Epigram issue 360 by Epigram

Est.1988

How times have changed... a Bristol alumnus remembers student life 60 years ago Barry Williamson

University of Bristol alumnus

arrived in Bristol as a student in 1961 from a small grammar school in Dorset. I was in Churchill Hall and my subject was History. The University was small; I think there were only about 4,000 students in total. It was a different world…. Churchill -- a Hall that was only four years old. It was all male. The Warden was Alan Reynolds, the kindest and gentlest of men. He invited every student to his flat for sherry during the year. We had formal meals every evening, wearing gowns and standing for Latin grace. Mr Cainey, the old butler from the Holmes served the High Table and continued to do so until the 1980s. Our beds were too small to accommodate visitors. A bed-maker (mine called Elsie) came in every morning to make them and tidy the room.

I think there was a rule about guests expected to leave by 10.30 but I may be dreaming. Certainly, at Clifton Hill House wheremy girlfriend lived, no man was allowed in a girl’s room ever at all. We all dressed differently then. Almost universally we wore jacket and tie and looked like professionals in the making. Girls were smart and some wore suits. What was a T shirt? Had it been invented? And shorts for everyday wear? The idea was crazy. I remember only one student wearing jeans, Alan Dosser in the Drama Dept who later became the famous Artistic Director of the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. The place was dominated by private school products – they had confidence and swagger and banter and seemed to own the place. The History dept was full of eminent academics. Continued on page 5

Editorial I

t’s with great excitement that we bring to you the 360th print issue of Epigram! At almost 33 years old, the paper has well and truly stood the test of time, expanding from a purely print paper like all media of the day, to having its own website with rolling content updated daily. While this edition is a testament to the hard work of our current editorial team, we would not still be going without all the efforts and dedication of Epigram’s student journalists over the last three decades- student journalism really is a collaborative endeavour! To mark the 360th edition of the paper each section has focussed some of its content on looking back over the years. Delving through Epigram’s archives it’s clear that some things have changed beyond recognition; the October 1997 edition reported the imminent arrival of student tuition fees. On the other hand, the 110th edition of the paper published

epigram 24.11.2021

Co-Editor in Chief Co-Editor in Chief Deputy Editor Deputy Digital Editor

To contact the Editors in Chief: editor.epigram@gmail.com

Filiz Emily Gurer Holly Beaumont Joseph Marshall Flora Pick

in May of 1999, carried the headline ‘Strike Disruption’ breaking the news of staff picket lines outside Wills Memorial Building over issues of low pay... some things never change, (see the next page). Highlights from this issue include a reflective piece by a current reader, Barry Williamson, who graduated from the uni in the 60s and gives us the long view over the student experience at Bristol. As well as looking back, this edition also features a fascinating article by a student who attended COP26 and gives us her take on being at the heart of the scene in Glasgow. Bristol students continue as ever to be engaged with what's going on in the world around them. Knowing that November assignment deadlines are looming for many students, the Editors’ thanks go out to everyone who has contributed to this issue, and we wish all students good luck with getting through assessments- the end of term is almost in sight!

Business Team

Managing Director Tim Edwards Deputy Director Joshua Ang Head of Finance Matthew Chang

Head of Marketing Sophie Brassey Head of Ads and Sales Lucas Arthur Head of Alumni Elena Venturelli

In print and online, Epigram is the independent student newspaper of the University of Bristol. We are run for students, by students, and have a combined readership of over 20,000. Our content is not controlled by the University or the Students Union and we remain politically neutral. Views expressed in this publication are not those of the University or Bristol SU. The design, text, and photography are copyright of Epigram and its individual contributors that may not be reproduced without permission. Epigram is printed regularly and can be found around campus, in cafes and student accommodation. We have a large editorial and business team who work hard, alongside their degrees, to create Epigram for both print and online. Printed by: Newsquest Media Group, 4th Floor, Queens House, 55/56 Lincolns Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3LJ Issue 360

Clarifications, Corrections and Retractions

As an independent publication, Epigram strives to be as accurate and impartial on student news as possible. However, should you wish to raise any editorial, commercial or legal concerns, please email editor@epigram.org.uk with the problem, addressed to the Editors-in-Chief. Please be sure to include the issue number and article headline if the article was in print, or the URL if the article was online. We endeavour to correct any inaccuracies as soon as they are raised with us.

3 News

epigram 24.11.2021

UCU confirm three days of strike action to take place next week • University staff will strike from 1-3 December. • The strike will be followed by up to five months of industrial action ‘short of strike.’ • This action comes as a result of disputes with employers over pension cuts, pay, and working conditions. Megan Evans News Editor

taff from 58 universities, including the University of Bristol, are due to strike next month after members of the University and Colleges Union (UCU) voted in favour of industrial action last week. From 1-3 December members of the UCU will walk out in disputes over pensions, pay and working conditions. UCU members from the University of Bristol voted 82% in favour of strike action in ballot earlier this month, significantly higher than the overall national average of 70%. The industrial action is being sup-

for, unless universities and the union reach a resolution. The UCU has stated that it intends to reballot at universities that failed to reach the 50% turnout threshold. The union warns that ‘the three day strike will just be the start of sustained disruption for the sector if employers fail to negotiate. ‘The union intends to escalate its disputes next term. If employers do not make improved offers, further industrial action is likely to contin-

versity Superannuation Scheme (USS), which the UCU argues could see the average guaranteed retirement income of a university staff member reduced by 35 per cent. UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘Strikes over three consecutive days are set to hit university campuses next month unless employers get round the table and take staff concerns over pension cuts, pay and working conditions seriously. ‘UCU has repeatedly asked em-

UCU ported by the National Union of Students (NUS). As well as three days of strike, members of staff at 64 universities will partake in ‘action short of strike,’ which will include working strictly to contract and refusing to take on any additional duties. This could continue for up to the five months, the period of time that industrial action has been mandated

ue into the spring, at which point branches that gain a mandate in their reballots will be able to join the action.’ The vote for strike action comes as a result of disputes over pensions and the UCU’s ‘Four Fights:’ pay, workload, equality, and casualised contracts. The dispute over pensions is the result of a proposed cut to the Uni-

ployers to meet with us to try to resolve these disputes. But while we set out pragmatic solutions that could halt widespread disruption to UK campuses, university bosses refuse to revoke unnecessary, swingeing pension cuts or even to negotiate on issues like casualisation and the unbearably high workloads that blight higher education.’ ‘A resolution to this dispute is sim-

ple. But if employers remain intent on slashing pensions and exploiting staff who have kept this sector afloat during a pandemic then campuses

while staff pay has fallen by 20% in real terms in over a decade of pay offers below inflation rates. Disputes also stem from workload,

Of Bristol UCU members who voted, 82 per cent were in favour of strike action, while almost 90 per cent were in favour of ‘industrial action consisting of action short of a strike.’ will face strike action before Christmas, which will escalate into spring with reballots and further industrial action.’ NUS national president Larissa Kennedy has commented: ‘Students have a rich history of standing shoulder to shoulder with university staff, who have seen their pensions, pay and conditions slashed in recent years. ‘With vice chancellors’ average total pay packets rising to £269,000 per year, it’s clear employers can afford to resolve their dispute with UCU over staff pay, which has fallen by an average of 20% in real terms since 2009. ‘Staff teaching conditions are student learning conditions, and we mustn’t forget many postgraduate students on casualised teaching contracts will be striking. ‘The onus for minimising disruption for students lies with university bosses: they must come back to the table to address the clear issues in how higher education is currently run.’ The UCU claims that cuts to pensions through the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) would reduce the guaranteed retirement income of a typical member by 35%,

casual contracts and lack of diverse representation, with the UCU citing that under a third of professors in the UK are women and only 1% are black. When approached for comment by Epigram, the University of Bristol said: ‘Industrial action is part of a complex national dispute over pensions and pay. These are important issues and we re spect the right of our staff to strike, which we know was not an easy decision to make. ‘As a University, we are proud of the way that we have worked with the local branch of UCU and the other trade unions to make things better for staff. We are open to continuing the conversation and being proactive in addressing their concerns. ‘It goes without saying that our priority as a University is providing teaching and learning for our students, many of whom have already faced disruption due to the pandemic. ‘We’re well-prepared to mitigate the impact of industrial action should it go ahead and would hope that the impact is kept to a minimum.’ Epigram approached Bristol UCU for comment.

4 News

epigram 24.11.2021

Bristol Uni announces that all staff and students are now required to wear a mask on campus • Students and staff are once again required to wear masks inside all campus buildings unless exempt • There will be a return of student marshals in study areas and libraries to remind staff and students to wear a face covering. • Covid rates in the City of Bristol remain above the national average Roya Shahidi

Co-Deputy News Editor

n an email to students last week, Vice Chancellor Professor Hugh Brady announced that all staff and students are now

required to wear a face covering inside buildings on campus. This is unless they are exempt, eating or drinking or ‘can keep a reasonable distance from each other’. The VC cited the high COVID-19 rates in Bristol and the potential challenges of the winter months, such as ventilation and social distancing, as reasons to bring back the use of face coverings. He states that this could threaten the ‘ability to offer in-person on-campus teaching.’ Bristol Uni's website states that as of 18 November 2021 there are 20 active cases of COVID-19 amongst students at the University, as well as a number of positive cases circulating amongst staff. In his email, Professor Brady also issued a reminder to students to continue to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. His suggested measures include staying at home if unwell; taking a lateral flow test twice a week; taking a PCR test if experiencing symptoms or a positive lateral flow test

result; getting vaccinated or getting a booster vaccine. He stated in his email: ‘I realise there is currently no national legal requirement to wear a face covering in England, but I am confident that now is the time to introduce this local institutional requirement. ‘Throughout the pandemic, we have taken pride in being a caring and considerate institution that acts on the best evidence available. ‘I firmly believe the introduction of a local requirement for face coverings is an appropriate preventative measure to reduce the spread of the virus and protect in-person teaching as we enter the home straight. ‘The last two years have been immensely challenging, and I am proud to have led a University that has responded kindly and respectfully at every stage. We should continue with the same attitude, because the pandemic is not over yet. ‘[...] Students have made it very clear how much they value their in-person on-campus teaching.

Coronavirus Statistics / University of Bristol

‘By acting responsibly now, we will increase the likelihood that we can continue this key element of the Bristol experience during the difficult winter months ahead. ‘[...] We continue to carry out risk assessments every two weeks in

collaboration with regional Public Health advice and our own Scientific Advisory Group and we will update you when we can.’ Spare face coverings are available to all staff and studenst at the reception of all teaching buildings.

Bristol SU's position on UCU strike action amongst the motions of November Student Council meeting • The first Student Council meeting of the year on November 23 • Six motions were proposed to the council for discussion and voting • Results of Student Council available at Epigram.org.uk Alice Clarke

SU Correspondent

otions passed in previous years include the adoption of a harm reduction approach to drugs and alcohol, supporting the climate strike campaign and the creation of Networks such as the Black Students’ Network. Motions debated at Student Council yesterday, 23rd November 2021:

Bristol SU's Response to University Industrial Action The UCU (University and Colleges Union) strike ballots opened at UK universities following ongoing

disputes over unsafe workloads, casualisation and equality failings, and USS pensions and pay. This motion set Bristol SU's policy position in response to industrial action. This includes working with UCU and the University and lobbying both Bristol University and parties involved to resolve the disputes and therefore end the current industrial action. The motions aim was to work towards minimising the impact of strike action on the educational experience whilst also supporting staff at the University of Bristol who have not been properly supported.

forced swim tests in experimenters on small animals as part of attempts to study human depression and develop new antidepressant drugs for human use. The University continues to use these tests despite it having been largely scientifically discredited. This motion asks for Bristol SU to denounce the use of the forced swim test, pressure the university to stop the experiment and not renew the license to undertake these tests which is set to expire in August 2022.

the fossil fuel industry, however companies from this industry are still able to recruit students through the careers service. This motion asks for Bristol SU to publicly support the Fossil Free Careers campaign and lobby the university careers department to take a number of actions to stop relationships with oil, gas or mining companies, ultimately adopting a publicly available Ethical Careers Policy.

Fossil Free Careers

Disposable period products in the UK are causing 200,000 tonnes

The university has divested from

Free sustainable period products for students

Transparency on the University funded dairy farm and slaughterhouse The university funds an abattoir (Langford Abattoir) and a dairy farm (Wyndhurst Farm). Both are connected to the Bristol Vet School. This motion proposes that the SU represents students by working to ensure that the vet school is treating its animals ethically and promoting transparency within the vet school.

The University's use of forced swim tests in research The University has been using

Bristol SU

of plastic waste per year and 1.5 billion disposables are flushed down the toilet in the UK every year. This motion would mandate Bristol SU to explore the viability of purchasing and supplying sustainable period products alongside the university and improve access to these products. This would reduce environmental impact but also accessibility issues surrounding period products.

Student representation in selecting new Vice Chancellor Upon the resignation of Hugh Brady as Vice Chancellor of the University of Bristol, a process of selection will be started to appoint the new Vice Chancellor. This motion calls on the University to set up a democratic process for students to elect a new Vice Chancellor, creating accountability and an improved relationship between university management and students. The motion argues that whilst we elect our local politicians and student leaders, there is no reason why students should not be able to elect the person that leads their university.

Alumni recalls

Bristol alumnus Barry Williamson reflects on his time as a student at the Uni 60 years ago

Barry Williamson

University of Bristol alumnus

e had very little choice of topics; we covered vast acres of British history in a few weeks. Lectures were mostly uninspiring, and the teaching

“How far did you go?” was common question. It was assumed that sex would/should ait til marriage. My girlfriend had the leading role in Brecht’s Mother Courage. The play was abandoned during rehearsals because the producer was “sent down”. His landlady (who were they?) found him

There was a lot of idealism in the air then. Many students ended up spending some time abroad doing VSO was very poor; it was not a priority. We wrote dozens of essays, requiring hours and hours of note-making in the library. There was no guidance, no teaching of study skills. I used very few original sources and the

in bed with a girl who’d stayed all night. She reported him to the University authorities, and they took the action necessary to protect the reputation of the University. Nights out? No clubbing, no hook-

air then. Many students ended up spending some time abroad doing VSO (we went to India for three years) and there were big hopes for the new Labour government of 1964. There was the University Settlement in Barton Hill, one of the poorest parts of Bristol….. The Settlement? The word is archaic. It was an old farm house owned by the University amidst the small terraced houses and tower blocks of east Bristol; set up in 1911 by the Quaker Marian Pears, one of the first women to attend University College, Bristol. The aim was to bring together the rich and poor, to share

rivation. I can’t pretend the whole experience changed my life, but it made me think about our appalling class divisions and the injustices where the few enjoy so many opportunities and the rest so few. I’m not sure we’ve done much to make the world a better place. Bristol is still a shockingly divided city; we have five wards in the top most privileged in the whole country and four in the most deprived. 84% of

18 years olds in Clifton and Redland will go to University but only 5% in Barton Hill. If you walk from Clifton to Barton Hill today you will experience a 9 year reduction in life expectancy. And all this in one of the richest cities in one of the richest countries in the history of the world. Yes, there are still mountains to climb to make a better world. Over to you!

Above: Barry and Sylvia during their university days

idea that I might be learning the ing up, not much alcohol, not many experiences and alleviate poverskills of the historian to apply in later coffee bars and very few restaurants. ty. A group of us went regularly life…how crazy! Berni Inns were popular. You could across the city to help run clubs Assessment was all done by essays buy steak and chips and peas very for old and young and to visduring 10 days in the June of the cheaply. it people in their homes. It was third year- perfect for those with poor memories and/or There was a seriousness, an earnestness perhay-fever! No other methods haps absent now. Having fun wasn’t a full-time of assessment were in use… none of the exciting methods occupation for anyone. available now. No one ever asked our opinion about the courses or the quality of teaching. But social life didn’t mean spend- a great learning experience. In Does that really happen now? You ing a fortune and getting pissed. Barton Hill there was a r spect, lucky people. There was a seriousness, an earnest- a reverence for the University Sex- another planet. Remember, ness perhaps absent now. Having fun which I found disturbing. None the pill wasn’t available till 1961 and wasn’t a full-time occupation for an- of the residents would ever have then only for married women. Risk yone. dreamed of attending such a of pregnancy was a constant worry. There was a lot of idealism in the place. I’d never seen such dep-

All images on the page courtesy of Barry and Sylvia Wiliamson

Features

Editor Flossie Palmer Digital Editor Allegra Letts Deputy Editor Alexander Sampson

An insider look at COP26

Epigram / Isabel Townend

fects of climate change; ‘It’s actually horrific that they have a stand here and they’re trying to pretend what they’re doing is enough’. Carlos Shanka, a University of Bristol delegate and President of the Bristol University Sustainability Team (BUST) found COP26 a disappointing solution to the climate crisis; ‘COP26 is arguably one of the most important events in the history of climate change. It’s not only about having ambitious pledges when they’re not even accomplishing that in many cases. It’s about achieving what you have pledged in the promises.’

Zone into the political sphere of the Blue Zone; ‘In the Blue Zone they have the same typically politically correct debates and pledges. They don’t even write by themselves in some cases.’ It was also noted that ‘Indigenous peoples and communities don’t have much space in the Blue zone’, showing the under-representation of marginalised voices at COP26 despite climate change being a uniting issue. The People’s Summit for Climate Justice provided an alternative COP26 coalition within Glasgow. It emphasised the importance of Indigenous voices and community action, rathe r igr Ep

and events surrounding the climate The disappointing crisis. reality of COP26 Events ranged from combining negotiations as seen Indigenous knowledge and technolthrough the eyes of a ogies, to exclusive environmental University of Bristol documentary showings. Meanwhile, special guests such as Steve Backshall student. and Tim Peake visited the zone to Emily Muir conduct Q&A sessions based around Third Year, Geography climate solutions. Other events inniversity of Bristol students cluded Gaelic spoken poetry which travelled from the Rich- provided a gateway to lived realities mond Building to Glasgow of climate change and globalisation. on 4 November by coach to COP26, Poets from the Scottish islands, such the United Nations Climate Change as Roseanne Watt from Shetland Conference of the year spanning 12 and Pàdraig MacAoidh and Donald days, from 31 October to 12 Novem- S. Murray from Lewis, recounted their experiencber. Students Food provided at COP26 es of losing their travelled by was served in single use homes to envicoach to avoid contributing to plastics and sponsors were ronmental disasgrowing carbon advertised in bright lights. ters both through their physicality emissions caused and native lanby domestic flights - a criticism of many attend- guage. However, the corporate realities ees of COP26, such as Boris Johnson, who travelled from the summit via a of the shiny Green Zone were disprivate jet . Student delegates attend- appointing to some. Conversations ed from many different schools of the overheard on the dedicated COP26 university, including Science, Social bus revealed official attendees strugSciences, Law, Arts, and Life Scienc- gling to find hotel rooms were taking es - the environment is an important domestic flights in each day to Glasissue relevant to everyone, no matter gow. Food provided at COP26 was also served in single use plastics, and what you study. From here, we attended both the sponsors of the events were adverofficial COP26 zones and the active tised in bright lights throughout the events outside of this, such as the Green Zone Venue. Claire Adamson, a University of People’s Summit for climate justice and climate protests. COP26 was split Bristol delegate and law student, into two zones, the Blue Zone for of- found that companies in the Green ficial talks and decision-making, and Zone were stating the efforts to cut the Green Zone, an area at the Glas- carbon emissions, yet in reality had gow Science Centre dedicated to talks done very little to help reduce the ef-

‘We’ve b e e n through 25 COPs, we’ve been through the Kyoto Protocol, The Paris Agreement. It’s now or never. If it’s not in COP26, then when?’ Carlos also pointed out that the hypocrisy extends beyond the Green

than voices of companies and multi-national corporations. Hearing first-hand from Indigenous peoples proved very emotional. Representative of the North Marinara Islands, Sheila Babauta, spoke of losing her home and environment in Saipan, speaking from a panel focusing on

decolonising and demilitarisation. Sheila explained how important the water and land is to her community and witnessing its destruction resulted in a strong feeling of grief, especially for the future generations of Saipan. Stories of homes now rapidly disappearing due to anthropogenic climate change were hard-hitting and provided crucial insight into the debilitating effects of the climate crisis on communities in the Global South. Protests throughout COP26 resembled a community coming together to fight against inaction over climate change. Chants that echoed around the streets of Glasgow included ‘What do we want? Climate Justice. When do we want it? Now’ to ‘Its bull! Come off it. Our planet’s not for profit.’ Attendees ranged from toddlers and children in school uniforms to charity organisations and the National Union of Students (NUS). Witnessing these protests brought back the imminent reality of the climate crisis. Carlos Shanka also actively joined these protests and feels a sense of hope inspired by their push for resolution; ‘The reason why I have some hope is because of the people involved in COY16 (the 16th UN Climate Change Conference - a youth equivalent of COP26) and outside of the Blue and Green Zones. This is the reason I remain hopeful. I’ve seen incredible projects and ambition, and people willing to do whatever it takes to end this crisis.’ ‘It’s now or never. We cannot afford having another summit full of empty promises.’

Features

epigram 24.11.2021

Epigram / Tom Brandhorst

Alumni Series: Epigram interviews Tom Brandhorst, Creative Director of Footballco

Epigram / Tom Brandhorst

Bristol alumni, Tom Brandhorst, speaks to Epigram about his career since graduating. Alexander Sampson Deputy Features Editor

’m sat in a Zoom room waiting for a Creative Director named Tom Brandhorst. He’s worked with Nike and Puma, written tweets as the Old Spice guy, and directed football games with Olivier Giroud and Marco Reus. If you follow football content you’ve probably watched some of his stuff: he’s travelled to Moscow and Milan, South Africa and South London all in the name of football, and he’s worked with some of the biggest names in the Premier League. On screen, he’s 29 and quietly confident. He knows the Zoom interview like the back of his hand, having completed many throughout lockdown and beyond. I’m the rookie here. Tom’s university journey launched in Goldney Hall and was shaped at the Winston Theatre. Back in 2010, Goldney was the apex of first year halls, yet Tom’s university acme was borne out of Bristol’s DramSoc and three years studying Ancient History, ‘I was in a lot of the drama stuff. Never massive roles but I was once in an opera as a non-singing part. We did a version of Bizet’s Carmen

idays, he was invited back over the done in a 1920s New York setting. summer to do a month’s more work Playing this American man smoking experience. on stage at the Winston was proba‘It was good experience, very bly my crowning [uni] moment.’ much the classic intern vibe: picking Outside the theatre, Tom filled his up the simple tasks, being involved time with football on the Downs and in a bit of the creative side but a lot 3am essay shifts in the ASS library. more of the logistical side, and just He also took on the role as Social seeing how the digital media world Media Secretary for Boat Society, a worked.’ position clunkily named ‘webmaster’. Two years and many summatives As noughties as the name sounds, later, Tom stepped out of the Wills the role gave him vital experience Memorial buildthat contributed to his profes- Footballco reaches around ing with a scroll sional work ex- 400 million people globally. in hand and his eyes on the hoperience at the rizon: Bristol media ‘I was ready to do a gap year. I festival, Inbetween Times. didn’t have any contacts; I didn’t ‘Back in those times there were so know any people, so it was just gomany companies looking for a social ing to be a case of coldly sending media manager – basically just a kid people my CV or applying for grad who they could chuck a bit of money jobs. But then I randomly got an at to run their Twitter and Facebook email from the company I did work pages...’ experience at in my first year, and Despite this nonchalant response, they said they had a role.’ such experience paid dividends; at Landing on his feet, Tom naturally 21, with Twitter taking flight, Tom’s gravitated to the more creative side first job was to voice the social meof digital media within Holla, and dia accounts for companies such as was subsequently approached by a Mercedes-Benz, Smart Car and Old football media firm named COPA90. Spice. At COPA he was able to do more diTom’s early career was equally recting and writing and began makshaped by the work experience he ing waves: having filmed with Trent completed during his time at Bristol. Alexander-Arnold and Wilfried Initially aiming for a job in adverZaha, Tom flew to film the performtising, he applied for multiple work ative art of ‘Kasi Flava’ in South Afexperience placements and ended up rica and the Ultra fan scene in Milan. with a digital media company called Amongst all these projects, his faHolla; based off his performance vourite lies in Charlotte, North Carover the Christmas and Easter hol-

no mean olina: feat: for his ambitions, and in his ‘We went out there as a very small field, it’s pretty much the best role unit and were just travelling around you can get. Yet Tom’s humility is in an SUV. We were making a film clear throughout the interview – about Charlotte FC, which is about to convinced he just ‘got lucky’ multilaunch in the MLS, and were making ple times, it goes without saying that a documentary about why the city his work ethic and creativity have needed a football team and the culbeen key factors in his rapid ascent. ture there. His focus now turns to producing ‘Essentially it was four days of original content – to shock, surgoing around eating, drinking and prise, and push the boundaries of stopping people with a camera. what football content is – while his America’s full of personalities and it longer-term goal is to potentially was really, really fluid, and so much own his own company. fun.’ ‘I would like to own my own comSimultaneously, Tom notes certain pany one day … but right now, I’m individuals as a cut above the nufocusing on this CD role, building a merous celebrities and players he’s team and fostering new talent to try interviewed: and create content that the audience ‘Peter Crouch was really sound. I perhaps isn’t expecting.’ was [also] impressed by Jesse LinWith the world of football at his gard – he was solid, fun and got on feet, Tom pulls me back to Bristol board with what we were trying to with a parting word of encouragedo. Trent [Alexander-Arnold] too – ment: he’s a very norTom has worked for ‘I think peomal guy and very fun when he’s Mercedes-Benz, FIFA, Call ple from Bristol of Duty and Old Spice. have a different in his personal head on them world, but you compared to other universities, and would never really see that.’ often seem to have a perceptive way Now, as Creative Director of Footof approaching a task or a project. If ballco, he’s working for the largyou use the city, Bristol gives a very est football content provider in the different education; if you play the world. When asked if this daunts city proper, Bristol [students] come him, Tom shakes his head: out very solid.’ ‘It’s pretty cool to be operating For further content on Tom's story, on such a global scale. Footballco and his top tips for breaking into the reaches around 400 million people world of media and digital content, globally. It’s a huge company.’ see the Epigram website. To be a creative director at 29 is

Features

Editor Flossie Palmer Digital Editor Allegra Letts Deputy Editor Alexander Sampson

Misscoteque – a night out for she’s and they’s to feel safe and celebrated

isco Collective

clubs, both Amaia and Georgia reassured Epigram that Misscoteque is an event which prioritises the safety and wellbeing of all women and non-binary people who attend. Lost Horizon, the venue hosting the second Misscoteque event, will only have queer female staff working in the venue, including bartenders and security, to make all attendees feel safer during their night out. Both Georgia and Amaia also recognised the importance of events like Misscoteque in allowing queer women to openly explore their sexuality in a safe environment. Georgia spoke from experience, describing the struggle of discovering your sexuality in a world where it is often not welcomed: ‘Having been through that I know how difficult it is not having a space where you can see yourself reflected back at you. You need other people embodying that to realise who you can be and that it is a legitimate identity.’ Georgia and Amaia have been thorough in the organisation of Misscoteque, ensuring that it lives up to its tagline of being for ‘shes and they’s’, as The Wxman's Disco

n's D

Epigram / The Womxn's Disco Collective

he Womxn’s Disco Collective, formed in March 2020 by students Georgia Dimdore-Miles and Amaia Emmerson, is launching their second Misscoteque event on 28 November – a night for ‘she’s and they’s’ to feel safe openly expressing their sexuality in an inclusive space, all to the music of a queer female DJ lineup. Aiming to replicate the lesbian nightlife scene of Bristol in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, Misscoteque showcases a range of disco, old skool house and garage music; ‘Think of anything that’s going to make you smile and we’ll play it!’ Georgia exclaimed. After researching the lesbian nightlife scene of Bristol for her undergraduate dissertation, Georgia found herself becoming ‘immersed in this world I had no idea had even existed.’ At first, Georgia was unsure of how much she would uncover of the scene but was surprised at how prominent the lesbian nightlife scene in Bristol actually was even tickets were still able to attend on just 30 years ago; ‘There were so a night which both Georgia and many women-only pubs and clubs Amaia deemed a ‘huge success’. ‘We and underground discos and pophad so many people coming up to up nights around the city. As I was us and saying thank you and genudoing the research, it was incredible inely saying it was the best night of but also very emotional for me comtheir lives, which was so emotional ing to the realization that all this had and incredible to hear!’ Georgia exdisappeared.’ claimed. ‘Being a lesbian myself, that was Although Covid-19 posed an unquite a hard realization,’ Georgia deniable obstacle to The Womxn’s elaborated, ‘Obviously back then Disco Collective, it only reinforced there was more homophobia in Bristhe importance of making space for tol which made those spaces a nequeer women in society. ‘With Covcessity for people to have genuine id, it just accentuated everything I safety. But I also felt very deeply that was feeling about not having space this is something that is still need– queer space – because you couldn’t ed today.’ One go out and meet Only queer female staff conversation your friends will be working in the later, fittingly and a lot of my venue. taking place on friends at univera night out, besity who are ditween Georgia and Amaia solidified rectly around me are straight. After the formation of The Womxn’s Disco a while I found that quite difficult.’ Collective and the primary aim to reGeorgia admitted, ‘Looking forward vive the lost lesbian Bristol nightlife to coming out of Covid affirmed that scene in the present day. this is what we were going to do. Despite COVID-19 delaying the Covid was really difficult but it was first Misscoteque event until the realso a fresh start.’ opening of nightclubs on 19 August Considering the recent fluctuation 2021, over half of those who bought in spiking cases in Bristol night-

spaces they have other choices, whereas queer people don’t have choice.’ Georgia also acknowledged that, inevitably, financing Misscoteque

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collective were put in touch with has been a challenge. ‘It makes you their graphic designer, Amy Wright, realize how difficult these kinds of by local queer graphic designers, nights are to put on and especially Conway and Young. The DJs selected for the queer community because to play at Misscoteque are also queer they don’t have as much financial women, helping to break down the power. It just highlights why there stigma of DJ-ing being a white male are so few of them.’ Georgia exdominated hobby, as well as spotplained, addressing Bristol’s surlighting the talent of lesser-known prising lack of queer women-only female DJs, including Amaia herself. spaces. However, despite any finanIn Georgia’s own words, ‘everyone cial challenges faced, they highlight who has been involved at every level just how important events such as fits our ethos’. Misscoteque are in allowing women However, when asked about the and gender non-conforming people challenges that The Womxn’s Disco to openly express their sexuality and Collective have faced so far, Amaia identities in otherwise normalised noted that there has been some difsettings, such as a simple night out. ficulty conveying the definition Even beyond the disco dance floor of their event of Misscoteque, to prospec- Half of all profit raised was Georgia and tive attendees: donated to Pride Without Amaia are ad‘Sometimes the vocating even Borders. language surgreater inclusion rounding these for the LGBTthings is still catching up to the QIA+ community in Bristol by domodern day. We’ve branded it as nating half of all profit made to a “she’s and they’s” which is the most local charity after each event. Half inclusive way we could think of,’ of all profit raised by the first MissAmaia explained. coteque event in August 2021 was ‘One thing to acknowledge is that donated to Pride Without Borders, it’s a very difficult area and we are a branch of the umbrella charity trying to be as inclusive as possible.’ Bristol Refugee Rights, which proGeorgia added, ‘If people feel that vides financial and legal aid to queer we’re not doing that as best as we asylum seekers in Bristol, as well as can then we are very open to critforming a close community support icism.’ However, both Amaia and group who meet every two weeks. Georgia emphasised that making Despite Georgia and Amaia now space for queer women is integral to both being in their last year of study Misscoteque and The Womxn’s Disat university, Epigram was quickly co Collective as a whole, explaining reassured that Misscoteque events that ‘straight space is everywhere will continue post-graduation. Both and queer space is alGeorgia and Amaia are most nowhere. If planning to settle straight peoin Bristol afple don’t ter finishf e e l ing their comstudies, forta n d able there i n are

talks o f running The Wom/ m xn’s Disco a r g Collective full Epi time with potential to expand outside of Bristol, meaning that ‘it will live!’ as Georgia exclaimed.

The Womxn's Disco Collective is making space for queer women to openly express their sexuality on nights out. Flossie Palmer

Features 9

epigram 24.11.2021

The reality of winter depression at university The ins and outs of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and how to tackle it. Marine Saint

Features Columnist & Subeditor

ith the daylight hours shortening, temperatures dropping and work intensifying as we make our way through what has been a hectic first term of the university year, it is important to check in on our mental health. It is incredibly common for students to experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD) as an accumulation of the stresses which occur at this time, a type of depression defined by the NHS as one that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern. It is often known as ‘winter depression’ as symptoms are typically heightened during winter. The mental health charity Mind outlines how symptoms have a large impact on the day-to-day lives of those who struggle with SAD and highlight the need to de-stigmatise open discussions regarding the severity of mental health issues. Symptoms and signs vary depending on the individual, but include: lack of energy, finding it hard to concentrate, not wanting to see people, sleep problems and changes to your sleep schedule, feeling sad, low, tearful, guilty or hopeless, changes in your appetite, being more prone to physical health problems, such as colds, infections or other illnesses, losing interest in sex or physical contact, and suicidal feelings. For students, there is an evident correlation between these troubles and academic stress, loss of motivation, and loneliness or anxiety in social situations. The cause of seasonal affective disorder is believed to be due to the reduced exposure to sunlight during shorter days of the autumn and winter season, resulting in lower serotonin hormone levels and higher melatonin (a hormone which stimulates fatigue) levels. Mind and the NHS recommend lifestyle changes to maximise access to natural sunlight, using a lightbox to stimulate exposure to light, talking therapies (download the student health app to book into counselling or to seek further advice), and arts and creative therapies. If you are not personally experiencing SAD, but wish to support any friends, housemates, or relatives, it is key to support them seeking help, planning ahead so they

Epigram / Edward Deacon

Request Form online or call +44 can work on their self-care, and be (0)117 456 9860 so that the univerinformed in the ways to talk with sity Wellbeing Advisors can find the them about their worries openly and right support for you. encouragingly. In light of the recent World MenMental health support whilst at tal Health Day on 10 October, Epiuniversity has always been a contentious issue, often due to the limit- gram asked students how they felt the University was supporting them. ed advertising of help schemes and One second year student expressed where to seek assistance on campus. how ‘A lot of people I know really In addition to signing up to the stufelt the impact of seasonal affecdent health app to receive university tive disorder last year due to the counselling or NHS support, the isolating process of lockdown over University of Bristol website offers Christmas. The an online being ‘There is an evident stress of exams well, living well toolkit with correlation between SAD around this period, as well as professional and academic stress.' the shorter days advice, and definitely makes mental wellbeing students feel less motivated, and the and academic support workshops frequent reluctance of the University in November and December to help students experiencing problems with to acknowledge this as an extenuating circumstance is something they loneliness, self-esteem, and any could work on improving.’ other mental health struggles. Not In terms of student-led support, all students have access to the netthe Student Union Wellbeing Network of support which housemates, work is available for all students to friends, and family can provide, so join. According to their website, it make sure to seek out internal help was created ‘to ensure that our wellor maximise the external resources being needs, as students, are being available. met by the policies, services and The University suggests apps such culture at university. We bring toas Headspace to help you meditate, gether students, societies, university SAM to manage anxiety, and Talk Campus which enables users to share staff and external partners to: raise awareness of different aspects of their feelings with students across student life that affect mental health the world at any time. If you wish and wellbeing, organise events that to speak to someone directly about are beneficial to wellbeing, give a your worries, call Nightline anytime voice to students with lived expeon 01179 266 266 between 8pm and rience of the policies, services and 8am for a non-advisory listenculture at university, and campaign ing service, complete the Support

for better support for all students with differing needs.’ The confidence to talk about the impact of seasonal affective disorder and other stresses which coincide with end of term deadlines can seem very daunting, but one way to find a support network could be through the SU’s university-wide Buddy Scheme, which is already made up of over 400 students. This time of

year can be particularly isolating, so it is important to occupy ourselves with non-academic activities, such as joining one of the many university sports societies, picking up a new hobby, or trying out some of the wellbeing activities and events hosted by students’ peer support groups or clubs. Another significant way in which students are actively engaging in mental health discourses is through the yearly Movember campaign. The related Bristol University website displays a tracker of money raised with an impressive £60,000 target and leader board of top individuals and teams (including 25 predominantly men’s sports teams). As well as donations and events, challenges such as ‘move for Movember' - in which participants commit to running 60km for the 60 men lost to suicide every hour - demonstrate how pertinent issues of mental health are and how it is vital to find ways to tackle anxiety and find the right support to feel comfortable and valid when opening up about struggles which so many students have previously faced alone. Seasonal depression has appeared as an unspoken part of university life for a lot of students, and now as term gets busier and deadlines approach, it is more important than ever to check in on friends, family, and yourself.

Epigram / National Institute of Mental Health

epigram 24.11.2021

Features 10

Beating the backpack brawl of an oversubscribed campus Navigating an oversubscribed campus and where to find alternative study spaces. Zoe Glascow

Second Year Politics & International Relations e’ve all found ourselves worming our way through the busy streets of Clifton at the start of this term, bashing into the unsuspecting backpacks of our peers as we hurry to our lectures and seminars. The libraries are packed, and unless you fancy an 8am start to secure your seat, you may find yourself feeling lost and helpless without somewhere to tune into your reems of readings or piles of problems. This year, the University accepted a much larger influx of students than usual due to an unprecedented number of students meeting their commodation far away from campus grade offers. Inevitably, this has led and finding an available study to a bustling campus and an even space when greater strugyou’re there, or gle to find an ‘The new University if you’re simply available study Library (UNL) is not just overspace. planned to open until whelmed by the The Univer2026.' number of stusity published dents on campus a statement on this year, the University have the oversubscription: ‘This year, an confirmed plans to expand its study unprecedented number of students spaces in order to tackle this issue. have achieved the highest grades The University plans to build across a wide range of subjects.’ a new In taking steps to try to tackle the £80 problem, the University offered students on law, business, and other oversubscribed courses £10,000 and a year’s accommodation if they deferred their studies. For some students, this was a difficult decision, as many already deferred a year to avoid COVID restrictions affecting their university experience. Many students were also offered accommodation in nearby cities, such as Bath, along with travel bursaries to get to and from campus. First year student, Ella, was offered accommodation in Bath and explained how living in a different city has affected her: ‘Travelling to and from Bath is a pain as public transport is not reliable; usually I have to plan my journey over an hour early as the buses don’t show up. It was really stressful to be told there was no accommodation available for me after Results Day, and milthen when I was told it was in Bath, lion library on the current site of I was worried about missing out on The Hawthorns to improve students’ the full Bristol experience.’ access to more on-campus facilities, If you are one of these students but the new University Library (UNL) struggling with both living in ac-

Epigram / Ottilie Cullen

is not planned to open until 2026, meaning most current students will not be able to reap the benefits of an additional study space. In the meantime, this pocket guide on how to navigate this year’s oversubscribed campus provides some handy tips on avoiding the crowds to stock up on your study time at alternative spaces. Beacon

House One of

coffees, and cold drinks, as well as meal deals if you need a snack in between lectures. Up the steps, there are sofas and coffee tables where you can eat and study, as well as silent areas through the building so you can really focus. I recommend avoiding the peak midday rush to bag your seat, and the space is open through the evening if you’ve had a busy day of teaching.

es among you, a trip to the museum may be in order. Traipsing through the exhibits and taking in the ingenious craftsmanship of ceramics and paintings ranging from the mastery of Romanticism to contemporary Bristol Blue Glass will provide you with some motivation for greatness and peacefulness for concentration. After taking a walk through the collections, you can head to the café and sit with your laptop and a coffee for a stimulated study session.

Bristol Central Library Lesser known by freshers, Bristol Brandon Hill Central Library is a great alterIf you’re anything like me, somenative to the more traditional times being indoors is just too clausatmosphere of Wills Memorial trophobic and dull. Even the most Library. With the smell of ornate buildings leath‘Bristol Central Library and libraries er-bound is lesser known and a sometimes just books and great alternative to Wills don’t cut it, seemingly and I find my primordial Memorial Library.' eyes wondering, desks, Cencounting the books on the shelf, and tral Library is a great place feeling my mind fog with the flurry to kick back with a stack of of words. Brandon Hill is a go-to books and ponder over some spot for relaxation. If you have some of the most tedious of tasks, book chapters to catch up on, or an feeling as scholarly and essay that just won’t hit the word cultured as Oscar Wilde or count, sit under a tree, and let your Stephen Fry. There is also mind relax with the sight of the the added perk of being just opposite College Green, tame squirrels bounding across the grass and the patter of dog walkers. so you can pop out for a This list of alternative study break and grab a drink spaces may hopefully highlight some and a snack from Costa both on and off campus study spacand chill on the grass, Epigram / Lucy O'Neill es for students across Bristol to turn which is especially good to while navigating a much busier if you’re with a study the smaller study spaces in Bristol, campus than expected. However, do buddy! Beacon House is a great stop for a embrace the world opening up again quick study-fix. The café serves teas, and explore some quiet retreats Bristol Museum and Art Gallery For the cultured and creative forc- campus becomes too overwhelming.

Opinion

Editor Digital Editor Co-Deputy Editor Co-Deputy Editor

Twitter: @EpigramOpinion

Mark Ross Charlie Osborne Katie Sowerby Caitlin Palmer O'Shaughnessy

Bristol’s heel-dragging over returning the stolen Benin Bronzes is a symptom of Britain’s deep-rooted denial of its colonial past Why our mindset regarding colonial artefacts needs to change Lois Ryan Second Year, English and Philosophy

or, in this particular case, ‘murderers-thieves-and-pillagers keepers’. Instead, Dowden’s advocacy just feels like an extension of the coloniser mindset - English entitlement of that which is not ours. As Orwell wrote, ‘He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.’ The rewriting of history poses a sincere threat to everyone, and the government’s desire to glorify Britain’s ugly past serves to move the UK further away from the prospect of future

his week saw Cambridge University lead the way in the returning of stolen colonial artefacts, ceremonially handing over a Benin Bronze to Nigerian delegates. Such welcome news begs the uncomfortable question for Bristol, harbouring two Benin Bronzes in the Museum - why has Bristol not done t h e same? Dowden's advocacy just O n

feels like an extension of the coloniser mindset

Wednesday, Cambridge hosted the handing over of a Benin Bronze cockerel to delegates from Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments. The ‘Okukor’ (cockerel) statue had been held in Jesus College since 1905, and was removed from display in March 2016 as a result of successful student lobbying. The statue was originally stolen by British forces during the 1897 ‘expedition’ of Benin, which saw Britain send more than a thousand men from annexed African territory to invade the Kingdom of Benin (modern-day Nigeria). Ten days of brutal battles ended in the British-led forces massacring many hundreds of local inhabitants before pillaging thousands of precious artefacts, alongside burning the City of Benin to the ground and exiling King Oba Ovonramwen. Of the thousands of Benin Bronzes brutally stolen, with over a thousand still in Britain (having sold several off to other parts of Europe), only the cockerel has been returned. When asked on Channel 4 News in September whether the UK should return such artefacts to their countries of origin, the Secretary for Culture at the time, Oliver Dowden, advocated for a ‘retain and explain’ approach - supporting British retention of colonial-era stolen (or, as Dowden was quick to correct, ‘acquired’) pieces. It’s difficult to believe Dowden’s views on private property might be so at odds with the British constitution (as well as the beliefs underpinning the Tory party, and common opinion) as to genuinely support a ‘finders keepers’ type philosophy -

accountability. Now let’s return to Bristol. Glorified as a laid-back, hippie haven, the city is known for its thriving alternative culture. Revered as ‘the France of the UK’ when it comes to protests following the toppling of the Colston statue last summer, Bristol is known for being liberal and progressive. Considering this, alongside having a highly influential role in the slave trade, we might have expected Bristol to take the lead on issues like the repatriation of colonial artefacts - particularly given Prince Edun Akenzua of Benin’s heartfelt appeal to the museum on Channel 4 over 18

Courtesy of BBC News

So, reassurance anewed by the Nigerian delegates on Wednesday, will Bristol Museum follow Jesus College’s lead in returning what is not and was never rightfully theirs, and in doing so take a new step towards addressing its ugly colonial past? Or will we be forced to confront the uncomfortable truth that the slimy evasion of responsibility, so prevalent in Westminster, runs thick through Bristol’s waters too? This mindset is more than an obstruction standing in the way of the

Will we be forced to confront the uncomfortable truth that the slimy evasion of responsibility, so prevelant in Westminster, runs thick through Bristol's waters too?

months ago. Indeed, Bristol Museum did become the first council in the UK to agree to the return of the Benin Bronzes - and yet still they are locked away, 125 year-old prisoners, in the Museum of Bristol. The Museum cited uncertainty over the relocation of the Bronzes on the Nigerian end as the most recent reason for their withholding - a claim Professor Abba Tijjani, from the Nigerian delegation, handled with ease at the Jesus College Ceremony on Wednesday, as he assured international ‘partners’ that the Bronzes would be ‘Going to the right place’ to be ‘Looked after’.

repatriation of valuable artefacts to their countries of origin. By refusing

Caribbean. Without apologising for such atrocities, Britain’s obligation is not as much legally binding as it is morally. The government can continue to bury its head in the sand in regards to true debt, meanwhile the countries to whom we owe the debt continue to suffer the consequences and shoulder the burden of our mistakes. Not only is Dowden’s view reminiscent of Britain’s colonial past, but it is unfortunately reflective of the neocolonial power dynamic governing the present. For instance, the disparity between having a Black History Month, and the twisted, self-justifying relationship Britain actually has with Black history, is enormous. Refusing to apologise for our mistakes allows us to continue skirting round the uncomfortable responsibility of confronting British history

Britain's obligation is not as much legally binding as it is morally to take responsibility for, or even simply, acknowledge, the atrocities committed by Britain against the former colonies and Britain’s subsequent indebtedness, Dowden is evading the weight of responsibility. Economically, this starts with an approximated £66 trillion in reparations which the UK allegedly still owes between India, Africa and the

head-on in all its murder and pillaging. Rather, the UK government continues to look away, arguing for a ‘new story’ to be told about the slave trade in the hugely controversial report on racial inequalities published in March of this year by the Comission on Race and Ethnic Disparities. It's time we start to replace empty words with action.

What does Bristol think? We asked Bristol students their thoughts on the topic of...

LGBTQ+ clubs. Should more 'safe events' for minority identities exists? Yes = 92% No = 8% Should entrance to LGBTQ+ events be contingent on sexuality? Yes = 7% No = 93% Should non-LGBTQ+ students be discouraged from attending LGBTQ+ events and venues? Yes = 28% No = 72%

Opinion 13

epigram 24.11.2021

There is still progress to be made Anonymous

hould straight people be allowed into gay clubs? It is a provocative question that has set Bristruths alight over the past few weeks. There have been claims and counterclaims about what ‘equality’ really means, and whether LGBTQ+ people actually need a safe space in the twenty-first century. Here’s my response to this question as an LGBTQ+ person, although everyone will have a different opinion on this. It is worth saying that LGBTQ+ people don’t think that straight people should be outright banned from gay clubs. That is a misrespresentation of the argument being made. We are just asking for respect, and a recognition that gay clubs were not designed for heterosexual people, even though everyone is welcome there. Gay clubs matter to LGBTQ+ people more than just being a fun night out, and there are two reasons for this. Firstly, LGBTQ+ people do continue to face discrimination, abuse and prejudice - both in Bristol and elsewhere. Sexual orientation based hate crimes rose by 19 per cent from 2019 to 2020. There are over 50 reports of transgender hate crime every day. It is not the case that we live in a world where no one really cares about who is straight and who is gay – even though it may feel like that sometimes in our liberal student bubble. There is still progress to be made, and LGBTQ+ people do need a space where they can feel safe and ‘be themselves’. everyone has a different story, but many LGBTQ+ people have suffered physical and verbal abuse. Therefore, what may be a cheap Wednesday night out to you, can make other people feel unsafe. This doesn’t mean straight people shouldn’t go, but it is something that I think many are not appreciative of. The second reason why gay clubs matter is that they are the only place where LGBTQ+ people can have a ‘normal’ uni clubbing experience Flirting, hook-ups and a snog on the dancefloor are not the most important thing in the world. But these are ‘normal’ experiences that straight students often take for granted in any other club. Indeed, if we are going to make meaningful relationships, we need a space where we can presume that other people are LGBTQ+ by default. OMG seems to have become a gay club in name only, meaning that those ‘normal’ experiences are taken away from us. In sum, this debate isn’t about ‘banning’ people, or dividing people further. LGBTQ+ people are just

Epigram

Should straight people be allowed into gay clubs? calling for greater recognition of the importance of gay clubs, and raising awareness of the issues we still face – so that a night out at gay clubs can be a safer and better experience for all of us.

Radhika Gurnani Third Year, Spanish and Portuguese

ew clubs can compete with OMG’s student-friendly prices and feel-good throwback tunes, so it makes sense that this is appreciated and enjoyed by LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ communities. It is worth questioning, however, whether this fondness for OMG felt by students who do not identify as queer has overstepped its limit, encroaching on the ownership LGBTQ+ Bristolians have, and should have, over the venue. It is easy to forget that for the LGBTQ+ student population, spaces which encourage their self-love and acceptance carry a different weight. Just as watching Ru Paul’s Drag Race or listening to LGBTQ+ artists who celebrate being their authentic selves can make us all feel inspired and boost our confidence, the same sentiment, palpable in the air at OMG, is something we can all appreciate. The club was created with the primary intention of providing a safe space for queer expression, before the enjoyment of those outside the LGBTQ+ community. For groups which have been ostracised from mainstream nightlife due to their sexuality or gender identity, the need for ownership of a place where they can express their identities as a collective is vital for their sense of belonging. While formally there is no longer anything preventing queer students’ access to other areas of Bristol nightlife, in practice there are so many events organised for mainly straight, cisgender communities which aren't approachable for the queer community. Just think of the nature of countless sports nights, catering to stereotypically laddish football teams, and you can understand how easy it is for LGBTQ+ students who do not conform to the typical attendee profile to feel othered, even if this is unintended by those around them. However, the normalisation of the straigh, cisgender majority inside OMG, has detracted from queer students’ sense of belonging to a space they could call it their own. In addition, those who do not identify as queer can far too often be seen behaving inappropriately at the club, creating precisely the isolating and hostile atmosphere queer students come to gay clubs to avoid. It is not uncommon to hear

non-LGBTQ+ clubgoers making ignorant remarks, demanding that queer students judge whether they can ‘pass’ as gay or making deriding jokes that they must be trying to hit on them. It’s a difficult line to draw, since there is no reasonable way to put in place formal measures to maintain queer ownership in the club. Were restrictions put in place to limit the number of non-LGBTQ+ attendees, which I do not believe they should, they would be unenforceable. Any attempt to vet someone’s queerness within the short period of time spent talking to the bouncer would be based on rash impressions, and using appearance or demeanour as parameters to decide if someone is 'sufficiently gay' would be a dangerous move, enforcing the idea that people must conform to a specific image or expression for their queerness to be valid. Thus, it seems that the best solution, due to both practicality and the importance of protecting queer students’ ability to express themselves freely, is for those who do not identify as LGBTQ+ to reconsider their attitudes towards the club. Do you respect the venue as a space belonging to queer students, or do you feel a level of ownership over OMG comparable to that over other clubs in Bristol? Do you come to the club to support your queer friends, or do you see a night out there as simply an opportunity to spectate queer culture? The onus is on those outside the queer community to ensure their behaviour does not impinge on queer spaces.

But being anti-cishetero does not necesarilly render the space safe Charlotte Harrison Third Year, Liberal Arts

he attraction of a space that challenges hetero-normative cultural codes is of course exciting. Queer spaces are few and far between, but a night out at a gay club is now mixed within the social norms of UK nightlife culture.

Most people who like to club will have been to one. OMG in Bristol is no exception. The student nights on Wednesdays have become a standard practice among people of all sexual identities; the chance to watch your friends strip for a microwave seems to hold its appeal. Last month, Daniel Craig said in an interview that he has been going to gay bars for as long as he can remember in order to escape the ‘The aggressive d--- swinging in hetero bars’. In gay bars, ‘Everybody was chill… You didn't really have to sort of state your sexuality. It was okay and it was a very safe place to be.’ Craig, as his character in James Bond, has become synonymous with an increasingly antiquated notion of man, and indeed, sexuality. For nearly two decades he has played: white, straight, rich, powerful, cis-gendered and heteronormative. His words were refreshing to some, but frutrating to others. Indeed, as the next generation grows into a more inclusive society, the question of who should be allowed to enter queer spaces is increasingly divisive. I don't believe one person can speak on behalf of a community which in itself has many dimensions. However, there are significant theoretical and practical issues with wishing to discourage non-LGBTQ+ students from entering gay bars, rendering it a misguided response to an emotive situation. Gay bars are supposed to cultivate an accepting atmosphere, where one can diverge from cultural and social norms and celebrate individuality. Segregatory and exclusionary practices place increased significance on the performance of gender and sexuality than on the more personal individual ‘identity’. LGBTQ+ does not refer to a singular identity and as such the motivations of members of the community are not analogous, which has notoriously led to internal conflict. Anti-cis-hetero does not necessarily render the space as ‘safe’. In an attempt to build and preserve the collective identity of being LGBTQ+, OMG would have to answer questions of who is queer enough to belong and to what

extent; creating divisions inside and outside of the community. Discouraging non-LGBTQ+ people from attending OMG would not create a utopic sanctuary for all things camp and queer. Instead, it would create a physical manifestation of division. The result of this would be further ‘othering’ for the LGBTQ+ society and additionally, could serve to pressure people to ‘come-out’ or deprive people who wish to explore their gender or sexual identity of a place to do so. The physical hard border between heterosexual culture and everything else would ostracise many of the community it is wishing to protect. Consequently, attempts to make it a ‘safe-if-you’re-out space’ would be counterintuitive. The desire to keep OMG free of ‘straight girls’ and in turn ‘straight boys’ is a loaded and disparaging stance, which was surprisingly popular (based on a metric of likes). The intention may well have been to create a space where romantic advances would be less likely to be rejected based upon gender preference. In practice, the argument only serves to create a divide within the LGBTQ+ community and overlook the co-existence of many straight, trans or non-binary people. The agenda then appears to be trans-exclusionary. Although the discourse is more targeted at discouraging anyone not homosexual, this is an apt example of the problems that could arise when trying to legislate for a diverse community. It becomes increasingly challenging to police or suggest who should be allowed in OMG when there is such variation in identity and desire within the same community. To try to solve a multi-faceted issue with a reductive in-or-out approach would create far greater problems than it would resolve. Who defines who is LGBTQ+ enough to belong in these spaces? More impetus should be placed on an increased number of clubs and venues being LGBTQ+ welcoming so members of this community do not have to feel confined to a singular club in order to feel safe in their self-expression.

Opinion

epigram 24.11.2021

Twitter: @EpigramOpinion

What does new research University rankinto sexual violence mean ings: realistic or for universities? just plain wrong?

Anthropology, Third Year

he first piece of research into male sexual violence at UK universities was recently published. The article, ‘Understanding Sexual Aggression in UK Male University Students’, examines data collected via two online surveys of male university students in the UK. Of the 554 participants, 63 (11.4 per cent) admitted to having committed a combined 251 sexually aggressive acts including rape or attempted rape within the past two years. A large amount of those who admitted to sexual violence admitted to more than one aggressive act. Most of their victims were described to be female, although there were some who reported male victims as well. This research, mirroring previous work done in countries such as the U.S, works to identify potential risk factors for individuals becoming sexual aggressors for the purpose of prediction and prevention. Within their sample they found that hostility towards women and the acceptance of rape myths as well as aggression were found in a large amount of those who admitted to sexually aggressive acts. These characteristics, combined with alcohol consumption, have been shown to increase the likeli-

Universities are places where sexual violence is thriving hood that a person will commit a sexually aggressive act in previous studies in other countries. Something uncovered in the study that was particularly stark was the fact that the percentage of university males who admitted to sexual violence was in fact higher than those outside of university populations (11.4 vs 7.3 per cent), suggesting that universities in particular are an environment where

sexual violence is thriving. These findings are uncomfortable to come to terms with, however, due to the sheer number of women who report being victims of sexually aggressive behaviour whilst at university, it should come as no surprise. The publication of this paper provides universities in the U.K with a firm basis on which they could build harm prevention strategies that might start to make a difference to the lives of their students - especially the female ones. It is clear that currently not enough, if anything, is being done to reduce or prevent sexual violence on campus. When considering the University of Bristol in particular, both the page on the university website and their official policy on the ‘prevention of sexual harass-

Courtesy of Lucy O'Neill / Epigram

A new report has revealed worrying statistics surrounding sexual assualt on UK campuses. The University of Bristol needs to act upon these findings. Anna Webb

Consent classes are not enough ing students who make complaints sign NDAs to prevent them speaking publicly of their experiences, paint a grim picture of negligence and complicity by British institutions. In an ideal world, universities would take the findings of this paper, combined with previous research to build comprehensive programmes actually aimed at reducing sexual harassment and violence, rather than just encouraging reporting. A small number of universities have introduced consent classes but even most of these are not compulsory for all students. But consent classes are almost

These findings are uncomfortable to come to terms with ment’ make no mention of any actual prevention strategies. Both describe what sexual harassment includes, but then move onto what a victim should do once the act has already been committed. No mention of any work or campaigns to prevent these acts happening in the first place. The irony of a policy on preventing sexual harassment not including anything about actually preventing sexual harassment would be laughable if there weren’t thousands of

Courtesy of reclaimthenight.co.uk

students being victimised across the country every year. When you add this to the fact that the Bristol Students' Union published a report earlier this year that showed that nearly 50 per cent of students have experienced sexual harassment with the majority of acts being committed by other students, it makes the University of Bristol seem rather lax on its attitude towards preventing sexual violence. These Bristol specific findings, alongside national reports that harassment at universities has increased dramatically in recent years, and revelations of universities hav-

certainly not enough, institutions should focus on the issues identified in this research such as extreme misogynistic views and believing rape myths and attempt to reduce them within their student population. Rather than just having a link to the police video about tea on their website, in-depth campaigns to change viewpoints and reduce violent sexism need to be introduced. As well as this, cultures of victim blaming, by both students and institutions, must be challenged. Overall, it is clear that university-based sexual violence is a prevalent issue that needs to be tackled, however it is also clear that many institutions, including the University of Bristol, are lacking in actual effort to reduce it. If a university truly cares for the wellbeing of their students, then genuine, science-based preventative schemes would be worth spending money on. We can only hope that the publication of this research encourages them to do so.

Courtesy of Epigram

University rankings measure the wrong things and can mislead prospective students Nina Micciche Liberal Arts, First Year

or many potential undergraduate candidates, university league tables are considered worthwhile tools that often dictate where they aspire to study. These tables provide straightforward and digestible rankings, but

ranking. Social inclusion considers the black achievement gap, first-generation students, ethnic minority students, grammar school admissions, independent school admissions, mature students, state school admissions, low participation areas and deprived areas dropout gap. This shines a light on the university’s exclusivity- incongruous amongst the city’s liberal reputation. Student experience at Bristol is at an all-time low in the league tables, standing at 89th place in The Times. In this regard, and when considering social inclusion, the University of the West of England is a higher-per-

University rankings risk slapping a 'well done' badge on certain universities that, in reality, are leaving serious problems unaddressed how can they possibly reflect the subjective nature of teaching quality or student satisfaction? Should they be taken with a pinch of salt? There are three widely recognised national rankings in the United Kingdom that are published annual-

forming university than the University of Bristol. Why are student experience rankings not more notable or brag-worthy? It is worth remembering that student satisfaction is synonymous with customer satisfaction.

An over reliance on Uni rankings risks students making the 'wrong' choice ly: The Complete University Guide, The Guardian and The Sunday Times. Bristol University has dropped three places in both The Guardian’s and The Complete University Guide’s 2022 league tables, now sitting at 14th and 17th respectively. The University has also fallen one place in The Sunday Times’ overall institutional rankings and is now at 14th. There are elaborate methods of calculating a university’s placement within these ranks, with each publication differing in criteria and weightings. These determining factors tend to be a combination of entry standards, the cost of academic services and facilities per student, degree completion rates, teaching excellence, the proportion of firsts and upper seconds, student satisfaction, student-staff ratio, graduate career prospects and research quality. A discernible trend is that The Times’ first-rate universities in their Good University Guide are often the worst performing for social inclusion. Abysmally, Bristol University was 114th out of 116 universities with only Oxbridge below in the

Although they can be seen as a way of empowering prospective students to make well-informed choices, university rankings risk slapping a ‘well done’ badge on certain universities that, in reality, are leaving serious and pressing problems unaddressed. On top of this, they also reflect factors that are irrelevant to many students. For example, The ‘Times Good University Guide’ gives ‘research quality’ a 17 per cent weighting – the same amount allocated to ‘Students’ course satisfaction’. Do incoming 18 year-olds really value these two equally? An over-reliance on uni rankings when deciding where to study therefore risks students making the ‘wrong’ choice. The consequences of this are a higher drop-out rate and lower student satisfaction, thanks to students’ overinflated expectations. Overall, university rankings are a blunt tool that should be treated like a slightly unreliable compass: they probably point in the correct general direction, but aren’t trustworthy enough to solely depend on.

Opinion 15

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A 360° look at how student opinion has developed over the last three decades Thirty years later, are Bristol students still debating the same issues? Mark Ross Opinion Editor

s the ink dries on Epigram’s 360th print edition, we’ve peeked into the archives to see how the infamously acerbic and witty articles of Epigram’s opinion section have evolved over the last decade. What will a ride in the editorial DeLorean reveal? But first, let’s see whether the predictions of previous writers have manifested themselves. In the 250th edition (2012), Opinion Editor Patrick Baker worried that the decline of print journalism risks Epigram becoming a solely online publication. This was a valid forecast, based on worrying trends that still exist today. However, it is with Jeremy Clarkson-esque smugness that I can point to the subsequent 100 or so (pan-

Student journalists play a necessary role which should not be overlooked

demic notwithstanding) print editions as evidence of the tenacious journalistic tradition that still exists within the Bristol student community. In the 300th edition, Epigram founder James Landale reminisced over the humble origins of the paper. He recalled, nostalgically, the one Apple Mackintosh computer which served the whole editorial team, over which all writers slaved religiously before the print deadline. The memory is recounted with such fondness that I would happily lob all the HP’s and Dell’s out of the

That didn't age well... 'Facebook is a failing fad' In 2014, Rowena Henley opined on the imminent decline of Facebook (ed. 271), citing research indicating that the social media giant was set to lose 'Up to 80%' of its user base in the following three years. Mr Zuckerberg's face appearing on the news every few weeks is living proof that this prediction has not come to be. However, Rowena was correct in pointing out that Facebook is 'Constantly on the brink' of the next scandal. Yet seven years of accusations and data-leaks later, and my namesake is still thriving. Maybe Facebook is too powerful to fail? Cheers to that! Courtesty of @Markzuckerbergmemes

media suite for a chance to reciprocate that today. Landale was more optimistic with his expectations for the paper. Noting the encroaching restrictions of freedom of speech at the time, he willed Epigram to continue and thrive well into the future. His wishes have come true.

The perfect pun doesn't exi... "Russia Putin its place and Vlad re-elected' (ed. 249) 'The House of Frauds need to be reformed' (ed. 279) 'Beef and lamb ban: more than meats the eye' (ed. 345) 'Valentines is the love-liest day of the year' (ed. 346)

Courtesy of Hitek.com

Journeying back to the present, I have noticed a few things from the Opinion sections of the past decade. Firstly, that Bristol students are compassionate, as well as passionate. They are consistently willing to support movements that help others (‘Europe, stop bolting your doors and do something’, ed. 288/’Has the UN failed as peacekeeper?’, ed. 274) as well as issues relating to Bristol (‘Sport at Bristol: an absolute Rip-off’ ed. 274/ ‘DONOVAN IN DANGER’ ed. 279). This reflects the globalist and liberal values of the student population, who should be proud of their efforts to make a change. I was also reminded of why journalism exists. So much of the reform and progress we see today on certain issues (think the ‘MeToo’ and ‘NightIn’ movements) is rooted in the injustices of events from the last couple of decades. Without journalists reporting on these injustices (‘Ferguson: a tragedy waiting to happen’ ed. 281/’UOB: Improve your support for sexual assault victims” ed. 323), it would have taken a lot more to generate the same level of support for these issues. I’m aware that student journalists are not the sole heroes and drivers of social justice. But they play a necessary role which we must not overlook. Let’s not forget that Epigram also has a lighter side. Puns have been an unwavering feature of the Opinion section since its inception. I’ve had the pleasure of compiling some of my favourites later on, which I hope you all enjoy. Almost every opinion piece that I’ve read has also contained some element of humour. It is nice to see that writers are enjoying themselves (even if their opinions are questionable) and I hope this continues into the future. And so, as we embark upon the next chapter of Epigram’s life, I feel like I should leave you with my predictions for the 400th print edition, if only to provide material to ridicule for a future writer: 1) All print editions will be printed on bamboo sheets and written in sustainable squid ink. 2) All Epigram merch (of which there will be copious amounts, puffer jackets included) will have an instant

self-drying feature. 3) Epigram will be the largest student newspaper in the UK (not too unlikely given the Uni’s proclivity to admit more students than it has space for…) So, I hope the next forty editions are as engaging, passionate, interesting and humorous as the last 360 – enough to make the 400th opinion editor exclaim ‘Great Scott’ with pride.

Pages over the ages... (Ed. 357, 347, 241)

Broken Records: The debates that just keep on coming back Drugs It seems that drugs have always occupied a place in the forefront of Bristol students' minds. The most contentious debate surrounds their legalisation ('It's high time to decriminalise drugs', ed. 315/ 'Legalising class A's is the best solution for addicts', ed. 265). Student opinion, however, is divided with many also arguing for stricter regulation ('To be an environmentalist is to not take drugs', ed.324/ 'Recent figures show a lenient approach to drug use isnt enough', online, 2021). Opinion has been split throughout the past three decades. Perhaps this is because it is difficult to promote legalisation without, as Hope Carpetner expressed it in 2016, 'Trying to sound like a massive legend'.

The Environment Along with the perennial 'impending doom' articles ('Climate change is 'f-ing terrifying'', ed. 324), students have been acutely self-conscious when it comes to the environment ('Is Bristol as 'green' as its reputation suggests', ed. 324/). There has been a noticeable rise in the number of climate articles in recent years. Earlier generations clearly had more pressing issues to worry about ('Leaf blowers create unwanted noise' ed.251').

Free Speech The bread and butter of the opinion section over the last thirty years. Where to draw the line? How to define 'offense'? Arguments usually tend to follow the 'restricting speech risks empowering an authoritarian government' vs 'but people can't just insult others?'. Either way, this debate contains arguably the most quoted quote in the whole paper: "I disagree with what you are saying but..." If Voltaire had a penny for every time he had been (mis)quoted...'Epigram' ed...' Epigram' would be more than broke.

SciTech

Editor Sarah Dalton Digital Editor Bethany Winget Deputy Editor James Emery

Twitter: @EpigramSciTech

A blast from SciTech's past - how far have we come? In celebration of Epigram's 360th commemorative issue, we take a look back at past headlines and just how far Bristol has ecologically progressed Sarah Dalton SciTech Editor

n 2015, Bristol was named European Green Capital and took on its role in paving the way for future green cities. The award was a huge step forward for the city after Bristol impressed the Jury with its investment plans for transport and energy and reduced carbon emissions since 2005. The cycling centre was named ‘UK’s greenest city’ by the European Commission and a long line of environmental headlines followed. But is Bristol still the Green Capital it claims to be? We take a look back at Epigram’s ecological headlines to discover what Bristol has achieved in the climate crisis since 2015. ‘Hey Bristol! Time to divest!’ – November 2015 In November 2015, just months after the announcement that Bristol was European Green Capital of the year, this headline appeared on Epigram’s website: ‘Hey Bristol! Time to divest!’ The article, by Richard Assheton, responded to a gathering protest by University of Bristol students and staff, asking the University to

wind down their fossil fuel investments within five years. At the time, the University of Bristol had already committed to a net carbon neutral campus by 2030, and was conducting world leading climate change research within the Cabot Institute. Yet campaigners saw the University’s investment of approximately £2 million in fossil fuel companies such as Shell and BP as a contradiction to this, and a betrayal to the city’s position as European Green Capital.

A petition of over 2,000 signatures was handed to then new Vice Chancellor Professor Hugh Brady, who has now just recently announced his departure from Bristol. The Bristol protestors did not act alone. The protests formed a part of the worldwide Fossil Free campaign in which 220 institutions committed to divesting in some form. The United Nations, along with all four Bristol West election candidates in 2015, backed the cause. The results were mixed. The following year, Bristol made a partial divestment by investing £3 million in a ‘green fund’ and pledging to divest from companies that derived more than five per cent of their revenues from fossil fuels by 2018. But a full divestment from the fossil fuel industry was still several years away. University of Bristol to fully divest from fossil fuel industry – March 2018 The protests of 2015 were not an instant success, but clearly their message was received. In March 2018, three years after the protests and

Bristol’s Green Capital success, the University of Bristol finally announced its plans to withdraw investments from the fossil fuel industry following talks with the Fossil Free society. This made Bristol the 10th Russel Group University and 62nd UK university to divest partially, yet the first to fully divest from the Russel Group. Jecca Powell, who reported on the news for Epigram at the time, noted that ‘The University’s most recent decision, marks a move from

– April 2019 Following a letter to the Vice Chancellor signed by 100 academics and a petition signed by 500 students, in 2019 the University of Bristol became the first university to declare a climate emergency. The declaration, which was reported on by Imogen Horton, reaffirmed the University’s pledge to divest from fossil fuels by 2020 (which was still ongoing) and to become carbon neutral by 2030. The announcement supported the Bristol City Council’s declaration only months earlier, and marked a pivotal moment in the University’s stance of the climate crisis, proving that Bristol continued to be a leading city. University of Bristol successfully divests from fossil fuel companies – February 2020 It seems that Bristol’s pledge was not too ‘ambitious’ despite previous concerns. In February 2020, five years on from the initial nationwide protests, the University of Bristol finally announced that it had successfully fully divested from the fossil fuel industry and Epigram covered the news. However, Epigram reporter Benjamin Salman noted in his 2020 article how there was still more work to be done. Following the success, University management and Bristol SU called on the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) to do the same. The USS are the largest private pension scheme in higher education, investing £1 billion in fossil fuel companies. So whilst it is clear that there is still more to be done in solving the climate crisis we currently find ourselves in, Bristol 's commitment to leading the way has remained steadfast. Only time will tell if the University of Bristol's promise to reach carbon neutral by 2030 is kept, but societies such as People and Planet continue to hold the University accountable and fight for change.

Bristol's commitment to leading the way has remained steadfast partial to full divestment […] with experts predicting that the process could be completed as soon as 2020.’ The Chief Financial Officer at the University of Bristol in 2018, Robert Kerse, described the timescale as ‘ambitious’ and yet hoped that Bristol would take ‘swift action to combat climate change’ nonetheless. Bristol becomes the first university to declare a climate emergency

SciTech 17

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Bristol hosts public lecture with lead scientist behind the AstraZeneca vaccine On 6 October, Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, the lead scientist in the development of the Oxford Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine spoke about the vaccine's creation Edward Deacon Physics, PhD

n the half hour talk, Prof Dame Gilbert discussed the vaccine from its initial inception to its current state and use today. Using a novel technology platform for the vaccine creation, the University of Oxford scientists were able to create new versions of a vaccine with a modified spike protein easily. The techniques used also

enabled some predictive capability in knowing what the side effects of the vaccine would be. A turning point in its development was the partnership between the University of Oxford and Astra Zeneca. The ‘most challenging aspect’ in the creation of the vaccine was obtaining and sustaining funding for the work being done by the team at the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford, so the partnership with AstraZeneca - a pharmaceutical giant - was a crucial one. In addition, the unprecedented circumstances in which the vaccinolo-

up vaccine roll-out faster than they had ever done before. The manufacturing demands were too great for the University to handle which is why in January 2020, Oxford partnered with AstraZeneca. Developers of the vaccine had to work ‘at risk’ meaning processes and trials in the development of the vaccine had to run in parallel, rather than be done in sequence as would typically have been the case. The logistical challenge of planning the Covid vaccine’s creation was one that was highlighted. As Prof Dame Gilbert described, vaccine developers worked ‘in a different way in order to move on as quickly as possible.’ Nevertheless, the safety of vaccine recipients was kept a priority even with financial risks also running

high if the efficacy of the vaccine was low. Certain stages of the vaccine development including clinical trials in US, India and Japan were sponsored by AstraZeneca which aided the global effort. The public lecture was hosted by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research at the University of Bristol as part of their annual lecture series that honours Dr Elizabeth

Blackwell. Born in Bristol in 1821, Dr Blackwell was the first woman to be listed on the British Medical Register in 1859 making her the first female practising doctor in the UK. Prior to that, she was the first woman to graduate from a medical school in the USA where she moved to as a child. The talk by Prof Dame Gilbert marked 200 years since Dr Blackwell’s birth.

The unprecedented circumstances meant they needed to work and scale up vaccine roll-out faster than ever before gy department found themselves in meant they needed to work and scale

University of Oxford/Sarah Gilbert

Moth wingtips confuse the echolocation of hunting bats A recent University of Bristol study reveals that the wing structure of moths can confuse their bat predators James Emery SciTech Deputy Editor

o you know about the evolutionary battle for sound supremacy being fought between bats and moths? Well researchers at the University of Bristol have found a unique way that the wing structure of some species of silk moth can confuse attacking bats. The team found that there were ripples and folds on the forewings of certain silkmoth species that acted as hemispheric and corner retroreflectors respectively. These then strongly reflect the sound back its point of origin meaning that when a bat hunts the moth with echolocation it is attracted to the wingtip, rather than the vulnerable body, allowing the moth to come out alive. The combination of these two reflectors

creates a massive range of incident sound angle which means that for the majority of positions of the attacking bat and throughout the entire wingbeat cycle of the m o t h the wingtip would consistently reflect the sound the strongest. Ac o u s t i c decoys in silkmoths is not a new thing with t o w e d acoustic decoys b e i n g well-established in many species. Towed decoys are formed by changes to the structure of the hind wingtips, with them usually

being elongated and having a coiled

interested in how they might protect themselves from bats. Through our research we discovered that there are many silkmoths that have rippled and folded structures not on the tips of their elongated hindwings but on the tips of their forewings. These resembled the twisted hindwing structures seen in other moths and so we wanted to know if they might also serve as an acoustic decoy to thwart a bat’s attack.”. They carried out this research by using novel acoustic tomography analysis where they recorded the

Scitentists carried out this research by using novel acoustic tomography analysis and twisted end. This change to the structure is again what causes the powerful echo that grabs the bats attention and

/Paul

ash Unspl

Binas

leads it astray from the moths body. It was question of how moths that lacked the hindwing structure were still able to avoid hunting bats, which led to this discovery. Main author of the paper, Dr Thomas Neil, said “There are many silkmoths that do not have these elongated hindwings, and we were

compared whether the echoes coming from the wingtips were stronger than those coming from the body, this then indicated that they were in fact acoustic decoys. The protection garnered from the decoys on the forewings was shown by the researchers to be even stronger than that given by the more common hindwing decoy, and now the researchers need to collect behavioral data to support what they found in the lab and determine whether it does in fact give the moths a survival advantage. This research could also have wider real world implications if the findings can be applied to the im-

When a bat hunts the moth with ecolocation it is attracted to the wingtip rather than the vulnerable body echoes from moths from over 10 thousand different angles. They then

provement of man-made anti-radar and sonar decoy architectures.

SciTech 18

Why do cats climb into boxes? Is it evolutionary? Alongside boxes, it is thought that cats like enclosed spaces, as they offer hiding places from predators. Any intruder – be it prey, predator or a human – must cross into a cat’s field of vision meaning that enclosed spaces ensure cats can’t be surprised. A 2014 study from the University of Utrecht even found that hiding boxes decreased stress in shelter cats and helped them adapt to new environments quicker. What does your appendix actually do and why do we have one? In the past it was thought the appendix was a vestigial organ meaning it was one that used to serve a purpose, but following the evolution of humans, no longer does. More recently in a 2016 review, scientists assessed that the appendix has an important role relating to the intestines. It contains a ‘biofilm’ which acts as a safehouse for intestinal bacteria so that in the event of a gastrointestinal infection (e.g. norovirus), the gut can replenish its bacteria. Why are some people left-handed? The cause is thought to be because of a balance between competitive and cooperative pressures in human evolution. Being left-handed is beneficial in combat, or in a more modern context, in some sports; if humans were a purely competitive species, then evolution would dictate that we’d end up with 50:50 left and right-handed people. But since humans are also co-operative, this pressure pushes left-handed people to remain a minority since many things we encounter are designed for right-handed people, therefore being left-handed is a disadvantage. These competing pressures reach an equilibrium where left-handed people remain a small but significant minority. How do birds know where to migrate to? Migrating birds often return along roughly the same route they followed on an outward journey, meaning routes can be learned, yet some birds can return via a different route to their outward one. It is thought that young birds learn to recognise the sun and stars to help orientate themselves and that certain organs help birds identify which direction is north – this is through a bird’s eyes interacting with a specific brain region. In addition to this, researchers think birds may be able to smell flying routes with their beak and that the trigeminal nerve in their head could help birds determine their orientation by sensing the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field. If a route is known, obvious landmarks such as river valleys or coastlines can be tracked, often converging at “junctions” like mountain passes or narrow sea crossings. Why are dreams so hard to remember? The hippocampus is the brain region that is responsible for moving information from short-term memory to long-term memory. It is thought that different brain regions “wake-up” at different times when you arise from sleep so its possible that there is a window of time where a dream is in your short-term memory but your hippocampus hasn’t “woken-up” yet and so isn’t able to shift the dream into your long-term memory.

The creation of novel AI software could be the key to cheaper and faster personalised cancer treatment Amelie Heimann

they could bioengineer the nanoparticles slightly differently by changing their size, shape, stiffness, a n d

laboratory testing and it can model the effects of nanoparticles equivalent to in silica testing. Testing nanoparticles with a

Biochemistry, Second Year

esearchers at the University of Bristol have been involved in the creation of EVANO, an artificial intelligence software that is revolutionising the field of cancer treatment. The ground-breaking technology models specific tumours and designs nanoparticles that can combat that tumour. Dr Hauert, from the University of Bristol, stated that through the EVANO platform they have been able to simulate different nanoparticle designs that have previously been ‘impossible to achieve experimentally’ . Nanoparticles are compact molecules that can act as vectors to carry drugs to specific cancer cells. Delivering drugs through nanoparticles has a distinct advantage to free

whole tissue is surknown to f a c e e be inefficient, coating. t Uns stitu plash/ National Cancer In so instead the team In addition, created models of indifferent types of nanoparticles can be constructed dividual cells. The tumour growth such as encapsulated nanoparti- dynamics are simulated using ‘Physcles or self-assembling nanoparti- iCell’ and the nanoparticle paramcles. Self-assembling nanoparticles eters that favour the eradication of harness thermodynamic forces to the cancer cells are selected. The team hope that the platform spontaneously assemble and delivcan be engineered to use data from individual patients and create an exact replica of the patient’s tumour and find the optimum nanoparticle design to successfully erase the tumour. The platform is an opensource software, meaning that it is available for use by other researcher drugs effectively, researchers can ers and the hope is that throughout modify this by external fields or the scientific community the use of this technology will become widely templating. The platform saves time by re- used and effective. The creation of the EVANO platducing the need to extensively test different nanoparticle designs in the form is an immense step forward in laboratory. A major advantage of engineering treatments that are efthis virtual platform is that it min- fective and personalised for cancer imses the high costs of frequent patients. Successfully treating all

Nanoparticles are compact molecules that can act as vectors to carry drugs to specific cancer drug delivery as it greatly increases the pharmacological parameters of bioavailability and drug uptake. A technique known as ‘artificial evolution’ is a way by which the nanoparticles can be engineered to reduce their harm to normal cells, whilst still effectively killing cancerous cells. The researchers found that

Edward Deacon, SciTech Columnist

Pioneering software can grow and treat virtual tumours using A.I

o esity niv

l f Bristo

The team hope that the platform can be engineered to use data from individual patients and create an exact replica

Epi gr

You asked and we answered!

epigram 24.11.2021

types of cancer remains to be one of the greatest enigmas of science and with the field of nanomedicine, we are hopefully one more step forward towards reaching the goal of eliminating this disease.

SciTech 19

epigram 24.11.2021

Bristol scientists test novel radiation mapping at Chernobyl reactor Researchers have been given access to the Chernobyl nuclear facility to help with efforts to decontaminate the site James Emery SciTech Deputy Editor

project funded by the EPSRC-funded Robotics and AI in Nuclear (RAIN) research consortium has seen a team of researchers from the University of Bristol be given access to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) to perform revolutionary radiation mapping. The team from the University is working in conjunction with the

Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants (ISPNPP), based at the Ukraine National Academy of Science, in the wake of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two. This will be the team's fourth visit to Chernobyl, where they have been given access to the control room of failed reactor 4, and also the New Safe Confinement (NSC) which is the protective structure that was erected around the initially constructed ‘sarcophagus’ that entombs the remnants of the reactor that failed in 1986. This joint project has the aim of using cutting-edge robotic systems that use state of the art radiation sensing technology in an effort to determine the merit of using autonomous and semi-autonomous

This will be the teams fourth visit to Chornobyl where they have been given access to the control room of failed reactor 4

This research will have a lasting implication on how old nuclear facilities are decommissioned safely mapping systems in high radiation environments. This technology was created in conjunction with the Oxford Robotics institute and has helped to produce highly accurate models of the Chernobyl facility to help better define the location and amount of residual radiological hazards in the exclusion zone. This new technology is a landmark for both the Bristol team and the ISPNPP in their work to find new ways to decrease the risk involved in decommissioning nuclear facilities and to help the Ukrainian government with the effort to dismantle and decommission the Chernobyl site. This research will be of great help as it is believed that radioactivity levels will change very quickly during decommissioning, and a range of rapid robotically deployed scanning technologies which can quickly alert workers about the changing radia-

tion levels will greatly increase the level of safety. When asked about the collaboration, Mr Leonid Yakovenko, Head of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Radiation Safety Shop, said: 'The success of this important research owes itself to the effective collaboration between the scientists of ISPNPP, the University of Bristol, and the specialist engineers from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Together we have been able to carry out

novel experiments using pioneering technology to assess the radiation situation at the Chernobyl NPP and, particularly, inside the new safe confinement zone.' This research has allowed the Bristol team to gather data that can be passed along to the Ukrainian government which will help them deal with the damaged reactor and will have lasting implication on how old nuclear facilities are decommissioned safely.

Epigram/ University of Bristol

University of Bristol bring cuttingedge robotics to nuclear research versity of Bristol’s launch of four new Hot Robotics facilities hopes Our SciTech Editor, to aid ground-breaking nuclear reSarah, explores the search. University of Bristol's Funded by the Engineering and new 'Hot Robotics' Physical Science Research Council (EPRC), these University of Bristol facilities for nuclear sites are strategically placed around research the UK in Somerset, Oxfordshire, Sarah Dalton Whitehaven and Cumbria. SciTech Editor Each facility, available for use by ollowing the launch of the the whole UK nuclear energy comUniversity of Bristol’s four munity, provides technology and test new ‘Hot Robotics’ facilities, spaces that would otherwise be very Bristol leads the way in UK atomic difficult and expensive to access. research. Academic researchers can work di‘Hot Robotics’ facilities, known rectly with engineers and operations formally as the National Nuclear staff, hiring ground-breaking equipUser Facility for Hot ment such as quadRobotics (NNUFruped robots and HR), exist to drones, as well make robotas bringing ics, drones their own and testtechnoloing spaces gy to test more readin different ily available simulated ento academic vironments. and industry reThe University r Unspla sh/Kilian Karge searchers. The Uniof Bristol’s Fenswood

These facilites provide technology and test spaces that would otherwise be very difficult and expensive to access facility, based close to home in Somerset, offers 245 acres of space for testing drones and ground robots. Professor Rob Buckingham, Director of the Oxfordshire-based facility, explained that: 'The purpose of NNUF is to accelerate the development of capability and capacity in the supply chain, from invention to scaled-up operations, in robotics and smart machines.' Professor Tom Scott, NNUF-HR Academic lead from the University of Bristol added: 'As someone who has worked in the field for many years, the fact we now have these four fantastic facilities and a website where users can actually select from a wide range of cutting-edge equipment to hire, I would say is truly a game-changer for the industry.' By allowing academics and in-

Epigram/ University of Bristol dustry researchers to work together, these ‘Hot Robotic’ sites ensure that the robotic systems being developed address real industrial challenges.

By allowing academics and industry researchers to work together 'Hot Robotic' sites ensure the robotics being developed address real industrial The introduction of a Hot Robotics website is another first-of-its-kind for the industry. Following the nu-

merous COVID-19 lockdowns, this virtual addition allows users to view, book and learn more about the technology and facilities at the four sites from their own homes. 'We’re pleased to see the NNUF-funded Hot Robotics facilities come online, offering a wide range of innovative robotics equipment to serve key nuclear industry clusters around the country,' the NNUF Management Group told Epigram. 'We urge both academia and industry to make use of these facilities and look forward to seeing researchers advance the technologies to solve challenges in the nuclear sector.'

Arts

Editor Digital Editor Deputy Editor Deputy Editor

Twitter: @EpigramCulture

Katie Chalk Greg Evans Oscar Hunter Kate Bowie

Looking back: the role of poetry in decolonising Bristol A dive into the Epigram Archives reveals an article written by Gemma Smith in 2012 under the headline 'Black Culture championed at Bristol Poetry Night'. This was ironically held at, what was, Colston Hall. Milan Perera explores the history of the arts within the decolonising movement in Bristol. Milan Perera Arts Writer

ate has a strange way of surprising us. Isn’t it ironic that an article that was penned almost ten years ago on a celebration of Black Poetry and spoken word should be held at a venue that was named after the slave trader, Edward Colston? Being one of the celebrated sons of Bristol, his philanthropy was written of in glowing terms in the city annals. There are schools, roads and towers named after him. His bronze statue in the city centre dominated the sightseeing trail. It is almost unthinkable that a city

Epigram/ Lucy O'Niell

which prides itself in its progressive politics, should associate itself with the legacy of Edward Colston whose name appears proudly on the front entrance of the largest concert venue

unveiled its new name, Bristol Beacon. Miles Chambers, the celebrated Bristol based poet hosted the Bristol Poetry Night at then Colston Hall

ly proud of her adopted city, Bristol where she has been living for the last 10 years. When the statue of Colston came down with a metallic clang, the poet was moved to compose this

in Bristol. An intense public discourse ensued over the name of the flagship concert venue in Bristol. In 2017, the Bristol Music Trust which oversees the running of Colston Hall, made the pledge to change the name of the venue by spring 2020. In the meantime, it was undergoing an extensive refurbishment and it seemed all the more appropriate to begin a new chapter of this celebrated concert venue on a clean slate. The esteemed Bristol band, Massive Attack refused to play at the venue while it bore the name of a slave trader. With the events that unfolded in the city centre in June 2020, it was only a matter of time when it would assume a new identity. Black Lives Matter campaigners toppled the monument to Edward Colston and dragged it through the city centre to be hurled unceremoniously into the harbour. By autumn 2020, the concert venue

nearly ten years ago. The theme of the night was ‘Freedom' in view of the Black History Month. Fast forward ten years to that eventful Sunday afternoon in College Green, where Miles Chambers recited the emotive poem, ‘Hoodwinked and bamboozled'. It was nothing short of a battle cry for the events unfolded in the afternoon which saw the sinking of Colston statue in the river. The final words of that poem had an added poignancy for that occasion

powerful poem which taunts Edward Colston for all the miseries he is responsible for. The final stanza reads:

Do you still judge me by the colour of my skin, / If you do, / Tell me why / Why, / Why

Colston, I can’t get the sound of you from my head. / Countless times I passed that plinth, / Its heavy threat of metal and marble. / But as you landed, a piece of you fell off, broke away, / And inside, nothing but air. / This whole time, you were hollow

Chambers was not the only poet to muse over those seismic events. The poet Venessa Kissule is extreme-

The message could not be clearer. The directors Ingrid Sinclair and Simon Bright moved to Bristol in

which simply said

2003 from Zimbabwe. The couple launched the Afrika Eye festival which was dedicated to African cinema. The meteoric rise of the festival was such that it currently stands as the most prominent celebration of African cinema and culture in the South West. The year 2010 saw some of the most seismic events in Northern African history with the unfolding of Arab Spring. Afrika Eye festival in 2011 had a central theme; revolution. The festival screened movies such as “No More Fear” which explored Tunisian revolution in depth. After long hiatus of two years due to Covid-19, Afrika Eye is back this year with a week of movies and documentaries screened at cinemas across Bristol from 8th – 16th of November. This year, university of Bristol AfroLit Society and LGBTQ+ Society joined forces with Afrika Eye for a movie night exploring LGBTQ themes in African culture. (hosted on the 11th of November at The Cube Cinema on Dove Street, Stokes Croft). Difficult Love was an intimate portrayal of difficulties faced by black lesbians in South Africa. This visceral movie brings to attention issues rarely discussed issues in the “polite conversation.” The matters that were discussed in sotto voce in small conclaves are now announced from the rooftops, especially regarding Black history and Black culture. How have times changed? The road is long, but it appears that we are at the hesitant beginnings of a journey upwards.

Arts 21

epigram 24.11.2021

Despite leaps and bounds, the Arts industry is still fundamentally classist Oscar Hunter

Co-Deputy Arts Editor

espite the fact that I speak like I have just walked off the set of one of the BBC’s latest period dramas, I actually grew up quite poor. My mother was a single parent, and she was an amazing one, but even she couldn’t make money appear out of thin air. When I was maybe five or six years old, she bought me a book: it was the first in the Beast Quest series (which I’m sure many people around my age would have read). This started a love affair with literature and the arts that is still going strong today.

The unfortunate thing, however, was that it wasn’t easy for me to access the things that I was passionate about. When I was younger, government cuts and profit motives meant that my local library was in disre-

my personal experience, resources to access these things are too expensive for working class people, not to mention the fact that sometimes the world these things exist in are designed to make working class peo-

kick me out for being too poor! Of course, nobody did, but the etiquette, rules, and general fanciness of a theatre was all designed for the rich, so it made me feel like it wasn’t ‘mine’ when arts should be for everyone.

The arts industry will never be fully equal unless the ancient barriers of etiquette and cost are broken. pair and even local theatre was too expensive for my mum to afford for us to go. I was incredibly lucky that my dad was a huge fan of literature, and my mother of theatre, so I did have a certain amount of access to these things: old tapes of plays, or my dad’s battered copies of Nineteen-Eighty-Four ( which I still have a copy of!) and Wuthering Heights. The unfortunate fact is that the world of the arts is still classist. From

ple uncomfortable. I can remember when my aunt came to visit us when I was about 11 years old, and she had tickets for her, my mother and I to see a production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Savoy theatre in London. It was the most opulent venue my little eyes had ever borne witness to, and it terrified me. Every time I would even go to the toilet, I was scared someone would come and

Don’t get me wrong, there is outreach being done by certain groups to help combat this. For example, the English National Theatre frequently give tickets for matinee performances of operas away (that is how I learned that I don’t like opera!) but the arts industry will never be fully equal unless the ancient barriers of etiquette and cost are broken. It may be a long and arduous process, but it is a vital one.

Epigram/Oscar Hunter

The Arts world is trying to shed its' reputation as the playground for the rich and privileged, but has it succeeded?

Editors' Picks: Bristol Arts Venues Some prolific, some obscure; some central, some remote: here are the Epigram Arts Team's top picks for cultural hotspots in the city.

Kate Bowie

Greg Evans

Smoke and Mirrors Comedy and Magic Theatre Pub Denmark St, BS1 5DQ

The Arnolfini The Harbour, BS14QA

Co-Deputy Arts Editor

Sophie Sherman Arts Subeditor

The Arnolfini is a Bristol institution. Standing proudly on the Harbourside, it is the place for internationally renowned contemporary art in Bristol. You won’t want to miss the Stephen Gill retrospective, showing until January.

Co-Deputy Arts Editor

Trinity Community Arts Trinity Rd, BS20NW

The Last Bookshop Park St, BS1 5JN The £3 bookshop on Park Street is the perfect place for book lovers on a student budget! They have a wide range of both fiction and non-fiction, and believe it or not, it’s all £3! The staff are always very helpful, and the atmosphere inside is cozy, 10/10 would recommend! Epigram/May Garland

Trinity Community Arts is a chapmpion of true community engagement recongised in its recent win at the Bristol Life Awards. Showcasing everything from immersive audio experiences to multi-genre club events, there is something to involve every student. Though it is a little further out from the traditional student hotspots, it is well worth a visit by bus! Epigram/Katie Chalk

Epigram/Flora Pick

The Island is a group seeking to renovate forgotten or neglected spaces, offering them to artists/dancers/creatives to show off their work. These exhibition spaces serve a variety of functions — transformed into warehouses, as well as dance studios and music rehearsal rooms. A previous exhibition was Paige Tashner’s ‘Bristol Boo’ installation at Ashton court: an interactive sculptural giant cat, tapping into the soaring rates of pet ownership in Britain over the last two years.

Yes, ‘comedy’ ‘magic’ and ‘pub’ in one sentance– could you improve this venue if tried? This cosy pub not only offers local ales and reasonably priced pizza but boasts a secret door which opens into an 1920’s themed theatre. From there, you can enjoy an array of comedians, close-up magic and burlesque. Just be warned of a comedian-call-out if you sit at the front (I speak from distressing experience).

Oscar Hunter

Arts Editor

Epigram/Katie Chalk

The Island Nelson St, BS1 2BE

Katie Chalk

Digital Editor

Arts 22

epigram 24.11.2021

Abstract and Acessible Theatre? In conversation with Director Guillame Pige Guillame Pige is the Artistic Director of Theatre Re, one of the UK's leading visual theatre companies nearing it's tenth year. But how can such experimental theatre remain relevant and accessible to audiences? Katie Chalk Arts Editor

t’s simple — not simplistic — but simple. It’s grounded in something that’s really real, that everyone shares.' This is how Theatre Re’s director Guillame Pige describes Birth, the company’s latest production which toured to Bristol’s Circomedia during October. Birth is a moving piece of visual theatre exploring intergenerational relationships and the secrets and taboos concealed within families, most poignantly in the performance, misscarriage and infant loss. On a chilly autumnal morning in the garden of Boston Tea Party on Park Street, less than twenty four hours after seeing the production myself, I was curious to ask its director about the influences behind the striking work. Guillame reveals the company worked with organisations ‘Anyone Any Mum’ and ‘Aching Arms’ ‘To make sure that we were true, faithful and respectful about these experiences’.

Credit: Mark Dawson This interdisciplinary practice is not isolated to one project, however, but a consistent part of the company’s creative process. ‘We collaborate with various experts from different fields who are not necessarily from a theatre background and that’s really important because otherwise we could just lock ourselves in a room and think about poetry! We would be discon-

nected and I really think that for the poetry to be relatable and accessible, it needs to be grounded in something real. ‘The show is a good example of that, it’s nothing but naturalistic, you’ve got this enormous sheet flying around, so nothing is naturalistic in terms of style, and yet it is very real, and I think it’s because it is grounded in truth.’ However Guillame reveals the industry-wide criticism of work

Credit: Pamela Raith

deemed too audience-centric within experimental theatre. ‘There is, in the industry, the word “commercial”, as soon as there is something that is very accessible, that reaches people, people say “ah it’s commercial!”, as if it’s a bad word. As an experimental theatre company you shouldn’t be commercial and I really question that. For us, being “commercial” means we are accessible, that people will engage with our work’. There is the accusation that commercial work involves ‘spoon-feeding’ the audience but as Guillame reveals ‘Sometimes I find myself watching pieces and I have no idea! That’s maybe the point, to stimulate me intellectually, and I get that, I think it's great it's just not the type of work that I’m interested in’. Accessibility in a more practical sense is a relatively new focus for the company arising out of BIRTH’s run at the Edinburgh Fringe. The show attracted many deaf artists and audience members because word had spread that the work was accessible without the need for British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation. 'It’s so visual and we mainly communicate through what people see. It’s just so direct, and I think it is accessible to people who haven’t been to the theatre before’ Guillame notes Vamos theatre, a fully masked company based in

Worcester as one of the key inspirations for Theatre Re’s progression toward further accessibility. Training is one of the most important ways they plan to do this. ‘Because we come from such a specific movement language, all the people we work with must have trained. The more that we can open up the training to a wide range of people who may not have heard of our work before or may not have been interested in our work before, then a journey can start. ‘But that takes funding!’ He adds, humorously. ‘As an industry as a whole, if you are in a position of receiving regular funding from the Arts Council, for example, its so important that you provide opportunities like BSL-interpreted post-show discussions and accessible workshops, for example. I think it should be mandatory. But obviously it just takes time’. It is clear that training provides the doorway through which people can get into the industry and if that door is closed to a lot of people, it makes the pool of individuals who are able to make work very small. ‘Then voices aren’t being heard and who is allowed to speak? And therefore who isn’t?’ He is, however, optimistic. ‘It's definitely happening. There's a sense of responsibility I think. It just takes time.’

Arts 23

epigram 24.11.2021

The Parthenon Sculptures: a stolen symbol of imperialism? Sophie Sherman weighs in on the still ongoing debate as to the true home of the Parthanon Sculptures which now has been raging for over two centuries. Sophie Sherman Arts Sub-editor

n early October of this year, an advisory board at UNESCO voted unanimously to issue an official recommendation strongly urging the British Museum to respond to Greece’s plea to have the remaining section of the Parthenon façade Marbles returned. Successive Greek governments have petitioned for the returning of the marble sculptures ever since they were taken from Greek soil in 1801 by the Scottish archaeologist and nobleman Lord Elgin. Urgency for their restitution has also heightened recently due to surfacing photos in 2018 of water leaking into the Greek galleries in

the British Museum. This dispute ultimately is rooted in the debate surrounding how we define ‘legally acquiring’ cultural property from a nation. It is vital to understand that the Ottoman Empire occupied Greece from the 15th Century. Lord Elgin did not receive permission from the Greek government to remove sculptures from the Parthenon; it was by the Ottoman Sultan Selim III. Recent restitution debate also concerns Elgin’s interpretation of his special permission, that allowed for British archaeolo-

gists to ‘take away some pieces of stone with old inscription and figures.’ What does some constitute? Does take away mean permanent or temporary removal? It is also abundantly clear that the British nobleman did not remove the Parthenon Marbles solely to protect them from damage (during a time of ensuing battle between the Venetians and Ottomans at the end of the 17th Century). The marbles were put on public display in Piccadilly, London in 1807, and in 1816 Elgin sold them to the British national collection for

a hefty sum. Elgin’s expeditions to Greece had landed him in huge debt, therefore, was this all not just a way of repaying his built-up expenses whilst earning recognition? These marbles are fundamentally a symbol of British imperialism no doubt, but why does this grant us any legal or official grounds to withhold them from their place of origin? This article aims to demonstrate that the British Museum have actively chosen to ignore certain pivotal questions in their stubborn refusal to cooperate. Were the people in pow-

Credit: Cailtlin Philips

Mythology reads for autumn evenings

Psychology Conversion MSc With

the

recent

revival

retellings

there

are

plenty of options to choose from, whether you’re hoping to escape to ancient Greece, to our own corner of the British Isles, or further across the world.

A Thousand Ships — Natalie Haynes Natalie Haynes has been described

as the nation’s great muse and of her three novels, A Thousand Ships showcases exactly why. Following the women of Greece and Troy through the 10 years of the Trojan war covered in the Iliad, Haynes gives each of her characters a distinct and clear voice while managing to craft a beautifully told and often haunting novel.

Sophie Steatful

mythical

The debut work from writer Bolu Babalola, Love in Colour takes some of the best known stories from mythology and reimagines in a collection of vibrant and striking storytelling. Including folktales from West Africa, the Middle East, and ancient Greece, each short story here sparkles. The format of the collection makes it one that’s easy to drop in and out of, perfect for those weeks when you might only have a short amount of time to escape.

CIRCE — Madeline Miller Madeline Miller’s second Greek retelling, Circe weaves the story of the goddess featured in The Odyssey into an enchanting and gripping novel. Shortlisted for the Women’s Price, this is one of the definitive novels of the Greek revival. Featuring many of the best-known figures from the Greek myths in new and often surprising ways, Circe and her oft-forgotten story take centre stage to exceptional dramatic effect.

Set in the southwest of England in the ancient kingdom of Dumnonia, Lucy Holland’s novel is a sweeping and engaging tale of identity, magic, and connection to home. If you don’t know a huge amount about the folklore of the southwest, Sistersong, a retelling of the folk ballad ‘The Twa Sisters’, is an excellent place to start.

Sophie Steatful

Sophie Stratfull

Love in Colour — Bolu Babalola

Sistersong — Lucy Holland Sophie Steatful

Sophie Steatful

As the evenings get steadily darker, the weather gets colder, escaping to the world of ancient mythology can provide a perfect distraction from the oncoming winter

er from foreign soil? If so, were they unanimously/democratically elected? We must also pay attention to the immeasurable, both political and cultural, importance these marbles symbolise to the people of Greece. The Parthenon was constructed between 447-432 B.C.E., a period of military and artistic triumph – the Golden Age of Ancient Greece. Therefore, UNESCO has intervened because it acknowledges this is a matter of cultural property acquired through illicit means, and/or, during a period of colonisation.

BOOK CORNER

Film&TV

Editor Ben Carpenter Digital Editor Madeleine Ellis Deputy Editor Isha Vibhakar

Twitter: @Epigramculture

360 issues over 33 years: A reflection on our past & the power of the visual arts They say nothing lasts forever; dreams change, trends come and go, but Epigram never goes out of style

Ben Carpenter

Film & Television Editor

ead Calm. This was the feeling in Epigram's media suite on a Saturday afternoon; as well as the 'film in focus' in the first review I stumbled upon when digging through Epigram's archives. To add further coincidence, Dead Calm (1989) was one of the first film recommendations I ever received from my mum. 'Neill Down’ states the title; a witty homage to the film's star Sam Neill. I like to think we haven’t lost such wit 32 years later. Whilst flicking through hundreds of issues, spanning decades of university life and presenting the voices of Bristol students come and gone, it became clear to me that Film & Television differed largely from other sections. Aside from lacking its own exclusive space until the early 00s (being grouped with the Arts for the better part of 15 years), the energy of the section felt just as palpable in the 1988 prints as it does now. A timeless energy, maintained not just by the love and care of so many writers and editors but by the power of the projects themselves. A review for Heathers (1989), a cinema listing for Clueless (1995) and an interview with the directors of The Blair Witch Project (1999). These were just a few of the pieces I discovered. Popular Culture has a hold unlike anything else. In fact many would argue popular culture IS the culture. When reading through various sections in older prints I encountered a range of stories I had

never even heard of. From Maggie Thatcher being discussed as the new chancellor of the university in 1992 to the wrecking of Wills Hall, these are shocking events that I doubt you even knew occurred; fleeting stories that failed the test of time. But there is something to be said of film and its permanence. Despite the enormous developments we have encountered in the last 30 years in society, politics and technology, the safety of the arts re-

mains as constant and relevant as ever. In evaluating these past editions, I found myself evaluating my position as editor; as one of many editors in Epigram's 33 years and counting. The love and care I feel for Film & TV and it’s resonance is well known to my peers and loved ones, and I can only hope that comes through in my tenure as section editor, the same as it did for my predecessors. I remember watching Dead Calm

for the first time. I remember falling in love with Clueless. I remember discussing The Blair Witch with my friends. Gosh my mum was 7 months pregnant with me when she saw the film (which she maintains is more silly than it is scary). As one news story jumps to the next and trends constantly change, visual arts maintain their position as markers in our lives and maintain their impact for decades to come, influencing perspectives and providing

stability for many. Whilst many of these copies will remain an artefact of their time, tucked safely away until the next anniversary print in years to come, the passion for Film & TV continues to trickle down, all the way from Issue 1 to Issue 360. In every word, the devotion of every writer to grace these pages remains, despite some musty smells and an ink stain here and there.

‘It was the first time that my fluency as a non-native English In her first column, Evelyn reflects on her youth and how her interest in film helped her learn English

Evelyn Heis

Film & Television Columnist

was eight when I first came to the UK. I had been taking English lessons for two years in a Spanish private school, preparing for what my mum described as my ‘first

speaker had been recognised'

big move!’ (She had clearly overlooked the fact that we had migrated from Argentina six years earlier.) I remember being excited for my new life - regardless of the fact that I would be leaving my dad and other family - and I anxiously awaited all the new friends and the endless world of possibilities the UK had to offer. So, my mum, step-dad, younger brother and I moved to Wales in

the Summer before I turned nine. During those years, my mum would often nag me about watching television with subtitles, arguing that they would help me to better understand things, and - she’ll be happy to hear this – they did. In adjusting to my new Welsh life, I watched everything with subtitles, hoping that I would soon be able to speak like my classmates. I visit-

ed the library frequently, immersing myself in storybooks I’d never had access to, and thus, my love for literature flourished. The books I’d take out I would devour in seconds, and I’d spend countless hours reading to my brother with my Peppa Pig night light. At that age, if I wasn’t playing outside with friends, I was curled up in bed watching a movie - with subtitles - or writing silly stories for

my brother. I haven’t changed much since. One particular day in October, my teacher, Mr. Allers, invited me to an after-school Film Club he had just initiated. Here, we would watch films weekly and then review them.

Read the full column on Epigram's website!

Film&TV 25

epigram 24.11.2021

GANEF: An Interview with Director & Screenwriter Mark Rosenblatt

Met Film /IM

t h e

Met Film /I M

Isha: GANEF explores the idea of generational trauma internalized in the mind and body through Mrs. Hirth’s PTSD and her Holocaust tattoo. What was your inspiration behind this particular character development? Mark Rosenblatt: I grew up in a family of Holocaust survivors, particularly on my maternal side. My grandmother wasn’t in the concentration camps, but she was born in Frankfurt and hid across Europe during the war when she was about

of her relatives were murdered. By the time I arrived, people in my family were nearly 40 years into rebuilding their lives. My grandmother never got an education because she was in hiding during the war. She always felt low self-esteem and confidence and found it hard to trust people outside her family due to the formative experiences in her early youth. She felt so much shame that she didn’t even particularly want to tell her stories when they were actually so extraordinary. And then I realized how much guilt and shame there was about survival and also got the sense, from a very young age, of how lucky I was to be alive and how quickly the world can

Isha: Izabella Dziewanska, who plays the little girl in your film, was an absolute delight to watch, especially because of the way she expresses and leads the narrative through her eyes. Do you have any specific comments for the brilliant performances delivered by your female-dominated cast? Mark Rosenblatt: Although we got very lucky to get all the actors, it was a blessing we found Izabella because she was really exceptional. She was 5 when we cast her and 6 when we shot the film. And you’re right- when we watched her on the monitor, we looked at each other in disbelief because she played

scenes

with so much clarity with thoughts and moments in her eyes, which is a feat for someone so young. Sophie McShera and Lydia Wilson were the first people I offered the roles to and they accepted. I knew Lydia from working in the theatreshe was someone who could deliver very subtle, high-frequency emotional performances where you could sense a lot going on under the surface even though what she was doing was very subtle and also the fact that she’d be able to play a glamorous surface which masked something underneath. With Sophie – I knew the cleaner needed to be someone who was playful and loveable. Although I was worried that she would turn down the role because she has been playing a similar character for so long in Downton Abbey, she saw it as a very different challenge. Isha: The short ends on a cliffhanger which echoes the dialogue “People don’t need to see what they don’t need to see”. Would you say that was intentional? Mark Rosenblatt: I always imagined the film ending as it did- trying to suggest an arc where you begin with a very free, playful, loving relationship and at the end I wanted to show how the little girl and the cleaner can no longer even be in the same space; one is in a dark cupboard and the other is on the other side of the cupboard and can’t reach her. We see how the little girl is constricted by anxiety through her short

breath and I wanted to show physically and visually how trauma can work and make you constricted with its effect to make the world feel scary and terrifying and a persecuted place rather than an open and a loving place.

GANEF can be seen in the UK festivals Bolton International FF and OFFLine FF in Birr, Ireland.

Courtesy of IMDB

ith an official selection at 30 film festivals worldwide, including The Academy, BAFTA and BIFA as well as a Special Mention at the UK Jewish Film Festival, Epigram got the wonderful opportunity to interview award-winning British director and screenwriter Mark Rosenblatt for the successful short GANEF (2020). Produced by Dumbfounded, GANEF is a historical drama based on true events, exploring the psychological impacts of generational trauma through its ‘focus on a young girl who starts to believe that her family cleaner is a thief’.

turn against communities. It’s just how trauma just carries on playing out and then gets passed in its way to the children and people who internalize the stories they are told. Similarly, my film is an attempt to represent the aftermath of survival- the quiet space afterwards where smaller domestic details tell a much bigger story of how trauma is inherited.

Film & Television Deputy Editor

12 years old. She fled Germany and reached Antwerp but had to escape again to the South of France and then cross the Alps only to end up living in a convent in Rome pretending to be a Catholic girl until the end of the war. Out of everyone at the convent, only two nuns knew about her Jewish ancestry. Besides her immediate family that survived, a lot

Our Deputy Editor dives deep with the independent filmmaker to discuss the award hopeful Isha Vibhakar

An industry in recovery: Bristol Film & Television scene bouncing back

Evelyn Heis

Columnist, Film & Television

fter the pandemic hit last year, our lives were put on hold, and the world as we knew it changed. At first, unaware that lockdown would last as long as it did, many of us relished the much-needed break; taking the time to rest, learn new things, or get round to doing the things we never had time for. Others, myself included, simply indulged in the films and shows that had been sitting on our ‘to watch’ list collecting dust. Lockdown gave us the opportunity to binge-watch: we had all the time in the world and nowhere to go. It was around this time that Netflix blessed us with one of the most-watched programmes of the year, Bridgerton (2020-), which

undeniably benefited from our hiatus from reality, with 8.2 million British homes tuning in to watch this raunchy period-drama- that was partly filmed in Bristol. The whole world was consuming twice as much media than ever before, with an estimated 60% of UK homes signing up to streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, by September 2020. Despite the successes of the shows

produced pre-pandemic, whose viewings sky-rocketed during lockdown, many of us failed to acknowledge the impact Covid-19 had on the ongoing productions of the Film and TV industry. Particularly in Bristol, home to The Bottle Yard Studios: the West of England’s largest dedicated production space, the three-month pause in filming caused a dip in its annual revenues. Figures dropped from £17 million

Canva

After the pandemic took a huge bite out of industry figures, Bristol is on the up once more.

(recorded in 2019) to an estimated £12.6 million (recorded in 2020-21), though according to Bristol’s Senior Film Manager, Laura Aviles, this was ‘fully expected’: ‘We fully expected to see a dip in Bristol TV and film production spends due to the pandemic forcing a pause in production between March and the end of June last year.’ She remains hopeful, however, stating: ‘What is heartening to see, is that once production resumed, Bristol went on to register similar quarterly levels of spend to previous years for the remainder of the financial year.’ Following the government’s easing of restrictions in the Summer of 2020, Bristol’s film scene made a sweeping comeback, picking up filming and production right where they’d left off. Productions, such as BBC One’s period drama, The Pursuit of Love (2021), starring Emily Mortimer and Lily James, as well as season two of War of the Worlds (2019-), featured on Disney+, were

some of the first titles to kick things back into gear, post-pandemic at The Bottle Yard Studios. But it was productions like Bristol’s Stephen Merchant’s comedy-thriller The Outlaws (2021-) that heavily contributed to the recovery of this artistic sector. Its premiere was a raging success and its reviews highly regarded, righteously bringing Bristol’s Film and TV industry back to life and brightly gleaming as it once did. Since the first quarter of 2021, The Bottle Yard Studios has taken on more film-related projects, including Netflix’s sci-fi thriller The Last Bus (2021) and the upcoming drama series Becoming Elizabeth, that recounts the intricacies of Queen Elizabeth I’s life. It is extremely heartening to see the world return to normal after such uncertain times, but it is even more uplifting to see the industry that helped us get through these challenging times finally recover and do so well.

Film&TV

Editor Ben Carpenter Digital Editor Madeleine Ellis Deputy Editor Isha Vibhakar

Twitter: @Epigramculture

Jameson White

Third Year, Film & Television

Courtesy of IMDB

fter a yearlong hiatus due to obvious reasons, Dune, Warner Bros’ $165 million reimagining of Frank Herbert’s seminal science-fiction novel, has finally been released. In an increasingly-anxious time in cinema history, however, one has the ‘convenience’ of streaming this glossy spectacle online. While it may be far from a triumph, it is my job to urge you to see this film in cinemas. Questions of Dune’s position in the current mediascape of pastiche remakes, spinoffs and cinematic universes seems to have divided critics since the announcement of its production back in 2017. After David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation was labelled by revered film critic, Robert Ebert, as an ‘incomprehensible, ugly, unstructured pointless excursion’, fans of Herbert’s novel seemed confident that the film was ill-fated and destined for failure. After all, Dune is a complex saga – its ambiguous characters, vast worlds and politics of race and leadership demand considerable effort. The new Dune may not be as faithful to Herbert’s vision as Lynch’s version, but it’s in its adaptations where the film shines brightest. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, a French-Canadian director whose rise from arthouse to Hollywood seems, at this point, interminable, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a ducal heir who

trap; the patriarchal Duke murdered and the family hunted down by the ruthless Harkonnen troops. Haunted by visions of a mysterious girl, Paul and his mother flee his castle and take refuge amongst the indigenous Fremen in an attempt to fulfil his messianic destiny to rule Arrakis. Leading a cast so jam-packed with Hollywood royalty that it almost seems excessive, Timotheé Chalamet takes on the character of Paul in one of his most serious roles to date. While his performance seems, at times, a little too ‘coming-of-age’, Chalamet sparkles next to his costar, Rebecca Ferguson, who beautifully conveys the conflict enlisted upon her between motherhood, sisterhood and public duty. There is a scene early on in the film where Paul is instructed by a “Truthsayer'' to place his hand in a mysterious box. When he realizes, however, that the box is in fact a rite of passage, Paul must writhe in silent despair if he is to avoid being pricked by a ‘Gom Jobbar’ – a needle bathed in poison. In this moment of drama, the cross-cutting, acting and cinematography are exceptional, highlighting in measured performances the prophetic curse which plagues the Atreides family. It is also in scenes such as this that Dune reminds the viewer that this isn’t your usual serving of mass-produced Hollywood spectacle, aimlessly plucked from the franchise cattle shed. It isn’t always about the action – there really is a story to behold here.

is summoned to a higher calling after his family are decreed to restore peace to the planet Arrakis. After relocating to the planet, however, the House Atreides finds themselves embroiled in a terrible

Other noteworthy performances include the honorable warrior, Duncan Idaho, played superbly by the Herculean Jason Momoa, and the foreboding ecologist, Dr. Liet-Kynes,

played by former EastEnders’s actress, Sharon Duncan-Brewster. Readers of the novel will notice that rather than opting for a man to don this role, Villeneuve opted for a woman. In embarking on this collaboration, however, Villeneuve and Duncan-Brewster bring something fresh to the table and the essence of the character is beautifully sustained. If something is to be readapted or remade, there is little joy to be had in reanimating a corpse (*cough*, Ghostbusters Afterlife). Dune’s infidelities are what allow for a strong and coherent vision of its lore to take shape as sadly, as influential as it may be, Herbert's novel is anything but coherent. Nobody wants to be bored by the politics of this world - they want a blockbuster film, an audio-visual experience you can really sink your teeth into – and my god, does Dune deliver. Rogue One (2016) cinematographer, Greg Frasier, transports us to a universe that feels truly believable. From its Mesopotamian architecture to its insectile ornithopters, Dune is a masterclass in visual storytelling, it's costumes and set-pieces vignetted in Villeneuve’s iconic palette of subdued, moody colours and textures. It would be appropriate to say that Dune really does feel colossal, a spectacle that was purpose-built for the ‘big screen experience’. Yet, as we lay spellbound at the gargantuan sandworm, gorging into our popcorn and soft drinks as the blockbuster intended, one may find moments of subtlety and patience dispersed amongst the action and the heroism much akin to the arthouse film. While it’s hard not to recognize the semblances of the Star Wars, Star Trek and Mad Max franchises in its tissues, Dune is a lightyear away from the franchise filler we are accustomed to. Dune may be a ‘big film’ but it is also a smart one. Although its enormous Spice-fueled engines may lose momentum towards the second half of its runtime, Dune compels you to feast not only with your eyes, but with your mind. Its lore is faithfully and respectfully translated here, enriched by mesmerizing visuals, career-defining performances and enchanting Zimmerian symphonies.

Courtesy of IMDB

After a range of delays, October saw the release of not one but TWO Timothee Chalamet films, with both Dune & The French Dispatch generating considerable buzz - and we had our critics review both!

Pablo Mogollon

Third Year, Cellular & Molecular Medicine

he French Dispatch is a homage to journalism and the solitary work of creatives, told through a somewhat disorganised collection of stories that incorporate Wes Anderson’s characteristic tone in its most overwhelming nature. Set in the fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé, with all of Anderson’s beloved classical outdated French clichés included, the film details the final issue of 'The French Dispatch', an American magazine led by Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray), as written by his team of journalist confidants, who narrate several separate stories in the 'arts, politics and diverse stories of human interest'. These include a jailed man with an artistic flair (Benicio del Toro), a young revolutionary student (Timothée Chalamet) and his affair with a journalist (Frances McDormand) during the 1968 Parisian student strikes, and the story of a food writer (Jeffrey Wright) entangled in a kidnapping case. With all these segments filmed in varying aspect ratios, color palettes, and even animated sequences, they come together in a seamless and very pleasant fashion thanks to cinematographer and long-time collaborator Robert Yeoman. This anthology approach to the narrative is given through a very extensive and intricate screenplay that I can only imagine must have caused the Searchlight executives some serious distress, as its narrative and dialogue present a lack of cohesion that at certain points might drive the viewer into a hazy under-

standing of the events, resulting in an overwhelming feeling which invites the thought that Anderson may have integrated too many ideas that don’t necessarily work together. This causes a loss of empathy towards the characters, as their backgrounds and developments are depicted through large amounts of dialogue in a very limited space of time. However, a common characteristic that drives Escape the wholeArtists film and its stories is the solitary nature of journalists and creative individuals. Each piece is portrayed in such a way that the principal characters denote a sense of loneliness and solitude, beautifully and movingly exemplified in a sequence involving Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright), as he is asked why his work is usually centered around food. This common emotion through the film acts as compensation for the lack of individual characterisation, further emphasised by the closing sequence of the movie, where a fantastic change in emotional direction drives it to a satisfying close. The film certainly owns Anderson’s characteristic humoristic tone, and involves what can only be seen as an inexplicably star-studded cast - but who wouldn’t want to take part? Anderson has the ability to bring out a facet of the actors they can only portray in a work of his style, as impeccably shown in the film. The French Dispatch is an overwhelmingly grandiose feature that, although clumsy at times, will not fail to attract the affection of fans, and offers an enjoyable experience that brings a breath of fresh air to the standard of contemporary cinema.

Music

Editor Theo Kent Co -Deputy Editor Mia Smith Co -Deputy Editor Emma Pope Digital Editor Josh Templeman

Twitter: @EpigramCulture

Straight outta Bristol: The best acts from the West To mark the 360th issue of Epigram, Alice Loughran takes a look at the best acts to come out of the city

Alice Loughran Second Year Music

ristol has been blessed with a hotbed of talent fostered by its wide range of venues and vibrant student population. Unsurprisingly, many notable artists have come from the city. The lively music scene is synonymous with electronic music and the creation of the Tri-Hop genre.

Massive Attack It's impossible to discuss the Bristol

sound without Massive Attack. Del Naja (3D), Grant Marshall (Daddy G) and Andrew Vowles (Mushroom) kickstarted a new era of music with their creation of the ‘Tri-hop’ genre that is heard throughout the city to this day. It all began in Dug Out, an 80s venue on Park Row next door to what is now The White Hart, with their former collective The Wild Bunch. Following the club’s closure in 1986, they went on to form Massive Attack and their deliberately innovative albums Blue Lines (1991), Mezzanine, (1998) and Protection (1998) plunged them into the spotlight. ‘Teardrop’ and ‘Unfinished Sympathy’, a play on Franz Schubert’s ‘Unfinished Symphony’, are arguably their most popular tracks, with both featuring their signature dub rhythms and soulful vocals. Massive Attack's success didn’t stop there, as their two subsequent albums released in 2003 and 2010 brought their music into the 21st century and made us realise just how

timeless and unique their sound is.

George Ezra The soulful singer-songwriter may not have grown up in Bristol, but he accredits finding his voice to the city. In 2011, he studied at Bristol BIMM (British and Irish Modern Music Institute) whilst immersing himself in the open-mic scene. A year later, he was signed to Columbia Records and dropped out of education. Looking back, he thanks performing at venues such as The Fleece and Gallimaufry in his adopted home for helping consolidate his sound. Despite his hit song ‘Budapest’ boosting him to stardom and being the cause of him winning the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist in 2019, he hasn’t forgotten his Bristol roots: ‘I'm hoping that if I put a thank you to First Great Western on my album sleeve they'll give me some sort of future discount’.

Roni Size The Bristolian jungle extraordinaire, born in St Andrews, spent his youth sneaking around St Paul’s Carnival and utilizing new technology on Gloucester Road. His upbringing was marked by everything from reggae to blues until electronic music swept across the city: ‘One day, our local music shop on Gloucester Road in Bristol got a Yamaha RX17 drum machine, and we’d go in and Credit: Massive Attack, Circa, Virgin

start programming beats on it. We couldn’t afford to buy it – it was a case of going into these environments, or finding someone who could afford the gear, and going round to their house’. In the early 90s, Size formed a collective turned record label Full Cycle which saw him become a pioneer of drum and bass production. By 1997, he was an acclaimed producer championing Roni Size/ Reprazent to an impressive debut album. His eclectic discography boasts many popular tracks like ‘Brown Paper Bag’ and ‘It’s Jazzy’. He spent the start of the century performing at clubs such as Native, a club which you could find on Small Street, and has continued owing his success to the West Country.

Portishead Not to be confused with the nearby coastal town with which it shares its name, Portishead is a Bristolian band formed in 1991. Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley’s ingenious take on electronica attributed to the popularity of the global Tri-Hop genre, and it is said that a young Barrow was inspired by a party at Arnolfini Gallery in 1985. He went on to meet Gibbons in a Bristol jobcentre, where they refined their sound at the renowned Coach House Studios in the heart of Bristol,

right by the Richmond building. Their trademark haunting sound consists of distorted guitar riffs and Gibbons’ soulful voice. Following their success in the 90s, they reunited in 2005 and 2008 for two more innovative percussive albums.

Eats Everything There is much more to Bristol’s rich musical history than the bands. Daniel Pearce, under the alias Eats Everything, began his career at the now-closed Club Loco in Stokes Croft. His 2011 EP Entrance Song pushed his career from the Bristolian borders to the global stage. He has maintained his place in the city with performances in locations such as Lakota and Motion, and at smaller venues such as Elemental in Stokes Croft, where he raised money to combat homelessness. Pearce speaks fondly of Lakota: ‘It was an amazing club and always maintained the same style and vibe; and all of my mates today are people who I met when I was at Lakota so, for me, Lakota means friendship, and the best nights of my life. It means the world to me’. The experienced DJ and producer’s musical beginnings have led him to be one of the biggest names in the house music circuit.

In conversation with the Ghost of Epigram Past Trawling-through the Epigram archives, we found the following 'letter of the issue' from a paper in 1996.

have noticed of late that there are a lot of privileged middle class students with too much money who have decided to become DJs. Bristol is of course already noted for its DJs with the likes of Roni Size, DJ Die and Krust amongst others who have achieved international success with their unique grooves and styles.

What bugs me about the whole thing is that black and white working-class kids from deprived areas like St Pauls and Knowle are scrimping and saving to buy DJ decks, then all of a sudden some coke-snorting middle Englander moves to Bristol from the affluent shires and decides to become a DJ because they see it as a hip and trendy thing to do. Bedrooms all over Clifton and Whiteladies Road are awash with expensive sound equipment, the owners of such hardware haven't got a clue what drum and bass and hip hop are all about.

I mean come on, lets get real, these people went to public schools and pony clubs, such realities, (if indeed we can refer to them as such) are a million miles away from the working-class kids who actually create such music forms as a way of ‘Tellin em like it is.' With love, Steve Jones. To Steve in 1996, I am now writing in a time where the words ‘hip' and

‘trendy' are far from being considered hip or trendy. It may be even more painful for you to hear that Roni Size, DJ Die and Krust are forgotten DnB relics of a former time. However, not everything has changed. The home counties Stoke Bishop DJ that you mention has reached near-mythic levels of cliché, and it still remains that many of these individuals are pretty rubbish on the decks. I for one, am from Sussex, I went to Stoke Bishop, I proudly own some Numark decks, and yes, I am fairly useless with them.

Despite this, decks are much more affordable now than the vinyl turntables and mixers of your day; you can even DJ for free on a phone (yes, you've got a lot to catch-up on), and while music streaming has its drawbacks, it has made all kinds of music accessible to many students. Dj-ing will probably forever be a ubiquitous crutch for UoB posers, but the majority of DJs are thinking only about one thing: the music. With love, Theo Kent.

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‘I'm still just a human being that likes to go for a pint': In conversation with Joy Crookes Co-Deputy Editor

oined by Joy Crookes and her manager Charli in the quiet top room of the Trinity Centre, we chatted before her second tour show later that evening. Coconut water in hand, Joy was incredibly chilled, friendly, and down to earth from the get-go. Open to discussion about the highs and lows of life, Joy and I chatted about the whirlwind since the release of her critically acclaimed album Skin, motherly conversations in nail salons, and the hints of new music on the horizon. Firstly, I wanted to congratulate you on the release of Skin, it’s incredible. How has it been since the release? It’s been really complicated. It’s a little bit like post-natal depression. You work for something for so long, and then you release it and there’s no textbook on how that will make you feel. You would think that every artist has this firework moment, but I think for me the fireworks were in the process of making it as opposed to when releasing it. Obviously, it was super-duper emotional for me to have done so well, but at the end of the day I’ve just worked basically my whole life to achieve a moment, the moment happens, and no one ever told me what that moment afterwards is like. It’s a mixture of feeling like it’s a dream, being so proud, but at the same time trying to navigate those massively overwhelming emotions. It’s almost as if you’ve just given birth and you’ve got post-natal depression. Wow, I can imagine - especially since many of the songs are so intimate it must feel incredibly emotional. How have you felt since releasing such personal songs to the world? It’s beautiful to see how people react, especially live – I had a girl absolutely bawling her eyes out at Skin a couple weeks ago which was kind of insane. It made me feel so happy to know my music was doing that for a listener. I think there’s a huge advantage in sharing your own difficult life experiences, do you think that’s going to be a continuing theme with your new music? I think it’s always been in my nature to write my own music and to be very personal, it’s just how I am as a person. So yeah, naturally I think that it’s always going to be in my music, it just depends how it takes form, and only time will tell how that takes form.

I really loved your YouTube series ‘Anyone But Me’ where you discuss mental health with your mates. How have these conversations as well as the reception of the series impacted you? The conversations impacted me more than the reaction really – having human conversations with people who are sometimes dehumanised. A lot of those people are famous people or people in the public light, and it’s very interesting to know what they go through on a dayto-day basis. I can relate to a lot of that. The actual conversations were really empowering. In terms of the reaction, I think everyone will take it as they will, and I don’t worry about that. I definitely think the reaction was hugely positive, it came at such a crucial time for everyone. Speaking of personal, throughout your music, London has been a central theme. Could you ever see yourself living elsewhere? Probably if I had to, but I’m pretty set in stone with London because it is just my home. Just the streets and the people are what I associate with home. My job involves me being away from home so much that it’s nice to return back and get that grounding that I think I need as a human being. Some people are narcissists, and they don’t need that, they’re fine being anywhere, but that’s definitely not me. When you’re touring do you find you really miss London, or do you get caught up in the whirlwind of the tour? A bit of both, because tour is so allconsuming, but when I do have little moments to myself, I definitely miss home and my family, but at the same time I know that tour only lasts a certain period of time so I try not to miss it too much. How have you found the past two years? You've really used your platform despite the difficulties of the pandemic - through YouTube, live sessions, and then more recently the secret gigs. How has it felt going from the relatively quiet online bits back into touring? It’s been so refreshing, I got pretty sick of the whole behind the screen, lack of intimacy thing, so I’m really happy the intimacy is back. I’m so grateful that that I can connect with people in real life again now. You included quite a few intimate recordings of your family in the album – what did they think of that? Did they know beforehand? My dad was like “is that me?? what??” And I was like yeah! They were just a bit baffled, I think. But also, they know that I’m the type of person who would do something like that, so I don’t think they were that surprised. My dad didn’t know I was recording him, Uncle T was

a voicemail, the interlude before 'to lose them because they’re so unapologetic, someone' was my mum talking to me in and they’re so forgiving. Like we can a nail shop. I just clicked record and I basically get away with doing whatever! accidentally recorded a voice note for Here Charli interjects, laughing, “They’re half an hour. I forgot I was recording so risky as well though in the way that a we got into quite a deep chat. It was the normal show is not..” Yeah, you never day after my ex had moved out of mine, know if it’s going to get shut down, so like only 3 days after we had broken you don’t know if someone’s going to up. I was getting my nails done to try get hurt, you don’t know what the f*ck and feel better, and my mum came with is going to happen, but that oblivion me, and she was just giving me all this makes it so exciting. Knowing that advice so I thought I’d record it. anyone can turn up is kind of cool. Do you get recognised a lot or Where do you think you’ll be can you go to the nail shop without concentrating most of your time in the worrying about that? future after this tour? No, not at the nail shop! I get I'm going on the European tour next recognised here and there, but in year and then we’ve got all the festivals, familiar places to me not so much, no. we’ll probably keep doing secret shows. I wouldn’t like it. I still go to my pub My focus will be on writing because I and people recognise me in the pub really enjoy making music. I’ve already sometimes. When an average person started writing again, actually. logs out at work, they’re not at work Do you think there’ll be new music anymore, except I can’t log out. But again soon? when I’m at the pub I’m Joy, I’m not I think I can take my time; I’m not Joy Crookes. And not to say that they’re going to take the p*ss, but I think I can completely different people but I’m still take my time. Other people might think I just a human being that likes to go for can’t take my time, but I think because of IDLES' homecoming gig. Epigram / Mia Smith a pint. Then again, when they recognise the nature of Skin, it’s not a record that me and get me a Baileys, I’m like you goes away. Obviously, I’m not basing know what I can’t complain, I’ll take it! that on any factual information because Romeos Have you found it easy to stay in it’s only been out forDrug fourStore weeks, but I touch with your fans as you've gained think the nature of the music is it’s not more? music that comes and goes, it’s there to I feel like we (Joy and her team) are stay. really good at maintaining relationships I think when you make music that with fans. That’s the crux of everything. longs for longevity, you buy yourself As much as you can have label backing, more time to make your next record. this that and the other, if you’ve got no If it all falls in the right body of work fans, it doesn’t really mean anything. and it feels consistent, then that’s what They’re so important, they’re the reason matters. why I’m here and I want to honour that. With the promise of new music I give back as much as I can with meet coming, we made our way downstairs and greets, with secret shows. ready for the show. Joy was supported So, tell me about the secret gigs. by Ego Ella May, a fellow South Would you say you enjoy them more Londoner with a jazzy, neo-soul feel and than the standard tour show? a smooth honey voice. Starting us off I f*cking love secret shows. I love with ‘Breathe’, the first track off her EP

Joy Crooks / Sony Music

Epigram speaks to Joy Crookes before the second night of her debut album tour Emma Pope

FIELDNOTES, Ego provided a gorgeous warm up and got us all feeling the beat. The crowd was hushed in anticipation for Joy Crookes to appear. As the distinctive intro of ‘I Don’t Mind’ began to fill the room, Joy was met with a roar of applause as she walked out in a chic suit dress – a bit of a different vibe from the zen coconut-water-drinking Joy I had encountered earlier. After uniting us with the lyrics ‘Birds of feather fly together’, Joy announced that Bristol was her 'favourite city to perform'. Crookes then played a few of her more gentle (though still exceptionally powerful) songs – ‘Unlearn You’ and ‘Poison’, before picking up a guitar for the iconic strum of the breakup song ‘Don’t Let Me Down’. The atmosphere in the room was incredible, and overwhelming even to Joy herself, who mid-song, laughing, said that it was like performing to a group of her mates, and asked the audience to sing along with her. A few songs later, the energy and love in the room was electric, the crowd dancing to the spicy Kendrick Lamar cover/medley of ‘Yah’ and ‘Element’, and my personal favourite track, ‘Kingdom’, which was written the day after the December 2019 vote. Suddenly it was the last track, and Crookes decided to give us a special extra song, moving over to the piano to fill the room with her gorgeous velvet voice singing ‘Theek Ache’. Unable to leave the crowd without another dance, the band returned for an encore and the trombone-filled ‘When You Were Mine’, before the evening drew to a close. Joy Crookes is incredibly talented and will undoubtedly go far, and I for one am definitely excited about what new things she will be doing. She is certainly one to watch.

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All round to Grandmas House

Mia Smith

Co-Deputy Music Editor

hen I catch up with Grandmas House after their set at IDLES on the Downs, the sun is blaring and we’re all very sweaty. ‘Wearing a velvet vest was a mistake’, Zoe laughs. She offers me her sunglasses and I feel like a part of the band. That’s the best thing about Grandmas house everyone’s invited. The trio - Yasmin, Poppy and Zoe - are a refreshing take on postpunk, standing apart from the usual crowd as queer women - and with a song about pasties. They groan as I recount a punk night I went to at The Lanes that was just a bunch of sweaty white guys yelling. ‘I honestly can’t even sit through it anymore’, Zoe says, ‘I’ve seen it all before. If there’s not any women on the line up it’s not a good show’. We chat about the punk scene in Bristol, and whether they feel they’ve had to shout even louder to fit in. Zoe looks to her bandmates: ‘I think we’ve been really lucky, haven’t we? We’ve been given so many

good opportunities’. Yasmin agrees, aligning much of their success to the city: ‘I think Bristol’s good for that, for opportunities’. ‘They’re very supportive of women in music, as they should be!’ Zoe adds. But the band owes their success to far more than the luck Zoe describes - their music is good, and they’re simply lovely people. Their faithful fanbase prove just that, as we’re interrupted midinterview by a festival-goer who’s somehow managed to worm his way into the press area just to tell the band how great they are. He tells Yasmin that she’s got the perfect voice for punk, and she croaks her thanks. ‘It’s been gone for like three weeks!’ she says of her voice. I recall seeing him in the crowd with some impressive dance moves. ‘I saw him too!’ Yasmin laughs, ‘I remember seeing him’.

'If there's not any women on the line up, it's not a good show' I commend the impressive mosh pits induced by their set - ‘yeah, that was insane!’ Yasmin says, ‘from the beginning onwards as well - it usually takes a while to heat up’. The demographic of the Grandmas House crowd couldn’t be wider - from middle aged bearded rockers to a literal child holding onto the barrier. ‘We’ve got the whole range’, Yasmin

Grandmas House / Rosie Carne

Following their triumphant sold-out show at Rough Trade, Mia Smith revisits meeting the trio back in September

laughs. Zoe is in similar disbelief: ‘I didn’t look up for the first three songs because I was trying to get in the zone, and then I looked up and was like oh my God’. It’s inspiring to see the crowd the band attracts, and Yasmin notices too: ‘There was a really good mix of genders in the mosh pit, and that’s what we like to see’. I ask if they plan on moshing to IDLES later. ‘I don’t know if I’m gonna get in it yet’, Zoe says. Yasmin agrees: ‘yeah, people have definitely broken bones in there. We don’t have any time to be breaking bones’.

Grandmas House / Rosie Carne

Grandmas House is more than a band name - it's their actual home. The band really don’t have time for injuries, always busy after moving in together in Bristol. We joke that Grandmas House is more than a band name - it’s their actual home. Poppy explains that they met at university in London, but only started making music a year later. They find that living together helps their creative process, and have been especially grateful to share a space throughout the pandemic. ‘A lot of bands were struggling, but we were just constantly together, and that was good’, Yasmin says, ‘If we have an idea we can just shout down the hall’. Zoe laughs, ‘yeah, or just message the Whatsapp group like ‘come to my room!’’. During lockdown the band tried their hand at making music videos, resulting in the delightfully homemade accompaniment to track ‘Always Happy’. ‘We had a vision

and it actually worked out really well’, Yasmin explains, ‘I didn’t think it was gonna look that good but it did’. In one part of the video the trio smother their faces in clownlike paint as Yasmin sarcastically screams ‘I am always happy’. ‘We got this really cheap face paint, and it was a one take situation’, she explains proudly. Band names are a hard shtick to get right, but Grandmas House get it spot on. The name reminds me of my nan’s house: being fed too much food and playing scrabble. ‘Exactly!’ Yasmin beams, ‘it’s a safe space’. But as an English student, I can’t ignore the missing apostrophe in Grandmas. ‘Oh, does that annoy you?’ Yasmin laughs, ‘Someone else got so upset the other day and I had to apologise’. The band turn to each other, concluding that they aren’t really sure as to why there’s no apostrophe. ‘Just something about it, the aesthetic’, Yasmin offers. I’m willing to let the poor grammar slide - ‘yeah! It’s not like apostrophes are important’, she laughs. Zoe elaborates on the name: ‘we were trying to think of a band name for so long. It got to the point where we were just naming stuff like ‘chair’. Then we had our first gig booked and we had to come up with a name. Our bassist at the time had a tattoo of her grandma’s house on her arm, and one night we were all just really drunk and someone was like ‘grandma’s house!’ and we all gasped - it just clicked’. Before they head off to do other important musician things, I’m desperate to talk about their track

‘pasty’, a rallying cry from a street seller with the loud refrain ‘Pasty, buy one get one free’. Zoe shares the story: ‘when we lived near Castle Park there was a bakery opposite us - I can’t remember what it was called now, but it was near St Nick’s market - it’s not there anymore, it’s a hairdressers now - but anyway, there was a woman who used to stand outside’. Yasmin chimes in, ‘We’d always seem to walk home at the same time, and she’d be there with a tray of pasties just yelling PASTIES, BUY ONE GET ONE FREE, and it would bounce round the whole of St Nick’s.’ It only seemed natural for the band to write a song about her - ‘it just came out of us’, Zoe laughs. But the pasty lady sadly doesn’t know about the song - ‘by the time we started playing it properly the bakery had closed’. ‘We’ll find her’, Yasmin says, half joking, half not. Zoe says that when they do, they’ll bring her on stage as a guest. I suggest they should let her in the actual band, and we decide she’d play synths. Since catching up with the band at IDLES on the Downs, they’ve released their debut EP and embarked on a headline UK tour. As they continue to grow, we’re all invited round to Grandmas House.

Discover all of our recommedations on our Spotify @Epigram_ Music

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Our Digital Editor reviews the R&B slackers' return to Bristol

Josh Templeman Digital Music Editor

ince their formation in 2017, Leicester-based band Easy Life have been making some serious moves. Known for their mellow jams and snappy hooks, the band has been able to capture a cult following, who were out in full force for the Bristol leg of their sold-out tour. Before the group took to the stage, Trinidad and Tobago-born rapper/ producer BERWYN had his chance to make his mark on the already packed venue. In his typical silky and tuneful tones, he treated the crowd to some of his most popular tracks, ‘VINYL’ and ‘ANSWERS’, from his latest album TAPE 2/FOMALHAUT that was released earlier this year. Despite a few hiccups – namely borderline losing his voice a few tracks into the show – one thing is certain: BERWYN gained a decent handful of new fans that evening. The crowd already roused by the

supporting act, eagerness for Easy Life’s arrival grew swiftly. Easy Life have done huge shows before, performing at a range of festivals across post-covid summer – but things have changed since their last visit to Bristol in late 2019. The past two years have been monumental for the group, allowing them to consolidate their unique yet infectious sound, and releasing their album Life’s a Beach earlier this year, to widespread acclaim. The release, amongst the band’s contagious likeability and charisma, has seen the band grow a passionate fanbase, both nationally and globally, as indicated by the sheer demand of the tour. The group didn’t wait to bring their energy to the venue, opening with ‘Pockets’, arguably their most well-known track. In return, the crowd wasted no time in warming up their vocal cords, chanting each and every word back at the group, something that seemed to take the band by shock on the first show of their tour; a feeling they’re going to have to get used to as they continue their tour of the country. The band made sure to give fans everything they could have

hoped for, performing all of their favourite tracks from ‘skeletons’ to ‘have a great day’, and ‘daydreams’ to ‘nightmares’. Fuelled by the infectious energy of the crowd and the many gin & tonics the band were knocking back, the band seemed like they never wanted the night to end – their set nearly totalled two hours by the end. A particular highlight was their performance of ‘Sangria’, with the band needing the support of the crowd to give the song the justice it deserves. ‘Arlo Parks can’t be here tonight – she’s in Birmingham. You guys need to sing her verse for us yeah’, lead singer Murray Mutravers announced, a request the crowd took very seriously, bellowing her section of the song in its entirety (unsurprisingly in a manner not even remotely as smooth and delicate as the immensely talented Londonbased singer). With the venue full to the brim at its 1,600-person capacity and fans screaming their name, you wouldn’t think the band made any enemies that evening. This was however not the case, with certain members of the crowd surely not looking forward to their inevitable return – namely

Easy Life / Darrian Poulsom

Easy Life @ the O2 Academy

the security team. To their dismay, lead-singer Mutravers and drummer Cassidy chose to stage-dive into the crowd multiple times throughout their set, despite the security team imploring them not to on several occasions. The crowd didn’t seem to care in the slightest, happily carrying the duo throughout the pit whilst chanting lyrics at the top of their lungs. These are exciting times for Easy

Life. The band will are due to continue their huge tour around the country, visiting everywhere from London to Southsea, before embarking on a European and US tour next year. With the big moves the group have recently been making, the future can only be upwards; luckily for us all, I’m sure it won’t be long before we get to see Easy Life give another incredible performance in Bristol. Their return can't come fast enough.

Editors' Picks - Burn this album!

While trawling through ancient Epigram editions, Doo-Wops and Hooligans an old music column called 'Burn this album' Bruno Mars Emma Pope, Co-Deputy Editor caught our eye. For this month's Editors' Picks, Devastatingly average pop trash, this album has haunted me since it was we've also chosen the albums we love to hate. Certified Lover Boy Drake

Theo Kent, Editor

It seems wrong to affiliate the word ‘album’ with this disturbing collection of guttural moaning noises. It’s as if it’s a sick joke about how many times Drake can get away with mumbling drivel over endless garden-sprinkler hi-hats and make millions. Twenty-one times apparently, as that’s how long the torturous track list is. Drake’s mumbly voice is so badly auto-tuned it sounds like a combination of an aggravated bee and the noise Wall-E would make if he became truly sentient, and truly irritating. Production aside, these songs are void of any musical interest and feature only the least inspiring, miserable melodies you could imagine. Some might call this album fire, but I think you shouldput it on the fire.

Ed Sheeran

Mia Smith, Co-Deputy Editor

I’ve only heard one song from Ed Sheeran’s latest album, and that’s

all I need to hear. I can’t physically bring myself to listen to any more. ‘Bad Habits’ is objectively the worst song I have ever heard in my entire life. I know you’re probably thinking I’m just jumping on the Ed Sheeran hate train and trying to be the high and mighty music editor who pretends Aphex Twin is the pinnacle of music. But I love pop music. Pop music is great. Ed Sheeran is not. I can stand The A Team, The A Team is fine. But his latest stuff is vapid, overcommercialised and just plain s***. I’m genuinely struggling to put into words how much I hate this man’s music. I would actually buy a physical copy of this album to burn it.

released in 2010. If there ever was an album I’d burn, this would be it. Weak and repetitive song writing combined with underwhelming backing creates a collection of songs which are mediocre at best. Despite the iconic features of Ce Lo Green and B.O.B., there is only one song that is slightly bearable when it comes on at the end of the night in lounge (‘Runaway Baby', of course). Throughout the past decade, Bruno Mars’ debut album has been overplayed by almost every media outlet there is, giving us no escape from the disjointed cringeworthiness. Tossed it in the trash? Yes, I did.

The Big Day

Chance The Rapper

Josh Templeman, Digital Editor

Did you know Chance the Rapper is married? Did you know Chance the Rapper loves his wife dearly? If you didn’t know before, you’ll definitely know after listening to this album. But in all seriousness, this album has zero redeemable qualities; the production is monotonous and un-

inspiring, Chance’s flows are lazy, and the subject matter is inexcusably repetitive. Off the back of dropping two great mixtapes, Coloring Book and Acid Rap, the hip-hop world had high hopes for this project. However, not even the album’s glowing feature list, which included artists like Ari Lennox, Smino and Gucci Mane, could save this album from being the absolute calamity that it was. At a lengthy 22 tracks long, The Big Day leaves listeners wondering when the pain will stop, with the album leaving you wishing Chance would do acid just one more time, restoring him to his musical glory days. Burn this album, blaze it, throw it into hot lava – in fact I don’t care the lengths you need to go to, just do everything you can to erase any memory of this album from the history of the Earth.

Sour

Olivia Rodrigo Chezelle Bingham, Subeditor

Can we stop pretending that Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour is anything but a generic indie pop album? As much as it may be Tik-Tok acclaimed, I, as a proud pop music supporter, have never been able to get behind Rodrigo and her re-used, repetitive kinda-rocky, kinda-poppy, kinda-boring anthems. Of course, originality in music is not something that is always necessary, but with the world constantly crying Rodrigo’s name, I came out of Sour underwhelmed with its predictability, bored of Rodrigo singing in cursive, and thanking God that it was only eleven tracks long. I get it, Olivia, you had a bad break up, but if I have to hear one more person scream ‘like a damn sociopath’ on the dance floor I think I’ll tear my hair out.

Sport

Editor Digital Editor Deputy Editor Investigations Editor

Nischal Schwager-Patel Artemis Denton Lexi Bothamley-Dakin Charlie Wilbraham

Twitter: @EpigramSport

Epigram/Nischal Schwager-Patel

‘If you don't do this, the club dies': The story of the Ashton Gate Eight, Bristol City’s saviours

In honour of our 360th issue, Epigram remembers the day Bristol almost lost one of its football clubs

Nischal Schwager-Patel Sport Editor

he last 40 years have been a rollercoaster ride for Bristol City. Nine promotions and relegations in the football pyramid, a record three Football League Trophies and a rebuilt state-of-the-art stadium with the facilities to match. The Robins have been through a lot - but they would have never experienced any of it without the Ashton Gate Eight. To most people, the Ashton Gate Eight is no more than a catchy phrase and a nice bit of rhyming. But to everyone connected to the club and the city, it represents the reason Bristol City are alive today and why Bristol has two clubs instead of one. The 1980s were a period of turbulence for City. Having spent three seasons in the top flight - their longest stint in 68 years - the Robins faced consecutive relegations in 1980 and 1981 and were heading for a third drop. Now down in Division 3 the problems extended off the pitch, with the club in real financial

peril due to the mix of hefty player contracts and declining gate receipt income. At the start of 1982, Bristol City were in the relegation zone and £850,000 in debt, supposedly losing £4,000 a week as they spiralled downwards into despair. Relegation was one thing, but liquidation? That would be the final nail in the tragic coffin. As the club’s financial situation declined day by day, bankruptcy and collapse looked imminent. There were few feasible ways to keep the club alive and the end was nigh. Or so it seemed. Geoff Merrick, Jimmy Mann, Trevor Tainton, David Rodgers, Gerry Sweeney, Peter Aitken, Chris Garland and Julian Marshall. They were eight of Bristol City’s key players, who had been there through the joys of promotion and the pain of relegation. Players who had spent over a decade in BS3, captained the club and helped them rise through the divisions during the seventies. The octet were in the midst of a relegation battle, but in February 1982, they became the focus of a different battle for survival. Bristol City were on the verge of bankruptcy and their last chance to avoid extinction lay in the hands of the players. In order for the club to survive, the eight players had to terminate their contracts and leave

the club. It may not seem so dramatic in the context of the modern game, but football was a different ball game back then. These were not multimillionaires who could easily jump ship to another club - these were working men playing to survive, with families to feed and mortgages to pay. It was a life-changing decision for the players and the club. One

‘None of us wanted to leave but everybody wanted Bristol City to remain.’ of them had to fall for the other to survive, and with time ticking on the club’s lifespan, an agreement had to be made imminently. Merrick, one of the eight and also the club’s captain, revealed in 2017 just what it meant for him. Speaking to BBC Sport, he explained: ‘I had a family, three kids, a mortgage. I think I lost about a stone in weight, it was devastating. None of us wanted to leave - but everybody wanted Bristol City to remain. The press came and took pictures of our houses, they sort of portrayed us as being very wealthy and the reason Bristol City were going under. But the last contract was the best contract I had ever signed. We weren't earning a fortune whatsoever. ‘But we didn't want Bristol City to go out of business. We were all ardent City fans. We were

kids who had grown up and spent all our life at Bristol City so, obviously, we sort of went along with it.’ Discussions between the club and the players were tense, as multiple offers put on the table were rejected. There was not long left, but finally, on the morning of 3rd February 1982, the eight players agreed and tore up their contracts. Bristol City had survived their greatest relegation battle of all. In the end, the players accepted a £10,000 settlement each and the gate receipts from a testimonial match. The octet underwent the biggest sacrifice possible for them in conceding their contracts and in turn their professional football careers. Bristol City would live to see another day, but many of the players would never reach the same heights again. Jonathan Pearce, a commentator for Match of the Day and Bristol City fan, was working for BBC Radio Bristol at the time and saw the situation unfold first-hand. ‘[They had] absolutely no choice’. Pearce said. ‘If you don't do this, the club dies, the fans will suffer and other younger players will suffer - and it's your responsibility to save them. Jump out of the lifeboat and give your place to someone else so you can save them.' He added: ‘There was absolutely no regard to their families and what they were going through in life. These weren't players

who were on £50,000 or £100,000 per week, these were players who had mortgages to pay and would have to keep working or the rest of their lives.’ Bristol City would be relegated at the end of the 1981/82 season, making it three consecutive relegations and a first ever appearance in England’s fourth tier. It would be eight years before they would return to the second division, made even sweeter by the fact that they were facing total extinction not long before. The Robins rollercoaster would continue, and how. Ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Ashton Gate Eight, their impact can be seen today at the club. Bristol City are now a stable Championship side playing at a modernised Ashton Gate which holds 27,000 fans. That same stadium has been used by the Bristol Bears, business people and even the NHS to help the UK’s COVID-19 vaccination programme. With a brand new training centre to match, the future looks bright. While the club has moved onwards and upwards, the influential octet have not been forgotten. Last season’s home shirt commemorated them with a special tribute, they have a chant sung in their honour and a special mural (pictured) in the South Stand of Ashton Gate. The names of Garland, Tainton, Merrick, Mann, Marshall, Rodgers, Aitken and Sweeney will never be forgotten in City’s history, neither in the beautiful game nor the city of Bristol.

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epigram 24.11.2021

Bristol Rovers under Barton: what happened at the Pirates’ camp?

Milan Perera

Second Year, English Literature and Community Engagement

ristol Rovers fans are delighted to be back at the Memorial Stadium after a long hiatus of 18 months without live football. As is usually the case with the arrival of a new manager, there was a buzz about the appointment of Joey Barton in February. Barton’s pedigree as a player speaks for itself with solid spells at Manchester City, Newcastle United and Burnley.

eyebrows among even the most loyal fans. Things were starting to improve with a win at Walsall, and at the time of writing, Rovers are undefeated in their last four away league fixtures, which shows a growing resilience in the camp. This is a green shoot of a recovery to many who were fervently hoping for a turn of the tide. During his tenure so far, Barton has brought in approximately 20 players. It goes without saying that it was going to take time for them to find their feet at the club and play as a cohesive unit. Barton bought players in every position in this seismic rebuilding project, as the new signings subscribed to Barton’s vision for the club. Players such as Sam Finley, Paul Coutts and Harvey Saunders all played un-

‘Barton’s pedigree as a player speaks for itself with solid spells at Manchester City, Newcastle United and Burnley.’ But alas, the season did not have the most auspicious of starts as the long losing streak from last campaign continued. The Gas were without an away win for almost a year, which raised the

der Barton at Fleetwood Town and know his style of management. The new management also paid attention to hidden young talents alongside the established players, which will prove beneficial in the

long term 19-year-old centre-back Conor Taylor and 18-year-old centre forward Ollie Hubert have minimal experience in the Football League, but Barton has faith in the young players as the future moves and shakes for the club. Barton also brought with him Andy Mangan and Clint Hill, who work with him as the first team coach and assistant manager respectively. As far as the signings who have made an impact so far, Sam Nicholson tops the bill. Nicholson, who joined from Hearts in the Scottish Premiership, is a showstopper for Rovers with his deft passing. Anthony Evans has played consistently throughout the season after overcoming injuries, controlling the midfield with great command, sharp reflexes and creative passing. Goalkeeper James Belshaw, who has been the understudy for Anssi Jaakola, stepped up to the challenge much to the surprise of everyone. After Jaakola picked up a shoulder injury, Belshaw seized the opportunity and established himself in-between the sticks with scintillating saves. In fact, in the Pirates’ win over Crawley Town, Belshaw made a total of eight saves. Barton is a passionate and out-

spoken individual who gathers controversy wherever he goes. His most recent incident came after Rovers’ 3-1 defeat to Newport County in October, comparing poor individual

and the current trajectory of the club, saying: ‘I feel he is a good manager and, [if] given time he will make a success with Rovers. ‘As for the issues off the pitch,

‘Barton’s vast knowledge of the ins and outs of the game are an immense advantage for the newly formed squad. As for Barton himself, he will hope that the results on the pitch would no doubt dissipate the distractions off the pitch.’ performances by his players to the Holocaust. But when looking solely at his football acumen, he is on the same wavelength as his players. One of the assets he has in abundance now is the confidence of the dressing room and the trust of owner Wael al-Qadi. Barton’s vast knowledge of the ins and outs of the game are an immense advantage for the newly formed squad. As for Barton himself, he will hope that the results on the pitch would no doubt dissipate the distractions off the pitch. Epigram spoke to Jo Stock, who is a season ticket holder at Bristol Rovers with her two teenage sons. Stock has confidence in Barton

that’s for the courts to decide and as the saying goes, innocent until proven guilty.’ When asked of what is to come this season, Stock answered: ‘Of course we can play better and it would be nice to get back-to-back wins, however it seems we are heading in the right direction. ‘The best thing about this season so far is being able to go and watch my team both home and away, something I’ll never take for granted.’ Bristol Rovers currently sit 16th in League Two as they head towards the Christmas schedule, sitting closer to the play-offs than they do to the relegation zone. There is still a long way to go, but there is certainly potential for greater things from Barton's Gas.

Epigram/ Henry Edwards

Across town, the Gas have had a tough start to the season as positives are starting to show