South Bristol Voice October 2016 by South Bristol Voice

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southbristolvoice October 2016 No. 17

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WIN tickets to Kerry Godliman P39

NEW SCHOOL FOR KNOWLE? P8-9 | LETTERS P19 | PLANNING P27

Criticism after MP’s congrats for Corbyn BRISTOL South MP Karin Smyth has congratulated Jeremy Corbyn on winning the Labour leadership. Ms Smyth resigned as a junior shadow minister in June, saying Mr Corbyn’s position had become untenable. She backed Owen Smith to lead the party. But shortly after Mr Corbyn’s resounding victory on September 24, Ms Smyth tweeted: “Congratulations @jeremycorbyn rightly focussing us now on impact Brexit, exposing Tories and forming next Labour government.” Like many Labour MPs, Ms Smyth wants to turn away from the bruising leadership battle and focus on policies. But in a sign of possible trouble to come, she was attacked for changing her position. One person responded on Twitter: “And this is why we get annoyed. Last month you urged the CLP to vote for Smith and you publicly denounced Corbyn. Find a new job.” Another tweeted: “Praising him for doing something you prevented him from doing by Continued on page 16

Mosaic tells our tale

Schoolgirls in park race abuse Page 3 Get set for Art on the Hill Page 4

Arnos Vale trials its own permits Page 6 Time to get flu jab says Lord Mayor Page 15

Totterdown rises: From left, Mike Wilde, Andrew Brown, Cllr Jon Wellington, Simon Hobeck, Suzanne Audrey, Michael Lord, 4, Julian Noble, Lucy Lord, Sue Wilde, James Hamer and Rebecca Mear THE destruction of hundreds of Totterdown homes to make way for a flyover which was never built now has a memorial. The demolitions of the 1970s destroyed many Victorian streets and a bustling shopping area. Community group Tresa asked artist David Bowers to design a mural, assembled by volunteers

and now in place at Zone A on Wells Road. Tresa chair Suzanne Audrey said the mosaic – aided by local store Patco – is a picture of the past but also of the shops that are helping revive the area. See how many you can identify. • Totterdown Rising, a book about the demolitions, is available at tresa.org.uk

Is that really an owl I can hear? Page 21 History: The first family of steam Pages 30-32

Acclaimed poet’s debut at 93 Page 36 On Facebook www.facebook.com/southbristolvoice

clicks & mortar Our brand new website is now live! View all of our latest properties – use our intuitive ‘draw a search’ map, explore Bristol’s local areas and much more…

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Intro

A PUBLIC meeting on September 23 heard no objections to the idea from Bristol Grammar School to set up a new school for 4-16 year-olds in Knowle. There’s no doubt that many parents in this part of South Bristol would love the convenience of a secondary school on their doorstep. If it is run by an institution with a proven track record, so much the better, many will think. However, our MP, Karin Smyth, has warned that the plans, which have been long in the making, came as a shock to many. Local schools have improved greatly in recent years,

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You can find South Bristol Voice on Facebook and Twitter facebook.com/ southbristolvoice Next month’s deadline for editorial and advertising is October 19th thanks to “close links with parents, young people and the communities they serve,” she said. Any new plan should put local people at its heart and involve wider regeneration, she added. And there are many hurdles before any school opens its doors. The Department for Education will give its verdict in March or April. It will then be up to the DfE to find a suitable site. Bristol Grammar School seems to have rowed back from hints that The Park centre in Daventry Road – the former Merrywood boys school – was its favoured site. No one wants to see the good work done at The Park disappear. More consultation will be vital.

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Briefly

q THE FRIENDS of the New Cut, or FrANC, who volunteer to clean up and protect the banks of the tidal River Avon, have a gathering on Sunday October 2. It’s from 1-5pm at St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School and is to celebrate 10 years of FrANC and the recent clearance work using Lottery funds. All are welcome: for details email contact@franc.org.uk q YOUNGSTERS aged 9-15 can join weekly computing sessions at Knowle West Media Centre in Leinster Avenue. Explore new software and technology with Minecraft and coding. There are also special workshops – on October 3 it’s on Obot building, from 4.30-6pm. • kwmc.org.uk q KNOWLE & Totterdown Local History Society hosts a slide show, A Walk Up Wells Road, at its meeting on Friday October 14. It’s by chairman Mike Hooper, at 7.30pm at Redcatch community centre in Redcatch Road. The

October 2016

society hosts a 30th anniversary celebration on Monday October 24 at 2.30pm at the same venue. The AGM and talk on Totterdown engineer William Brock has been postponed until February. q REDCATCH Art Club host their second exhibition and sale of work at the community centre, Redcatch Road, on Saturday October 22, 11am-4pm. Hot and cold drinks and food will be available. Entry is free. q LOVE to boogie but only dare do it now in the privacy of your own home? A new dance class called Never Too Old To Disco starts on Saturday October 8 at 10.45am in the Baptist church hall, St John’s Lane. All welcome. • nevertoooldtodisco@gmail.com q ARTISTS can register for Totterdown’s Front Room Art Trail until October 3. The trail is on November 18-20. A free app by Knowle’s Magic5 software is available: search Facebook for Front Room Totterdown.

How do I get in touch with ... My MP? Karin Smyth MP Labour. Email: karin.smyth.mp@parliament.uk Post: Karin Smyth MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA Phone: 0117 953 3575 In person: Surgeries on Friday October 14 and 28 at Knowle West Health Park, Downton Road, BS4 1WH, 9.15-10.45am. Call 0117 953 3575. My councillor? Christopher Davies Lib Dem, Knowle Post: Brunel House, St George’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UY Email: Cllr.Christopher.Davies@ bristol.gov.uk

Gary Hopkins Lib Dem, Knowle (Lib Dem leader) Email: Cllr.Gary.Hopkins@bristol.gov.uk Phone: 0117 985 1491 or 07977 512159 Lucy Whittle Labour, Windmill Hill Post: Brunel House, St George’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UY Phone: 07392 108805 Email: Cllr.Lucy.Whittle@bristol.gov.uk Jon Wellington Labour, Windmill Hill Post: Brunel House, St George’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UY Phone: 07392 108804 Email: Cllr.Jon.Wellington@bristol.gov.uk

USEFUL NUMBERS Bristol City Council www.bristol.gov.uk 0117 922 2000 Waste, roads 0117 922 2100 Pest control and dog wardens 0117 922 2500

NEIGHBOURHOOD FORUMS Windmill Hill Wednesday November 16, 7-8.30pm, Victoria Park Baptist Church, Sylvia Ave BS3 5DA (location to be confirmed) Knowle Friday November 25, 7-8.30pm, Redcatch Community Centre, Redcatch Road, Knowle, BS4 2EP Neighbourhood partnership Wednesday December 7, 6pm, Knowle Community Centre (tbc)

Council tax

0117 922 2900

Housing benefit 0117 922 2300 Social services 0117 922 2900 Police Inquiries 101 Emergency 999 Fire

Emergency: 999 Inquiries: 0117 926 2061

EDITOR’S NOTE: South Bristol Voice is independent. We cannot take responsibility for content or accuracy of adverts, and it is advertisers’ responsibility to conform to all relevant legislation. Feedback is welcomed: call editor Paul Breeden on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk. All stories and pictures are copyright of South Bristol Voice and may not be reproduced without permission in this or any other plane of the multiverse. South Bristol Voice Ltd | 18 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BX |

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News

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Mum does nothing as girls shout race abuse

POLICE are appealing to a man who was racially abused by a group of children in Victoria Park to come forward. The incident came to light when a witness posted details of the incident online. The witness – who is not being named by the Voice – said she was appalled to see four girls, aged between about eight and 10, swearing at the man as they followed him though the park. As well as showing racial abuse, the girls threw rubbish at the man and flicked water out of a puddle at him using paper cups. With the girls – all in red school uniforms – was a woman who appeared to be mother to one of them. She did nothing to stop the attacks and did not speak. “The kids’ language and actions were unbelievably cruel and adult-like,” said the witness. “Because they were kids it meant the guy couldn’t defend himself.” The witness told the Voice: “I’m a bit embarrassed, I only put it online because I’m not the kind of person who normally knows what to do in these situations. “But I did what I had just read, that you should talk to the person who’s being abused.” Once the witness intervened, the children stopped shouting. The man and the witness carried on walking through Victoria Park until the girls and the mother turned a different way. The man told the witness he

Bystander steps in to stop hate attack by girls as young as 8 had been followed by the group from Philip Street, Bedminster, into Victoria Park. The victim, an Eastern European man of about 30, has not reported the incident, which means police are unable to investigate further. Jaya Chakrabarti from Knowle, who helped set up United We Stand Bristol to show that the vast majority of Bristolians oppose hate crimes, said she understood why some victims of racial abuse did not go to the police. They fear drawing attention to themselves and inviting reprisals, she said. “But it’s important for all of us who are able to try to create an atmosphere where people feel that they can come forward and report incidents,” she said. After racist attacks on two homes in Knowle West this summer, United We Stand organised a peace picnic to show that the racists did not represent the community. There have been no attacks since. A police spokesperson said officers are well aware that hate crimes are often under-reported.

How to sniff out a cannabis factory COMPLAINTS about anti-social behaviour and drug-taking in a Windmill Hill tower block led police to a cannabis factory. But because there were only eight full-grown cannabis plants, the occupant of the flat in Polden House was given a caution. The law says there must be 12 plants before someone can be prosecuted for intent to supply cannabis, PCSO Tony Morris told Windmill Hill neighbourhood forum on September 7. The offender is only allowed

one caution, so if he is caught again, he will be prosecuted, said the officer. Cannabis plants need lots of heat, so windows that are always closed, have condensation on the inside, or are always covered, can be a giveaway, said PCSO Morris. Very bright lighting that is always on and ventilation that is never turned off are other signs. So are lots of visitors at all hours, and a strange, sweet sticky smell. In winter, all the extra heating can make the snow melt on a roof.

Offences like this are treated seriously and victims are supported throughout the investigation, she said. The witness’s account of the incident attracted 129 likes and 73 comments on Facebook, all of them condemning the abuse and the girls’ mother for letting it happen. One resident commented: “This makes me want to cry – that primary school children in our city, which I love because it’s so diverse, can be so misguided.” It is not known which school the girls are from. Several primary schools in South Bristol have red tops or blazers. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call 101 and give reference number 5216199430.

Wanted: Local voices to advise NHS managers A NEW drive to find South Bristol residents to become the city’s first ‘healthcare change makers’ is under way. The aim is to boost the voice of local people in the services offered by Bristol Community Health, North Bristol NHS Trust and University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. Volunteers are offered training in return for attending four to six meetings a year. Expenses for travel and caring responsibilities will be paid. Co-ordinator Nick Dean said: “Our change makers might have ideas from their experiences of being in hospital or caring for someone at home. It could be on anything ranging from visiting hours to transport links or the national health agenda.” • briscomhealth.org.uk

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October 2016

Art trail celebrates 10 years THE STREETS of Windmill Hill will be buzzing with colour, sound and community spirit as the 10th Art on the Hill art trail takes off on Saturday and Sunday October 1 and 2. More than 90 artists and performers will take appear at 45 venues, including St Mary Redcliff and Victoria Park schools, from 12noon-6pm each day. On show will be a huge range of arts to see, touch, experience and buy, including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, textiles, jewellery, and ceramics. Many of the venues are the artists’ own houses, which they open to the public for the weekend, and they are often on hand to discuss their work. Performances will take place in Victoria Park and Windmill Hill community centres on Saturday afternoon with music extending into the evening. On

Hands-on art, painting and greetings cards are some of the treats at Art on the Hill 2016 Sunday evening, Brahms Requiem will be performed at St Michael’s church, Vivian Street. On both days there will be smaller performance venues all around the trail offering music, poetry, dance and storytelling.

To celebrate 10 years of the trail, there will be a treasure hunt: collect stamps from special artist’s venues to win your very own mini-windmill, a great way to keep kids (young and old) entertained! There will also be a

raffle with prizes including a trip in a hot air balloon generously donated by Park Furnishers of Bedminster. This year, there will also be a trail within the trail in Victoria Park. Jon Piggot has laser-etched historic photographs of the park onto clear acrylic and placed them in the positions from which they were originally taken, giving the viewer an opportunity to compare Bristol today with Bristol of the past. Food and drink will be on sale at Mrs Brown’s Cafe in Victoria Park, at pubs and at some of the other venues. For those who want to try their hand at being creative, there is a new workshop area in the park for adults and children. Guides to the trail will be available from many of the venues. There’s also a mobile app: details on the website. • artonthehill.org.uk

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MORE needs to be done to ensure South Bristol Community Hospital meets the health needs of the area, said MP Karin Smyth With many patients across South Bristol finding it hard to get a GP appointment, Ms Smyth said people need to speak up about the improvements they want. Last autumn the Labour MP highlighted that many South Bristol residents were still battling through traffic to health facilities elsewhere in the city. Meanwhile parts of the Hengrove building, opened in 2012, were under-used and many people were unaware of the services on their doorstep. Ms Smyth, a former NHS manager, has held meetings with health trust managers in an attempt to make better use of the £45 million facility. The hospital is now running a full schedule of services, with successes including: • Significantly more outpatients are being seen at Hengrove compared with a year ago, including children’s clinics; • Clinic use now stands at 90 per cent or higher;

• The urgent care centre is treating 3,000 patients a month • The Older People’s Rapid Assessment Clinic, which aims to keep older people out of A&E, has been expanded; • More people are using the hospital’s dental services; • It is hoped to open oncology and haematology clinics. “There are pleasing signs of progress, but those I represent continue to have serious concerns about their experiences getting to see a GP, and having to travel to Southmead for a cancer-related appointment,” said Ms Smyth. “We know that Tory cuts to NHS funding lie ahead, so I cannot stress too highly the importance of South Bristol residents continuing to have their say about their local hospital. “South Bristol people fought for over 50 years to get a hospital in our area so it needs to fulfil its potential.” She invited people with suggestion about local health services to email karin.smyth. mp@parliament.uk.

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News

THE EYESORE that is the George and Railway hotel opposite Temple Meads station could be transformed into a hub for hi-tech jobs. The 1860s Victorian hotel is Grade II listed, meaning it must be preserved, but has been derelict for 25 years. Now the council wants the George and Railway to become home to Engine Shed II – an expansion of the business hub next to Temple Meads which hosts new-wave businesses, said to have added £7 million to the local economy in its first year. Key to the success of Engine Shed has been SetSquared, a collaboration with the University of Bristol which turns cutting edge-research into businesses. The council cabinet agreed an outline deal in September with developer Skanska to redevelop the George and Railway. It will sell the hotel to Skanska and lease it back for use by Engine Shed. It is expected that Skanska will demolish the Grosvenor hotel at the other end of the

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Eyesore near its end

Temple Place: View towards the station after the roundabout is filled in island site, which is currently ringed by roads. The island is set to be removed, with work starting next year to replace the Temple Circus roundabout with traffic lightcontrolled junctions, new buildings of up to eight storeys and a new public square to be called Temple Place. The site

could also host a hotel, with offices and bars, cafés or restaurants. Another building of four to six storeys may be built between the Grosvenor site and the George and Railway, which is at the river end of the island. Meanwhile the Temple Meads enterprise zone is set to expand to include parts of Redcliffe and

possibly more of St Philips. No boundaries have been released, though the plans are supposed to be approved by the Government in April 2017. Income from business rates in the expanded zone could help fund the redevelopment of Temple Meads station – one of very few unimproved Victorian mainline stations in the UK. Plans for the station include a new entrance on the east side through the former Royal Mail sorting office site – now owned by the council – and a new underground street, called Station Street, beneath the platforms from west to east. A new 500-space multi-storey car park has been proposed to the north of Temple Meads, with new buildings all around. A separate multi-storey car park to serve the arena, on the site of Kwik Fit in Bath Road, has not been ruled out.

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Man sentenced after attack in playground A KNOWLE man was arrested and held in custody by police following reports of an attack on children in the playground at Perrett Park. Police have discounted rumours that the man was trying to abduct children. The Voice understands that the man has mental health issues. Officers were called to Perrett Park on May 28, “following reports that a man was acting inappropriately in the children’s playground,” said a police spokesperson. “We conducted a tour of the area and following good descriptions, we located the man and arrested him.” The 29-year-old man from Knowle was remanded to Bristol Magistrates Court, where he appeared on June 19 charged with two counts of battery. He was sentenced to a community order, unpaid work and to pay a victim surcharge of £85.

Bird appeal THE HUNT is on to identify all the garden birds that visit the BS3 area. The BS3 Wildlife Group is urging anyone who likes watching birds to ask for a form on which they can record all the species they see from October to March. The group holds a bird survey every winter. If you’d like to take part, email gbcpnewsletter@gmail.com

Ask the vet:

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October 2016

Arnos Vale braced for a wave of new homes RESIDENTS in the few streets that make up Arnos Vale are bracing themselves for thousands of new neighbours in the next few years. And as pressure on parking continues to build, they have introduced their own voluntary residents parking scheme. People who live in Edward Road and Chatsworth Road, two terraced streets opposite Arnos Vale cemetery, have long said that it can be impossible to park. They have asked developer Crest Nicholson to stop its workers parking in their streets while they are building Phase 3 of Paintworks next door. But though Crest Nicholson has clamped down on the problem, competition from commuters and others who want to park close to the city centre is still making life difficult for residents. Gemma Gaut of Chatsworth Road showed the Voice her unofficial parking permit, and explained the scheme, which has been backed by 70 per cent of residents at a public meeting. “Any car that doesn’t have one of our permits will get a very polite notice on it, saying that it’s very difficult for residents to park here and would they please park somewhere else. “The premise is that most people get embarrassed and don’t come back,” she said. The idea has been tried in other parts

Playing out: Cllr Clarke, Stewart Morgan, Gemma Gaut, Penny Courtney, Chris, 4, and Elsie, 6 of Bristol, such as Montpelier. Details are available by emailing ResidentLedParking@gmail.com An RPS looks likely for Arnos Vale, Totterdown, Windmill Hill, Knowle and Brislington in advance of the opening of Bristol arena in 2018. But consultation will not take place until next year. “We are one of the last streets where you can park before you go into town, and there’s a bus stop opposite on Bath Road,” said Gemma. “People park on double yellow lines – it’s very difficult.” Brislington councilor Jos Clarke, who turned up to show her support for a Chatsworth Road Playing Out day, is sympathetic to the residents. The scheme is a polite way of trying

to deal with the problem, she said. The “old” Arnos Vale consists of Edward and Chatsworth roads and a stretch of Bath Road. About 400 people live there, said Gemma, but that figure could rise to 4,000 if new schemes are allowed. Paintworks Phase 3 has already sold the first of its 210 houses and flats. A planning application for 92 more in Phase 4 is expected to be considered by councillors in October, and has aroused much local opposition. Meanwhile a site behind Majestic Wines has been given outline permission for 47 flats. A plan to demolish an annex at the ITV studios on Bath Road and build 30 homes was granted in 2013. And there is speculation that land at Arnos Manor hotel could also be developed. “We are not saying ‘don’t build on our doorstep,” said Gemma. “We are happy for that to happen. But take into account the local community!” There are no GP surgeries, schools, or community facilities in any of the plans. This year several Arnos Vale parents found they could not get their children into local primary schools. Another Chatsworth resident, Penny Courtney, said: “The local doctor’s surgery has waits of weeks. They built lots of family homes in Paintworks – where are these kids going to go to school?”

What is dry eye?

RY eye is when damage to a dog’s tear glands results in too few natural tears being produced. The eye becomes very dry and uncomfortable, and makes the eyes more susceptible to infection, conjunctivitis and corneal ulcers. Dark pigmentation may also develop due to new blood vessels growing on the surface of the eye. Dry eye is one of the most common eye problems we see as vets, and affects as many as one in 22 dogs. Symptoms can include

uncomfortable eyes (your dog may blink excessively, rub its eyes or try to keep its eyes closed), eyes that are red and inflamed, discharge from the eyes, dry looking eyes, frequent conjunctivitis, eye infections or corneal ulcers, dark pigment or prominent blood vessels on the surface of the eyes. Dry eye can affect all breeds at any age; however, certain breeds can be more prone, such as cocker spaniels, shih tzus, bulldogs, pugs, Yorkshire terriers, lhasa apsos, Westies, King Charles cavalier spaniels

and English bull terriers. In the majority of cases, dry eye is a lifelong condition requiring daily treatment. If left untreated, the dog will experience pain and discomfort, and the disease could lead to permanent blindness. A simple eye ointment is available which can increase the amount of tear production, keeping the eyes lubricated and much more comfortable. Diagnosing dry eye is quick and painless so book your dog in to see one of our nurses for a free test. You will also be

Jenny Hamilton-ible MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon at Highcroft Veterinary Hospital, Whitchurch entitled to regular discounts for treatment if you book in before November 30. Contact Highcroft Veterinary Hospital on 01275 832410 to book an appointment.

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Caring for your eye health is our top priority. We recommend you have a regular sight test at least every two years and, just like visiting the dentist, the younger you start the better. With regular eye checks potential eye conditions can be detected and treated. Are you or your child short-sighted? Myopia (short-sight), a condition where a person can see objects close to them clearly but not those far away, is on the increase. In fact, a child with one myopic parent is three times more likely to also be myopic. This rises to seven times more likely if both parents are short-sighted. What can you do? Myopia can’t be cured, but research suggests it may be possible to slow the rate of myopia progression. Our Myopia Control Programme aims to do just that and the younger a child starts the programme the better the chance of success. If you’re concerned about your child’s sight, we’re holding a Myopia Clinic on Tuesday October 25 during half term. Call us to find out more or to book an appointment.

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Bridge is clear of graffiti at last THE RAILWAY bridge next to Bedminster station has been cleaned of graffiti by Network Rail after months of complaints that it was an eyesore. Residents at Windmill Hill neighbourhood forum on September 7 asked why a mural couldn’t be painted on the bridge. It could distract drivers and increase the risk of bridge strikes, Richard Turner of Network Rail told the meeting. Instead the bridge has been coated with an anti-graffiti grey paint. Graffiti costs Network Rail £3.5 million a year and it can’t all be removed quickly unless it is offensive, he said. The organisation has to prioritise safety issues and cannot halt trains to clean it off. The new paint will allow graffiti to be wiped off about five or six times, he said, though it will not last indefinitely.

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October 2016

Knowle could get a And it won’t displace The Park centre

PLANS for a new, nonselective school for Knowle, put forward by fee-paying Bristol Grammar School, were broadly welcomed at a public meeting held to introduce the idea on September 23. However, Bristol South MOP Karin Smyth told the Voice the plans had “come as a shock” to many, and she wanted to see genuine local involvement. No opposition was voiced to the proposal from the 80 or so people who attended the event at Redcatch community centre – except for fears the school could displace The Park community centre in Daventry Road. The grammar school’s

THE PROPOSAL

• Non–selective free school; • For ages 4-16, in Knowle; • No site identified; • 1,000 pupils, to open 2019; • Two forms of entry Year 1; • Six forms of entry Year 7; • Secondary could open first; • Admission by proximity; • Focus on GCSEs; • Traditional values and ethos; • Separate staff and facilities from Bristol Grammar; • Govt will give verdict in spring. headmaster Rod MacKinnon suggested in an interview with the Bristol Post on September 13 that The Park – which used to be Merrywood Boys School until it closed in 2000 – “would be ideal”. But he told the public meeting that a site had not been identified, and it would be up to the Department for Education (DfE) to find a suitable location.

“It would be pointless to enrich provision for the community [by opening a school] at the expense of great community provision that is already there,” he said. Mr MacKinnon was responding to a question from the worried parent of a son with learning difficulties who attends The Park. The Park is home to more than two dozen community organisations working with children, disadvantaged adults, the disabled, the unemployed and others. It has sports teams, a cookery school and a sustainable furniture company. The Park is so busy every weekday that it is hard to find a parking space even though the former playgrounds are now used for vehicles. The centre was the venue for a recent Jeremy Vine show, broadcast live, in which the Radio 2 DJ hosted debates, took

Now supporting Children’s Hospice South West South Bristol Voice Balloon Fiesta Photo Competition Sponsored by Greenwoods: 1st prize Jane Vellender

Greenwoods – supporting local artists once again!

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MEET the winners! The top three in the South Bristol Voice Balloon Fiesta photo competition have received their prizes from Greenwoods. 1st place went to Jane Vellender, second from right, and 3rd place to Daisy Szynkaruk, 7 next to her. From left are Daisy’s dad George, Daisy’s sister Heidi, Greenwoods director James Grimsted, and Daisy’s mum Samantha. Helen Lafevre, 2nd placed, unfortunately couldn’t join us for the presentation.

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October 2016

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new school at last Q&A FOR THE HEAD:

Grammar head Rod MacKinnon a cycling test, and met scores of Park users and visitors. The Voice understands that The Park had no idea about the grammar school’s plans until very recently. However, the board which runs the centre has not met to decide its view on the idea. Board members are likely to be relieved that it is no longer the most favoured site. Knowle’s two councillors, Lib-Dem members Gary Hopkins and Christopher Davies, have been lobbying for a secondary school in the area for many years. Cllr Hopkins told the public meeting: “Demand for secondary places will be going up very rapidly in this area. “I don’t think it’s sensible for people to be travelling a considerable distance [to school] when we need a facility here.” But discussions on locations need to take place before the DfE issues its decision, the two councillors said. In an interview with South Bristol Voice, Mr MacKinnon

Q What can people do to lobby for a secondary school in Knowle? A “If you like the idea, email us,” said Mr MacKinnon. He also encouraged people to write to their MP. The DfE will want to gauge community support there is for a new school. Q Will the link with the grammar school be long-term? A The aim is for a long-term partnership. A company trust will be set up to oversee the new said the plan is for a free school – a state-funded school open to all but run independently. Bristol city council has no money to build a school, and only free schools are currently getting government funds, he said. “I think it’s quite exciting that groups of people who are interested and have professional experience can use that to create a school for the community. “We are confident that our experience will help us to make this school a success,” he said. Matthew Bennett, a deputy head at the grammar school who is drafting the proposal for the new school, told the public meeting that he grew up in Novers Lane and went to school in Withywood. “I know the area really well and I know there is a lot of talent here,” he said. “We want to release the potential and raise aspirations for children in this area.” But it is not the aim to poach pupils from other schools, he said. “It’s about creating partnerships

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school including governors and staff from the grammar school. Q Will the grammar school plan compete with any other proposals for a school in Knowle? A No other plans are known of. Q What is meant by Knowle? Areas that lack a school include Knowle West and Inns Court. Where will it cover? A The wider community of Knowle – but it will depend on where the school is sited. with other schools, it’s not about trying to compete with them or take [their] pupils. “Schools in South Bristol have been improving rapidly in recent years but it’s still below average for Bristol and nationally. We think that the work we do at Bristol Grammar School we can replicate in the work we do here.” Bristol South MP Karin Smyth, who was not at the public meeting, said she wanted to see a new school as part of wider regeneration programme for the area, with local involvement. The new plans had “come as a shock to many people,” she said. “I know that many residents find it unacceptable that Whitehall can determine the shape of schooling in Bristol South, without local accountability. “These decisions should not be rushed, especially as it is far from clear exactly where this new school might be located.” • Find more Q&A and a longer version of this story at southbristolvoice.co.uk

How to make it a crafty autumn TOTTERDOWN arts shop and café Craftisan has announced craft activities for young and old for the autumn. After-school art and craft workshops will take place every Thursday from 4-5pm for children of four and older. Sessions cost £5, with a different activity every week. For pre-schoolers, there’s the Happymess session each Thursday from 10.15am-12noon with art, craft and playdough for one to four-year-olds. It’s also £5. Adults can learn lino printing on Sunday October 9 from 122.30pm and create handprinted stationery, cards and wrapping paper. The cost is £30. Parents and children can both play with clay on Sunday October 16 from 10am-12noon or from 1-3pm to make mini sculptures, pinch pots, beads and more. It’s £5 for children, £7.50 for adults. Aspiring dressmakers can join a six-week skirt-making course on Tuesdays from 7-9pm, starting on October 4. Learn how to use a sewing machine, follow a pattern and explore many techniques to make an A-line skirt. The course costs £90; if you don’t have a sewing machine, call Craftisan. • Details: 0117 971 3822 or email emily@craftisan-shop.co.uk

Funny winner THE winner of last month’s South Bristol Voice competition to see comedian Rich Hall at the Comedy Box was Kirsty Armitage.

Talking therapies in Bristol Three warm, well-equipped consulting and therapy rooms and a comfortable waiting room in a landmark Georgian terrace with views over the water toward Welsh Back. Excellent parking and only 150 yards from St Mary Redcliffe Church. Counsellors and Psychotherapists Jeanette Howlett 07789 773995; Olivia Needham 07795 250873; Julia Gresty 0117 963 7285; Pavla Radastova 07492 749399; Renata Königsman (Polski Psycholog) 07962 620011; Kathy Walsh 07737 548274; Stephanie White 07592 626410; Rachel Rodgers 07591 911491; Yvon Guest 07933 666886. Addictions Counsellor Sarah Walsh 07854 752749. Clinical Psychologists Joanne Weston 07871 863827; Becky Watkins 07730 586725; Peter Walker 0117 344 5101. Solution Focused Hypnotherapy Sarah Mortimer 07851 307062. Hypnotherapy Rob Kerley 07970 905954. Holistic massage Caroline Girgenson 07963 566887.

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October 2016

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Alarm at bus attacks

BUS company Wessex has vowed to keep running its newly-acquired 51 service despite a spate of four attacks in which bus windows were smashed while the vehicles drove the route in Knowle. Police are taking special measures to try to catch the youths thought responsible. In the last attack, on September 20, a catapult was used to smash a windscreen which will cost £1,000 to replace. There have also been reports of youths throwing rocks and fireworks at homes and cars around The Square, Knowle. Wessex took over the 51, seen as a vital link between Whitchurch, Hengrove and Knowle, from rival operator First Bus on September 4, after First said it was no longer profitable. Cllr Gary Hopkins, who led the campaign to save the 51, said the Wessex service is cheaper

Saved: Wessex took over the 51 and is “massively popular,” with 1,000 people a day using it. “I have been swamped with residents saying how they prefer the Wessex service,” he said. Cllr Hopkins criticised the council for failing to reveal that First wanted to drop the 51 for several weeks in July. He also claimed that First had been allowed to keep a subsidy for running late-night services on the 51, when they no longer run it. A spokesman for First Bus

said it had revised the 50 route to compensate for the loss of the 51. When the subsidy was agreed by the council “there was no prospect nor suggestion of a 51 operation by us or any operator,” he said. Asked if First had suffered attacks on its buses in Knowle, the spokesman said it was an industry-wide issue that affects urban areas across the UK. First, however, is still in the running to operate Metrobus, the £200m route which aims to slash journey times from South Bristol to the city centre and the north. First confirmed it is in talks with the West of England Partnership. But Wessex told the Voice that it “cannot justify operating any Metrobus services on a commercial basis”. There has been speculation that Metrobus will fail to find an operator willing to operate it without subsidy.

River rescue

FIRE crews used an inflatable boat to rescue a man from the New Cut in the early hours of Sunday September 25. The rescue took place under Bedminster Bridge. It is not clear how the man came to be in the water. He was taken to hospital for treatment.

Murder charge THE MAN accused of killing Kamil Ahmed at a supported living home in Wells Road, Knowle, on July 7, will stand trial for murder on January 3. Jeffery Barry, 55, was remanded in custody at Bristol Crown Court on August 30.

Breathe easy WORKSHOPS in qigong, a Chinese system of exercises and breathing, take place on Saturdays at Totterdown Methodist Church. The next is on October 29, 10.3012.30pm and costs £15. Novices welcome. For details email Janicerossiter51@hotmail.com

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October 2016

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WHATEVER your age or ability, cycling could be for you, say the organisers at the Bristol Family Cycling Centre opened earlier this year in Bamfield, Hengrove, on a former athletics track. From special sessions for under-5s who are learning to balance on a bike, to bikemending classes and Back to Biking events for adults returning to cycling, the centre has something for everyone. There are drop-in sessions for

Cycle centre is for all

children (and adults) to learn to ride, and a bike club for kids who want a traffic-free place to practice and have fun. The centre also has a range of adapted cycles which can be used by people with limited mobility, allowing them to ride around with their family and friends. Many sessions are free. Even grandparents aren’t

The glassmakers come up with a lasting memorial

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excluded. Spokesperson Emma Barraclough said: “One lady who hadn’t ridden a bicycle for 50 years was persuaded to give it a try when she brought her grandchildren to the centre. She was so taken with the experience she returned for three more sessions in the space of 10 days!” South Bristol Voice will include a feature on the centre in

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October 2016

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Bedminster Green

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‘Community mustn’t be the loser from £100m scheme’ THE COMMUNITY benefits of the 800-home scheme to redevelop Bedminster Green must not be neglected if the site is developed piecemeal. That’s the message from campaigners anxious to limit the impact of the £100 million scheme masterminded by developer Urbis. But though Urbis has a deal with Bristol city council to draw up a masterplan for the area, it lost out in a bidding war for one of the largest plots. Developer Paul O’Brien is expected to announce public consultation soon on his plan for 217 flats on the former Pring & St Hill factory site, known as Plot 1. The BS3 Planning group, meeting on September 20, was shown proposals for two buildings on Plot 1 – one on Hereford Street ranging from 5 to about eight storeys. Discussions with a housing association may result in 40-50 homes for “affordable” rent. The bigger block is E shaped, with its solid side along Malago Road. It ranges from six storeys on the road side to 10 or 11 on the railway side. With 105 parking spaces and bin stores underneath, there will be no shops or windows on the ground floor. The masterplan calls for a doctor’s surgery, open spaces, a revamped Bedminster station, a major cycle route, uncovering the River Malago and other costly community benefits. Neil Sellers, who chairs BS3

Dealing with plots piecemeal ‘may risk benefits of masterplan’

Planning, is worried that if the plots are dealt with singly, these benefits may not materialise, or may be placed outside the area. A new school is envisaged as a long-term benefit, but no site has been identified. “You could go round in everdecreasing circles,” he said, without all the benefits being provided. Richard Clarke, managing director of Urbis, said many of the community benefits would be delivered directly by Urbis if it is allowed to develop Plots 4 and 5. Plot 4 will have a medical centre and a car park, while Plot 5 includes the new station, roads, and the cycleway. But these benefits can only be paid for, he warned, if enough homes are allowed, and that will mean high-rises. Dianne James of WHaM, the Windmill Hill and Malago planning group, told the Voice the residents still had concerns. “We are concerned about the density of it – going up into the air isn’t the only way,” she said. WHaM objects to the risk of air pollution, the effects on landscaping and the public realm,

Planned: New energy centre and the fear that community facilities will not be built. And there are fears that the planning applications could stray from the masterplan. The loss of jobs from industrial buildings in

Whitehouse Lane also needs to be discussed, she said. “There needs to be more consultation – we are finding that people who live in the area don’t know what’s happening,” she said. BS3 Planning has also asked the Paul O’Brien team whether their plan will cast homes into shadow on the other side of Malago Road during the winter. Meanwhile Urbis is expected to have submitted a planning application for a highly efficient district energy centre by the beginning of October. A pre-planning application for Plot 5 has been submitted, to be followed by a formal application near the end of the year. • Letters: Page 19

Get a flu jab to stay protected IF YOU want the best chance of staying well this winter, get a flu jab, older and vulnerable people are being advised. Bristol’s Lord Mayor, Jeff Lovell, volunteered to have his own vaccination done while visiting Bedminster Pharmacy in Cannon Street. Pharmacy owner Ade Williams showed Cllr Lovell how quickly and painlessly the annual jab can be given. It protects against flu and for complications

such as pneumonia, which can be very serious for older people and those who have heart, chest or immune system problems. Mr Williams told the Lord Mayor how his staff have been specially trained in community health work, like many others at pharmacies all over Bristol, as part of the Well Aware campaign. “I think it’s outstanding what you are doing, what with the challenges facing GP surgeries,” Cllr Lovell said.

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WhiSe birds WINDMILL Hill Seniors or WhiSe, the new group for over 55s, meets on October 14 and 28 at Windmill Hill community centre in Vivian Street at 10.30am. For more details call Christine on 07901 874375.

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Coffee and cakes in a good cause A NEW café with a difference is set to open at Victoria Park Baptist Church on the corner of St John’s Lane and Sylvia Avenue. Called Padfields, it opens each weekday from 11am-2pm. Sandwiches and freshly baked

cakes are prepared and served by disabled peoplefrom across South Bristol. The café is set to open with a coffee morning in aid of Macmillan cancer care on September 30, after the Voice went to press.

New café for city farm WINDMILL Hill City Farm – which has just celebrated its 40th birthday – has secured funding of over £320,000 to revamp and expand its award-winning café. The money is made up of a number of smaller awards. It will be used to build a barn-style extension to double the number of seats, and renovate the kitchen. There will be an improved counter, better flow, and an expanded farm shop area. During building work from January to April, a pop-up café will open in the activity centre. Plans will be on show when

the farm, in Philip Street, holds its AGM on Monday October 17. The meeting is open to all farm members and, as an incentive, will offer free pizza, cooked in the outdoor kitchen. There will be the chance to hear about other plans and the range of community, food and growing projects the farm runs every year. Members of the farm are urged to attend the meeting or organise a proxy vote. They are being asked to adopt new legal charitable objectives. These changes only clarify what already exists but the Charity Commission

requires formal approval from members – and the AGM must be quorate for this to happen, with at least 25 in attendance. The most recent members and allotment holders meeting was held on September 14, in the outdoor kitchen, with homemade sausage rolls and flapjacks for sustenance. There are around 250 members, paying £10 a year. Members get 10 per cent discount on café food and room hire, a regular newsletter, and the chance to have their say on the future of the farm. • windmillhillcityfarm.co.uk

October 2016

Corbyn drama Continued from page 1 trying to oust him after less then 1 year. Bizarre.” On the BBC’s Sunday Politics West on September 25, Ms Smyth said she would “knuckle under and get on with working with the leader. It’s not the result I wanted but I will continue to do the best for the people of Bristol South”, she said. She told the Voice: “The South West will be a vital battleground for Labour as we look to win the next general election. We need to win seats across the region to help overturn the Tory majority and I look forward to working with Jeremy, with MP and councillor colleagues, and with our expanded membership to do so.” • Labour has suspended 200 members in Bristol, most of them Corbyn supporters, mainly over social media comments. It is thought the suspensions may be overturned now that Mr Corbyn is secure in his leadership. • Letters: Page 19

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October 2016

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Marvin Rees We all need to decide how to curb our costs

O SAY it’s a challenging time for local authorities up and down the country is putting it mildly. We are all striving to meet a growing demand for services while at the same time facing huge financial pressures following years of government cuts. Bristol is no exception – our current working assumption is that we will need to save at least £60-£100 million between April 2017 and April 2020. This, on top of the budget gap we inherited of around £30m this year. I believe austerity is a false economy. Taking money from the kind of early interventions and vital services Bristol City Council provides puts more pressure elsewhere in the system and has profound and financially costly effects on many people’s lives. I have invited trade unions, other political parties and city partners to work with me in making the case to central government. With

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The Mayor’s view Marvin Rees tells us his vision for the city as Bristol mayor that said, I have to deal with reality. I have to balance the budget. It would be reckless not to, and financial officers or governmentappointed commissioners would step in to run things, removing local democratic control. So I am asking you to join me in a city-wide conversation about our future. In the next month or so I will be publishing proposals for how, where and

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when we’ll make savings and balance the books over the next five years. I want as many of you as possible to see this and have the chance to share your views, priorities and ideas. There are really tough decisions ahead. I need your input before these decisions are made. I want to keep my promises, maintain life-and-limb services and do all I can to improve people’s lives with the resources I’ve got. I want to do all I can to avoid the poorest and most vulnerable taking the biggest hit. Your views and those of our many partners around the city will help achieve this. To take part, keep an eye on bristol.gov. uk/budget, where we’ll put all the details. You can also register now to hear about this and other council consultations at bristol.gov.uk/ consultation. Over the autumn, information will also be available from libraries and Citizen Service Points and I intend to hold and publicise several events around the city as part of the budget conversation. You should also ensure your local councillors know what you want. I will listen to feedback and, working with my cabinet, take real account of it. But do keep in mind the money has to be saved somehow – so I’d really welcome alternative ideas if you don’t agree with any proposals. Together we can make the best of a really difficult situation.

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Exercise really is for everyone, just follow Marie FITNESS instructor Marie Clifford must have some of the most enthusiastic class members anywhere – so it’s no surprise that she’s in line for an award. The Voice dropped in on Marie’s weekly seated-exercise class at Community Links South, off Novers Lane in Knowle West. Marie has been nominated for the Diversity and Equality Instructor of the Year award. Almost 40 people packed the room, taking part in whatever way they wanted: following Marie’s cues, singing to the music and making their own moves. The music was often loud and pumping but that wasn’t upsetting anyone, from the over-55 members to those with dementia or those in wheelchairs. “I like this class because I’ve always been active,” said Patricia, one of the older members. “I like

Making the moves: Marie leads an all-abilities class the exercise and the music – I come twice a week.” One of the younger members with learning difficulties, Helen, comes from Filton every week. “I like the music and doing different things

Objections: The extension

“There’s more and more evidence that moving in any way is beneficial to you,” she said, “with not only physical benefits but emotional and social benefits too.” Marie also teaches classes for the over 55s at the Monica Wills centre in Bedminster and several others across the city. She took up zumba as a kind of therapy after suffering from stress as a schoolteacher. Now she has made fitness her career, and took a special qualification in seated-exercise for the less able. She has no idea who nominated her for the National Community Fitness Awards. If you’d like to vote for Marie, go to www.projectmayhemevents.com

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A SENIOR manager at Bristol city council has made an application for retrospective planning permission for a roof extension which has divided his neighbours. Richard Fear, who is service manager for property management at the council, has had a new room built in his attic at 3 Haverstock Road, Knowle. It is described in the planning application as a “dormer window in rear roof slope” – though it has replaced the rear roof entirely. No planning permission was applied for. Nor did Mr Fear – a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors – ask planning officers for advice. Enforcement action has been started but was halted while Mr Fear made a retrospective planning application. This is normal procedure, the council told the Voice. Some neighbours objected vehemently. “How can BCC maintain planning control and proper procedures and guidelines if certain householders are allowed to get away with ignoring them?” asked one. The resident objected that they were overlooked by the new extension, but had not even been notified by the council. The council has now added 16

new addresses to the list of 24 homes originally notified. “The new build is bigger, taller and wider than BCC rules normally allow; its unusually large windows and jutting balcony remove any sense of privacy from the overlooked gardens in Brecknock Road and the materials, design and roofline are out of keeping with the character of the area,” said the resident. Another neighbour questioned whether there was a conflict of interest, and called the application “misleading”. Rather than a dormer window, a better description would have been a roof extension, they said. However, another neighbour who lives next door to Mr Fear praised the extension, calling it “modern and exciting”, and saying that if they were looking to build in their loft, they would do it in the same way. “The contrast between old and new is perfectly balanced,” said the next-door neighbour. The council told the Voice that senior planning officials were aware of the application and will ensure it is dealt with “transparently”. If planning officers propose to approve the application, the final decision will rest with councillors, the council said.

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AFTER reading in your last issue quotes from Richard Clarke, the managing director of Urbis, regarding the planned Bedminster (Malago) Green development, I felt it necessary to correct some inaccuracies. Mr Clarke claims that “you will see high-rise everywhere” in UK cities. Clearly this is not the case in Bristol, where new builds such as Wapping Wharf, Paintworks and, soon to come, Dunmail Road in Southmead are low and medium-rise; nor is this generally true across the UK. London is building tower blocks in the suburbs, but the ongoing scandal of “gold blocks” being built there for foreign investors is exceptional. Many cities are building high-rise only in their centres, where tower blocks fulfil a different function (eg: offices) to those proposed by Urbis and Paul O’Brien. Mr Clarke also claims that he could have included 30 per cent affordable housing in a 20-storey St Catherine’s Tower, but in a 16-storey tower can afford none. The main financial problem here is the very high build cost of high rise. Also, it seems strange that the extra profit on a further four storeys would have been enough to allow him to sell six storeys (30 per cent) at affordable prices. As to “tall buildings” being “the only way to provide the housing Bristol needs”: Mr Clarke will be well aware that it has been proved that medium rise developments can provide similar densities of units to high rise. WHaM have been making this case. I would refer readers to this, easily found online: Tall

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TER T E

Taking issue with tower blocks

October 2016

Buildings Policy, Bristol City Council Supplementary Planning Guidance 1, 2005; fig. H. I would remind Mr Clarke that the same document states that would-be developers of over six storeys should make an “evaluation of providing a similar level of density in an alternative urban form”. Nigel Biggs, Windmill Hill

Who was really defying whom? I HAVE three points concerning your article last month entitled ‘Labour members defy MP to vote Corbyn’. My first objection is the bias in your headline. MPs are supposed to represent the people who voted for them: this includes Labour Party members who selected them. Why, therefore, did your headline not read “Bristol South MP defies majority of local Labour members who voted for Corbyn” rather than the other way round? The councillors were not “assumed” to have voted for Owen Smith (as though it had been a guess), but they showed their way of thinking both vocally, and by huddling together. All 39 of the Owen Smith claqueurs were huddled into two groups, thus distorting the real majority of the Corbynites by their opinionated

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Have you got strong views about what’s happening in South Bristol? Email paul@ southbristolvoice.co.uk, post to Letters, South Bristol Voice, 18 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BX. Please keep letters short. We may edit your letter. and self-serving preferences. If they did not like this ‘assumption’ then maybe they should have sat with the people they represent, not one another. You refer to “one member” who “told the councillors present that they should be ashamed and should not be representing the people of Bristol”. In fact, what the member meant was that these councillors should be ashamed precisely because they weren’t representing the wishes of the local party members. It is disappointing that much good debate in the Labour Party, with elected representatives being challenged politically, is portrayed as bullying. Is the Labour Party no longer a party of open debate, where people have views and can be asked, fraternally, to justify them? Name supplied, Bedminster • Editor’s note: No bias was intended. Ms Smyth had made her views clear before the meeting, which is why the headline was worded as it was. The story did not allege bullying.

Rubbish: Who will deal with it? I WALK into and out of the city every day along Wells Road and Bath Road. Every day I am amazed by the amount of litter. Temple Gate, Bath Road

and Wells Road are not good adverts for our city. In fact the area behind the bus stops on the southbound section of Temple Gate is fast beginning to resemble a landfill tip! Today, I collected three bin liners full of litter picked up in the area between the billboards on Bath Road and Three Lamps. This follows a similar collection along Wells Road in the area around the new bus stop opposite Tesco some weeks ago when I bagged four bin liners full. I’m all for the Big Society and am happy to volunteer my services to keep this part of Bristol clean, but it would be nice if the council could show they take the issue seriously, and send out regular street cleaning parties that actually reach into the bushes to pick up cans, bottles and packaging. In the past I have written to the council and not received an acknowledgement. A J Jenkins, Totterdown • THE PROBLEM of people dumping rubbish in the lanes at the rear of houses in the area continues. My neighbour and I have recently acquired a quantity of broken concrete blocks, a large quantity of scrap wood and other items at the rear of our properties in Norton Road. The police have been contacted but have chosen to ignore it despite saying they would look into it. Some years ago we paid for gates to be installed in these lanes, partly to discourage rubbish dumping, but it has not worked. Councillors were unable to help. I do not see why, as a pensioner, I should have to pay to have other people’s rubbish removed. CE Davies Norton Road, Knowle

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Picture Special

Lily, 5, tries her hand at stone carving Redcatch artists had plenty of paintings to show

said Rachel Heaton, one of five organisers at Entertaining Local Knowle. She also praised Bradley Stoke Radio, who ran the music stages, Ollie Gillard who painted a butterfy mural, Anthony Garratt whose painting raised £600 for charity, and Andy O’Neill, who carved a new bench. • Rachel’s account of the day Ollie Gillard and stunning new mural is at southbristolvoice.co.uk

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October 2016

... Arts in the Park, Knowle

Tyler Prewett, 4, learns pottery with Sarah Donovan THE HEAVENS smiled on the second Arts in the Park event at Redcatch Park on September 11. Hundreds enjoyed a huge variety of activities, from drama to painting, music and hands-on pottery and stone carving. Knowle florists Floriography created stunning displays along the park fences. “People are adding to them every day which is simply heartwarming,”

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October 2016

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Picture Special

Iris Jackson, 5, left, and some of the winners in the dog show, right.

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... Victoria Park Fun Day

Soft play: Burning off some energy

Stalls, games and events galore made it best festival to date, say organisers

NO DOG? That didn’t stop 5-year-old Iris Jackson from Totterdown entering her teddy puppet dog, Bob, in the Best Child Handler class at Victoria Park dog show. About 150 people entered their pooches into the show, which was part of the Victoria Park Fun Day on September 17. Overall the day attracted several thousand people. The event featured a beer tent, live

PICTURES: Alex Morss, Nick Townsend

music, arts and craft stalls, bouncy castle, puppet show, and 5k fun run. Shaun Hennessey, chair of Victoria Park Action Group, which organised the event, said: “It looks like we’ve raised over £1,700 for VPAG. The two scout groups who were helping out will have made £500 too. Thanks to all who helped out. It was probably the best festival to date.”

Yes, you did hear an owl! Long grass in parks is helping them thrive reports Alex Morss

OUTH Bristol is on the map as a hotspot for urban owls this autumn. Dozens of people have commented on hearing the distinctive night call of the tawny owl across the south of the city in recent weeks. The high volume of reports on local social media groups suggests this nocturnal predator is thriving in the midst of our city. Many people have said this is the first time they have ever heard them in South Bristol. Owls are regularly heard in Totterdown, Victoria Park, Arnos Vale, Windmill Hill, Dame Emily Park and Northern Slopes. The coo-ing has even been a nightly feature on busy St John’s Lane. During September the giveaway call has also been heard on Wingfield Road, St John’s Crescent, Malago nature walk, Highridge, Beckington Road,

Novers Road, Headley Park, Mansfield Road, and along the Malago at Manor Woods Valley. Sarah Morgan commented on BS3 Connect Facebook group that she’d assumed it must have been a drunken impersonation when she first heard them on St John’s Lane, but it’s become a regular hoot: “I love living around here; bats, foxes and now an owl! We are so lucky,” she said. Holly McGee, on Bedminster Road, said: “I’ve noticed it over the last month. I’ve never heard one in the area before.” Shaun Hennessy of Victoria Park Action Group said: “I’ve been hearing one most nights at the moment. I can’t remember hearing it that often before.” John Atkinson said: “I hear tawny owls regularly in Arnos Vale cemetery. Beautiful sound!” Others thought the owls were not so new: “I live in Highridge and we hear one quite often, and have done all the time we’ve been here (four years).” Conservation groups such as the Bristol group of the Hawk and Owl Trust and Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre are excited by the news.

A tawny owl seen in South Bristol PICTURE: Chris Sperring

Tim Corner, manager of BRERC, thinks it’s likely the owls are either this year’s juveniles or adults building their territories. He said: “We would like to know more about the current status of tawny owls in this area and welcome records from people.” BRERC is based on St Nicholas Street. People can record owl sightings at its website www.brerc.org.uk A spokesperson for the British Trust for Ornithology said the

tawny owl male’s ‘tweet-twoo’ hooting and female ‘keewik’ calls are more often heard during autumn and winter nights, when they are establishing their breeding territories. They often nest in tall tree cavities or suitable nest boxes, in urban parks as well as woodland. They feed on rodents, birds, grey squirrels, beetles and earthworms. The oldest tawny owl recorded reached almost 22 years. Chris Sperring of the Hawk and Owl Trust, also a BBC Wildlife presenter, told the Voice that the new council policy of unmown long grass areas in parks is a major boon for owls. “Just think of it as though you’re unlocking the biodiversity of your park. It will have a major impact, use the owl as the apex predator in this case and the spin-offs for so much [wildlife] are enormous.” He added: “Owlets hatched this year are on the move and looking for territory. It is essential for survival that they gain an area with sufficient resources. However, they will bump into many owls already holding an area, so this is where we get lots of vocalisation.”

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Expert help to cook up a job UNEMPLOYED adults who would like to break into Bristol’s burgeoning food industry can get free training at the Square Food Foundation in Knowle West. The community cookery

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school, founded by chef Barny Houghton, is running 10-week courses for adults with few or no qualifications, or with mental health issues, learning difficulties or physical disabilities. They will cover hands-on cookery skills, food hygiene, and work experience in a kitchen and front of house. There is a chance of placements at some of Bristol’s

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Hands on: Learning the basics of cookery

Good Food businesses, and even paid traineeships. Courses run on Wednesday

October 2016

afternoons at The Park centre in Daventry Road from October 5 to December 7. There will be two more courses in 2017. Community cookery teacher Catherine Forrester said: “If you’d like to be working in the food industry, but don’t know where to start, get in touch!” Details: call 0117 904 6679 or visit squarefoodfoundation.co.uk

Our club is just great KNOWLE Park’s After School Club, based at the primary schol of the same name in Queenshill Road, is celebrating its fifth birthday with record numbers. Starting in 2011 with just 16 children it now has up to 56 every day, and staff numbers have grown from two to 10. “I think there’s quite a need for an after school club here because many parents are working,” said play leader Julie Lockyer. The club was set up by a group of parents, who still run it behind the scenes, but they

would welcome more help from other parents. The club gives children at Knowle Park primary somewhere they can stay after school with their friends, until 5.45pm, trying whatever activities take their fancy and a teatime snack. There are art tables, lots of games, toys and an outside area where there are always boys – and girls – playing football. Girls are also to be found at the mini-pool table. There are also special workshops in activities such as drumming and crafts.

Colour time: Ellie, 4, shows helper Lisa her picture, with Betsy, 8, right

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Bristol Dogs & Cats Home He’s a top student who loves to learn

OLLOWING on from Belle in the September issue, we wanted to introduce you to Buster. Buster is an incredibly friendly three-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier cross who loves everyone he meets. He bonds very closely with people and because of this he is looking for a home where someone is at home for most of the day. Like all of the animals in our care, Buster spends time with our animal behaviourists and has training sessions most days so he can become the best pet possible. He loves learning almost as much as he loves food, which makes training him very easy. He really is a Grade A student and he is looking for a home where he can learn even more! We are lucky that we have

Buster loves food and loves training, which makes teaching him easy

dedicated dog walking volunteers who come and take our dogs out every day. Our walkers take the dogs all around the area including to the park or to Arnos Vale cemetery – make sure you say hello to our volunteers if you see them walking by. Buster loves this time of day and exploring parts of Bristol. He walks well on the lead but is sometimes unsure around other dogs and might hang back if their paths cross. He would love to

Police update We’re acting on your reports of drug dealing on the streets

HE team were really pleased with the great turnout at the recent Windmill Hill neighbourhood forum, so thank you to everyone that took time to attend; it says a lot about just how keen people in this area are to help make a difference. People told us they were regularly seeing drug dealing taking place on Oxford Street in Totterdown, which we are now addressing. Please help by reporting any suspicious activity. Concerns were also raised about street drinkers in and around the same area and the litter, verbal abuse and general anti-social behaviour it causes. We’re facing similar issues in Coronation Road and, like there, will look to direct these people to

find a home where walks can become a big part of the day. Because he’s a bit tentative around other dogs, poor Buster sometimes finds kennel life a bit of a struggle due to having doggy neighbours. Buster would make the most

With Sgt Caroline Crane, Broadbury Road police station

the support services they need or, if necessary, be more robust. Again, make sure any problems are reported so we can build an accurate picture of who is causing issues and how they can best be resolved.

ach year, we run special operations to help ensure key events like Halloween and Bonfire Night are fun, family-friendly occasions instead of an excuse for anti-social behaviour, intimidation and reckless behaviour – especially where fireworks are concerned. This year’s no exception and you can expect to see extra patrols, especially in previous hotspots, to help prevent any problems. As ever, we’d urge people to keep an eye on any elderly or vulnerable neighbours. Please consider printing off a poster on their behalf that states ‘No trick or treaters’, which will be available from our website.

Clever Buster: He’s looking for a home where someone is at home a lot, and where regular walks can become a big part of his day

inally, we were pleased to see two men sentenced to a combined total of more than 12 years in prison recently,

for their totally unprovoked attack on a man, on Bath Road near Arnos Vale, who was visiting Bristol to work. He was seriously injured during the ordeal, which took place outside the Burger King outlet, and still feels unable to work away from home, though the outcome could have been fatal had it not been for an off-duty officer based at Broadbury Road police station who intervened. The officer was himself seriously assaulted as a result. The officer’s bravery was rightly commended by the judge as well as our own chief constable. Please continue to support our efforts by reporting any suspicious or criminal behaviour to us on the non-emergency number, 101, or through our website. You can also give information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or through www.crimestoppers-uk.org. They never ask for your name and cannot trace your call. Until next time, Sergeant Caroline Crane

amazing companion for the right person. Who could say no to that smiley face! If you are interested in becoming a volunteer dog walker, you can find an application form on our website. • rspca-bristol.org.uk

Family charity in search for new trustees A CHARITY which supports families across South Bristol wants to find two new trustees to join its eight-member board. Home Start Bristol helps families who have at least one child under 5 and who are experiencing problems affecting their wellbeing as a family. Support is provided by trained volunteers, under the guidance of professional co-ordinators, who visit a family each week, offering support, friendship and practical assistance. Home Start has a staff of six part-time employees and 78 volunteers. During 2015-16 it supported 134 families. Trustees are unpaid, but expenses can be claimed. Board meetings are held monthly, usually on a Wednesday or Thursday morning in Southmead. To find out more about the role, email Beverley Symonds at schememanager@ homestartbristol.org.uk, or call 0117 950 1170. • homestartbristol.org.uk

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October 2016

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News

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Cycle routes divide opinion OPINION is split among those who use Victoria Park about plans to run a 5m wide cycleway through it. Consultation is now largely over on plans for two major cycle routes through the south of the city – the Filwood Quietway and the Malago Greenway. The two schemes will cost almost £3m and have the aim of making cycling more attractive as a way of reaching the city centre from South Bristol. But a survey among members of Victoria Park Action Group (VPAG) found that many didn’t know about the plans. Many did not want to see cycle paths 5m wide, fearing this will allow cyclists to ride faster and put pedestrians and children at risk. VPAG wants a path no more than 3m wide. Many did not want to see permanent lighting, though more were keen on lights that are movement-sensitive and point

FILWOOD QUIETWAY £2.3m budget

be built opposite end of Whitehouse Street.

From Creswicke Road, to Filwood Broadway, across Northern Slopes at Glyn Vale, Wedmore Vale, St John’s Lane, Almorah Road, Hill Avenue into Victoria Park; around the park by ‘high’ or ‘low’ route, to Windmill Close, Whitehouse Lane, to the New Cut, where a new bridge may

Possible routes in Victoria Park down so they don’t cause light pollution. Nor do they want to see enlarged entrances to the park that could allow motorcyclists in. “There has been a surge in interest in this project since the first proposals came out. People did not realise the scale of the plans,” Shaun Hennessy, chair of VPAG, told the Voice. Mr Hennessy has told Sustrans,

who are assessing the route, that VPAG’s committee and its members were split on some issues. The committee prefer the cycle route kept outside the park, while the members are split between inside and outside. But the time allowed for the survey was short and it may not be representative, he said. Sustrans are expected to come back with revised proposals. Some people are also opposed to changes in Whitehouse Street, where a cycle lane is planned along the east side. There would be no entry from Coronation

MALAGO GREENWAY £600,000 budget

From Hartcliffe Way to Hastings Road, Parson Street, Brixham Road open space, Marksbury Road open space, Francis Road, over St John’s Lane to follow River Malago, across Windmill Hill open space to Windmill Close.

Road, to stop rat-running, and no right turn from Whitehouse Street onto Coronation Road. A new bridge for cyclists and pedestrians may be built opposite the end of Whitehouse Street. “It looks like the council are trying to kill off the businesses on Whitehouse Street,” posted one resident on Facebook. Consultation on the Whitehouse Street proposals is open until October 7 but feedback on the rest of the two cycle schemes has closed. However, there may be calls for the consultation to be extended.

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Planning applications 2 Quantock Road BS3 4PF Additional storey to create bedrooms. Refused

26 Eldon Terrace BS3 4NZ Approved details in relation to conditions 2 (Slow Worms) 3 (Further details before relevant element started) 4 (Construction Management) 5 (Suds) and 6 (Contamination) of permission 15/03320/F: Construction of 2 bedroom house to rear of 26 Eldon Terrace. Refused 58 Connaught Road BS4 1LF Proposed 4-bedroom terraced property on land between 58 and 60 Connaught Road. Withdrawn

rear roof extension. Granted subject to conditions

Conditions 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14.

57 Stoneleigh Road BS4 2RH Single storey rear extension and two storey side extension to provide two flats. Refused

229 Redcatch Road BS4 2HQ New garage and garden room. Granted subj. to conditions

Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bath Road BS4 3EW Access path, fence and associated operations into an area of woodland which is required in connection with natural burials. Granted subject to conditions 47 Hill Avenue BS3 4SR Lawful development certificate for a proposed roof extension. Granted

19 Nutgrove Avenue BS3 4QE Two storey rear extension. Granted subject to conditions

Garage near 48 Nutgrove Avenue BS3 4QF Demolition of garage and erection of house. Refused

104 St Johns Lane BS3 5AQ Convert part of ground floor from Class A1 (shop) into Class A2 (office) with separate access. Granted subject to conditions

90 Lisburn Road BS4 1NG Two storey rear extension – revised scheme. Granted subject to conditions

23 Ravenhill Road BS3 5BN Dormer extension to rear and side within permitted development rights. Pending consideration Broad Plain Rugby Club, Bristol South End BS3 5AZ Proposed overflow car parking area of additional 20 spaces. Pending consideration 2 Filwood Green Business Park, 1 Filwood Park Lane BS4 1ET Non-illuminated hoarding sign. Pending consideration 12 Lilymead Avenue BS4 2BX Single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear wall by 3.5m, of maximum height 3.4m with eaves 3m high. Granted 29 Crossways Road BS4 2SQ Rear conservatory. Granted 129 Leinster Avenue BS4 1NN Detached two storey house. Refused 93 Oxford Street, Totterdown BS3 4RL Two storey rear infill extension. Granted subj. to conditions 4 Dunkerry Road BS3 4LB Single storey rear extension and

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8 Beckington Road BS3 5EB Single storey extension to lower ground floor with balcony on top and patio doors to the rear. Refused 402 Wells Road, Knowle BS14 9AA Change of use from 9 bedroom bed & breakfast accommodation (Use Class C1) to a 9 bedroom House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). Withdrawn 147 Wells Road, Totterdown BS4 2BU Change of use of the rear area from A3 to C3 Residential, re-configure the A3 use public and staff areas, new front window, adjusted signage. Granted subject to conditions 74 Park Street, Totterdown BS4 3BJ Approved details in relation to conditions 1 (Time Limit) 2 (Ground Stability Report) 3 (Drawings of Fencing) 4 (Construction Management) 5 (Protection of Trees) 6 (Samples) 7 (Suds) 8 (Parking) 9 (Refuse Storage) 10 (Landscaping) 11 (Drawings of Roof) 12 (Cycle Provision) 13 (Non Opening and Obscured Window) 14 (Restriction of use of roof) to 15 (List of approved plans) of permission 15/01814/F: Construction of two, two-storey, 4-bed apartments. Refused for

2 Exmouth Road BS4 1BA Single storey side and rear extension. Refused 24 Upper Street BS4 3BU Rear extension and balcony. Granted subject to conditions 63 Mendip Road BS3 4PB Attic conversion and rear dormer roof extension. Granted 3 Addison Road BS3 4QH Single storey rear extension. Granted subject to conditions 58 Queensdale Crescent BS4 2TR Single storey side and rear extension; removal of garage. Granted subj. to conditions 30 St Martins Road BS4 2NG Rear single storey extension and internal ground floor alterations. Pending consideration 3 Bushy Park BS4 2EG Approved details in relation to condition 4 (Further details) of permission 11/00385/R: Five townhouses Pending consideration 177 Wells Road, Totterdown BS4 2DB Creation of vehicular access and parking area, including dropped kerb. Pending consideration 73 Sylvia Avenue BS3 5BU Rear dormer window

and insertion of roof lights in front roof slope. Pending consideration 21 Pylle Hill Crescent BS3 4TN Access from ground floor to rear garden, door and bathroom window to rear, enlargement of window to rear, widening of kitchen window. Pending consideration 1 Hill Avenue BS3 4SF Approved details in relation to conditions 2 (Construction Management) 3 (Underground storage tanks removal) 4 (Tank removal validation and contamination investigation) 5 (Landscaping) and 6 (SUDS) of permission 16/01240/F: Redevelopment of derelict house and garage site; conversion of house into four flats and erection of four terraced houses on Montgomery Street. Pending consideration 76 Rookery Road BS4 2DT Replace single storey porch and relocate external steps to rear garden. Pending consideration 14 St Martins Gardens BS4 2NJ Demolition of garage and erection of two-bedroom two-storey house. Pending consideration 358 Wells Road, Knowle BS4 2QL Extend drive, remove front wall, extend paved area and extend dropped kerb to full width. Pending consideration • The status of these applications may have changed since we went to press. Check for updates at planningonline.bristol.gov.uk

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southbristolvoice www.southbristolvoice.co.uk Reports from your councillors – Knowle

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S A result of the local campaign overcoming resistance from the council, Wessex took over Gary the 51 bus route on Hopkins September 4. Lib-Dem, Over 1,000 Knowle people a day are using the service and if Wessex were charging the fares that First used to, that would be producing a significant profit. The fares though are significantly cheaper (for some journeys £1 instead of £2.50) so we want more people still to use the service. This is important for several reasons. Even if the saving is not vital to you, it will be to others and supporting a company that has a model of increasing usage rather than squeezing a smaller number of users is in all our interests. Franchising is the way forward for bus services but while we do not have that, preventing an oppressive private monopoly is helpful. Our

shopping centre needs the 51 bus and many elderly people would be completely isolated without it. The collusion between the council administration and First was not good for our community and the Traffic Commissioner has said they will be writing about the lack of openness. Many were outraged when we exposed the fact that the council had agreed to transfer a subsidy for late evening buses from the 51 to First’s 50 service. Given that the mayor responded to questions on this as if he had no knowledge, you have to wonder if his assistant mayor, Cllr Bradshaw, was keeping him in the dark as well. We need this new service with its lower fares to be a success so it can provide a real choice and so that our community benefits from the profit-sharing deal we agreed with Wessex. The most commonly asked question is, can they take over a few more routes from First? A big thank-you to all who supported the campaign. You helped make a real difference.

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How to get in touch with your councillors – page 2

Ilminster Road crossing is still a danger to children. The planned speed ramp did not materialise; the road narrowing is ineffective and safety barriers were removed. 5. I reported complaints about solar lights at Salcombe Road recreation ground. I suggested bulkhead lights should be fixed to the fences. This is now being done. 6. A resident complained about youths leaving rubbish on open land in Hillcrest Road. Police have been informed. 7. Gary and I advised of a public meeting with Bristol Grammar School on September 23 at Redcatch community centre to discuss a new secondary school for this area. 8. I told the police about regular visits by four teenagers on motorcycles to Redcatch Park. 9. The owner of 1 Redcatch Road (the site next to the bakery) has told me he wants to build six flats and an office there. 10. Gary commented on cars parked on grass in Broad Walk; we may adopt a bye law restricting parking on verges.

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THOUGHT I would give you a brief outline of what was discussed at September’s Knowle Chris neighbourhood Davies forum, in the Lib-Dem, hope of increasing Knowle interest in the next meeting, which is at 7pm on November 25 at Redcatch community centre. 1. The police reported on the priorities chosen at the previous forum together with local crime statistics. Residents then raised new concerns, including parking on the forecourt pavement at Tesco in Axbridge Road. 2. Cllr Hopkins gave a report on the success in saving the 51 bus. 3. I gave my concerns about Bristol Waste’s cleaning of pavements and gutters. Spraying of the weeds was done too late to prevent their growth. I asked for a cleaning schedule which I am still waiting to receive. 4. Cllr Hopkins said the new

October 2016

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www.southbristolvoice.co.uk southbristolvoice Reports from your councillors – Windmill Hill October 2016

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S promised in the local Labour manifesto, a councillorled review of residents Jon parking schemes Wellington across Bristol has Labour, begun, including Windmill Hill the schemes in Southville and Bedminster that affect many people in Windmill Hill. You do not have to live in the affected area to contribute, so please ensure you respond to the consultation either online or through paper copies available in libraries. Given that councillors are leading the consultation on the review of existing schemes, we are also hoping that councillors will be given the opportunity to lead consultation on the introduction of any new residents parking schemes. There are funds available for a consultation with local residents to mitigate for parking issues relating to the arena. To begin planning how we

might go about addressing this, I recently met with councillors for Knowle ward. Although Windmill Hill (and particularly the Totterdown area) is the ward most likely to be affected, we are keen to work with our colleagues in neighbouring wards to ensure that we have a fair and robust consultation that takes into account the variety of opinions we have heard in the last year. We’d like to hear from you ahead of this, so please let me know how you think your street or road will be affected and what solution, if any, you think should be implemented. Furthermore, please feel free to contact either Lucy or I on any issues that affect your streets and we will be pleased to try and help. The recent Windmill Hill ward neighbourhood forum covered highways and roads and we raised issues with the highways and traffic team that people have been contacting us about since May, and we are pleased to see these taken up for review.

ON and I recently spoke in full council, supporting a review of the traffic Lucy management and Whittle transport plan Labour, for the arena. Windmill Hill We felt this was important so we can ensure we have an integrated plan, one that utilises all of the potential public transport options. The arena will bring many benefits to Bristol, and to the people of Windmill Hill and Totterdown, but many residents have told Jon and I that they are concerned about the impact of visitors parking in our already narrow and overcrowded residential streets, as well as the impact on air quality. I am optimistic that a review of the transport plan will result in a scheme that will encourage safe and sustainable transport choices such as walking, cycling and public transport. We do not

want the arena to become a car magnet. It is also important that residents will not be adversely impacted by the visitors who may drive, so finding a way forward that works for everyone is the creative challenge we take on. Jon and I also recently met the project manager of the Filwood Quietway , who outlined the plans and the feedback he has received so far. We see this as an improvement to Bristol’s cycling infrastructure that will bring benefits to the communities along its route, with more accessible paths and better lighting for all users. I was particularly impressed with the plan for intelligent lighting, which will be low-level and pointing downwards, and will brighten as people walk or cycle past. I hope that this is a solution that works for people’s sense of safety as well as offering the least disruption for wildlife, and the protection of dark skies. But we are really interested in what the community think, so do let us know your thoughts.

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History

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October 2016

The fabulous Forster boys:

OST of us have a boast about an ancestor – he fought at Waterloo, she worked with Florence Nightingale – the sort of thing that makes a good story but might just be a myth passed down the generations. Cecil Forster’s father Fred had a fragment of family history he passed on to his son. It turned out to be wrong – but it led Cecil to a discovery that may make his family unique. The Forsters knew they had a long association with the railway. Fred Forster, a driver of steam engines until they were phased out in the 1960s, told his son that an ancestor had something to do with the great Cornish pioneer of steam, Richard Trevithick. That nugget set Cecil on a 25-year quest to find out the true story, which turned out to be that the Forsters had been involved with the railways since the

Meet the family whose scion helped start the steam age – and the descendants who kept the trains running for 200 years

earliest days – before there were even passenger trains. But not in Cornwall: at the other end of England, in Northumberland. No fewer than 23 Forsters and their descendants have been employed on the railways since

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they were invented – the last of them retired only this year. That alone may make the family unique. And the man who started the tradition is one of the most important, though little known, figures in the story of steam. Jonathan Forster built Puffing Billy – the oldest surviving steam locomotive, and the first to run a service on rails as we would recognise them today.

Jonathan Forster: Builder of Puffing Billy At Wylam in Northumberland, horses had hauled coal on a five-mile wooden railway since 1748. But when the Napoleonic wars boosted demand for coal, the horses couldn’t move it quickly enough. Wylam, like many mines, had a stationary steam engine to do the heavy lifting. What if steam could power transport as well? In 1812, mine owner Christopher Blackett asked his colliery manager, William Hedley, to solve the problem. There were several theories about how steam could be used for transport. Richard Trevithick, the great Cornish engineer, had by 1812 built several horseless carriages which ran on roads. But his vehicles were seen as a threat by the lucrative horse carriage trade; they were also enormous, too heavy for the roads, and occasionally exploded. Trevithick had tried mounting his engines on rails – in fact, he was asked to build a locomotive for mine owner Blackett, which is where the Forster family myth may have started. But his engines were too heavy for the rails of the time. Plus, smooth metal wheels on smooth rails tended to slip. Others tried alternatives such as hauling the engine by a cable, or along a metal rack. But these methods were complicated. Arrive William Hedley, and his engine-wright Jonathan Forster, born in 1775, the man who built and maintained the mine’s steam machinery. Hedley reasoned that if wheels were joined by solid axles, and the power shared by gearing between four wheels, there was less chance of slippage. Forster built him an unpowered testbed, which proved the gearing could improve

Tales from the cemetery

Another of our unique stories about people commemorated in Arnos Vale cemetery traction, so much so that a locomotive could haul more than its own weight on smooth rails – something that had been thought impossible until then. They turned to steam power. A first effort with a single boiler in 1813 produced too little steam. They started again, and later that year out rolled Puffing Billy, with the gears driven off a crank turned by two vertical cylinders, the pistons pushed by steam from twin boilers. It was a revelation. Though it could reach only five mph, this was still faster than a horse, and it could haul eight wagons to a horse’s one. The name was soon world-famous – and remains so: “puffing like billy-o” is still an expression for a strenuous effort.

uffing Billy was the first locomotive to run a service on smooth rails. Forster and colliery blacksmith Timothy Hackworth made two more locos, Wylam Dilly and Lady Mary. They all worked so well they were in service for decades. No matter that Puffing Billy weighed eight tons and wore out the cast iron rails so quickly that it was redesigned with eight wheels to spread the weight – every revolution has setbacks, but steam was here to stay. It is a shame that Jonathan Forster is scarcely remembered by history; but his work caught the attention of neighbouring Northumberland engineer George Stephenson,

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October 2016

History

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the first family of steam

World beater: Another rare photograph from 1855 shows Jonathan Forster II (also inset) on the footplate of Lightning, one of the Iron Duke class which pulled the fastest train of its time, the Flying Dutchman, from London to Exeter. It could reach 80mph – an astonishing speed for the day. © Cecil Forster who was to build the world’s first locomotive for passenger service, the Locomotion, in 1825. Jonathan Forster appeared only once more in the public eye. In 1828, Parliament debated a bill permitting a railway from Newcastle to Carlisle. Incredibly to us, perhaps, many were in favour of railways but distrusted steam engines so much they wanted the trains horse-drawn. Jonathan Forster was the only voice in the parliamentary committee to speak up for steam. He lost: the line was allowed, but without steam. However, by the time the line was finished in 1834, steam was in public favour. Forster stayed friends with Stephenson; his sons John, born in 1802, and Joseph, born 1806, went on to work at the Stephenson loco works in Newcastle. Grandson George was also a valued Stephenson worker. Cecil Forster has a copy of a reference from the factory, calling George “a steady good workman” having worked at “the erecting of locomotive engines” for 12 years. Jonathan Forster stayed on at Wylam colliery until 1853, when he retired aged 78. He died in 1860. Puffing Billy was to work on until 1862, when it was retired to London, the oldest steam locomotive remaining, now

housed in the Science Museum. The “Railway Forsters” never again achieved the prominence that Jonathan did. But he sired a line of railway workers, in the North East, in South Wales and in Bristol, that is unequalled by any other family as far as is known. It’s easy to forget now that in the 19th C, to work on the railways was to be involved at the very height of technology. Steam trains transformed Britain and then the world by linking every part of the nation. Transport was so rapid that for the first time it became important for clocks across the country to be synchronised. This ended the custom of “Bristol time”: in Bristol the sun sets 10 minutes later than in London. Many in the West Country were happy with the old ways and rejected “Cockney time”. One clock in Broad Street in the old city still retains an extra minute hand to show Bristol time. Even in the 20th C, it was many boys’ ambition to become a train driver. (The railways have, until relatively recently, been a very male world.) This is an aim that many Forsters achieved. First, though, they had to earn their stripes – sometimes as a labourer or cleaner on the

railway. Then they could step up to the hallowed footplate and the role of fireman: the dirty, back-breaking task of feeding the iron monster with the tons of coal that made the steam. After several years with a shovel they could hope finally to become a driver, master of the hissing locomotive that brought people and trade to each corner of the country. Jonathan Forster II: A god to the train drivers The first of the Forster line in Bristol was another Jonathan

Forster, grandson of the first. Born in County Durham in 1830, this Jonathan joined the Great Western Railway at the age of 20. He must have shown great talent and technical ability, because after only a year as a fireman he drove a goods engine at Didcot. He then worked in Oxford and in 1851 at Leamington Spa, then moved to London and spent three years driving Brunel’s prestigious route from Paddington to Temple Meads. Promoted to inspector, he moved to Neath in Wales, then moved finally to Bristol in 1882 as loco foreman, also known as “shed foreman”. His descendant Cecil was puzzled at this lowly-sounding title when he discovered it. But he was enlightened by Walter Burge, his uncle, and like Cecil, a third great-grandson of the first Jonathan Forster. Walter was himself an inspector at Temple Meads, and the shed foreman was above him. “The foreman of the drivers at Bath Road was God,” Walter told Cecil. The second Jonathan Forster lived at 70 William Street in Totterdown and had been to the Gospel Hall there the night before he died in 1895 (probably the one in Bellevue Terrace, opened in 1880 and only recently converted to housing). He is buried in Arnos Vale cemetery. Several family photos found by Cecil show Jonathan at the Bath Road depot; in one, he is the driver on the footplate of the Lightning, pride of the Great Continued on page 32

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History

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‘He held his train in a tunnel because he was in danger of being machine gunned’

deserved more than a faggot: he saved the driver’s job once when he was so drunk Fred had to hold him upright when they arrived at Temple Meads. Sadly, drink took its toll on other family members. Jonathan Forster II was a church-going teetotaller but his son George, born in 1858, was far from it. His father didn’t like his fondness for the bottle and perhaps this is why George was discharged from his job as a fitter at Bath Road in 1910, aged only 52. George remained a craftsman, though, and made snuff and tobacco boxes which he sold in the pub to pay for his drinks.

Continued from page 31 Western, sitting on the turntable at Bath Road in 1855. Pictured at his retirement in 1890, the whole staff of the depot are there, presenting him with what looks like a fancy set of luggage and a portrait. Fred Forster and other Forsters on the footplate Once the second Jonathan Forster had settled in Bristol in 1882 a new dynasty was founded which produced six engine drivers, one engine fitter, two firemen, one supervisor and two inspectors – all working on the Great Western Railway. To this must be added those who worked in Wales and Tyneside, and those who married into the family. Though the speed of trains increased, the technology became safer and the passengers more comfortable, work on the railways did not change fundamentally until steam gave way to diesel power in the 1960s. This came at the tail-end of the career of Fred Forster, Cecil’s father. Fred worked through the Second World War as an engine driver but told his family little of the dangers he faced, even though the railways were prime targets for the Luftwaffe. “The only thing he told me about the war was that he once had to hold his train in a tunnel because he was in danger of being machine-gunned,” said Cecil. “But he couldn’t stay there long because you would put the signals out of sequence after only a couple of minutes.” Fred was more than a driver: he ended his career as a tutor on the London–Bristol Pullman service, helping others convert

THE FORSTERS: A RAILWAY DYNASTY 1 Jonathan Forster 1775-1860 retired 1853 Built Puffing Billy 2 John Forster Son b.1802 Engine wright, Newcastle 3 Joseph Forster Son 180666 Foreman, engine wright, Newcastle

October 2016

Fred Forster, right, with fireman V James, on the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. Amazingly, this loco has been restored and runs tourist trips as the Shakespeare Express from Birmingham © Cecil Forster

rivers had to be ever-alert to danger on the railways. George Bushell, a greatgreat-great grandson of the first Forster, was a fireman and then a driver based at Bath Road. In 1953 an accident with a steam engine left him with burns to his face and arm that were so bad he was off work for three weeks. More traumatic, though, was when he suffered every driver’s nightmare – someone jumping in front of his train. Amazingly the man was pulled alive from under the loco at Swindon station, and he is said to have survived. Back in the war, George’s brother Arthur Bushell, two years younger, had a narrow escape too. He was a fireman on a munitions train when the brakes failed. The driver, fearing a most calamitous crash and explosion, told Arthur to jump off. But the footplate was several feet off the ground, the train was moving, and this didn’t seem a safe course of action. Arthur held on – and luckily the train met an incline just steep enough to halt it.

from the steam locos which he loved, to the new diesels. He retired in 1962, three years before the last steam services. He told the Evening Post at the time: “When I switched from steam to diesel I didn’t like it at first. I’m mechanically-minded and these seemed too automatic. “Then I began to appreciate the cleanliness and the smoother rides. It was certainly a change from the 19 years I spent as a fireman.” Fred, like many in his family, was a keen engineer and spent much of his retirement in Springleaze, Knowle, making model steam locomotives. In the 1950s and early 1960s, before the age of widespread jet travel, it was an impressive feat to travel at 100mph. Few could boast it, and fewer still could prove it – but Fred could. He would bring up the subject and then produce the proof – the log of the Drysillyn Castle, a Castle-class steam loco, which regularly topped 100mph on the London run. “Dad got several pints out of that,” recalled Cecil. Fred drank in moderation, but

that was not true of everyone on the railways. When Fred was a young fireman, his driver would hop out of the train at St Phillip’s to visit the Pipelayer’s Arms, a pub next to the track, and knock back a few pints while waiting for Fred to build up steam. Sometimes he would need a nap while the faithful Fred took over the controls. One advantage of steam power over diesel was that there was always somewhere hot to keep your dinner; and on one occasion the driver had brought faggots to eat on the journey. “Dad couldn’t resist it – as they went on, the faggots began to warm up and smell, and he took one out and ate it,” said Cecil. But how to hide the evidence? “Dad rubbed some of the faggot on the driver’s moustache. When he woke up he said ‘Everything OK Fred?’ Then: ‘Who the bloody hell had one of my faggots?’ “Dad replied, ‘You ate one before you fell asleep, look, it’s all over your face!’” It was a close escape. But Fred

hen he was 13, Cecil told his father that he wanted to join the railway when he left school. It might have seemed a foregone conclusion, coming from such

4 Jonathan Forster Grandson 1830-95 ret.1890 Foreman Bristol engine drivers 5 George Forster G’son 183370 Engine wright, Newcastle 6 John Forster G’son 18451920 Plate layer, Newcastle 7 Joseph Forster Gt-g’son 1845-1936 ret.1920 Foreman fitter, Swansea

8 George Forster Gt-g’son 1858-1924 ret.1910 Fitter, Bristol 9 Frederick Forster 2nd gt-g’son 1897-1975 ret.1962 Engine driver & tutor, Bristol 10 Ernest Forster 2nd gt-g’son 1900-80 ret.1965 Driver, Bristol 11 Albert Forster 3rd gt-g’son 1928-2001 Fireman, Bristol

12 Henry Jayne F-in-law to gt-g’daughter 1828-84 Driver, Bristol 13 James Bonner Husb. to g’daughter b.1834 Fitter, Northumberland 14 John Futer G’son b.1836 Fitter, Northumberland 15 Joseph Gardner G’son b.1846 Fitter, Northumberland

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October 2016

History

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‘I’m sorry to see that Britain isn’t making trains any more when you think of all the technology we had’

a long line of railway stalwarts, but his father told him to think of another career. The railways work round the clock, he pointed out, and he didn’t want them both disturbing Cecil’s mother if father and son were rising early or late for different shifts. Cecil put his own engineering skills to work in the motor trade, managing a major transport depot. “I made the right decision – I didn’t regret it,” said Cecil. Last of the line: Alan Burge Alan Burge, from Bedminster Down, is a great-great-greatgreat grandson of the first Jonathan Forster. But it wasn’t a sentimental decision for him to work on the railways. “It was mainly because of the family – dad was on the railway and he said they were always looking for apprentices,” he said. His father Walter Burge was an inspector, a hallowed figure to the drivers. Alan started at the bottom, with a five-year apprenticeship in Swindon, where he learned every skill to keep a train on the rails – welding, engineering, painting, casting, sheet metal work, and more. He was lucky that by the time he started work in Bristol in the early 1970s the biggest innovation by British Rail since the war was coming into service – the High Speed Train, or HST. To generations of passengers who clanked along in draughty carriages with corridors, the HST was a revolution. Quiet, fast, air-conditioned, with huge windows, it felt more like an airliner than a train. Alan and his generation of fitters had to deal with the inevitable teething troubles. “For two years we were working 12 hours nearly every day because there was a fault on the spring castings for the wheels,” he said. “Then there were problems with the turbo blowers and the engine exhausts. But it was a great time. We were the first 16 Joseph Futer G’son b.1847 Fitter, Northumberland 17 James Boyd Husb. to 2nd gtg’daughter b.1886 Driver, Bristol 18 Walter Burge Husb. to 2nd gt-g’daughter 1896-1971 Inspector, Bristol 19 George Bushell 3rd gt-g’son 1920-95 ret.1985 Driver, Bristol 20 Walter Burge 3rd gt-g’son

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Cecil Forster, right, with Alan Burge, last of the family to work on the railway. Behind them is a picture of Drysillyn Castle, the 100mph loco driven by Fred Forster. The picture was painted by Cecil’s son Martin people to take the HSTs apart so we were learning all the time.” Alan and his colleagues would do all the maintenance that was needed – from daily checks to regular services, building up to major work such as engine changes, which might take place every four years. The proof that the HST was a sound design is that it is still in service. Refurbished, upgraded, re-engined, the HST will be ferrying passengers from Bristol to Paddington until the line is electrified and replacements arrive around 2019 or 2020. Those new electric trains will be welcomed by the Forsters and their descendants, who, like Fred Forster in the last days of steam, always took up new techonology. But one crucial difference from Puffing Billy is that this is not British engineering: the new locos are made by Hitachi of Japan. Alan said: “I’m sorry to see that Britain isn’t making the trains any more, when you think of all the technology that we had, and now we buy them from abroad.” But like Cecil, he thinks 1922-2008 ret.1983 Driver supervisor, Bristol 21 Arthur Bushell 3rd gtgrandson 1922-2004 ret.1984 Driver, Bristol 22 Kenneth Bushell 4th gtgrandson b.1949 Fireman, Bristol 23 Alan Burge 4th gtgrandson b.1953 ret.2016 Fitter supervisor, Bristol

that we don’t make enough use of our railways, and haven’t invested enough. “I would like to see more money put into the railways,” he said. Other

European countries often have much more impressive services. In Britain, he thinks, we should have more commuter services – something Bristol is now looking at – and every city should have a goods yard where loads can be transferred to trucks for local deliveries. Alan retired earlier this year after illness meant he spent his last 10 years in the stores. Like Cecil, he still thinks the railways offer good opportunities for young people seeking a career. It just happens that none of Alan’s two sons or three grandchildren chose rail – meaning that, for now, the 203-year history of the Railway Forsters is paused.

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Karin Smyth Are you in line for some of the millions left unclaimed?

ANY Voice readers will know about my community one-stop shop events aimed at ensuring local people are receiving all their financial entitlements. I believe that having worked and contributed to the system in different ways everyone should get what they’re rightly entitled to. Over £16 million in pension credit and £20 million of income support goes unclaimed each year in our city alone, so these hands-on events are one of the ways I help support people living across South Bristol. The next one is on Friday October 21 from 10.30am-12.30pm at the Gatehouse Centre, Hareclive Road, BS13 9JN. Financial experts from Bristol Citizens Advice Bureau, South Bristol Advice Services, the Department for Work and Pensions, Care and Repair, Bristol

Monday

The MP’s view Each month Bristol South Labour MP Karin Smyth gives her perspective Credit Union, Wessex Water, Bristol Water and others will be there to help guide people to claim what’s theirs. All are welcome. Just as people should claim what’s rightly theirs, so too should everyone pay their fair share of tax. This extends to businesses, including global firms that operate in the UK. There’s long been widespread concern

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about multinationals, with fears that some of them use complicated arrangements to effectively pick and choose the tax they pay in different countries. So I’m pleased to report the success, in early September, of a Labour backbench amendment to the Government’s Finance Bill. The introduction of country-by-country tax reporting would force global corporations to disclose where they do business, how much they make and what tax they pay. I’ve supported my colleague Caroline Flint MP’s amendment from the start – it arose from our joint work together on the Public Accounts Committee. Corporate transparency is vital to restore taxpayers’ faith about the way big business operates. Despite being in opposition, which can sometimes be frustrating, the success of this amendment highlights what can be achieved by backbench MPs working across party lines. In the context of the challenges the UK faces from Brexit, transparency – achieved by months of opposition MPs working to persuade other parties – might seem a small achievement. But it’s a victory for fairer taxation, and sends a clear message to corporations which move their profits to low-tax havens that they must play by the same rules as any South Bristol business, large or small.

Tuesday

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Arts Poet who abhors the poetic persuaded into print

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NE of the most distinctive poetic voices Bristol has ever produced has just published his first volume – at the age of 93. Ray Webber was born in 1923 near Bristol Bridge, into a city of slums, gas lights and back streets. He now lives in a supported housing complex in Knowle. Sometimes we expect people who have reached a venerable age to recount a life of virtue, hard work and dedication to the war effort. Ray’s poetry is about none of this – except for a single, harrowing war poem. Instead his volume, High On Rust, is crammed with hangovers, escapades, Beat-era excesses and a pitiless self-awareness. That makes it sound like hard work. But the wonder of Ray’s poetry, which has won the praise of critics from the Guardian and the Times Educational Supplement down, is the humour that flows through them. There is also a lot of swearing – which makes it hard to quote in a family publication. my real name is Mervin Derryberry Grubcock. my father was a part-time docker and a full-time anarchist. my mother was a full-time domestic slave and a double-time catholic saint. So begins ‘The beautiful miracle of childbirth’, which involves a drunken midwife, a bomb going off and a father arriving with a flagon of stout in each pocket, with unmentionable disasters all around. “The element of truth in it is the nature of the conflict between me and my parents. The actual facts are very dull,” he said. “It seems to be a middle class obsession to remember all sorts of details about their childhood

Ray Webber: Prize-winning poet gets into print at last at the age of 93 that are of absolutely no interest to most people. So what I do, I make up things which are only psychologically true.” What is true is that Ray’s father was a full-time anarchist – actually a member of the Communist Party who worked so hard for a revolution that he rarely had a job, and the family was always getting kicked out for not paying the rent. His mother was an indulgent figure who would give him cigarettes at the age of 12 for running errands. (Ray gave up smoking in his 80s, when, he said, walking up hill became difficult.) He left school at 14 and was conscripted into the army at 18, serving through the bloody battles to liberate Italy. He began reading poetry in the army, consuming the Romantics, disliking the First World War poets and moving on to the poets of the 1930s. At first impressed by the complex rhythms of Dylan Thomas, he began to realise that what he couldn’t stand was poetic conceit, and Thomas was full of it. Then he was hit by TS Eliot,

author of The Wasteland, the era-defining poem which in ordinary speech seemed to voice the despair emerging from the First War without ever mentioning it: “I will show you fear in a handful of dust” being one of many iconic lines. “Eliot just said his piece,” said Ray. “There were no conceits, he used the vernacular. It was much deeper than the other poets.” Ray determined that when he wrote poetry, it would be like no-one else’s. He called himself “the poet who abhors the poetic”. He realised that what Eliot had done in free verse was actually harder than working with the structure of rhythym and rhyme. A working life as a Bristol postman left him time to study literature. He won a competition for a poem to mark the 600th anniversary of Bristol’s city charter. When he joined a poetry group at the Bristol Arts Centre he began to receive praise. So why has he left it so long to publish? “I didn’t like myself.,” he said. “I didn’t suffer fools gladly. Though a lot of people [at the poetry group] had been to

October 2016

university, I had read a lot more than they had and I became a bit arrogant. ” So his early outpourings – 500 poems – were thrown away. Over the years he built up 500 more, but when anyone mentioned publication he could not face the work of revising them. Finally Steve Bush, an admirer of Ray’s work for 30 years, persuaded him that he would take on the task of selecting and revising the poems. Richard Jones of Tangent Books, the well-known Bristol publisher based at Paintworks on Bath Road, took on promoting the book, winning attention from national critics. Ray is pleased with the book, adorned with his surreal drawings, though he was too unwell to go to last month’s reception at the Arnolfini to launch it. “I’ve timed it just right, just as I have got one foot in the grave,” he said. Ray has never married but appears far from lonely with many friends and now wellwishers visiting to praise his publication. He told the Voice: “I can praise myself now and again when I think I have done something good. Too much modesty is almost inverse vanity.” Plenty of people who love literature will be hoping Ray is around for a while yet to soak up other people’s praise. Invitation (extract) come on in and sit down have a cigarette a drink what would you like to talk about? being stabbed through the heart stabbed in the back being swindled rejected humiliated bored with routine confused and exasperated by bureaucracy dissatisfied disillusioned disgusted with yourself i’ll listen if it helps but beyond that i can’t do anything for you i can’t change the world i can’t change human nature if i had that sort of power i’d go raving mad anyone can go slighty round the bend you’ve only got to look at me

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October 2016

Arts

Hard to avoid joining in this joyful evening

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watching this show I’m ready to see more! The Hippodrome itself is a flamboyant late-Victorian gem. The stage mechanics and scenery changes are fascinating. All the songs you know and love are here – from Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String, to The Hills Are Alive, to the Lonely Goatherd (yodel-ayhee-hoo) – along with a couple I didn’t remember. And there’s some charming choreography,

REVIEW The Sound of Music, Bristol Hippodrome LIKE many people, I saw The Sound of Music on telly when I was a kid; but I’m not a megafan. I’m not a regular musicalgoer either. However, after

Nun better: The Sound of Music particularly Rolf and Liesl’s Sixteen Going on Seventeen. After the obligatory plotsetting, the show came alive for me with the entrance of the seven children – the Von Trapp family.

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The little ones were just as cute as they should be, and their elders had presence and likeability. After a joyful rendition of Doe A Deer (official title Do-Re-Mi), I was fully engaged and enjoying the show. As was the rest of the audience – someone by me said she was finding it hard to resist joining in, and I agreed. The cast includes Lucy O’Byrne (as seen on BBC’s The Voice), and Coronation Street’s Andrew Lancel. Beccy Golding

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What’s on

Saturday October 1 Potty about Pots Arnos Vale cemetery. Workshop for adults to show how to create four types of pots using different techniques: slab, coil, pinch and thrown. Learn how to throw a pot on the pottery wheel, make a handle, apply underglazes and add decorative details. 10.30am-2.30pm. £50 including materials. Work will be ready to collect 2-4 weeks later. • arnosvale.org.uk/events Saltcellar Folk Club Totterdown Baptist church, entrance off Cemetery Road. Double bill: Simon Boulter and JaCoB (Pete Stearn and Will), all regular Saltcellar performers, each play a set. £5, 7.30pm. • saltcellarfolk.org.uk Sunday October 2 Antique, vintage & collectables fair Ashton Court Mansion. 40 indoor stalls, café open with afternoon cream teas. Adults £2, under 16s free. Main car park: Kennel Lodge entrance via Portishead Road A369. 10am3.30pm. Monday October 3 Mask-making for 8-11 year olds – part of Take It On, a monthly series to learn specialist theatre skills at the Tobacco Factory. 4.15-5.45pm. £6. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com Victoria Park Action Group Victoria Park Bowling Club, 7.30pm. Everyone welcome to discuss issues affecting the park. • vpag.org.uk Wednesday October 5 Book Club and Games Night Zion Bristol, Bishopsworth Road BS13 7LW. The first meeting of Zion’s book club will discuss two volumes: Hotel World by Ali Smith and The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller – or bring your own favourite to discuss. Also games such as bridge, poker, dominoes, scrabble, backgammon or bring your own. Bar, free entry, 7-10pm. • zionbristol.co.uk Thursday October 6 Reading and writing poetry Windmill Hill City Farm, 10am12noon. Course explores how a poem works, and develops skills for writing poetry using traditional and novel approaches. Seven sessions cost £52 (may be reduced for those on benefit). Run by the WEA: 0845 458 2758. • windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Franc Cinelli + Duncan Stagg + Laurie McMahon + Tamsin Sayers The Thunderbolt, Bath Road,

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Don Giovanni: A man whose destiny is shaped by his desires

The world’s favourite opera MOZART’S Don Giovanni is for many, the greatest opera ever written: the story of a man driven entirely by desire for sexual conquest, a desire that not only controls his own life but those around him. Opera Project have assembled an line-up of singers new to the Tobacco Factory, led by George von Bergen in the title role, having recently played the Don for English Touring Opera. The role of Donna Anna is taken by the rising young Totterdown. Franc Cinelli’s latest release, The Marvel Age, is Album of the Month for Folk Radio UK. 7.30-11.30pm, £5. • thethunderbolt.net Three Green Bottles Acta theatre, Gladstone Street, Bedminster. A new show from Acta’s young adults’ company, Phoenix. 7-8.30pm. Tickets £2. • acta-bristol.com Saturday October 8 Big ’Uns Music Night with DJ Barry the Bull at Windmill Hill community centre, Vivian Street. 8pm till late. Every second Saturday of the month. This month: All Sorts Mix. • whca.org.uk Doreen Doreen Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster. One of Bristol’s best loved and longest lived bands return to one of their spiritual homes. £8 advance, £10 on door. 8pm-2am. • fiddlers.co.uk Sunday October 9 The Boy Who Opened Doors Zion Bristol, Bishopsworth Road.

international soprano Anna Patalong, with American bass-baritone Benjamin Cahn as Leporello and brilliant young Spanish soprano Laura Ruhi Vidal as Zerlina. Jonathan Lyness conducts the orchestral arrangements. The show runs until October 22 at 7.30pm, but without a show on Sunday, Monday or Thursday. Tickets £32 and £38. Students under 21 £15 (10 per night, Tuesday and Wednesday). • tobaccofactorytheatres.com A puppet drama for children in a magical and powerful small-scale theatre featuring original music. “The Boy Who Opened Doors is a moving story about a young boy’s journey into adulthood, his ability to stand on his own two feet and make choices to achieve his goals.” Two shows at 11.30am and 2.30pm. Suitable for ages 6+, all welcome. Free entry. • zionbristol.co.uk Urban Wildlife Tour Arnos Vale cemetery. “Join our ecologist on this atmospheric tour of our wildlife and plants, in search of autumn species in all their glory. Discover the rich mosaic of habitats that make up Arnos Vale and learn why this urban landscape is so important to Bristol. See if you can spot deer, foxes, buzzards, insects and more!” 1pm-2.30 pm. Not suitable for under 5s. Tickets £5. • arnosvale.org.uk/events Wednesday October 12 An Evening With an Immigrant Tobacco Factory

October 2016

Beyond season at The Cube. Also on October 13. “Awardwinning poet and playwright Inua Ellams tells his ridiculous, fantastic, poignant immigrantstory of escaping extremist Islam, directing an arts festival in Dublin, performing solo shows at the National Theatre, and drinking wine with the Queen of England, without a country to belong to or place to call home.” Cube Microplex, Dove Street South, off King Square, Kingsdown, BS2 8JD. £10. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster. The legendary name in reggae on his 40th anniversary tour. Supported by Kioko. Tickets £23 advance. 7.30pm. • fiddlers.co.uk Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry: The reggae legend is playing Bedminster

Thursday October 13 Lene Lovich Band The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Post-punk singer Lene Lovich hit the top of the UK charts with her single Lucky Number in 1979, and was crowned the “Queen of Quirk”, influencing a generation of acts, from Nina Hagen to Boy George. Now touring with a new band. 7.30pm, £14. • thethunderbolt.net Friday October 14 Arnos Vale After Hours “A tour revealing the darker side of Arnos Vale at dusk, in an atmospheric exploration of tragic tales, folk customs and funeral etiquette of Victorian society. You’ll travel along paths overhung with creeping branches, descend into the mortuary crypt and listen out for things that go bump in the night.” Places on this popular annual event sell out quickly. Bring a torch. 7.30-9pm, £8. • arnosvale.org.uk/events Joel Dommett Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, North Street, Southville. “The star of Sky1’s Bring The Noise, one of the UK’s most energetic and exciting

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October 2016

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What’s on Kerry has the answers – well, some of them

OMETIMES comedy has to tackle difficult subjects. Should I change my life? Sell up and move to the country? Why have I still got my children’s baby teeth in a box? Thankfully there’s a comic who’s prepared to tackle all this head on. Kerry Godliman brings her show Stick or Twist to the Comedy Box this month. “We are living in an age where we can peruse other people’s lives on the internet,” she told the Voice. “We are all faced with the question, should I change my life or leave it as it is? Should I live in a yurt, should I sell up and downsize?” And why does she keep her children’s teeth in a box? “A lot of it’s exploiting people’s affection for their children, so you think if I collect every single thing they have given you, you will have something to look back on when they don’t like you any more.” comedians returns to the road with his new solo show.” £14, 8.30pm. • thecomedybox.co.uk Sunday October 16 Judy’s Vintage Fair Clothing from menswear to womenswear, homewares to collectibles and accessories to jewellery, from 1920s beading to 1990s grunge, at Paintworks, Bath Road. 11am4pm. Entry £2, under 12s free. • judysvintagefair.co.uk Wednesday October 19 Focus The unique Dutch prog rock band fronted by Thijs Van Leer, and best known for their 1970s hits Hocus Pocus and Sylvia. The Tunnels, Temple Meads. With support from The Villanovas. Tickets £14 advance, £16 door. • thetunnelsbristol.co.uk Thursday October 20 Milk Poetry Tobacco Factory theatre. Performances by new talent and poetry professionals including poet, musician and producer Chris Redmond, creator and front man of Tongue Fu, and Jemima Foxtrot with her show Melody, an exploration

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What about the bigger questions – how do we decide if we should change our lives? “Ah, I sort it all out in the show. But people will only find out if they come to see me.” Kerry’s very happy to be playing the Hen & Chicken for a second time – she likes Bristol, and as she says, it’s where every Londoner wants to move to.

She’s a familiar face, seen on TV in Live at the Apollo, and in Our Girl, C4’s Spoons, Pointless Celebrities and many others. She’s even more prolific on radio, being a frequent guest on Radio 4’s News Quiz and Just a Minute, and a central character in Jack Docherty’s comedy about marriage and despair, Start/Stop. It’s funny because we hear all

the internal dialogue that people think but don’t share with their spouses. “Start/Stop is one of my favourites,” she says. “It’s one of those dream jobs because it’s such a good cast, and Jack writes such good scripts.” Another landmark was a role in Mascots, the latest movie by Christopher Guest, maker of fake documentary Spinal Tap. It’s the story of the strange people who dress up as giant animals for sports teams – Kerry plays the wife of a hedgehog lookalike who flies to the US for a competition. “It was a kind of dream,” she says. “I got a call out of the blue asking if I wanted to go to LA for five weeks. It’s all improvised – it was scary on the first day but Christopher’s very good at getting people to relax.” What else is in the offing? The live tour takes Kerry to the end of October. Then she’ll be seen in a new sitcom, Carters Get Rich, on Sky in January. Then it’ll be back to staring at that box of children’s teeth … • Kerry Godliman: Stick or Twist, Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, Southville, 8pm, October 19

of music and memory which received a five-star review from The Stage. £7. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com Keep The Beat Bristol’s Ujima Radio hosts a cabaret at the SouthBank Club, Dean Lane, Bedminster to raise awareness of blood and organ donation, especially in black and ethnic minority communities. Music from Troy Ellis, Makala Cheung, DJ Style, South West Dance Theatre, Miles Chambers and Dawn Parry. Hosted by Mistri and Miss Divine. £10, 7-11pm. • southbankclub.webs.com Saturday October 22 Cheeki Monkeys Big Baby and Children’s Indoor Market St Aldhelm’s Church, Chessel Street, Bedminster BS3 3TT. Secondhand children’s items, 1.30-3.30pm. Free car parking, refreshments, “plenty to keep the little ones entertained”. Stalls available from £10: contact Mel on 07946 583396. Facebook: • cheekimonkeysbs3andbs4 Doodle Day for children, Paintworks, Bath Road, Totterdown. Celebrate the

International Big Draw Festival with art workshops and storytelling for children and their families. Morning 11am-1pm, afternoon 2-4pm. £8 per child over two years, grown-ups free. Also children’s boutique clothing, food and smoothies, and Anorak magazine’s caravan bookshop. • picatic.com/doodleday The Emperials Known as Bristol’s ska-institution and the South West’s favourite ska band, the eight-piece Emperials have a huge repertoire of ska and reggae classics, Two Tone hits and more. The Tunnels, Temple Meads 7.30pm. £7. • thetunnelsbristol.co.uk Tuesday October 25 The Weir Tobacco Factory. Coproduced with Cardiff’s Sherman Theatre, “multi award-winning playwright Conor McPherson’s The Weir is a play brimming with heartfelt humour and confessions of our deepest fears in the dead of night”. Until November 5. Sign language interpreted performance on November 2. Tickets £16 and £13. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com

Wednesday October 26 Tales of Terror Tobacco Factory theatre. Two days of spooky fun with scary stories, creepy creations and hair-raising hi-jinks for 7-11 year-olds. Also on October 27; content will be different each day. 10am-3.30pm. £20, or £35 for both days. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com Friday October 28 Grumble Bee + Witterquick The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Grumble Bee are fronted by multi-instrumentalist Jack Bennet, whose first EP this year won critical acclaim including a 4/5 star review in Kerrang magazine. 7.30pm, £6.49. • thethunderbolt.net Sunday October 30 Simon Munnery: Standing Still Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, Southville. Simon is one of stand-up comedy’s most enduring veterans who’s known for defying conventions. “An opening to die for, seven wry observations, a tone poem, four fresh skits and two new commandments.” 8pm, £13. • thecomedybox.co.uk

WE HAVE two tickets for Kerry Godliman’s show at the Comedy Box on October 19. To win them, tell us which director she’s just made a film with? Email paul@southbristolvoice. co.uk by October 14.

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October 2016

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