South Bristol Voice, December 2016 by South Bristol Voice

southbristolvoice December 2016 No. 19

www.southbristolvoice.co.uk

LOCAL NEWS FOR LOCAL PEOPLE

FREE EVERY MONTH in Totterdown, Knowle and Windmill Hill

Paintworks: D-Day nears Decision time for the Bath Road site COUNCILLORS will decide whether to grant planning permission to the final phase of the Paintworks development on December 21. The council’s development control committee will debate whether to allow the plan, by owner Verve Properties, for 92 homes in Paintworks Phase 4, in three new buildings of four to eight storeys. Many residents in the Arnos Vale area are fearful of the amount of development proposed there. Paintworks Phase 3 is now being completed with 210 homes. Neighbours in Edward Road and Chatsworth Road have resorted to their own unofficial resident parking scheme. Any car parked without a resident’s badge is left a polite note asking them to park elsewhere. A spokesperson for Arnos Vale residents association urged residents to make comments to the council about the Paintworks 4 plan, or attend the committee meeting to have their say.

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2 Paul Breeden Editor & publisher 07811 766072 paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk Ruth Drury Sales executive 07590 527664 sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk Editorial team: Beccy Golding, Alex Morss & The Wicked Witch Deliveries: Greg Champion

Intro

THE STORY WE CAN’T TELL YOU IT’S A relief that the national newspaper report that said that up to a third of Bristol hospital beds were to be axed has turned out to be untrue. But there is another disturbing issue which looks certain to affect thousands of South Bristol patients – and we can’t tell you about it. The Voice has agreed not to reveal details about a major change to health services in the BS4 area because the patients affected have not been informed. It’s expected that letters will start to arrive telling some patients of changes to their

You can find South Bristol Voice on Facebook and Twitter facebook.com/ southbristolvoice Twitter: @sbristolvoice Co. no. 09522608 | VAT no. 211 0801 76

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local health services from about November 26. As soon as patients know, we will publish a full story online at our website. This is a change whch will affect thousands of people, and we will welcome your comments on Facebook. It is intensely frustrating not to be able to do our job of informing readers what is happening with their local NHS. We have known about the changes set to take place for two weeks. Amazingly, it seems that NHS England has had difficulty in arranging a mailing to patients and in setting up consultation for those affected. These delays by NHS England may reduce the time that patients have to make decisions about their healthcare. If so, that is a disgrace.

December 2016

n BRIEFLY n PARKS have once again shared in the honours from the annual South West in Bloom competition, prompting a plea for people to do more to support their parks in the face of looming council cuts (see page 6). Redcatch Park was again judged Outstanding, as was Perretts Park. The joint entry for Knowle with other nearby open spaces was also awarded a Gold. Knowle councillor Chris Davies said: “Our parks are a massive asset and must be protected. We can all help – at Redcatch we already have two volunteers litter picking – contact Friends of Redcatch Park or park staff if you can help in any way, or can sponsor a tree.” • friendsofredcatchpark.com n THE South Bristol Wellbeing Choir present their Christmas Concert on Thursday December 15 at 7.30pm at St Michael & All Angels Church in Vivian Street, Windmill Hill BS3 4LW. Refreshments and nibbles will be available; donations welcome. • facebook.com/SouthBristol WellbeingChoiroldpage/

n SOUTH BRISTOL venues have shone in the Bristol Food Awards on November 13. The best bakery was Totterdown’s Baked in Oxford Street. The café at Windmill Hill City Farm was the best family-friendly venue, with Bocabar in Bath Road runner-up. Zazu’s Kitchen, which has branches in Southville and Gloucester Road, was runner-up for best European. Tincan in North Street, Southville, was runner-up best coffee shop and Rare, the butcher’s in the same street, was best butcher for the third year in a row. Souk Kitchen of North Street took Best Mediterranean. n WANT to put some fizz in your Christmas Eve? The Thunderbolt in Bath Road, Totterdown, offers a free festive event. Power pop, 60s garage and Christmas classics are promised by the Disorderlies, with support acts and a DJ. There will be mulled wine and cider, and Sophie’s hot nuts, apparently. Open from 4-8pm, so plenty of time to get home for Santa. • thethunderbolt.net

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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 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

NEIGHBOURHOOD FORUMS Windmill Hill Wednesday February 22, 2017, 7-8.30pm, Victoria Park Baptist Church, Sylvia Avenue BS3 5DA Knowle Tuesday February 28 2017, 7-8.30pm, Knowle Community Centre, Crossways Road, Knowle BS4 2SS Neighbourhood partnership Wed Dec 7, 6pm, Knowle Community Centre, Crossways Road, BS4 2SS

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 |

To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Ruth on 07590 527664

December 2016

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n NEWS

Give us a hand and we can help the needy: church THE BAPTIST church at Victoria Park is appealing for more help from South Bristol people to enable it to give more back to the community. The church with its new hall, opened in 2015, opens its doors to many community ventures – the latest being the Padfields café run by people with learning disabilities, open every Wednesday from 11am-2pm. But though the area around the church, in Sylvia Avenue, is

more upmarket now, giving has fallen, and fewer people leave the church legacies in their wills. As a consequence the church has eaten into its reserves, and needs to raise more money. The first event in the fund-raising drive is a Christmas shopping night on Saturday December 10. There will be homemade patisseries, gifts, treats, Christmas Eve boxes, bric a brac, mince pies, mulled wine, Neals Yard and Forever Living

cosmetics, handmade fabric gifts, carols, children’s books and more. It’s open from 7.30-10pm. If you’d like to have a stall there, email ruth@themalago.net One of the ventures supported by the church is the VPBC Food Bank, the largest in South Bristol. It was set up in 2012 by Rev Brendan Bassett and Bob Attwell to help the growing numbers left penniless by benefit sanctions and delays in benefit payment. Clients mostly live in the BS3,

Report of NHS Bristol beds axe is not true, Voice is told A REPORT in a national newspaper stating that Bristol was set to lose almost a third of its NHS hospital beds is not accurate, the Voice has established. If it was true, South Bristol community hospital would have faced losing 20 of its 60 beds. The Guardian’s lead story on November 19 said that health trusts all over England were facing major cutbacks as they draw up Sustainability and Transformation Plans, or STPs, for each region. Examples were cited of hospitals in Devon and Cumbria closing their A&E units, leaving patients more than an hour away from a casualty ward. In the West, the STP would remove 30 per cent of all hospital beds in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, the Guardian claimed. The STP report for Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) was due to be released just after the

Voice went to press. However, the Voice understands that there are no plans to close any hospital beds in Bristol. The Bristol STP does call for a reduction in hospital admissions, through a greater focus on healthy living and a reduction in obesity and addiction. It also talks about a £400 million funding shortfall over five years. Consultation over the STP has involved councillors and Bristol South MP Karin Smyth, a former health service manager, who is sceptical about how the NHS can make the savings called for. In a recent article for the Huffington Post, she said one hospital alone has a £50m annual deficit. “Where can BNSSG find £80m-100m worth of further savings? It doesn’t take an accounting genius to work out it can only be done by cutting staff, continuing the pay freeze, dissuading people from attending A&E, crude rationing of services to cut demand, reduction in attendances and admissions to

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ONE OF Bristol’s newest bus operators is to run an hourly service over Christmas. CityFox Bus will run its 60 route on December 25 and 26 from Broadmead to South Bristol hospital. It runs via Temple Meads, Broad Walk Knowle, Asda Whitchurch and Tanorth Road. Fares are £1, £1.50 and £2. • facebook.com/CityFoxBusBristol

TOTTERDOWN’s Eating Room restaurant is to expand now that the vintage clothing shop next door has closed. Copper & Corduroy at 158 Wells Road is to focus on its online business, allowing the Eating Room to double in size and open three evenings a week from December 3. • facebook.com/ TheEatingRoomBristol

hospital, and the recurring talk of prevention. None of these have worked before,” she said. The major problem with the NHS for South Bristolians is primary care “ – getting a GP appointment, for example. GP recruitment to South Bristol, with its high levels of health inequality, has long needed support, and sadly in the current world of ... GPs having the pick of more convenient or lucrative placements, it is hard to see prospects of improvement. “This problem cannot be solved by reducing hospital activity to save money. So from the perspective of my Bristol South residents, the STP is missing the point,” wrote Ms Smyth. You can read the full article at • http://huff.to/2bXBmjs

BS4 and BS13 postcodes. They are usually given three days’ food. The food bank has about six volunteers, some of whom are former clients. The food comes from schools, businesses, community groups, churches and individuals. Demand varies, but there is always somebody who needs help. Last year 600 people were helped, but this number was surpassed by November 2016. • How to help the food bank: p13

PHARMACIES AT RISK WHEN NEEDED MOST SOUTH Bristol is at risk of losing vital pharmacies to Government cuts, at a time when the community needs them most, said Karin Smyth MP. The Voice has previously reported that as many as half of South Bristol’s chemist’s shops may be at risk from cutbacks, which will affect pharmacies within a mile of each other. The Bristol South MP told the House of Commons that her constituency can’t recruit enough GPs. If pharmacies close, up to 80 per cent of people who seek health advice at a chemist’s might make a GP appointment, she said. “As a result of the Government cutting from the centre, allowing no local control or ability to influence those outcomes, we risk ending up in a situation where these illogical cuts may fall in the wrong places,” she told MPs. Funding cuts to pharmacies begin on December 1, leaving the future for some uncertain.

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Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

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December 2016

n NEWS Hartcliffe Way – it’ll be one way for 10 months • HGVs over 7.5 tonnes travelling inbound (towards the city centre) will be diverted from Hartcliffe roundabout via Hengrove Way, Whitchurch Lane, Whitchurch Road, Church Road and Bishopsworth Road to the A38 Bedminster Down Road. • HGVs outbound will be diverted from the Parson Street/Bedminster Road gyratory the opposite way to the above diversion. • Light vehicles and buses

travelling inbound will travel along Hartcliffe Way as normal. • Light vehicles outbound will be diverted along Novers Hill and Novers Lane. • A bus gate on Hartcliffe Way will let outbound buses reach Vale Lane and on via Headley Lane. • Residents will have access as far as Wimbourne Road, from where it will be buses only. • Vehicles will be able to get to the Vale Lane Industrial Estate. • Novers Hill will be one-way outbound between Lynton Road and Novers Road.

Metrobus Metrobus vehicles will look like ordinary buses but will cut journey times dramatically from South Bristol. Services are due to start in 2017 – but no operator has yet been found to run them.

Get ready for traffic jams galore throughout 2017

The South Bristol Link This new road runs from the Long Ashton bypass to Hengrove Way. It is due to open by the end of 2016 and will become the new A4174, replacing Parson Street and Hartcliffe Way.

SOUTH Bristol is set for a perfect storm of road closures and traffic jams in the next 12 months, the Voice can reveal. A combination of roadworks for Metrobus, the South Bristol Link road and redevelopment

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around Temple Meads will see lanes closed and diversions throughout 2017. Winterstoke Road in Ashton will be closed for the first weekend in December so the beams for a new bridge for MetroBus can be lifted into place. MetroBus says it is working with Bristol Sport to ensure football and rugby fans are kept informed – but residents who already suffer traffic and parking woes on match days will fear even worse disruption. Next year the disruption will spread. Work will start on digging up Temple Circus roundabout “early in the New Year”, according to the council. The roundabout will be replaced by a traffic-light-controlled crossroads. Work is likely to take most of the year. Details will be unveiled “in the next few weeks”. The land occupied by the roundabout will become a public square and provide easy

Can it be true – an A37 Park & Ride? A LONG-TERM vision for the next 20 years could see radical transport changes along the A37 corridor, including a Park & Ride. Consultation has started on the Joint Spatial Strategy and an allied Joint Transport Study for the West of England. South Bristolians will be drawn to the idea of a Park and Ride somewhere near Whitchurch (no site is specified). Such a scheme was a major demand from many who fear that visitors to the arena will need more options to deter

pedestrian and cycle access to and from Temple Meads, as well as a Metrobus stop on Redcliffe Way. The new plaza and its buildings will not be finished until about 2020. Meanwhile, Hartcliffe Way is set to become one-way for 10 months next year. It will become inbound (or northbound) only from January – though no date has been announced. This will allow a Metrobus lane along the outbound, or eastern, side of the road. Consultation was held with residents in early November and with businesses on November 14 – though publicity appears to have been very limited. It is hoped the South Bristol Link, due to open by the end of the year, will take some pressure off Hartcliffe Way. There are many other Metrobus-related roadworks. More on all these schemes at • travelwest.info/metrobus them from parking near the venue. Also proposed are 3,500 homes to the south east of Whitchurch Village. But this could only happen with new transport links, such as an orbital Metrobus linking the A4 and A37 from Hicks Gate to Whitchurch. Ordinary bus routes would also need to be upgraded. The proposals are a joint effort between councils in Bristol, Bath, South Glos and North Somerset to identify sites for 39,000 homes, and provide £7.5 billion in transport improvements. Consultation is open until December 19 at: • www.jointplanningwofe.org.uk

To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Ruth on 07590 527664

December 2016

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n NEWS

Arena delay is pushing back consultation over parking CONSULTATION on residents parking zones for those living near the arena has been put back, the Voice has been told. Councillors were expecting to begin work on asking residents what they wanted from parking restrictions – or whether they wanted them at all – from January 2017. However, with the arena now delayed until 2019, two years later than planned, the council appears to have decided there is no need to start the consultation. The council is bogged down in talks with contractor Bouygues UK on the cost and specification of the £93m stadium. A detailed agreement on the timetable and costs is now six months behind schedule. A spokesperson said: “Once a position has been agreed this will go to Cabinet, which is now likely to take place next year.” Even the council appears to be unclear how far the timetable has slipped. In a statement to the Bristol Post on November 9, a council spokesperson is quoted as saying: “The original aim was to take a report to council this autumn but that is more likely to happen in the New Year.” This implies that a deal between the council and Bouygues is around three months behind schedule. However, the report was not due in the autumn, but in the summer. A statement on the Bristol Temple Quarter website on February 18, when Bougues

No sign of a deal with contractor but arena could be vital to council’s future finances was appointed, spoke of agreeing a final package of works and “awarding a building contract, following Cabinet approval, in the summer.” This reveals that the timescale is slipping in a serious way. Each year of delay with the project costs the council £2m. Some are speculating that the project will be scrapped, like the last arena plan for the same site, cancelled by the South West Regional Development Agency in 2007. It had spent £20m on clearing the land, a former diesel depot for Temple Meads station. Mayor Marvin Rees has made

The train on Platform 7 is delayed by eight years THE Government is delaying the electrification of the railway line from Temple Meads and Bath to London until possibly 2024. The Parkway line to London and Wales will be electrified, but Temple Meads passengers will have to wait longer for a service that will be up to 22 minutes quicker to London. Bristol South

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no secret that the talks with Bouygues are about the cost of the scheme. But he insists the arena will go ahead in 2019. He sees the arena as the jewel in the regeneration of Temple Quarter, which will bring 17,000 jobs in the next 25 years, and transform a derelict waterside into a vibrant riverbank area. But there is another reason why he sees the arena as vital to Bristol’s future. As explained on page 6, the city council is facing a £92m shortfall from 2017-2022, as the Government slashes funding of town halls. The council is not allowed to hike council tax on residents by more than 1.95 per cent a year. But it is allowed to keep all the extra business rates it can scoop from encouraging non-residential development. The Temple Quarter could become a source of cash which will help keep the council afloat. MP Karin Smyth said passengers will be “mystified” at the decision, which is blamed on a £2bn rise in costs for the project at Network Rail. Plans to rebuild Temple Meads are also likely to take many years. Will Metro mayor help? A NEW mayor with powers over major issues for Bristol, Bath and South Glos will be elected in May 2017. It is hoped the new mayor can unlock funding and influence transport plans for the region.

Good clean fun: Harry, 6 months

Making a mess in a good cause TODDLERS and babies did their bit for Children in Need – all by having a really messy time. Lynsey Abbott runs Splat messy play sessions every week in Hengrove, where she raised money for the BBC appeal by selling home-made play-dough and cakes. Her sessions allow children to explore new sensations without parents worrying about making a mess. They play with play-dough, all kinds of food, balloons and paint – all non-toxic. “You couldn’t do this at home,” said Lynsey, “you can’t just let them play with paint! This is a way for them to explore different kinds of foods and experience different textures.” The group at Hengrove community centre is the only one in the area, but Lynsey is keen to open more. If you would like to see a Splat session in South Bristol, email lynsey@ splatmessyplay.co.uk

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Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

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n NEWS New homes for St John’s Lane former car site

A PLAN has been submitted to build nine houses on the site of the former Auto Bristol car sales business near Victoria Park. Developer Sam Litt, who gives MAYOR Marvin Rees should forge an alliance between Britain’s 10 core cities to resist the Government drive to slash council income and cause drastic cuts over the next few years. That was the call from several questioners at a public meeting in South Bristol held to debate the £92 million funding gap which Bristol city council faces between 2017 and 2022. The mayor should also increase council tax on home owners who have enjoyed huge rises in property values and are sitting on million-pound properties, said one questioner. “Lots of people are doing very well in Bristol – can we make sure they pay their fair share?” she said. Yet the meeting – held at Oasis John Williams academy school in Hengrove on November 17 – gave Mr Rees a relatively easy ride, given the scale of the cuts he says are needed. Among the savings detailed in a consultation document, the Bristol Corporate Strategy, the council proposes: • Asking community groups to run parks • Ending paid lollipop patrols

Standing tall: The homes proposed are higher than next-door buildings his address as the development plot, 32-38 St John’s Lane, proposes six three-storey homes

fronting the lane, and two on Monmouth Street. The garage buildings now on

December 2016

the site have “no architectural merit,” says the application. No off-street parking is shown. Cllr Jon Wellington told the Voice: “I support the development of houses on this site and am pleased that the proposals seem to be for family houses, but I’d be interested in what local people have to say about the height, and parking and traffic issues on an already busy road.”

‘Why can’t we just say no to £92m cuts?’ mayor is asked Council faces tough choices – but how many are aware of them? • Cutting adult day services • Slashing meals on wheels • Cutting £1.1m from libraries The mayor was questioned about none of the above cutbacks – which represent only a fraction of those proposed. The meeting was attended by about 50 people. and was the last of four councilrun consultations held in each corner of the city. Mr Rees accepted that the cuts run counter to his pledges to make Bristol a more equal city. But the council has no option but to balance the books, otherwise government commissioners will be sent in to take over, he said. The council needs to look at

alternative sources of money for some services, he said, adding: “Crisis is sometimes the driver of the changes we need to make.” As an example, he cited the promise of a school breakfast for all who want one, which resulted in churches offering to help schools where there are no breakfast clubs. Private developers are now taking about including social housing in their plans where they didn’t before. Four big proposals for housing are on their way, he promised. The council is trying to ensure every young person in Bristol can get good quality work experience. And Mr Rees is fronting a Clean Streets drive across the city. “We face cuts, but there are things we can mobilise the community around to deliver,” he said. Whether Mr Rees can persuade Bristol to accept that

lollipop patrols should be unpaid volunteers, or that volunteers should be running libraries and parks, remains to be seen. One resident said he thought many people were unaware of the scale of the cuts. “We need to work out a way to get the message out there,” he said. Just to balance this year’s budget, the council is shedding one in six of its workers to meet an immediate £31m shortfall. A further £92m cuts come in the following five years. Many on the left argue the mayor should refuse to make cuts and stand up to the Government – see Letters, page 19. Consultation on the spending plans is open until January 5. The website includes a budget simulator which shows the effect of choices on boosting or cutting department budgets. • Google ‘Bristol Corporate strategy’

ASK A VET: How can I tell if my pet has worms?

T’S NOT always easy to tell if your pet has intestinal worms. During early stages of infection they may show no signs at all. However, if a worm infection is left untreated, you may see symptoms such as loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea, a pot belly, ‘scooting’, dull coat or excessive licking of the bottom. It is important to remember that even without these symptoms your pet could still have worms. In the UK cats and dogs can become infected by roundworms, tapeworms, hookworms, whipworms and lungworms and, unless you treat your pet regularly,

worms are difficult to avoid. Worm eggs are often passed in the faeces of an infected cat or dog. The eggs can then lay dormant in the soil for up to a year, which means you are also at risk of carrying the eggs into your home on your shoes or your pet’s fur. Tapeworms can be transmitted by an infected host like fleas; for this reason we strongly recommend eliminating fleas as an important part of worm control. If your cat or dog likes to hunt birds and small mammals, be aware that these can carry tapeworms. Roundworms can also pose a risk to humans, in particular to

children. In extreme cases it can cause blindness – though this is very rare. To treat intestinal worms, we advise using prescription treatments that are reliable and well tested. We usually recommend a monthly treatment of drops applied to the back of the neck (this will also prevent flea infestations) and a tasty, chewy worming tablet to be given at least every 3 months. However, worming recommendations are based on your pet’s lifestyle, so the frequency and/or product will vary. Call Highcroft Veterinary

Nic Walton MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon at Highcroft Veterinary Hospital, Whitchurch Hospital on 01275 832410 to find out about the treatments available for your pet.

To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Ruth on 07590 527664

December 2016

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

n NEWS

Residents to quiz mayor over tall buildings policy MEMBERS of the group trying to stop tower blocks being built on Bedminster Green have won a meeting with mayor Marvin Rees to explain their concerns. WHaM – the Windmill Hill and Malago planning group – got the chance to talk to the mayor after an intervention by Labour councillor Jon Wellington. No date has been set for the meeting, but WHaM will want to discuss Mr Rees’s intention to change the city’s policy on tall buildings. Currently the policy is only to allow tall buildings of nine storeys or more in the city centre – with exceptions such as St Catherine’s Place, next to Malago Road, which has permission to be rebuilt at 16 storeys. “We are very interested in how this policy is going to impact on all of Bristol,” WHaM chair Dianne James told the Voice. “It was noticeable that as soon [as the mayor announced his intention to change the policy] the plan for a tower block at Redcliffe went up by four storeys to 22 storeys.” Members of WHaM fear the Green, and the Victorian terraces next to it on Windmill Hill, will be overwhelmed by “canyons” of tall buildings if developers are allowed to cram in as many homes as they want. Developer Paul O’Brien has still not announced when consultation will begin on his plan to build a 10-storey block on Plot 1 of the Green, containing 217 flats. An announcement was

LET’S CELEBRATE THREATENED TREES RESIDENTS living around Bedminster Green are gathering on Sunday December 4 from 2-4pm to highlight the plight of the trees there as part of National Tree Week. The green area between Malago Road and Whitehouse Lane is home to several mature trees which provide shade in

Come and warm up at

this Christmas • New espresso machine Redcliffe Quarter Tower; now raised to 22 storeys. If agreed by planners on November 30, it will spark controversy, both as a precedent and because it is close to historic St Mary Redcliffe church expected within the last few weeks but the Voice has been unable to find out when it will be made. It is also unclear if progress is being made on a district energy centre, set to be the first new building on the Green. The Voice was unable to speak to Urbis managing director Richard Clarke before going to press. Mr Clarke had said several weeks ago that a planning application had been submitted for the energy centre. However, so far no application has been publicised on the council website. Residents are also anxious to hear the results of bidding for the right to redevelop St Catherine’s Place, which was due to end on November 4. summer and a habitat for wildlife. Campaigners from WHaM fear that the redevelopment of the area will see them cut down and replaced by saplings – though no detailed plans are available yet. The afternoon will be a celebration of the trees, which will be decorated with fairy lights and colourful yarn bombing. There will be carol singing, live music, food and mulled cider and wine. Candles will be lit. All are welcome to join in, says WHaM.

• Traditional and Viennese mince pies • Christmas bread specials • Traditional fruit Christmas cakes and lots more...

94-96 St John’s Lane, BS3 5AQ (corner of Newport St) 0117 972 0510 www.facebook.com/theparkbakery

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

December 2016

southbristolvoice

n NEWS

Hands off our tennis courts!

HOPES are rising that tennis players will not have to pay to use the courts in Redcatch Park after a council consultation drew scores of complaints. Bristol city council and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) have asked park users and players if they would be willing to pay for court access if the playing facilities were improved. But this idea sparked anger in Redcatch Park, where the courts have already been refurbished to a high standard – thanks entirely to the efforts of local people. Almost 60 people who use the Knowle courts made written objections to the plan. More might have had a say, but many people didn’t know about the consultation, which was online only, said Knowle

Keen ballroom dancers Carole and Terry Denning have found their own use for the Redcatch tennis courts – they practise their steps there early in the morning. “It’s ideal for the foxtrot because the corners are marked out,” said Carole. Terry has had lung cancer and dancing five days a week is an ideal from of exercise. The couple, from Stockwood Crescent, say they wouldn’t be able to practise there if there was a charge. “I think it’s a damn cheek,” said Carole. councillor Gary Hopkins. When people found out about the proposal and tried to object, many found the consultation had already finished. The LTA is keen to get more people playing tennis in the wake of global success for Britain. The nation won the Davis Cup and Andy Murray is Wimbledon and

Olympic champion, while Johanna Konta is in the women’s top 10 players. The LTA wants to help Bristol renovate some of its run-down courts, while charging a small amount for their use. But this scheme shouldn’t be forced on Redcatch Park, said Cllr Hopkins: “Firstly because we have renovated the courts, and

they won’t need major maintenance for 15 years, and secondly because the courts are already well used.” The council should already be earning money from the courts, he added. Knowle Tennis Club, which has its own courts nearby at Broad Walk, agreed to pay £400 a year to reserve the courts for its members on 10 summer Friday evenings. But the council has never sent the tennis club an invoice, said Cllr Hopkins – so no money has been handed over. Cllr Hopkins has asked that Redcatch should be excluded from the plans and hopes the council will respect the clear view of local people. Among the objections sent to the council, one resident said: “You are trying to privatise access to public services and the only thing you will achieve is to alienate local people who can’t afford to pay.” Others pointed out the council’s stated aim to improve health and encourage exercise amid rising childhood obesity.

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

n CHRISTMAS

I’m dreaming of a green Christmas Whether you are an extremist who knits your own stockings from that organic sheep you keep in your garden, or you prefer to toss your conscience out of your frost-glazed, bulbfestooned window in December, here are some ideas for guilt-free festivities from Alex Morss

THE TREE Plastic is worse, environmentally. A real Christmas tree benefits wildlife, but do you know how much pesticide and fertiliser it took? Is it locally grown? FSC certified? Organic? Ask. More sustainable alternatives to throwaway trees include growing an evergreen species in a pot, such as yew, spruce, pine or fir. Bring it in from your garden just for the season. Failing that, recycle your dead delight via Bristol city council’s doorstep collections. The council collected 170 tonnes of trees in Bristol last year, all shredded and

composted into crop fertiliser. • bristolwastecompany.co.uk/ festive

FOOD Half the food items in your Christmas shopping trolley would disappear without pollinators. That includes chocolate, cranberries, parsnips, sprouts, many nuts, cinnamon, cloves, most juicy fruits, seasonal delights such as mince pies, figgy pudding, mistletoe and some wine, spuds, red cabbage, chestnuts, holly plus many more. You like bees and butterflies, right? Pollinator populations have crashed in the UK because of intensive farming. Give them a break from pollution. Buy organic vegetables as a Christmas thank you to pollinators.

WRAPPING PAPER “We cannot recycle wrapping paper. Most of it is plastic or foil covered,” advised Tracy

CHRISTMAS at St Mary Redcliffe

Friday 9 to Wednesday 14 December 10am-5pm Daily: Treefest

THE TURKEY Cut some slack to those poor turkeys – opt for free-range or organic, buy from a farmer or go veggie. Apart from the animal’s suffering and your health, the planet needs us to eat less meat to reduce habitat loss, famine, pollution and climate change.

PRESENTS Ban all vulgar plastic tat. Most of it has a short shelf life, is made overseas, with a huge carbon footprint, then gets dumped in landfill. Make your own gifts or give charity memberships instead. Try volunteering your time to a local charity over Christmas. It will give you more joy than giving or receiving loads of gifts.

CRACKERS If you must have crackers, make your own with the kids, using recycled loo rolls filled with yummy treats. Better than a bad joke. WILDLIFE Don’t forget local wildlife. Stock up your bird feeders and keep gardens a bit wild to give insects and small mammals somewhere to shelter.

LIGHTS LED lights use up to 90 per cent less energy than ordinary bulbs. But do you really need all those lights? CHRISTMAS SPECIAL pages 11-15 • Great gifts from Bristol 12-13 • Help for the lonely and homeless 13 • Icy Christmas treats 14 • Local food and drink 15 ... and COMPETITIONS!

Christmas Services in Windmill Hill

All of the churches in Windmil Hill wish you a very happy Christmas.

Monday 12 December 7:30pm: St Mary Redcliffe & Temple School Carol Service Wednesday 14 December 1:30pm: Redcliffe Care Carol Service

CHURCH OF CHRIST St John’s Lane Sun Dec 11 12.30pm Children’s Christmas Party Sun Dec 18 5pm Carol Service Thurs Dec 22 10am Cocoa and Carols Sun Dec 25 10am All Age Bible Hour 11am Christmas Day Breaking of Bread 5pm Evening Devotional Service Sun Jan 1 10am Fellowship Breakfast 11am New Year’s Day Service 5pm Evening Devotional Service

Saturday 17 December 4:00pm: Christingle Sunday 18 December 6:30pm: Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols by Candlelight Tuesday 20 December 7:30pm: Carol Service with the Salvation Army Band & Songsters Thursday 22 December 1:15pm: Carols for All at Lunchtime (until 2.00pm)

ST MICHAEL’S & ALL ANGELS Vivian Street BS3 4LW Sun Dec 18 6.30pm Christmas Lessons and Carols Mon Dec 19 6pm Carols in Victoria Park with collection in aid of Bristol Crisis Centre Sat Dec 24 5pm Crib Service Fun for all the family 11.15pm Midnight Communion Sun Dec 25 10am Christmas Family Praise

Friday 23 December 7:30pm: Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols by Candlelight Christmas Eve : Saturday 24 December 4:00pm: Family Carol Service 11:30pm: Midnight Mass Christmas Day : Sunday 25 December 8:00am: Holy Communion 10:30am: Eucharist & Nativity Play

VICTORIA PARK BAPTIST CHURCH Sylvia Avenue BS3 4LW Sun Dec 11 10.30am Christingle Service Sun Dec 18 10.30am All-age Carol Service 6.30pm Carols by Candlelight Sun Dec 25 10.30am Short, all-age family Celebration of Christmas

New Year's Day : Sunday 1 January 9:30am: Said Eucharist with Hymns

for further information call 0117 231 0060 or email parish.office@stmaryredcliffe.co.uk

Croft at Bristol city council. Choose recycled or brown paper, or invest in beautiful, reusable fabric gift wrap, available online from local suppliers.

stmaryredcliffe.co.uk

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

December 2016

southbristolvoice

n CHRISTMAS GIFTS ALONE AT CHRISTMAS? CHRISTMAS dinners are on offer in South Bristol to people who would otherwise be on their own on December 25. A charity called the Marmalade Trust will host a lunch in Whitchurch with volunteers picking people up from their homes and taking them to and from the meal. Contact 07566 244788. The Marmalade Trust is also looking for volunteers: call 07566 244788. • marmaladetrust.org The Faithspace Community Centre in Prewett Street, Redcliffe is also offering lunch to anyone on their own. Again, transport is available. Places must be booked on 0117 904 1533 or at the St Mary Redcliffe parish office on 0117 231 0060, before December 10. It’s possible families with children could be accommodated too. Find ideas for things to do if you’re spending Christmas alone, and for feeling better about it: • standalone.org.uk

Lightcatcher, handmade translucent glass by Dianne James, £22 Shop 1

Toadstool cup and jug by Hannah Turner, £13.95 and £12.50 Shop 5 Orchard, hand-felted picture by Brenda Duddington, £48 Shop 1

Websites & email: • brendaduddington.org.uk • facebook.com/toohoi • alexmaxwelldesigns.com • diannesjames@aol.com • fig1.co.uk • bristol-glass.co.uk • hannahturner.co.uk • facebook.com/ healthunlimitedbristol

Masami handbag in Japanese kimono silk by Toohoi, £35 Shop 1

Bristol mousemat, £6 South Bristol Through Time book, £14.99 Shop 2

Christmas at

Personalised Christmas Bauble only £25!

City Centre Shop Studio/Shop 47 High Street, 357-359 Bath Road, Bristol, Bristol, BS1 2AZ BS4 3EW 01179 259 212 01179 720 818 Hand Made Jewellery - Gift Ideas Uniquely Bristolian www.bristol-glass.co.uk

To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Ruth on 07590 527664

December 2016

southbristolvoice

n CHRISTMAS GIFTS Stuck for gift ideas? We’ve found some lovely stuff made in Bristol The number tells you where you can buy it 1. Windmill Hill City Farm art shop 2. Grenville Wick, 253 North Street, Southville 3. Health Unlimited, North Street 4. Bristol Blue Glass, Bath Road 5. Fig 1, St Luke’s Road, Totterdown • Other ideas: Christmas shopping evening, Victoria park Baptist Church, Sylvia Avenue, 7.30-10pm Saturday December 10; Local crafts and food at BS4 Market, Wells Road, Totterdown, Sunday December 11.

Bristol mug by Susan Taylor Designs, £10.95 Shop 5

Marvel heroes cufflinks by Alex Maxwell, £10.00 Shop 1

FOOD BANK THE food bank at Victoria Park Baptist Church in Sylvia Aenue is open every Friday from 10am12noon. It helps people who have no food and no money to buy any – often because their benefits have been sanctioned or delayed. Those in need must get a voucher from social serv ices, a school, women’s refuge or other referring agency. For details call 07766305051. Welcome donations include dried pasta, rice, tins, groceries, dog food, treats for Christmas, toilet rolls and female sanitary products. Cash is needed too. • victoriapark.org.uk/victoriapark-foodbank

Aurora Collection Imperial Vase by Bristol Blue Glass £88, Concorde paperweight £30 Shop 4

Avocado moisturiser £7, by Caro’s Creams, organic cocoa body butter £9.95 Shop 3

HELPING THE HOMELESS If you’d like to help the homeless at Christmas, the Julian Trust is working with Bristol city council to provide food and shelter and needs offers of help and donations. • juliantrust.org.uk

You can also donate to • facebook.com/groups/ feedthehomelessbristol If you see someone sleeping rough and want to find them help, call Streetlink on 0300 500 0914 • streetlink.org.uk

Josie’s books

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Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

December 2016

southbristolvoice

n CHRISTMAS

Our lovely lollies are made with vegetables (but don’t tell the children ... )

WO MUMS from South Bristol had the idea of making ice lollies so healthy that they count as one of your “five a day”. Now their business, Polar Pops, has grown so much, they’re even busy in winter. Emily Fletcher and Susie D’Andrea have progressed in less than two years from working out of their kitchens to a gleaming production unit at Filwood Green Business Park. The idea for Polar Pops came to former catering manager Susie when her first daughter, now

What’s in a Polar Pop? Red Pops: strawberries, bananas and beetroot Orange Pops: oranges, butternut squash and carrots Green Pops: apples, bananas and kale

nine, wanted a lolly and she noticed there were no sugar-free organic ices on the market. She tried making her own, not only with fruit but with vegetables too. Susie liked the results, and turned to her friend Emily, who had worked as a buyer and manager for Somerfield and Tesco, for marketing advice. They set up a “focus group” of children. They found that if you ask children if they like veg, they

Cool way to eat: Emily and Susie

often say no. But give them an orange Polar Pop, which contains butternut squash and carrots as well as oranges, and they love it. “We know that parents are always trying to put veg in children’s meals,” said Emily, who lives in Knowle . “A lolly can be one of your five veg portions a day. There are only naturally occurring sugars in it, and it’s dairy free, lactose free, gluten free, nut free, and suitable for vegans.” The feedback, especially from parents, has been fantastic, she

says. Polar Pops are a guilt-free way to give a child a treat, and some parents say it is the only way their child will eat veg. In their second year Polar Pops has really taken off. Their first stockist was Mrs Brown’s café in Victoria Park. Windmill Hill City Farm soon followed. Now there are dozens of outlets and a recent deal to sell through online grocer Ocado means that winter is spent building up stocks at up to 4,000 lollies a day. But sales continue through the year: “You are talking about children who will eat ice lollies all year round,” said Emily. • polarpops.co.uk

WIN A POLAR POPS BOX! ONE LUCKY South Bristol winner will receive a great Gift Box of lollies delivered to their door. The Selection Box, worth £23, has six Little Pops for children plus six Big Pops – including Pina Colada – which contains alcohol and is adults only! Q: Where is Polar Pops’ factory? To win, email paul@southbristolvoice. co.uk by December 12.

Christmas Services All of the churches in Knowle and Totterdown wish you a very happy and blessed Christmas. We would love to welcome you to any of our special Christmas services and events. “O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!” Carol Singing in Broadwalk Shopping Centre, Knowle Saturday December 17, 11am-12noon Carols In Perrett’s Park (off Bayham Road and Sylvia Avenue, Knowle) Wednesday December 21, 6.30pm, with mince pies and drinks served by COPP. Totterdown Methodist Bushy Park Sun Dec 18, 6.30pm Carol service Sat Dec 24, 5.30pm Christmas Eve Crib service Sun Dec 25, 10.30am Christmas Day service Totterdown Baptist Wells Road Sun Dec 18, 4pm Christingle service for children and families Sun Dec 18, 6.30pm Carols by Candlelight

Sun Dec 25, 10.30am Christmas Day Family service St Martin’s Wells Road Sun Dec 18, 6pm Nine Lessons and Carols Sat Dec 24, 4pm Crib service All children can dress as angels or shepherds. Sat Dec 24, 11.30pm Midnight Mass Sun Dec 25, 10am Said Eucharist with hymns St Gerard Majella RC Talbot Hill Sat Dec 24, 6pm Vigil Mass of Christmas with children’s nativity play Sat Dec 24, 11.30pm Readings and Carols followed by Midnight Mass Sun Dec 25, 10am Christmas Day Mass Holy Nativity Wells Road Sat Dec 24, 4pm Christmas Eve

Children’s Crib service Sat Dec 24, 9.30pm First Mass of Christmas Sun Dec 25, 10am Christmas Day Mass of the Day Knowle Methodist Redcatch Road Sun Dec 18, 6pm Carol service Sat Dec 24, 4.30pm Christmas Eve Crib service Sat Dec 24, 11.30pm Midnight Communion Sun Dec 25, 9.30am Christmas Day service Church of the Nazarene Broad Walk Wed Dec 14, 6.30pm A Night of Nativity Sun Dec 18, 6pm Carols by Candlelight Sat Dec 24, 3.30pm Advent Spiral Sat Dec 24, 11.15pm Midnight Service Sun Dec 25, 10.30am Christmas Day Service

To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Ruth on 07590 527664

December 2016

southbristolvoice

n CHRISTMAS

Eat and drink more locally this Christmas

HRISTMAS is a time for sharing food. We’ve found some local suppliers who can bring you easy Christmas fare that’s often organic and is probably better for you than supermarket fodder. And as it’s not been trucked from one end of the country to the other, it’s also better for the environment. There are lots of sustainable food suppliers in the area – we don’t claim to have found them all. Many people think of meat as the centre of a Christmas meal. James Stafford Little decided to sell only fresh, free-range meat when he opened The Little Butcher in Wells Road, Totterdown, in June. He visits all his farm suppliers to make sure the animals are well treated. His pork comes from Baker’s of Nailsea, his stuffing from Cirencester – and his turkeys from Norfolk, because he wants to buy the best. • facebook.com/ littlebutcheroftotterdown In Bedminster, Rare Butchers of North Street have just won Best Butcher in the Bristol Food Awards for a third year. Their meat is all free-range and from the South West. • facebook.com/ RareMeatButchersofSouthville Many people now have vegetable boxes delivered, but

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This hamper is full of Christmas treats including mulled wine, Jason’s home made jams and kaffir lime marmalade, Oolala chocolate made in Nailsea and meringue. Q: Who runs Gaines? Email paul@ southbristolvoice.co.uk by December 12.

often the contents are far from local. Plowright Organics of Nether Stowey near Bridgwater believes it’s the only delivery service that grows everything in its veg boxes, from staples such as potatoes to winter salads. “Our goal has always been to develop a sustainable organic system that provides good quality seasonal vegetables to local people and in so doing help to re-make the connection between the land and people,” said Richard Plowright, who runs the farm with his wife Remke. Richard lets customers choose what they want in their boxes as well as offering standard boxes. • plowrightorganic.co.uk Gaines the grocer in Wells Road, Totterdown, has expanded to sell a wide range of food and drink, including alcohol – all of

WIN AN XMAS VEG BOX!

This seasonal veg box contains all the veg needed for a Christmas dinner. All the traditional Christmas vegetables, as well as purple sprouting broccoli, winter salad leaves, mushrooms, fresh chestnuts and clementines – it’s worth £30. Q: Where is the Plowright farm? Email paul@southbristolvoice. co.uk by December 12. it sourced as locally as possible. Even some of the wine is from Somerset. And in an effort to cut down on packaging, owner Jason Gaines will refill bottles of

French wine – red, white and rosé – sold from the cask. There’s a range of Bristol beer from Wiper & True to BS4’s Incredible Brewing Company. It’s surprising how much food is produced locally. Gaines stock chocolate made in Nailsea, free range eggs from eight miles away. They stock Pukka Tea, based in Bristol, and stock Woody’s honey which is made three miles away. Even closer to home, Jason makes his own dips and pastes as well as jams and marmalades. Plus fruit and veg of course – available in pick-your-own boxes for Christmas. • facebook.com/gainesthegrocer Just outside Bristol, Leigh Court Farm delivers organic vegetables every week – not only to homes but to collection points including the Southville Centre and Windmill Hill community centre. Not everything is grown on the farm, but it is the most local supplier to Bristol. It sources dairy, eggs, bread and fruit as locally as possible. • leighcourtfarm.org.uk

• New look & ranges • Organic veg box delivery • Craft beer, gin and wine from Bristol • Homemade dips, jams, marmalade • Somerset cider • Local grown veg

Homegrown, organic vegetables

VEG BOX ES

Direct from your local Somerset farm Christmas veg selection Order today: plowrightorganic.co.uk

• Local honey, chocolate, tea • Xmas hampers • Meal boxes with recipe inside MORE THAN JUST A GREENGROCER 172 Wells Road, Totterdown BS4 2AL | 0117 971 1083

Open Mon, Fri, Sat 9-6pm and Tues-Thurs 9-6.30pm

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

December 2016

southbristolvoice

n NEWS Celebrations at tennis club KNOWLE Tennis Club is celebrating after a very successful season. Its first team came top of the Avon LTA Summer Mixed League Division 1, while the Senior First team were winners of Avon LTA Winter League. Trophies were presented at the club, which has courts at Broad Walk, Knowle, on November 19. The club, which is the largest, most successful tennis club in South Bristol, is eager to get more people playing tennis. The sport enjoys its highest national profile for decades with Andy Murray poised to retain his world Number 1 status. Next year the club will be piloting family memberships at reduced rates. It welcomes all ages and abilities, from beginners to league players. It has full disabled access and is keen to develop wheelchair tennis. • knowlelawntennis.net

More room for treating patients

PRIORY surgery in Wells Road, Knowle, is fully open again after renovations that have taken the best part of a year. But doctors and staff think the £500,000 expansion has been well worth the wait. Around £320,00 came from the NHS, and the rest from the GP partners. The aim of the revamp was to increase and improve facilities whilst preserving the character of the two Edwardian houses that make up the surgery, said practice manager Mary Hunter. From the front the building looks much the same – but from Priory Road you can see a bold timber-faced extension which has provided much-needed extra space as well as letting in more light through an atrium. The extension has provided

Room to breathe: The extension at Priory surgery, Wells Road four new treatment rooms – a big advance on the old treatment room, which was divided into two by a curtain and didn’t give the best in privacy. Now there is room for the practice nurses, healthcare assistant and phlebotomists to have their own clinic rooms, meaning no restrictions on treatments only being available at certain times of the day. Internal restructuring has given two new consulting rooms. As well as doctors, these rooms can be used by other visiting healthcare professionals, such as community drugs workers, specialist nurses and counsellors. But despite the modern

update some old touches remain, such as the leather-faced oak seats in the reception area. There’s no immediate plan to increase the number of doctors or staff – there are currently five GP partners and two salaried GPs, some of them part time – but the new facilities could give scope for new services in future. Access for the less able has also improved: a new ramp gives easy access from the car park, and there is a lift which means wheelchair users can, for the first time, visit GPs on the first floor. Mary Hunter is pleased with the result: “It’s really opened up the surgery: it’s so much brighter now and patients really love it.”

Now supporting Children’s Hospice South West

Find out the value of your property. Call 0117 9777672 WISHING ALL OUR Now supporting Children’s Hospice CUSTOMERS A South VERY West HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

n THE MAYOR

MARVIN REES Mayor of Bristol

Despite tough choices, we can still make this a better city

S MANY of you will now know, our city is facing a budget gap of £92million over the next five years and together we face tough choices in order to address this. We’ve released a document called our Draft Corporate Strategy which spells out some of these choices and our ideas for how we could approach this challenge. You can read this in full at the website below or request a hard copy on 0117 922 2848. We are currently running a public consultation to get your thoughts on this plan and to hear your ideas for how we can address this budget deficit. During November we conducted a series of public events across the city and I am grateful to all those who attended and took part in the discussion. Your thoughts and

do share your ideas with us via the website before Thursday January 5, 2017. • bristol.gov.uk/corpstrategy

ideas will be considered carefully alongside the results of the consultation survey. The changes we’ve proposed will affect us all and it’s important that we get input from as many people as possible to make sure that we make the right decisions. We hope that our strategy recognises the strength and resource that you as communities already possess in Bristol. Local volunteer and community-led organisations regularly prove their ability to make a significant contribution to a range of services in the city. In this way, you as individuals can be part of the solution. Please

Wild goose property

lso in November, I was pleased to launch the city’s first Clean Streets campaign, in partnership with Bristol Waste Company. This three-year campaign aims to make Bristol measurably cleaner by 2020, working with individuals, community groups, schools and businesses to take collective responsibility for keeping the streets clean. We should, and we can be, as clean as cities such as Zurich, Tokyo and Singapore. We can achieve this if everyone who lives, works, learns or plays here takes pride in the city and works with us and with those who have the job of keeping the city clean, tidy and working. You can find out more here: • bristolwastecompany.co.uk Whether it is through the discussions we are having together on the draft corporate strategy, or through new campaigns like Clean Streets, we have an opportunity to reassess the way we run this city and make sure that it can work for everyone. I was elected on the promise of trying to make this city a cleaner, fairer place to live and I still strongly believe that together we can make this happen.

Large enough to get results, small enough to care

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR CUSTOMERS AND EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED US IN OUR FIRST YEAR 0117 972 8715

www.wildgoose.property 106b St John’s Lane, Bristol BS3 5AQ bristol@wildgoose.property

Call your friendly local property experts selling property in Bristol and the surrounding area.

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

southbristolvoice

LETTERS

Building high would be bad for our health

UILDING a healthy community should be central to the Bedminster Green development, but so far it has hardly been mentioned. Developer Urbis wants to maximise its profits, while the mayor seems more keen on

Cycle route will damage park I HAVE serious concerns about the proposals for the Filwood Quietway as it goes through

TK Heat

December 2016

Send letters to paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk or to 18 Lilymead Ave, BS4 2BX

making a statement by building high; neither view puts people first. The environment we live in greatly affects our health. For example, the UK is top of Europe’s obesity league, with one in four adults obese and 60 per cent overweight. Obesity is best tackled not by visits to the gym but by walking a little each day, so we need to build a place where people will want to get out and exercise. People are attracted to trees and green spaces, yet Urbis wants to reduce our lovely green by half and chop down all the mature trees. Actually, with increasing housing densities in Bedminster, more open space should be

provided, not less! Also, research shows that people will walk more in a mixed-use neighbourhood where there are shops, businesses and activities, yet provision for this is limited. People now go out of their way to walk through Wapping Wharf by the docks because it is so lively and well designed, but I can’t see people wanting to walk in the gloom cast by tower blocks. Hereford Street, for example, will become a featureless canyon bordered on each side by a wall of high-rise buildings! Again, research shows that elderly people die younger in this kind of area than in thriving communities. As bad as obesity is, loneliness is an even greater killer, as much

a cause of early death as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Since there has been a 50 per cent increase in people living on their own since the 90s, and one in three of us will be over 60 by 2030, things are likely to get worse. Therefore, it is vital to design an environment where people can meet, with recreational, artistic, social and educational facilities at its very heart. This has been achieved in cities like Copenhagen, so why not here? But to do this we need architecture fit for the 21st century, not Urbis’ tired, isolating tower blocks that smack of the 70s. Nick Townsend WHaM, Windmill Hill

Victoria Park. The Quietway is intended to provide a 4.7 metre wide (nearly 16 ft) segregated path for cyclists and pedestrians from Park Street (at the corner of Hill and Nutgrove avenues) to Windmill Close, by St Mary Redcliffe primary school. The

proposals speak of restoring a small “missing” section of path “in order to create a coherent route.” But the missing section is not small and is in the flatter area where people picnic in the park in spring and summer, and play ball games throughout the year. The existing shared cycle path from St Luke’s Road to Windmill Close is 3 metres wide. For most of the day there is no congestion. At the start and the end of school, when the path is heavily used, there are children running, dogs on the loose, prams and pushchairs and people standing chatting. At these times, it is inappropriate, and more dangerous, to have a segregated cycle route than a shared path, because it encourages cyclists to disregard the needs of other users. The proposals, which include “restoring the original historic entrance features at Windmill Close and Park Avenue,” risk making the space more accessible to motor vehicles. Nearly all cyclists making their way across the park to Temple Meads will go under the railway bridge on St Luke’s Road. The money would be better spent making that underpass safer, or on Whitehouse Street, where there is little pressure from other traffic. Ninety per cent of people questioned think that pedestrians should have priority in the park. Prioritising one group’s needs over another’s is not appropriate. The plans, as they currently stand, are to the detriment of the park environment. Rob Porteous Victoria Park

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AS A Knowle resident, parent and former pupil of Bristol Grammar School (BGS) I am very excited about the prospect of my old school opening a new free school in Knowle. I have, however, witnessed confusion in some people that BGS is a grammar school and will be selective. The BBC even had “grammar schools” splashed across the studio when it reported on the public consultation at Redcatch community centre. In this case the casual viewer might link this new school to Tory debate about grammar schools, which of course it has nothing to do with. I thought the Voice article represented the facts well and made it clear that any new school will be a free school. One minor thing I would pick you up on is that you refer to BGS throughout as “the grammar school”. The lack of capital letters might make people think that it is a grammar school in the Theresa May sense. So I just request that if BGS is successful in the spring (fingers crossed) that you refer to it in future editions as BGS or Bristol Grammar School. Thanks and keep up the good work. Name supplied, Knowle

Parking is the real problem I LIVE in County Street, near Three Lamps: the traffic is not a problem, it is the parking by the

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

LETTERS people working in the area, St Phillips etc. These cars block the roads. I would like to see double yellow lines on some of these roads. The worst is Kingstree Street, which joins Angers Road to County Street. Name supplied County Street, Totterdown

Three Lamps and congestion I HAVE read with interest the letters and articles in South Bristol Voice concerning the “rat run” problems in the Totterdown Triangle. Like most residents of the area, I would dearly love to see a solution to the dangerous traffic using Angers Road and Stanley Hill as a short cut from Bath Road to Wells Road. However, the proposed solution to stop traffic turning from Bath Road into Angers Road merely seeks to tackle the symptoms. The reason some motorists choose to cut through these steep and narrow streets is because they are trying to avoid the long queues at the Three Lamps junction. The turn from Bath Road onto Wells Road is not controlled by traffic lights, so there are often long queues. I would suggest that if the flow of traffic could be better managed by including this turn into the existing traffic-light controlled junction, there would be less congestion and therefore a reduced “need” for anyone to seek out a short cut. It would also mean that residents of the Triangle could still use the turning for access, rather than having to add to the traffic congestion at the Three Lamps. I also support the suggestions to permit a right turn from Wells Road (inbound) onto Bath Road (outbound) to avoid the route looping round Bath Bridge. These two ideas could be easily combined to improve traffic flow in all directions around the area. K Legg Totterdown

Not the way to get us to play I AM a resident of Knowle and I play tennis socially in Redcatch park. I object most strongly to the prospect of being charged by Bristol city council to play tennis

Send letters to paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk or to 18 Lilymead Ave, BS4 2BX

in the park. With Andy Murray just declared world number one and Johanna Konta having broken into the women’s top 10 players, British tennis is enjoying its highest profile for several years, decades even! The British Tennis Strategic Plan 2015-2018 states its mission as: “To get more people playing tennis more often.” Its focus is “to build partnerships in the community by develop(ing) strong local park and other community tennis venue partnerships to deliver inclusive tennis provision for all.” The courts at Redcatch Park are well used by a variety of age groups, often with all four courts being used and with people waiting to play. Tennis is a social activity and can be played by all ages and abilities. Moreover with childhood obesity levels increasing, combined with limited PE sessions in schools, it is vital that public facilities such as the tennis courts in Redcatch Park remain free and available for everyone to enjoy. If the council wish to generate a further income from the courts, may I suggest that it could consider providing floodlights, which people could pay to use. This would enable usage to be extended into the evenings. Karen Stevens Brecknock Road, Knowle

Mayor should oppose cuts Open letter to mayor Marvin Rees THE redundancy of one in six council staff and the cuts, outsourcing and increased charges outlined in the latest consultation document are not your vision for Bristol. In fact, they run contrary to it; they will inevitably make Bristol more unequal by hitting those with the greatest needs the hardest. You said when we met that you were not happy with what was being prepared for consultation. Yet the cuts being consulted on are still a minority of those you will have to make if you are to close the funding gap left by Government cuts. There is no way of implementing them that is at all consistent with your vision of a more equal city. You also said you were unwilling to take any risk of commissioners being sent in to

run Bristol. We have no desire for this to happen either. However, we think you are overstating both the risk of this happening and how much worse a situation it would put the city in. The approach we spoke about, of using reserves and prudential borrowing powers, would allow you to present a legally balanced budget, and mean the Government had no automatic right to send in commissioners. This would be a temporary measure, allowing services and jobs to be protected while a campaign was built that can reverse government funding cuts. The approach we described would not lose the council money. In fact, as you have rightly argued, austerity is a false economy, these cuts will end up creating more costs elsewhere. Reserves are there to be used, for I repeat that we have no desire to see commissioners sent in to run Bristol’s finances. However, there is a question as to how much worse it could be.

You say that any civil servant would not share your commitment to the people of Bristol. However, the proposals you have put forward include a four per cent rise in council tax, charging people with dementia more for their care, the potential closure of adult day centres, large funding cuts to drug and alcohol services and Early Help Support for children, as well as cutting four times as much money from the library service as George Ferguson did and much more. Tom Baldwin, Windmill Hill On behalf of Bristol and District Anti-Cuts Alliance

She’s not. She is I WOULD just like to point out that I know the Wicked Witch and she isn’t a witch at all. She hasn’t even got a cat. Trick or Grump, Knowle • Editor’s note: The Wicked Witch of Knowle has been certified as a witch by the highest authorities. It is a myth that all witches have cats.

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

n NEWS

Don’t run cycleway across steep part of Northern Slopes, plead volunteers

ANOTHER group representing users of open space in South Bristol has come out against plans for a £2.3 million cycleway. The Northern Slopes Initiative (NSI) has asked the team behind the Filwood Quietway project to think again about plans to route it across the steep Glyn Vale section of the Slopes. This would involve widening a path either on the Wedmore Vale or the Glyn Vale side of the green space. Last month the Voice reported that members of Victoria Park Action Group (VPAG) are unhappy with plans for the cycleway to cut a 4.7m wide path through the lower part of the park. The move could create conflict between cyclists, pedestrians, children and dog walkers, VPAG chair Shaun Hennessy said. Now it appears that the NSI has similar concerns. Its chair, Bob Franks, has written to Bristol city council objecting to the route and suggesting an alternative. “We are not convinced of the benefits of routing the Quietway through the Slopes at Glyn Vale from the perspective of the Slopes and the users of the Slopes,” wrote Mr Franks. “We believe that our alternative via Donegal Road,

Glyn Vale, Kingswear Green Space to Marksbury Road and on to Wedmore Vale has the potential to be a good route.” One resident filed an online comment on the Slopes plan, saying: “Mixed use paths with pedestrians, dogs and toddlers make for lots of aggravation and possible accidents.” There were several other negative comments. The NSI has asked to be involved in the next stage of the proposals. Public consultation on the Filwood Greenway is over, as it is for a companion scheme, the £600,000 Malago Greenway. The Filwood Greenway would run from Filwood Broadway to the city centre. The Malago Greenway goes from Hartcliffe Way through Malago open space to pass north of Windmill Hill, before joining the Filwood route at Whitehouse Lane. Plans for a cycle lane in Whitehouse Street have aroused further opposition. A map with public comments on each stage of the Filwood Quietway route can be found at • filwood.commonplace.is/ comments A similar map for the Malago Greenway is at • malago.commonplace.is/ comments

Join in the New Year flower hunt BUDDING botanists are invited to join the Voice’s wildlife writer Alex Morss on a New Year Flowering Plant Hunt around South Bristol on January 2. The free local walk will explore the Northern Slopes and Victoria Park areas. It is part of a national event involving hundreds of plant lovers. Last new year was the mildest on record and the

organisers, the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, reported that a record-breaking 653 species were found blooming. “It’s a nice way to learn more about our wild flowers and escape for air after all the festive excess,” Alex said. “We also help answer important questions to better understand our local flora.” • info@alexmorss.co.uk

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southbristolvoice

n PICTURE SPECIAL

... Front Room arts trail

... November 19 & 20

Warm up: Totterdowners Rachel and Ellie try apple pie flavour cocktails at the Ice Bar, carved out of real ice, in the marquee at Higham Green

Stephen Canby and Bren with learning disabilitie

Left: Gael Allan makes cushions, blinds and curtains with vintage fabrics from her home in Richmond Street • gaelallan.com Right: Emily Gibbard of Bellevue Road makes pictures from line art, block colour and photos • facebook.com/ emily.gibbard

Stepping up: UWE architecture students Daniel O’Brien and John Mullankuzhy were part of a team showing ideas to improve Totterdown Steps • facebook.com/totterdownsteps

Striking: The students made their cameras behave like ancient pinhole cameras for an eerie effect

Drawing inspiration from tragedy PHOTOGRAPHY students from City of Bristol college made their modern digital cameras work like primitive pinhole versions to make stunning images of war games at Arnos Vale cemetery. Their work was on show at the cemetery’s Spielman Centre during the art trail weekend, after a week on show in Bristol Cathedral. The

students were advised by artist Marko Dutka, who last year displayed striking nocturnal images of Arnos Vale war graves at the Front Room event. The students said: “In making the work we have revealed many things within ourselves, not least an emotional connection to those we photographed – some of the

soldiers were younger than us.” The project was created by Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Living Memory Project, to encourage the British public to remember the 300,000 war graves and memorials in Britain from both world wars, in time to mark the centenary of the 141-day Battle of the Somme.

Film fans: Summer, Hope, Jacob, Megan head Helen Bailey and PTA chair Carolin

Making school hall

PARENTS putting on a film show for children at Knowle Park primary school made it feel as much like a cinema as possible by wheeling in a machine for making popcorn. The popcorn maker was a gift to the school’s parent teacher association from Wild Goose estate agents in St John’s Lane. In return for £1.50 – much less

To advertise, contact sales@southbristolvoice.co.uk or Ruth on 07590 527664

December 2016

southbristolvoice

... Front Room arts trail

... November 19 & 20

nda Cook of Artists First, a group for artists es, with their paintings in Holy Nativity church

Left: The Wild Duck café, a fixture at the art trail for several years, looks cosy and inviting in the fading November light

Above: Adrian Sykes, with daughter Molly, 6, specialises in intricate black and white drawings, often of cityscapes; the one above is of Hotwells and the Suspension Bridge • adriansykes.co.uk

We’re having a recycled Christmas

n, Amillia, Lukus and Zipporah with deputy ne Lamberta at the Knowle Park film show

feel like a real cinema

than a real cinema – every child got a hot dog, a drink and a bag of popcorn. The showing of the Disney film Zootropolis on November 16 raised £270 for the PTA. “It’s an experiment, as it’s our first time doing this, but we had 200 children coming along, which is great,” said PTA chair Caroline Lambert.

After-school club owner Clare, left, and shop manager Sara, right, with Arlo, Sammy, Scarlet, Jet and Della with one of the admired snowmen

CHILDREN at an after-school club are delighted after their window display for a Totterdown charity shop came second in a competition. Sara Scott, manager of the St Peter’s Hospice shop in Wells Road, was stuck for ideas on how to decorate her windows for Christmas until she asked Clare Bright, who runs Knowle’s Bright Futures club, for help. Clare put a crack team of seven four to eight-year-olds on to the task. Arlo, Scarlet, Sammy, Jet, Della, Ruby and Rafferty came up with lots of beautiful decorations, all of them made from recycled materials. There is a Christmas tree made from recycled charity leaflets and snowflakes made from plastic cutlery. But most eyecatching are three snowmen, named Albert, Snowy and Tom, made up of more than 1,000 disposable coffee cups. “Customers are always giving us compliments about them,” said Sara. “A lot have said they are going to copy the idea.” The shopfront was judged second best of all 19 St Peter’s shops in the area in the charity’s annual competition. One of the creators, Jet, 7, said: “It’s cool that we came second and I’m really glad we did it but it’s disappointing we didn’t win. “I really wanted to give the snowmen a big hug, but they are delicate so I had to give them a really light one.”

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

December 2016

southbristolvoice

n NEWS Street market with added Santa appeal FESTIVE spirit will be in the air at the BS4 Christmas Market on Sunday December 11, when around 20 stallholders will be joined by Wells Road shops opening specially for the occasion. Totterdown sausage maker Sausagenius will be there along with local arts and gift ideas aplenty. Among the stallholders will be sellers of jewellery, knitted goods, art, cards, curry, cakes and fudge. Gaines grocers has arranged for a choir to sing outside their shop, and Santa’s Grotto will be open to under-12s. There will be mulled wine and mince pies and shops and cafés including St Peter’s Hospice, the Eating Room, the Little Butcher, Totterdown Canteen and Floriography will open from 11am-3pm. • facebook.com/Bs4market

Landmark café is back in family hands

ONE of South Bristol’s best know cafés is back in its original family ownership. George’s in East Street, Bedminster, is popular not only with local people but with visitors from all over the South West. Owner Vas Soteriou said: “We have had customers coming from Bath, Keynsham, Newport and further afield – some of them spend the day shopping in the city, then come to Bedminster just to eat with us.” George’s was opened in 1970 by Vas’s father in law, George. Many people now address Vas, who took over in 1986, as George, but he doesn’t contradict them. The traditional café has been

Flashback: George’s Restaurant in about 1982 with founder George Zographou, his wife Miriam, and children Eva, Nick and Andrew

run by the family in much the same way for 46 years – except for the the three years until October, when another manager took the lease. Now Vas has reunited many of the original staff, including Kosta the chef and Michelle on serving duties. And customers who have been regulars for decades but may have drifted away in the past three years are

George’s

SERVING SOUTH BRISTOL

starting to return.“A lot of customers said to me that Bedminster wasn’t Bedminster without George’s,” said Vas. Asked the secret of such a large and loyal following, he said: “The only secret is hard work. Independent restaurants can do well if the owners are prepared to put in the hard work.” He’s also careful not to stray from the traditional English café menu which – like the portion sizes – is huge. There are almost 50 main dishes, not counting the sandwiches and children’s meals. Everything, including the chips, is made fresh. The coleslaw is made to a secret recipe and another popular accompaniment is the gravy – “People think that there’s a special secret to that too, but there isn’t!” said Vas.

SINCE 1970

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December 2016

n NEWS Free sessions from tutors A TUTORING service is offering a free first session for parents worried about their child’s performance in English or maths. The offer comes from Kip McGrath Bristol Central, based in Redcliffe, part of a chain of tutors using Ofsted-registered teachers. “I get lots of calls from parents in January, concerned that their children won’t get the desired GCSE or end-of-year exam results,” said centre director Seonaid Birkett. Call 0117 370 4525 or email bristolcentral@kip-mcgrath.com

Seasonal songs RIFF Raff, the accapella rock and pop choir, holds a Christmas concert at the Hen & Chicken in North Street, Southville at 8pm on Monday December 5. Tickets are £5, with £1 going to Bristol music therapy charity MusicSpace. • riffrafftickets@gmail.com

southbristolvoice

New proposal to deter rat-running on Windmill Hill RESIDENTS are to be consulted on a new plan to deter commuters from driving through Windmill Hill, the Voice has learned. The first scheme proposed last year was abandoned because residents were split over whether to accept it. The proposal was to ban right-turns from St John’s Lane into Paultow Road and make several roads one way. Now the focus has changed to make Windmill Hill less appealing as a cut-through. The new proposals are for: • Double yellow lines on Windmill Hill, moving some of the car parking areas to make the southerly journey more difficult; • Narrowing the road next to the

Windmill pub, creating a larger pedestrian area as well as a crossing point and loading area; • Narrower junctions with safer places for pedestrians to cross where Windmill Hill meets Eldon Terrace and Alfred Road to deter southbound motorists; • Narrowed section on Cotswold Road to deter drivers both ways, and create a crossing point. Cutting rat-running through Windmill Hill has been declared a priority for the Filwood, Knowle and Windmill Hill neighbourhood partnership. Residents will be consulted on the new proposals, although no dates were available as the Voice went to press.

Christmas at the allotment IF YOU haven’t been to the Springfield Road community allotment in Knowle, an event on Saturday December 10 might tempt you, when Knowle West Health Association holds its Christmas Family Fun Day. Santa will be there in his grotto, there will be a festive singalong, Christmas stalls, food and drink, and free children’s games and activities. The association runs cookery classes and gives help on food and diet as well as growing its own produce at the 1.3 acre community allotment. It makes a special effort to work with children and young people, families on low incomes, older people, people with dementia and people with mental health problems. To find out more about cookery classes or other activities call 0117 963 9569 or visit: • kwha1.wordpress.com

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

n YOUR MP

KARIN SMYTH Labour MP for Bristol South

The public and Parliament must have their say on Brexit

O ISSUE will be more important in our politics in the years ahead than the way the UK withdraws from the European Union. It will influence every area of our lives, from shop prices to employment rights, from the NHS to the post-16 opportunities available to South Bristol’s young people – and all points in between. That’s why I think members of the public deserve the opportunity, through the usual democratic paths, to be represented in the Brexit process. Voice readers will recall that in November the High Court ruled the Government could not simply bypass Parliament in making these vital decisions as they’d intended. It ruled Brexit must be subject to Parliament’s full approval, signalling clearly that the Prime

Monday

Minister had been wrong to try to sideline MPs and, therefore, the people they represent. Let me be clear. While readers will know I campaigned for us to remain in the EU, I do believe we have a duty to respect the referendum vote for the UK to leave the European Union. Yet while the result on June 23 was clear, we have to remember that the referendum asked voters one very simple question, whereas the shape of Brexit is anything but simple. Like the end of a 42-year marriage, there

Knowle Filwood Community Centre Barnstaple Road, Knowle BS4 1JP 9.30am, 11.30am, 5.30pm, 7.30pm Tel: Kim 07920 023170 Clifton St Peter & Paul Cathedral Pembroke Road, Clifton BS8 3BX 5.30pm Tel: Susan 07711 388511 Ashton Ashton Vale Primary School Avebury Road, Ashton BS3 2QG 7.30pm Tel: Emma 07701 030460

are a huge number of complex issues to be determined. That’s why I have found the lack of government planning – from the day the referendum result was announced – rather alarming. It’s also why public scrutiny and Parliamentary input will be crucial in the months ahead. I believe, for example, that existing workers’ rights provided by the EU should be maintained, and that businesses that depend on trade with Europe can continue doing so freely. I also believe the residency rights of EU citizens living or working here, and those of UK citizens in the EU, need to be protected. And I think the Government must proactively identify and fill any gaps in environmental protection that may arise from the removal of EU law. But on all these issues there are a range of views, which is what makes the shape of Brexit so complex – and so important to get right – because the way Britain leaves the EU will shape the future prosperity of Bristol and the West Country for decades to come. What do you think? You can email me your thoughts on this or any other issue, to karin.smyth.mp@parliament.uk or put pen to paper to Karin Smyth MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.

Tuesday

Bedminster Salvation Army Dean Lane, Bedminster BS3 1BS 9.30am, 6pm Tel: Virginia 07938 567886 Knowle Church of the Nazarene Broad Walk, Knowle BS4 2RD 9.30am, 11.30am, 5.30pm, 7.30pm Tel: Susan 07711 388511

Wednesday

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Thursday

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Saturday

Bedminster Salvation Army Dean Lane, Bedminster BS3 1BS 9am Tel: Susan 07711 388511

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

n NEWS

Jail term for drug-fuelled sex attack A MAN from Arnos Vale who sexually assaulted another man in his car after offering him a lift has been jailed for three years. Gary Taylor, 49, of Bath Road, Arnos Vale, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on November 4, after admitting sexual assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity. He also admitted two charges connected with possessing

the controlled drug GBL. Taylor was also put on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely. The victim, a 21-year-old man, was walking in Winterbourne in the early hours of July 21, when Taylor pulled up in his car and offered him a lift. Taylor later pulled over into a car park, where he gave the victim drugs and subjected him to a sexual assault. In court,

Judge Peter Blair QC said: “He was a straight young man and with the use of two different drugs that he consumed with your persistence, he became in a state that he was unable to resist your sexual advances on him. “One can only imagine how disgusting that would make him feel when he wasn’t in any state to adequately protect himself from your selfish desires.”

Council officer to appeal over planning refusal for his loft A SENIOR council officer is to appeal after he was refused retrospective planning permission for a large extension to the roof of his Knowle house. Richard Fear did not ask for permission before constructing a modern-looking timber-faced extension which stretches the entire width and roof height of his home at 3 Haverstock Road. When neighbours complained, he put in an application for retrospective permission. Mr Fear is service manager for property management at the council and a

member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He did not ask planning officials for advice before building the extension, which was described in the application as a dormer window. The application also said that it could not be seen from the highway, though in fact it is visible from Brecknock Road. Three neighbours objected to the project, and one wrote to the council in support of it. Now planners have ruled that the extension is out of keeping with the neighbourhood, calling

Readers get together on the Hill MORE readers – particularly men – are welcome to join the Windmill Hill Book Group, which meets on December 19, and the third Monday of every month, at 8.30pm at the Windmill Hill Community Centre on Vivian

Street. The current book is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, a thriller, but the group reads very widely. Subscription is £5 a year. You don’t have to live on Windmill Hill to join. Contact Claire Barnard on 0117 330 7675.

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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it “a prominent and unsympathetic addition to the terrace”. Mr Fear could be subject to enforcement action which would force him to take the extension down. But any action is on hold because he has indicated he will appeal against the refusal.

Cash offer for health activities DO YOU have an idea for an activity for children which would improve their health and wellbeing? It could be to do with art, music, drama, exercise… or something completely different. One in 10 children aged between 5 and 16 years has a mental health problem. Now the Community Access Support Service, funded by the city council, is offering grants of up to £1,000 to voluntary and community groups to kickstart activities that promote wellbeing in children of primary school age and their families. The first deadline for applications is January 10 but more money will be available in March, May and possibly July. All activities must be complete by July 31. For details, contact Anna Balcerek by email at anna.balcerek@cassbristol.org or call 07400 128052. • cassbristol.org

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

n NEWS In witch I am a pillock

Y FRIEND was in a pickle, one of the volunteer deliverers of his political newsletter had done a bunk, he looked sad, I sighed and said “Go on then. Just this once.” That was two years ago. Every time he pops in with a bundle of papers I groan inwardly but smile as he asks if it is ok. I then stomp down the hill with Scrappy Little Dog to do battle with Clyde Road’s letterboxes. I have nothing against the houses in Clyde Road, they are

Who is she? We don’t know – she casts a spell of forgetfulness on everyone she meets.

THE WICKED WITCH OF KNOWLE

perfectly nice, some are rather quirky and the people are friendly, it is just not easy for posting stuff. There are too many steep steps with few chances of doing a sneaky jump into the next house’s garden. A tinkling wind chime mocks me and dogs scrabbling at my pokey fingers make me jump. Then there are the vicious boxes that snap down

so I have to fight to free myself. Draught resistant brushes are a challenge and what is with the tiny weenie letterboxes, the sideways ones and those that are stupidly low? I hate them all. Scrappy thinks we are going inside every house, so is excited and then disappointed a lot. Not to mention the dilemma of the signs some have: “No hawkers, stalkers, cold callers or junk.” Is it junk mail? Not sure. So I shove it in and exit quickly. “This newsletter is informative and I am doing it for the good of the local people,” I mutter, as I drag my confused dog back home rubbing my bleeding fingers.

On my road I notice a car with the back window open. Nobody about. An expensive looking jacket is on the back seat. The road is oddly deserted. Revelling in my role as an upstanding member of the community I decide that I should see if there is anything in the jacket pocket to identify the owner. I reach into the car. The alarm screams. Faces appear at windows. I look like a thief! I retreat, head down, and quick walk it home with my worst fear confirmed. Yes, dear reader, I am officially a Pillock of the Community. • Extra witchiness online at southbristolvoice.co.uk

Park Centre voted city’s best community venue

Park gardeners Lewis and Andy

THE Park Centre in Daventry Road, Knowle, home to community groups and sports clubs of all kinds, has been voted Community Venue of the Year in Bristol. The awards, made by voluntary group Voscur, were presented by mayor Marvin Rees

in a ceremony on the ss Great Britain. Also recent award winners were Lewis and Andy from Andy’s Haven garden and farm at The Park. They won an Outstanding in the South West in Bloom competition. This is part of Britain in Bloom, which is the

biggest horticultural campaign in Europe. The award for The Park recognises the work volunteers have done to improve and regenerate our environment for our local community, through imaginative planting and gardening, and recycling. • More at southbristolvoice.co.uk

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

RSPCA UPDATE

31 From Bristol Dogs & Cats Home

Heartwarming tales of pets found new homes

S 2016 is drawing to a close, we are reflecting on our lovely animal friends who came through our doors this year. Between January and November, we rescued and rehomed 510 dogs, cats, small animals and reptiles in need. We reunited 333 lost pets with their owners and our ‘pawesome’ team of vets and nurses undertook over 12,000 procedures and operations to help care for Bristol’s animals in need. October was particularly special, seeing record numbers for rehoming, including the wonderful Buster who you met in the October issue. We are very proud that 23 dogs, 26 cats, three rabbits, three birds and two ferrets found homes that month! Notably, lots of our long- stay dogs were successfully rehomed; we had all grown attached to

Cat we found had been lost 7 months

them and many happy tears were shed by staff as we waved them off to their new homes! We have witnessed many wonderful reunion stories, but one stands out. One of our dog-walking volunteers, Amy, was taking resident Mia for a walk when they saw a cat foraging in some bins nearby. He looked hungry, so after taking Mia back to the Dogs Home, Amy hurried back to rescue the cat. She brought him to the RSPCA Clinic where he had a few

POLICE REPORT We’re trying to design out problem areas for anti-social behaviour

T’S HARD to believe we’re approaching the end of another year. Back in October, I wrote about the concerns that been raised about street drinking and drug dealing in areas of Totterdown and Windmill Hill. We’re aware that street drinkers are continuing to gather in the green space near the junction of Wells Road and St John’s Lane. Plans are in place to literally design out some of these issues, with the council due to cut back the bushes that shield them from view from the road. The Streetwise team, who work to reduce anti-social behaviour like this, by working to address people’s support needs

We were thrilled when Buster found a home, as he had spent most of his life in kennels

medical checks and, importantly, was scanned for a microchip. Our clinic team phoned the number and got through to his family. The cat had been missing for seven months! It was a ‘purrfect’ ending and reminded everyone of the importance of microchips. Every animal who leaves our

With Sgt Caroline Crane Broadbury Road police station

and behaviour, are also working with local officers. It’s a sad fact that our parks and green spaces can become a meeting place for drug users and street drinkers, often meaning drugs litter is left behind. You can report a street or area that needs cleaning on the council’s website: • bristol.gov.uk/streets-travel A number of people took the chance to speak to our local PCSOs at a ‘street surgery’ outside Tesco on Oxford Street recently. A common complaint was about drug dealing in the area. Please continue to report incidents to us – if you see a suspected drug deal in progress, report it immediately on 999. Otherwise, if you have information about people who may be involved, then tell us via our website (below) or the non-emergency number, 101. Information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 – they never ask for your name and cannot trace your call. • avonandsomerset.police.uk

hroughout December, the neighbourhood policing teams will be working to keep shoppers supporting our local businesses safe, raising awareness of pickpocketing and sharing general safety advice. Please remember to avoid using your car to store shopping between trips and, if you shop online, make sure you always use a secure website. Lots of advice is available here: • getsafeonline.org. If you’re going away, remember to use timer switches on your lights to avoid advertising an empty house to burglars and ask a neighbour to keep an eye. Finally, there’s a dark side of the Christmas holidays that every police officer will, unfortunately, recognise – an increase in domestic abuse incidents. Please take our advice and if you, or anyone you know, are affected by domestic abuse, report it. Remember, look, listen, ask and ask again. Wishing you all a safe, happy Christmas, Sergeant Caroline Crane

doors, to go to their forever home happy and healthy, inspires us to continue our vital work. If you think you could offer one of our gorgeous animals the happy home they deserve, or would like to support us in any way please visit our website. • rspca-bristol.org.uk

SW award for caring Jeff A HANDYMAN from Bristol who also works as a carer has been recognised with an Our Health Heroes award. Jeff Surmon is the South West winner in Operational Services Worker of the Year and now goes to the final. Jeff works at South Bristol Rehabilitation Centre, in Knowle, helping people who have left hospital get Jeff Surmon back on their feet. The rest of his time is spent doing maintenance work for Bristol city council. The honours were created by Skills for Health and the National Skills Academy for Health, with the union Unison. Colleagues who nominated Jeff said he goes above and beyond to ensure patients and staff are happy, and always makes a special effort to sit with those who need company. He said: “People are important to me and I’ve always enjoyed working with them. I feel very honoured and humbled to receive this award.”

Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

December 2016

southbristolvoice

n NEWS

Anger as avenue of 14 trees is lopped RESIDENTS who enjoy walking in St Mary Redcliffe cemetery in Arnos Vale say the tranquillity has been shattered by council workers who have lopped all the branches off an avenue of trees. The council said the move was for safety reasons but some local people were said to be in tears after the event. Workers with chainsaws were sent in to the cemetery, which is owned by the Church of England but managed by Bristol city council, on November 11. The cemetery is opposite the larger Arnos Vale cemetery. Several residents protested as the saws were used to lop most of the branches off 14 lime trees, leaving them as pollarded trunks. One resident told the Voice: “All the trees that line the main path have been cut down by three quarters, removing all habitat for wildlife, and a buffer for local residents from the noise and pollution, without any

Before and after: The avenue of limes at St Mary Redcliffe cemetery consultation or notice.” She claimed that a council representative laughed at people who complained. A council spokesperson said

the work was necessary “to reduce the risk to the public of large branches falling on them. “Pollarding is a form of tree management that involves a tree

being heavily pruned to trigger the tree’s natural response to re-grow. Once a tree has been pollarded it has to be repeated on a regular basis or the new branches become unbalanced as they grow. “The council carries this work out to approximately 1,000 trees across the city each year. “The lime trees at this site were pollarded around 20 years ago. The resulting regrowth had reached such a height and size that a large branch had failed on one tree. The damage to this tree, from the large branch ripping open the trunk, may mean that the tree has to be removed in the future. “Because of the length of time since the previous pollard, the visual impact is greater than would normally be the case.” The resident responded that the extent of the work and its sudden nature showed “no thought or consideration for the local community.”

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Family

Co-parenting at Christmas Christmas is just round the corner, but for separated parents it can present a whole host of conundrums. In this article, Chris Miller, Managing Partner of Barcan+Kirby, considers co-parenting during the festive season. Christmas can present childcare difficulties for ex-couples. Most separated parents won’t be celebrating the festive season together, but both will still want to see their children.

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It’s tempting to ignore this issue and hope it goes away, or to fall back on your usual co-parenting arrangements. However, this can often lead to last minute conflict and uncertainty – and the resulting arguments aren’t likely to lead to a harmonious Christmas break.

Some parents choose to do this by sharing out Christmas and Boxing Day, whilst others opt to let one parent have more time at Christmas in return for similar concessions for the other at New Year.

Christmas is always going to be a tricky time of year for separated and divorced parents. So if you’re struggling to agree co-parenting arrangements over Christmas, we have some tips for you.

Think ahead

When broaching the subject of Christmas with your ex-partner, don’t leave it until the last minute. It’s a lot easier to come to a rational and fair decision in advance rather than on 23rd December when you’re in full Christmas mode.

Be fair in how you divvy up contact time – accept that neither of you should have a monopoly on contact at Christmas and be willing to compromise accordingly.

Whatever you decide, remember to let your children’s other relatives know, particularly your own parents if you know they’re hoping to see their grandchildren.

Plan for future years

Once you’ve agreed an arrangement for this year, it’s sensible to make a long term plan so that the same problem doesn’t crop up every 12 months. Why not consider alternating Christmas and Boxing Day each year?

Talk to your children

Of course, before making a final decision about Christmas, you

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

n PLANNING APPLICATIONS 45 Andover Road BS4 1AJ Prior approval for a single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear wall by 4 m, of maximum height 3.7 m with eaves 2.5 m high. Granted

14 St Martins Gardens BS4 2NJ Demolition of garage and erection of a two-bedroom twostorey house. Withdrawn

53 Novers Park Drive BS4 1RH Two storey side and single storey rear extension. Refused

23 Ravenhill Road BS3 5BN Dormer roof extension to be installed to both the rear and side roof pitch. Granted subject to conditions

102 Wedmore Vale BS3 5HY Single storey front, double storey side and rear and single storey rear extension. Granted subject to conditions

154 Marksbury Road BS3 5LD Erection of detached ancillary building in rear garden. Granted subject to conditions

402 Wells Road Knowle BS14 9AA Change of use from guest house to house in multiple occupation including provisions for refuse storage and cycle storage. Granted subject to conditions

Malago House, Bedminster Road BS3 5NP Approved details in relation to condition 20 (Sample Panels) of permission 15/01988/F: Demolition of industrial buuildings and erection of 110 dwellings with associated ancillary works. (Major application) Pending consideration

7 St Agnes Avenue BS4 2DU Certificate of Proposed Development for side dormer roof extension to existing loft conversion. Granted 30 St Martins Road BS4 2NG Rear single storey extension and internal ground floor alterations. Granted subject to conditions 3 Bushy Park BS4 2EG Approved details in relation to condition 4 (Further details) of permission 11/00385/R: five townhouses. Granted 2 Park Avenue Bedminster BS3 5AH Lawful Development Certificate for two rear dormers and installation of roof lights. Replace existing rear extension roof of polycarbonate panels with roof tiles with roof lights and French doors. Granted 3 Haverstock Road BS4 2DA Retrospective planning application for dormer window in rear roof slope. Refused 21 Pylle Hill Crescent BS3 4TN Access from ground floor to rear garden, installation of door and bathroom window to rear, enlargement of window, widening of kitchen window. Granted subject to conditions 47 St Lukes Road BS3 4RX Removal of front bay window at ground floor and replacement window. Pending consideration

Malago House, Bedminster Road BS3 5NP Approved details in relation to condition 19 (Further Details of Boundary Treatments), 33 (Management – Open spaces and gas easement), 34 (Travel Plan) and 35 (External Street Lighting) of permission 15/01988/F: Demolition of industrial buildings and erection of 110 dwellings with associated ancillary works. Granted subject to conditions 177 Wells Road, Totterdown BS4 2DB Creation of vehicular access and parking area, including provision of dropped kerb. Granted subject to conditions 10 Hill Avenue BS3 4SH Prior approval for single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear of the house by 6 m, of maximum height 3 m with eaves 2.87 m high. Refused 10 Hill Avenue BS3 4SH Single storey rear extension, rear dormer roof extension and insertion of first floor window and roof lights. Pending consideration 41B William Street, Totterdown BS3 4TT Extension over garage to provide additional bedroom. Pending consideration 32-38 St Johns Lane BS3 5AD Outline application for

Knowle, Totterdown, Windmill Hill

demolition of garage and the erection of four 4-bedroom dwellings and five 3-bedroom dwellings. Pending consideration 9 St Agnes Walk BS4 2DL Alterations to roof including front and rear roof extensions and single storey rear extension. Pending consideration 46 Queensdale Crescent BS4 2TR Removal of air raid shelter and single garage to allow for construction of detached double garage for the use of both flats. Pending consideration 14 Imperial Walk BS14 9AE Steel framed balcony with glass and stainless steel balustrade. Pending consideration 7 Lilymead Avenue BS4 2BY Single storey rear extension. Pending consideration 157 Wedmore Vale BS3 5JA Retention of engineering operations including regrading and changing the level of the land, new walls and fencing. Pending consideration 8 Spring Gardens BS4 2TZ Part one and part two storey extension rear extension. Pending consideration 50 Dickinsons Fields BS3 5BG Certificate of Proposed Development for use of integral garage as part of ground floor to existing house, with alterations to garage door and rear window. Changes to internal layout: kitchen on first floor to be converted to a living room. Living room on first floor to be converted to a bedroom with an

en-suite consisting of a shower, toilet and wash basin. Pending consideration 81 Hawthorne Street BS4 3DA Single storey rear extension to extend beyond the rear of the house by 4.1 m, of maximum height 3.5 m with eaves 2.3 m high. Refused 6 Hill Avenue BS3 4AG Approved details in relation to condition 5 (Site Investigation Report) 6 (Remediation Scheme) 7 (Implementation Remediation Scheme) of permission 15/03961/F Demolition of modern extension and conversion of former church to three 3-bedroom townhouses and one 2-bedroom house; extension of terrace to provide two 3-bedroom houses. Pending consideration 73 Sylvia Avenue BS3 5BU Lawful Development Certificate for rear dormer window and insertion of roof lights in front roof slope. Granted 4 Maidstone Street BS3 4SW Single storey rear extension. Pending consideration 42 Haverstock Road BS4 2BZ Removal of lean-to extension and construction of a new single-storey extension to rear/ side infill of the house. Pending consideration 182 Marksbury Road BS3 5LE Two storey side and rear extension. Withdrawn • 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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n YOUR COUNCILLORS

December 2016

southbristolvoice

WAS glad to get a visit from Vince Cable this month. He was coming to Bristol initially in his role as chair Gary of HCT, the largest Hopkins not-for-profit Lib Dem transport provider Knowle in the UK. They run many of London’s buses and until recently ran Bristol’s park and ride service and still provide community transport locally. He was able to respond to my invite and come early to do a meeting with Lib Dem councillors and members, and discussed many issues including the present government’s attempts to wreck improvements and reforms that have, at least for the moment, been put into the buses bill going through Parliament. A wide-ranging alliance led by the Local Government Association and Liberal Democrats are demanding that the powers are rebalanced to

Knowle

allow councils to influence bus services, as they do in London, while government ministers are batting for the monopoly bus operators. This will be resolved over the next few weeks. Meanwhile locally Wessex are getting over 1,000 passengers a day after taking on what First described as the “loss making” 51 service. Wessex have now submitted a timetable change for the new year to increase the frequency of service in the afternoon peak and are committing extra buses in the meantime to combat the difficulties of keeping the service reliable during peak times. The competition from Wessex has also meant that First are now paying more attention to the 50 service and are doing random cancellations elsewhere rather than on the 50. Meanwhile, following questions to the mayor, the tendering of the park and ride contract that went to First earlier this year is now to be looked at. Reports back later.

WAS pleased to attend the AGM of the Friends of Redcatch Park recently. The group was set up Chris by me and Gary 15 Davies years ago, and has Lib Dem achieved a huge Knowle amount. The park used to be unwelcoming, with vandalism common. The many changes include new benches, paths, playground, trees, flower beds, sport and games facilities, wonderful artworks and now an enhanced car park entrance. Many people have contributed but we must not overlook the efforts of Dave Wherrett who has run the youth club from the pavilion for 10 years and has has chosen to retire. Happily, Learning Partnership West are continuing the Jubilee Juniors on a Monday evening. Young people in the park used to be part of the vandalism problem but they have become a great source of help, and the

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How to contact your councillor: p2 club, working with the Friends, secured the grants for the shelter, games area and tennis courts. The AGM was glad to welcome a new young treasurer, Alex, on to the committee and if a few more younger people, with fresh ideas, come forward it will ensure that improvements continue. Things will be even more challenging in the future as the mayor has announced plans to slash spending on parks. We still do not know if the council have backed away from trying to charge a membership fee for our tennis courts, but rumours are promising. The poorly advertised, online-only, council “consultation” on the courts closed before many comments were registered. People pointed out that the grant to repair the courts was obtained by our youth club after years of council neglect; that the many local people who now use them would be put off by charges, and that we have a good tennis club just across the road if people wish to pay to book a court.

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

n YOUR COUNCILLORS

HERE is a lot of local interest in the proposed housing development known as Jon Bedminster Green, Wellington situated between Labour East Street and Windmill Hill Bedminster Station, just the other side of the railway tracks from Windmill Hill. The current proposals are for around 800 homes, mainly flats and apartments. Local residents Windmill Hill and Malago planning group (WHaM) have been working hard over the last year to develop an alternative site brief and to raise their concerns about various aspects of the plans. These are mainly about the height, density and lack of affordable or family homes. While we welcome development in the area, it is important that it is not detrimental to existing communities and that there is a mixture of type, tenure and size

Windmill Hill

of home, as well as provision for affordable and social housing. The area does not need a transient community with a large number of flats and apartments sold to the buy-to-let market. WHaM have an excellent website at whambristol.org.uk which details the development framework and WHaM’s own alternative site brief. This is a development that will mean a significant change to the local area and it is important that your views are heard. WHaM hold regular public meetings at Windmill Hill community centre and I know that they are keen to hear from local people with ideas for the area. At the recent meeting of full council, I asked if the mayor would commit to a meeting to discuss the development, and also if he would press on the developers the need for a mixture of tenures, sizes and types of home. This is essential if we want to build the type of sustainable community from which the local area could benefit.

How to contact your councillor: p2

E HAVE received a large amount of correspondence in recent weeks on the Lucy Government’s Whittle introduction Labour of Sustainable Windmill Hill Transformation Plans (STPs) in the NHS. As a Labour councillor, I am concerned that these plans were developed in secret in order to hide the potential for significant damage to our NHS. Bristol City Council is involved as one of 14 partners in the development of the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Strategic Transformation Plan (known as the BNSSG STP). Council officers who work in social care, public health and strategic planning and commissioning are involved in different aspects of the plan and its delivery. The collaboration means there is now an opportunity to strengthen the

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focus on social care and the community. However, it is important that councillors play a greater role in the development of the STP. The draft plan went to the council’s health and wellbeing board on October 19 for comment. In addition, a paper on the BNSSG STP is being prepared for councillors who received a briefing last month. This is available on the council website. To improve transparency, mayor Marvin Rees has committed to keeping councillors fully informed about the deliberations of future STP meetings. The plan will go before the council scrutiny committee on December 1 and you are welcome to attend or to submit statements. We believe local authorities need a strong voice on our local STP to ensure it does not merely focus on cutting NHS services. Furthermore we believe STPs need to prioritise the role of social workers and care workers who provide support and care to keep people out of hospital.

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December 2016

n HISTORY The people from Bristol’s own island will

NCE upon a time there was an island. It was cut off from everywhere else by water and could only be reached by one of many bridges. The people who lived there didn’t have much money but their isolation gave them a strong sense of community, and everyone knew everybody else. One day they were told that the powers that be had decided their island wasn’t suitable for living on, and they were all to be moved away. They grumbled, but they went, many of them given money to find homes elsewhere. So the people were split up; families and neighbours were parted; relationships broken; a community the size of a small town was no more. But did they forget each other, or their island home? No, they did not. Because this isn’t a tragic tale: it’s a seasonal story of hope, about the islanders who never

How many know that what is now a huge industrial estate, was once home to 6,000 people? Island life builds strong ties ... forgot that their lives began in … St Philip’s Marsh.

SLANDS breed strong communities and St Philip’s Marsh is no exception, even if it is in the middle of a city. For the past 50 years, the Marsh has been known as an industrial estate – a place to buy tyres or building supplies or get a car fixed. Strange that so few know that until the late 1950s it was a

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thriving settlement, the size of a small town. Now is certainly a good time to fix the Marsh in our minds, both what it was and what it is now, because it’s about to change again. The plans for the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone and the Bristol arena are about to transform the area. What now are scruffy streets lined with bodyshops and tool hire places, in a few years will be access routes to the arena, lined with coach bays and taxi ranks, smartened with well-lit walkways and cycle routes. The deserted Totterdown basin, overlooked by the gaping concrete shell of the old GPO sorting office, will become a bustling waterway lined with costly flats and walkways. These aren’t the first ambitious plans for the Marsh, or its waterways. Have you heard about the plan to dam the New Cut at Bedminster, making it non-tidal (meaning not so muddy!) up to Totterdown and St Philips? Have you heard the idea of holding the Commonwealth Games at Avon Meads? No? That’s a story for another time, then: we’re looking back at the history of the Marsh. A royal hunting ground St Philip’s Marsh hasn’t been settled for long. The name is a giveaway: the area was a swamp, overlooked by the hills of Totterdown, St Anne’s and Barton Hill and the meadows of the Knights Templar (later to become Temple Meads). For most of Bristol’s history the area was home only to wildlife. Known as the King’s Marsh, it was a hunting ground, home to deer, foxes, frogs and newts. The opening of the Feeder canal in 1809 saw industry forming along its banks. The area became notorious for its noisy, smelly industrial plants, from saw mills to chemical plants, iron foundries to manure works, and, in 1902, the Bristol Corporation power station, generating electricity from coal. The arrival of the Great Western Railway made the Marsh the ideal place for an engine shed and marshalling yards for the West’s great railway hub. The swamp was dealt with by

Long gone: Great Western Tavern, at Albert Road and Feeder Road tipping ashes into it, starting in 1896. This soaked up the water, and killed much of the wildlife. It also caused several underground fires, whose orange glow could be seen from Totterdown. GWR solved this problem by tipping a trainload of sand on top. And from the mid 19th C there were streets of terraced homes, many with two or more families living in each ... Life between the wars Twenty streets, all terraced, with front doors opening onto the pavement made it easy, in fact, essential, to know your neighbours. With no bathrooms and no central heating, using the outside toilet in winter was likened to sitting in a refrigerator. Luxury was taking a dip in a tin bath on a Saturday night, in front of the fire. Almost every street had a shop selling groceries, and shopping was done every day. If funds were short, the bills might be put on the slate to be settled the next day. Or dad’s Sunday suit might be taken to Curry the pawnbroker in return for a small loan – usually repaid by the following weekend when it was time for church again. You could buy almost anything need for daily life: from haberdashery at Lippietts, wet fish (and vegetables – one of several strange combinations) from Bill Smallridge, or fish and chips from Sawtells. There was Hendy’s for paraffin and candles – not everyone had electricity – Dan and Son for men’s hairdressing, Brookmans for sweets and Arthur Jeffery for meat. You could buy corn and chicken food – many people kept chickens in their back yards – shoes and coal, all at local stores. In another strange combo,

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

n HISTORY never forget where they were brought up

All dressed up: A street party to celebrate the 1951 Festival of Britain at Short Street, St Philip’s Marsh Tarrs, the ice cream shop, also sold wild rabbits for the pot. There was even a library, which opened in a tin-roofed hut in 1927. It cost a penny to borrow a book and it was open from 9am to 8pm each weekday, but closed on Wednesday afternoons – the traditional time off for workers who were often expected to work on Saturdays. Eight pubs on an island Pubs were not just for drinking: they were cherished meeting places. The Marsh had eight, most of them owned by Bristol brewers Georges, based at the historic brewery near Bristol Bridge, or United Breweries of Lewins Mead. (The firms merged in 1956). They were mainly the haunt of men during the week, but at weekends wives would often be found in the Saloon Bar while their husbands were in the Smoke Room. Many sold only beer; the addition of wine and spirits was a gradual affair. Strict pub opening hours had been introduced in Britain during the First World War with the aim of keeping munitions workers sober at least some of the time. Hence, in the Marsh, men could be seen gathering in Grafton Street, Feeder Road or

Albert Crescent from 11.30am on a Sunday, waiting for noonday opening. Many pubs had a piano or accordion for entertainment; most also organised outings in a coach – usually with the sexes travelling separately. If you wanted a drink at home, you could buy beer in a jug, sometimes held under a coat in the hope no-one would notice. The Pipemakers in Albert Road was named after a nearby pipe works. Sitting next to the railway, it was a favourite haunt for engine drivers – even those on duty, as related in a recent Voice feature. The Dove on Feeder Road was one of the few with a skittle alley. On the opposite corner, by Albert Road, was the imposing Great Western Tavern, with space enough for wedding receptions. The Victoria, on Albert Crescent, was known as “The Pig” and was popular with visiting football teams. A soccer-mad Marsh Boys played football in the street, at major risk to the windows. There were plenty of teams too: St Silas, named after the local church, won the Bristol & District league in 1897. St Philip’s United won the league’s second division in the same season. Later St

Philip’s Marsh Adult School team took the city championship in 1919, and a proper pitch was prepared by volunteers at the end of Philip Street. St Philip’s Athletic, a splinter club, and at least four others formed between the wars. After the Second World War the teams of St Silas and St Philip’s were still rivals – and a reunion of their players led to something much bigger, as we shall see ... At work on the island Scores of companies crowded St Philip’s Marsh, many of them

dirty, smelly or both. Coles’ “bone yard” dealt with slaughterhouse waste, and to add to the odours there were paint and varnish works, petrol storage depots, oil and cake mills, engineering works galore, and iron foundries. The area is still home to waste disposal businesses – not without controversy – although we can be sure that the pollution of the 1920s was far worse than today. The Feeder was full of barges, pulled by horses, and all contributing to the pollution of the waters. Coal was hauled to the power station, and wood pulp to the paper mills at St Anne’s. Children followed the pleasure boats on their way to Beese’s tea rooms at Hanham – still a popular destination. Youngsters would also follow the horse-drawn carts laden with monkey-nuts bound for processing at the Curtis Oil and Cake mills. “It was indeed child’s play to run up to the cart from behind, rip open a sack and release a steady stream of nuts, to be pounced on by a hoard of children resembling a plague of locusts,” one local recorded. The terror of the cows One sight that is never seen in our hygienic, squeamish age is the herding of cattle through public streets to market. Cattle Market Road didn’t get its name by accident. There were livestock markets in Feeder Road and near the infant school, and every Thursday the animals were herded and goaded along Continued on page 40

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southbristolvoice

n HISTORY

‘Once a bull put his backside against my auntie’s front door and broke it, and one of the cows ran into the house’

Continued from page 39 the roads. “It was terrifying to hear the herdsmen shouting and hitting these maddened cows, and the bulls had rings through their noses with men pulling them along on huge ropes. Blood would be running down their faces where the rings had cut into their nostrils,” recalled Barbara Faulks, a former Marsh resident. “Sometimes the men would put a sack over the bulls’ heads to quieten them down. “Once a bull put his backside against my auntie’s front door and broke it down, and one of the cows ran into the house.” This was no joke for the islanders – dozens of terrified cattle on the streets were a constant hazard. “All the womenfolk got their shopping in the day before, so that when the cows came they would all be upstairs, looking out of the bedroom windows. “I used to go to school along by the cattle market, and if I heard the cows coming I would jump down to the river bank and hide. To this day I am terrified of cows,” wrote Mrs Faulks. Church and chapels St Silas church was founded in 1868 on the corner of Feeder Road and Arthur Street. The first vicar, Rev William Saunders, was there for 21 years and was a major influence as the Marsh

Living on an island: St Philip’s Marsh showing the densely-packed streets of houses, and the railway lines community grew. There were two parish halls, in Grafton Street and Union Road. Many people had voluntary roles in the services, including boys who pumped the organ by hand – “woe betide the boy who allowed the lead weight to rise above the needed level, thus depriving the organ pipes of air!” remembered one resident. There were two chapels, the Jubilee Hall of the Bristol City Mission and the Victorian Wesleyan or “Iron Chapel”. The minister of the Jubilee Hall between the wars was Charles Clymer, always clad in a black Homburg hat and sombre dress. At the Chapel, leaders included Harry Boult, a man of deep faith who was given to spontaneous shouts of “Hallelujah!” Mrs St John, the caretaker, “could quell the unruly with a look; no-one dared question her actions or her motives.”

A PEEK AT STEAM STEAM locomotives were the height of technology between the wars, and the St Philip’s Marsh engine sheds had a special atmosphere. Children remember sneaking through the back entrance and clambering under goods trucks just to look at the simmering giants of steam, only to be caught by the shed foreman and thrown out. “The smoke, steam and atmosphere at the sheds were memories which will never fade,” recalled one local; but steam was

December 2016

Secret attraction: Steam shed dirty, polluting and expensive, and diesel locos took over. The St Philip’s steam shed closed in June, 1964, and was demolished eight months later.

Battered by the war Like many districts near central Bristol, St Philip’s Marsh suffered in German air raids. Early in the war a landmine demolished the Iron Chapel, and bombs completely destroyed Stanhope Street – luckily without loss of life. The chapel moved into the Jubilee Hall, which had been closed by the City Mission. On January 3, 1941, the church of St Silas was also destroyed – though it came agonisingly close to being saved. An incendiary bomb lodged between the wall and roof and began to burn. The ladders that could be found weren’t long enough to dislodge it. A fire pump was brought in from a nearby factory – but it was a bitterly cold night and the pump froze. By the time the fire brigade had arrived the blaze was fierce – and in any case the brigade’s hoses were also frozen. The church was destroyed, though not before a relay of locals had removed much of the furniture and ornaments. Within four days a temporary church was open in the school. Schools on the Island St Silas school – actually two schools, one for girls and one for boys – was attached to the church and opened in 1874. It attracted fierce loyalty and high standards, both in learning and in sports. Even a humble local school could have its own School Call,

recited by the boys each morning: St Silas, St Silas, For honour, for loyalty, For courage, for courtesy, Play up, play fair, Play the game. The conditions would appall modern teachers – and pupils. One teacher at St Silas Girls School recalled how she arrived fresh from Bristol University in 1921 and found three classes crammed into one large classroom. “There was only about three or four yards between the classes, with dingy greyish white curtains between them. They were drawn back for assembly. “Could I ever teach in these conditions?” It seems she could, and counted herself lucky when given a classroom to herself – for a class of 61 pupils. Decline and fall St Philip’s was always full of industry, and perhaps some families yearned to get away to a suburb where the air was cleaner. Gradually church attendance declined and the number of school pupils dropped. St Silas church joined forces with the parish of St Luke’s, Bedminster, whose church stood on the corner of York Road and Spring Street. (It closed in 1968.) The church schools became junior schools, and then shut due to lack of numbers in 1958. The St Philip’s Marsh infants school had opened in 1926, but it too closed in 1957. However, it remained as a nursery school

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December 2016

southbristolvoice

n HISTORY

‘Let’s make the Marsh story into a musical!’ ‘That’s the most stupid idea you’ve ever had.’ – and it is still open today. In 1958 the council announced that the Marsh area was to be used for industry only. This may have been prompted by the fear that the area was too prone to flooding to be a residential zone. (This is still the council’s view: there will be no housing on the Marsh unless flood protection is built along the New Cut). Over the next five years, with persuasion and compulsory purchase orders, the 20 streets were cleared of their 6,000 inhabitants. They spread to St Anne’s and Stockwood, to Salford and Hartcliffe, to every part of South Bristol and beyond. But they didn’t forget each other. Reunited … on stage Fast forward to 1980. St Philip’s Marsh Adult School FC was in its 60th year. Two former players, Ted Phillips and Brian Davies, decided to see if there would be any interest in a reunion match. They could meet at Sparke Evans park, next to Avon Meads roundabout, they thought, and take drinks afterwards in the Fox or the Coopers Arms, by then the only pubs left on the Marsh. But a letter in the Evening Post and feelers put out to former Marshites soon established they would have to broaden their ambitions. A bigger social venue was needed; luckily, St Silas British Legion Club had hung on (and still does) in Meriton Street. Hundreds attended the match, and many came to the social – a lot of them had not seen each other for 20 years. The event was repeated in 1981, when Bryan Davies, who had lived in Grafton Street, and a friend, Roger Packer, from Victoria Terrace, started musing on what a unique place the Marsh was. First, it was an island, in the city centre; second, it had been densely populated but was now almost devoid of inhabitants. Many people must share their strong feelings for the Marsh, they decided. Brian and Roger were right. With Ted Phillips and Sid Davies, they produced a book, St

Guardian praised it profusely. Clearly the show was much more than nostalgia for family and friends. Scenes of families sleeping six to a bed, of rag and bone men and nosey neighbours, were brought to life so vividly that the Post’s late-lamented David Harrison called it “the finest amateur show I have seen, and one of the best the Hippodrome has ever staged, regardless of origin.”

‘Ello, ‘ello: Scene from Yesterday’s Island at the Hippodrome in 1986 Philips Marsh: The Story of an Island and its People. It sold well, and prompted a BBC TV feature. But what next? Brian wanted to tell some of the stories of Island life. “It often made me smile, looking back on the things that had happened in my family; I was one of 10 boys and we were by no means the only large family. We were just some of the thousands of people, all with stories to tell.” What if the Marsh story was made into a musical? It could be staged at the Fry social club at the Cadbury’s plant in Keynsham, which he managed. Brian told his wife, Vivian. She said it was the most ridiculous idea he had ever had. But it happened. Marsh-ites gathered to tell their stories to Fry Club pantomime writer John Scully, Sponsored walks were held to raise money. In 1984, a cast of 50, many of them amateurs, was recruited. Ticket sales were strong, and with plenty of publicity from TV and press, the show, Yesterday’s Island, was a sell-out success. Such a success, in fact, that it returned for a two-week run at the Fry Club in 1985. It was still attracting strong interest, not only in the show but in the photographic displays that accompanied it. The hall even had a row of fake shop fronts selling Tarr’s ice cream. Separated families and friends were reunited and wanted to bring others back into the fold. Where to go next? The Bristol Hippodrome, of course! In 1986, after much anxiety over the £30,000 cost, the show played to

a week of packed houses. Many Marsh-ites saw the show again and again, and a matinée had to be added. In 1987 Yesterday’s Island was back for another two weeks at the Hippodrome. The Evening Post and even the national

The show that won’t stop The curtain has still not fallen on Yesterday’s Island. Shows based on it, and including much of the original music, have been revived several times. This year, a festive version called Christmas On Our Island is playing at St Silas RBL in Meriton Street on December 2 and 3. Tickets can be bought by calling 01225 872067, or email briandavies17@btinternet.com. Brian also has DVDs for sale of the Hippodrome show. • The Voice is indebted to Brian Davies for help with this article.

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n ARTS Reinventing the witch for Christmas show THIS Christmas show is going to be popular with parents of small children not used to live events – there are guaranteed no frights. In this retelling of Hansel and Gretel, the witch doesn’t wear a black hat, cackle or want to eat children. South Bristol’s BraveBoldDrama have teamed up with BS13 Theatre Company to stage the show at Zion in Bedminster Down, promising beautiful images, original music and that it’s suitable for all ages. The traditional tale is retold with music, puppetry – and no scary bits. Living close by a forest, Hansel and Gretel are typical children. Often hungry, always wanting to play, the forest is their playground. But when they wake up alone in the forest at

Alice through another glass

Rehearsals: With Rachael Moon (Gretel) and Joshua Phillips (Hansel) midnight, things feel very different. They meet a witch – of course. But not all witches seek to harm ... The production is full of layers for all ages to enjoy. Family shows are at 6pm on Saturday December 3 and 11am on Sunday December 4. On December 4 at 6pm there is a performance for adult audiences with a post-show talk with cast and design team about

the making of the production. Because Hansel & Gretel are, for a time, abandoned children, the production will raise funds and awareness of the work of Calais Refugee Solidarity Bristol. Tickets are £8 for adults, £5 for children, and £25 for two adults and up to three children. Zion is at Bishopsworth Road, Bedminster Down BS13 7JW. • zionbristol.co.uk

THIS YEAR’S Southville pantomime is Alice Takes a Trip, keeping up the tradition of alternatives to the traditional panto. It plays at the SouthBank Club in Dean Lane on Friday December 2, Saturday December 3 and Sunday December 4. The Friday and Saturday shows are at 7.30pm and the Sunday event at 5pm. Tickets can be reserved by emailing recessiongill@gmail. com. Adult tickets are £8, concessions £7 and children £5. They are also available from Recession, 8 Jacobs Wells Road, Hotwells, on Thursday, Friday or Saturday from 12noon-5.30pm. The audience is advised that there is no advantage to arriving at Wonderland early, as the doors at SouthBank won’t be opened until 15 minutes before each performance.

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December 2016

n WHAT’S ON Friday November 25 n Red Carpet at the Riviera Christmas party nights at paintworks, Bath Road, until December 17 (some dates already sold out). Canapés, dinner, casino, acrobats and entertainment from 7pm. Tickets from £37.50. Discount for companies based at Paintworks. • bestpartiesever.com Thursday December 1 n Fairtrade and Festive Market Create Centre BS1 6XN. 12-7pm. Fairtrade shopping for gifts and festive foods for all the family. Including ethical cotton clothing, Palestinian food and gifts, beauty products. Café open. • createbristol.org Saturday December 3 n Christmas Fair St Michael and All Angels, Vivian Street, Windmill Hill, 12noon-2.30pm. • stmikechurch.co.uk n Mike Scott Saltcellar Folk Club, Basement of Totterdown Baptist Church, Cemetery Road, Totterdown. 7.30pm, £5. “Another popular Saltcellar performer whose wry and witty reflections are hugely enjoyed at local folk clubs and festivals.” • saltcellarfolk.org.uk n Stand Up for the Weekend with David Trent Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, North Street, Southville. David Trent uses projectors and frenetic video editing for a high-energy commentary on celebrity culture. Plus guests. Tickets £12; with meal at Hen & Chicken £29. • thecomedybox.co.uk Sunday December 4 n Jive Fusion Dance classes for beginners upwards, mixing LeRoc, ballroom, latin, salsa and stroll. Every Sunday 4-6pm at St Francis church centre, North Street, Southville. Tutor Derek Knapman 07549 590269. £6 on the door or six sessions for £20. Monday December 5 n Light Up West Street Family carols with Bedminster Citadel Salvation Army Band. Mulled wine and hot drinks from Mezzaluna and mince pies from Tesco. Organised by Way Out West. Starts 6pm outside Mezzaluna and Tesco on West Street Bedminster. Carol sheets provided. facebook.com/WOWBS3 n A Sting in the Tale Work by Young Theatremakers at the Tobacco Factory. Inspired by fairytales, the YTM11:13 group present Good Things/Bad People: what makes someone a

Bush and Fey: they just love to play for you REVIEW: Bush & Fey, Thunderbolt, Totterdown ONE of Bristol’s hardestworking musical duos chose the Thunderbolt in Totterdown to launch their second album. Steve Bush and Fran Fey unleashed Earl Grey and Leather to an enthusiastic reception on November 10. The bluesy duo are well known on the Bristol circuit, having supported many bands since they got together 15 years ago, at venues including the Fleece, but they’ve also ventured further afield to Bath, Frome, London and Dorset. It’s a mark of the strength of their performances and original songs that they can fill a room with just Steve’s voice and Fran’s guitar. The album has a deeper sound, with drums, keyboards, good person? Can any act be 100 per cent evil? In the second half, YTM14:19 present Not So Very Far Away, using music, physical theatre and puppetry in a tale of a dragon with complicated feelings. Ages 7+. Tickets £3, 7.45pm • tobaccofactorytheatres.com

Wednesday December 7 n Bizarre Bazaar Acta Theatre, Gladstone Street, Bedminster. “Everything is quiet in Excentris City, where magic has been banned for 20 years. But then madcap trainee witch Mildew arrives on her broomstick, and accidentally sets free an ancient evil. With the Anti-Magic Force hot on her tail, Mildew is in a race against time to put things right. Can she find the spell she needs? Where is Wonderworld? And what is the hidden secret of the Bizarre

bass and percussion, recorded at Invada Studios at the Old Fire Station on Coronation Road, Bedminster. Invada grew out of a studio owned by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, and the album was produced by Portishead veteran John Pickford. Live, it’s full of passion, with Steve’s forceful, quirky delivery matched by Fran’s captivating guitars and effects. They’re rare for having lyrics full of depth which are easily absorbed live, from the caustic view of a charitable saint, Jemima Saves The World, to the fantastical The Forest of Dean Martin. The pair met when Fran moved to Bristol about 15 years ago and

both were looking for musical partners. “It clicked from the beginning,” said Fran – he began new arrangements of Steve’s material and they were away. They don’t like to be pigeonholed – “I don’t think, ‘what type of song will this be?’ when I pick up the guitar,” said Fran – but they have shades of all kinds of influences, from Nick Cave to Bob Dylan. It may have taken them two years to make the record – Fran, from Knowle, is a teacher and Steve, from Brislington, until recently worked for the council – but they’ve got up a handful of new songs for the next one. It’s their professionalism that stands out, from the polished performance to the presentation of the album, pressed to look like vinyl, with superb photos (taken at Severn Beach) by Knowle’s Benji Cooper. It’s not as though they’re looking for a rock ’n’ roll career: “It’s mainly for the love of playing,” said Fran. Definitely worth a listen. Paul Breeden • Facebook: Steve Bush & Fran Fey

Bazaar?” Also on December 8, 14, 15, 16, 17. 7pm, • acta-bristol.com Thursday December 8 n Amy Rigby with Wreckless Eric The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Amy Rigby became well-known at the age of 37 with her 1996 album Diary of a Mod Housewife. Hailed as “up there with Paul Simon and Randy Newman” as a songwriter, she’s performing with her husband, 1970s pop legend Wreckless Eric. 7.30-11.30pm, £10. • thethunderbolt.net Friday December 9 n Knowle & Totterdown Local History Society Christmas Party Redcatch community centre, Redcatch Road, Knowle, 7.30pm. John Penney will give a short talk, Communicating Christmas, followed by festive food and drinks. • knowleandtotterdownhistory. org.uk Saturday December 10 n Christmas Coffee Morning Bedminster Methodist church, British Road, Bedminster, 10.30am-12noon. With seasonal stalls, tea, coffee, mince pies. n Winter Fair Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street,

Bedminster. 11am-4pm. Festive live music, Farmer Tim’s Barbecue, street food stalls, crystal grotto, wishing tree, Christmas trees for sale, local art, gifts, fairy wand making by Floriography and more. Free! • windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk n Christmas shopping night Victoria Park Baptist Church, Sylvia Avenue, with stalls from jewellery to gifts to delicious handmade macaroons from a variety of talents from all over Bristol. Great opportunity to get a gift for a loved one without the chaos of Broadmead. Helping to raise funds for a local church while spreading Christmas cheer. 7.30-10pm . For details email ruth@themalago.net n Bedminster Winter Lantern Parade Leaves at 4.30pm from St Francis Church, North Street, Southville, processes along North Street, Cannon Street, British Road and back to Compass Point school next to South Street park for hot drinks and fireworks at around 6.15pm. • bwlp.org.uk n The Big ’Un music night Windmill Hill community centre, Vivian Street, with DJ Barry the Bull. 8pm-late. Tonight: Motown

Forceful delivery: Steve and Fran

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n WHAT’S ON Cinderella’s magical show is extended THE MAGIC hasn’t started yet – and already demand for the Tobacco Factory’s Christmas show has meant that the run has been extended. Cinderella: A Fairytale will play at the North Street theatre all the way from December 2 to January 22, giving every fan of this classic Christmas show a chance to see it. Cinderella: A Fairytale was first presented at the Tobacco Factory in 2011. Since then it’s been seen around the country by 60,000 people, been nominated for an Olivier Award and won an Off West End Award. In this version of the classic fairy tale, when Ella’s mother dies she is brought up by her loving father who teaches her the names and calls of the woodland birds that surround their home. But when her father marries again, Ella’s peaceful life is turned upside down by a host of & soul. Quizzes and food. • whca.org.uk n Adrian Sherwood Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster. Live dub set plus full band set by Laid Blak, mixed by Sherwood. Plus guests. 8pm2am. • fiddlers.co.uk • Sunday December 11 n The Wurzels Xmas Show The Tunnels, Temple Meads. Formed in 1966 by Adge Cutler, the Bard of Avonmouth, this bunch of haystack-headed, cider-soaked, not-quite-so-young Avonside lads play good-time traditional Zummerzet Scrumpy ’n’ Western. 7.30pm, £12. • thetunnelsbristol.co.uk Monday December 12 n Totterdown Square Gardening Club Meets outside Tesco, Totterdown on the second Monday of the month to tend the communal planters, 11.45am12.45 pm • tresa.co.uk Wednesday December 14 n The Greatest Story Ever Told A festive musical evening devised and performed by Tim Lewis and Sheila Furneau. Bedminster Methodist Church, British Road, Bedminster, 7pm.

New take on a fairy tale: Cinderella has been seen by 60,000 people new and unpleasant relations. It appears her only allies are the feathered friends, but they are no ordinary birds … The show was created by the Tobacco Factory theatres team and Travelling Light, who also collaborated on 101 Dalmatians and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Together they promise an original and absorbing visual

style, crystal-clear storytelling, original live music and pitchperfect ensemble acting. If you want to be among the first to see it, you can bag bargain £8.50 preview tickets for performances between Friday December 2 and Wednesday December 7. Regular ticket prices are £16 for adults, £11 concessions and £45 for a family of up to four.

Collection for Jessie May Trust. Thursday December 15 n SouthBank Christmas Party SouthBank Club, Dean Lane, Southville.Performance from The Balkany Band, DJs, mulled wine. 8pm. • southbankclub.webs.com Saturday December 17 n Stand Up for the Weekend with Andrew Bird Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, North Street, Southville. “Andrew Bird is always funny and frequently hilarious. He’s a nimble storyteller, with a relaxed, personable style.” Plus guests. Tickets £12; with meal at Hen & Chicken £29. • thecomedybox.co.uk Sunday December 18 n Family Carol Service United Reformed Church, West Street, Bedminster, followed by hot drinks and mince pies in the Church Hall. 11 am. Wednesday December 21 n Mighty Dub Generators Live dub band at Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster. Plus DJ Alexi and DJ Snoopy. 8pm2am. £5 advance, £7 on door. • fiddlers.co.uk Thursday December 22 n London Calling: Joe

Strummer Remembrance Night The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Clash tribute, presented by Death or Glory. 7.30-11.30pm, £6. • thethunderbolt.net Friday December 23 n Retro Electro The Tunnels, Temple Meads. Retro Electro are five musicians from the Bristol and Bath area, playing 1980s music from the likes of Simple Minds, Level 42 and Spandau Ballet. 7.30pm, £10. • thetunnelsbristol.co.uk

Saturday December 31 n New Year’s Eve: Escape the Metropolis Tobacco Factory. Cirque Bijou, Tobacco Factory theatres and the Thali Cafe create an enticing escape for the year’s end by turning the clock back to 1927 and resurrecting the spirit of Metropolis – Fritz Lang’s iconic depiction of a dystopian future

Performances from Saturday December 17 to Friday December 30, and January 7 and 8, are £20 for adults, £15 concessions and £60 for families. There is an interpreted performance using BSL (British Sign Language) on Thursday December 15. And there’s a special relaxed performance on Wednesday January 18 at 6.30pm for those with extra needs. A pre-show information pack will be provided, the house lights will be on, sound and lighting effects will be lessened and a chill out space will be available. PRE-SHOW WORKSHOPS If you want to find out more about the show, join a 60-minute pre-show workshop with Chris Pirie, director of Cinderella: A Fairytale, before the matinee performance on the following dates. Explore the world of the show and help create some of the magic! It’s for ages 6-12 years, and costs £10 per person, on Saturday December 10, Saturday December 17 and Sunday January 7, all at 11am. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com where the workers toil day after day. “We’ll have amazing aerial acts, fire dancing, juggling, burlesque, stilt walking, slack line, hula hooping and interactive walkabout performance.” Live music from the Carny Villans, plus DJs aplenty. From 7.30pm, £35. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com n New Year’s Eve with The 45s The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. The 45s are “A world-class power pop trio who mix the best in Motown, soul, rock and blues with an edge.” Featuring the music of Elvis, Otis Redding and James Brown. A sellout last year. With DJ Kev Regz. £12 • thethunderbolt.net n New Years Eve Party The Tunnels, Temple Meads. With DJ and covers band. 7.30pm-1am, £12. • thetunnelsbristol.co.uk n New Year’s Eve at Zion Three live bands at Zion Bristol, Bishopsworth Road BS13 7LW. Music from The Baskervilles, upcoming South West Indie band, Bristol tribute act Any Winehouse and Dire, a rock/pop covers band. 8pm-1am. • zionbristol.co.uk

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n ARTS Eerie tale of the near future where words are rationed REVIEW Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, Tobacco Factory THE TWO young actors in Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons

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December 2016

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