Bristol Life - Issue 242

Food/Arts/Entertainment/Shopping/Property ISSUE 242/EARLY SPRING 2018/£3

A LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE CITY

ACTION STATIONS ISSUE 242/EARLY SPRING 2018/FROM BRISTOL WITH LOVE

GETTING FIT CAN BE FUN

CHANGE FOR A QUARTER? JUST LOOK AT OLD CITY NOW…

CHEFS GET

HIGH BRISTOL’S FINEST HEAD TO NEPAL

MOMMIE DEAREST

BE THE FAVOURITE CHILD THIS MOTHER’S DAY

FROM RUSSIA WITH LAUGHTER CHEKHOV REVISITED AT BRISTOL OLD VIC

EDITOR’S LETTER / ISSUE 242 / EARLY SPRING 2018

14

CARYATIDS AND COLONNADES

The historic charm of Bristol’s Old City

Flâneuring The French are masters at flâneuring; the Italians prefer a passagiata. We do exactly the same thing in Bristol, but don’t have a fancy word for it. Really it’s just sauntering along, taking it slow, enjoying your own or your companion’s company, without an anxious eye on the clock.

Some areas are more suited to flâneuring than others. Clifton and Harbourside – prime flâneuring territory. Broadmead – not so much. In our opinion, one of the best place to amble along, soaking up over eight centuries of history while enjoying some of the best coffee and street food in Bristol, is Old City; we pay tribute to this atmospheric quarter on page 14.

Then we quickened our pace a bit, as we realised that we still had 40 or so more pages to fill. So you’ll also find our best suggestions for Mother’s Day, fun ideas for getting fit, an interview with theatre director Michael Boyd, and all the regular features you hopefully know and love.

Until next time, mes amies, Deri Robins, editor Twitter @BristolLifeMag Instagram:@bristollifemag

REGULARS / ISSUE 242 / EARLY SPRING 2018

THE ARTS

M EET T H E T EAM

24 What’s On

Editor Deri Robins deri.robins@mediaclash.co.uk

The play’s the thing, along with the gigs, exhibitions and other shizzle

Senior art editor Andrew Richmond Graphic design Megan Allison Cover design Trevor Gilham Contributors: Colin Moody, Stan Cullimore, Seb Barrett, Alex Diggins, Josh Eggleton Advertising manager Lily Dalzell lily.dalzell@mediaclash.co.uk Account manager James Morgan james.morgan@mediaclash.co.uk Account manager Yvette Culbert yvette.culbert@mediaclash.co.uk Account manager Jake Newland jake.newland@mediaclash.co.uk

28 Theatre There’s more to Chekhov than a bunch of mopey provincials in floppy hats

32 Bristol heroes From papier-mâché Gromits to the Minion, it’s the turn of the nonhuman all-stars

36 Film

Production and distribution manager Sarah Kingston sarah.kingston@mediaclash.co.uk Deputy production manager and production designer Kirstie Howe kirstie.howe@mediaclash.co.uk

The site-specific festival of classic movies is back

SHOPPING 40 Editor’s Choice How to be the favourite child this Mother’s Day

FOOD 44 Restaurants B Block: putting the (Italian) ham in Keynsham

46 Food & Drink

Chief executive Jane Ingham jane.ingham@mediaclash.co.uk Chief executive Greg Ingham greg.ingham@mediaclash.co.uk

7

Bristol Life, MediaClash, Circus Mews House, Circus Mews, Bath BA1 2PW 01225 475800 www.mediaclash.co.uk @The MediaClash © All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without written permission of MediaClash.

The tastiest stories of the month

HEALTH & FITNESS

PROPERT Y

49 Café society

56 Action stations

86 Property Showcase

Seeking an oasis of good taste that will also keep the kids happy?

From SUP to rock climbing to the city’s top gyms, getting fit can be fun – honestly . . .

Life begins at 60

51 Yes, Chef!

The latest happenings on Planet Eggleton and beyond

EDUCATION

A MAN’S WORLD

Are they the happiest days of their lives? And if not, what’s to be done?

53 Seb Barrett Pramercise? Baz tries to look busy . . .

66 School days

DEPARTMENTS 7 70 90

Spotlight Snapped!

Bristol Lives

About MediaClash We’re a Bath-based publisher, creative agency and event organiser Magazines Our portfolio of regional magazines celebrates the best of local living: Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter and Salisbury. We also publish foodie mag Crumbs. (www.crumbsmag.com, @CrumbsMag) and wedding title Vow (@VowMag).

Agency From the design and build of websites to digital marketing and creating company magazines, we can help.

Events We create, market, promote and operate a wide variety of events both for MediaClash and our clients Contact: info@mediaclash.co.uk

BUSINESS 77 Business Insider Introducing the new Bristol Life Awards judges

On the cover Meet the Bristol chefs heading to Nepal see page 46 and 90 Photo: Kirstie Young

FILM

STONE LOVE What are Hog Nob and Dug straining to see here? Could it be the first box office reports for Early Man, Aardman’s first full-length animation since Shaun the Sheep? No wonder they’re looking so pleased in the picture on the right, then . . .

It’s almost 30 years since plasticinebothering genius Nick Park made A Grand Day Out. The rest is history – and now, we guess, pre-history, as Aardman’s latest movie gives us the story of a caveman, his hog, and their desperate bid to save their village

from a bunch of Bronze Age baddies through (what else?) a game of soccer.

Eddie Redmayne voices Dug, Maisie Williams is Goona – a kind of Stone-Age prototype Gregory’s Girl – while Tom Hiddlestone enjoys himself hugely as villainous Lord Nooth, complete with a Pythonesque Gallic accent.

Financed to the tune of £50m by StudioCanal, partnered with the BFI, the movie wisely sticks with Aardman’s familiar combo of daft, old-school British humour

Top left: Eddie and Maisie with alter-egos Dug and Goona, and Nick Park with Hog Nob

and handmade, you-can-practically-see-thethumbprints claymation.

Reviews have been warm, and at the time of going to press (9 February), Early Man had taken $5.6m worldwide, making it the highest grossing animated film of 2018, the 10th highest grossing film of 2018 and the 22nd highest grossing stop motion animated film ever. Should Nick, Pete Lord and Dave Sproxton be dusting down the DJs once again for next year’s Oscars?

For more: www.aardman.com/tag/early-man

SPOTLIGHT

FESTIVALS

STOCK UP ON THE SEQUINS... . . . and keep 7 July free, because the gloriously colourful St Paul’s Carnival – or St Paul’s Afrikan Caribbean Carnival, as it likes to be known on formal occasions – is back for 2018, a year that also marks its 50th anniversary.

The first St Paul’s Carnival took place in 1968, making it only two years younger than Notting Hill’s, and grew to become one of Bristol’s most beloved cultural events.

Over the past 50 years, the Carnival has promoted the advancement of education, appreciation and practice of African and Caribbean arts, culture and history, its explosion of colours, sounds, food, dancing and music attracting over 90,000 revellers every year from Bristol and beyond.

With funding finally secured for this year, the spotlight is now set on community initiatives, and the event organisers, St Paul’s Carnival Community Interest Company, will be holding a series of ‘Get Involved’ events, the next of which will be happening on 23 February (location tbc).

Mas camps (masquerade camps) and workshops are a great way to get involved – if you want to learn costumemaking skills, or want to help make something for the procession, keep an eye on the website and get in touch.

For more: www.stpaulscarnival.co.uk

Oh, Brian! Tim West would never have broken the ceremonial trowel . . .

THEATRE

BLESSED ARE THE THEATRE-MAKERS Why has Bristol Old Vic’s Tom Morris dragged 81-year-old national treasure Brian Blessed up onto the roof of his theatre, and what on earth has Brian done to that trowel?

The octogenarian force of nature was paying his first visit to Bristol Old Vic in 60 years, having studied at its Theatre School before sharing the boards with Peter O’Toole and sundry other 1950s luminaries.

He’d returned as the guest of honour at the theatre’s ‘topping out’ ceremony on the newly constructed rooftops – this

traditionally marks the moment in a major building project where the highest point of construction has been reached. BOV is, of course, nearing the end of a massive refurb that’s due to be completed this September.

As part of his duties, Brian – who, in fact, had once worked as a builder – laid the final piece of cement, placed a sprig of yew for good luck, and accepted a silver ceremonial trowel from the building contractors, Gilbert Ash – which he somehow managed to snap in two.

For more: www.bristololdvic.org.uk

Up on the rooooff... CE Emma Stenning, Brian Blessed, Rodney Coalter (Gilbert Ash) and AD Tom Morris

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SPOTLIGHT

CLOCKS, CARYATIDS AND CUPULAS We have a bit of a thing for Old City (p 14), from its mediaeval churches to its grand Georgian temples of commerce. So do you, judging by our Instagram feed...

@cchacholiades

@matthewpriceartist

@bristolpictures

@thehistoryb0yphotography

@bristolpictures

@danmartin_

@mylittlebristol

@bristolpictures

@eleanore_photography

@louisds

@chill1983

@matthewpriceartist

@milk_the_click

@matthewpriceartist

@porthjess

@richmccluskey

www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 11

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STREET LIFE

ON THE NAIL

Around 10 years ago, Old City mostly offered a faded memory of the city’s past and a string of unsubtle nightclubs. Today, it’s back up there among the most attractive eating, shopping and flâneuring destinations in the city

By DE R I ROBI NS Photo s by T I M WOOL F 14 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

its Palladianfronted banks and public buildings were only slightly less ornate than

Renaissance palaces

O

bviously, it wasn’t always known as ‘Old City’. A few hundred years ago, when Corn Street, Broad Street and Small Street became the commercial heart of Georgian Bristol, those who lived and worked here would have considered it to be bang up to date, its Palladian-fronted banks and public buildings – only slightly less ornate than Renaissance palaces – being designed in the latest, neo-Classical revival style.

Long before the Georgian arrivistes moved in, mediaeval Bristol was focused here, on the crossroads of Corn Street and High Street – it’s easy to make out the original street pattern and hidden lanes within the old city walls.

There are over eight centuries of architecture here, from 13th-century St Stephen’s church with its later 152ft tower, to the exuberant Art Nouveau faience of the Edward Everard print works. There’s Christ Church, whose quaint pair of quarterjack clock-striking figures would not look out of place in small-town Bavaria. And then there’s the covered market of St Nick’s, which dates back to 1743, and looks even older.

Today, especially given that so much of mediaeval Bristol was destroyed in World War II raids, Old City is Bristol’s most venerable, historic quarter, offering an atmospheric maze of streets that rise immediately above Baldwin and end at Nelson.

It’s a smallish area that can be superficially covered in a half-hour ramble, but for a more in-depth investigation we suggest you consult the excellent, highly annotated map by Alex Lucas – on the Old City website, and thoughtfully reproduced by us on page 18.

Old City’s cobbles are home to some of the most beautiful and intriguing buildings in Bristol. Here, on Corn Street, you’ll find the four 16th-century bronze ‘nails’, used for the exchange of money  www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 15

between traders and their customers. Did the phrase ‘pay on the nail’ originate here? Bristol reckons it did.

But the area is far from being a museum; it’s a vibrant trading community, with a firm sense of its own identity that’s been increasingly harnessed over the last decade by both the local traders and the council. Most continental cities pride themselves on their ‘Altstadt’ (old town); finally, Bristol too is starting to utilise its heritage and character to entice visitors to Old City’s beautiful alleyways.

direct from local producers, while on Friday and Saturday the Nails Market offers an eclectic mix of vintage clothing, handmade jewellery and gifts, artwork, prints and crafts. The Street Food Market on Friday and Saturday sells some of the best takeaway food in Bristol, while a frequent night market brings the area to life after dark.

Café culture, as in all self-respecting Altstädte (yes, it only has an umlaut in the plural, but cheers for Googling), plays a hugely important role.

Indeed, the entire foodie offering of the Old City is booming, with innovative and quirky new places joining the list of established favourites. Eatchu’s gyoza dumplings have become the stuff of local legend, elegant Strawberry Thief is inspired by Belgian beer bars, while St Stephen’s Street covers the veggie-to-carni waterfront, from down’n’dirty Burger Theory to modern vegetarian 1847.

There’s also a heady mix of independent shops and galleries, from Stanfords Book and Travel Store to Centrespace.

Rag & Bone sell an eclectic mix of antiques, vintage furniture and curiosities, in “a relaxed space that allow our customers to get a real sense of our playful aesthetic, and find something a little different,” they say.

Guilberts Chocolate have been hand-crafting confectionery on Small Street for 100 years, Beast clothing flies the flag for Brizzle with its distinctive, slang-emblazoned merchandise, while boutiquey Brooks Guesthouse accommodates some of its guests in 1950s Airstreams on the roof.

Speaking of hotels, the newly refurbed Grand, and newly

did the phrase ‘on the nail’ originate here?

Bristol reckons it did

Voted one of the top 10 markets in the country, and nominated for the Great Place Award in the Urbanism Awards, St Nick’s has long been the heartbeat of the Old City, and has played a big role in re-establishing the area’s popularity.

The market is set within the old Exchange Hall, Glass Arcade and Covered Market; its stalls offer a whistlestop tour of world cuisine along with a wide variety of goods for sale.

There’s couscous and curry, pittas and Pieminister pies, and Ahh Toots, baking the most show-stopping cakes in Bristol. You can buy old vinyl, stamps and fossils, and new clothes and crockery; there are buttons and books, sweeties and smoothies, flowers and falafels – there’s even a resident psychic – all beneath the lofty, airy vaults of the old buildings.

And there’s lots more market stuff, market fans! Each Wednesday, Bristol Farmers Market sells fresh, high-quality goods 16 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

STREET LIFE One of the famous nails

created Harbour offer elegant accommodation – and just wait for the five-star Guildhall when it eventually opens in 2020. We’ll be nicknaming Old City ‘The Hotel Quarter’ before you know it.

There are a host of other events and initiatives aimed at popularising the Old City, many aimed at petrolheads, from the Italian Auto Moto Festival to Bristol Bike Show.

And there’s just room to squeeze in a mention of the Bristol Pound – the scheme dreamed up a few years back to create a Bristol currency, in order to lock the money into the area and encourage people to shop locally.

It’s one which seems to be very important to those working in the Old City. Source were the first to trade in the new currency, having sold a loaf of bread for B£1 to the Lord Mayor on launch day. The transaction was carried out on the traditional Corn Street nails, propelling Bristol’s most historic quarter firmly into the 21st century. Launch day turned into launch night, with St Nicks throwing a bit of a party, with music, theatre and food – but then that’s how the Old City likes to roll.

To get a real flavour of Old City, we spoke to three of its most established and loved businesses

THE COFFEE HOUSE . . .

Ask a serious fan of the bean to name the top coffee houses in Bristol, and Small Street Espresso will be among them. It opened – no prizes for guessing where– in 2012 –“just as there were a lot of new openings in The Old City and a lot of excitement around it,” says owner/barista Chris Chubb.

“Since then, it’s once again established itself as a great area for independents, with a wide variety of specialist shops, food and drink. It’s very central, but it’s in its own little pocket, where there’s a real community among the local workers and the traders. Being close to St. Nick’s Market is great as it’s a huge draw for the area and offers something different to any other part of Bristol.”

What makes you one of the best coffee houses in Bristol?

We started out just as the interest in speciality coffee was growing.

When we first opened, people would travel across the city to visit us; there was a lot of excitement, and we managed to gain a reputation mainly through word of mouth. Today the standards across Bristol are a lot higher, and it’s more difficult to stand out. We like to think we still do, as we’ve always taken great pride in our customer service, creating a welcoming and friendly environment for everyone.

What changes have you witnessed in Old City?

It seems like the area is constantly evolving; we have seen an explosion of interesting businesses open up over the years. We’re currently seeing a shift of demographic in the area, with a lot of offices moving out and residential moving in, bringing new opportunities. It’s certainly an interesting time for the area.

Tell us a few of the team’s favourite places St. Nick’s Market is amazing – you can buy almost anything you need there and the covered food market is getting better and better.

Food-wise, our current favourite is definitely Eatchu – their gyoza and noodles are incredible. Old favourites include The Ox, Matina and The Sausage Station. For afterwork drinks, Milk Thistle for cocktails and The Strawberry Thief for Belgian Beers.

THE ART GALLERY . . .

Centrespace is a co-operative studio and gallery that hosts around 40 exhibitions a year. Here’s gallery co-ordinator Ruth Piper: Why is being based in Old City such a good thing for you?

The area is of great historical interest, being situated on the w www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 17

footprint of the old city wall. Hidden away in a narrow street off the centre, we retain the element of surprise and delight for visitors finding a contemporary gallery in the heart of the Old City.

Joe Wheatcroft. “The area really reflects the independent mood in Bristol, and we love being here, at the heart of the Old City, selling quality food to people who care.”

What changes have you seen over the last few years?

The area has recently become pedestrianised and shopperfriendly, with more places to eat and have coffee.

What changes have you seen here over the last few years?

We started trading in the worst years of the recession, and saw a lot of businesses close. Then, like a phoenix, Old City rose again and is now looking really good. The area really benefits from lots of small venues hidden in every corner, so there is always something new and funky to keep people coming back. The area is a lot more joined-up now, and has a unique atmosphere in Bristol.

Tell us a few of the team’s favourite places St Nick’s Market – especially the lunchtime street-style food area.

The food shop and café . . .

Source has always played a part in the growth of the Old City. It’s owned by its chef, pastry chef and fishmonger, who sell eclectic provisions and cakes made in-house; the café serves an extensive breakfast menu, and a lunch menu which changes daily to include the best seasonal produce available in the food hall.

“We opened in July 2009, and have seen a lot of changes in St Nick’s,” says ‘shop manager, fishmonger and general dogsbody’ 18 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

Tell us a few of the team’s favourite places Source, obviously – I buy 90% of my food here. But there are so many great venues to choose from. Small Street has a great following, The Ox is the perfect place for a good night out and Medina’s wraps are the best in Bristol. I love Chaos, the bike shop in the Corn Exchange – great service and quality. I also love Stanford’s map and travel bookshop – the perfect place if you ever

STREET LIFE need to go stray beyond Old City. Instant Services are on our doorstep if you ever need stuff repairing; they are always really happy to help, at the right price.

THE TAPAS BAR & STEAK RESTAURANT

still slightly undervalued,” says Nathan. “We’re in the old financial district, so the buildings reflect the grandeur of past times.”

What changes have you seen over the last few years?

“Corn Street has been in a slow transition from the big, heavy drinking pubs and clubs of the ’90s to a more European, familyfriendly area. There are still a few of the old culprits clinging on, but even they have adapted and gone for a more female- and family-friendly décor. When we first opened The Ox and Pata there were regularly police horses patrolling Corn Street on busy nights. Now you’re more likely to see a night street-food market.

LIKE A PHOENIX, OLD CITY ROSE AGAIN; THE AREA IS A LOT MORE JOINED-UPAND HAS A UNIQUE ATMOSPHERE

Nathan Lee and Jason Mead know an area on the up when they see one.

Having established one of Bristol’s original Prohibition-style bars in Milk Thistle on Colston Avenue, they stuck both to the location and the speakeasy vibe when they opened steak restaurant The Ox in 2013 on Corn Street, followed by tapas bar Pata Negra on Clare Street in 2015.

Naturally, there’s a (no longer very) secretive aspect to this restaurant, too – by night, Pata becomes a cosy spot for laidback dining while hidden upstairs you’ll find cocktail bar and nightclub Noche Negra.

“We were attracted to the Old City primarily by the architecture and history, which is all around but

What are your favourite places in Old City?

My business partners and I have a regular Friday meeting in one of our favourite Old City haunts. The Ironworks for breakfast, Small Street Espresso for coffee, Eatchu for a quick bite, Source for a sit-down meal, The Cosy Club for an afternoon meeting.

To find out more: www.bristololdcity.co.uk

Alex Lucas created this pretty damn gorgeous map three years ago – find it on the Old City website, with lots of information about the buildings

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16 February – 16 March 2018

JUST A FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR MONTH

Turning the tide at Booby’s Bay; Jake’s progress at Colston Hall; Seal of approval, also at the Hall

Exhibitions

history and shines a light on the artists that shaped it; rwa.co.uk

UNTIL 25 FEBRUARY

FRINK-BLOW-LAWSON One new exhibition; three highly influential female artists, whose profound impact is still recognisable today; rwa.co.uk

NATIVE COLOUR Group exhibition celebrating contemporary Native American artists, all renowned as great colourists. At Rainmaker; rainmakerart.co.uk UNTIL 4 MARCH

NEIL MURISON A solo exhibition of work by the Academician, who mostly takes his inspiration from nature; at RWA; rwa.co.uk UNTIL 11 MARCH

WOMEN OF THE RWA From its foundation to the present day, the RWA has had women artists at its heart. This diverse exhibition takes a walk through the gallery’s fascinating

ANNE REDPATH The vibrant paintings of the RWA Academician and Associate Royal Academician, rwa.org.uk UNTIL 8 APRIL 2018

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR The renowned wildlife photography exhibition continues, with 100 spectacular images and a serious message about the environment. At MShed; bristolmuseums.org.uk

24 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

UNTIL 15 APRIL

IMAN ISSA A series of ‘displays’ by Issa that questions the function of public sculpture and monuments; spikeisland.org.uk UNTIL 12 MAY

NIALL MCDIARMID: TOWN TO TOWN The second exhibition at the new Martin Parr Foundation focuses on work by Scottish photographer Niall, who’s been travelling around documenting the people and landscapes of Britain, including Bristol. At Paintworks; martinparrfoundation.org UNTIL 31 MAY

IAIN KEMP A photographer for Vogue, Elle Decor etc, Iain’s latest project

involved photographing his childhood Dinky cars in their bashed and beloved state. See and buy the limited prints at Society Cafe; society-cafe.com UNTIL 31 AUGUST 2018

EMPIRE THROUGH THE LENS Bristol Archives’ collection of photos and films of life in the British Empire and Commonwealth, mostly taken 1880s-1960s. At Bristol Museum; bristolmuseums.org.uk 16-21 FEBRUARY

I’M NEW HERE Do-IY is a new Bristol collective that brings together art, music and technology, creating a synthesis of ‘gesamtkunstwerk’ – roughly translated as ‘universal’ or ‘ideal art’; at Centrespace; centrespacegallery.com

W H AT ’ S O N

17 FEBRUARY-3 MARCH

JOHN EVANS Solo exhibition, with many Bristol landscapes; limetreegallery.com 27 FEBRUARY-4 MARCH

CHAOS Circle Triangle Square presents Robert Ive and Harriet Foster at the Christmas Steps Gallery; instagram @ctscircle trianglesquare

Theatre & shows UNTIL 3 MARCH

WICKED It’s Oz, but this time it’s all about the witches: the musical about the difficulty of being green flies back into Bristol Hippodrome; atgtickets.com

Factory would launch its spring double-bill. But the fest has moved to autumn; what we have here is Adele Thomas’s take on the Thane, as the first production by the Factory Company at TFT; tobaccofactorytheatres.com 24-25 FEBRUARY

THOROUGHLY MODERN MUSICALS A cabaret evening celebrating the past 20 years; Bristol Improv Theatre; improvtheatre.co.uk 27-28 FEBRUARY

HEADS UP Multi award-winner Kieran Hurley weaves a picture of a familiar city at its moment of destruction, asking what we’d do if we found ourselves at the end of our world as we know it. We’re promised some powerful storytelling by Show And Tell at The Wardrobe; thewardrobetheatre.com

Not Peaky Blinders the Musical, but Launch Day at Circomedia

Tracy Turnblad, as Divine’s musical phenomenon comes to the Hippodrome; atgtickets.com

UNTIL 17 FEBRUARY

SEXY Vanessa Kisuule explores our obsession with sexiness through comedy, spoken word, dance and various states of undress, at The Wardrobe, for BOV; bristololdvic.org.uk 17-24 FEBRUARY

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW One of the Bard’s most famously warring couples do battle and bants once again, in this new producton by BOVTS at Circomedia; oldvic.ac.uk 20-21 FEBRUARY

HAPPINESS LTD New Model Theatre present a humorous new play by Tom Nicholas, asking prescient questions about depression, ambition and how you measure the success (or otherwise) of a life; at The Wardrobe; thewardrobetheatre.com 22-24 FEBRUARY

HELP! Viki Browne presents a show about asking for help after her world was shattered by mental ill health; at The Wardrobe; thewardrobetheatre.com 22 FEBRUARY-1 APRIL

MACBETH You’re not wrong; traditionally, this is the time of year that Shakespeare at the Tobacco

ARTS

Music UNTIL 20 FEBRUARY

28 FEBRUARY

ABOVE THE MEALYMOUTHED SEA Fusing poetry and song, awardwinning Unholy Mess’s funny, poignant play tackles growing up, as performance poet Jemima Foxtrot explores memory, childhood and what happens when we can’t quite get to the punchline. The Room Above, tobaccofactorytheatres.com 1-3 MARCH

BOOBY’S BAY He’s untameable. Like the wind. Or Heathcliff. Or Bruce Springsteen during his Nebraska period: a passionate, comic fable about the housing crisis and a maverick’s mission to turn the tide; at The Wardrobe; thewardrobetheatre.com 2 MARCH

LAUNCH DAY Yes, we know the photo makes it look like Peaky Blinders the Musical; in fact it’s a celebration of shipbuilding in all its industrial glory. Inspired by the paintings of Alexander Millar, powerful movement combines with music by Mark Knopfler and Breifne Holohan.

At Circomedia; circomedia.com 5-10 MARCH

HAIRSPRAY It’s another big hair day for

7-9 MARCH

FIVE ENCOUNTERS ON A SITE CALLED CRAIGSLIST Both hilarious and achingly bleak: YESYESNONO put an intricate and tender question mark around our attempts to encounter each other in this techno world.

At The Wardrobe; thewardrobetheatre.com 8-10 MARCH

NEGATIVE SPACE It’s a love story. It’s a slapstick comedy. It’s slasher, action, melodrama; and not a single word is spoken. Reckless Sleepers is a group of 13 creatives who have been creating contemporary theatre for over 20 years. “Bristol is one of the few places where we continue to be invited back to,” they say, which makes us really want to go and see them. At Circomedia; circomedia.com 9-17 MARCH

DRACULA Where better to experience the original vampire story than in the subterranean Loco Klub?

Nowhere! locobristol.com

WISH YOU WERE HERE Hear Pink Floyd’s classic album while watching 360˚ psychedelic visuals at We the Curious – in Fulldome. Far out, man. wethecurious.org 16 FEBRUARY

SCOTT BRADLEE’S POSTMODERN JUKEBOX Jazzily bringing their vintage-pop mash-ups to the Colston Hall stage once again; colstonhall.org 17 FEBRUARY

HMLTD The avant-garde art rock darlings bring their explosive and arrestingly visual live performance – think gothic post-punk meets glam rock and industrial – to The Station; colstonhall.org 18 FEBRUARY

SEAL: THE STANDARDS TOUR The soul legend returns to the Colston Hall stage for a night of old Hollywood glamour and timeless classics; colstonhall.org 21 FEBRUARY

10 MARCH

CATEGORY IS . . .

Some of the best drag queens and queer cabaret performers on the UK and European drag scene come to the OMA; oldmarketassembly.co.uk

LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Robin Ticciati forges an intriguing Franco-German entente cordiale that smoulders and seduces, at Colston Hall; colstonhall.org w

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ARTS

W H AT ’ S O N

24 FEBRUARY

JAKE BUGG The Nottingham singersongwriter brings his solo acoustic working man’s swagger to Colston Hall; colstonhall.org 24-25 FEBRUARY

ST GEORGE’S RELAUNCH WEEKEND Bristol’s revered music venue serves up a banquet of live music and pop-up performances to celebrate its new refurb, with a chance to explore the spaces and dive into the heady dawntill-dusk celebration of music and ideas. The programme includes Yola Carter with Ewan McLennan, and Manu Delago with Chamber Orchestra. stgeorgesbristol.co.uk 25 FEBRUARY

GET READY Take a Motowntastic trip back to 1960s Detroit with the new stage show featuring the music of the Temptations, Four Tops, Supremes, Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye; at Redgrave; redgravetheatre.com 2-3 MARCH

BRISTOL BLUEGRASS AND AMERICANA FESTIVAL It’s the 10th anniversary for the good ole boys and gals at Bristol Folk House; bristolfolkhouse. co.uk 8 MARCH

WOMEN IN JAZZ For International Women’s Day, and as a curtain raiser to Bristol International Jazz & Blues Festival, St George’s presents a special two-part show by a new dectet of female composer/ performers led by inspirational saxophonist Issie Barratt. stgeorgesbristol.co.uk 14 MARCH

TURIN BRAKES The lads are touring with new album Invisible Storm; at St George’s; stgeorgesbristol.co.uk

Comedy 18 FEBRUARY

GEORGE EGG: DIY CHEF A stand-up who cooks food (surprisingly good food) live on stage, using unconventional methods and unexpected equipment; at The Wardrobe; thewardrobetheatre.com 19-21 FEBRUARY

TIM VINE Tim’s back on tour, telling lots of silly new jokes and showing off new homemade props with apparent confidence. At The Redgrave; redgravetheatre.com 23 FEBRUARY

KATHERINE RYAN: GLITTER ROOM Lightning wit and astringent observations from the Canadian 8 out of 10 Cats, Buzzcocks and Mock the Week favourite; colstonhall.org 26 FEBRUARY, 12 MARCH

CLOSER EACH DAY The world’s longest improvised comedy soap continues to bubble away amusingly; thewardrobetheatre.com

FROM 15 FEBRUARY 4 MARCH

IVO GRAHAM: EDUCATED GUESS The professional layabout and trustafarian snowflake needs to stir himself out of his stupor: a show about privilegechecking by a chap with more privilege to check than most. thewardrobetheatre.com 16-17 MARCH

BRISTOL IMPROV MARATHON 26 hours non-stop, over 30 performers, one truly epic live improvised play. At Bristol Improv Theatre; bristolimprov marathon.com

Other DURING FEBRUARY

15-18 MARCH

BRISTOL INTERNATIONAL JAZZ AND BLUES FESTIVAL Swing to funk, bebop to blues, Gypsy jazz to gospel, soul to rock ’n’ roll – it’s the bluesiest (and jazziest) week of the year; at Colston Hall and other venues; colstonhall.org

Early Morning Near M Shed by John Evans; Katherine Ryan; Holly had been waiting ages for Harry at the Skyview wheel (The Third Man, Bristol Film Fest)

WINDOW WANDERLAND Window Wanderland’s back in Bristol for its fourth year, bringing communities together via a magical trail of illuminated front windows and gardens.

Check the website to see when they’re coming to a postcode near you; windowwanderland.com

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BRISTOL FILM FESTIVAL This year’s film fest kicks off with Groundhog Day, repeated every day until 11 March. Only kidding! See feature page 36; bristolfilmfestival.com

historic WWII raid at Thornbury Castle Hotel from George ‘Johnny’ Johnson, MBE – an original member of the RAF crew that were never expected to return. thornburycastle.co.uk 23-24 FEBRUARY

UNTIL 8 APRIL

SAVING THE CITY First shown at the Venice Biennale 2016, the Architecture Centre’s spring exhibition presents 30 years of factory-built housing by RHSP, and highlights the need for well-designed, fast-build, high-performance, affordable homes. architecturecentre.org.uk

DEATH DISCO Choose three songs that sum up your life, and hear them played in a Victorian Mortuary Chapel.

How goth is that? Part of Arnos Vale’s four-day Life, Death (and the Rest) Festival, which also, among other stuff, includes Taste Along to Sleepy Hollow with Conjurers Kitchen on 24 Feb; arnosvale.org.uk

UNTIL 15 MAY, ON TUESDAYS

BLOOD & BUTCHERY IN BEDMINSTER Gruesome pub walk from the renowned Show of Strength.

Delve deep into the dodgier bits of Bedminster’s history, with tales of body snatchers, concrete coffins, hangings judges and the most notorious heist in living memory. stagestubs.com 18 FEBRUARY

REMEMBERING THE DAMBUSTERS Hear a first-hand account of the

16-17 MARCH

BRISTOL WOMEN’S LITERATURE FESTIVAL Talks, readings, poetry, and a screening of Greta Schiller’s Paris Was A Woman – a portrait of the creative community of women writers, artists, photographers and editors who flocked to the Left Bank in the early 20th century. A Bristol Festival of Ideas, Bristol Women’s Voice, Watershed, and Spike Island collaboration; spikeisland.org.uk

Affordable Product Photography

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Could you sell a toupée to Trump?

Do you have a tremendous sales record?

Looking for an uncapped bonus?

Apply for our new Sales Manager position by telling us how you would sell a toupée to Trump.

Alternatively sell us one of the below.

Include a link to a YouTube video of you telling a joke. (a private link, we can keep it between ourselves if you like)

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From RUSSIA with LOVE Michael Boyd is fluent in Russian, and did time as a young director in Moscow. So why has the former RSC supremo waited so long to direct Chekhov?

By DE R I ROBI NS

Michael Boyd (left) with Tom Piper, who created the unique ‘in the round’ design especially for this show 28 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

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evolution hangs in the air at Bristol Old Vic. The poor and hungry are pushing at the doors, and a tumultuous change for everybody is predicted.

And that’s just in the ticket queue . . .

Elsewhere in the building, rehearsals are well under way for Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, directed by the lauded Michael Boyd – perhaps best known as the dude who turned around the ailing fortunes of the RSC (some credit admittedly going to Shakespeare’s histories) and for giving the world a smash-hit musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda., Using Rory Mullarkey’s new translation, Michael’s production promises ‘wild humour and piercing sadness’, in a portrait of changing times that maps the tensions between a longing to hold onto what is familiar, and the restless lure of the new.

Michael Boyd, kindly tell us more . . .

CHEKHOV

IS OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD AS ALL FLOPPY HATS AND NOSTALGIA, FEATURING THE EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED ON SLEEPY COUNTRY ESTATES

We know you feel that while the The Cherry Orchard was written in 1903, it’s a play for our times – can you tell us a bit about its contemporary relevance?

Privileged and progressive liberals are being challenged and displaced; squeezed between the noise and the muscle of powerful capital on the one hand and the disruptive ideologies of the disenfranchised on the other. There is a sense in the air of great and threatening change to come. The threat comes from the transformative power of new money, new technology, and the resentment and anger of the long dispossessed. All the old certainties – of cultural supremacy, of prosperity, and even of the natural world – seem under attack. All the old values must now be questioned. This was true of The Cherry Orchard when it premièred one year before the 1905 Russian revolution, and it also chimes with much mainstream commentary on liberal European and North American culture now.

How did you go about creating this translation?

Rory Mullarkey and I are probably the first Russian-speaking translator/director team to tackle The Cherry Orchard in British theatre. The last major English translation by a Russian-speaking playwright was Michael Frayn’s excellent one in the ’80s, and we felt enough time had passed for a new ‘restoration’ project to be useful.

Please us a bit about your long relationship with the Russian language and literature.

I had to choose between Russian, chemistry and German at the ridiculously young age of 12. I chose Russian because the Cyrillic alphabet was like a secret code. It’s a beautiful language. Russia is both Europe and Asia, it’s bigger than America, has always been ‘other’ and strangely authoritarian, is only half-open to the rest of the world, and has the greatest theatrical tradition to rival Britain’s.

Can you tell us a bit about your experience of directing in Russia in the late 1970s?

I was a glorified tea boy to the great Soviet theatre director Anatoli Efros in 1979, when Brezhnev was still in power. Theatre was the least censorable art form there was, and enjoyed unrivalled prestige and popularity as such. The land of Stanislavski and Meyerhold had a lot to teach a young would-be director from Scotland about theatre as a fully expressive medium. Scripts could be censored, but not the staging and nuancing of a production. Witnessing the art of communicating truth powerfully and beautifully with a KGB officer in the rehearsal room taught me a lot about how Shakespeare must have survived, while nearly all his contemporaries were either jailed, killed, tortured, or had their works publicly burned, and made me alert to our own, gentler, commercial, censorship back home. w www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 29

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Told you Chekhov was a laff – Kirsty Bushell (Ranyevskaya) and Jude Owusu (Lopakhin)

Why have you never directed a Chekhov play before?

I didn’t enjoy much of the Chekhov I witnessed in this country, where I saw his work being mostly abused as reasonably popular repertoire fodder, and misunderstood as all floppy hats and nostalgia, featuring the emotionally disturbed on sleepy country estates.

So why now? How and why did this production come about?

Mostly due to its large cast, The Cherry Orchard is generally staged less frequently than Chekhov’s other plays, but recently there has been a rash of productions of the play, and different versions of it. Its themes of decline and insecurity seem to be ringing bells just now. And after staging several contemporary Russian works, it just got silly that I wasn’t working on the master, second only to Shakespeare.

As Chekhov himself described the play as a comedy, why did Stanislavski (and later directors) treat it as a tragedy?

Chekhov wrote that Stanislavski spoiled The Cherry Orchard by sentimentalising the grief, sadness and threat that is in the play, rather than simply presenting a compassionate, but cruel and necessarily comic, portrait of how ridiculously we can be made to behave in extremis. As a doctor, Chekhov was inclined to be ruthlessly objective and honest about his fictional ‘patients’. The odd humour of Chekhov’s literary hero Gogol is the chief precedent for Chekhov’s comedy, and the absurdism of Samuel Beckett and Ionesco are important parts of its legacy.

Do you miss working at the RSC? I miss the extraordinary body of wildly diverse talent that is the RSC, my wonderful friends there, and the Warwickshire countryside, but I don’t miss the queues of people outside the rehearsal room during the coffee break.

You famously turned the fortune and reputation of the RSC around. Can you share the secret formula?

Balance the books to preserve your freedom, hire good people and give them your trust and respect, and their freedom. Listen properly, then be decisive and act fast. Stay impossibly ambitious, and stay true to your heart. Leave after 10 years, before you start needing the job more than it needs you.

WITNESSING THE ART OF COMMUNICATING TRUTH POWERFULLY AND BEAUTIFULLY WITH A KGB OFFICER IN THE

Sum up what makes great theatre for you.

Great theatre comes in all shapes and sizes, and cannot be predicted or programmed in advance, but it is usually daring, rigorous, searching and true. Lazy theatre has many disguises, and often flatters an audience into submission, but is usually content with received ideas, and ultimately dull.

What’s the best and worst thing that anyone’s ever said about your work?

I’ve had some extremely nice things said about my work, but when I do get a disgruntled critic, I consider myself lucky to have been inoculated against bad reviews at an early age by, I think, David Hart of the Birmingham Post who said of my 1980 production of an early Liz Lochhead play Mary and the Monster: “I would rather go to the dentist than sit through this 90 minutes again”

REHEARSAL ROOM TAUGHT ME A LOT

Please tell us a bit about the stage, set and any other theatrical wizardry you can reveal.

Our design is the result of a collaboration between Bristol and the Royal Exchange, which is a theatre in the round, and celebrates the strengths of both remarkable spaces, as well as the playful theatricality of Chekhov’s imagination.

What’s on your ultimate list for future plays to tackle?

Right now: the entire works of Chekhov, the next play by the American playwright Will Eno (my production of his Open House is currently playing in London), and King Lear.

The Cherry Orchard plays Bristol Old Vic 1 March-7 April; www.bristololdvic.org.uk

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BRISTOL HEROES Over the past few years, COLIN MOODY has been putting together a series of photos that he feels represent the spirit of Bristol. Most feature people – but in this instalment, humans take a back seat . . .

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olin Moody has spent several years taking photos of the people, organisations and animals of the city. He calls the series ‘Bristol Heroes’ – and explains that heroism comes in many shapes and forms.

“We don’t just share this city with humans,” says Colin. “There are other creatures, too; some real, some not. This month, I’m sharing some shots that made me think about what else might walk – or swim or float – among us.

“Mostly I photograph people, but a curious thing can happen when you see a dog, a cat or even a Minion balloon. They look, just for a second, as if they’re thinking, like people do, and have real purpose. So that’s when they get on to the camera roll. You could say these non-humans stand in for us quite well in some situations. It may bring to mind questions such as ‘why do we always do that?’

“Maybe we need to be less like ‘us’ all the time, with our bagloads of learned behaviour and human hang-ups, and be more free and out doing the animal thing. “

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Asher and Gromit. As regards Gromit, he may be just a homemade piñata-esque homemade effigy, but he is lighting up The Reclaimer, a second -hand store at 347A Gloucester Road.

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This is a weak and feeble Captain America who is off his trolley. Just one of the many heroes often hanging round the giant zebra in Stokes Croft; others include Disco Steve and Headless Henry. At least, that’s what I call them.

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A rehearsal for the Lord Mayor’s coach and horses, minutes before attending the Remembrance Sunday parade. w www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 33

LOCAL HEROES

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Now a Balloon Fiesta staple, this minion is a bit of a local hero that can be seen gliding over a street near you during the summer months. Here he is, waking up at the Fiesta, looking surprised to find a fella walking by.

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Ignore the human arm of Grayson Perry, which is reaching out for the star of the recent show at the Arnolfini – Alan Measles. I was assured that this was a stunt Alan, as the real Alan was too busy to spend weeks in the gallery, but it looked just like the real dude to me . . .

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They call themselves Bristol Furs, and they are fans of anthropomorphic animals. Who isn’t?

The fox behind may have wanted to be in the shot more, but it’s the law of natural selection out there.

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Jamie Gillman’s Bearpit bear is one of my heroes. Not only does he greet or wave you goodbye depending on whether you are heading in or out of the area, but if the light is right, and you get down low, you realise that he would be a great guardian to the city– if we ever needed a Godzilla, then he might just be it.

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How do you stop crows dropping stones on the glass roof at Southmead Hospital? Like this.

Follow Colin on Twitter @moodycolin Instagram @moodycolin319 34 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

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The programme for the third Bristol Film Festival has been released, and y’all know what to expect by now

ack in 2016, Owen Franklin decided that while Bristol was very well served by specialist film festivals – Encounters, Afrikan Eye, Slapstick and so forth – what it really needed was a big, honestto-goodness, genre-spanning movie event. And the emphasis would be on populism; instead of a slew of sombre new releases from Slovenia, we’d have a witty, site-specific, citywide offering that paired classic movies with Bristol venues. Movies to eat popcorm to, with added benefits.

We know that all festival organisers hate being asked to pick out just a few events, so we went ahead and chose some ourselves.

So, lights, camera, action: coming soon to a cave, wine bar or art gallery near you . . .

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THE THIRD MAN (1949)

Where? Averys Wine Bar What? The noirish setting of war-torn Vienna; Orson Welles in a cameo, acting everyone else off the screen; Carol Reed’s taut direction; *that* Anton Karas zither score – all served to you with a suitably Germanic selection of wines.

Did you know? Orson Welles penned the nowfamous cuckoo clock speech himself, to pad out what he felt to be too small a role. It’s easily the most quoted part of the movie.

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DONNIE DARKO (2001)

DEAD . . .

HOT FUZZ (2007)

Where? The Island What? Every buddy-buddy cop movie cliché is sent up with relish in Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s tale of tranquil village life disturbed by suspicious slayings – here screened in the basement of the former police station on Bridewell Street.

Did you know? Hot Fuzz was mostly filmed in nearby Wells.

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PEEPING TOM (1960)

Where? Redcliffe Caves What? A prototype of the slasher movie, this tale of a photographer who skewers his subjects was regarded as shocking and distasteful on release, and virtually ended Michael Powell’s reputation as a lion of the British film establishment. Today it’s widely recognised as a masterpiece of psychological horror that was way ahead of its time.

Did you know? After Peeping Tom, Powell might have died in 36 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

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BRAZIL (1985)

Where? Redcliffe Caves What? Terry Gilliam’s idiosyncratic gem was voted the 54th greatest British film of all time by the BFI. Dark and dystopian, but leavened with very British humour; imagine 1984 filmed by Monty Python and you’re halfway there. De Niro’s a terrorist, Bob Hoskin’s a heating engineer, and that nice Michael Palin’s a sadistic dentist.

Did you know? Brazil was partly written by Tom Stoppard.

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PULP FICTION (1994)

Where? Redcliffe Caves Why? The first independent film to gross over $200 million, this total ride of a gangster flick changed the face of cinema. Its cast said “f**k” 265 times, it revived John Travolta’s career, made stars of Samuel L Jackson and Uma Thurman and featured a rare non-smirking performance from Bruce Willis. Royale with cheese, anyone?

Did you know? Anyone who was anyone was shortlisted for the main roles. Daniel Day-Lewis wanted Vincent Vega; Mickey Rourke passed on Butch in order to pursue his boxing career, and Isabella Rossellini, Meg Ryan, Daryl Hannah, Joan Cusack and Michelle Pfeiffer were all considered for Mia.

WHENEVER A FLY BIT HUSTON OR ME, IT DROPPED

Where? Redcliffe Caves What? It’s impossible to say for sure what this cult movie’s about, especially as the official website is even more arty and impenetrable than the film itself: is it sci-fi, horror, or just a coming-of-age drama? Jake Gyllenhaal looks heartbreakingly young, Patrick Swayze’s untypically sleazy, and 6ft rabbit Frank is terrifying… a great fit for the Caves, then.

Did you know? Although it’s hard to believe that Frank wasn’t inspired by the giant bunny in Harvey, director Richard Kelly swears he’d never even seen the Jimmy Stewart movie.

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obscurity, had it not been for the championship of a then-new generation of filmmakers, notably Scorsese and Coppola, who boosted his reputation back up to godlike status.

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THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)

Where? RWA Why? Because Bogart and Hepburn, obviously. And what better way to honour a year in which women’s voices in Hollywood are increasingly being heard than by showcasing the work of the silver screen’s most independent queen? Held at the RWA, where you’ll also be able to see the Frink-Blow-Lawson exhibition.

Did you know? While filming in the Belgian Congo, everyone got ill except Bogie and John Huston. “All I ate was baked beans, canned asparagus and Scotch whiskey. Whenever a fly bit Huston or me, it dropped dead,” said Bogart, who won an Oscar for his role.

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THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984)

Where? The Station What? This satirical mockumentary was so deadpan that many missed the point. “Everyone said, ‘Why would you make a movie about a band that no one has heard of?’” said director Rob Reiner.

Enjoy it in the former fire station on Silver Street, with a flight of Wickwar’s flagship ales to swig along with the movie.

Did you know? Though Spinal Tap was created as a parody, the film’s success has led to a legitimate music career for stars Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer, who have since released albums and performed in concert.

The Bristol Film Festival runs 15 February-11 March (with additional special screenings all year round); www.bristolfilmfestival.com

Even with his handy Bristol Life app, Harry just couldn’t locate the secret entrance to Hyde & Co...

Cool? Correctamundo

“Imagine... someone coming towards you... who wants to kill you...”

“You want to be a big cop in a small town?

F**k off up the model village”

The sleepiest eyes in the biz put the fear into Cape Fear

If Frank was the Easter bunny, Donnie was willing to forego the chocolate eggs

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MOMMIE DEAREST DON’T RISK BEING SPANKED BY A COAT HANGER THIS MOTHER’S DAY! PUT SOME THOUGHT INTO HER GIFT – BECAUSE ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL MOTHERS…

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1. LOVE GROWS

2. FOR A BLUE LADY

3. CHAIN REACTION

4. THE GOOD MIXER

5. SEALED WITH A KISS

Brie Harrison gardening gloves, £14.99 Elegant, ultra-soft but also very hard-wearing – as all the best mums tend to be. Matching secaturs are £19.99.

From Pod Company 24 The Mall www.thepodcompany. co.uk

Wireless headphones, £89 Excellent sound quality, and lots of techie gizmos, including bluetooth so she can use as it as a phone – mums who stay ahead of the curve will adore this.

Very pretty colours, too.

From Oskar Furniture 47 Whiteladies Road www.oskarfurniture.co.uk

‘She is Love’ necklace, £149 Silver pebbles etched with the words ‘she’ and ‘is’ hang above a small silver heart charm on a double chain. Trust us: she’ll cherish this forever.

From Diana Porter 33 Park Street www.dianaporter.co.uk

Jacob Bodilly bowls, £37-£50 If she loves to cook, she’ll use a mixing bowl most days – so it may as well be as beautiful as this one.

From Midgley Green 26 Alexandra Road, Clevedon www.midgleygreen.com

Sophie Harley ‘Kiss’ earrings, £65 Made in sterling silver, sized at a dainty 7mm x 7mm, and presented in a beautiful little pale blue and gold box.

From Grace & Mabel 32 The Mall, Clifton www.graceandmabel.co.uk

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SHOPPING

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6. BEAN THERE

7. SWEDE SMELL OF SUCCESS

8. MOTHER SUPERIOR

9. TRUNK CALL

10. POUR, LITTLE RICH GIRL

William Morris bamboo ecocoffee cup, £11.95 William Morris had huge respect and care for the environment. He also insisted on objects being useful and beautiful – just like your mum, then.

From Amulet Boutique 39A Cotham Hill www.amuletboutique.co.uk

10cm ball vase, £16 A bunch of flowers will only last a week, but this vase by Swedish company Coee is for life. Or at least, until you clumsily drop it.

From Mon Pote 177 North Street www.monpote.co.uk

Ingela P Arrhenius mug, £7.50 With a wide range of characters (this is Mrs Cooper) you may even find one that looks like her.

Even if you don’t, they’re cute and colourful – and she likes tea, doesn’t she?

From www.the-pippa-andike-show.com

Lowe elephant bag, £895 Possibly a tad lavish for Mother’s Day, but if you’ve had a windfall/she’s been completely amazing, then go for it, we say. But then, we would.

From Harvey Nichols 27 Philadelphia Street, Quakers Friars www.harveynichols.com

Majolica jug, £POA We can’t guarantee this specific jug will still be in stock, as Dig Haüshizzle sell one-offs; but if the Mum loves vintage, this is the place to head.

From Dig Haüshizzle51 Colston Street www.dig-haushizzle.co.uk

www.mediaclash.co.uk II CLIFTON BRISTOL LIFE LIFE II 41 www.mediaclash.co.uk 69

Reach the best in the west Auent, active and inuential and just a call away

Bristol Life team 01225 475800

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R E S TA U R A N T

FOOD

B Block Bristol’s pizza scene has never been in better fettle – so why should we travel to Keynsham to get our fix? There are quite a few reasons, actually. . .

By DE R I ROBI NS

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n the same week that the BBC decided to publicise the fact that Bristol may soon have its own nudist restaurant — yes, it’s a pop-up, as the broadcaster took great delight in pointing out — it was a relief to banish that frightful thought from our minds and dine, fully-clothed, in the civilised surroundings of B Block in Keynsham.

It’s an evocative name for an eating establishment. It sounds, rather enticingly, like a TV prison drama; you could be forgiven for expecting the waiters to wear grey uniforms covered in little black arrows, with Johnny Cash on loop on the music track. If you want service, rattle your tin plate – that kind of thing.

You’d be wide off the mark. The moniker pays homage to a slice of Bristol industrial history, being housed as it is in the ground floor of the Somerdale Factory, formerly the home of Fry’s and Cadbury’s and now part of the new £60m Chocolate Quarter retirement community that’s been created by the St Monica Trust.

B Block is the pizza bit of a twopart restaurant complex; due to open at the end of the month is Somer, with a bistro menu. Like B Block, the dining hall is open both to the residents and the public at large.

The main man behind the enterprise is Bristol gastronomy guru Adrian Kirikmaa. Adrian has a finger in many local pies; he’s the food development manager for St Monica Trust, and he’s just launched The School for Food, with the ubiquitous Josh Eggleton as a consultant, and Ben Sacree as head chef. Ben, as all pizzaheads will know, previously steered the kitchen operations at the awardwinning Flour & Ash. Pizza aficionados (hello there, nearly everyone in Bristol!) will be interested to learn that Ben uses mozzarella specially made for B Block, and Italian-style double zero flour, which is very finely milled. As for the toppings, long months have been devoted to developing an eclectic range, with flavours that are not afraid to stray a

THE DOUGH BASES ARE SO

FAULTLESS THAT YOU COULD PROBABLY EAT

THEM JUST WITH OLIVE OIL

long way from Naples, though the cheese and cured meats come from Nanona in Clevedon, offering a direct supply line to some of the best producers in Italy.

An equal amount of love and care went into selecting the starters – it was, we learn, a close call between a beetroot dip and an artichoke one, but the latter edged it onto the menu.

We suggest you order it. A generous bowlful of subtle, creamy mix flecked with chives and an indulgent dollop of top-class olive oil proves a total joy to mop up with a pile of salty, buttery, herby flatbreads; these came in just as handy for dipping into our second starter of wood-roasted tiger prawns; four plump, juicy beasts swimming in a pool of garlicky butter.

As well as the £5 kids’ option, there are nine flavours to choose from. Never dismiss the basic Margherita – Pete Sanchez Iglesias of Pi Shop once told us that this flavour was his favourite, because ‘the pizza has nowhere to hide’.

But if you fancy going fancier, don’t let us stop you; there’s everything from a Prosciutto di Parma (artichoke, black olives and rocket) to a Three-British Cheese (Ogleshield, Dorset Blue Vinney and Ricotta) and the Braised Ham Hock with pineapple chutney.

I headed in an Easterly direction with the Harissa Pulled Lamb. The gently spiced lamb was as tender as you’d hope from meat that has been slow-cooked for 18 hours, marinated aubergines added further juiciness, while the dough base had been oxygenated to pillowy perfection before being blistered in the wood-fired oven.

Ben’s dough is, in fact, so faultless that you could probably eat it with nothing more than olive oil. With the addition of thinly sliced discs of chorizo, pickled jalapenos, creamy fior di latte, a lovely green leafy mizuna and tomatoes – this being Your Man’s happy choice – it was as good as pizza gets, ie very good indeed.

Atmosphere wise, it’s bustling and family-friendly, and if that description makes you want to run for the hills then note that the luxuriously appointed Somer is a far quieter option.

The sheer attention to the quality of the food makes this Keynsham complex an excellent addition to the local culinary scene – and an especially useful one as a pitstop between Bath and Bristol.

DINING DETAILS B Block Cafe, Brookmead, The Chocolate Quarter, Trajectus Way, Keynsham BS31 2GJ; 0117 363 7119; www.b-blockpizza.co.uk Opening times Monday: 8am-4pm; Tuesday, Wednesday 8am–9pm; Thursday, Friday 8am-9.30pm; Saturday 9am-9pm; Sunday: 9am-noon We visited Saturday lunchtime Prices starters from £3.95, pizzas from £7.95 Drink keenly priced, reasonable range: a bottle of very serviceable house wine (Sol Mio Bianco, Sicily), £15; a Mayfly sauv blanc from NZ, £23 Vegetarian choice three of the pizzas are veg, one vegan Service friendly, professional Atmosphere buzzy, in a light airy space, with its industrial heritage still on show Are kids welcome? Yes; kids’ pizza £5 Disabled access totally accessible; this is a retirement community!

www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 45

FOOD & DRINK W H AT ’ S M A K I N G T H E G O U R M E T N E W S I N B R I S T O L

TAKE FIVE

Pete and Jo Cranston run Queen & Whippet, an event catering company serving Bristol, Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. Pete’s the chef, and Jo’s the events expert . . .

he charming name of the company has a family connection. “My grandfather was a publican who ran many pubs around Bristol in the ’60s and ’70s,” says Jo. “He was a wonderful host, and we wanted to keep a bit of his spirit by having a pub-style name.”

Where did Pete learn cheffing skills?

Pete trained as a chef in Belfast 20 years ago before moving to Edinburgh to sharpen his skills in some of the best fine-dining restaurants there. Having also taken a photography degree, he worked in London as a food stylist before Bristol and event catering called. How our dishes are presented is really important to us, and we love posting food shots on our Instagram feed, @queenandwhippet.

Would you agree that catering standards have risen due to more discerning diners?

Absolutely. The Bristol restaurant scene sets incredibly high standards for quality and innovation, and we translate that high benchmark to event catering. Great food is integral to how Bristolians socialise, so we know how important it is for the menus to be just as exciting when people host their own events.

46 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

What’s the minimum and maximum number of people you can cater for?

We recently catered for a secret wedding – a fine-dining tasting menu for just the couple and two witnesses. There’s no upper limit to numbers; my event management background means that I’ve got the logistical know-how to scale up to whatever clients need. Our corporate events can be for 500 or more.

Do you specialise in any particular style of catering?

We work across private and corporate event catering, and our style is high-end but relaxed. Lots of our menus are designed for sharing, and we’ve incorporated some influences from our travels while being faithful to our West Country produce.

Tell us about a recent event Bristol companies seem particularly good at putting on a party for their staff! We recently enjoyed catering for a local firm who treated their staff to a Wizard of Oz party, where our catering theme was ‘Eat The Rainbow’ and the spread of colours across the menu was beautiful.

How do you construct your menus?

Starting with each style of eating – plated, sharing, barbecue and grazing – we talk

to our producers, look at what’s in season and get busy in our testing kitchen. Our clients bring so much to the table and we love incorporating their ideas. Often, our wedding couples want to include their favourites dishes or showcase their cultural backgrounds in their menus. It’s vital to us that we’re able to cater for any dietary restrictions in an imaginative way, which is why we’ve created menus such as vegan street food, and gourmet gluten-free barbecue.

What’s currently your favourite thing on the menu?

There’s a 12-hour birch-smoked beef brisket with a damson glaze on our barbecue menu which is Pete’s favourite.

I’m a dessert gal, so it’s got to be the Pimm’s jelly with kale and blackcurrant sorbet and strawberry shortcake crumb from our plated menu. It looks so pretty, too!

Got any exciting plans for the future?

We’re planning a series of supper clubs in Bristol inviting our favourite local producers to showcase how our food goes from field to plate with each season.

For more: www.queenandwhippet.com

FOOD & DRINK

VEGAMAY, ANYONE? Vegfest is back with a bang; the UK’s biggest vegan event can now be found at the newly renovated Ashton Gate between 26-27 May. Expect a whole new bunch of features as well as the traditional favourites, at over 200 stalls spread over three main concourses. The £27.50 entrance fee, as you’d hope, includes a goody bag Full deets at www.bristol.vegfest.co.uk

MORE TASTY BITES TAKING THE PULSE The first British Dal Festival is set to run from 19-25 March. The brainchild of the British Edible Pulse Association, the Fest will take place throughout the city, with restaurants and eateries serving their own take on the dish in a Dal Trail; the best dish will be announced at the close of the festival.

Among those on board will be 91 Ways, drawing on its multi-cultured community to create an eclectic online recipe collection; Incredible Edible, which will be planting lentils, peas and beans in The Bearpit; and Bristol Fruit Market, where chefs will be demo-ing dal recipes. The final and biggest event takes place on 25 March at Paintworks, with street food, markets, activities, demos and music.

Aine Morris, Pete SanchezIglesis, Dom Borel, Jamie Randall, Josh Eggleton and Keiran Waite

www.britishdalfestival.com

Gemma’s roses in progress

PARK STREET IN BLOOM It’s been a long time coming, but the successor to Goldbrick House will finally land at the end of the month in the form of The Florist.

The latest in a small and select chain, the Florist’s offering looks set to be not dissimilar to Goldbrick’s – it’s a bar, it’s a restaurant, it holds cocktail classes and nightly DJs – and the décor promises to be beautiful. As shown in her Instagram, left, Bristol Life favourite Gemma Compton has been busily covering the walls with the most beautiful pink roses. We’ll be visiting very soon, and will report back asap.

CHEFS TAKE ACTION Never let it be said that Bristol’s chefs don’t do their bit; we’ve lost count of the ways that they’ve raised money for those less fortunate, whether through Street Smart collections or by donating the proceeds of one special dish to homeless charities. On the cover of this issue you can see some of the guys (and gal) preparing to swap their chef’s whites for walking boots before heading for the 2018 Action Against Hunger trek to Nepal – read more about it on page 90.

And props to our own Jess Carter, editor of sister mag Crumbs – Jess is one of a bunch of local food writers who’ll be cooking a feast to raise money for the same charity. Too Many Critics takes place on 4 March at Bambalan. Tickets £45 from Wriggle. Jess isn’t terrified at all . . .

www.theflorist.uk.com

www.getawriggleon.com

THE DINNER’S THE THING . . .

Hosting a big event? Want to be one of the very first to take advantage of Bristol Old Vic’s newly repurposed Coopers’ Hall? The elegant chandeliered space, formerly the mezzanine front of house for the theatre, opens as a dining venue in September. And if you’re planning a wedding, and are of the stage-struck persuasion, it’s the perfect place for a reception after tying the knot in the actual theatre.

But where are all the It’s all part of BOV’s BOVTS kids going to re-invention as a place lounge about now...? that works as a theatre, a heritage venue and for events/socialising, with the latter two helping generate income to cross-fund the first – extremely important for helping the theatre continue their work. www.bristololdvic.org.uk

LAST BUT NOT LEAST . . .

Congratulations to the Pony & Trap, listed second in the UK’s prestigious Top 50 Gastropubs Awards 2018.

“Is there such a thing as the perfect country pub? If there is, then it’s likely to be the Pony and Trap in Chew Magna,” said the judges, who praised Holly Eggleton’s charming FOH as much as brother Josh’s bold flavours – “It’s almost as if he’s afraid of nothing in the kitchen!” they marvelled. We suspect the last three words are superfluous. www.top50gastropubs.com

www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 47

B

ased in the Cotswolds, Brookman Greene has quickly established a reputation for producing high-end elegant events. We produce celebrations ranging from stunning weddings to private celebrations in your residence, on fields and lawns or in venues of your choice.

We also offer a service where we can help style your venue, using our eclectic mix of prop hire, or we can provide a set up service, and management on the day.

We focus on the timeless values of fairness, generosity and trust to ensure that you receive the best possible service, all delivered with the warmth, style and elegance that Brookman Greene is known for.

We care about each occasion as if it were our own Brookman Greene West Kington, Wiltshire SN14 7JJ +44 (0)1249 782906 | info@brookmangreene.co.uk www.brookmangreene.co.uk

FOOD & DRINK

CAFÉ SOCIETY Sta n Cullimore

LOUNGE LIZARDS Looking for an oasis of good taste that will also please the kids? Head due south to North Street...

W

hen you’re strolling up North Street on a frosty Sunday morning, with several shivering small children in tow, the Lounge Cafe Bar shines out like a beacon of hope in an unforgiving world.

It was all my own fault, obviously. I had suggested taking some of the kids to visit the Sunday Market at The Tobacco Factory.

Thought they would enjoy snooping around

stalls full of trendy trinkets and strange shaped vegetables. Which they did. What they did not enjoy was the biting cold wind that blew straight through them, taking all joy with it.

Which is when I suggested a café stop.

First thing you notice about the Lounge when you step inside, is the gentle air of relaxed luxury that oozes from every pore.

Whoever designed the look of this place and its sisters should take a gold star. From the moment you cross the threshold, everything exudes a solid vibe of vintage refinement. From the eclectic collection of prints and mirrors on the walls, to the comfy sofas and chairs filling the floors, everything is quirky and all done in the best possible taste. It’s also very childfriendly. Which helps at times like these.

We sat ourselves down and scowled at the menu. That’s how it works with the kids in our family. They’re a nightmare when it comes to feeding time.

There’s the picky eater, Little Miss Fussy.

The one who has more allergies than fingers, Little Miss Allergy Bag. And last but not least, the toddler who has food tantrums. Little Mr Terribly Two. It’s enough to break the strongest gastronome’s heart. Collectively, this lot don’t see food as something to eat. It’s more like the first phase of an argument. The perfect way to break a chef’s heart.

However, being freezing cold sharpened their appetites. We soon got the orders sorted and sat back waiting for the thaw to set in.

At which point I sent the kids off to count how many mirrors they could find on the walls. Turns out there are quite a lot. Kept the youngsters busy long enough for the food to arrive. And what a feast it was; no comfort food cliché went unticked. We had bacon butties, sausage butties, cheesy beans on toast and a toddler-sized plate of fish fingers and chips.

THIS LOT DON’T SEE FOOD AS SOMETHING TO EAT; IT’S MORE LIKE THE FIRST PHASE OF AN

ARGUMENT

Obviously, the menu features more upmarket, beautifully curated dishes.

But the kids wanted easy eating and that’s what they got. Reader, I have to tell you, whoever that chef was, I could have married him, or her. The kids scoffed everything that arrived. Which is worth more than a wall full of Michelin stars, right there. We left as one happy tribe of wellfed humans.

So if you’re looking for an oasis of good taste, good food and complete contentment, then look no further than the Lounge. And if you get a chance to count the mirrors, see how many you can find. We think it’s 17.

Former Housemartins guitarist Stan is now a journalist and travel writer www.stancullimore.com

www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 49

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FOOD

BEST ALWAYS

JOSH EGGLETON, Chef pat ron

YES, CHEF!

THE CHEFS ARE THE ONES WHO ARE CONSTANTLY FROM ONE

LEARNING ANOTHER

Blimey, 2017 was a good one for the Bristol food scene. Dare we say that 2018 is ramping up to be even more exciting?

W

hat a year 2017 was – so much happened in those 12 months. We flipped Chicken Shed and opened Root in its place, which has been a tremendous success – I couldn’t be more proud of Rob, Meg, Marcos, Amelia and the team.

We opened Salt & Malt Wapping Wharf – it was kind of a dream come true to open a chippy in the city – and The Pony retained its Michelin star status once again, which is an incredible honour.

[STOP PRESS: turn to page 46 to read about another pretty amazing accolade].

We attended Tom Kerridge’s inaugural Pub in the Park festival, which is coming back with a bang this year. It’s a terrific event

Rob plates up at Root while Josh scowls at a grill

and I’m happy to say we’ll be attending the Marlow, Bath and Knutsford ones in 2018.

A big mention also goes to Pete SanchezIglesias who picked up another Michelin star for Paco Tapas, which was well deserved.

A big part of last year was launching The School of Food. Together with Adrian Kirikmaa from St Monica Trust as well as Weston College, St. Katherine’s and Ashton Gate we created a new Bristol-based apprenticeship scheme for those aspiring to work within the hospitality industry.

This project is particularly important, not just to me personally but to the industry as a whole. Our city has one of the best food scenes in the entire country and in order to keep it vibrant and relevant we need to start bringing through the next generation of talent. The education of the next generation

is incredibly important and I always like to put a lot of emphasis on this in my kitchens.

The best chefs – regardless of age – are always the ones who are constantly learning from one another. Simple things, like eating out in other people’s restaurants. Also, when we have guest chefs coming in to do collaborations, the whole kitchen team (and front of house, actually) always request to work because it’s a fantastic way to see techniques and practices from other kitchens first-hand.

We’ve always been into collaborations with other chefs at The Pony. We’ve got a massive guest chef series lined up this year; once a month from April to November we’ve got the likes of Jesse Dunford Wood, Niall Keating, Brad Carter and Dominic Chapman cooking in the kitchen with me and the team, and we’re all really looking forward to it.

In keeping with this, two of the previous head chefs from The Pony – Luke Hawkins and Rob Howell, who are now running the kitchens at The Kenny and Root respectively – are planning a stellar line up of guest chef events and special events for this year. It’s great to see them carrying on the tradition.

I’d also like to give a mention to Tim Welford who has been working tirelessly over the past few months to develop the kitchen garden at The Pony as we expand into the field next door. Sam and Beccy, formerly from Birch in Bedminster, have been growing their own veg for years and they are a real inspiration.

2017 was our first year and this year we’re taking it up a notch, with plans to grow loads more vegetables. We’re currently drawing up the calendar so we can forecast what we’ll be bringing in and when, and then plan dishes and the menu around it.

For more, www.theponyandtrap.co.uk

www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 51

A MAN’S WORLD

SEB BARRETT

PRAM FACE Get your excuses ready if you happen to be pushing a buggy across the Downs . . .

I

’ve been in better places than a windy, rain-soaked park at 8am on a Saturday morning, and they didn’t involve using a pram as a makeshift exercise machine.

The pram was, of course, occupied by a child (mine), because seeing a group of men running around a park with empty prams would be to enter the mind of David Lynch.

Picking up my partner and our baby at Mummyfit class in the local park, I murmured under my breath that they should do one for daddies too. “They do,” responded the instructor – who must have had the sensitive hearing of a moth – not registering that I was attempting a lol moment.

GROUP RUNNING EMPTY ENTER DAVID LYNCH

It transpired that her husband ran the male equivalent of Mummyfit and, to my eternal regret, said husband was stood but a few feet away from me, clad head to toe in the sort of outdoor gear that promises all the adventure of a Millets catalogue.

“You should join us, buddy. We get going in ten minutes,” said the third-rate Mr Motivator. Thus was formed one of those l’esprit de l’escalier moments where you have two seconds to think of an excuse on your feet, but for the life of you just can’t.

I was already wearing my running clothes, and the number of eager faces trained on mine caused me to choke. I heard the dreaded words seep through my gritted teeth: “Sounds good.”

SEEING A OF MEN AROUND A PARK WITH PRAMS WOULD BE TO THE MIND OF

Turning to my girlfriend to see what sanctuary she would provide in my moment of need (did we need to do an urgent big shop?

Was one of our parents visiting?), I found only a pram rolling towards me as she went away, towards the park café with the rest of the chattering mothers.

“Right guys, let’s get a sweat on!” enthused the instructor, who reminded me of Wayne Sleep. Not Wayne Sleep in his pirouetting prime. Wayne Sleep now.

What ensued can best be described as a Zumba class of emasculated men, awkwardly lunging with prams. Believe me when I say that our children were more bemused than the dogwalkers, who must have thought this was a piece of performance art.

I seemed to be the only one who thought that pushing a pram back and forth on a slight incline was probably less taxing than doing a press-up with your knees touching the floor. I say this because everybody else – bearded bandana-wearers, if your imagination needed a prompt – made it look like they were in the latter stages of SAS selection, a wild look of exhaustion in their eyes as they completed their twelfth bodyweight squat.

As someone who has been through some hellish experiences in the name of exercise, this ranked alongside walking my nan across the Waitrose car park, and that itself was probably more nerve-wracking than pramercise (or whatever name somebody has inevitably come up with for what we were doing).

There’s a reason why men keep weights and exercise machines in their garage, and on that Saturday morning, I understood it more than ever.

Seb Barrett works in sports communications.

Follow him on Twitter @bazzbarrett

www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 53

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ACTIVITY & FITNESS

ACTION STATIONS Does the idea of taking responsibility for your health and fitness fill you with existential dread? Cheer up! In Bristol, exercise can be fun…

By A L E X DIG GI NS

Y

ou know the drill. Christmas is long gone. Spring looms. You really want to get into shape – or at least, your other half wants you to get into shape – but you’re no gym bunny, and really don’t fancy making like a hamster in a treadmill. Take heart, because Bristol’s just full of fun alternatives – and I tried four of them.

UNDERCOVER AGENTS

Ever been rock-climbing? Sure, you have; we all have a half-repressed memory of being beasted up an obviously fatal incline by hard-helmeted psychopaths, only to slip and hang perilously upside down, while the cool kids from your class laughed at you.

Just me? The good news is that rock climbing as an adult, when you’re actually able to make rational decisions, is genuinely great and surprisingly easy to get into.

And Bristol is blessed with brilliant places to try it, from the Redpoint Centre in Bedminster all the way to Avon Gorge, where the real pros play. But for sheer out-there fun, climbing inside a decommissioned church takes quite a bit of beating, and makes Undercover Rock an unmissable Bristolian adventure.

56 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

we were fed up with

people buying all the

gear then hobbling back in a few days later, having wrecked

it, and themsELves

“It’s the perfect antidote to sedate, modern office life,” says Mark, a veteran instructor at the centre. And I get this: climbing is an engaging mix of physical and mental effort – your body might reach the top, but it’s your mind that gets you there. www.undercover-rock.com

Pedal Progression

“We started coaching because Matt and I were fed up of people coming into the shop, buying all the gear, then hobbling back in a few days later having wrecked it, and themselves.”

This is Sam, one half of the dynamic duo that runs Pedal Progression, Bristol’s only on-location mountain bike hire and coaching company. Based in Ashton Court Estate, and hiring bikes for anything from an hour to all-day, and running coaching on the side, these local lads have been transforming Bristol’s mountain biking scene. Welcoming all ages – “we get anybody from eight to 80 giving it a go” – the guys have helped lower the bar for entry to what is often an intimidating sport, and have encouraged tons of people to try it.

The location doesn’t hurt the eyes either: Ashton Court Estate looks particularly fine this

time of year – the trees in bud, the late winter sun picking everything out in perfectly etched shadows.

I don’t have much time for Instagramming the scene, though, as Sam puts me through my paces, and under his watchful eye I push my riding far beyond anything I have ever done before. I even graduate to tackling a few dropoffs and little jumps, moves which previously would have left me munching on a mouthful of forest floor.

By the time we pedal back to the shop for a well-earned coffee, I’m knackered. “That’s because you’re trying to fight the bike,” Sam tells me, a twinkle in his eye. “It’s not about strength or fitness, it’s down to your flexibility.” Well, that’s me schooled. Time for a spot of yoga as well as mountain-biking next time then, eh? www.pedalprogression.com

Keep on running

Running is good for you. Psychologists and scientists will tell you; doctors never shut up about it; even politicians are keen to get in on the act, as they’re snapped, red-faced and sweaty, in a desperate bid to prove they look as awful as the rest of us when they exercise. 

Making stand-up paddleboarding look easy at SUP Bristol

www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 57

BURN TUMMY FAT AND FIRM UP YOUR WHOLE BODY, WHILE HAVING FUN!

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ACTIVITY & FITNESS

Indoor climbing at Redpoint Below, Pedal Progression (your correspondent not shown)

But you’ve got to draw a line somewhere.

Running through a mud-slicked field at night, with just a high-vis and headtorch for company – surely that’s where most sane people would call it quits? Well, not the Town and Country Harriers (TACH, acronym aficionados). In fact, that’s their whole jam.

As Bristol’s only exclusively off-road running club, braving all weathers is kind of the point.

And what weathers . . . During the Thursday night runs that I join (the main weekly runs, and free, except for beer money afterwards), we experience all manner of winter foulness: whipping winds, slashing rain, and bone-deep chills. But we also get magical crisp nights where the frost crunches under our trainers, the stars glister hard and bright above us, and our breath steams and billows in front of us.

And cosied up in the pub afterwards, swapping stories, muscles aching pleasingly, I realise what the group most reminds me of: we’re like a bunch of naughty schoolkids who’ve just got away with something excitingly illicit. On reflection, escaping the world of street lights and adult responsibilities for a few hours, to slip and slide around in a field with mates, doesn’t seem insane, far from it. In fact, to my mind, it’s about the only thing guaranteed to keep you sane. Enjoy responsibly. www.tach.org.uk

WHAT’S SUP?

Admittedly, this might be one to save for the balmier summer months, though the weather never seems to affect the hardcore.

Hailed as the next big thing in adventure sports, SUP (stand-up paddleboarding) is the art of surfing without a wave. Unlike surfing, which is notorious for its steep learning curve, learning to SUP is a calm, even serene experience. Certainly, balancing on the board takes getting used to, but the fact that it’s significantly bigger than a surf board helps. But once you’ve got that down, and you’ve mastered the art of paddling one end without ejecting yourself off the other – Newton’s second law still, unfortunately, very much applies when you’re on the water – it’s plain SUPing. www.supbristol.com

THREE OF THE BEST Prefer an indoor gym to the great outdoors? Step inside, love – let us find you a place BODYSTREET Conveniently situated on Whiteladies Road, Bodystreet offers a new form of full body workout that works by supercharging the natural effects of exercise. It’ll shave hours off time otherwise spent in the gym – so what were your excuses, again?

They say: turn to page 79 … www.bodystreet.co.uk CLIFTON REVOLUTION Bristol’s newest venue for indoor cycling is suitable for all abilities and confidence levels; a 45 minute session, on average, burns between

400-600 calories. MyZone cardio tracking is used, for a safer and more fun ride; all the sessions are specially tailored to help you to get the results you want, faster, by tracking your heart rate during workouts and giving accurate calorie-burn data.

They say: “Studio cycling is great for an intense cardiovascular workout to burn loads of calories and get sweaty and has the added benefit of being low-impact – so it’s kind to your joints. Anyone with lower back and knee problems needs to join this studio.

“There is no joining fee, and your first session is free; our cheapest ride bundles are £6.99 per session, bought in bundles of 10 rides.” www.cliftonrevolution.com CLIFTON COLLEGE SPORTS CENTRE It’s everything that you’d hope and expect from a gym, with knobs on, from the 25m pool, fully

equipped fitness room with cardio and weights (and access to Sky Sports and BT Sport), five badminton courts, indoor and outdoor tennis, squash and a wide range of classes.

They say: “It’s all about the personal touch and getting to know our members and working with them. We offer a membership which covers all of our facilities which works well as the vast majority of members like to use a variety of facilities.”

And it’s not just for Clifton College students and their parents: “Anyone can join! We have members aged from six months to 85 years.

Monthly membership starts from £41 per month with annual membership for an individual starting at £470.”

They are also running a promotion through February in which new annual members get an additional 10% off. www.ccsl-cliftoncollege.com/sports-centre

www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 59

Alma Vale Centre

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A RETIREMENT TO LOOK FORWARD TO

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Want to become a better leader?

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Come along to our Open Evening on Wednesday 21 March 2018 between 6-8pm. To register, please email Cheralyn at efim-scl@bristol.ac.uk

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BRISTOL | CLEVEDON | WEDMORE | WESTON-SUPER-MARE | YATTON

Sixth formers at Clifton College

Happiest days of their lives?

Entrusting your children to a school’s care involves a huge leap of faith. Obviously, you want them to have the best possible education – but, even more importantly, you need to know that they’re happy By l i sa wa r r e n 66 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

T

here has been a big increase in the number of children reported to be suffering from stress and anxiety, due to too much exam and peer pressure. With this in mind, we contacted five local schools and asked their heads: what steps and solutions does your school offer to combat this kind of anxiety? Secondly, how about competitiveness between pupils – is this something you encourage, or actively play down?

So then, in their own words . . .

Clifton College –

head Tim Greene “Our pastoral programme is designed to ensure we are spotting pupils who are at risk from poor mental health, and proactively giving them the support they need,” says Tim. “We have fully trained mental health first-aid trainers in every one of our school houses; we also have a voluntary team of sixth formers, the ‘Headspace Hubbies’, who act as peer supporters who will lend a sympathetic ear to anyone who maybe feeling worried or low. They too have received mental health first-aid training.

“Preventative measures and educating pupils

E D U C AT I O N

Assembly at Sidcot

are incredibly important. Along with PSHE lessons, we also have workshops and lectures dedicated to promoting positive mental health.

Pupils learn about responsible social media, resilience development, coping with exam pressure and are given strategies to cope with any anxieties.

“Lectures and seminars are held throughout the school year, so we can work together with parents and talk to them about how they can support their children on any of the pressures facing them.

“At Clifton, we see ourselves as being in a co-parenting relationship, which allows us to support the pupils in their personal development together. This is just as true for day pupils as well as boarders; we believe that the end of the school day or term does not mean a stop to our support and responsibilities for the pupil.

“A healthy level of competition is encouraged to foster good character-development and social skills. Life is competitive; over-competitiveness is never the end goal and it should never be a source of anxiety or negativity.

“We believe controlled competition builds resilience and allows pupils to try new activities which may be out of their comfort zone, opening them up to achieving more than they thought they were capable of. As well as sporting events, we also have house singing and events such as the House Drama Festival, where each house puts together a play of their choice and performs it at the Redgrave Theatre.

“This competition is a lot of fun for the pupils, which they look forward to each year. Events such as these require team building which promotes comradely, leadership opportunities and strong cultural development. Although all pupils are required to take part in these events, they also have the opportunity to pursue individual interests as required.”

WE HAVE

NEVER

ALLOWED MOBILE

PHONES,

AND SO OUR EXPERIENCE OF CYBER BULLYING IS

LIMITED

our students’ overall wellbeing resulting in ‘success without stress’.

“This was highlighted as a main feature of our school in a recent piece of research undertaken by the University of Bristol. In the study, called Schools for Wellbeing, the educational significance of Quaker school culture examined whether school culture (in Quaker Schools) has an impact on the student experience and outcomes.

“The research found that the open, respectful and supportive culture in our school results in students who are less anxious and stressed and therefore are more open to learning, achieving success naturally.

“We are much more interested in collaboration than competition – encouraging our students to develop the skills of co-operation, negotiation and reconciliation. They are motivated to improve their personal best rather than achieving more that someone else. We do, however, encourage students to hold high expectations in all they do and work hard to achieve them. We often stress the difference between giving of your best, rather than being the best.

“Interestingly, the research also found the Quaker practice of silence in our weekly Meeting for Worship contributes to the unique atmosphere at Quaker Schools. The practice of silence is calming and allows time for personal reflection.

The fact this is a whole school exercise including teachers and pupils is a living embodiment of the culture of equality in the school. It is a powerful leveller and my favourite part of the week.” www.sidcot.org.uk

QEH –

HEAD STEPHEN HOLLIDAY “QEH Juniors offers a balanced curriculum,” says Stephen. “While academic standards are high, much is placed on creative arts and outdoor education, alongside traditional team sports and w

At QEH, much emphasis is placed on outdoor education

www.cliftoncollege.com

SIDCOT SCHOOL –

HEAD IAIN KILPATRICK “We’re well known for taking an anti-examfactory stance at Sidcot,” says Iain. “Our culture embraces a much wider set of values based on our Quaker ethos. So, alongside a robust curriculum, we also focus on developing the individual and a love of learning, which supports www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 67

E D U C AT I O N

individual activities. The aim is to give the pupils opportunities to succeed both in and outside of the classroom.

“Healthy competition is good, but winning at all costs is not. Having a situation where everyone wins devalues both that of the victor and of those who also took part; not everyone is a winner every time and learning to cope with success and failure is a valuable life skill.

“I would contend that every child is good at something and it is the role of the school to discover that, nurture it, guide the pupil and support them so that they can feel a sense of achievement.”

Above and right: The Downs

www.qehbristol.co.uk

AND SUPPORTIVE CULTURE IN OUR SCHOOL

CLIFTON HIGH –

HEAD ALISON NEILL “The responsibility of a school goes beyond teaching pupils to pass tests,” says Alison.

“Examination grades, pivotal though they are, show progression in the narrowest of terms and form only part of a bigger picture.

“A school must also nurture in their young people the skills and attributes that will support them for life – independence, empathy, resilience, problem solving, self-awareness, critical and creative thinking and so many more.

“Pupils and students at Clifton High School receive an education in the very broadest sense of the word, achieving that ideal balance of personal development with academic realisation.

“Indeed, Clifton High prides itself on being a school for parents who want their children’s personal development to be given the same level of importance as their academic achievements.” www.cliftonhigh.bristol.sch.uk

THE DOWNS SCHOOL –

HEAD MARCUS GUNN “The Downs has not been immune to the increasing number of young children that evidently suffer from anxiety,” says Marcus.

“The pressure of exam results, social media and body image cannot be ignored. At The Downs we

THE OPEN, RESPECTFUL

RESULTS IN STUDENTS WHO ARE

LESS ANXIOUS AND STRESSED

have never allowed mobile phones, and so our experience of cyber bullying and alike is limited.

“Without question, the wellbeing of pupils is at the forefront of every head teacher’s thoughts.

It is with grave concern that we observe more and more pupils, some young of age, struggle with anxiety. At The Downs we have developed over the last three or four years, and continue to develop, a series of pastoral care procedures that interlink and, in doing so, form a network that ‘catches’ and supports vulnerable children.

“Overseeing these is a pastoral care team that monitors the effectiveness of the support provided. Alongside teachers genuinely engaged in the care of children, this support includes matrons qualified in mental health first aid, an expert listener in listening and an art therapist.

“Our learning support department is constantly evolving in nature to meet the requirements of our children. No longer is a good learning support department simply a teacher providing extra help. Our department includes specialist dyslexia and dyscalculia teachers, a speech and language therapist and an occupational health therapist.

We also have very close ties with an educational psychologist and a counsellor.

“The mechanics in place, perhaps the most effective means of supporting children suffering from anxiety, however, is the range of opportunities available to them. Life is a bit dull and overwhelming if school is purely a conveyor belt of lessons or tests.

“At The Downs we offer, or indeed demand, that our pupils constantly take part in numerous activities outside of the classroom. Be it sport, drama, art, dance, music or simply looking after the pets and, indeed, climbing trees, such opportunity promotes physical activity and develops interest. They also facilitate growth in confidence and self-belief as pupils begin to understand and appreciate their strengths. These become their ‘props of life’ and serve to guide them through difficult, anxious times. Is it then about giving children back their childhood?” www.thedownsschool.co.uk www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 69

Adventures in party-going

SNAPPED! AC ROS S B R IS TO L , O N E S H I N D I G AT A T I M E

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE WAS FRIGHTFUL . . .

Pho t o s b y T I M WO OL F

Hannah Walkiewicz and Lucy Eastment

. . . but Zero Degrees was a delightful setting for our Winter Party – and not just because the name neatly mirrored the temperatures outside. Many thanks to all the friends, clients and colleagues who turned up on a cold January night to chat, drink and network.

Joseph Watkins, Michael Jenkins, Dan Langan and Hannah Vasey Rob Hankey and Catherine Gillott

Steve Mardall and Jonathan O’Shea

70 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

SOCIETY Amy Tout and Charlotte Brooks Jill Sunderland and Pam Eastman

Joseph Watkins and Dan Langan

Rhys Evans

Lily Dalzell, Emma Stenning and Zoe Crick-Tucker

Lorraine Scally and Julia Redman Catherine Dhanjal and Richard Lowe

Nick Cryer and John Milne

Jamie Kelly, Natasha Duckham and Bob Irwin

w www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 71

SOCIETY

Continued from page 71

Ph o t o s b y K E I R A N OBE E

Naomi Ritchie Edward Corrigan Mollie Riach

Richard Lowe and Catherine Dhanjal

Ellie Kitcatt, Simon Corbett and Izzy Salva Rebecca Timms, Alexandra Grozea, Kani Naim Ben Pryor

Natasha Duckham

www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 73

Shake-ups/launches/intel/promotions

B R IS TO L G E T S S ER I O US AWARDS

JUDGES REVEALED... . . . and time is running out if you want to be considered for a glorious, golden Bristol Life Award . . .

L

ook lively, all you Bristol businesses! You’ll have to hurry if you want to nominate your company for the Bristol Life Awards: the deadline is 23 February at midday.

And the all-important panel of judges has been revealed. The impeccably independent panel will assess the nominations and meet to discuss in detail the possible winners. The judges come from disparate areas of Bristol’s business world, to reflect the diversity of the Awards.

The line-up this year looks particularly strong and eclectic, reflecting an array of sectors across Bristol: Andrew Hodgson (KPMG Bristol), Anna Starkey (We The Curious), Clare McDermott (Soil Association), Jane Roscoe (UWE), Jim Shaw (Shaw & Co), Leona Briggs (Osborne Clarke), Sarah Thorp (Room 212), Savita Willmott (Bristol Natural History Consortium), Simon Peacock (JLL) and James Durie (Bristol Chamber of Commerce).

“We’re thrilled to welcome our panel of judges to the Awards,” said event director Steph Dodd. “Choosing the winners will be a tough task, but we’re confident that our judges, taken from all parts of the Bristol business community, will make excellent decisions.”

QUOTE OF THE ISSUE

Gold! Always believe in your... company...

Finalists will be revealed at midday on 27 February by email, on the Awards site and on Twitter. Tickets are already selling strongly, and will surge when finalists are announced. Those businesses wishing to attend the celebration are urged to secure their places now.

Companies self-nominate via the Awards website and can enter multiple categories. It’s free to enter, and a useful ‘12 Top Tips’ with helpful advice is on the site.

The ceremony itself takes place on 26 April in a grand marquee, the biggest in Bristol, with up to 700 attendees, located in front of Lloyds Amphitheatre. Winners receive the rather beautiful Bristol Life Award, as well as coverage in Bristol Life magazine, in email marketing, across all social media channels and physical and digital marketing assets – on top of the incredible accolade of being crowned the best in their category within Bristol.

A very limited number of opportunities still remain and all sponsorships are backed by an extensive marketing campaign. To align your brand and benefit from the Awards, contact Lily Dalzell lily.dalzell@mediaclash.co.uk; for current sponsors and sponsorship opportunities, see the website below. www.bristollifeawards.co.uk Twitter @BristolLifeAwd

“THINK OF US AS THE UBER OF TEMPORARY STAFFING ” Who’s revolutionising the recruitment service market?

See page 79

£350k THE BIG NUMBER

The huge amount raised so far by businesses in Bristol and the South West for the campaign to transform Colston Hall – a huge amount for an arts redevelopment project, and a mark of how important the venue is to the city www.colstonhall.org

l o t S i r B t r a T s e M o h A Be ! r E e t n U l o V Start Bristol, you’ll be a When you volunteer for Home m get back on their feet lifeline for a family: helping the d to cope in the future. and develop the skills they nee ndent registered charity Home Start Bristol is an indepe h at least one child under supporting struggling families wit s and carefully match five. We recruit and train volunteer them with local families.

nexT voLuntEer CourSe sTartS 17th apriL, 10-2pM Our popular, accredited Volunteer Preparation courses are held 3 times a year, with each course running for 36 hours over 9 weeks. Course times are designed to tie in with the school day and volunteers are asked to attend just once a week. At the end of the last course, 100% of volunteers said they would recommend it to a friend, and what’s more, it carries a Level 2 Accreditation.

This qualification, combined with the experience gained working with us, can act as a wonderful stepping stone into future careers.

PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS HAVE THE EXPERIENCE TO MAKE GREAT VOLUNTEERS During the 30 years of Home Start’s work in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, we’ve helped thousands of families. By encouraging and involving parents in their own support planning, we see parents and families grow in confidence.

And when this happens, children flourish...

teEr n U l Vo Ay! tod

We couldn’t carry out this vital work without you, so if you are a parent or grandparent, and can spare 2-3 hours a week to do something amazing, contact us today.

YOU REALLY WILL BE CHANGING LIVES.

April Course Venue: The Green House, Hereford Street, Bedminster BS3 4NA Accessible by bus, train and plenty of on-road car parking and NCP car parks, Children’s Centre, Knowle, Bristol BS4 1HR. Call 0117 950 1170 | www.homestartbristol.org.uk | Find Us On Facebook

THE SUPPORT IS FANTASTIC “After seeing a close friend go through post-natal depression I felt I wanted to help other mums. The course exceeded my expectations.

It wasn’t always easy but the support was, and still is, fantastic”.

- Rachel, volunteer

BUSINESS INSIDER

RECRUITMENT

HIRE GROUND Bristol’s frequently at the forefront of business innovation; no surprise, then, that the city has been the birthplace of Shift2Go, a start-up led by three entrepreneurs that’s aiming to shake up the temporary staffing marketplace

(l-r) Tim Murray-Brown, Richard Fennell, Damon Cooper

Y

ou can tell by the website that recruitment-companywith-a difference Shift2Go’s at the very cutting edge of technology. With everything online and app-controlled, and middle men effectively cut out, it provides a faster and improved service, matching clients and workers looking to fill shift work roles in sectors such as hospitality, warehousing and driving. We met up with one of its founders, Damon Cooper.

the user, allowing them to apply for the correct shifts within their area.

How does Shift2go work?

The Shift2go platform allows customers to post a shift and instantly reach thousands of skilled staff in their local area via mobile pushnotifications and email alerts. Customers can review the applications in real-time, approving the staff that best suit their business, and putting them back in control.

How does the company make its money?

Shift2Go charges a small percentage on the worker’s payroll costs, which are passed on to the business. We offer standard 30-day credit terms, which clients have fed back are ideal for cash flow.

As an employer, how do I use it?

Imagine you run a busy bar, and a staff member phones in sick – with a typical agency you call them, then they have to get in contact with workers to check availability – a time-consuming process with often the first person available getting the job. With Shift2Go, the numerous phone calls are replaced by a couple of simple clicks on a portal/ app and the client getting a choice of skilled, rated candidates allowing them to select the candidate that best suits their business.

Tell us more about your payroll services. . .

Shift2Go does all the back office processes, payroll and administration to free up the client’s time for their core business. The only admin after the shift has finished is for the business to approve the virtual timesheet and rate the worker with a simple star rating.

How many people are employed by the company?

We have only been live a few short weeks, but it’s been exciting to see the keen interest and large numbers of users signing up to the service.

We have a great mix of students interested in part-time shifts around their courses, along with users already in full/part-time looking to supplement their income. Growth has mainly been by word of mouth, which is really encouraging to see.

THINK OF US AS THE UBER OF TEMPORARY STAFFING . . .

Any other advantages to employers?

We’re enhancing the existing staffing agency market by reducing the admin for clients, delivering a faster service and, importantly, charging a very competitive 12% rate. This rate covers Shift2Go taking on all the payroll admin for its clients, an ever-increasing burden for busy managers. Additionally, Shift2Go will pay shift workers promptly and offers credit terms to clients. Simple, fast and solves the problems that many face.

And as someone looking for work, how do I use Shift2go?

Once you have downloaded the app (available on iOS and Android), simply select the skills that match your profile, tell us about your employment experience and you can then apply for available shifts.

Do you personally interview/ask for references from potential candidates, or do you simply put people in touch?

We are online and undertake ‘right to work’ checks. Both the business and users are rated after their shifts, and previous employment listed, so shift fulfilment is based on these criteria. The system ensures that the right people are highlighted to the business. Think of us as the Uber of temporary staffing.

What is meant by the term onboarding?

Onboarding is the process of gathering all relevant information from

Is it all about matching shifts to suitable staff, or do you sometimes fill full-time positions too?

Right now the platform is based on shift workers, but a process is available for conversion to full time work should both parties wish.

What were you doing before founding Shift2go?

The Shift2Go management team background experience includes digital media and app development for BBC customers, head of finance at Lloyds and a BT sales executive. The wider team has proven experience of previously delivering recognised branded apps.

How important is social media, and how else do you market the business?

Social media is a fantastic medium and one we use consistently to market the business. Word of mouth and referrals will become increasingly important as the business grows. We want people to shout about how great the experience is, and social media will allow this.

In addition to social media, we heavily rely on word of mouth and recommendations, as well as more traditional advertising methods.

Do you have plans to expand the business into other cities?

Once the model is proven in Bristol we plan to extend out to other locations as we see demand. The technology has been built to work anywhere in the world.

For more: www.shift2go.co.uk

www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 79

BUSINESS INSIDER

HEALTH AND FITNESS

BODY TALK Andrew Morelli combines a career as a finance broker with running Bodystreet. A personal training studio with a distinctive USP, it uses electro-muscle stimulation (EMS) to amplify the body’s electrical pulses, causing muscles to contract more, and work harder, during exercise

A

ndrew is the director of Bodystreet Bristol – he is also, he says, “the general dogsbody who helps the personal trainers when I can, by washing glasses, refilling water carafes, laundering the towels and training clothes, and cleaning the shower.”

No standing on ceremony here, then . . .

What did you do before running Bodystreet?

I worked as a finance broker, and still do.

This is how I came across Bodystreet. I arrange equipment finance for all kinds of franchises to start up, or open their second, third or 30th site. When the first Bodystreet opened in Milton Keynes I helped them, and after reading their business plan, sent my partner to Germany to try out the workout – she’s the gym bunny in the family. She came back and ached for a week, so our minds were made up. I still do my day job, and arrange finance for other Bodystreet sites to open in UK – I just work in the Studio during the evenings and on Saturdays.

Are you the kind of person who can switch off from emails in the evenings?

No, it’s the nature of both of my jobs. If

someone is trying to finish a major project for their business and need their suppliers paid, or if a member is trying to call the studio and the boys are busy so it diverts to my phone. . . it doesn’t matter if I’m on a beach in Nice, camping in the Gower or picking up the girls from school, I have to take the call or respond to the email in order to help get the final paperwork sorted for payment, or move the member’s session to a more convenient time.

WE INTERACT ON A PERSONAL LEVEL FOR THE WHOLE TIME A MEMBER IS IN OUR CARE Do you use social media?

Not personally, but we do have Facebook and Instagram for Bodystreet. They are both effective for different reasons. One can be used to just upload pictures and tag lots of different groups in order to gain brand recognition, while the other can be used to target marketing and drive people to a landing page in order to book a trial session.

I like to think we are now getting to grips with how to use both effectively.

What facilities do you have on offer at Bodystreet?

We offer a 20-minute standing-still, zeroimpact workout with a personal trainer. We use electric muscle stimulation to contract the muscles and give an all-over body workout equivalent to three to four visits to a gym. We provide the training clothes, so our members never need to dress for the gym, or even bring a bag, towels for a private shower, and free espressos and fruit-infused water.

What makes you different from other fitness studios?

We only work out two people maximum at a time. We interact on a personal level for the whole time a member is in our care. Our training method means the member only has to come once per week for 20 minutes; this makes keeping up a training programme easier to sustain. We have far fewer dropouts. We also do all we can to make sure our members keep their weekly sessions; we don’t just take a membership fee regardless if they attend or not. We text them a reminder the day before a session, and call them if they seem to be running late.

What do you regard as the ultimate workout?

There is no ultimate workout. Different workouts work for different people, for different reasons. If someone doesn’t have the time for three- to four hour-long visits to a gym, or doesn’t have the willpower to push themselves into attending three to four times per week, or if they do go, cannot afford the costs of a personal trainer for every visit to make sure that they are performing quality exercises, then Bodystreet can work for them.

How much does it cost?

Our personal training memberships start from £24.99 per session. Anyone can come along. As our training is zero-impact, we can even train people carrying injuries. After all, that’s where EMS training has been used for decades already, in the medical profession for rehabilitation from injuries or operations. Our first member was 79 years old and loves doing it. And, as with all forms of training, we are responsible to make sure that certain medical conditions are signed off by the member’s own physician.

For more: www.www.bodystreet.co.uk

www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 81

l aw a d v e r t isi n g f e at u r e

Divorce – you don’t just need a lawyer Sarah Jackson at BLB Solicitors discusses how in complex divorces a good lawyer should act as team leader, pulling in financial experts when required.

A

lthough it is a life-changing decision, getting a divorce is the easy bit. A divorce ends the legal contract of marriage only; it does not bring an automatic end to any financial obligations you and your spouse might have to one another.

Reaching a financial settlement is the most complex aspect of divorce and a good lawyer should be referring you to the relevant experts as you go about dividing your assets fairly.

As the partner heading up both of BLB’s offices in Bristol, I am accustomed to dealing with clients with complex financial affairs, including multiple properties, businesses, family trusts and complex pensions.

My job is to negotiate a settlement for my clients and then draft the agreement in the form of a financial court order. It is essential that, in so doing, I have sufficient knowledge to know when expert financial advice is required – for example in relation to tax or pension sharing – to ensure that my clients are not financially disadvantaged. If a lawyer thinks they can do it by themselves and they fail to bring in a necessary expert, this can result in a substantial

financial cost to divorcing clients.

My network of experts in the Bristol area, built up over many years, help me to negotiate the best deal for my clients.

One of these experts is a financial planner at Smith & Williamson Financial Services, Sue Faiers. Here she explains why specialist pensions advice is essential to ensure a fair settlement for divorcing couples. BL Sarah Jackson is Head of Family Law at BLB Solicitors.

BLB Solicitors 13-14 Orchard Street, Bristol, BS1 5EH Tel: 0117 905 5308 E-mail: sarah.jackson@blbsolicitors.co.uk Visit our website www.blbsolicitors.co.uk

With pension wealth on the rise and the introduction of pension freedom, it is now more important than ever to look beyond simply the valuation figure put on these plans for divorce purposes and consider the practicalities of how pensions are shared.

‘Jobs for life’ are no longer the norm and more frequent job changes often result in individuals accruing pension benefits across a number of arrangements offering different benefits and features. In some situations, the temptation may be to share each arrangement between the divorcing parties but this can be flawed for a number of reasons including incurring higher charges than necessary and potential loss of guaranteed pension benefits.

New flexibility in terms of how pension benefits can be accessed has also added an additional tier of complication to an already complex area.

It is important that those advising couples on pensions in divorce have the relevant in-depth pension knowledge and practical experience to be able to identify the most suitable approach to sharing the parties’ pension and resultant implications.

Sue Faiers is a Chartered Financial Planner with Smith & Williamson Financial Services, and specialises in providing advice on the financial aspects of divorce.

82 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

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PROPERTY

SHOWCASE

GOLDEN YEARS Our population is changing, with people living longer and expecting a higher standard of life in their older years.

Enter St Vincent – an upmarket private development in an unrivalled location, aimed squarely at the over-60s

By L I SA WA R R E N 86 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

SHOWCASE

I

mproved healthcare and lifestyles, especially for those aged 60 years and over, has led to an increase in life expectancy; it’s a well-documented fact that our population is getting older.

As well as living longer, the current population of over-60s tends to be considerably younger at heart, in their outlook and interests, than those of an equivalent age in their parents’ generation; in a world in which 50 is the new 30, and 60 the new 40, we’re a lot less keen on the idea of being put out to pasture.

There’s also a growing culture of people wanting to spend their hard-earned cash on enhancing their later years rather than scrimping and saving simply to leave it to the kids. Not great news for the kids, admittedly, when getting a foot on the property ladder is so much more difficult than it was for their parents.

There’s obviously been a knock-on effect on notions of retirement living, too. Over in Keynsham, for example, the award-winning St Monica Trust has thoughtfully created a community that encourages residents and nonresidents to share upmarket restaurants and spa facilities (more on that on page 44).

Meanwhile, in Redland, at the more independent end of the scale, there’s St Vincent – a brand new development from award-winning retirement developer Pegasus Life.

With a design influenced by local history and traditional arboreta, The Vincent has been specifically designed for the over-60s, and offers a relaxed, friendly environment in this hugely popular and central suburb.

The development is made up of 65 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, both within the newly refurbished Queen Victoria House, and two new threeand four-storey terraces designed by award-winning architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.

Queen Victoria House, home to 25 of the apartments, was built in 1886 on the site previously occupied by

PROPERTY

The good life starts here, with a communal pool and lounge and beautifully appointed apartments

HOUSE NUMBERS

1-3

bedrooms

1886

date the original Queen Victoria House was built

65

total number of apartments

£371,950 £1,301,950 guide price

Vincent Lodge, and has a Victorian-inspired arboretum linking it with the new-build terraces.

As seems mandatory with the best new developments these days, there’s a substantial leisure complex too, with residents’ facilities including a gym, sauna, steam room, pool, café and terrace – we especially like the fact that there is an honesty bar.

Typifying the offering in the newer part of the development is Apartment 64. Situated on the top floor, it’s currently offered for sale at £774,950 and offers two bedrooms, the master having an en-suite, and a balcony leading off the living area.

In 2018, people don’t simply expect a longer life; they expect, and deserve, to reap the rewards of their working years. If you’re thinking about how your 60s could pan out, St Vincent could just be the place to start.

For a full range of new homes offered by Savills, see www.savills.co.uk

www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 87

BRISTOL LIVES

Q&A

O

n the cover of this issue, you’ll see the happy smiling faces of the Bristol chefs heading to Nepal for an Action Against Hunger trek. Joining this fine band of compadres is Freddy Bird, head chef at the renowned Lido. Freddy’s not in the photo.

He was far too busy answering our questions to prance about with colourful umbrellas . . .

Morning chef – we hear you’re off on your travels. Can you tell us a bit about the trek, who’s going, and how it all came about?

Morning! Yes, I’m off to Nepal to (maybe madly) trek for five days to altitudes of 4300m with 21 other chefs, restaurateurs and food industry experts. I don’t know whether the trek itself or the company I’m with will be the most crazy part. The trek is organised by the charity Action Against Hunger, who tackle the causes and effects of hunger. They do this by treating malnourished children, providing clean water and healthcare, and providing tools, training and income-generating opportunities, enabling whole communities to be food-secure and free from hunger. I’ve long championed education in schools around understanding food provenance, and for kids to learn how to cook, grow and taste new things, so it’s a cause close to my heart.

Sounds like you’ve got your hands full. . .

I’m working with suppliers, producers and friends to help me do all I can to make my fundraising goal and hopefully go beyond it. I’m looking at potential events as well but I’ve just opened a new restaurant in Reading, so time is quite tight as the M4 and GWR are my new best friends. . .

How are you training for the trek?

I live very close to the Downs, which I’m using as my ‘gym’ for training. We also took a trip up the Sugar Loaf near Abergavenny recently, to change up the geography a little. The improving weather certainly helps, and it’s a great time to be outdoors exploring the changing seasons. My training consists of walking the dogs, foraging, or just running around after the kids. My attitude to cooking is centred on the outdoors – I’m obsessed with cooking over fire – and I think that this trip will be a great experience in learning about cooking in a new environment, with new tools, ingredients and ‘diners’.

90 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk

FREDDY BIRD

Along with a bunch of other Bristol chefs, Freddy is heading to Nepal this April for a fundraising trek. We bet the food cooked over those campfires will be a cut above dampers, then . . .

What do you think your biggest strength and weakness will be as part of the team?

Hmm – this is a tricky one. I think I’m a pretty good motivator and have lots of experience through inspiring and supporting my kitchen teams in Bristol and Reading. I’m also a bit of a joker, which could on one hand be good, as I like to keep momentum and spirits up through humour, but this could also be a weakness as I’m often the one who tries to have too much fun.

What do you reckon you’ll be cooking round the campfires of Nepal?

I’m looking forward to seeing what food we’ll share on the trek, and I’m sure I’ll learn from the other chefs. It will be a learning experience – as is cooking and dining with anybody new. I’m hoping for lots of interesting cuts of meat, new varieties of vegetables and spices to play with. I want to know more about fenugreek seeds – I’ve been using them a lot recently, and want to know how to make the most of their strangely bitter taste.

What’s this thing that you call ‘Bird food’?

Bird food is a five-course tasting menu I’ve developed at my restaurants, in which diners arrive to a no-menu dinner that picks the best produce on offer that day, from which my team and I create a sharing banquet. It’s a great way to experience what is in season, primarily cooked over fire and sharing food and wine with those you (hopefully) like most.

Why do you love cooking over wood ovens so much?

My style of food is heavily influenced by my time working at Moro. We were taught to cook over fire, and I’ve not really looked back since – the smoke and charcoal affects the flavour of the food, and it’s just so much fun to cook over – it’s a bit of theatre, too. The variables are neverending, with different types of wood, changes in temperature and infinite ingredient combinations meaning there’s always room for experimentation.

I’m lucky in that my kitchens at the Thames and Bristol Lidos have huge wood ovens that are fantastic to cook with. In Reading I have the firepit of my dreams – it’s about as close as you can get to having a restaurant kitchen outdoors.

Tell us about your favourite Bristol haunts Although much is to be said of the new openings, we are lucky to have some well-established places that have stood the test of time. The Mayflower is a favourite pit-stop after a long service – open until 3am and situated under the bus station, its location adds to its charm as well as serving the most delicious and authentic Chinese food (try the ginger and crispy fried pig’s intestines – trust me). www.lidobristol.com To donate to Freddy for Action against Hunger: www.nepaltrek2018.everydayhero.com/uk/freddytreks-nepal