Care for the Environment

Consultation on the A4 Corridor Project

26th July sees the long-awaited launch of the public consultation on the A4 Corridor project. The consultation is being led by the West of England Combined Authority in partnership with Bristol City Council and Bath and North East Somerset Council. The survey can be found on the Travel West website and runs until 10 September.

The long-term aim of the project is to deliver a mass-transit link between the two cities of Bristol and Bath but in the short term is looking at improving bus reliability and encouraging more walking and cycling. Congestion and air quality is very poor in the area and so the more we can encourage people to travel sustainably, the better, especially as the local population is set to grow in the coming years.

The survey includes sections on general travel behaviour, bus use, Park and Ride, cycling and walking. You can skip questions that are not relevant to you and there is also space to add your own comments. As well as the survey, there is an interactive mapping tool where you make comments relating to specific locations. You can also see what other people have suggested and ‘like’ comments you agree with. The elephant in the room is of course the Callington Road Link, which is not mentioned in this consultation but is a key part of the project.

Despite official claims that nothing has been decided, it’s pretty clear that if road space on the A4 is reallocated for bus lanes then private vehicles will be diverted onto a new road along the route of the former Brislington Railway Line.

In our survey comments, we’ll be suggesting that building new roads is not the best way to encourage sustainable travel choices or improve air quality!

We would like to encourage everyone to participate in this survey, including residents and local businesses, and especially those who live and work in the vicinity or who use the route on a regular basis. This is your chance to have your say on an important project that will shape our area for decades to come.

By Cllr. Jos Clark and Cllr. Andrew Varney

cllr.jos.clark@bristol.gov.uk 07584 370429

cllr.andrew.varney@bristol.gov.uk 07584 183381

Love burgers? Try these bacon burger dippers for a twist on the barbecue classic

Ingredients

11 tbsp American-style mustard

60g Grated mild Cheddar

1 Medium gherkin, finely chopped

1 Small red onion, finely chopped

500g Beef mince

6 Rashers smoked streaky bacon

12 tbsp ketchup or hamburger relish Article by Peter Abraham Professional food critic Email: peter10abraham@icloud.com 26

Method

Set the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas 6

In a bowl mix the mustard and Cheddar with the chopped gherkin and onion

Divide the beef mince into 12 and shape into flattened balls. Spoon an equal amount of the cheese mix into the centre of each and carefully wrap the meat around, pinching the ends and rolling back into a ball

Wrap 1/2 rasher bacon around each burger, secure with a cocktail stick and cook on a baking tray for 20-25 mins

Finish off on the barbecue for a minute or two to add some smoky flavour

Serve with ketchup or hamburger relish, to dip

Iconic Somerset cider maker makes appearance on family business podcats

World famous family-run cider maker, Thatchers are the next guests on chart-topping It Runs In The Family podcast, with the firm’s father and daughter stressing how family values have played a huge role in developing a small apple orchard into a successful 117-year-old cider company that now sees the Thatchers brand in shops, pubs, bars and restaurants in more than 20 countries.

Martin Thatcher, Managing Director and fourth generation cider maker and his daughter Eleanor, fifth generation cider maker, join mother and daughter podcast hosts, Liz and Leila Willingham, on It Runs In The Family. The episode reveals the family’s love, care and attention towards the business and its craft and how this has helped to develop their now 500-plus acre operations at Myrtle Farm in Sandford, North Somerset. Listeners can hear Martin and Eleanor talk about the complexities of growing a team with the same strong values as the family members themselves, the sense of pride in the previous generations and the risks they took to grow an iconic cider brand.

This episode covers:

• How a generations-old business generates new ideas • Focusing on organic development, and treasuring their talented team members

• Measuring your success by the generation that follows you • The particularly careful task of recruiting for a family business with strong values

Episode highlights:

“We've changed the whole way we're growing apples, very much down to my father and his foresight of how we should be growing apples for the future, and the whole industry has moved in that direction.” - 5:25 - Martin Thatcher

“As my father retreated back into the farming, I moved on to look after all of the business. I can see the same happening with Eleanor, where she's now looking after the fermentation. She can look after a bit more and a bit more until eventually, I'm just the backup team!” - 17:25 - Martin Thatcher

“I think you both understand what it's like to be a family member working in the business, and how everyone else sees you in that respect. So, I think that there's been a few moments where we get what each other is feeling with respect to certain things.” - 26:30 - Eleanor Thatcher

“I think recruitment and people are just so important in any business, but particularly in a family business. You have a set of values, things that make the business successful, which aren't necessarily what happens generically through bigger corporate businesses.” - 40:00 - Martin Thatcher

“As a family we’ve taken risks others wouldn’t, which have helped us get to where we are - I still have that sense of pride in the brand.” - 41:10 - Eleanor Thatcher

“I think you learn that if you have a vision in your head for something, and then something happens, you’ve got to adapt. Coming from school and then into business, things happen that you just don’t expect and learning how to adapt to that is different.” - 57:45 - Eleanor Thatcher

“It’s a family business. It’s all intertwined. So if there is a disagreement, it can become very personal. So, you have to be careful just to step back and go and have a nice business discussion” - 1:03:20 - Martin Thatcher

“I think every father dreams of being able to hand on things to your children, and your children are almost showing you the way to do things better.” - 1:05:35 - Martin Thatcher As a guest on It Runs in The Family, Martin said: “Just celebrating the importance of family businesses is something which is such a good thing to do, and I know with the It Runs In the Family podcast this is certainly something you are doing. I just think whether you’re making cider or nuts and bolts or farming, family businesses are just amazing and it’s great to celebrate them.”

Launched only six months ago, It Runs In The Family podcast was set up by Liz Willingham, founder and managing director of PR and communications agency Liz Lean PR, and her daughter Leila, who is business and PR account manager at the agency, and is making its mark in the podcasting arena and hitting the charts - reaching number 17 in top family business podcasts and making number 77 in the top entrepreneurship podcasts for Great Britain.

To date, the mother and daughter duo have reached listeners in 21 countries, across five continents, with their new podcast.

Please visit lizleanpr.co.uk/podcast-runs-inthe-family/ to listen to episode 12 with Martin and Eleanor Thatcher.

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Visitors can explore one of Weston’s hidden gems this summer, as visits to Steep Holm Island resume.

The 63-acre island in the Bristol Channel boasts limestone cliffs and caves and is steeped in local history - with tales of Vikings, pirates, monks and hidden treasure.

Steep Holm is also a nature reserve and bird sanctuary - home to seals and muntjacs - and a site of special scientific interest due to the rare plants found on the island, including the May flowering wild Mediterranean peony.

Trips to the island have been suspended since March 2020, when the country went into lockdown. But the Kenneth Allsop Memorial Trust, which owns and manages Steep Holm, has confirmed it is resuming trips to the island from Weston, following an ease in Covid restrictions.

Trust chairman, Stephen Parker, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming people back to the island and looking forward to having lots of visitors to such a wonderful place."

Sailings to and from Weston can only take place at high tides and the day trip lasts 12 hours. The first trip was planned for July 13, with visits scheduled until the end of September. 30 Trust spokesman Graham Briscoe said: “The Island has been inhabited on and off for centuries, is full of hidden surprises and is steeped in history.

“Its history is told by stories of Celtic gods carved in stone, Vikings and pirates, monks and legends of treasure.

“It is an archaeological dream - archaeologists have found prehistoric evidence, Roman remains, coins, rare glass. An old priory and those who never left the island, whose graves were laid undisturbed for 100s of years.

“The military supplies of the recent past can still to be seen today with military artefacts left from the time in the 1860s when Lord Palmerston thought Napoleon was going to attack England via the Bristol Channel, and the first and second World War cannons, gun emplacements, barracks and search light defensives for Bristol.”

Sailings will take place on August 9, 11, 22 and 24 and September 7, 9, 21 and 23. For more details, click the image above.

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