southbristolvoice September 2017 No. 23
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We Sell and Let Property Like Yours
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FREE EVERY MONTH in Bedminster, Southville and Ashton Two years on, and no sign of real change to parking zones ALMOST two years after resident parking zones arrived in Southville and Bedminster, there is no sign that many of the obvious solutions to parking problems will happen within the next year. People living in the streets to the south of North Street, outside the zones, are suffering an overflow of vehicles from neighbouring streets. There seems clear support for parking restrictions in many streets on the Ashton side – but there isn’t even a timescale for introducing them. Residents near Ashton Gate stadium have no parking zone – and the existing zones don’t operate at match times, causing continuing chaos in the streets doing home games. Worse, the obvious solutions to match-day parking – opening up Long Ashton park and ride, and getting Bristol Sport to pay for more street parking measures – are still a long way. The Voice can reveal: • The council does not even have a process on how to decide if a Continued on page 3
MEET THE PEOPLE BUILDING A FUTURE FOR THE HOMELESS
• Berry Maze gets started early Page 6 • OFFER: A cheaper ride to work Page 20 • Butterflies in BS3 PLUS Your wildlife pictures Pages 22-23 • Balloon Fiesta photo special Pages 24-25
• Upfest Pages 28-29
Creating ambition: Jasper Thompson and builder Gary Cleverley A BEDMINSTER restaurant owner has galvanised dozens of people into helping build places to live for homeless people. Jasper Thompson, owner of Jasper’s Caribbean restaurant on North Street, has brought together building professionals, and homeless people, to create accommodation out of old shipping containers. They are
using the old Pring & St Hill factory site on Malago Road, which has been lent to them by its owner, Bedminster developer Paul O’Brien, while he makes plans for building flats there (Bedminster Green: pages 8 &9). Since starting work almost six months ago, up to six people at a time have been given beds on the Continued on page 4
• A WWI battle and its toll on South Bristol Pages 38-42 PLUS ... Football fans, turn to THE CITY PAGE Our regular visit to Bristol City FC with Martin Powell
Page 46
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IN
September 2017
southbristolvoice
2 Paul Breeden Editor & publisher 07811 766072 paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk Ruth Drury Sales executive 07590 527664 sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk Editorial team: Beccy Golding, Alex Morss & The Wicked Witch. Deliveries: Greg Champion
Intro
HOW HIGH IS TOO HIGH? IT’S BECOMING clear that the council is far from standing in the way of developers who want to build high-rises across South Bristol and the city centre. Officially, no one is encouraging them to put in planning applications for towers of 16 storeys, 18 or even 26. (Yes, that’s the height of the latest bidder for the title of Bristol’s tallest building, on the site of the old ambulance station near Castle Park.) Yet it seems unlikely that these plans are being drawn up without some knowledge of what planning officers and cabinet members will accept. Mayor Marvin Rees was
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elected on a ticket promising more homes and more social housing. His housing chief, Paul Smith, has welcomed the Castle Park plan, which is three times as high as an earlier plan but has twice as much affordable housing (though still only 20 per cent, half the council target). We’ve had the same message from developers: only by building tall can we give Bristol the social housing it needs. The trouble is, South Bristol residents don’t want skyscrapers. They may be acceptable in the city centre, but the plans so far proposed for Bath Road and Bedminster Green have few backers locally. It’s time for the council to come clean and explain to us what its policy on tall buildings is – and where it thinks they will be acceptable.
How do I get in touch with ...
My councillor? By post: (all councillors) Brunel House, St George’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UY
Celia Phipps Labour, Bedminster By phone: 07469 413312 By email: Cllr.celia.phipps@bristol.gov.uk Mark Bradshaw Labour, Bedminster. By email: Cllr.mark. bradshaw@bristol.gov.uk By phone: 0117 353 3160 Stephen Clarke Green, Southville By email: Cllr.stephen.clarke@ bristol.gov.uk Charlie Bolton Green, Southville By phone: 07884 736111 By email: Cllr.charlie.bolton@bristol.gov.uk
USEFUL NUMBERS Bristol City Council www.bristol.gov.uk 0117 922 2000 Waste, roads 0117 922 2100 Pest control and dog wardens 0117 922 2500 Housing benefit 0117 922 2300 Social services 0117 922 2900 Police Inquiries 101 Emergency 999
Fire Inquiries 0117 926 2061 Emergency 999 Greater Bedminster Community Partnership Local forum for the public, councillors, police, council officials and other bodies. Next meeting AGM to be announced soon (see page 13). Email gbcpnewsletter@gmail.com
My MP? Karin Smyth MP By email: karin.smyth.mp@ parliament.uk By post: Karin Smyth MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA By phone: 0117 953 3575 In person: Surgeries on Friday September 15 and 22. Call 0117 953 3575 for an appointment.
EDITOR’S NOTE: South Bristol Voice is independent. We cannot take responsibility for content or accuracy of adverts, and it is advertisers’ responsibility to conform to all relevant legislation. We strive to conform to the NUJ Code of Conduct for journalists: • nuj.org.uk/about/nuj-code Feedback is welcomed: call editor Paul Breeden on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk. All stories and pictures are copyright of South Bristol Voice and may not be reproduced without permission in this or any other plane of the multiverse. South Bristol Voice Ltd | 18 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BX Co. no. 09522608 | VAT no. 211 0801 76
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n NEWS
Parking woes set to drag on and on Continued from page 1 new parking zone is needed; • Long Ashton park and ride is a long way off being opened regularly to football fans; • Consultation on extending the hours of the current RPS schemes will not ask residents if the zones should be made bigger; • A match-day parking scheme run by Bristol Sport will not happen this season. Charlie Bolton, Green councillor for Southville, believes there is probably support for a parking zone to include the Victorian streets of Ashton to the south of North Street – such as Friezewood, Balfour and Carrington roads. An informal survey of residents carried out last year by Cllr Bolton and Cllr Steve Clarke found backing for a parking zone in that area. But council officials said the area was too big to be considered as an extension to the Southville
SO WHAT IS HAPPENING? IT’S NOT all doom and gloom. After last year’s chaos on the roads near the expanded Ashton Gate stadium, the council, police and Bristol Sport are showing signs of working together on match days to penalise problem parking. Cones are being placed to deter dangerous parking, and PCSOs and parking wardens will patrol to hand out tickets. Vehicles causing obstruction can, in theory, be towed away. The fire service has joined discussions after fans’ bad parking prevented fire engines getting
STILL NO PARK & RIDE THE council has revealed it is in talks about buying full ownership of Long Ashton park and ride from its co-owner, David Lloyd Leisure. The purchase is expected to complete this autumn. But to open the car park outside its normal hours will need new planning permission, and other changes to the way it is run. The council is still reeling from the
revelation by the Bristol Post last year that it was paying £400,000 a year for a company to run the car park when the payments were not necessary. The site is in North Somerset, which means the two councils will have to negotiate. It seems unlikely that the changes needed to open the car park for all Ashton Gate matches will take place this season.
RPS. Mayor Marvin Rees told Cllr Bolton that it would take “overwhelming support” from a neighbourhood to introduce a new RPS. “What does that mean?” Cllr Bolton said to the Voice. “Does it mean 60 per cent support? or 75 per cent?” He asked the new cabinet member for transport, Cllr Mhairi Threlfall, but has received no answer about how a new RPS might be assessed. Cllr Bolton believes the
pressure on the council officials working on parking zones is so high, it could be years before a new RPS is introduced. Meanwhile there is no prospect this season of a formal Matchday Parking Scheme being paid for by Bristol Sport. This will only be triggered by three successive games at Ashton Gate topping a 25,000 attendance. The ground now has a 27,000 capacity, but has never yet reached 25,000.
METROBUS MILESTONES THE ROUTE from Ashton Vale to Temple Meads will open in “the late autumn”, according to the latest estimate – which probably means near the end of the year. Before then, the new buses and branding will be unveiled some time in September. Also revealed will be the iPoints to be installed at every bus stop. These machines are 10ft tall and will dispense Metrobus tickets – essential as you won’t be able to buy tickets on the bus. • Work on Hartcliffe Way is ahead of schedule and the road should be open by the end of September, instead of October, as expected. This is despite the need for major work to a gas main at Novers Lane. • East Street will be closed until roughly the beginning of October while Metrobus stops are installed. Work in Bedminster Parade will continue into October.
through some streets last year. The council is consulting on extending the hours of the Southville and Bedminster parking zones, so they could operate at weekends and evenings. This could presumably be brought into effect within months if there was a clear vote for action. Metrobus is set to open from Ashton Vale to Temple Meads by the end of the year, which will take some pressure off the roads and other public transport systems. Extra football-special buses will be laid on by Bristol Sport on three routes to the stadium.
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September 2017
n NEWS
All mod cons in Jasper’s shiny container homes Continued from page 1 site, at first in a rapidly converted container and a mobile home. Now the real aim of the project is being achieved – to give people individual homes in their own all-mod-cons containers, with a fully plumbed bathroom and kitchen, double glazed doors and windows, in a neat, clean environment. Two containers are finished already, a third is almost ready and a fourth is under way. Another container is on site ready to be converted. Under the supervision of builder Gary Cleverley, homeless people are helping at every stage, from cutting holes in the metal walls, installing wiring and
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RALLYING ROUND JASPER says he has had a “fantastic” amount of support, particularly from skilled tradespeople giving their time for free. Whitchurch-based builder Gary Cleverley has been spending up to a week at a time on the project. He has been involved from the beginning six months ago, and so have several of his seven staff. Bathroom Village in Winterstoke Road has donated plumbing, and fitting wooden walls and insulation. From inside, the finished containers look like a new studio flat. Jasper started his charity, Help Bristol’s Homeless, because WE ALSO DEAL WITH Rats • Mice • Squirrels • Moles • Pigeons • Gulls • Ants • Fleas • Bed-bugs • Flies • Moths
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showers, cubicles and toilets, while Greenheat of Coronation Road has installed much of the plumbing. Dan of DH Frames of Irby Road, Ashton, has supplied and fitted double-glazed windows and doors. Other firms have donated materials, including Robbins Timber of South Liberty Lane and Johnson Paints in St Philips.
HOW YOU CAN HELP Donate securely at • helpbristolshomeless.co.uk he saw a rising number of homeless people and anti-social behaviour in and around North Street and East Street. After a public outcry about the plight of rough sleepers two years ago, there are more hostels and bed spaces in the city centre. But that isn’t always the answer, Jasper said. “Most of the guys that come here don’t want to go to a hostel, where they
Station is 90 GET ALONG early to Parson Street station on Sunday September 3 and you’ll see a steam train pass through at about 9am, helping to mark the station’s 90th anniversary. Visitors will be able to enjoy special train-themed light refreshments, get an engine face
might have someone in the next bed who may be drunk. They just want to be safe.” Providing temporary beds and then individual accommodation is the start of a route off the streets, he believes. He has much bigger plans, though. “Once we have 10 containers here I would like to get a double decker bus going around the streets. We could provide up to 16 beds upstairs as well as hot meals – they have one in Ipswich.” Then he wants to move the containers to a bigger site – a plot of council-owned land beside the Create Centre, off Cumberland Road. Council planners are against the idea, because the site is in a flood zone, though Jasper says the containers can easily be raised above the ground. Jasper, a former soldier, bodyguard and fashion shop owner, is convinced the container idea is cheap and flexible enough to make a difference for some of the estimated 150 people who sleep on Bristol’s streets. “The public think the answer is empty buildings they see, but who’s going to staff them and who’s going to pay for them?” he asked. • More on Help Bristol’s Homeless in future issues. paint as well as see a new informative plaque about the station’s history unveiled. There will also be 1920s musical entertainment and opportunity to purchase a special station 90th anniversary memento. The event is hosted by Friends of Parson Street Railway Station and runs from 9-11am. • Facebook: FoPSRS.
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n NEWS VICTORIA PARK
NEW proposals for a cycleway through Victoria Park have stirred much less controversy than the council’s first attempt, which was withdrawn after a tide of opposition in January. The previous plan attracted more than 600 objections, and 400 comments in favour. As the Voice went to press, the new plan for the £500,000 section of the longer £2.3m Filwood Quietway had drawn about 80 comments, split evenly between for and against. After listening to objections, the council proposes a 3m-wide route, mainly on existing paths, to be shared by cyclists and pedestrians. Rumble strips will be used to alert cyclists to slow at junctions on the path. It will be lit along the north side of the park where the path runs parallel to the railway. To protect bats, the lights will be dimmed after 7pm, and may be turned off late at night. New “K barriers” will allow cyclists and the disabled easier access – though some residents
Will cycle plans win through? NORTHERN SLOPES PLANS to take the Filwood Quietway through the Northern Slopes have so far drawn fewer comments than at Victoria Park. However, most of the comments are objections, with 16 against, and three in support, as the Voice went to press. The Northern Slopes Initiative is against the 3m shared route along a steep section of the Slopes next to Wedmore Vale. About 120m of path would be widened, and 300m of new path created. NSI members objected to the route being lit, and asked instead for CCTV to be installed to combat anti-social behaviour. One resident of Kenmare Road wrote: “The path shouldn’t be changed at all. Cyclists use it as it fear a return of youths riding motorbikes through the park. Some of those objectors who live close to the park seem to have
Pinch point? View of a junction on the Northern Slopes route is, and if they feel the need to use a well-lit route then why not use one of the two roads either side?” There was support from a Kenmare neighbour: “This is great news, particularly with the lighting. A lot of dog walkers use the area, and cyclists.” been won over by the new plan. One woman from Merioneth Street wrote that the new plan was a good compromise. “I think
a shared use path will encourage sensible cycling speeds,” she said. Others, however, accept it as the “least worst” option. Many asked for signs and speed humps to urge cyclists to slow down. One Hill Avenue resident wrote: “The Filwood Quietway ... does not answer the two main problems facing cyclists – the unsafe route through the St Luke’s Road underpass, and the lack of a convenient crossing over the New Cut.” The Forward Together pressure group, along with park group VPAG, had asked for the route to be diverted around the park. But the council said the on-road routes were too steep, or plagued by parking. The council met all of Forward Together’s other requests – except a plea that there shouldn’t be lighting. The Quietway route is funded by a government grant which must be spent, and the work completed, by March 2018.
Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk
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September 2017
n NEWS Threat to fun day if it can’t get a permit VICTORIA Park’s most popular event of the year – the park Festival on September 16 – hangs in the balance after a change in the regulations for obtaining a licence from the council. Bristol city council now needs three months’ notice before supplying a permit for many community events – something Victoria Park Action Group did not realise. VPAG has been turned down for a licence after inadvertently making its request too late. But after Windmill Hill councillor Jon Wellington intervened, with a special plea to the mayor’s office to see what could be done, the licensing team has asked to speak to VPAG again. As the Voice went to press, organisers were hopeful that the event on September 16 could be saved. The event draws hundreds of visitors every year. Attractions include the biggest bouncy castle in Europe, a dog show, and a 5k fun run. Live music and a beer tent are both organised this year by the newly-reopened Shakespeare pub in Totterdown. There’s also a barbecue, more food stalls, arts, crafts and the legendary raffle, with prizes donated by South Bristol businesses, which in past years have included a balloon flight. Check the VPAG website to see if the Festival is going ahead: • vpag.org.uk
From a concrete slab to a growing attraction Berry maze will take shape in September SEPTEMBER will be a big month for the Berry Maze project at Malago Greenway open space. The open space off Brixham Road should, by the end of the month, have the maze in place ready for planting with soft fruit. Organiser Raluca McKett said: “Thanks to the overwhelming amount of goodwill and help from businesses and people alike, the Berry Maze works have started earlier than expected. At the last inspection of the cement slab, the volunteers realised that it would be impossible to understand what needs to be done to it without clearing it out, as it was completely covered in brambles and weeds. “So, at short notice, a handful of volunteers have come together for two weekends in a row to cut the weeds back and give the slab a good jet-wash. The results were impressive, but it took two full days of work to achieve this!” The next phase of work starts on Saturday September 2 with litter picking from 10am-12 noon. The following weekend, on September 9, the project will become part of the city-wide
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Empty: But soon to be a-mazing Bristol Open Doors Day. Dubbed Mock a Maze day, it will see the outline of the maze marked with bamboo canes, with berry quests, games and cakes from 10am4pm. Knowle artist Ollie Gillard will help children from Victoria Park primary school chalk the design on the concrete slab. On September 16, organisers are appealing to residents to spare an hour (and maybe lend a wheelbarrow) to cover a huge area of 850 sq m in a thick layer of mulch from 9am to 4pm. The maze starts to take shape on September 23. With almost 100 posts to dig in and and five giant planters to be assembled between 9am and 4pm, every volunteer will be welcome. On September 30, the planters will be filled with gravel, compost and top soil and more than 1000m of wire will be stretched on the posts, ready to help the berries grow and spread. Again, it’s from 9am-4pm. For details, email yourberry maze@gmail.com or follow: • Facebook: @TheBerryMaze2017
Extra Zumba
ZUMBA Gold is the only class of its type in Bristol, adding small weights to the dance routines of Zumba to make a more rewarding workout that suits older people as well as younger. It’s run by Marie Clifford – the fitness instructor who features between programmes in one of BBC1’s “Oneness” clips. Marie said: “Resistance training is essential for everyone to prevent a dramatic reduction in muscle mass and muscle strength caused by lack of exercise, sedentary behaviour and ageing.” Adding Zumba routines and music makes it fun, she says. Classes are on Thursdays 10.30am at the URC Hall, West Street, Bedminster. The cost is £5 or £4 concessions. • bristoldancezumba.co.uk
Picnic on the hill A PICNIC and music are planned for the Cotswold Road Green in Windmill Hill on Sunday September 10. The Picnic on the Green will have performances from local bands, plus fun and games including a cherry-stone spitting competition, starting at 2.30pm. Anyone who would like to help organise the day is asked to call Howard on 07981 486316.
Mr Songwriter TEXAS musician Eric Taylor, who has written songs for Lyle Lovett and Steve Earle among others, performs at Zion in Bishopsworth Road on Wednesday September 27 at 7.30pm. Tickets £12/£10. • zionbristol.co.uk
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September 2017
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n NEWS ONE TOWER MIGHT NOT BE BUILT AFTER ALL
St Catherine’s Place: The current six-storey block could be revamped instead of building new towers, pictured above THE six-storey office block above St Catherine’s Place shopping centre could be converted into flats as an alternative to the controversial plan to rebuild the site with a 16-storey tower. It had been assumed that owner Longharbour was going to build the tower block and another nine-storey block next door. Permission was granted for a total of 188 flats – none of them affordable – back in 2015. Now the site has been sold to a new owner, Firestone Consortia One, which has applied for planning permission simply to turn the old office block into 40 one-and two-bedroom flats. Howard Purse of community group WHaM welcomed the idea, as, if it was carried out, it would prevent the building of the two much larger blocks. However, Firestone retains the right to pursue the bigger plan, and the Voice understands it is considering both options. The St Catherine’s site was advertised for sale late last year with the claim that, if built, the 188 new flats would bring in £2.15 million a year if rented.
BEDMINSTER GREEN
Rollo defends 10-storey plan against residents’ complaints ROLLO Homes, the firm behind plans for a 10-storey block of 207 homes next to Malago Road, has answered points made by around 100 residents at a “lively” public meeting held in June. Windmill Hill residents said the Rollo buildings would block their views and present a faceless ground floor frontage to the road. Paul O’Brien, owner of Rollo, said it was a local firm which was responding to residents’ views. Revised plans submitted to the council now include a commercial space suitable for a café on the ground floor, softening the blank frontage. Mr O’Brien said he would offer the café for community use. “We are not a national developer pushing for everything they can get. We provide jobs, apprenticeships and business for the BS3 economy,” he said. Mr O’Brien said the height was necessary to make the scheme pay and accommodate 20 affordable homes. The social housing is not required, according to a viability study of the plans, but Mr O’Brien promised they will be delivered. “If people want developers to build social housing, something else has to give. In this case it’s the height,” said Mr O’Brien. Comparisons with the low-rise Wapping Wharf scheme are unfair, said Rollo. Wapping Wharf was given a £12 million public subsidy by the Homes and
River view: The River Malago as it could be opened up behind the flats off Malago Road. However, it’s possible planners will insist it is fenced Communities Agency in 2013 to pay for 26 affordable homes. No grants are available on Bedminster Green. Rollo also said the impact on views from Windmill Hill will be limited in the summer, when trees are in leaf. “It will only be in the winter that the buildings will be truly visible,” said architect David Rhodes of Origin 360. The Rollo site has been redesigned to allow for a future bus lane to be built alongside Malago Road. The 6m wide area will be a tree-lined green corridor until it is needed for the
transport network. There will be roof gardens on the top level, alongside solar panels. The energy centre alongside the flats is needed to meet planning rules, Rollo said. The plant will now supply heat and power to the Rollo homes only, not to other sites around the Green. Urbis is planning a larger energy centre to supply around 2,000 homes nearby. Rollo’s answers to questions posed by residents are at • consultingyou.co.uk/plot-01malago-road/responding-toyour-feedback-
ASK A VET: SHOULD I GET PET INSURANCE?
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ET INSURANCE is a safety net to help pay for the unexpected. As humans we have the NHS, but there is no NHS for pets and, like us, they can fall ill or have an accident at any time. Fortunately, modern veterinary advances allow us to offer highly sophisticated treatments and procedures for pets – we routinely perform heart surgery, use MRI and CT scans and treat cancer. We even perform hip replacements in dogs! However, while this is reassuring, it’s no surprise that it can be very expensive. One way to
decide whether you need pet insurance is to imagine that your pet is injured, or seriously ill, and how you might pay for treatment. One of the most distressing situations is when a pet’s problem is treatable, but cost is more than the owner can afford, and the pet has to be put to sleep. Sadly, we see this often with cats that have been in road traffic accidents resulting in feline pelvic fractures, resulting in veterinary fees in excess of £4,000. Almost any pet can be insured. However, the cost will depend upon factors such as age, medical
history, breed (some breeds are predisposed to certain conditions), and even the area you live in. Choosing an insurance policy can be a confusing process. For example, does the policy offer lifelong cover for illness? Some companies will only cover an illness during the policy year. This can be very frustrating with ongoing illnesses such as skin conditions, diabetes, kidney disease and heart disease. Also, check how much the policy will pay out in one year. We generally recommend yearly cover of at least £7,000 just in case your
Nic Walton MRCVS Highcroft Veterinary Group, Ashton pet has a serious accident and/or illness. Feel free to call us for advice on insurance on 0117 953 0707.
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September 2017
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n NEWS BEDMINSTER PARADE PUT ON THE MARKET IN A SURPRISE move, the owner of Consort House and Regent House, two former Imperial Tobacco buildings on Bedminster Parade, have been put up for sale. Owner City & Country has planning permission to erect new blocks in the car park behind and build a total of 235 flats – none of
them being affordable housing. Now it has decided to sell the site, which it is calling Factory No1. City & Country managing director Helen Moore told the Voice: “Factory No 1 is a very exciting site and a major development opportunity in Bristol. We are marketing the site at present to test market appetite and value; if a suitable bid is not
9
forthcoming however, City & Country will continue to develop the site.” City & Country has several other major developments under way, including the redevelopment of the former Bristol General Hospital next to Bathurst Basin. It is selling three-bedroom penthouse apartments there for an eye-watering £875,000.
Take a look ar our ideas for a new masterplan, says WHaM THE COUNCIL should look at the community’s own proposals for Bedminster Green because the framework previously suggested is falling apart, says WHaM, the Windmill Hill and Malago community planning group. WHaM has produced its own planning brief for Bedminster Green, which calls for low-rise development of up to five or six storeys with public open spaces and community facilities such as a doctor’s surgery. The group says its own brief is the best vision available for the area now that several developers are drawing up plans for parts of the site (see panel). Ownerships are also changing – St Catherine’s Place has been sold to a new developer who may not rebuild it after all (page 6). Meanwhile the former
FRAMEWORK UNDER STRAIN THE 800-home framework for Bedminster Green, proposed in 2015 by Clifton-based developer Urbis, has now been overtaken by events, at least in part. Rollo Homes won a bidding war for Plot 1, the site between the railway line and Malago Road, and put in its own plan for 207 homes in up to 10 storeys. Rollo did not take part in discussions with Urbis and other developers on co-operating on studies on transport and drainage. Paul O’Brien, owner of Rollo, had also hoped to develop Plot 4, around Stafford Street and Little Paradise. Meanwhile several developers have been mentioned in connection with St Catherine’s
tobacco buildings, Consort House and Regent House in Bedminster Parade, have been put up for sale by owner City & Country (above). This proves that a new approach is needed and WHaM’s own site brief, prepared with the help of planning experts is the best way forward, said WHaM spokesman Howard Purse. The groups has done extensive consultation which has found that people do not want to skyscrapers but are prepared to see high-density, low rise blocks of homes, he said. Wapping Wharf, just the other side of the river, is a good example of a sensitive inner-city development that isn’t too tall, he said. Wapping Wharf received a £12 million public subsidy to pay for its affordable homes. Bedminster should get the Place, the neglected shopping centre which has had permission for a 16-storey tower block for two years but which remains untouched (see panel, page 6). Urbis has now passed the baton for the framework to the council to co-ordinate. But none of this means the wider vision is dead, said Richard Clarke, managing director of Urbis. Developers including Consortia One – the new owner of St Catherine’s; Deeley Freed, which owns the NCP car park; and Dandara, which now has an interest in Plot 4, have all agreed to work with Urbis on studies on transport and drainage. Urbis continues to draw up plans for Plot 5, including a revamped Bedminster station, an 18-storey tower and 300 student homes at Whitehouse Lane.
same treatment, Mr Purse said. “We keep getting the feeling that we are the poor relation in South Bristol,” he said. But the site has a lot of potential if it is done right, and it deserves public investment, he said. The council’s cabinet member for housing, Paul Smith, and for city design, Nicola Beech, are studying the planners’ proposals
BEDMINSTER GREEN DO WE NEED A DOCTOR’S SURGERY? ONE OF residents’ many pleas to the developers of Bedminster Green has been for community facilities such as a health centre to be included. However, Rollo Homes owner Paul O’Brien has told the Voice that he does not believe that the NHS will pay for a new doctors’ surgery. After discussions with local surgeries, he has been told there are places for up to 3,000 patients available in the vicinity, many at Marksbury Road. Because of this, the NHS will not fund further surgeries, he said. Urbis’s Richard Clarke believes the rising population will bring a need for a new health centre. If all the potential new homes are built there could be 3,000 extra residents, enough to tip the equation, he said. Urbis proposes a new surgery on its site, Plot 5. Patients in Bedminster are unlikely to agree that there are enough doctors. Complaints of delays of several weeks to see a named doctor are common.
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September 2017
n NEWS
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n NEWS Mums launch a new kind of childcare
Free desk spaces on offer to the best ideas in BS3
Mums: Ellie F, Isabel and Ellie B A NEW childcare scheme at Windmill Hill City Farm will enable parents to work while their children are looked after in a nearby creche. The idea, called Caboodle, comes from three BS3 mums who all struggled to find childcare to fit around their freelance work. Isabel Kearney, Ellie Freeman and Ellie Bowie believe there are lots of parents in the same boat. After planning the concept throughout the year, they have created a social enterprise company and are starting with four-hour pop-up sessions at the city farm in Philip Street, Bedminster, from September 11. Caboodle aims to maximise work time and minimise stress and travel. Under fives are taken care of in the Caboodle creche, while parents can get to work in a co-working space nearby. Co-founder Isabel Kearney said: “We’ve made it our mission to provide a space for mums, dads and carers to work flexibly, supporting each other to have fulfilling careers and healthy family lives, while their children blossom in quality childcare.” • wecaboodle.org.uk
Kart winner WINNER of the junior karting session at Castle Combe race track in last month’s Voice was Kayleigh Rowe of St John’s Lane.
BEDMINSTER’S new shared workspace is offering two free places to the people with the best ideas for a new business. Father and son Andrew and Matthew Price have opened Bankspace in the former Lloyds bank in East Street. They have already welcomed a creative mix of small businesses, from IT and digital workers to social enterprises and surveyors – anyone who needs a desk but doesn’t want to pay all the costs of their own office. Now Andrew and Matthew want to help a couple of new ventures get off the ground with the offer of a free desk space. “We’re open to ideas from anyone whose work involves them sitting at a desk,” said Andrew. “It might be they have an idea for a charity or social enterprise, or a new business.” Andrew and Matthew will sift the ideas they receive and invite the best ones for an interview. “We are looking for people
Exploring: Wild Child sessions for under-5s on Northern Slopes
Creative place: Inside Bankspace who have a good idea but perhaps not the resources to follow it through,” said Andrew. The desk spaces and high-speed wifi will be free of charge, along with use of Bankspace’s meeting room and other facilities. If they need it, the newcomers will be offered advice and mentoring. There may even be funding available to invest in the right candidate. If you have a business or social enterprise you would like to get off the ground in Bankspace, email info@bankspace.co.uk
Fiddling the Irish way EVER wanted to learn Irish fiddle tunes the traditional way, by ear? Southville Strings is a friendly group that meets every Monday from September 11, from 6.30-7.30pm, at the Hen and Chicken in North Street. Tutor Viv Baker has been playing and collecting traditional Irish tunes for many years. The cost is £8 for the hour. Contact Viv on 0779 126 9335 or Viviennefbaker@gmail.com.
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THE CHANCE to run wild in the outdoors in safety is on offer to under-fives in Knowle from September 5. Avon Wildlife Trust begins My Wild Child sessions on Northern Slopes every Wednesday during term time, with activities such as wild art, mini-beast hunts, songs and storytelling. Sessions are from 1-2.30pm and start at the Bommie on Northern Slopes – the entrance at 105 Wedmore Vale. • avonwildlifetrust.org.uk/ mywildchild
New friends WANT TO meet new people? The Bedminster Social Club is a very informal group for over-55s who meet several times a month for coffee and a chat. Meetings take place at Mezzaluna Restaurant on West Street, Bedminster To find out more, email Ben Barker at gbcpnewsletter@gmail. com or leave a message for him at the Southville Centre on 0117 923 1039.
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September 2017
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n NEWS
Friends can change each other’s lives WHAT’S the worst thing about growing older? Often it’s not illness, or not being able to get about, that brings people down: it’s a lack of companionship. When you get older, friends and neighbours move or pass away, family members have to live elsewhere to find work, and suddenly there there is no one to pass the time of day with. That’s why the St Monica Trust has made a priority of its befriending scheme in South Bristol, which has already transformed many older people’s lives. Befrienders can be anyone over the age of 18. You don’t need any special experience, just be a good listener and ready to start a conversation. Community befriending officer Karen Bennett, who
WILF AND SAMI’S STORY WILF is 93, and spent his working life in Bristol’s retail sector. He used to enjoy gardening and going to the theatre, but that’s impossible now, because he can’t leave the house with any ease. From having a very active social life, he was left feeling lonely and withdrawn. He didn’t think he would find much to talk about with Sami, a young TV producer who started visiting every week. When Sami discovered that Wilf was always eating on his own she made their weekly visits a mealtime. She brings food, and Wilf often gives matches older people with volunteers, has seen older people who were very withdrawn, and felt they had nothing to look forward to, discover that they are still able to make friends. Sometimes there are surprising results. Karen matched one older man who has enjoyed painting all his life with a volunteer she knew was keen on art. Now the volunteer is learning how to paint – and the pair have
Sami and Wilf: ‘It’s like the outside world coming in’, says Wilf her tips on cooking. He also gives Sami advice on the house which she’s doing up – they joke that Sami is ripping out the kind of 1960s features which were installed by someone like Wilf. Wilf describes Sami’s visits as “like the outside world coming in.” also found they both play music, so they’re going to play a keyboard and a guitar piece and make a recording of it. Like many older people, Wilf, 93, (above) depends on carers for his daily needs, but carers are no substitute for friends, explained St Monica’s community development officer, Dan Lewin. “It can be a faceless service,” said Dan. “Most carers are friendly but they might have only 10
minutes for a visit. There’s only so much they are going to achieve.” A befriender, though, is a fixed point in the week, and they always have time to chat. They are often the first to spot when something is wrong – an unexplained change in behaviour or even a mental health problem that means more help is needed. Often older people don’t like to ask for help, or don’t think anything can be done for them. “Just having someone come around once a week can really turn around someone’s situation,” said Dan. “The older person may feel that they have no value any more, but there are a lot of young people who are desperate to have contact with older people, because they may not have any grandparents left.” • St Monica’s has 60 befrienders covering Bedminster, Ashton, Southville and Stockwood. If you’d like to find out more, call Karen on 0117 305 2365 or email karen.bennett@stmonicatrust. org.uk. Training is given and Karen is always there to provided support.
WHO
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OPECHOOL MOR N NI SAT 7 OC NG 10 T o 12
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What are you doing today?
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08.17.108
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For more information or to arrange a visit, call 0117 930 3068 or visit www.qehbristol.co.uk To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Ruth on 07590 527664
September 2017
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n NEWS together with schools, outline plans to re-structure the scene, getting around, waste Making a plan Bedminster voluntary groups, the police, organisation. management, traffic and air businesses and churches. An AGM will be held in the quality; membership, inclusivity; Until the end of last year, the autumn to appoint an executive communication; and planning. for Bedminster council paid for meetings, for committee drawn from Details of the AGM and other THE REMOVAL of council funding won’t mean the end of the Greater Bedminster Community Partnership (GBCP) – in fact, it will return in the autumn to draw up a plan for the whole area. The partnership, known as GBCP, has for more than 10 years been the only body that brings the four councillors for Southville and
officials, and a local roadworks fund and a wellbeing pot for handouts to local groups. According to Stef Brammar, chair of GBCP, the cuts bring a challenge: “How can we continue to maintain and develop the sort of neighbourhood we all want to live or work in?” she said. In August the GBCP board agreed
20-somethings wanted to help with health study RESEARCHERS at the University of Bristol are calling on 24- to 26-year-olds living in Knowle, Totterdown and Windmill Hill to take part in one of the most detailed health studies of its kind in the world. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, also known as Children of the 90s, is an internationally-renowned study, following the health and development of more than 14,000 families with a child born in Bristol and nearby between April 1991 and December 1992. Researchers have used the data collected over the last 25 years to help answer important questions on key health issues, including asthma, childhood
obesity, and dementia. Almost 4,000 young people have already attended the most recent data collection clinic, Focus@24+, and taken part in a series of cutting-edge tests, including blood pressure, liver and lung function checks. Now, with the Focus@24+ clinics drawing to a close this autumn, the Children of the 90s team is keen to hear from anyone in the area who was born in or around the city in 1991/2 and who would like to play their part in building a more detailed picture of the health of their generation. To find out more, please call 0117 331 0010, email info@ childrenofthe90s.ac.uk or visit: • childrenofthe90s.ac.uk.
Q&A: CHILDREN OF THE 90s; WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
reshape research and make a real difference for future generations.
Name Alex Lives Bedminster Role PhD student and psychology fieldworker
What research discovery are you most proud of? Our findings on mental health are unique and compelling. Having so much data allows us to make strong inferences that can be useful substantively and for clinical applications.
What does your role within Children of the 90s involve? Using Children of the 90s data to research how genes and environment contribute to depression, and collecting data in the current Focus@24+ clinic. Why is the Children of the 90s project so important? Children of the 90s is at the forefront of cutting-edge research and our data is being used to
What advice would you give to a participant thinking about taking part? You have no idea how valuable you are. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never been, or only been once or twice, you are honestly so important. Without you, we can’t make the world a better place.
community organisations. They will set up a series of public forums and working parties to draw up a Plan for Greater Bedminster. This will focus on parks, leisure and libraries; the environment, including the street
meetings will be published in the Voice. “But in the meantime, we want to receive suggestions and priorities,” Stef added. Email greaterbedminster@gmail.com • Facebook: Greater Bedminster Community Partnership
REMEMBER US? BORN 1991-92? WE’D LOVE TO SEE YOU AGAIN Book a Focus@24+ visit now! Phone us: 0117 331 0010 Text us: 07789 753 722 Email us: info@childrenofthe90s.ac.uk www.childrenofthe90s.ac.uk/focus24 Get a shopping voucher as a thank you. All travel costs reimbursed.
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
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September 2017
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n EDUCATION New head for primary school MARKSBURY Road’s primary school has promoted its deputy principal, Clare Robinson, to be its head. The school is run by Oasis Academy and opened, in a new building with a single class, in 2015. Since then applications have risen and it is now admitting two classes in each year. It is expected to reach capacity in 2021. Clare has been deputy head since the school opened. The school’s executive principal, George Franks, has moved to the nearby Connaught academy. Clare Robinson said: “Over the last two years we have worked hard to make the academy a place of warmth and support, where every child receives an exceptional education. “As each year passes we welcome a new group of young minds and it is exciting how far we’ve come in such a short space of time.”
Advertisement feature
Providing exciting opportunities MERCHANTS’ ACADEMY WELCOMES NEW PRINCIPAL
M
ERCHANTS’ Academy in South Bristol provides high quality education and exciting extended opportunities for children and young people from the age of four to 18. This month, the Academy welcomes a new Principal, Sam Williamson, who comes from successful leadership of an academy in Kent. Sam, who will work closely with the CEO of Venturers Trust, Dr Hilary Macaulay, said “I am passionate about ensuring all young people have high quality educational experiences, enabling them to develop interests and aspirations that lead to brilliant futures for themselves and their families.” Sam can see enormous opportunity for the Academy to become a community hub. She
Merchants’ Academy: Unrivalled opportunities for students believes that the tenacity and resilience of the Academy community, teamed with the strength of Venturers Trust, is a winning formula. Sponsored by the Society of Merchant Venturers and the University of Bristol, who provide support and expertise as well as unique co-curricular activities, Merchants’ Academy offers unrivalled opportunities to broaden and deepen students’
CHOOSE SUCCESS CHOOSE MERCHA NTS’ ACADEMY
skills, knowledge and experience. In the nine years since it opened, increasing numbers of students have gone on to leading universities, top apprenticeships and fulfilling careers. The secondary department occupies well-equipped, purpose-built modern premises and work is due to begin next year on a brand new building for younger children on the same site. • merchantsacademy.org
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Inspiring, motivating and educating students age 4 to 18 Outstanding extra-curricular opportunities Excellent teaching and learning
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Advertisement feature
n EDUCATION
for young people of all abilities
A-level results celebrated
ST KATHERINE’S SCHOOL: IT’S NOT ‘ONE SIZE FITS ALL’ IN EDUCATION
S
t KATHERINE’S believe there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to education. We focus on the whole child, encouraging high levels of achievement, resilience and individual character. Sixth form results broke records this year. The number of students achieving A*-B grades at A level jumped to 49 per cent, an all-time high, with 78 per cent of students achieving A*-C, another school record. The overall pass rate was 98 per cent. Coupled with students achieving Distinction grade in vocational subjects, 57 per cent achieved A*-B grades or equivalent. Armed with these excellent results, our Year 13 students are moving on to future success. The majority secured their first choice university while others choosing
Jumping for joy: St Katherine’s A-level students celebrate their results higher level apprenticeships are starting careers with various employers including Network Rail and North Somerset Council. Rated Good by Ofsted, who praised our “deservedly high reputation for high-quality work in several areas” and “outstanding level of care and support for students”, we provide a great education for young people. From being the first non-selective school in the South West with five
students awarded the prestigious Arkwright engineering scholarship, to The Leaf, our award-winning restaurant and hospitality learning facility, we constantly strive to give students a dynamic, inspiring education. For more information call 01275 373737 or email mollerj@ skdrive.org. Check our Facebook (St Katherine’s School) and Twitter (@stkathsschool) or: • stkaths.org.uk
ACROSS Bristol, 96 per cent of students achieved at least three A-levels at grade A*- E. At City of Bristol College 85 per cent achieved at least three grades A*- E, especially welcomed as the college has just come out of special measures. St Brendan’s College saw 97 per cent of students pass. At Merchants’ Academy there was a record number of A and B grades and 92 per cent of students got into university, six at Russell Group universities. St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School saw 32 per cent of students getting the highest grades of A*- A. Nine students from the school are heading to Oxford and Cambridge universities. Bristol Cathedral Choir School is also celebrating as a third of all results were A* or A grades, 65 per cent A*- B, 82 per cent A*- C and 100 per cent A*-E.
Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk
southbristolvoice
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September 2017
n EDUCATION
Advertisement feature
Results hold up for new GCSEs
A broad range of learning experiences
GCSE students in Bristol have seen similar success to last year under a new scoring system. Results are not strictly comparable, but 58 per cent of city pupils achieved grade 4 and above in both English and maths – roughly equal to the 60 per cent last year who gained grades A-C. At Bridge Learning Academy in Withywood 49 per cent of pupils gained a 4 or above in English, and 43 per cent in maths. Oasis Academy Brislington said results were better than last year with 52 per cent gaining the benchmark in English and maths. At Bedminster Down School 56 per cent of pupils achieved a 4 or above in both English and maths, slightly up on last year. At St Mary Redcliffe and Temple school, 88 per cent hit the English and maths target. At Merchants Academy five pupils achieved 10 A*-C grades or the equivalent.
PARSON STREET IS WHERE EVERY CHILD MATTERS
P
ARSON Street Primary School is a truly wonderful and unique school in South Bristol. Every child matters at our school and we work incredibly hard to ensure that the children have access to a rich, broad and balanced curriculum which engages them in learning and helps them aspire to be the best they can possibly be. Our commitment to the children goes beyond the National Curriculum. We provide our children with a range of learning experiences from swimming across the school (in our very own pool) to music lessons and trips and residential experiences off site. There really is a huge amount going on at our school. Want to know more? Take a look at our website or our Twitter feed (details below).
Parson Street: “Children really are at the heart of everything we do” Parson Street is a totally inclusive school and was recently recognised as the first Bristol school to achieve an Educate & Celebrate Gold Best Practice award for its work in promoting equality for all. Jamie Barry, Headteacher, is proud to lead such a forward-
thinking and innovative school where children are really at the heart of everything we do. We look forward to welcoming prospective families to our school so they can hear more about what makes us so special. • parsonstreet.com • Twitter: @ParsonStreet
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September 2017
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n NEWS
Hundreds apply for acting roles IT’S NOT every day that a new theatre company is created in Bristol – so it’s not surprising that the announcement of a new troupe of players at the Tobacco Factory has caused excitement. Only days after the news was announced in late July, more than 100 applications had been received, and hundreds more are expected by the time applications close on September 11. The theatre is recruiting 14 actors to perform two plays from next February to May – Shakespeare’s gory tragedy Macbeth, and 20th century American playwright Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge. Lauren Scholey, the theatre’s executive director, told the Voice that they are determined to tap into Bristol’s undiscovered talent.
Lauren Scholey: Tobacco Factory wants to find undiscovered talent “It’s really important to us that rather than going back to some of the actors that we know and love, or to some of the top agents, we want to go to some of the people in Bristol that we might not know about,” said Lauren. “We really are committed to finding new faces and new talent.” The opportunity has come about because the theatre has a new gap in its schedule, caused by the decision of Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory – who have been performing there every spring since 2000 – to move its two annual shows to the autumn. More than a third – 36 per
cent – of the Tobacco Factory audience lives in BS3, and Lauren said the support of the local community is very important. Unusually, the theatre pays 80 per cent of its costs from ticket sales – many theatres only manage 50 per cent. Just three per cent of funding comes in grants – from the Arts Council and the city council – with 17 per cent mainly coming from a core of 20 large donors. “When people buy a ticket for a show, we are really, really tight on our overheads, so we can retain a lot of that money for making new shows,” said Lauren. The company will visit schools and other groups in South Bristol and beyond to open up the world of the theatre to more people. For the next year, only those with professional acting experience will be recruited, but it’s hoped that in future young actors can be trained up. Performers who have come to theatre through unconventional routes, or who haven’t performed classical work, are welcome. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com
Memories of old Bedminster STORIES of Bedminster childhoods have been assembled into a new book, West Street Conversations, on sale now. Memories of the West Street fairground run by the Heal family are among those recalled in the book, which is based on memories of people who grew up in the area in the 1940s and 50s. The book sprang out of a pop-up museum opened on West Street over a weekend in April 2016, which attracted more than 500 people. West Street Conversations is on sale for £3 at Mezzaluna, Dear Old Thing and Jefferson Studios on West Street, or by post (£4.50): email info@ way-out-west.org New book: Life in the 40s and 50s in West Street
Visit Oasis Academy Brislington
Open Evening Thursday September 21 5.30-8pm Principal’s address 6pm, 6.45pm and 7.15pm
Open Mornings September 25, 26 and 27 and October 5 9.30-11am Saturday September 30 11am-1pm Tel: 0117 377 2055 Hungerford Rd, Brislington, Bristol, BS4 5EY @OABrislington www.oasisacademybrislington.org
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September 2017
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n YOUR MP
KARIN SMYTH Labour MP for Bristol
We need to help youngsters get ready for the world of work
I
’VE WRITTEN previously in this column about how Bristol South sends fewer young people to university than any of the UK’s other 649 constituencies. In a city with the wealth and talent that Bristol has, it’s an unacceptable statistic. We need to improve things, but it’s also important we ensure there are other high quality avenues for our young people, including good apprenticeships. Yet 80 per cent of apprentices here are in retail, health and social care, and business administration – which lead to lower wages than other types. There’s a big job of work for us all to do to turn things around, which is why opportunities for young people is among my highest priorities as your local MP. Key to improving all this is raising aspiration, and ensuring our young people get
a breadth of exposure to the world of work. Good quality work experience opportunities for school and college students are pivotal. As a parent I know the value they’ve been to my own kids. For employers it should be about introducing young people to real-life working situations, investing time with them to help
them learn, and giving them hands-on opportunities. If you’re a local employer and don’t already offer work experience perhaps you can help. We all owe a duty to our young people. Practising what I preach, this summer I’ve taken on a few work experience students in my constituency office. It was rewarding: they tell me they learned a lot (we did too), and I’m very grateful for what they did. One thing that struck me when taking on these young people is that whereas some employers think it’s a bureaucratic process, it actually wasn’t … all the more reason to ask more firms to take people on in this way. In my regular meetings with local businesses, I’ll continue to encourage them to take on work experience students where they can. I’m keen to know about young people’s views about the quality of work experience opportunities they get in South Bristol. I also want to know about the support they’ve received – both from employers and from schools and colleges in helping them source these opportunities. You can get in touch with me using the contact details on page 2. I’m of course also interested to hear parent and carer experiences of the processes as they’ve affected members of their family. I look forward to reading thoughts and views.
MATHS AND ENGLISH
TUTORING For students aged 5 -16 Watch your child’s confidence, self-esteem and motivation to succeed grow. Enrol your child now.
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SEPTEMBER 2018?
Visit our campus, see what’s on offer and meet our teachers and students on:
Thursday 14th September 6-8pm Saturday 7th October 10am - 12noon For more information visit www.bedminsterdown.com or call 0117 353 2800
✓ Proven Methods ✓ Qualified Teachers ✓ Personalised Learning Programmes ✓ Primary-Secondary ✓ English and Maths
Kip McGrath Bristol Central
3 Portwall Lane, Redcliffe, Bristol BS1 6NB
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Bedminster Down School, Donald Road, Bedminster BS13 7DQ
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n NEWS
Doors open onto Bristol’s secret places EVER wanted to see what’s underneath Temple Meads station? Or visit the film studios where Sherlock is made? Or perhaps discover the charms of a South Bristol church you’ve never been in? Your chance comes on the weekend of September 7-10, when scores of venues all over the city reveal themselves to the public. We list just the ones in South Bristol. Others include the University of Bristol Botanic Garden, the Clifton Rocks Railway, and many more – consult the website for details. There are also tours such as a Georgian Walk, a Medieval Walk and a tour of the port. Many events require booking – check the website before
Spooky: Redcliffe Caves making a visit. Redcliffe Caves Phoenix Wharf, Redcliffe BS1 6SW. Spooky, almost endless network of caves excavated from the 15th century onwards for glassmaking. Take a torch. St Mary Redcliffe Colston Parade, BS1 6RA. This Gothic masterpiece has been a site of worship for over 800 years. Discover links to poet Thomas Chatterton, hear musical performances and explore works of art from medieval times. Canopy & Stars at Crane 29 Harbourside, BS1 4RW. One of the harbour cranes transformed into a treehouse. Robinson Building Norfolk Place, Bedminster BS3 4AE. The former Victorian printworks, now flats. Look out for the historic frieze with scenes of the printing process. Bristol Waste Company Depot
Albert Road, St Philips BS2 0XS. Wonder where your rubbish goes? Recycling, refuse and street cleaning. Temple Meads Tunnels Tour Station Approach BS1 6QF. See the air raid shelter and the vaults used to service the station and trains. Brunel’s Engine Shed Station Approach, Temple Meads, BS1 6QH. Now an innovation centre for new tech businesses. Ashton Gatehouse Blackmoors Lane, Bower Ashton BS3 2JL. Newly refurbished, the Gatehouse was designed by Henry Wood as an entrance to Ashton Court. Bottle Yard Studios Whitchurch Lane BS14 0BH The studios have hosted Sherlock, Wolf Hall, Trollied, The Crystal Maze and Poldark. Bedminster Quaker Meeting House Wedmore Vale BS3 5HX. Garden is a wildlife haven. Ashton Court Gatehouse: Newly restored
Filwood Green Business Park Also in South Bristol: Holy Nativity Church Wells Road, Knowle BS4 2AG Windmill Hill City Farm Philip Street BS3 4EA Zion Community Space Bishopsworth Road, BS13 7JW. Filwood Green Business Park Filwood Park Lane BS4 1ET Malago Greenway Berry Maze Brixham Road Open Space BS3 5LQ Bristol Vintage Bus Group Flowers Hill, BS4 1NH St Luke’s The Evangelist Church Hill, Brislington BS4 5AZ Bristol Blue Glass 357-359 Bath Road, Arnos Vale BS4 3EW Arnos Vale Cemetery Bath Road BS4 3EW Brunel’s Other Bridge Cumberland Basin, under Plimsoll Bridge, BS1 6XL • bristoldoorsopenday.org.uk
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
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September 2017
n FEATURES n READER OFFER Slide: Save money off The app |keeps you up a whole week’s to date with WAS always very active, commuting arrival before kids.” Mel Bound
Mel’s big idea has
IF YOU’RE facing the back-towork blues, the Voice has teamed up with innovative transport firm Slide to make at least the journey to work a bit more bearable. If you live in Bedminster or Southville, and work in the city centre, you can take advantage of Slide’s week-long money-off offer. Slide, Bristol’s smart bus, launched in South Bristol at the end of 2016. Candi Williams from Southville is a convert: “I am not a morning person so Slide is a digital dream for those times when you snooze your alarm three too many times,” she said. “It only costs a few quid more than the bus, yet saves you a whole lot of sanity!” Slide has no bus stops; instead when you book using the app, you’re allocated a pick-up point a short stroll from your door, and updates let you know
times for your minibus
when it’s going to arrive. Candi said: “My pick-up point is about two minutes from my house and they drop me off right outside work. I’ve hopped in one to Temple Meads, to the doctor’s and loads of other destinations too.” Slide groups together residents along a similar route and because, unlike a bus, it’s not stopping at every bus stop, you’ll get to work in less time. Special offer: Slide are giving readers of South Bristol Voice 20% off their commute every day for a whole week. Just download the Slide app and enter the code VOICE20 when you book*. * Code gives 20% off, valid for use on up to 10 bookings during September. One per customer. • slidebristol.com
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“I
told me, “I was confident in work, travelled, worked hard. But I struggled to adjust to being a mum. Then when Lyla (now seven) was eight months old I slipped a disc.” The surgery and rehab took three years. “All the active things in my life disappeared. I was inactive, isolated and lost confidence. Then my physio said there was no reason why I shouldn’t start running again.” The trouble is, she found, running clubs tend to clash with children’s bedtimes. “I thought ‘I need to find another mum to run with.’ I put a post on my local Facebook page – BS3 Connect – and the thread went crazy! I suggested we meet outside Greville Smyth Park in Ashton. It was a dark and wet Wednesday in November – and 75 women turned up! They were streaming in from all directions! I thought ‘Are they coming to meet me?’” “It was unexpected but it was a lightbulb moment. They were all feeling the same way. We just ran down Coronation Road and back – everyone was euphoric! “So I set up a Facebook group, called This Mum Runs.” And the rest, as they say, is history. The numbers are staggering. Starting from that first run in 2014, so far 16,000 runners in Bristol, Bath and London have taken part in 200 free runs every month. And 60 local mums have trained as running coaches. Mel has stacked up some weighty awards too – a Be A Game Changer Award from Women’s Sport Trust; one of Sunday Times Maserati Top 100 Disrupter Brands in the UK (one of only seven women); Enterprise Nation’s Female Start Up of the Year 2016; Women in Business New Business of the Year 2017 (Bristol Post), and she’s a She Means Business ambassador for Facebook. Run England, a group set up to encourage grassroots running, got in touch. They offered Mel money to employ coaches, but she wanted to train women from the community. These RunMakers are qualified and paid to coach – “it’s paid work that fits round the kids”. Mel also has 250 volunteers
Mel Bound: Stunned when 75 women turned up to the first meeting at Greville Smyth park
What started as a way to get some exercise has turned into one of Britain’s most admired businesses, finds Beccy Golding – known as Run Angels. They attend a formal training programme to ensure that all runs have the same format. “It’s a constant requirement to start new runs – we need five volunteers for each run, each of whom we need to train.” (Do contact Mel if you would like to get involved.) The social runs are free “and they always will be. Cost shouldn’t be a barrier.” But it became clear there was also a need for a beginner’s course, with a minimal charge. “We started using [a scheme called] Couch to 5K. But it doesn’t work – it gives false expectations. If you get to the end of the course and can’t do the distance, you think you have failed.” After interviewing women and exploring ways of doing it differently, Mel created
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THIS MUM RUNS
got thousands of mums moving again the Run 30 programme – eight weeks to go from zero to running for 30 minutes – regardless of distance. It’s proved successful – 3,000 women have been through the beginner’s course. It has become a real community. “All the women in it, their stories and how their lives have changed – they empower each other. I’ve been the catalyst but they do it themselves.” Mel shared a couple of those stories – a woman in her 70s whose daughter was bullied because her mum was overweight. “She started running, now she regularly does 10K, and she and her daughter go orienteering together – it’s been life-changing for the whole family.” Another mum, from South Bristol, had postnatal depression. “She fell in love with running – became a coach – inspired her mum to join the programme. Then her husband, a PE teacher, asked if I could take the programme into his school – I had 750 kids run for 20 minutes non-stop for the first time ever!” I asked about her background. “I was a strategy director for a brand agency, working with events and marketing companies, challenging them and enabling them to think in a different way. I’ve worked for tech brands and car companies, and managed teams in New York, Singapore and across Europe.” It helps that Mel also has a degree in sports marketing, and was head of events at UK Athletics – managing their TV events on the BBC. And her strategic vision means
WIN – FREE SESSIONS WITH THIS MUM RUNS This Mum Runs is offering one lucky reader a free Run 30 course: Run 30 For beginners. Coaching & support to go from zero to 30 minutes running. 8 weeks, £5pw. • To win, just tell us at which park Mel first held her runs? Email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk by September 8. Other courses offered: Run 60 Build your stamina till you can run for an hour. 8 weeks, £6pw. Run 30 & Run 60 courses start at 7.30pm September 11 at Victoria Park; September 13 at Greville Smyth Park. Book in advance. Run 20 For over 55s or those who aim for 20 minutes. 8 weeks, £5pw. Social Runs 30, 45 or 60 min; Wed 7.30pm, Sun 8am. Free. Running together: Mel and mums in Victoria Park. Social runs (held in parks across Bristol) are free to join “and they always will be”, she says This Mum Runs is continuing to develop. At the end of last year, for example, Mel launched the TMR online store – “T-shirts and sweatshirts with empowerment messages for mums and kids.” Future developments include an online version of the beginner’s course, with an intended launch next January, and, further along, Mel wants to work with young people, particularly young women – she’s concerned at how girls are dropping out of sport younger and younger. More immediately, in August Mel launched Run Strong – a weekly pay-as-you-go class in
Greville Smyth park, Ashton. Developed last summer, this course combines HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), hill and interval training, for those who want their running to get faster and stronger. “I’ve lived in Southville since 2009 – we moved here from north Bristol when I was pregnant.” Mel is now mum to Lyla, seven, and Raffi, three. “There are lots of families and children around – we love it. Bristol, and South Bristol in particular, will always be our heartland.” But the TMR format is being replicated. “We went to Bath quite quickly. It was hard
and we learnt loads and slowed down!” A year later, however, in April this year, TMR launched in London. With one location so far, but already 400 runners, Mel has signed a partnership with Women’s Running magazine to help them recruit volunteers. Mel is, rightly, very proud of creating a safe, sharing community. “I was on a traditional route. But it didn’t make me happy. This Mum Runs is a labour of love,” she said. “I’m showing my kids that doing something you love, that makes you happy and makes a difference in the world, is most important. I’m showing them that that’s what work should be about.” • thismumruns.co.uk
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n FEATURES
WILDLIFE SPECIAL
Which of our open spaces are helping Voice writer and ecologist Alex Morss has been comparing South Bristol’s green spaces for the Big Butterfly Count
I
’M NOT naming names, but certain loyal friends may blow your cover at a critical moment on a wildlife survey. Yet citizen science projects such as the annual Big Butterfly Count are fun and easy for anyone to do – even while out walking your canine companion. The simple method was to find a pleasant, sunny spot and count butterflies for 15 minutes. I chose to do eight sites around BS3. Armed with a naturalist’s notebook, beckoned by sunshine and, shall we say, a little challenged by my high-speed, photo-bombing spaniel, I paced our parks in pursuit of this summer’s fluttering wonders. Sir David Attenborough asked everyone to take part in this annual national event, and us wildlife fanciers can’t say no to Him, can we? More than 50,000 surveys have been completed. Here’s a snapshot of how South Bristol fared for butterflies. How does your patch compare?
RESULTS
My results table (right) is only based on a tiny sample, but it is not a surprise given the differences in habitat quality. Arnos Vale cemetery trumped my league, with 11 individuals and five species spotted in just 15 minutes, followed by the Northern Slopes in Knowle with seven individuals. Both spots provide important semi-natural habitats, with an ample range of caterpillar food plants and nectar sources over a long season. A busy flurry of bees, butterflies and other pollinators were bustling about in a party of mauve thistles, spires of elegant crimson willowherbs, brambles, mint family favourites, fuzzy florets of hemp agrimony and crowded golden ragworts. Here, speckled wood butterflies were loving that dappled shade. Other places fared less well,
Above, the comma, the butterfly making a comeback; right, Alex at Northern Slopes with her species chart with fewer butterflies counted where short turf dominated, with fewer nettles and brambles or nectar sources. And why was Redcatch Park so poor? Here, just a few native weeds were clinging on in pavement cracks. I found literally one single twig of bramble, among mostly exotic shrubs and very few nectar sources. This says it all. One single catmint was ablaze with rusty red and gold mint moths, but it was a tiny oasis flanked by a disappointing perspective of concrete car park and short turf, unhelpful exotic shrubs and unappreciated flowerbeds. In all, I surveyed eight places: Arnos Vale cemetery, the Northern Slopes, Victoria Park, Greville Smyth Park, Dame Emily Park, South Street Park, Redcatch Park, Nover’s Common, and Perrett’s Park. My data have gone to Butterfly Conservation HQ where scientists are analysing thousands of results. The records are used by the
charity to assess the health of our environment, because butterflies react fast to change, making them excellent indicator species. Plenty of other South Bristol people took part in this national survey too. In Southville, Ben Barker collated his own and other people’s butterfly records for My Wild Bedminster. Ben has clocked 13 butterfly species around Bedminster this summer, including speckled wood, red admiral, hummingbird hawkmoth, large white, small white, green-veined white, orange tip, comma, holly blue, small tortoiseshell, ringlet, brimstone and skipper.
THE COME BACK KIDS
Victoria Park saw its first ever record of the small blue butterfly, on the pollinator beds planted by volunteers, along with good numbers of comma butterflies. Butterfly Conservation told the Voice the warm summer has seen a surge in numbers of
commas, the ‘comeback kids’. This once-rare butterfly is now a common sight in South Bristol. There has been a 138 per cent population rise over the last 40 years. It was once restricted to a few counties in the Welsh borders and south-east England and threatened with extinction. Scientists believe a combination of climate change and the comma’s increased use of nettle as a caterpillar food plant may be behind its range expansion.
MUNCHING CATERPILLARS Although butterfly numbers have crashed in our area over recent decades, local volunteers and school children have been leading the way this summer in trying to turn things around. Thousands of school children in South Bristol have been busy creating more habitats, thanks to Butterfly Conservation’s Munching Caterpillars project, which is being pioneered in Bristol. Schools still have time to
HOW MANY BUTTERFLIES IN SOUTH BRISTOL PARKS? Whites & yellows Arnos Vale cemetery 3 1 Northern Slopes 3 Victoria Park 2 Greville Smyth 1 Nover’s Common 1 Dame Emily Park 1 South Street Park 1 Redcatch Park Perrett’s Park 2 Location
Blues 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Large colours* 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
* Large colours: Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Peacock
Browns** 6 5 1 2 1 1 1 0 2
Burnet moths 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Comma 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 11 7 6 6 4 3 2 1 4
** Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Ringlet
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n FEATURES
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butterflies to thrive?
Who’s willing to help Alex make more Highways for Hedgehogs?
H Above, the oak beauty (PHOTO: Megan Lowe); inset, mint moth on catmint ask for a visit from the project by contacting project officer Matt Brierley on mbrierley@butterflyconservation.org School grounds across South Bristol are now enriched with a range of special plants that are prefect for caterpillars and other pollinators. I teamed up with Matt as part of South Bristol Voice’s My Wild Bedminster school visits, and we saw a huge amount of enthusiasm from the children. Matt and one of his volunteers, UWE student Riley Cook, recounted one visit to Holy Cross RC primary school in Bedminster, armed with forks and spades. Matt and Riley delivered an assembly for all the children, and were met by a surprise: “As a kid I went to a Catholic primary so I know all the words to “If I were a butterfly”. I never imagined I’d have a whole school sing it at me
MY WILD BEDMINSTER PHOTO COMPETITION
Street crawler: Matt Collis found this lime hawk moth caterpillar wandering along North Street
though!” said Matt. He added: “Plants duly planted, a fortnight later I was back, seeing what the kids had remembered and keen to see what caterpillars they’d caught as ‘homework’. “They’d been a pleasure to meet… but would they remember what a moth uses its antennae for? I brought up a slide of a fairly drab moth. ‘Oh!’ said a child, unable to contain themselves: ‘Look! The oak beauty!’ It wouldn’t surprise me if that child remembered that 30 years from now.” • If you missed taking part in this year’s Big Butterfly Count, you can still add your records to our My Wild Bedminster iSpot page, where anyone can post photos of wildlife spotted in BS3, here: • ispotnature.org/communities/ uk-and-ireland/view/project/ 711283/my-wild-bedminster
ERE’S a prickly predicament - maybe you can help? Voice writer and ecologist Alex Morss has appealed to residents to make a small hole in their garden wall or fence before the autumn, as she steps up efforts to make South Bristol more hedgehog friendly. Alex has been caring for rescued hedgehogs for rereleasing back into their urban habitat, but points out that they cannot be released locally unless more habitat is made available. “In this area they rely on a patchwork habitat of connected gardens, so a small effort, by making a 13 x 13cm hole in your garden wall to give them access, can multiple their food and shelter sites many times over,” said Alex. “This makes a huge difference to their chance of success. Each hog needs to be able to roam a very large area to meet its needs. Hedgehog populations have fallen significantly but you can easily help improve their outlook.” She has put letters through doors near her home in Windmill Hill and appealed on social media for people to make a hole for a Hedgehog Highway – basically knock out one brick or make a fence gap. Her hedgehog recovery effort
WINNER
More hedgehogs, but they’re always welcome. Andrew Price and his neighbours in Frobisher Road, Ashton, released four rescued hogs last year. Now they have proof that they are successfully breeding!
Recovering: Minnie broke her leg supports local hedgehog rescue charities. She said: “In recent weeks we’ve been caring for Houdini, a poorly juvenile male hog, who was determined to escape once he was fit and healthy again, which was great to see, and he has now made his way off into the night. “We are still looking after Minnie. She broke her leg in a mousetrap, but is doing well and has now built herself a cosy nest in my garden. She too will go back to the wild when she is ready.” More advice here: • hedgehogstreet.org • @hedgehogsociety • Avon Wildlife Trust will give a Hedgehog Highway plaque to anyone who makes a new access for hedgehogs. To claim your plaque, just ask Alex. She’d also like to hear from you if you have seen hedgehogs in BS3 or BS4. Email info@alexmorss.co.uk
Highway hero: A free plaque is on offer to hedgehog helpers
SCHOOLS – GET YOUR ENTRIES READY! THE deadline for our schools competition is September 30. We know many schools have been thinking about how to improve their own environment for wildlife. The school that gives us the best artwork on this theme will win prizes worth £100 towards their goal – whether it’s for nesting boxes, helping to build a pond, or something else. For details, email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk • The schools competition is generously sponsored by Besley Hill Bedminster – now known as Hunters.
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September 2017
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n BALLOON FIESTA SPECIAL
FIRST PRIZE
Roger Turner adds extra colour to North St SECOND PRIZE
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Laura Lyons was roused by her four-month-old baby at 4am, a
T
HE WIND wasn’t as kind to South Bristol residents as it sometimes is at Balloon Fiesta time. Over four days of ascents from August 10-13, people from Bedminster to Knowle often got only distant views of the aviators after they ascended from Ashton Court. But it didn’t seem to dent the enthusiasm of the entrants to our annual balloon photo competition. And it did nothing to deter a record entry to our other competitions. The star prize, a champagne balloon flight generously provided by First Flight, was won by Joanne Weston of Stillhouse Lane, Bedminster. She was one of scores of readers to answer
Picture perfec correctly that the quantity of air held by First Flight’s Tribute balloon is 210,000 cubic feet. Four other winners will share a collection of Cameron Balloons clothing and items including a wind cheater, hi-viz vests, Cameron baseball caps and a fantastic book about Bristol’s aviation heritage. They are Cinzia Apreda of Nelson Street, Bedminster; Shirley A Bear of Brighton Terrace, Bedminster; Matt Burns of Richmond Street, Totterdown; and Rachel Sandeman of Bristol South
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southbristolvoice
and took this at Bedminster Down
n NEWS I want my new T-shirts to get people talking
YOUR PICTURES
A SOUTHVILLE mother was so moved by reading a story about children’s mental health issues she launched her own fashion brand to raise awareness. Clare Cox, a former fashion buyer, launched her Words of Wonder range of T-shirts with slogans she hopes will get people talking about their emotions. Clare said she was moved by an article that reported 1 in 10 children in the UK will encounter a mental health problem between the ages of 5 and 16. She said: “I left the fashion industry in 2008 to start a family with my husband. Since our daughter was born I’d always thought about starting my own range, but was looking for something that would make it feel worthwhile. When I read this article it really inspired me.” Clare added: “The more I
3RD PRIZE Eloïse Brochot-Sharpe, 7
ct balloons End, Bedminster. Bedminster seems to have done very well for prizes – but rest assured all our winners are picked with a random number generator – there’s been no favouritism! It was difficult to select the photo winners from so many great entries but those who will receive their prizes from our generous sponsor Greenwoods estate agents are: 1st £25 Roger Turner for his enhanced view down North Street; 2nd £10 Laura Lyons, who caught a
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Strong words: T-shirts modelled by Clare’s niece Betsy, a friend’s son Arlo and daughter Kitty, 8, read, the more I realised that one of the first steps in dealing with wellbeing issues is to have the confidence to talk about feelings and emotions.That was the inspiration for Words of Wonder – T-shirts that use positive words to help start a conversation.” The clothes are made of Fairwear Foundation organic cotton, and 10 per cent of takings is donated to Place2Be, a children’s mental health charity. Since launching the range online, the T-shirts have been sold as far afield as Italy. • www.wow-online.co.uk
perfect V-shape alignment of balloons from Bedminster Down; 3rd £5 Eloïse Brochot-Sharpe, aged 7, who took her view from her bedroom window in Queensdale Crescent, Knowle Park. As always, our competition was open only to pictures taken of balloons flying over South Bristol – not for shots taken in Ashton Court itself. But we couldn’t resist sharing Alison Thiru’s stunning sunset image of First Flight’s Thatcher’s balloon taken at lift-off. Alison used a filter on her picture but admitted: “I had no clue what I was doing with the filter – I just tried it. I’m a snap it and shove it on Facebook kind of girl!”
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POLICE REPORT With PCSO Charlotte Tait, Broadbury Road police station
Information from you has helped us take action on antisocial tenants
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OLLOWING reports of drug dealing and ongoing anti-social behaviour at a flat in York Buildings on York Road, we assisted the owners in evicting a tenant whose flat was considered a major source of the issues. This is in addition to a number of arrests made there over recent months. Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to provide information, meaning the application for an injunction was successful and, hopefully, the quality of life of fellow residents will now improve. Similar information helped us to resolve reports of antisocial behaviour at Polden House, Windmill Hill, where we worked with the council to evict men who were illegally subletting a flat. Inside, we found that the electricity had been bypassed, which presented a fire risk to other residents. This has all been rectified. If you have concerns about a property being sublet, please contact us either by calling the non-emergency number 101 or emailing greaterbedminsternpt@ avonandsomerset.police.uk. Remember, you can also give information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online – they never
Going away? Don’t leave the keys anywhere they can be seen ask for your name and cannot trace your call. • crimestoppers-uk.org Together with the council, we’re working to remove tents from under the bridge on Coronation Road and monitoring the Dalby Road underpass, which we recently cleared of drugs litter.
F
or those of you making a late getaway, please work with us to make life harder for burglars. It’s always worthwhile speaking to trusted neighbours or friends who could perhaps park a vehicle on your driveway to make it look like someone is home. Timer switches on lamps and even a radio are also a cheap and easy way to achieve the same – especially as the nights start to draw in. Also, do remember not to leave bins and recycling boxes out, and avoid sharing holiday plans and pictures on public social media. Finally, it’s always a good idea to register any of your items on www.immobilise.com so if the unfortunate does happen, your items will be registered and can prevent them from being lost forever. Until next time, PCSO Charlotte Tait
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Write to paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk nLETTERS FEATURES or to 18 Lilymead Ave, BS4 2BX
Cyclists need to be more visible ONE WET and dark evening I was about to drive into Churchlands Road from West Street, Bedminster, when a cyclist crossed my path. How I avoided him, I don’t know – he was wearing very dark clothing and had no lights on his cycle. When I told him of this, he gave me two fingers and some words I can’t print, and rode off. If I had hit him I would have been held blamewothy. Isn’t it about time that all cyclists should wear a high visibility jacket and helmet at all times, day and night, and have lights on their cycle? Bristol city council could make this compulsory, and be the first road-safety-conscious council to do so. Bedminster resident
Parking spaces are a fantasy WHAT on earth is our skyline going to look like in a few years? A 25-storey tower near Temple Meads – how will that affect our views? I notice that none of the pictures produced by the university give a perspective from Bath Road or Totterdown. And now 16 storeys next to Totterdown bridge. It must be as tall as the hill it stands next to. But it’s not just these two plans we have to worry about. Don’t forget, each permission granted sets a precedent for the next developer. D Norris, Totterdown
• TOTTERDOWN bridge plans: So the developers of the old carwash site at Totterdown Bridge have identified parking spaces near the site, have they? This is pure speculation, if not a fantasy. No doubt they will get what they want, as every development in South Bristol does, as they employ more expensive lawyers than the council can afford. How else can you explain Crest Nicholson’s eyesore at the other end? As for the student flats at the Grosvenor which are going to be ready by the end of the year, could I please have the name of the builder as I am having a loft extension done, not started yet, and my wife wants it by Christmas. As far as I can see no one has touched that building for years. Steven Dawson, Totterdown
Let’s keep it local if we can IT’S GREAT to see in your last issue that the Totterdown Centre might be on its way back to life. It sounds as if those behind the idea intend to preserve the community spirit that inspired it in the first place. I hope so. It’s good that nearly all the empty shops that we had on Wells Road a few years ago have now been filled, and mostly by local traders too. But what else will the next few years bring? We have got used in South Bristol in the last few years of having our pick of lots of independent traders. I hope that they don’t get muscled out by the big high street chains when the rents start going up. V Alison, Knowle
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n FEATURES Make sure you claim what’s yours, says MP PEOPLE in South Bristol will get a chance to meet money experts to check they are receiving all their financial entitlements. The Money Entitlement One Stop Shop event has been organised by Karin Smyth MP at the Withywood Centre, Queens Road BS13 8QA. It’s on Friday September 15, 10.30am-12.30pm. The Labour MP said £16 million a year in pension credit, and upwards of £20m in income support, goes unclaimed by Bristol residents each year. Karin Smyth said: “Too many people miss out on money that is rightly theirs, so I am again bringing together a number of Bristol’s finance experts to give practical first-hand advice.” Advice will be available from Citizens Advice, the Department for Work and Pensions, Care and Repair, and other agencies.
UPFEST PICTURES
Portrait on the Hen & Chicken
Above, Caro Pepe and Age Age at work in King William Street. Caro, from Argentina, paints the feminine images and her partner Age the robotic shapes Left, exploded view on Exmoor Street by Wen 2
Plenty to see at St Francis church
Learn the WEA way Your way at Windmill Hill City Farm this Autumn.
Our friendly courses offer free fees for those on a qualifying means tested benefit, you will be asked to contribute to the cost of materials where appropriate. To enrol Tel: 0300 303 3464 or enrolonline.wea.org.uk If you would like a copy of our Bristol brochure which covers all areas of Bristol please ring 0117 916 6500 or email bristoloffice@wea.org.uk
10 session Courses
Exploring Colour and Paint
C3528571
Wed 27 Sept
13:00 - 15:30
Fee: £91.50
12:45 - 14:15
Fee: £55.00
Art for Beginners
C3528572
Wed 27 Sept
10:00 - 12.30
Silver & Copper Jewellery Making Beginners
C3528574
Thu 28 Sept
10:00 - 12:30
Yoga for Everyone
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Silver & Copper Jewellery Making Improvers
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Reading and Writing Poetry
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First Pattern and Sewing for Beginners
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Pattern Making and Sewing for Pre-Intermediates
C3528570
Stained Glass for Beginners
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Stained Glass Intermediate - 15 sessions
Recognise your Potential: Employability Skills - 5 sessions Introduction to Complementary Therapy - 7 sessions Elsewhere in Bristol:
History of the Women’s Movement Discovering M Shed through Drawing Introduction to Basic Print Making Techniques
C3528769 C3528560 C3528708
C3528576 C3528790 C3528716
Fri 29 Sept
Thu 28 Sept Thu 28 Sept Tue 26 Sept Tue 26 Sept Fri 6 Oct Fri 6 Oct
Wed 4 Oct Wed 4 Oct
Fee: £91.50 Fee: £91.50 Fee: £91.50
13:00 - 15:30
Fee: £74.00
10:00 - 12:00
Fee: £74.00
10:00 - 12:00
Fee: £74.00
12:30 - 14:30 13:00 - 15:15
9:30 - 12:30pm 10:00 - 12:00
Fee: £83.00
Fee: £165.00
18:00 - 20:30
Fee: £39.00 Fee: £64.00
Wed 4 Oct 13:00 - 17:00 7 sessions £52 at WEA, 7 York Court, Wilder St BS2 8QH Mon 2 Oct 14:00 - 16:00 8 sessions £59 at M Shed, Princes Wharf, Bristol BS1 4RN Wed 4 Oct 15:00 – 17:00 at M Shed, Princes Wharf, Bristol BS1 4RN
The Workers’ Educational Association is a charity registered in England and Wales (no. 1113775) and in Scotland (no. SC039239).
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September 2017
southbristolvoice
n FEATURES
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UPFEST PICTURES
Wheelchair charity moves its HQ to BS3
Eyes up: Eduardo Kobra finishes his giant John Lennon portrait on the Tobacco Factory. It has allegedly been mistaken by some younger people for Harry Potter!
Jody surveys his giant piece, Reverie, in The Nursery, off North Street
Rocket01 at the North St brewery PHOTO: Roger Turner Upfest was bigger and better than ever from July 29-31 with around 35,000 visitors viewing 300 street artists at 35 venues – stretching further into East Street than before, and to Ashton Gate stadium
A CHARITY which sends wheelchairs to the developing world has moved its headquarters to Bedminster. Called Motivation, it is settling in to an industrial unit in Sheene Road after being based for 20 years in Somerset. It says millions of people in the developing world are unable to go to work, school or even leave their homes because they don’t have a wheelchair. At the new HQ, staff are designing a range of affordable wheelchairs, using 3D printing. David Constantine MBE, himself a wheelchair user and Motivation’s co-founder, said: “We are looking forward to meeting our neighbours and becoming an integral member of the Bristol community.” The charity will hold a launch event at its new premises soon. • motivation.org.uk
• Family run and independent • Advice • NHS prescriptions • Living aid products
Your local independent pharmacy has won more awards than any other in the entire UK! On July 12 Bedminster Pharmacy won four awards at the Chemist & Druggist Awards 2017. We are very proud and we believe it shows how hard we work to support the health of the whole community.
FREE NHS FLU VACCINATIONS Available from September. Free for:
bedminster pharmacy 0117 985 3388 Cannon Street, Bedminster, BS3 1BN | Open 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat
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Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk
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September 2017
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n THE MAYOR
MARVIN REES Mayor of Bristol
Shocking food poverty among children shows the scale of need in the city
Y
OU MAY have seen advertised a Rally for Bristol I am holding on September 9 on College Green, Bristol, working with trade unions, the People’s Assembly and other organisations. This is aimed at promoting the need for greater investment in cities, as they are at breaking point when it comes to adult and children’s social care and council-provided services. I hope that you will be able to attend. As a group of 10 core cities, representing the biggest economic drivers outside of London, we are also presenting a ‘green paper’ to the Government calling for more investment and
more powers. We don’t just want to campaign for more money for services, we need funds and powers to grow an inclusive economy with more housing – including affordable
Southville Community Development Association Job Vacancy
Associate Head of Early Education & Childcare The Southville Community Development Association (SCDA) is a forward-thinking and progressive charity and company limited by guarantee. We are opening a brand new nursery and community centre on Chessel Street, Bedminster, and as a result we have an exciting opportunity to join our Early Education & Childcare leadership team.
homes – sustainable diverse jobs and a transport system that provides connectivity. Elsewhere, I am pleased that we were able to host a recent Feed Bristol event with businesses and partners at City Hall to look at tackling food poverty within the city. Food poverty is defined as the inability to afford a healthy balanced diet, which is strongly associated with people on a low income. Shockingly, more than 25 per cent of children in Bristol are classed as living in poverty; it’s a statistic that highlights the scale of the problem we are dealing with. If we want to tackle it we will need the help of organisations from around the city. Poor nutrition in early years undermines people’s health and their academic and skills development. This affects the young people we rely upon for a healthy economy. With food prices on the rise and the wages frozen and reducing in real terms, this problem is one that is only set to get worse. I was glad to hear at the Feed Bristol event that many practical conversations are already taking place and I hope this momentum continues to start improving the lives of some of the city’s most vulnerable people. If you are a local business who thinks you can help, I encourage you to keep an eye out for other events and get involved.
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September 2017
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n COLUMNS ADVICE FROM A PHARMACIST talk to one of our friendly health that you may notice around your How to make it oradvisors? A healthy diet helps child’s bottom or in their poo, growth and development, reduces particularly in children under 10. days off school but also improves They don’t always cause symptoms a healthy start sick academic results! If your child is a although itchiness around the picky eater, we can discuss options bottom or vagina is common. This to the new to support them with multivitamins. can be worse at night and disturb Bedminster Pharmacy is proud sleep. Don’t panic if you come to be part of the Bristol City Sugar across them, we can help! school term Smart project, encouraging • Small lumps appearing on the
I
T’S THAT time of the year again! After weeks of summer fun, it’s time to go back to school and your local pharmacy is at hand to deal with any health questions and worries that might affect your child. What help is available? • Healthy eating There are lots of messages promoting healthy eating, but some can be confusing. Why not come into the pharmacy to pick up some clear information
children to swap sugary drinks and snacks for fruits and yoghurts. • Head lice or nits These affect one in three school children and their families. Nits can survive in long hair for a long time if untreated. Performing a weekly head check is a good idea, especially for young children. Not sure what to look for? The pharmacy team can advise on the comb detection method. • Threadworms are tiny worms
skin of hands or feet could be warts or verrucas. They tend to affect children more than adults. They are caught by close skin-to-skin contact, for example by sharing shoes, socks and towels. The infection can also be caught from contaminated objects or surfaces, such as the area surrounding a swimming pool. Bedminster Pharmacy offers help diagnosing all of these
Down on the Farm News from Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster
T
Yearly cabbage HE JOHN James Bristol Foundation is a charitable trust which supports many charities across Bristol. Philanthropist John James, who died in 1983, started from humble beginnings and was actually born on Phillip Street in Bedminster, where the city farm now is – there is a blue plaque in his honour on the back of the farm’s volunteer building, which faces out onto the road. In August, members of the John James foundation, including his daughter Joan, visited the farm and donated a display board, created by the foundation’s archivist, all about John James’s life, including a mention of the farm and the
conditions correctly, alongside providing scientifically-proven, cost effective treatment options suitable for the whole family. Don’t forget to also check with your GP surgery that your children’s vaccinations are up-to-date. For the rest of the family, as part of our commitment to promoting healthy living and wellbeing, this September we are starting our free walk-in NHS flu vaccinations. No appointments required. In addition, free blood pressure checks are available as part of the Know Your Numbers month. • This article by Ade Williams and Celine Lee 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
September 22, 10am-12noon. Cost: £9 members/£12 nonmembers (children free). Price includes coffee and cake plus craft activities for the little ones. Freelance dads welcome too. annual cabbage which the farm sends as a thank you for his support. The board will be put up in the new café for all to see. City farm cocktails Renowned local forager Andy Hamilton is running a Gin Safari on September 16, 6-8.30pm. There’ll be a foraged cocktail waiting for you on arrival. After a talk on the flavours used in gin you’ll go foraging for ingredients in the farm’s gardens, before
Andy Hamilton: Forage for gin making your own gin using the botanicals that you’ve gathered. £45. Likely to fill up quickly! Freelancers at the farm September’s Freelance Mum session is with marketing expert Debs Penrice. That’s on
Shout out for stall holders The farm’s Autumn Fair is on Saturday October 7, from 11am-5pm. As well as music, activities and the Farmbar, there will be a market. The farm wants to support local producers and creators, fair trade or environmentally-friendly products, and local environmental and ethical organisations. If this applies to you and you would like a stall – £20 for the day – contact simone.dougall@ windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk.
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September 2017
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September 2017
n PLANNING APPLICATIONS 36 Bedminster Parade BS3 4HS Creation of six self-contained flats. Pending consideration Bedminster Methodist Church, British Road BS3 3BW Lime tree: Remove dangerous lower branches overhanging former Gala Social Club site to boundary. TPO 1320 5-Day Notice. Pending consideration 71 Stackpool Road BS3 1NL Flat-roofed, side roof extensions. Refused Iceland, Unit B, South Retail Park, Wedlock Way BS3 2LQ Internally illuminated signage: high level sign front elevation, sign over entrance doors, sign to rear/side elevation and replacement vinyls to two totem poles. Pending consideration Iceland, Unit B, South Retail Park, Wedlock Way BS3 2LQ Plant cage/compound and the installation of AC/refrigeration plant and the forming of two
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openings in cladding. Granted subject to conditions 31 Smyth Road BS3 2BU Side and rear extension. Pending consideration 24 Irby Road BS3 2LY Hip-to-gable roof extension and insertion of a rear dormer extension. Pending consideration 13 West Street, Bedminster BS3 3PD Change of use from a guest house to six self-contained flats. Granted subject to conditions 9 Upper Perry Hill BS3 1NJ Dormer roof extension and insertion of roof lights. Replacement garage and revised vehicular access. Pending consideration
35 Knowle, Totterdown, Windmill Hill
Change of use from a video rental store (Use class A1) to a gym (Use class D2). Pending consideration 140 British Road BS3 3BZ Single storey side return and rear extension. Withdrawn 33 Greville Road BS3 1LN Infill single storey extension rear and side. Existing lean-to roof to be raised. Pending consideration 12 Birch Road BS3 1PF Loft conversion and rear dormer. Pending consideration
22 Blackmoors Lane BS3 2JJ Two storey side extension. Pending consideration
53-55 British Road BS3 3BT Change of use from Use class B2 (general industrial) to C3 (residential) to create six dwellings. Refurbishment of converted school building and demolition of ancillary buildings, with car parking, secure cycle storage and access off British Road. Pending consideration
Blockbuster Video, Winterstoke Road BS3 2NS
22 King William Street BS3 1HH Single storey extension
into courtyard at rear of terraced house. Pending consideration 61 Greenbank Road, Southville BS3 1RJ Change of use from bed and breakfast accommodation (Use class C1) to single dwelling house (Use class C3). Pending consideration 23 Mow Barton BS13 8DW Construction of two 2-bedroom dwellings over two floors. Pending consideration 9 North Street, Bedminster BS3 1EN Conversion of buildings to front and rear including mansard roof extension and other alterations into nine apartments and 1 small shop unit. Pending consideration 21-23 Cannon Street, Bedminster BS3 1BH Onebedroom house to rear of shops. Pending consideration • 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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September 2017
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36
n YOUR COUNCILLORS
T
HERE will be a big Bristol antiausterity demo on September 12, on College Green at noon. Charlie Mayor Rees has Bolton finally joined the Green anti-austerity party Southville and is supporting calls for the demonstration, along with a visit to Westminster the following week. Anyway, austerity won’t end if you don’t turn up. If you do, in these highly uncertain political times, it just might help. The council is consulting on the council tax reduction scheme, which reduces the level of council tax for those on the lowest incomes. The proposal is to cut the level of reduction – in other words to make the least well off pay more council tax. If it goes through this will be a vicious attack on those on low incomes. Please support the Acorn petition to keep it at its current level: • change.org/p/bristol-city-
Southville
council-keep-council-taxexemption-for-people-on-lowincomes-in-bristol The cabinet in Bristol postponed making a decision to proceed to investigate a number of Clean Air zone options. We will be doing what we can to keep the pressure on the mayor to keep this vital policy going. The options being considered are a larger zone approximately equal to the air quality management area which now exists in the city, and a much smaller zone in the centre. There is also an issue over what to charge. Only older, most polluting vehicles will be charged. Having spent a lot of time dealing with different parking issues, my conclusion is that it just doesn’t work. We live in an area with finite street space, and a seemingly endless demand for parking. The result has been different groups seeking pre-eminence over the space available, each with a case to make, but none with an answer to the basic problem. I can’t see it ever going away.
How to contact your councillor: p2
T
HE closing date for a blizzard of council consultations on September 5 may have passed Stephen by the time you Clarke read this but the Green decisions that Southville follow will affect the fabric of the city and the poorest members of our community. The issues include the closure of many libraries (probably not Bedminster, fortunately for us), massive cuts in services for people with learning disabilities and mental ill health, fewer public toilets, the end of funding for neighbourhood partnerships, a severe reduction in lollipop people and an end to council tax support for the poorest households. You will not be surprised to hear that the Greens are very much against these brutal cuts. We seem to be winning the economic argument and austerity seems to be a less popular policy. This could mean that the
purse-strings might be loosened as time passes but once a library or a public toilet are closed they are probably closed for good. The changes to council tax support would result in a huge tax rise for the poorest in the city, and would paradoxically lead to increasing demand for other council services. In addition, the Greens believe that the consultation on this issue was inadequate and possibly illegal because it does not contain a ‘no-cuts’ option. Bedminster seems suddenly to be the hottest ticket outside Mayfair for luxury flats. We already have multiple planning applications for Bedminster Green, including a mini power station. The latest pre-application is for the area bounded by Stafford St and Little Paradise behind East Street. I think most people agree that the area needs redevelopment; what worries me is that we will end up with a dog’s breakfast of competing schemes and that much of the possible community benefits will be lost.
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September 2017
southbristolvoice
n YOUR COUNCILLORS
P
ARSON Street railway station celebrates its 90th anniversary on September 3, and is a reminder of the transport network Bristol used to have. Much effort is now going into regenerating, repairing and rebuilding our travel assets. Thanks to the hard work of local volunteers who formed Friends of Parson Street Station (FoPSS) and also FoSBR (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways) there is renewed energy to have better facilities, more stopping services and additional rolling stock; Parson Street continues to have some of the highest growth in passenger numbers in the Greater Bristol area. FoSBR recently presented a Manifesto for Rail to the newlyelected Mayor for the West of England, Tim Bowles, who leads the region’s Combined Authority. It is this new organisation which will devise and seek funding and powers for all future proposals. We see the potential elsewhere too. From a park and rail station at Portway (next to the existing
Mark Bradshaw Labour Bedminster
37
Bedminster
Celia Phipps Labour Bedminster
park and ride) plus new and reopened stations at, for example, Ashton Gate, Ashley Down, St Anne’s, Lockleaze and on the new Henbury line. All could make a difference to daily travel woes and congestion (not forgetting toxic air challenges). These projects take too much time to deliver due to cumbersome and restrictive national procedures for rail projects, however modest. They are also massively expensive – even the single platform at Portway will come in at over £2 million. We also see uncertainty in estimating costs – the Portishead line rose sharply from an initial £50m to more than £170m. Speaking with the
How to contact your councillor: p2
rail minister, there is recognition that this is a national problem but it hits Greater Bristol especially hard, given the number of small schemes we need to reconnect and enhance the network.
T
here is some better news. The Severn Beach Line has proved a great success and newer trains and a smart ticket pilot are in place too. New gates are installed at Temple Meads ready for modern tickets. Brand new express trains will start to serve Bristol to London this autumn, alas without the benefit of electric wires into Temple Meads (another missed opportunity). Four tracking and line improvements are under way to the north of the city, providing more capacity and resilience (flood protection) for services across the area and towards the Midlands. Virtually all of these improvements have been won through active, persistent campaigning. Another prize is integration in terms of services, tickets and
locations. Parson Street provides a great example of what could be achieved. A rail station sits next to a key bus and Metrobus route, but needs signposting to the different services, real-time information and a ticket (mobile or smartcard) that can be used across operators and types of transport. This is not fanciful but the reality in other parts of the UK and almost universally available across the rest of Europe. Time to make it happen here too! Happy birthday, Parson Street station, and we all look forward to better services and facilities for the people of Bedminster. • We are available to assist constituents in Bedminster. Please contact us by phone or email (details: page 2). We hold a surgery (no appointment needed) at Mezzaluna on West Street, on the first Saturday of each month from 10.30-11.30am. We also regularly attend other events such as coffee mornings at Gaywood and Southbow houses and Ashton Vale Hub. Our Facebook page is: • @MarkandCeliaforBedminster
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n HISTORY The daily dripfeed of tragedy from the hell that was Passchendaele
O
NE HUNDRED years ago during World War 1, the arrival of the daily post was something to be feared for many South Bristol families. Almost every household had a relative serving on the Western Front in France and Belgium; if they didn’t, they would know someone who did. And three years into the Great War, there would have been few families who hadn’t been affected by the arrival on their doormat of War Office Form B. 104-82. This was the notification that a man was killed – or missing in action. (It usually amounted to the same thing: tens of thousands of men were swallowed up in shell craters and their remains never found.) The families of officers got a telegram. A century ago, the British Army was in the middle of the Battle of Passchendaele, one of the most infamous in the whole war. Such was the death toll that Form B. 104-82 was arriving almost daily through a letterbox somewhere in Totterdown, Knowle, Windmill Hill, Southville, Bedminster or Ashton. A glance at our table of deaths during the battle (below) tells its own tale. We can only imagine the impact. The numbers are stark but they don’t tell the whole story: of 55,000 recruits from Bristol in World War 1, about one in 10 – 5,000 or 6,000 – were
SOUTH BRISTOL’S DEATH TOLL AT PASSCHENDAELE Summary of 92 South Bristol deaths during the Battle of Passchendaele, July 31-November 10, 1917. Details: rank, age, any medals, battalion and regiment, location of memorial, address, next of kin. Compiled from the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission • cwgc.org
September 2017
The horror of the trenches brought home One answer to the slaughter of soldiers during World War I was to enlist men under the army’s 5ft 3in minimum height. This recruiting poster is for the Bristol Bantams, the 14th Gloucestershire Regiment. After the slaughter of the Somme in 1916, hundreds of new recruits were needed, but once in France many Bantams were found to be too weak to serve as soldiers, and were rejected.
Was World War I a colossal waste of life, or a valiant struggle to save democracy? Either way, South Bristol families were on the front line, and counting the cost killed. We have identified 92 from South Bristol alone who were killed during the Battle of Passchendaele. In fact, it wasn’t really one battle, or even a distinct event, except in the mind of its architect, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. To those at home it was one more punctuation in the continuous round of grim letters and telegrams from the Western Front. It’s common now to talk of World War 1 as a colossal, even criminal waste of life; a conflict that shouldn’t have happened, led by bumbling generals who wasted men’s lives by the million. It seems amazing to us that such suffering could be endured. But it was, and with massive popular support across Britain (even though in Russia and Germany it sparked revolutions,
Listed are names of all those killed during the battle who lived in, or had parents living in Knowle, Totterdown, Windmill Hill, Bedminster, Ashton or Southville. It may not be complete; it does not include those who died later from their wounds. Men were buried where they died, hence most of the World War 1 dead in Arnos Vale cemetery died of their wounds in Bristol.
and the French army only just avoided a calamitous mutiny). Yet at the beginning of the war there was huge opposition from the Left, in Bristol and across the country. As well as men dying in the trenches, there were South Bristolians who refused to fight on principle. This is a story we’ll tell another time. asschendaele was an insignificant village in Flanders, but it became the focus of a three-month battle that cost half a million lives – up to 300,000 British troops (including Canadian and other allies) and 200,000 Germans. It wasn’t much of an objective: the village occupies a ridge a few miles east of Ypres. But a little height was a great advantage in the stalemate of trench war: it allowed the
Germans to see the battlefield and direct their artillery. One of the Allies’ few obvious successes in 1917 came on June 6, when two years of digging by British miners and the planting of a million pounds of explosive resulted in a huge explosion which wrecked the German defences on the Messines Ridge, also near Ypres. British soldiers walked in and took over the valuable ridge. Prime Minister Lloyd George heard the explosion from Downing Street. Field Marshal Haig wanted more. Despite the loss of hundreds of thousands of men in battles such as the Somme the year before, Haig was convinced he could deliver the breakthrough blow that would lead to the end of the war. No one else believed him – not Lloyd George, not French
• Memorials: BCC Bard Cottage Cemetery; BNMC Brandhoek New Military Cem; BRSMC Benin Rd South Mil Cem; CMC Coxyde Mil Cem; DAC Duhallow ADS Cem; DCC Dragoon Camp Cem; DMC Dozinghem Mil Cem; GBC Godewaersvelde British Cem; GC Gwalia Cem; MMC Mendingham Mil Cem; NIFC New Irish Farm Cem; RBC Roux British Cem; TCM Tyne Cot Memorial; VNMC Vlamertinghe New Mil Cem; YMG Ypres Menin Gate.
• Key to units: Dev Reg Devonshire Reg RAMC Royal Army Medical Corps; RF Art Royal Field Artillery; RFC Royal Flying Corps; RG Art Royal Garrison Artillery; July 31 1. Private Frederick Edwin James Clarke 37, 2nd Bn Dev Reg. YMG. Husband of Amy Maria Clarke, 11 Regent Street, Bedminster. 2. Gunner William Ernest Lumber 22, 61st Div. Ammunition Col RF Art. YMG.
P
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September 2017
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n HISTORY
39
The horror of the trenches brought home and then Italy before returning to France in 1918 – by when most of the Bristol volunteers had been wiped out. Also in Flanders was the 14th battalion, known as the Bristol Bantams – formed of men who had once been rejected by recruiting officers because they were too short, at under 5ft 3in. Many recruits were trained at the White City at Ashton Gate – a vast exhibition site built in 1914 and then turned over to war use.
T
Hard labour: Men of the Gloucestershire Regiment transporting stones for road making over a temporary bridge at Zillebeke, near Passchendaele, on October 5, 1917. PHOTO: By permission from Imperial War Museums
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commander Foch, not even Haig’s own intelligence staff. No one could fight the Germans and the Flanders mud, said Foch. Yet some action from the British was needed. The French army was reeling after its own debacle, an offensive in April planned by its leader Nivelle which advanced 600 yards instead of the six miles Nivelle promised. Losses were so great there was mass mutiny; 100,000 French troops were court martialled and hundreds shot. Gaps in the French front line were left undefended, though the Germans seemed not to realise. But while French morale was being rebuilt, with extra leave and more rations, Haig saw a chance to make his mark on the course of the war. He would not only take the remaining high ground east of Ypres, he would roll up the Belgian front and strike for the Channel coast, seizing vital ports and vital railway lines.
housands of Bristolians were in the front line and many would go “over the top” for Haig. Bristol’s local regiment was the Gloucestershires, but in the south of the city many joined the Somerset Light Infantry. Volunteers also joined the South Midland Field Ambulance, the North Somerset Yeomanry, the South Midland Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery, and 127 and 129 Batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery (these were the heaviest guns) and the South Midland Royal Engineers (these included the sappers who dug mines under enemy trenches). The Gloucestershire Regiment started the war in 1914 with two battalions of professional soldiers, the 1st and 2nd; it ended in 1918 with 24 battalions. Each battalion had about 1,000 men, divided into four companies of about 230 men plus a headquarters staff. Each
Brother of James Henry Lumber, of 53 Raleigh Road, Southville. August 2 3. Pte John Norton Adams 29, 7th Bn South Lancs Reg. YMG. Husband of Frances Adams, 121 Somerset Terrace, Windmill Hill. August 6 4. Pte Arthur Reginald Holman 24, 1st/5th Bn Glos Regt. YMG. Son of Mr and Mrs Arthur John Holman, of 62 Cotswold Road, Windmill Hill; husband
of Florence Winifred Holman, of 120 Somerset Road, Knowle. 5. Pte Henry Herbert Whitehorn 34, 7th Bn Somerset Light Inf. DCC. Son of Laura Georgina Whitehorn, St Luke’s Road, Totterdown. 6. Pte Henry Albert Snook 23, 1st/3rd South Mid Field Amb, RAMC. NIFC. Husband of Beatrice M Snook, 87 West Street, Bedminster. August 10 7. Driver Frederick Charles Lawrence
company had four platoons of about 60 men. Spread throughout the units were medics, machine gunners, grenade throwers and other specialists. Headquarters had cooks, armourers, signallers and even a shoemaker. One chaplain served each battalion. Massive losses meant that battalions in reality might have as few as 200 men. Drafts of recruits might arrive in 100 or more at a time. To retain the cohesion of the units, no battalion would send all its men into action at once; at least 100 would be retained in case of casualties. The Gloucestershires’ 1st Battalion of regular troops served at Passchendaele; so did the 6th, of Bristol-based volunteers, and the 8th, which we will meet later. The 12th Battalion was known as Bristol’s Own, formed of the first enthusiastic wave of volunteers in 1914. They served at the Somme, at Passchendaele 23, Royal Engineers. YMG. Son of Mr A and Mrs A Lawrence 101 Weare Street, St Luke’s Road, Totterdown. 8. Pte Herbert J Saunders 27, 11th Bn. London Reg, Royal Fusiliers. YMG. Son of John and Sarah Saunders, 99 Weare St, Totterdown; husband of Elizabeth Florence Saunders, 12 Kingston Road, Southville. August 12 9. Lance Corporal Frederick Thomas Cox 30, Military Medal, 3rd Bn Worcs Reg. CSC. Son of James and Mary Cox,
he Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, started at 3.50am on July 31, 1917. The 8th Gloucestershire were part of 19th Division, itself part of the Second Army led by General Herbert Plumer, described by historian AJP Taylor as “one of the few sensible British commanders”, and architect of the mining assault on Messines. British tactics had evolved since the Somme. Then, the 1916 battle was preceded by the mother of all artillery barrages, which was supposed to pulverise the German defences and let the Allies walk in. But the Germans had dug in deep, were pioneers of reinforced concrete strongholds, and even when their defences were destroyed, troops sometimes hid in craters under tarpaulins before springing out. The result was a massacre: 21,000 British dead in a day, for minimal gains. In 1917, British troops advanced under a rolling barrage of shellfire. Heavy guns rained on the forward German lines until the British advance began, when the big guns were aimed further back to deter enemy reinforcements. British troops were now armed with more than rifles: each platoon had “bombers” (grenade throwers), rifle grenades and machine guns. Their advances were planned Continued overleaf 39 Brecknock Road, Knowle. August 15 10. Serjeant Benjamin James Rees 21, D Coy, 1st/4th Bn Glos Reg. BNMC. Son of Mr and Mrs B Rees, 28 Percy Street, Bedminster. 11. Sjt Charles Henry Vanstone 30, 1st/4th Bn Glos Reg. NIFC. Son of John and Alma Vanstone, 74 Hill Avenue, Totterdown. August 16 12. Pte Albert Whitehead 27, 34th
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n HISTORY Continued from page 39 meticulously, to various lines on the map. Careful observation, which included the planes of the Royal Flying Corps, was supposed to direct the artillery to fire on any counter attacks. It worked, up to a point. British advances on July 31 were further than they had been at the Somme, up to 3,000 yards across the Gheluvelt Plateau. But the day, which started dry, turned to rain. All over low-lying Flanders, drainage ditches had been wrecked by shelling, and over the next two days of rain the land filled up. Artillery, which was meant to be moved up in support of the troops, could not be shifted. This meant more German artillery survived. Everywhere, initial British gains were much reduced by German counter-strikes. “Failure was obvious by the end of the first day to everyone except Haig and his immediate circle,” wrote AJP Taylor. “Men, struggling to advance, sank up to their waists. Guns disappeared in Field Amb RAMC. BCC. Son of John Thomas and Jane Whitehead, 47 Sydenham Road, Knowle. 13. Gnr Henry Daniel Garland 19, 5th C Reserve Bde, RF Art. Arnos Vale Cem. Son of Mr and Mrs Daniel Garland, 64 Parson Street, Bedminster. 14. Pte Wellington Joseph Beaven 23, D Coy, 1st/5th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of William Edward and Rosina Beaven, 8 Clarke Street, Bedminster. 15. Pte Arthur Hill 25, 1st/5th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of Mrs Martha Hill, 6 Walton Street, Bedminster. 16. Pte Herbert Gommo 18, 1st/5th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of John Bolter and Mary Frances Gommo, 74 Philip Street, Bedminster. August 17 17. Pte Samuel Henry May 21, 7th Bn Som Light Inf. DMC. Son of William and Mary Ann May, 4 Herbert Street, Bedminster. August 18 18. Pte G Paul 32, 1st/1st Bucks Bn Oxford & Bucks Light Inf. BNMC. No 3. Husband of Elsie Eleanor Paul, 28 Vicarage Road, Southville. August 19 19. Pte Harry William Croome 27, 1st/6th Bn Glos Reg. GC. Son of Mr and Mrs J Croome, 18 Exmoor Street, North Street, Bedminster. 20. Sjt Edmund E Burke 26, B Coy, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Reg. LSC. Son of Stephen and Thurza Burke, 17 Friezewood Road, Ashton Gate. August 20 21. Sjt Herbert John Fox 23, Glos Reg. DAC. Son of Frederick Fox and Hannah
Bogged down: A British tank destroyed at Passchendaele the mud. Haig sent in tanks. These also vanished in the mud.” Haig’s hopes of a quick win dissolved. He dropped talk of a break for the coast: the Ypres ridges became the objective. The War Diary of the 8th Battalion gave little hint of the drama or Haig’s failure. At the beginning of the battle it was in support, waiting in the trenches. On August 1 the diary notes only: “Very wet all day.” Three days later, the troops were moved to the front line at Kemmel. Bull (formerly Fox), 11 Nottingham Street, Victoria Park, Totterdown. August 21 22. Dvr Percy Leonard Packer 28, RF Art. TCM. Husband of Mary Nellie Weeks (formerly Packer), 69 Queensdale Crescent, Knowle Park. August 22 23. Drummer Arthur John Abner Bridle 24, 1st/6th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of Mrs Sarah A Bridle, 11 Tovey’s Buildings, West Street, Bedminster. 24. Lance Corporal Herbert Henry Hoyal 19, 6th Bn Som Light Inf. TCM. Son of Harry and Alice Mary Hoyal, 2 Cromwell Street, Bedminster. 25. Pte Francis Samuel Sterry 31, 2nd/1st Bucks Bn Oxford & Bucks Light Inf. TCM. Son of Charles and Elizabeth Sterry, 3 Eldon Terrace, Windmill Hill; husband of Emily Sterry, 48 Winchester Road, Brislington. August 23 26. Lance Sjt John Gibbs 23, 2nd/6th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of Mr and Mrs Gibbs, 102 Aubrey Road, Chessels, Bedminster. 27. Pte Arthur Robert George Hibben 27, 6th Bn Duke Cornwall’s Light Inf. TCM. Son of Robert and Louisa Hibben, 44 Mendip Road, Windmill Hill; husband of Nellie Daisy Phillips (formerly Hibben), 48 Greenway Bush Lane, Ashton Gate. 28. Pte Samuel Charles Meredith 21, 2nd/6th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of Mr and Mrs Meredith, 13 Queen Street, Regent Road, Bedminster. August 24 29. Sgt Albert Zachariah Patch 22, 43rd Coy Machine Gun Corps (Inf ). TCM.
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The horror of the trenches brought home “Shelled 4.30 to 8pm,” notes the diarist. Then, on the 5th, an SOS signal is seen from the nearby 10th Worcesters “during a hostile attack on Hollebeke. Casualties during relief 3 killed 12 wounded.” That’s it: no names were noted in the diary – unless those hit were officers. So far, the 8th had lost none of its South Bristolians in the battle. But take a look at our list: the death letters would already have been arriving for Amy Clarke, wife of Private Frederick Clarke, 37, at Regent Street in Bedminster. He was killed on the first day of the battle, serving with the Devonshire regiment. Killed on the same day was Gunner William Lumber, 22, of the Royal Field Artillery, whose brother James was his next of kin in Raleigh Road, Southville. The next day a letter was sent to Frances Adams of Somerset Terrace, Windmill Hill, for the loss of her husband, Private John Adams. And a few days later, on August 6, more families were
grieving losses in Windmill Hill, Knowle and Bedminster. Of this first half-dozen dead, four were never found: they have no graves but their names are inscribed on the giant Menin Gate memorial. This was a typical occurrence. It’s hard to trace many of the losses of South Bristol men to particular advances or actions during the battle. Most of the time, most units weren’t involved in an attack. They might spend five to 10 days a year in intensive action, with a further 60-100 days in frontline trenches. But this was dangerous enough when the shelling started, and it may account for some of the clusters of casualties, such as the three men killed on August 6. On August 15, two sergeants (spelled archaically “serjeant” by the regiment at this time) were killed from the 1st/4th Glosters: Charles Vanstone of Hill Avenue, Totterdown, and Benjamin Rees from Percy Street, Bedminster. Their battalion was part of the 48th Division, about to advance
Son of Albert and Susan Patch, 13 Gladstone Street, Bedminster. 30. Gnr Archibald Edwin Thomas 28, 19th Heavy Artillery Gp HQ, RG Art. CMC. Son of Charles and Mary AL Thomas, 40 Alpha Road, Southville. August 25 31. Trooper AW Faithfull 25, Household Battn. RBC. Husband of Florence Annie Faithfull, 20 Churchlands Rd, Bedminster. 32. Dvr Gilbert Norman Ford 24, Royal Engineers. TCM. Son of John Charles Henry and Ada Ford, 29 Highgrove Street, Totterdown. August 27 33. Pte Bert Ballinger 23, 2nd/4th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of William and Julia Maria Ballinger, 27 Dean Street, Bedminster. 34. Pte Alfred Henry Bodley 23, 1st/6th Bn Royal Warwickshire Reg. TCM. Son of Mr and Mrs Bodley, 2 Monmouth Street, Bedminster. 35. Corporal J Connell 23, 2nd/4th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Husband of Mrs J Williams (formerly Connell), 35 Dartmoor Street, Bedminster. 36. Pte Thomas Jenkins 27, Welsh Reg. TCM. Son of Thomas Edward and Caroline Jenkins, 66 St Luke’s Crescent, Totterdown. 37. Sjt Harold Handford 25, Glos Reg. MMC. Son of WS and Frances Handford, 15 Highgrove Street, Totterdown. 38. Second Lieutenant John Sydney Jones 32, 189th Army Bde, RF Art. GBC. Son of Harvey Jones; husband of Lillian Mary Jones, 5 Dryden Chambers, 119 Oxford Street, London. Organist Holy Nativity Church, Knowle.
39. Sjt Stanley W Griffiths 25, 2nd/4th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of A and Rhoda E Griffiths, 70 St Luke’s Road, Totterdown. 40. Pte Thomas Jenkins 27, 16th Bn Welsh Reg. TCM. Son of Thomas Edward and Caroline Jenkins, 66 St Luke’s Crescent, Totterdown. September 11 41. Gnr Frederick William Samuel French 19, RF Art. GBC. Son of Samuel and Bessie French, 19 Lilymead Avenue, Knowle. 42. Pte Cecil Stanley Tilley 22, C Coy 7th Bn Som Light Inf. TCM. Son of Mrs S Tilley, 35 Garnet Street, Bedminster. September 14 43. Gnr HC Cooper 29, 261st Siege Bty RG Art, Divisional Collecting Post Cem. Son of Henry John Cooper, 57 Greenbank Road, Ashton Gate. September 15 44. Dvr WFJ Sutton age unknown, C Bty. 155th Army Bde RF Art. VNMC. Husband of Violet Sutton, 5 Kingston Road, Southville. September 16 45. Pte John Powell 40, King’s Own Royal Lanc Reg. VNMC. Husband of Alice Powell, 46 Stevens Crescent, Totterdown. 46. Gnr WJ Williams 33, 153rd Siege Bty, RG Art. Klein-Vierstraat British Cem. Husband of Rosa Williams, 47 Murray Road, Bedminster. September 20 47. 2nd Lieut Francis John Bright 24, 32nd Bn Royal Fusiliers. TCM. Son of Mrs Sarah Bright, 3 Mendip Road, Windmill Hill. 48. Sjt Edgar Appleby Arnold 26, 8th Bn Glos Reg. Aeroplane Cem. Son of
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n HISTORY in the Battle of Langemarck the following day. The Germans suspected an attack, and were shelling the lines in advance. It was probably the attack itself that killed five men the next day from Sydenham Road, Knowle, and Parson Street, Clarke Street, Walton Street and Philip Street in Bedminster. The 48th Division was among the most successful in the battle, capturing the village of St Julien and later overrunning a key point known as Cockcroft. Here the tanks, for once, did not get bogged down; with planes flying overheard to drown their engines, the advance was quick and pillboxes overrun, with the loss of 29 men instead of the expected 600-1,000. But there were losses; it’s probably here that Private Harry Croome of Exmoor Street, Bedminster, of the 1st/6th Glosters, met his end on August 19. British losses overall until August 28 were about 64,000. But Germany thought its losses “unsustainable”: 24,000 casualties and prisoners. Haig knew that the Allies were soon to be reinforced by the entry of the US into the war: Germany would find no fresh troops, and morale in its armies was being ground down by relentless Allied bombardment. But the Germans still held the ridges, and every advance across the Gheluvelt Plateau was repulsed and then shelled. This helps to explain why the British losses were so constant, even when they were not attacking.
W
hen the big push came for the Bristolians in the 8th Glosters, the battalion diary again gave little away. They had been back and forth from the reserves to the front line. A frequent interjection in the diary was to mention a Court of Inquiry into an injury. Details are never given but the suspicion is that the inquiry into Private S Hayle on August 14 was into whether his wound was self-inflicted. A “Blighty wound”, meaning one that would need treatment in England, seemed to many troops the only way to leave the trenches alive. Battalion diaries are full of such inquiries, but do not give the outcome. In mid-August the battalion was at Fromentel, behind the lines, rehearsing battle tactics,
and preparing for the 57th Brigade sports day. Medals were presented, including the Distinguished Service Cross and the Military Cross, to three officers (named) and to seven other ranks or ORs (unnamed). A point-to-point horse race was held by the 19th Division (part of 57th Brigade); we can assume that was for officers rather then ORs. On August 25, buses took 150 men for a swim in the sea. In the following days there was more training in a new attack formation. On September 11, the battalion moved forward to Bois Confluent, near the front line at Klein Zillebeke. The next day, 144 recruits arrived – no mention of how they are absorbed, or how well trained they were. On the 13th, the expanded unit relieved the 8th North Staffords and the 10th Worcesters. “Enemy moderately quiet,” notes the diarist. On the 19th it was back to Klein Zillebeke. “Enemy fairly active,” is the only comment. Then came the big moment. At 5.40am on September 20, the 8th advanced. It was the start of the Battle of Menin Road; and once again, early British gains were impossible to hold. Haig had waited for the ground to dry since the Langemarck attacks, and the planning was meticulous. Every enemy strongpoint had been shelled, and would be pulverised again. Men worked through the night amassing piles of ammunition; plans were laid for a rolling barrage of shellfire that would move 100 yards in front of the troops. The level of detail was one which the “old Army of 1914” could not have dreamed, wrote Everard Wyrall, author of a unit history, The 19th Division 1914-18. The men were all ready by 1.45am, noted Wyrall, and until zero hour, at 5.40am, they lay in the rain without even a tot of rum to cheer them. Finally, the barrage, then the advance. The 8th took the centre of the field, the 8th North Staffords and the 10th Worcesters either side. But the Glosters and the Staffords were slowed by boggy ground; they fell behind the protective barrage of the artillery, and the German machine guns opened up. “Both these battalions suffered heavy casualties from machine gun fire chiefly from a line of
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The horror of the trenches brought home dig-outs just north of Top House; owing to the difficulties of the ground, they had to go forward in mass formation, a better target for the enemy,” wrote Wyrall. Despite this, the Glosters were able to occupy the enemy’s first line. “First objective reached with comparative ease,” said the battalion diary. But from then on, even the Glosters’ record admits difficulties. “On advance to final objective enemy strong posts and snipers dealt with,” it reads. “Enemy artillery barrage on original front lines and support lines very heavy.” Then, starkly, a brief list of casualties. Two second lieutenants killed; a lieutenant and a second lieutenant wounded (all named). “Other ranks – 160 missing, killed and wounded.” At a stroke, a sixth of the battalion was gone. Records show that 53 men were killed between September 20 and the 8th’s withdrawal from the line on the 22nd. Surprisingly, only two South Bristol men were among them: Serjeant Edgar Arnold of
Islington Road, Southville, and Lance Corporal CM Higby of Upper Street, Totterdown. Wyrall noted that “mud was everywhere – some of the frontline posts were almost impossible for habitation, yet men lived in them; their pluck and endurance were wonderful.”
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ut that wasn’t the worst day in the battle for South Bristol families. That came on October 9, when nine men from Bedminster, Ashton Gate, Lower Knowle and Southville met their end. Six were from battalions of the Glosters; all are remembered at the Tyne Cot memorial, meaning their bodies were never found. This was a sub-battle known as the Battle of Poelcappelle, another broad front opened up by the British and French near the Passchendaele ridge. Once more rain and mud made life hell and many wounded men were left stranded on the battlefield. The 5th Division, containing Continued overleaf
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n HISTORY Continued from page 41 the 12th Glosters, attacked Polderhoek Chateau, but their weapons were clogged by the mud. Nearby, the 48th Division, containing the 1st/4th and the 1st/6th Glosters, took 14 hours to reach the front line through the mud, then sprang straight into the fire of a German division, which had hidden in shell holes. Passchendaele village was taken, but then lost. British artillery failed to cut the defences – though the Germans found the impact unbearable, and their morale was weakened further. It took what became known as the Second Battle of Alfred and Betsy Arnold, 41 Islington Road, Southville. 49. Sjt Herbert Leonard Willie 30, 15th Bn Hants Reg. TCM. Son of John and Emma Willie, 138 Coronation Road, Southville. September 21 50. L Corp CM Higby 22, 8th Bn Glos Reg. LHC. Son of Mrs RM Higby, 17 Upper Street, Knowle. September 23 51. Acting Bombardier Arthur Stanley Brown 26, D Bty, 91st Howitzer Bde RF Art. DCC. Husband of Margaret Brown, 84 Greenway Bush Lane, Ashton Gate. September 25 52. Dvr Thomas William Cosset 25, C Bty. 240th Bde RF Art. DMC. Only son of Thomas John and Annie Cordelia Coslett, 16 Holmesdale Road, Victoria Park. 53. Pte Wesley George Kingman 19, 12th Bn Royal Sussex Reg. TCM. Son of George and Kate Kingman, 112 West Street, Bedminster. September 26 54. Battery Sjt Major W Thorne 35, B Bty, 58th Bde RF Art. BCC. Son of William Henry and Emma Thorne, Bedminster. September 28 55. L Corp S Scadding, 29, 16th Bn King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Liijssenthoek Military Cem. Husband of AMM Scadding, 12 Church Lane, Bedminster. September 30 56. L Corp Frederick George Sydney 21, 2nd/4th Bn Glos Reg. St Nicholas British Cem. Son of George Sidney, 39 Jasper Street, Bedminster. October 2 57. Pte Leonard Frank Griffiths 23, 12th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of Frank and Alice Griffiths, 50 Aubrey Road, Bedminster. October 3 58. Pte FL Beard age unknown, Glos Reg. GBC. Son of Mr GH Beard, 12 Montgomery Street, Totterdown. 59. Pte Thomas Hall 33, 1st/5th Bn Glos Reg. DAC. Husband of Kate Packer, 22 Hengaston Street, Bedminster. 60. Pte Clifford Ernest Keel 19, 8th Bn North Staffs Reg. TCM. Son of William Henry and Amy Lily Keel, 18 St John’s Lane, Bedminster.
Passchendaele, led by Canadian forces, to take and hold the by-now utterly ruined village and its ridge on November 10. Haig saw a chance to call an end to the battle and claim his objective had been won. By then dozens more South Bristol families had been bereaved. Scores more would suffer before the Armistice was signed almost exactly a year later.
The horror of the trenches brought home
t’s commonplace today to say that World War 1 should not have been fought. Many place the blame on all sides, saying it was a conflict between nations fighting only to protect or grow
their colonial empires. Some argue that Britain needn’t have entered the fight; others that the horror of trench warfare and the millions of deaths prove that war must be avoided at all costs. The counter argument is that it didn’t seem that way in 1914. The war had real popular support in Britain, and maintained it despite all the hardships, because it was seen as a fight for national survival and the freedom of Europe. Whatever the deeper origins of the conflict, Britain, Belgium and France were not the aggressors on the ground. Historians will continue to argue the rights and wrongs. But
October 4 61. Pte Ernest Charles Chapman 31, 12th Bn Glos Reg 12th Bn. TCM. Son of Alfred and Annie Chapman, 37 Morley Road, Southville. 62. Pte Samuel John Davey 20, 9th Bn Lancs Fusiliers. Cement House Cem. Son of SJ and AR Davey, 8 Gardner’s Villas, Bishopsworth Road, Bedminster Down. 63. Pte Frederick Keates, 27, 3rd/10th Bn Middlesex Reg. TCM. Son of Mr and Mrs J Keates, 87 Cumberland Road, New Cut, Bedminster.
Machine Gun Corps 64th Bde attd 6th Bn Worcs Reg. Staples Military Cem. Son of George Henry and Emily ER Higgins, Bedminster; husband of Lavinia Higgins, 11 Edward Road, Brislington. 72. Pte Charles William Knights 22, 1st/3rd (West Riding) Field Amb RAMC. Duchy Farm New British Cem. Son of Charles William and Mary Jane Knights, 10 Swiss Road, Bedminster. 73. Corporal William Norman Leslie 20, 12th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of William George and Lily Blanche Leslie,
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A Bristol Fighter like the one in which 2nd Lt Joseph Duggan of Redcliffe (no. 89 in our list) went missing on patrol near Passchendaele 64. L Corp George William Murch, 21 1st Bn Som Light Inf. TCM. Son of EW and Grace A Murch, 17 Herbert Street, Bedminster. October 6 65. Pte Percy Larkam Summons 27, 9th BnDev Reg. BRSMC. Son of William George and Mary Maria Summons, 1 Victoria Road, Bedminster. October 7 66. Corporal CF Price 24, C Bty, 59th Bde RF Art. VNMC. Son of George and Susan Ann Price, 82 Parson Street, Bedminster. October 8 67. Pte Frank Cox 19, 1st Bn Som Light Inf. DMC. Son of James and Ada Mary Cox, 5 Clark Street, Bedminster. October 9 68. Pte Frederick Caddick 35, 4th Bn Worcs Reg 4th Bn. TCM. Husband of Mrs F Caddick, 11 Agate Street, Bedminster. 69. Pte Frank F Coombes 20, 1st/4th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of Francis and Eliza Coombes, 27 Carrington Road, North Street, Ashton Gate. 70. Sjt Charles H Gillard 23, B Coy, 1st/6th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of Robert and Charlotte Gillard, 44 Ashgrove Road, Chessels, Bedminster. 71. Pte Keith Victor Gauntlett 29,
Normandale, St Agnes Road, Knowle. 74. Pte Arthur Henry Northcott 21, 1st/4th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of Arthur and Hester Louisa Northcott, 7 St John’s Square, Bedminster. 75. Pte Reginald Page 21, 1st/4th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of John Henry Joseph Page, 243 North Street, Ashton Gate. 76. L Corp Henry G Shell 26, D Coy, 1st/6th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Son of Henry James and Susan Elizabeth Shell, 29 Upper Perry Hill, Southville. October 11 77. Pte Frank Wallace John Lyddon 24, Grenadier Guards. DMC. Son of Ceily and Mary Lyddon, 2 Balmain Street, Totterdown. October 12 78. Pte Albert Edward Hawker 20, 6th Bn Royal Berkshire Reg. TCM. Son of Robert and Elizabeth Hawker, 3 Upton Road, Southville. October 15 79. Pte Frederick William Brace (Served as Williams) 19, 8th Bn Som Light Inf. Bailleul Cem Extn. Son of Edward and Ada Brace, 20 Regent Street, Spring Street, Bedminster. 80. Pte Frederick Richard Wilsher 19, 8th Bn Som Light Inf. TCM. Son of Richard
it’s hard to dispute the verdict of the French president Clemenceau in 1919, when the Versailles peace treaty was being signed. Asked by the German foreign minister, “I wonder what history will say about all this?” Clemenceau responded: “History will not say that Belgium invaded Germany.” Sources:
AJP Taylor, The First World War (1963) Everard Wyrall, The Nineteenth Division: 1914-1918 (1932) Bristol and the First World War, Bristol Cultural Development Partnership (2014) Bristol in the Great War, Jacqueline Wadsworth • airhistory.org.uk (Royal Flying Corps losses) and Elizabeth Wilsher, 67 Aubrey Road, Chessels, Bedminster. October 24 81. Pte Charles Percy Beams 33, 6th Bn East Yorks Reg. LSC. Husband of Emily Elsie Beams, 37 Hamilton Road, Southville. October 26 82. Pte Charles Ellis 23, Dev Reg. TCM. Husband of Maud Beatrice Ellis, 25 Pylle Hill Crescent, Totterdown. 83. Pte Walter Thomas Green 33, 9th Bn Dev Reg. Hooge Crater Cem. Husband of Mrs AF Green, 125 North Street, Bedminster. October 28 84. Air Mech 2nd Class Frank Benden 35, 39th Balloon Sect RFC. NIFC. Son of Mr and Mrs FT Benden, 95 Greville Road, Southville; husband of Jessie Louisa Benden, 8 Vicarage Road, Southville. 85. Pte Frederick Victor Holmes 19, 12th Bn Glos Reg. TCM. Brother of Mr L Holmes, 168 Wells Road, Knowle. October 29 86. Pte William Dalby 35, 1st BnDev Reg. TCM. Husband of Agnes Louisa Dalby, 49 Herbert Street, Bedminster. October 31 87. Pte F Crease 19, 12th Bn Glos Reg. Hooge Crater Cem. Son of Edward and Alice Maud Crease, 65 Providence Place, Mill Lane, Bedminster. 88. Pte Ernest Farr 21, 2nd Bn Northants Reg. Berks Cem Extn. Son of Mr and Mrs J Farr, 23 Henry Street, Totterdown. November 6 89. 2nd Lieut Joseph Henry William Duggan 27, 14th Bttn Attcd 20 Sq RFC. Arras Flying Memorial. Son of Thomas Duggan, Redcliffe. 90. Pte Frank Edward Turner 22, 12th Bn Som Light Inf. Beersheba War Cem. Son of William Turner, 41 The Nursery, Bedminster. November 7 91. L Corp James Lore Prosper 24, Royal Army Service Corps. BCC. Son of Adolph and Elizabeth Lore, 3 Bellevue Road, Totterdown. Native Dublin. November 8 92. Pte Charles John Collins 21, 10th Bn South Wales Borderers. Ploegsteert Memorial. Son of John Collins, Phillip Street, Bedminster.
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A F H A A V A D E E L A N Y E I C
L A O R R M I M N D Y I C Y B L K
Y S T N E B B P T Y E D X R Y L C
TXT PERT
E T L E W E S E C O M E I L E O D
S D G Y L E N X R A W N D R U M L
T D O T E B P O O L G E D Z E L L
E A B O Y N E L F P E N R I T H C
R A B Y N R A I T K D Y O R K V L
4 2 3
Which coloured pattern relates to the blue numbered fractions? Draw a line from the pattern to the correct fraction. Clue – the red panels are the numerator, the top number. © www.123rf.com/profile_ratselmeister
This month: Music
5
9
3
6
10
4
7
8
11
12
SOLUTION
Strame
2
WORDSEARCH
Smaitham Tower Star
Yester 6 is M, N or O 7 is P, Q,York R or S 8 is T, U or V 9 is W, X, Y or Z
1
Colourfence makes sense!
Roch Spynie
Down:Taunton 2 729 (3) Tenby 3 843 (3) Tilbury(8) 4 77256478 6 786 Udny (3) 8 76636 (5) Urquhart 10 2586 (4) Wressle 11 3838 (4)
(We don’t usually give the answers to Wordsearch, but this one is hard!)
Ring
Each horizontal row, each 2x2 square and each column must contain all the numbers 1-4.
Aboyne, Acre, Affleck, Amberley, Appleby, Beeston, Bere, Blarney, Carew, Chirk, Croft, Crookston, Deal, Donne, Doon, Dote, Dover, Drum, Duns, Edzell, Elcho, Ewloe, Fast, Gylen, Hay, Huntly, Kilchurn, Leod, Lewes, Lymne, Maiden, Maol, Maud, May, Mey, Millom, Moy, Nunney, Odo, Oer, Ogmore, Oxford, Penrith, Piel, Pool, Raby, Raheen, Rait, Sween, Taunton, Tenby, Tilbury, Udny, Urquhart, Wressle, Yester, York
Raby 2 is A, B or C 3 Raheen is D, E or F 4 Rait is G, H or I 5 is J, K, or L Red
EASY for children
FRACTIONS IN COLOUR
The numbers point you to Sween the letters on a phone keypad Odo
Clues Oer Across: Ogmore 1 3738 (4) 4Oxford 767 (3) 5Penrith 5973 (4) 7Piel 247 (3) 9Pool 22637626 (8) 12 62838 (5)
SUDOKU
SOLUTION
Finding happiness with Hypnotherapy
TXT PERT
)
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Across 1 Fret, 4 Pop, 5 Lyre, 7 Air, 9 Bandsman, 12 Octet Down 2 Ray, 3 Tie, 4 Psalmist, 6 Run, 8 Rondo, 10 Alto, 11 Duet
)
September 2017
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September 2017
n WHAT’S ON Friday September 1 n Ska & Punk Night The Tunnels, Temple Meads. The Superskas relive the golden age of Trojan ska and two-tone with classics from Toots & the Maytals and Desmond Dekker to The Specials. 7.30pm, £14. •thetunnelsbristol.co.uk Saturday September 2 n Saltcellar Folk Club Totterdown Baptist Church, Wells Road (entrance off Cemetery Road).Two local duos perform for the club’s monthly outing – Jim Reynolds & Hilary Pavey, plus Jan Vaisey & Ian Harvey. Doors open 7.30pm; admission £5, or £3 for floor singers. • saltcellarfolk.org.uk n Go Go Children Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster. All Nighter No 5 with 60s soul, rhythm and blues, and more. 9pm-6am, £12. • fiddlers.co.uk Sunday September 3 n Kirk Brandon The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. The voice of Spear of Destiny, Theatre of Hate and Dead Men Walking. After 30 years in music, Kirk is deep into a series of albums called Dutch Masters; the latest features two Theatre of Hate interpretations, a James Bond theme and a country and western cover of a Ry Cooder tune. £10, 7.30pm. • thethunderbolt.net Monday September 4 n Photography Project Club Arnos Vale cemetery, with Ian Coombs. Monthly sessions from 10am-12noon. Discussion of last month’s images, plus a set activity – this month, it’s Victorian studio photography (costumes provided). Cost: £5, donated to the cemetery. • arnosvale.org.uk n Launchpad 10.10-11am Arnos Vale cemetery. Launchpad
THE TOTTERDOWN CENTRE IS BACK!
• 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
Performers and artists take over the Hill DON’T miss Art on the Hill, the Windmill Hill and Victoria Park Arts Trail. It takes place this year on Saturday and Sunday October 7 and 8. Now in its 11th year, it is one of three arts trails in South Bristol and several more across the city. Visual arts will be on display in open-doors private houses, schools, churches, pubs and Windmill Hill Community Centre between 12noon and 6pm each day. Performances of music, dance and poetry will take place on Saturday afternoon and evening in the community centre and on Sunday afternoon in Victoria Park. There will be food and drink at the classes are a gentle introduction to letters, numbers and science for 2, 3 and 4 year olds and their parent or carer. Weekly stories, role play, simple science experiments, active games, craft, parachute activities and more. £6; free trial through website. • launchpadclasses.co.uk n VPAG meeting Bowling Club, Victoria Park. Meeting of the park’s action group, open to all who are interested in the park. 7:.30-9pm, everyone welcome. • vpag.org.uk Wednesday September 6 n Memories café Zion Bristol, Bishopsworth Road. A relaxed and fun meet-up for carers, people living with dementia and those feeling lonely or isolated – free for all, a small donation for tea and cake. Every first Wednesday of the month. E-mail info@zionbristol.co.uk for more information.10.30am-12.30pm • zionbristol.co.uk Thursday September 7 n Pixi Encore The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Pixi Encore burst on to the scene in May 2016 and high-profile gigs include support for the US’s Warrior Soul and Australia’s Massive. £5, 7.3011.30pm. • thethunderbolt.net
Moody view: Photographer (and actor in ITV’s Emmerdale) Bill Ward was one of the Windmill Hill residents who opened up their homes for last year’s Art On The Hill
community centre, Mrs Brown’s Cafe in the park, pubs and some private venues. More details in next
month’s South Bristol Voice. See also: • artonthehill.org.uk • Facebook: artonthehillbristol • Twitter: @Art_On_The_Hill
Tuesday September 12 n Andy Parsons: Peak Bull**** Comedy Box at the Tobacco Factory. The Mock the Week Star invites you to stop worrying about World War 3, the NHS and climate change. Ages 16+, £15.50. • thecomedybox.co.uk Wednesday September 13 n Heather Tobacco Factory theatre until September 16. “A reclusive children’s writer becomes wildly successful. Her books are treasured across the country. But when a troubling narrative starts to unfold, we find ourselves asking: what matters more, the storyteller or the story?” A short, sharp
play about language, prejudice and the power of stories by award-winning writer Thomas Eccleshare. £14/£10, 8pm. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com Thursday September 14 n Past Mortems: Life and Death Behind Mortuary Doors Arnos Vale cemetery, 7.30-9pm. Author Carla Valentine, an anatomical pathology technologist, currently researching our relationships with human remains, takes the audience through the procedure of an autopsy. Bar open from 6.30-7.30pm. £10. • arnosvale.org.uk Friday September 15 n The River Tobacco Factory at the Loco Klub, Temple Meads. The cavernous Loco Klub – a former ash pit – beneath the Passenger Shed at Temple Meads is the latest off-site setting for Factory Theatre drama. Awardwinning writer Jez Butterworth’s The River was premiered at the Royal Court in 2012. “On a moonless night in August when the sea trout are ready to run, a man brings his new girlfriend to his remote family cabin. But she’s not the only woman he has brought here – or the last.” £10/£8, 8pm. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com
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n WHAT’S ON Saturday September 16 n 10th Anniversary Bash SouthBank Club, Dean Lane, Southville. A free night to celebrate the club’s first decade. With the Balkany Band and Louis Roger Eboa’s African dance group. Bar, 6pm-late. • southbankclub.webs.com n Doreen Doreen Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster. Famed Bristol good-time band back on home turf. £12/£10, 8pm-2am. • fiddlers.co.uk Sunday September 17 n Jazz with Mark Randall Six Windmill Hill Community Centre, Vivian Street. Third Sunday of every month, 8.30-10.30pm. • whca.org.uk Monday September 18 n Living with the Lights On Tobacco Factory theatre, until September 22. Mark Lockyer returns to the Factory following his acclaimed performance as Iago in Othello last spring. He brings a quirky one-man show about an actor: “I’ve got myself into a bit of a mess. I keep forgetting my lines. I’ve left my girlfriend and I’m beginning to stink. And I’ve met the Devil.” Tickets £16/£12, 8pm. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com Wednesday September 20 n Tresa public meeting Bi-monthly open meeting of the Totterdown Residents Environmental & Social Action group. 7.30-8.30pm, venue to be announced – see website. • tresa.org.uk Thursday September 21 n Carnival Club The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. The Manchester Evening News said Carnival Club are “reaching out to grasp the ghostly hand of Lemmy’’. £5, 7.30-11.30pm. • thethunderbolt.net Friday September 22 n Diversity in the arts Acta theatre, Gladstone Street, Bedminster. Does an abundance of free and low-paid internships maintain a middle-class workforce in the arts? Discussion with Acta artistic director Neil Beddow and panel. Free, 1.30-4.30pm. • acta-bristol.com n Marketing with Freelance Mum Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster. Guest speaker Debs Penrice from 27 Marketing advises mums in business how to connect with their audience. 10am-12noon. £9 (£12 non-members), children
Festival brings puppets to life HAVE you ever wanted to create your own theatre that you can carry around in a suitcase? Or meet and touch the mythical Cornish Sea Serpent? Both these things are possible as the Tobacco Factory hosts 10 days of events during the Bristol Festival of Puppetry. There’s too much else going on at the festival to give you more than a taste. One of the highlights is the Carnival of Puppets on North Street at 12noon on Saturday September 2. Among the strange and wonderful puppets on show will be those made by youngsters at the Factory theatre’s workshops for different ages. There’s a session for those aged 12-16 from 2-5pm on Thursday August 30, for those 18 and over on August 31, and for ages 5-12 on September 1. Each session costs £7. free. Includes coffee, cake and craft activities for children. • windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk n Comedy Depot Zion Bristol, Bishopsworth Road. Headliner Chris Purchase’s unique brand of cultural satire went viral last year and he was picked to support Reginald D Hunter. The bill also includes Bristol mum Louise Leigh, who unveils a dark side to parenting. 7.30pm; bar. Details: 07733 298378. • zionbristol.co.uk Saturday September 23 n Autumn Equinox Allotment Shindig Zion Bristol, Bishopsworth Road. Share the fruits of your labours, find out more about growing fruit and vegetables on your doorstep. Live music and bar. 7-10pm, free. • zionbristol.co.uk n Stand Up For The Weekend with John Hastings & Co Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, North Street. Canadian John Hastings delivers “sharp punchlines delivered through his observational storytelling style”. Plus guests. 7.45pm, £11. • thecomedybox.co.uk Tuesday September 26 n Erja Lyytinen The Tunnels, Temple Meads. The “Finnish slide goddess”, according to The Blues Magazine, has recorded in Helsinki, London and Memphis. Her latest album Stolen Hearts
Weird pets: Cryptid Petting Zoo Kwaidan, on September 3, is an atmospheric piece for teenagers and adults inspired by Japanese ghost stories. It features life-sized puppets, humanettes, shadows, acting and videos. Set in Japan in the early 1980s, Kwaidan tells the story of Haru, a young woman who comes back to her abandoned childhood home after many years of absence. In La Causeuse (The Loveseat), was recorded with Chris Kimsey, producer of classic Rolling Stones records. 7.30pm, £12.50. • thetunnelsbristol.co.uk
Wednesday September 27 n Puccini’s Tosca Tobacco Factory Theatre, until October 14. Opera Project presents Puccini’s intensely dramatic masterpiece, sung in English. Jealousy, lust, despair and murder impregnate the story of three of the most highly-charged characters in all opera – Baron Scarpia, the painter Mario Cavaradossi and his lover, the singer Floria Tosca. With ENO, Glyndebourne and Opera North principal soprano Kate Valentine, Welsh tenor Robyn Lyn Evans, and baritone Nicholas Folwell, plus 12-piece orchestra. Tickets £38 and £42; £25 for under-25s at some shows. 7.30pm. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com
Olivia Lathuillie dances and wrestles with her inner demons as she uses dance, mime and objects to revisit memories of a sordid and doomed romance. It’s on September 9 and 10. Also on September 9 and 10 is Every Suitcase Tells a Story – a two-day workshop for adults with puppet maker Judith Hope. Participants will turn an old suitcase (provided) into a small, portable theatre, complete with sets and a cast of puppets. The workshop will conclude with a Show & Tell on Sunday at 7pm. Finally, make friends with some unusual animals in the Cryptid Petting Zoo at 11am and 1pm on Sunday September 10. Everyone aged four and over gets the chance to interact with some very unusual creatures, including the rare Cornish Sea Serpent. For times and prices, and details of all the other performances in the Festival of Puppetry, visit the website: • tobaccofactorytheatres.com Friday September 29 n Kettle of Fish SouthBank Club, Dean Lane, Southville. Meet Bristol’s six-man a cappella singing group with “an eclectic repertoire that ranges from the mellifluously sublime to the wittily ridiculous”. Tickets £8 in advance, £10 on the door. 8pm. • southbankclub.webs.com Saturday September 30 n Stand Up For The Weekend with Phil Jerrod & Co Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, North Street. Phil Jerrod began his stand-up career underneath an Angus Steakhouse in 2012. Since then he has failed his PhD, walked out of his job and entertained audiences with his elegant rants. 7.45pm, £11. • thecomedybox.co.uk Sunday October 1 n Antique Vintage & Collectables Fair Ashton Court Mansion, 10am-3.30pm. With 40 stalls: jewellery, china, furniture, memorabilia, pictures, retro items, clothing and more. Cream teas. Entry £2, under 16s free. Use Kennel Lodge entrance via Portishead Road (A369). n Lee Scratch Perry Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster. The reggae legend who kickstarted Bob Marley’s career visits South Bristol. £12/£10, 7.30pm, £24.75. • fiddlers.co.uk
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n THE CITY PAGE
BRISTOL CITY ROUND-UP
Sponsored by CLEVERLEY BUILDERS – supporting City and the best in building
If Bobby is going to keep this score rate up, we need to find him a new song!
I
A good theme tune is an essential part of goal celebrations, says our new City commentator MARTIN POWELL
T IS goal-scoring that matters most in football so Bristol City’s start to the season with “born again” striker Bobby Reid topping the scoring charts with four in the first four matches is bound to be the big talking point. But, if the midfielder-turnedstriker is going to keep this up we surely need to think of a new song for the lad. While he was only showing snatches of brilliance every now and then the slightly strident 10-note singing of his name to the 1976 Boney M
MARTIN’S SHORTS • Look out for City old boy Richard Keogh’s return to Ashton Gate as a Derby player on September 16. It was 10 years ago he left after playing 40 games for City. He’s now a veteran and a legend at Derby where he has racked up over 250 games. • Someone just made a model of the Memorial Stadium out of Lego. Great that the Rovers have got a new ground at last.
hit “Daddy Cool” was OK – but now it is getting frankly embarrassing. Of course, being Bristol-born he would qualify for the “He’s One Of Our Own”, but Joe Bryan is already firmly established as the keeper of that song and unless someone lures him away before transfer deadline day it just isn’t available. As £5 million was invested in Famara Diedhou to get the goals, he is also in need of a song for those at Ashton Gate to sing. I have tried out the Aled Jones hit “Pie Jesu” and it fits perfectly with his name, but I have found that even amongst the new all-singing flag-waving section of the South Stand there are not enough Sarah Brightman-pitch voices to make it sound convincing. A good song is an essential part of goal celebrations and you can rely on the wits of the crowd at Ashton Gate to come up with something. Although Bobby Reid’s efforts this season so far are to be applauded, a new feature on the wall of the Ashton
Bobby Reid: Now showing more than snatches of brilliance at goal Gate stadium shows that he still has a long way to go. All the players who have scored more than 50 goals in their career for the club are there on plaques – optimistically attached in such a way so that they can be shuffled as new records are broken. Les Townsend, who scored 50 goals in the late 1940s, is the one they have to beat. In an idle moment I counted up that there are 15 of those mentioned that I have seen play during half a century of trooping down to Ashton Gate on a Saturday or Tuesday for a moan and occasional bit of entertainment. Pondering on that list I saw
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the great Tom Ritchie is in second place and can’t remember a song associated with the lanky Scottish genius – maybe we were all too busy jumping up and down to bother with a special song in those days. • The 0-0 draw against Millwall served as a reminder that strikers are currently in short supply with Matty Taylor and Milan Djuric injured, although we got our first glimpse of new recruit Cauley Woodrow. It was a dull game, only livened by the fact that several of my friends who have been watching since the 1970s had to go home and change before the game after the club announced they had banned flares.
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