: BS3 and most of BS4.

5. The editor’s decision is final.

Balloon flights Bristol, Bath and the Chew Valley

01934 852875 www.firstflight.co.uk

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

southbristolvoice

22

August 2017

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29587-Abode Bedminster-South Bristol 250x180 wc170717.indd 1

25/07/2017 15:57

August 2017

southbristolvoice

LETTERS

23

Send letters to paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk or to 18 Lilymead Ave, BS4 2BX

Plea to the mayor to act over Bedminster Green An open letter to the Bristol Mayor from the Bedminster community Dear Mr. Rees, E ARE a diverse group of Bedminster residents who love our neighbourhood and are actively engaged in our community. At a recent meeting of the Windmill Hill and Malago Community Planning Group (WHaM), we heard about the latest proposals for the Bedminster Green area.

From it we understand that the council is in pre-app talks with the developer Urbis regarding Plot 5 of Bedminster Green.

We have been informed the proposals include an 18-storey building, 300 units of student accommodation bridging over Whitehouse Lane, and a new square. WHaM commented on their initial proposals in January 2017, revised proposals were shown to two of the WHaM group in June, and to our dismay seem to entirely ignore any concerns previously voiced.

We understand that the council own much of the land that is within Urbis’s Bedminster Green Plan.

We are in utter shock that these proposals have even been tabled by the developer as something to be seriously considered given their inappropriate scale, density, and

disregard for any sustainable, long-term regeneration of the area. We are concerned that the whole area is being considered for piecemeal development rather than completing an over-arching sensitive masterplan for the whole area, before selling off council land.

The proposals seem to be driven by little but commercial greed with no thought as to what the proposals would be like to live in or near. In contrast, we have seen the site brief that has been prepared by WHaM in consultation with their local community which seems to suggest an alternative model where high-density housing can be provided in a much more attractive, community-focused way.

We are extremely concerned regarding the following: 1. In 2014, Urbis gained planning permission from the council for St Catherine’s Place, a 15-storey, fully private apartment scheme, under the promise that this would be a one-off landmark development for the area. The committee members who ruled in favour of the scheme, against the planning officer’s advice, were told that building could start as early as 2015. Three years later nothing has started on site and we have since heard that Urbis have sold St Catherine’s

Place to another developer. This makes us nervous about their commitment to South Bristol.

The heights of the Plot 5 buildings are even higher and bulkier, totally inappropriate for the whole area, and (again) fall outside the guidance of the adopted Tall Buildings Policy.

This would also contradict the idea that St Catherine’s Place would be a landmark building.

2. The existing Bedminster Green (at the bottom of Windmill Hill) with its established trees and open spaces would be lost.

Two storeys of basement car parking are planned in its place.

The new space on top would be much smaller, eaten up by the re-routed Whitehouse Lane. All mature trees would be felled, and any green landscape would be very limited as it would be above a car park. The existing trees and green space are the main existing feature of the development site that is worth protecting.

3. The public square above the car park would be in shadow from lunchtime until evening because of sunlight being blocked by the surrounding high rises, making it undesirable to use for any outdoor activities, not mentioning potential draughts and wind turbulence.

4. The new student housing would be built in the form of a bridge over Whitehouse Lane,

creating a dark and unsafe undercroft.

5. There was no mention of additional infrastructure such as doctor surgeries or schools – the local GP has already had to close its new patients list, and the schools are oversubscribed.

6. It appears an Energy Centre is proposed, but there is already another application nearby ongoing – is there no co-ordination?

As a community, we welcome development and new neighbours and recognise that more housing needs to be built but new development needs to be sustainable, encourage communities and be in character with the area. We think that, for example, the recent Wapping Wharf development works well, regarding its massing, housing mix (affordable and private housing), streetscape, active frontages, etc. We assume that this is a commercially viable scheme, being six storeys tall and including affordable housing, so why can’t Bedminster Green take leads from this? We have faith in you, Mr Rees, and the council, to act in the interests of your community.

Yours sincerely, Bedminster residents • This letter has been edited; a full version is on the South Bristol Voice website.

A developers’ free-for-all

all about the money. This in itself is not a surprise as the university appears to have been embarked on an empire building programme for some time.

JF, Address supplied

energy centre consultation on June 29 only to find out that the organisers, Urbis, had not provided any information about the levels of pollution likely to be emitted.

What we do know is the energy centre, with its 100ft chimney, will be right next to Windmill Hill City Farm, which hopes to expand its nursery soon.

Furthermore, St Mary Redcliffe primary school is 200m downwind, on a hill. Does this pose a danger? Well, we can’t be sure until an air quality modelling exercise is carried out, but I contacted Ben Williams, research fellow in air quality at UWE, who replied: “I’m never keen on the reintroduction of polluting sources to cities and urban areas. In my opinion, should these developments be required, then they should be away from sensitive receptors.”

Now I’m not an expert but I’d take a wild guess that both the nursery and primary school can be regarded as sensitive receptors, so why are we even contemplating putting this power station right next to them? Urbis need to think again!

Nick Townsend WHaM, Windmill Hill and Malago community planning group

W

IT APPEARS to be a free-for-all developers’ paradise in South Bristol at the moment and those developments proposed do not appear to be for the benefit of the city or its residents.

The Bedminster Green developments thankfully have WHaM to fight them, but I can see no prospect of their being halted or even substantially amended, so that Windmill Hill will become home to a swathe of new tower blocks, and no doubt traffic gridlock.

The university proposals for the old sorting office site also reek of the worst kind of speculative proposal – no consideration for the locality, but

• I DID not buy a lovely house in Windmill Hill to look at a skyscraper immediately in front of my house. I find this so-called new development offensive, unnecessary, contentious and annoying. Why upset the whole of the Windmill Hill community to embark on such a capitalistic money-orientated venture? I will fight this all the way.

Name supplied, Windmill Hill

Chimney is too near to schools IT WAS disappointing to turn up to the Bedminster Green

We need more toilets, not fewer I RESIDE in BS3 and I feel extra toilets should be provided, for example near the Hen and Chicken, and one returned to St Catherine’s Place. Of course cctv is needed to stop vandalism.

Everyone needs facilities!

H Bond, pensioner

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

August 2017

southbristolvoice

24

ADVICE FROM A PHARMACIST Don’t let illness mar your wellearned holiday

S

CHOOL is out and the summer holidays are here!Whether you are heading off abroad or enjoying the best of the British summer closer to home, your local pharmacy is at hand to help enjoy your break. As Sir Ranulph Fiennes (or was it Alfred Wainwright?) once said, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing”.

If you regularly take prescribed medication, our first advice is that you order your repeat medications

early. If you find yourself out of time or out of medicines, our emergency medication service may still be an option. We can also offer help on travelling safely with medicines; storing fridge preparations such as insulin; liquid restrictions on airlines; the legal implications of travelling abroad with some medicines; and adjusting doses on long journeys.

We can also help with vaccinations or antimalarial treatments; the pharmacy is sometimes able to offer cost effective and timely treatment without the need to obtain a prescription.

Help managing hay fever and travel sickness effectively across all age groups is also on offer. Need

help to put together a travel first aid kit? We can help.

In terms of sun care, here are some simple sun protection measures to take with regards to sunscreen: • Allow 30 minutes between application and exposure to the sun; • Apply sun protection before putting on clothing to prevent missing any areas of skin, and pay special attention to hands, feet and any balding areas on the scalp; • Re-apply every 2 hours if you are sweating or swimming; • Use a broad spectrum (UVA/ UVB) sunscreen and lip balm with factor 30 or higher; • Do also drink enough water to prevent dehydration.

Down on the Farm News from Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster

S

Sticking it to the man TICK Man, the film which matches The Snowman as a modern Christmas TV favourite, is based on the bestselling Stick Man books written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Shcheffler.

The farm has been given a unique opportunity to be one of only four sites in the UK to have a Stick Man Trail. It will be launched on Wednesday September 13, where families will be able to try out the trail and take part in Stick Man activities.

• growingtogether.community/ stick-man Productive gardens The kitchen gardens at the farm are in full abundance right now, with teams of volunteers busy harvesting for the café and farm

The damage from sun exposure to the skin is not only very painful but also increases the risk of developing skin cancer. At Bedminster Pharmacy, we will do our best to make sure that you reduce the risk of ill-health spoiling your well-deserved and often expensive trip.

Our experienced multi-lingual staff may also help with a few phrases to impress the locals with.

Come in today, we look forward to having a chat with you.

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

• windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk

of local independent suppliers.

Your order is delivered, in reusable packaging, to the farm for you to pick up. The farm will also be hosting related events, competitions and supper clubs.

• realeconomy.co.uk shop. Produce currently includes: beetroot, peas, courgettes, broad beans and plenty of fresh salad leaves. There are also cherries, redcurrants and gooseberries, and greenhouses full of cucumbers, tomatoes and herbs.

Real farm foods The farm café will be launching as a Real Economy Food Coop Pick Up Point on September 1.

Like a veg box scheme but more so – sign up, then order online your choice of fruit, veg, bread, meat and more from a range

All mic on the night The inaugural open mic night in June was a great success with lots of fantastically-talented musicians performing. Next open mic session is on November 10.

City farm hosts cult film Bristol Bad Film Club returns to the farm on August 31, 8-10pm, with a special outdoor screening of the 1972 movie Night of the Lepus. Widely panned upon its release for its ridiculous premise – rabbits rampaging through model villages – the film has

Scary bunnies: Hardly a threat become a cult classic for its failed attempt at making fluffy bunnies scary. £5 per ticket, with profits to the farm and Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary.

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POLICE REPORT Don’t let drug dealers take advantage of the vulnerable

A

S A TEAM, we’re growing increasingly concerned about vulnerable people in our communities having their homes ‘cuckooed’, or taken over, by drug dealers. We’ve come across a number of cases on York Road and Wells Road, as well as other areas of the city.

If you suspect someone you know or live near is being targeted in this way, please report it either direct to us or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Work to reduce the harm being caused by drugs in our communities continues. We’ve recently arrested a man on Coronation Road on suspicion of possession with intent to supply,

charged a 38-year-old from Windmill Hill with possession of a knife on York Road and arranged for a council team to clean up the Dalby Avenue underpass, which was covered in uncapped needles.

W

E’VE had a number of incidents reported to us over recent weeks where mobile phones and handbags have been stolen from staff rooms of businesses on North Street, East Street and West Street.

A 52-year-old man from British Road, Bedminster, was charged with one of these offences on July 15 and has since pleaded guilty to theft from a shop on Winterstoke Road in May, attempted theft from a store on East Street the same month and going equipped to steal on July 14, when officers seized a screwdriver and set of bolt croppers from him.

Magistrates issued a 12-month community order, curfew and drug rehabilitation order.

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With Sgt Caroline Crane Broadbury Road police station We’d always urge people to ensure staff rooms or areas used to store such items are locked and windows are kept closed. Or, where possible, people keep their valuables with them.

S

ome great work by security staff at Wilkinsons, working with their counterparts at Asda, led to a 25-year-old from Cam, Gloucestershire, being charged with three thefts and admitting several more. The man was also wanted on warrant by the courts and found in possession of Class A drugs. He has been remanded in custody.

Another man has also been charged with theft after trying to enter a local pub to sell items he’d stolen from a supermarket the day before.

F

inally, if you’re heading away on holiday, please make time to think about what you’re leaving behind, as well as what you’re taking.

Before you go: • Only tell people who need to

know you’re going away – this includes on social media; • If you’re away for a while, empty recycling bins, cut the lawns and cancel deliveries; • Get time switches to switch lights and a radio on and off; • Mark any valuable items with your postcode or take photographs of these items; Just before you go: • Don’t leave valuable items like laptops and tablets visible through windows; • Lock the garage and shed with proper security locks. Make sure your tools and any ladders are locked away so they can’t be used to break into your house; • Lock doors and windows.

• If you have a burglar alarm, make sure it’s set and that you’ve informed police of the key-holder.

While you are away: • Don’t have your home address showing on your luggage.

Don’t forget you can email the team at greaterbedminsternpt@ avonandsomerset.police.uk Until next time, Sergeant Caroline Crane

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n PLANNING APPLICATIONS Ferodo House Willway Street, Bedminster Change of use from offices (Use class B1a) to 14 residential units (Use class C3). Refused 16 Parson Street BS3 5PT Change of use from office to ground floor flat. Existing flat above retained. Pending consideration

15/03837/X (as amended): four 4-storey townhouses; four-storey block of seven flats. (Major application). Granted Flat 2, 38 Vicarage Road, Southville BS3 1PD Side roof extension and rooflights to front and rear. Granted subject to conditions 10 Irby Road BS3 2LY Hip to gable roof extension and insertion of rear dormer roof extension. Granted subject to conditions

10 Duckmoor Road BS3 2BY Conversion of single dwelling into two dwellings with extension. Pending consideration Land to rear of 209 Luckwell Road BS3 3HD Single storey outbuilding containing garage and gym. Pending consideration 61 Bedminster Road BS3 5NX Two storey side and single storey rear extension. Pending consideration 79 Highbury Road, Bedminster BS3 5NS Single storey side/rear extension.

Granted subject to conditions

55 Lime Road BS3 1LS Rear dormer roof extension and roof lights in front roof. Granted 73 Greville Road BS3 1LE Single storey garage in rear garden, fronting onto rear access lane. Pending consideration 3 Silbury Road BS3 2QB Single storey rear extension.

Pending consideration 10 Stackpool Road BS3 1NQ T1 Sycamore: fell. Pending consideration

69 Islington Road BS3 1PZ Demolition of premises and construction of a 2-bed dwelling.

Withdrawn 32 Smyth Road BS3 2BU Rear and side single storey extension to provide wheelchair accessible bedroom and shower room. Granted subject to conditions Former filling station, Coronation Road, Southville Details reserved by condition 5 (Contamination) of permission

The Cigar Factory, 127-131 Raleigh Road BS3 1QU Details of condition 10 (windows) of permission 16/00013/F: Conversion of second floor from Use class B1(c) to form 9 apartments (Use class C3) with third floor roof extension.

Pending consideration 74 East Street, Bedminster BS3 4EY Internally illuminated fascia sign and projecting sign.

Pending consideration 43 Gores Marsh Road BS3 2PF Single storey side

the

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and rear extension. Pending consideration The Grange, Parklands Road BS3 2JW Formation of basement to previously approved single-storey side extension.

Pending consideration

BS3 1HJ Change of use from office (Use class B1) to shop (Use class A1). Pending consideration

5 Southville Place BS3 1AW Conversion of three storey single dwelling house to three flats with cycle and bin storage. Pending consideration

92 Chessel Street BS3 3DJ Removal of asbestos sheet garage roof and replacement with raised pitch roof and gable ends.

Pending consideration

UK Self Storage, 10 Whitehouse Street BS3 4AY Extend opening hours to 5am-11pm; vary condition 8 of planning permission 12/03794/F: Self storage units (Use Class B8). Pending consideration

27 Dean Lane BS3 1DB Details for condition 2 (Storage for 4 cycles) 16/04510/F: conversion of house into two 2-bed maisonettes. Granted

12 Lime Road BS3 1LT Single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear by 5.18m, of maximum height 2.915m with eaves 2.34m high. Pending consideration

12 Trafalgar Terrace BS3 2SW Single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear by 4.1m, of maximum height 3.4m with eaves 2.35m high.

Pending consideration 41 Ashton Vale Road BS3 2HW New boundary wall.

Pending consideration

76 North Street, Bedminster

• 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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southbristolvoice

28

n YOUR COUNCILLORS

T

HE Bristol Parks Forum has set up a petition to try and counter the proposals to make parks cost-neutral Charlie by 2019 and I urge Bolton everyone to sign it Green (link below).

Southville The majority Labour group on the council voted through the annual budget in February of this year which including this proposal. It cuts the parks budget from £4.5m to zero over three years. The Parks Forum, along with most others, regard it as completely unachievable.

The petition asks the council to withdraw the proposals and come up with a realistic alternative – at a minimum, I’d suggest, to give more time for the proposals to be implemented.

Parks have an enormous range of benefits, ranging from improving our mental and physical wellbeing, acting as a place to cool cities and combat

Southville

the impact of climate change, improve air quality, possibly help reduce flood risk, and offer a place for wildlife and improved habitats.

Back in February the Labour group also voted through enormous cuts to toilets, libraries, school crossing patrols, community links and neighbourhood partnerships.

This includes closing the toilets on East Street and in Greville Smyth park, removing the budget for a school crossing patrol at Holy Cross primary (not that they ever got the actual patrol!), and closing Marksbury Road library. There is a consultation on these at the moment, and if you would like to respond, please go to: • bristol.gov.uk/councilspending-performance/ your-neighbourhoodconsultation-2017 If you’d like to sign the petition against parks cuts go to: • epetitions.bristol.gov.uk/ epetition_core/community/ petition/3842

G

REENS are leading the efforts to get a Clean Air Zone in central Bristol, to try to reduce the 200Stephen plus people a year Clarke dying from air Green pollution, largely Southville caused by diesels.

We consider this a vital issue, especially where it impacts on more vulnerable people such as children, but inevitably there will be cost and inconvenience to some. Would you be prepared to pay some kind of congestion charge to go into central Bristol, especially if you were driving an older diesel car, for example?

Safey checks are continuing on the council’s residential blocks. It owns 69 tower blocks, with 4,300 flats and about 10,000 residents. We are told that none of them have aluminium composite cladding similar to that at Grenfell Tower.

However, this does raise the question of how tall residential

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It is likely that we will have many more of these in 10 years than we do now. Redcliffe, Bedminster and Totterdown (as well as the new Bristol University campus at Temple Meads) all have major plans for high-rise blocks.

We all know that new homes are needed; but most of us would sooner not have our views dominated by tower blocks. How do we square this circle? The council is working on a new Tall Buildings Policy and there will be an opportunity to give your views before decisions are made.

Personally, I feel quite uncertain what the right answer is.

Consultation is ongoing about the future of the Greater Bedminster Community Partnership. Please give your views on the council website! It seems to me that there is certainly an appetite for a continuation of this local body in some form; the question is what should it look like? What do you think it should be called? Email and let me know.

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August 2017

southbristolvoice

n YOUR COUNCILLORS

S

UMMER holidays are here, for some, and we hope the weather is kind over the next few weeks so that we can enjoy our open spaces.

Celia had her first foray on a Yo Bike last month and, having not cycled for many years, managed to stay in the saddle for most of her journey. This initiative is one of several to reduce congestion and improve air quality across the city.

Last month saw the full council debate Let Bristol Breathe Clean Air and receive a report from mayor Marvin Rees on the actions taken since November. These include the setting up of a working group on air pollution, improving the bus and taxi fleets, and the initiation of a feasibility study to establish a Clean Air Zone, which will conclude in March 2018.

Improving air quality matters to all of us and it is good to receive full cross party support for this work.

And there’s another new consultation. Bristol is one of the

Mark Bradshaw Labour Bedminster

Bedminster

Celia Phipps Labour Bedminster

few cities to continue to offer a council tax reduction scheme, which supports many families across Bristol. We would like you to have your say on this scheme for 2018/19. The council is reviewing the support that can be offered to working age people with the cost of their council tax.

Find out more and have your say: • www.bristol.gov.uk/ counciltaxreduction The closing date for the consultation is September 24.

T

here is still time to take part in the neighbourhood cuts consultations. Many of you have completed this online but if you find this difficult, you

29 How to contact your councillor: p2

can access the consultation at the library in Bedminster where there are easy read and paper copies available. Staff will also assist you to fill in the forms so please ask for help if you need it.

You can also find a signed (BSL) version of the consultation on the council’s website, along with an audio version.

As well as the proposals for libraries, public toilets and school crossing patrols, there are also consultations which will make changes to the Supporting People and Community Links services. The people using these services are often vulnerable, and may need help to have their voices heard, but we are keen to make sure that the consultation reaches them, their families and carers, and the organisations which support them.

Sadly, the size and extent of the budget cuts that we are facing in the coming years means that almost every service in the council will be affected – so it is essential that those who have greatest experience of Supporting

People services and Community Links can help shape their future.

Those of us who have attended local meetings have ensured that conversations with organisations providing these services have been detailed and constructive.

If you think there that we have overlooked particular service users, please contact us as your local councillors or use this dedicated email address to get in touch: • supporting.people@bristol. gov.uk We are always happy to hear your suggestions about how we can make our community better so why not drop us an email. We regularly join coffee mornings and sessions, when running, at Ashton Vale community centre, Gaywood House and Southbow House, and have moved our drop-in surgery to Mezzaluna café on West Street, Bedminster, on the first Saturday of every month between 10.30am and 11.30am. Or get in touch with us direct (our contact details are always on page 2).

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14:06

n HISTORY Daytrip turned into a tragedy for Bristol and ended a young couple’s dreams

C

AN A whole town acquire a bad name? It seems so, because almost 160 years ago the people of Bristol were being urged by the Press into a very unfavourable opinion of the people of Watchet, the small, sleepy port on the Somerset coast between Minehead and Bridgwater.

The cause of this opprobrium was a tragedy; an event that still has a small memorial, which caught the keen eye of a South Bristol Voice reader.

Henry Larcombe, aged 22, and Sarah Seymour, 21, had expected to be married at St John the Baptist church in Bedminster on Sunday June 26, 1859.

But instead of conducting their wedding, a week earlier the vicar of St John’s found himself overseeing the couple’s funeral.

It was the first burial in the church’s New Cemeteryn on the slope of Windmill Hill. (It’s now the community orchard and only two gravestones remain, often overgrown: Voice reader Shelagh Akbulut saw this one, and asked us to investigate.)

The tragic couple were not the only victims: they were among six people drowned off the Somerset coast – a result, it was said, of the greed and incompetence of the Watchet boat people.

It was one of those calamities which were far too common in mid-Victorian England. But the outrage came from the notion that in a wealthy and industrialised society, such incidents were avoidable – hence the fervent newspaper reports.

T

August 2017

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30

he fateful journey began as a holiday. Victorians of all classes treasured the freedom of travel that steam power gave them. The railway could take them for a day out to Weston-super-Mare or South Devon. And for the places the

Drowned before their wedding day

‘Sarah Jane Seymour and Henry Larcombe Inscribed on a grave in the field of St John They were murdered at sea, and were just twenty one Here is their story and this is their song ...’

So begins a lyric by Windmill Hill songwriter Barry Lane (see page 32). But there’s more to their story ...

Voice reader Shelagh Akbulut spotted this gravestone: “Sacred to the memory of Henry Larcombe, aged 22 years, and Sarah Seymour, aged 21 years, who were drowned at Watchet on 14th of June 1859 and were interred in this tomb. In the midst of life we are in death”.

tracks had not reached, there were steam-powered ships, such as the Neath Abbey.

The ship itself was blameless – though its captain later had to defend his name, as we shall see.

The Neath Abbey was the pride of the South Wales ironworks of the same name, one of a new breed of steamships driven by propellor rather than the cumbersome paddles of past.

For most of the year she took cargo and passengers between South Wales and Bristol, departing from Bathurst Basin.

On June 13, however, the Whit Monday bank holiday, the Neath Abbey cast off from Hotwells at 5.30am. She had been hired for an excursion to the Somerset coast, and reached Watchet by 9.30am, where she dropped some passengers and carried on to Minehead.

Sadly, no picture survives of the Neath Abbey, so we can’t tell how big she was, but she was clearly more than a pleasure craft, capable of carrying cargo as well as several hundred passengers; she had between 300 and 450 people on board that day.

How the passengers got to shore, though, was to become a matter of dispute. At the inquest, several passengers said they had

been told they would be conveyed to Watchet in small boats while the Neath Abbey waited offshore.

Several dozen of the Bristol party left the ship at Watchet while the rest continued to Minehead. They all presumably enjoyed their short holiday, some staying with relatives and the others at coastal inns, which were now doing a good trade with summer visits from city folk.

The Neath Abbey returned, as arranged, on Tuesday. Originally she had been due to leave Watchet at 3.30pm that day, but shortly after she left Bristol this time was changed to 2pm. Some passengers complained that their trip was being cut short.

Perhaps the message about the earlier departure did not reach everyone; in any event, at 2.30pm on Tuesday, the Neath Abbey was at anchor about half a mile from Watchet, and several dozen people were waiting on shore to board her.

Accounts vary about what was happening. The Western Daily Press, which took a strident and critical tone throughout, asserted that “at half past two there were numbers on the quay ready for departure, but only two boats were at the service of the excursionists at the time.”

One witness who wrote to the paper, however, spoke of several boats being in use; another correspondent arrived to see two boats in the water and another taking on passengers. The fare being charged was three old pence (1.25p, worth £1.10 today).

Peter Tenby, who lived nearby at Brendon Hill, told the inquest he also saw three boats.

Another witness would have found the inquest more painful than most. George Larcombe was father to Henry Larcombe, and had seen his son and his prospective daughter-in-law drown in front of his eyes. The newspaper account of his evidence was strictly factual, so his feelings must be guessed at; but he stated that five or six boats were ferrying passengers.

George Larcombe got into one of the boats with, he said, his son, Sarah Seymour, Samuel Venn, James Lewis and his wife, and some others he didn’t know.

There were 12 passengers and two boatmen, he said – though he gave no opinion on whether this was too many.

Others, too, seemed sure of this number. Edwin Edwards of St Augustine’s Place, Bristol, said when he got in with Samuel Venn, his cousin, there were 13

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August 2017

southbristolvoice

n HISTORY aboard. But as they were leaving one of the sailors said there was room for one more.

Mr Tenby told a slightly different story. He had a lucky escape, because he got into the boat but then heard its captain, George Wedlake, say there were too many in it. Mr Tenby got out, but two others got in.

Questioned by the jury about this clamour to get on board, Mr Tenby said: “Many of them appeared to be the worse for drink. I saw them in the London Inn, and they appeared to be wild.”

Mr Edwards, though, asserted that all the passengers, and the two seamen, appeared to be perfectly sober.

S

ober or not, once the boat got into open water, some of the passengers became alarmed.

The boat was so low in the water that it had to be pushed off a rock before it could move. Soon after, it got stuck on another rock, and had to be pushed off again.

The gunwale – the side of the boat – was no more than a foot above the water, Mr Edwards asserted.

Mrs Lewis became alarmed.

“We shall all be drowned!” at least two witnesses heard her say.

One of the sailors tried to reassure her, but she responded “I am doubtful about it.” “If one goes we shall all go together,” was the less than reassuring response from the sailor.

There was now water in the bottom of the boat. They were perhaps halfway to the Neath Abbey, still a quarter of a mile away. Passengers in other boats, and those on the steamer, could see that the tide was running heavily, and at least two boats were in danger of being swamped.

The end came suddenly: “She gave a bit of a lurch on the port side, and another upon the starboard side, after which she went right away from under us,” Mr Edwards told the inquest, which was held in the Bell Inn, a Watchet pub almost in sight of the scene of the tragedy, only three days later.

Mr Edwards found himself suddenly in the water. He had a coat around his shoulders, and three people were pulling at it in desperation. “After struggling with them I got away. I looked around, and seeing that I could do no good to any of them, I swam in the direction of the

31

Drowned before their wedding day

Watchet harbour, where the harbour is improved on Victorian times shore,” he said. This terse account did no justice to the terror of the other passengers. In Victorian times, many people could not swim. Women were also burdened by long skirts and petticoats. Hence several of the passengers were doomed: there were no lifejackets or other safety aids. The Western Daily Press, in its first account, written before the inquest, painted a desperate (and inaccurate) picture.

“The scene was most harrowing; mothers as they for a short time floated held their suckling babes high out of the watering called frantically for help; the hands of those who were about to be engulfed were firmly clasped as if in prayer …

“And as they sank under the agitated waves, the cries of the observers on shore mingled with those from the sea, and made up a wild dirge that alarmed and thrilled all those who heard it.”

Attempts at rescue were swift.

Captain Westlake on the Neath Abbey ordered one of his own boats lowered and rowed rapidly to the scene.

One of the other Watchet boats saw its companion in danger. According to one account, the passengers in this boat leapt out onto a convenient rock, allowing the seamen to row to those in danger.

“Strong and quick the men in the hinder boat rowed towards them,” breathlessly intoned the Western Daily Press, “but one by one the heads disappeared below the surface of the sea, and when at last the boat reached the spot almost all were gone.

“One of the men in the boat, however (a veteran sailor), managed to seize a woman by the hair of the head, just as she was sinking, and she is now in a fair way of recovery.”

Not all were so lucky, wrote the journalist: “The bodies of two

men (apparently watermen) were also dragged into the boat, but all efforts to restore animation in either proved ineffectual.”

But there was worse: “… a young woman, with an infant in her arms. When the boat capsized she was seen floating, upheld by her clothing, with the child clasped to her breast, and as she was carried away by the tide she raised up her baby in her arms, as if to implore help on its behalf. No help reached her, though it is said that a sailor on

the Neath Abbey, fired by the sight of the drowning mother and her child, stripped off his clothes and plunged into the waves to endeavour rescue her.

“The gallant fellow, however, paid with his life ... for both he and the mother and her babe were drowned.”

Truly an awful picture – and according to the Western Daily Press, described by an eyewitness.

Yet the account of the inquest casts doubt: there is no description anywhere of a child being among the dead, or of a sailor. Nor does any other account describe a seaman diving off the Neath Abbey, which was probably several hundred yards from the sinking boat.

The facts were harsh enough.

Six people were drowned: the betrothed couple, Sarah Seymour and Henry Larcombe, naturally attracted most attention, but a married couple, James Lewis, a market gardener from Nelson Street, Ashton, and his wife Continued on page 32

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n HISTORY Continued from page 31 Sarah also died, along with Samuel Venn, described as a porter for the Great Western Railway at Bristol, and George Mogg, also from Bristol.

W

August 2017

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32

ho, then, was to blame?

The boatmen, for overloading their craft?

The boat owner for having a leaky craft? Captain Westlake, for anchoring offshore instead of tying up to Watchet pier?

Or the holidaymakers, for crowding into the boats, rowdy after a day in the pub?

Early reports said that 12 or 14 had been drowned, but this was the number that failed to return to Bristol, and the true number of the dead did not reach the city till the next day. As the Western Daily Press reported, “There is no telegraph to Watchet, and the ordinary modes of conveyance are exceedingly inconvenient.”

The Western Daily at least carried frequent updates on the story, but facts morphed as the news travelled around the country. The Cheltenham Mercury, for example, stated that “fifteen persons were drowned”.

One thing became clear at the inquest: the boat which sank was overloaded. The rowing boat was 11 feet long (about 3.3m) and could safely carry eight adults in open water, coastguard officer David McCalpin told the jury.

A juryman – perhaps a friend of one of the boatmen – suggested that the boat could hold as many as 12 in safety.

But McCalpin – a coastguard man for 14 years, seven of them at Watchet – was clear: he would not have risked his life with so many in the boat. “A greater number could be put into her in the harbour, but it was dangerous to do so in the channel, when the boat was going against wind and tide,” he said.

He was equally confident about the position of the Neath Abbey, which was battling the incoming tide. The captain had come in as close to shore as he could, said the witness.

Nor was the condition of the boat to blame. McCalpin inspected it and judged it “perfectly seaworthy”. “I believe the accident occurred in consequence of her being overcrowded,” he said.

Less impressive as a witness was William Allen, a boatman

who knew George Wedlake and Alfred Short, the two seamen in the fateful boat. He tried to avoid putting a number on the people he saw in her. “I cannot tell how many; there might have been eight or 10,” he said.

“The boat was not crowded, and she would have carried the passengers safely if they had sat still,” he was reported by the Bath Chronicle as saying – this being a clear attempt to blame the trippers for their misfortune.

Evidence that the passengers were not to blame for capsizing the boat came from Amos Greenslade, described in the newspapers as “a small boy from Bedminster,” who perhaps because of his size was put in the bows of the boat.

Amos, whose age was not given, told the inquest how “when the sea came into the boat, the people moved, and the boat lurching on one side, the water came in and we sank.”

Amos got on the back of one of the sailors, who managed to swim away.

Amos said: “I was nearly exhausted when a wave threw me up against a boat that was coming towards us. I got hold of the side of the boat and the men drew me and the sailor into it.”

The boy’s evidence was important, said the West Somerset coroner, William Munckton. Summing up, he said

A SONG FOR THE DROWNED LOVERS

W

INDMILL Hill musician and songwriter Barry Lane was inspired by the gravestone in the former St John’s cemetery – now the Windmill Hill community orchard – to write a song, The Watchet Tragedie.

Not knowing the facts, he imagined that Henry Larcombe was a sailor “washed up on the shoal”, and that Sarah Seymour found him and fell in love.

Sarah’s parents disapproving, her father hires Alfred Wedlake, a boatman, and his son to take them on a voyage from which they will not return.

The couple get into Wedlake’s boat at Watchet thinking they will meet a ship bound for Africa offshore: but they end their lives under the sea.

It’s a deliberately romantic and fanciful version of the story; but perhaps it doesn’t exaggerate the love that the real Sarah and Henry

Drowned before their wedding day that several witnesses agreed that only after the boat took on water had the passengers begun to move. Witnesses had also agreed that the boat was seaworthy, and didn’t leak – but it was overloaded.

The question the coroner put to the jury was whether the seamen Wedlake and Short had used the “care, caution and circumspection” that they should.

If they had, then the deaths were an accident. If they had not, then their public duty was to return a verdict of manslaughter.

We might think Mr Munckton’s directions to the jury were pretty loaded, and within an hour they had come back with a verdict: death by manslaughter.

Wedlake and Short were immediately bailed to face the charge at the Somersetshire assizes, to be held in August.

But the drama of the day was not over. A solicitor from nearby Williton, Mr White, had observed the proceedings on behalf of Captain Westlake. Could the jury, asked Mr White, append a line to their verdict stating that no blame whatsoever attached to the captain of the steamer?

It turned out the jury would not. One of its members asked if Captain Westlake was responsible for changing the time of the sailing, because without that, the accident might have been avoided, he claimed. had for each other. (Barry has since written a revised lyric that’s more in accordance with the real story.)

The star-crossed lovers arrived for the tryst And with Wedlake and Alfred they sailed into the mist Their story is broken and ends with a twist The ferry descending into the abyss On the floor of the ocean they sway with the tide With angels and starfish they dance side by side They cannot get over, the water is wide, They are waltzing forever as bridegroom and bride.

• Barry is playing at the Victoria Park Fun Day on September 16; who knows, perhaps he’ll play this song. You can read the lyrics here: • barry-lane-songwriter.org.uk/ index.php/2-uncategorised/74the-watchet-tragedie

The coroner disagreed, saying no blame attached to the captain.

Most of the jury seemed to agree with him, but one, John Gliddon, “warmly asserted that Captain Westlake’s conduct in running away without ascertaining who and how many were lost was inhuman in the extreme.”

Mr Gliddon, said the Western Daily, “repeated his observations several times, and the Coroner ultimately said the only object of the inquiry was to ascertain the cause of death.”

Finally, the jury and the coroner had a whip-round, referred to in those days as a subscription, in aid of Jane Mogg, widow of George Mogg, who had been left destitute in Watchet with no funds to return to Bristol. She was given £4 and 15 shillings – equal to more than £400 today.

T

he awful events were over – but the backlash was not. First in the firing line was Watchet. The Western Daily Press had it in for the town, and its writer appeared to let his indignation at the boatmen’s negligence spill into a wholesale condemnation.

Apart from those who have relatives in the area, he wrote, “nobody would ever think of going to Watchet.”

The paper continued: “There is an ugly, misshapen, pier there,” which was later described as “a suspicious-looking structure”, while what the locals called a breakwater was no more than “a number of poles with their heads above water”.

Even the sympathy of the townsfolk was suspect: said the paper, “Some had real sympathy; others exhibited a kind of mercenary sympathy, in bewailing the probable loss, at all events for a season, of too many aquatic excursionists.”

The paper had been even more certain before the inquest: “Watchet with its leaky and unsafe boats is to blame; this is not the first time accidents have taken place there, and we think it will now rest with the public whether they will risk their lives at a place where there is no security offered for their preservation.”

The town’s reputation had not been helped by the evidence of police superintendent Mear, who won praise from all for his work in trying to revive those pulled

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August 2017

n HISTORY

southbristolvoice

Stark sermon for the funeral 5,000

T

HE FUNERAL of Sarah Seymour and Henry Larcombe was a major public event. The drownings had been the cause of much upset from the start; somehow, despite there being no telegraph at Watchet, news of the calamity reached Bristol the same day, and when the Neath Abbey docked at Bathurst Basin that evening thousands of people were waiting for news.

It was the deaths of the 21-year-old sweethearts which aroused the greatest public grief.

from the sea. Some of the injured were refused admission to the Bell Inn, where the landlady’s conduct was “most disgraceful” In contrast, at the Greyhound Inn, “everything was done that could possibly be done”.

Two days after the inquest, the paper returned to the subject.

“We have no wish to prejudice the public mind against these men”, it said, referring to the two men accused of manslaughter – and then laid into both the seamen and Captain Westlake.

“When we see avariciousness sacrificing its victims – when we see homes made desolate – fair prospects blighted – and numbers of our fellow citizens cut off in the hour of their enjoyment, and launched into eternity without a moment’s preparation – it becomes a duty to speak in no mincing accents of the culpability of those who were the immediate cause of these terrible results.”

Two days after this, a correspondent to the Western Daily went further. A ship’s captain should be required to take every passenger from terra firma and back safely to dry land, wrote a Clifton resident, who signed him or herself One Who Abhors Homicide.

“Who would not give a shilling extra ... than be at the mercy of avaricious, ignorant, half-drunken men, who for their miserable threepence, are willing to subject a dozen people to terror and to death?

“The hotel-keepers and shipowners of Watchet and other places must not wonder if this awful affair diminish their gains,” the letter concluded. Attempts were made to rescue reputations

St John’s, Bedminster; founded in 1003, and last rebuilt in 1855.

It was bombed in the 1940 Blitz and demolished in the 1960s.

An ornate cross survives in the churchyard behind East Street.

Sarah lived with her parents in Harford Street, Redcliffe, which was then known as Cathay. damaged by the affair. John Wescombe of Watchet wrote to the Western Daily Press praising the police and all the inns – including the Bell, where the landlady only refused entry because she was already caring for two of the injured. Mrs Chichester of the Wellington also deserved thanks for her kindness to the Bedminster boy, Amos Greenslade, he wrote, while the local surgeons gave their “generous attention” without fee.

Captain Westlake also defended himself. In a letter printed on June 23, he claimed that no one apart from the bereaved relatives had felt the effects of “the late melancholy occasion” as much as himself. He had brought in the steamer as close to the Watchet pier as was safe, he said. Far from being insensitive to the disaster, he had seen the danger to the deeplyladen boat, and set off himself in a boat to the rescue. With his crew, he picked up two people from the water. And they saved many more by passing lines to the other boats at risk.

Back on the Neath Abbey, the captain said, “I inquired if all were saved, and my men reported that they thought they were.” Eight people had been picked up, and he believed no more could have been carried on such a small boat.

He set off for Bristol because he would soon have missed the tide. Some trippers, perhaps drunk, were becoming “clamorous – indeed, one went so far as to tell the mate that if we did not at once proceed he would run his knife in me.”

He said it had been “the invariable custom” for Watchet

33

Drowned before their wedding day (Confusingly, part of Cathay was in the parish of Bedminster.)

Her betrothed, Henry Larcombe, also lived in Cathay, in Wellington Street, and he worked in a china warehouse. His father George, who survived the Watchet tragedy, had worked for 30 years for a Mrs Pounding of Bedminster – though it’s unclear what Mrs Pounding’s business was.

Sarah worked at the Robinson’s paper factory in Redcliffe. Both families had roots in the area and Henry and Sarah had known each other for some years.

Six young men carried Henry’s coffin from his house, while six young women shouldered Sarah to

St John the Baptist church in Bedminster.

A huge procession followed the families, and a further crowd had gathered at the New Cemetery on Windmill Hill.

The cemetery had only been consecrated a fortnight before; the land had been donated by Sir Greville Smyth of Ashton Court.

About 5,000 people listened quietly to the vicar of St John’s, Rev Henry Eland, deliver a dark sermon on the uncertainty of life. The young couple had been alive and well a week before, he said, “and how little they thought of what might occur to them”. It was a melancholy end to two young lives.

boats to ferry passengers to and from his ship. Besides which, it would be as reasonable to hold a railway company responsible for the omnibus which brought the passengers to the station.

He signed off defiantly, saying that the facts showed that he had not shrunk from any duty or exertion – “but, whether or not, I have the higher testimony of my conscience in this respect.” In other words, he knew better than his critics.

have ignored the possibility that manslaughter does not require an intent to kill.

Wedlake and Short were free.

Did they and their fellow boatmen take more care not to overload their boats? Perhaps; but the law wasn’t changed to force them to do so, nor were the steamer captains compelled to take responsibility for ferrying passengers from shore.

Eventually, in 1862, Watchet (which has some of the highest tides in the world) got a new pier, which made landing safer.

Bristolians probably favoured Clevedon or Minehead for a time, but no doubt they were soon back carousing in Watchet.

The Neath Abbey had a sad end. Once the pride of her shipyard, she foundered off Nash Point, South Wales, on a voyage to Bristol in 1894. Her captain had only taken over command three weeks before and had taken her too close to the shore. He was drowned with three of his crew.

W

hat was the aftermath?

Surprisingly little.

When the boatmen George Wedlake and Alfred Short were brought before the assizes at Wells on August 10, no evidence was offered. The grand jury ignored the coroner’s charge of manslaughter. The judge, Justice Crompton, said it was evident that the prisoners “had no intention whatever to commit the offence with which they were charged”. His lordship seems to

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

August 2017

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n THE MAYOR

MARVIN REES Mayor of Bristol

I’m going to Whitehall to argue for more investment

I

HAVE asked other cities to join me for a national day of lobbying on September 12 when I will be in Westminster to deliver a paper putting forward our alternative plan for the future of local government. Local authorities and public services across the country are facing financial challenges as a result of austerity and it is time to take a positive step towards tackling this problem.

We will be arguing for more powers and funding in order to be able to do our job and look after the communities that we represent.

I look forward to putting our constructive challenge before the Government and working with our MPs to make sure Bristol’s voice is heard in Westminster. We will be sharing more information nearer the time regarding how people can get involved.

Also this month, we have been pushing on

August 2017

with the other work that we want to do. I was delighted to be able to host our local Chess in Schools and Communities annual tournament last month at City Hall. It’s a little-known fact that I’m a big chess fan. It was great to have children from a wide range of backgrounds here battling it out in a game of wits, having had lessons for the last few weeks. We have

also launched our Feeding Bristol initiative alongside the 5K Partnership, Kerry McCarthy MP and Feeding Britain. Currently, 20,000 people in the city use food banks every year. This needs to change. We are putting a call out to supermarkets, businesses, charities, faith groups and trade unions to help us make Bristol a Zero Hunger City and I look forward to hearing what ideas come back.

I am still pushing on with my priority to make sure we meet my target of delivering 2,000 homes a year by 2020. Last month I was delighted to announce our plans to build around 130 new homes on the Alderman Moore’s site in Ashton, 40 per cent of which would be affordable. We are also helping to bring back empty properties into use, including school caretaker properties that we hope to bring back into use by Christmas.

We are still holding our consultation on the savings proposals we have had to put forward following our uncovering of the sorry state of the council’s finances. We are looking for your ideas and solutions in order to shape the proposals we have put forward.

To take part in the Your Neighbourhood and Supporting People consultations you can do so online at the address below. The survey is open until Tuesday September 5.

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n WHAT’S ON Monday July 31 n Scrapstore @ Creative Workspace Queens Road, Withywood BS13 8LF. Make costumes, musical instruments, toys and more with Rachel from Scrapstore, the Bristol centre that recycles waste paper and other materials. For all ages. Dropin. Free admission. Creative Workspace also has an in-house café offering snacks and simple lunches. Also on August 1, 11am4pm.

• creative-workspace.co.uk Tuesday August 1 n Animal photography Knowle West Media Centre hosts a two-day session on Tuesday and Wednesday for 10-16 yearolds. Find out how to take the perfect photo then try out your new photography skills on a trip to the zoo. 10am-4pm, £5.

• kwmc.org.uk/events Wednesday August 2 n Colourful Minds Creative Workspace, Queens Road, Withywood BS13 8LF. Make fabulous artwork with Laura from Colourful Minds. For all ages, 2-4pm. Drop-in, free. Also creative fun on August 2, 4, 11, 25 and September 1 on themes such as Monsters and Silly Shoes; £2 first child and £1 for extra siblings. Cafe open from 11am.

• creative-workspace.co.uk Thursday August 3 n Wild Outdoors Club Windmill Hill City Farm. Every Thursday in August from 10am to 12noon there will be a different activity for 6-9 year-olds including nature crafts, animal feeding and outdoor games. £10 per child. Booking essential.

• windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk/ whats-on Friday August 4 n Royal Sounds The Tunnels, Temple Meads. Roots reggae band from London. Formed in 2012, they have been playing

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• Floriography by Vera Fallacy • The Healing Courtyard A place to relax

• Bristol Women’s Workshop Practical courses for women

• Fanny Tingle Pop-up café Come and see what we’re up to and find out what else is planned!

142 WELLS ROAD (DOWN THE ALLEY), TOTTERDOWN BS4 2AG 0117 329 2720 | 07495 090560

A wandering cat adds to the charm of Shakespeare out of doors REVIEW: Romeo and Juliet, Butterfly Theatre Co, Arnos Vale cemetery T WAS one of those raining-oneminute, warm-the-next July evenings at Arnos Vale cemetery. Trees billowing in full leaf, layers of green upon green, dotted with bursts of flowery colour. A glorious backdrop and setting for an open-air version of Romeo and Juliet, as part of this year’s Bristol Shakespeare Festival.

This production, from the aptly named Butterfly Theatre Company, which specialises in productions in unusual settings, made full use of the space.

The first scene was outside the café at the Spielman centre, then, following their pretty singing and beating drum, the beckoning cast led us around a corner for dialogue between Romeo and naughty, bawdy Mercutio, hanging and

Battle to the death: Mercutio and Tybalt’s duel in Arnos Vale’s open-air Romeo and Juliet

I

festivals across Europe. This is their debut tour. 7.30pm, £8.

• thetunnelsbristol.co.uk n Groove Avenue Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster. Bristol’s homegrown eight-piece soul Motown funk band. £7.

• fiddlers.co.uk Saturday August 5 n Bench Mending Victoria Park. Meet by Mrs Brown’s café if you’d like to help bring new life to one of the benches in the park with members of VPAG, Victoria Park Action Group. 10am12.30pm.

• vpag.org.uk n Roxy Magic The Tunnels, Temple Meads. The longestrunning tribute act to Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry recreate four decades with Bryan Ferry look- and sound-alike Kevin Hackett. 7.30pm, £10.

• thetunnelsbristol.co.uk Tuesday August 8 n Tech on the Table Knowle West Media Centre, Leinster Avenue. Holiday fun for 10-16 year-olds with two days of tech workshops exploring Minecraft, Microbit making, animation,

PICTURE: Julian Janke

curling around a cedar tree.

A meeting with Friar Laurence happened, fittingly, and respectfully, in the Garden of Rest; the famous balcony scene, with a beautiful, convincing connection between Romeo and Juliet, on the walls around the Spielman centre.

We meandered to a lawned area for the gripping fight and deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio.

The Anglican Chapel, both inside and out, was used for scenes between Juliet, her mother Lady Capulet, and the nurse. We ventured into the crypt, witnessed scenes among graves, and

followed a candlelit path to gather along the crescent-shaped memorial wall to watch the final, atmospheric death scene.

There were minor interruptions from a jogger, and a ginger cat that followed our walk and joined in a scene between Juliet and the nurse (which only added to the kind relationship between them).

Even the rain didn’t dampen this beautiful, enthralling production, from a small but excellent cast of only six players, at dusk in South Bristol’s stunning necropolis.

Beccy Golding

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• kwmc.org.uk Wednesday August 9 n Pamper Night at Zion Zion Bristol, Bishopsworth Road, 6.30-9.30pm. “Bring the girls along for a treatment or two.

Choose from reiki, Indian head massage, reflexology, feet and nail treatments, hot stones, massage, chiropractic posture check ups, Slimming World, Forever Living, acupressure massage and more.” Treatments from £5, women only. Tickets

£2.50 includes glass of bubbly; bar.

• zionbristol.co.uk Friday August 11 n Better Than Never + Montroze + Maypine + Torre Valley+ Destroy the Beast, Find the Baby The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Better Than Never headline with their line-up of two duelling vocalists and three guitars. 7.30pm, £5 on the door.

• thethunderbolt.net Tuesday August 15 n Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band The Tunnels, Temple Meads. The Rev. J. Peyton, his wife Breezy and drummer Ben Bussell are a living, breathing embodiment of the traditions and hard work ethic of their home in Brown County, Indiana. 7.30pm, £12.

• thetunnelsbristol.co.uk Thursday August 17 n Creating harmonious relationships Arnos Vale cemetery. 7-9.30pm, £25.

Would you like to focus on what you bring to relationships? Could you benefit from being more Continued overleaf

DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR EVENT? This space could be yours for as little as £14.

Community groups, pubs, charities, schools – get your message across in the best-read magazine in South Bristol.

Call Ruth on 07590 527 664.

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

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38

August 2017

n WHAT’S ON Continued from page 37 confident in your communication style, and be better at managing differences that arise? This Mariposa workshop is part of Arnos Vale’s Wellness Weekend.

• arnosvale.org.uk/events Friday August 18 n Candlelit yoga Arnos Vale cemetery’s Wellness weekend continues with Emily Wingrove holding an introductory yoga session. Tickets are £10. Doors will be open from 4pm if you would like to meet Emily, with the class from 4.30-5.30pm.

• arnosvale.org.uk/events n Sound Bath Arnos Vale cemetery. In the marvellous acoustic of the Anglican chapel, Bea Martin and David Johnson of Bards of Avalon make a “sound bath”, designed to enhance your wellbeing, with vocal harmonies, Himalayan bowls, gongs and other percussion instruments.

• arnosvale.org.uk/events Sunday August 20 n Everything Else The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Bristol pop-punk four-piece making a name for themselves. £5, 7.30pm.

• thethunderbolt.net Friday August 25 n Quiz and Supper Night Windmill Hill community centre, Vivian Street. On the last Friday of every month, 8.30pm-late.

• whca.org.uk n The Tearaways featuring Clem Burke, Blondie The Thunderbolt, Bath Road,

Goldilocks goes for her shotgun REVIEW Goldilock, Stock & Three Smoking Bears, Tobacco Factory

I

T’S IMPOSSIBLE to pick a favourite from the cast of Goldilock, Stock and Three Smoking Bears – a glorious mash-up of fairytale and gritty gangster underworld movie.

Archetypal characters include charming chirpy cockney Goldilock, with her stall dahhn the market, a taste for bursting into My Fair Lady-type song and the perfect amount of knowing sideways glances to show she’s in on the joke; then there’s the aboveherself classy lady behind the

Exhibition is emotional and thought-provoking REVIEW: Milestones exhibition, Paintworks RIOT of colour and dynamism came to Paintworks in June, in an art exhibition by people with mental health needs, learning disabilities and dementia.

The exhibition, called Carnival, showcased the creative talents of people working with the Milestones Trust. The charity uses its Expressions arts programme to help people learn new skills, make new friends and build confidence, which in turn helps with their wellbeing.

Milestones works across Bristol and the South West. In South Bristol the Stepping Forward project, based at The Park in Knowle, is a social activity hub that meets every weekday for trips and activities, offering support and social connection. The charity has worked with the Square Food Foundation, also based at The Park, to develop quality standards

A

Totterdown. The Tearaways formed in 1981 and reformed in the 1990s. Burke – who has played with dozens of bands as well as Blondie – is one of Rolling Stone’s 100 greatest drummers. 7.30pm; £15 on the door, £12 advance.

• thethunderbolt.net Saturday August 26 n Family Fun Day Creative Workspace, Queens Road, gangster set up, Sally.

Harry and Barry are the dopey villains – Harry, with the neck brace, sheepskin coat, jutting, spit-covered chin and a lust for finger-breaking, and his partner Barry, a 50s spiv with braces, and an unusual love for chairs.

The three bears are delightful alternatives to the storybook favourites – posh Rupert, daft Paddington, and super-bendy hipster Win – who have a penchant for thievery and partying. We also meet the sinister Scottish sisters trying to force the secret porridge recipe from old-timer Hamish; Vinnie, the ex-footballer mobster with aspirations, and a random Geordie binman called Sting.

Fallen on hard times, Goldilock is cajoled into working for the gangsters, who rip her off in a rigged card game. Her endeavour to return the money she owes sees

for the food it offers in its care homes, including two in Southville and Brislington.

The annual exhibition is the culmination of months of hard work from a number of projects, using film, textiles, painting, pottery and more. This year’s Carnival, held over the last weekend of June, included watercolour, sculpture and poetry workshops, and performances from local musicians.

Highlights of the show included carnival-inspired paintings and ceramics from the Trust’s Art for Wellbeing groups; gorgeous colourful fabric collages, an immersive film of Westonsuper-Mare, entitled Electric Parade; and photographs, halved, with one side replaced by pencil drawing – emotional and thought-provoking.

For information on their services, visit • milestonestrust.org.uk Beccy Golding

Colourful, inspiring: This year’s carnival-themed Milestones show

Withywood BS13 8LF. Live music, food and lots of opportunities to get hands-on and creative in many different ways. For all ages.

Drop-in. Free, 11-4pm.

• creative-workspace.co.uk n Legend: The music of Bob Marley The Tunnels, Temple Meads. Members of Legend have served with reggae greats as the Mighty Diamonds, Dennis Brown, The Beat and Burning

Spear. Drinks promo and Caribbean BBQ. 7.30pm, £12.

• thetunnels.co.uk Thursday August 31 n Bristol Bad Film Club: Night of the Lepus Windmill Hill City Farm, 8pm. Outdoor screening of the 1972 cult classic film Night of the Lepus where giant mutant rabbits go on the rampage. £5.

• windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk

Goldiock: Looking for trouble dahhn at the market her taking risks in the residence of the three bears.

It’s all played by only four cast members, all masters of choreography, quick change, characterisation and buffoonery.

The show is a Wardrobe Theatre original. There are some very clever set pieces; cinematic moments re-created live; fast action, and above all, many, many laughs.

Beccy Golding

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August 2017

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August 2017

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