South Bristol Voice Bedminster November 2017 by South Bristol Voice

southbristolvoice November 2017 No. 25

www.southbristolvoice.co.uk

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Fun in the garden SAY HELLO to Briscroc – the Bedminster-born creature who’s set to become a city emblem. Crafted from hundreds of crocheted pieces, he was set to take a ferry on October 30 from SS Great Britain to a new home in the Underfall yard. Inspired by the mythical sighting of a

THE TOBACCO FACTORY

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• Southville’s secret arts centre Page 22

Jaws, too: Briscroc opens wide for Mr Brunel at the SS Great Britain

GREVILLE SMYTH PARK

HEN & CHICKEN

• Homeless scheme is a really Grand Design Page 13 • Step in to save the Lanterns Page 15 • Help wildlife beat winter Pages 16-17

LION STORES

A NEW chapter is about to be written in Bedminster’s long history of community togetherness with the meeting on Thursday November 2 of a new organisation to replace the community partnership. A new name may be chosen for the umbrella group, which brings together all of Bedminster’s community organisations together with the police and councillors. It’s been known as Greater Bedminster Community Partnership but may be renamed Forum for the Greater Bedminster Community, following the virtual withdrawal of council funding early this year. The meeting is at Acta centre in Gladstone Street at 7pm. All are welcome. It’s thought that priorities will include libraries, waste and litter, parks, traffic and air quality, and involving a diverse cross-section of the community.

Meet my new friend

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crocodile in the Avon, he was created by Bedminster crafter Vicky Harrison and an army of helpers. Next she plans to make a giant woolly Christmas bauble out of a dockside buoy, and a flock of woolly seagulls. Find out how you can get involved: • Facebook: Crafting the City

• Courtyards scheme for North St Page 23 • PLUS An offer for booklovers Page 16

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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, Martin Powell & The Wicked Witch. Deliveries: Greg Champion

Intro SOME PEOPLE DESERVE MORE THAN A MEDAL ONE OF the privileges of being a journalist is that you meet all kinds of inspiring people. All too often they are breaking their backs to help others and get little recognition. One person who has been attracting attention, and deservedly so, is Jasper Thompson, founder of Help Bristol’s Homeless (HBH). When Jasper saw a young man huddled freezing in a doorway last January, he didn’t pass by. He bought the man some food; and then he started thinking what else he could do. HBH is the result: by the end of this winter it will have built 10

You can find South Bristol Voice on Facebook and Twitter facebook.com/ southbristolvoice Twitter: @sbristolvoice Next month’s deadline for editorial and advertising is November 15th container-homes for homeless people, plus a 12-berth bus as a temporary place to sleep. Among other honours, Jasper is now the Bristol Post’s Gold Star Community Hero 2017. A hero in a different way is Vicky Harrison. Almost everyone in Bristol has seen and enjoyed Vicky’s artful creations, such as Briswool, the woolly recreation of the city made entirely of wool. All her projects involve people from the community, and teaching them new skills. Now Briscroc and her flock of woolly gulls are set to be a major draw to the harbourside. Yet Vicky often struggles to fund her projects, and even pays for wool herself. Come on, South Bristol businesses, how about a bit of sponsorship for Vicky? The Voice will chip in.

November 2017

How do I get in touch with ...

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My MP? Karin Smyth MP By email: karin.smyth.mp@ parliament.uk By post: Karin Smyth MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA By phone: 0117 953 3575 In person: Surgeries on Friday November 10 and 24. Call 0117 953 3575 for an appointment.

Another long-lived store bites the dust

My councillor? By post: (all councillors) Brunel House, St George’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UY

Celia Phipps Labour, Bedminster By phone: 07469 413312 By email: Cllr.celia.phipps@bristol.gov.uk Mark Bradshaw Labour, Bedminster. By email: Cllr.mark. bradshaw@bristol.gov.uk By phone: 0117 353 3160 Stephen Clarke Green, Southville By email: Cllr.stephen.clarke@ bristol.gov.uk Charlie Bolton Green, Southville By phone: 07884 736111 By email: Cllr.charlie.bolton@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 Housing benefit 0117 922 2300 Social services 0117 922 2900 Police Inquiries 101 Emergency 999

Fire Inquiries 0117 926 2061 Emergency 999 Greater Bedminster Community Partnership Local forum for the public, councillors, police, council officials and other bodies. Next meeting Thursday November 2, Acta Centre, Gladstone Street. Email gbcpnewsletter@gmail.com

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. We strive to conform to the NUJ Code of Conduct for journalists: • nuj.org.uk/about/nuj-code 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 Co. no. 09522608 | VAT no. 211 0801 76

ANOTHER long-established shop on North Street has shut its doors: DR Butt Master Butcher has closed, thought to be a victim of rising rents and parking restrictions. Butts has kept its other shop in East Street, but it leaves the more upmarket Rare as the only butcher on the Ashton end of North Street. Many shoppers took to social media to voice dismay: “Shame as they did lovely faggots and some of the more unconventional

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cuts of meat too,” said one. “I can remember my dad taking me in there as a little girl, and then he did the same with grandchildren. Such a shame!! Please not another coffee shop!” said another. It’s also led to comments about the gentrification of the street. Denny’s, the traditional bakery, also closed recently, as the trendy Hobbs House bakery was about to open almost opposite, in the former HSBC bank. Several shoppers took to

Facebook to plead with residents to keep using the many traditional businesses which remain on North Street, such as Lion Stores, the hardware store run by Derek Knapman, which is well known as an Aladdin’s cave of homewares. “We all can help and sustain local businesses,” said one woman. “It’s a crying shame Butts have been forced to close. [Buying] a small item each at Lion Stores can go towards keeping them in profit.”

Parents rally round school rated inadequate by Ofsted PARENTS and governors have moved to defend Luckwell primary school after Ofsted inspectors put it into special measures. The school was judged to be Inadequate – the lowest rating – in each of six categories. Ofsted said pupils did not all feel safe in school and the use of racist and homophobic language was not dealt with consistently, or monitored. Children told the inspectors the playing field was “littered with rubbish” and there were areas where they could not be seen by adults. “Leaders and managers do not set firm rules for playground behaviour. They have not ensured that staff fully

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LUCKWELL primary is set to be supervised in turning itself around by Redland Green school. Parents were already being consulted about forming a multi-academy trust (MAT) to include both schools and three others in South Bristol – Ashton Park secondary, Ashton Vale primary and Compass Point primary. Consultation was set to end on October 31 – though the

understand what constitutes safe and acceptable play. As a result, poor behaviour and derogatory language go unchecked,” said the report. Teaching standards were also criticised: teaching of spelling was “weak” and teachers were said not to demand high quality work. The most able pupils aren’t challenged enough, and the school’s leaders, including the governors, haven’t tackled weaknesses with the urgency required, said Ofsted. There was implied criticism of the head, Kevin Jones, and of the governors for not checking that the information that they receive from him is accurate. Online, parents leapt to the school’s defence. “We just don’t agree with how the school is being portrayed. Of course, there are problems, which are being dealt with – but doesn’t every school?” said one. Several

criticised the portrayal of pupils using racist or homophobic language. Another, however, said: “My daughter was bullied at that school and they didn’t really do anything to stop this happening!” A statement from the board of governors at Luckwell primary school, said: “Everyone at the school is deeply disappointed with the outcome of our recent Ofsted inspection. We would like to reassure families that we have acted swiftly to address many of the areas of concern identified in Ofsted’s report, particularly around ensuring pupils are safe and tackling behaviour issues. Families have been invited to a meeting at the school to discuss the report and ask any questions they may have. “As the result of the inspection’s findings we will be joining a multi-academy trust in January, sponsored by Redland Green secondary school. “A transition plan is currently council is stating that a decision being put in place in partnership to join the trust has already been with Bristol city council and taken. Redland Green’s head, Sarah Baker, said that by working with Find Redland us on Green school and we will continue our work on the Luckwell’s staff, it would be areas for improvement identified possible to make improvements by Ofsted.” quickly. Cllr Claire Hiscott, cabinet Under the MAT, all schools member for education and skills, would retain their own head said: “We recognise that the teachers and governors, but would school needs more focused come under the overall leadership support to help it improve, so of one head, and the MAT trust. It’s together we’re developing a claimed the move will help all the detailed plan which addresses schools achieve the standards of the areas of concern raised by the best performers. Ofsted.”

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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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Kamil murder verdict exposes failings THE MENTALLY ill man who killed Knowle asylum seeker Kamil Ahmed might never have been released from a secure hospital if the correct information had been given to a tribunal, a court has been told. Jeffery Barry, 51, was convicted by a jury at Bristol Crown Court on October 17 of the murder of Mr Ahmed, at a supported living house for people with mental health difficulties at 246 Wells Road. Barry denied murder, saying he was not responsible for his actions. The Crown Prosecution service said after the verdict that Barry was a racist. “Barry’s long-standing animosity towards Mr Ahmad ... was based in large part on Barry’s racist views,” said John Penny, senior crown prosecutor for CPS South West. Barry had claimed to others that Kamil was a terrorist killer and a paedophile – views for which there is no evidence

• Tribunal missed vital data on killer’s psychosis medication • Staff at home tried to stop Barry’s return • He had threatened Kamil over years whatever.Barry killed and then mutilated Mr Ahmed only hours after being released from the Kewstoke mental health unit in North Somerset. Staff at the Wells Road home, which is run by the Milestones trust, tried to stop Mr Barry’s release when they heard it had been ordered by a mental health tribunal on July 6, 2016, the court was told. But they were too late – Barry was on his way home. After being dropped off by his brother, he spent the evening in two pubs

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n NEWS Radio station seeks new licence SOUTH Bristol’s very own radio station is applying for a licence to broadcast on FM. Base Radio, which broadcasts over the internet, is asking for letters of support to be sent to broadcast

regulator Ofcom to support its application. It’s holding a meeting in the Withywood Centre on November 28 at 7.30pm to discuss its future. • baseradiobristol.co.uk

Arena could be delayed yet again

Kamil Ahmed: Tried to stay away from Barry in the home they shared – first in Charlie’s bar in Wells Road, Knowle, and then in the Long Bar in Old Market. He returned in the early hours, when he knocked on Mr Ahmed’s door and then stabbed him more than 25 times before mutilating his body. Shortly before the killing, he called a mental health crisis line saying he was insane and not responsible for his actions. Barry has paranoid schizophrenia and had previously spent around 20 years in secure mental health wards. Since 2010 he has mostly been living in a flat at the Milestones home, with his condition largely controlled by the powerful anti-psychotic drug clozapine. However, on two occasions, in 2013 and at the end of 2015, he was forced for health reasons to stop taking clozapine. Both times his behaviour deteriorated. In 2013 he attacked Mr Ahmed and made threats to kill members of the public and Milestones staff. He also lost his sexual inhibitions and began to talk inappropriately about sex. In June 2016, he was seen wandering the home naked performing sexual acts and making threats. In court, consultant psychiatrist Dr Roger Thomas said the mental

health tribunal which agreed to Barry’s release had the wrong information on a crucial point. The tribunal was told that Barry had not been taking clozapine for a year and a half. In fact, he had been off the drug only for a few months, since the end of 2015. Instead he was taking other, less powerful drugs. Dr Thomas argued that in the first half of 2016, the effects off the clozapine were gradually wearing off, leading Barry to slip into psychotic behaviour. But the tribunal, thinking that Barry had been off clozapine for much longer, “would have assumed that he was well because he was being treated with drugs other than clozapine,” said Dr Thomas. If they had had the true information, “I would have hoped that they would have come to a different conclusion,” said Dr Thomas. He said he did not think the tribunal should have released Barry. Barry will be sentenced on November 1o. A serious case review co-ordinated by Bristol’s adult safeguarding board will look at the role of the NHS, social services and others. It is not expected to report until at least next year. • A longer version of this report is on the Voice website.

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PLANS for a Bristol arena look likely to be redrafted – which could lead to more delays beyond the projected 2020 opening. In a heavy hint that the whole project is being looked at afresh, a senior Labour politician has said that the party inherited a “millstone” from previous mayor George Ferguson and the new administration “needs to start from scratch”. Bruce Yates, who is Bristol East campaigns officer and chair of the Labour party in the St George branch, was quoted in the Bristol Post as saying: “The truth is this project, while potentially massive for Bristol, was subject to a number of poor decisions that led to growing costs and underfunding. Decisions that were taken had to be re-thought by the Labour administration.” Mr Yates was responding to a plea from Mr Ferguson for the arena plan to be pushed ahead. Officially, mayor Marvin Rees is committed to building an arena at Temple Meads. Planning permission for a 12,000 capacity venue, with the

ability to stage theatre events and concerts of differing sizes, was granted in April 2016, weeks before Mr Rees took office. But the council could not agree a budget with Bouygues UK, its contractor. It’s thought the cost of £93 million could grow to £120m or more. It is now in talks with another developer, Buckingham Group, while conducting a value-for-money review of the whole scheme. No update is expected before December. It appears that the council is planning a simpler, and cheaper, arena that can still hold 12,000 people. It may lose features such as the ability to stage ice shows. However, if the plans are changed significantly they will need new planning permission which could add a year or more to the timetable. Some of the city’s Tories have called for the arena to be built at Filton instead. Conservative leader Mark Weston described as an “embarrassment” the news that Cardiff is to get a second arena, to open within four years.

A weekend of culture MORE than 75 artists showed off their achivements in more than 40 venues around Windmill Hill on October 7 and 8 – and

the weather stayed fine for some open-air performances in Victoria Park. More pictures are on the Voice website.

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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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November 2017

n NEWS JOHN’S Lane in Bedminster Place for baby ST Road shut after pedestrian hit was closed for several hours PARENTS have a new place to socialise with their babies and toddlers with the opening of the Milk Shed at 26 North Street, aiming to fill a gap left since the closure of Bubbahub and the Hungry Caterpillar. It offers a place for parties, a café, and events and workshops from baby massage to weaning. A Voice reviewer said: “Small but well organised. Delicious cake and a great hot chocolate. Lots of great things for babies to do. Definitely aimed at the nonwalkers as not much space for toddling without causing chaos but a nice, happy place to spend some time with your little one.” • Facebook: The Milk Shed

Panto in a day CHILDREN and adults are invited to create a community panto all in one day. This year, it’s Aladdin, the third annual event run by Acting Out and Launchpad. It’s from 10am-4.30pm at the Stackpool Playhouse (St Thomas Mar Thoma Church) in Stackpool Road on Saturday December 16. • www.actingoutdrama.com

Vote for park YOUR vote could help Bedminster’s Dame Emily park install a water supply which would make community gardening projects much easier. The park is in the running for a grant from the Aviva Community Fund. Votes can be registered until Tuesday November 21. • community-fund.aviva.co.uk/ voting/project/view/17-2113

after a pedestrian suffered head injuries in a traffic accident. Police said a man in his 60s was hit by a car at about 7.30pm on Sunday October 8. The road

was closed until 10.30pm while officers inspected the scene and the road was cleared. The pedestrian is not said to

have had life-changing injuries, according to police. The driver is believed to have been unharmed.

Mayor adds harbour homes scheme to list of bold ideas A tube plan and homes at Temple Meads also floated THE SWING bridge over Bristol Harbour will be torn down to make room for hundreds of homes if mayor Marvin Rees gets his way. In his State of the City address on October 18, the mayor said the new area could be called Western Harbour. It’s not clear exactly where the homes would go – perhaps near the end of Greville Smyth park and around the Create centre. If so, the idea looks certain to arouse opposition. Mr Rees said: “We are putting together a proposal that will tear down the old, ugly road network across the western end of the harbour, build a new bridge across the river at a lower point and develop the available land on both sides of the Avon, bringing more affordable housing to the city centre, extending the harbour as a residential area to the west.” Mr Rees also revealed in his

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Reimagining the harbour is not new, pointed out Bedminster Cllr Mark Bradshaw. This picture was part of a 2011 vision by John Savage of Business West. The swing bridge is replaced by a lower, lifting bridge

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speech that he has applied to the Housing Infrastructure Fund for £100 million to build up to 4,000 homes in the enterprise zone which surrounds Temple Meads. He wants the area to have a mix of social housing and homes for private sale. He also wants to bring “a new retail and hospitality offer to Temple Meads, with a more direct link to the city centre”. Adding to his list of high ambitions, he returned to his hope for a Bristol underground network. The idea was widely

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and one or two favourite toys. Make sure outdoor cats are provided with a litter tray when kept inside overnight. Canine and feline pheromone products (such as Adaptil and Feliway) can help relax your pet in strange or stressful situations. They’re available as a spray (great for around a den) or a plug-in diffuser. They’re best used for a few days before fireworks start and can help to encourage your pet to relax. Your vet can recommend a product to help. If your pet is frightened of fireworks and you

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derided by other politicians as a pipe dream, because it could cost billions and Bristol’s geology makes tunnelling a challenge. Mr Rees said, though, that outside investment could turn the dream into reality. Sources later suggested the investment could come from China. An early study into ground conditions is encouraging, he said. “Initial feedback is that ground conditions don’t look too problematic and that with the right level of investment, [it] is perfectly buildable,” he said.

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ASK A VET: HOW CAN I HELP MY PET COPE WITH FIREWORKS? NCREASINGLY popular at celebrations, fireworks can be very traumatic for our pets. Some simple changes around the house can help reduce stress for both dogs and cats. Dogs should be walked before dark so they’re home before any fireworks start, and cats should be kept in the house. Make sure identity tags and microchip details are up to date so that if pets do run off they’re able to be reunited with you. When fireworks do start try and act as normally as possible. Keep curtains drawn to block

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n NEWS COUNCIL CUTS IN FOCUS TOILETS FLUSHED AWAY EIGHTEEN public toilets look set for closure, and businesses encouraged to open their toilets for public use. In consultation, 1,093 people backed the closures combined with a Business/Community Toilet Scheme, like the one which already exists in Bedminster. It would mean all the councilrun toilets would shut, except for some in parks. Toilets in East Street, Bedminster; Greville Smyth Park, Ashton; Wapping Wharf and Bridgwater Road would close.

NOT SO LOCAL NEIGHBOURHOOD meetings may return to some areas after funding was cut earlier this year. The Greater Bedminster Community Partnership is reforming, with an AGM at 7pm on November 2 in Acta centre, Gladstone Street. But decisions on spending CIL or “planning gain” money spun off from developers look set to be taken less locally. The council looks likely to approve six area meetings for CIL – far fewer than the 14 partnerships which used to do the job across the city.

Demands for an inquiry into departure of chief executive THE ROW over the departure of council chief executive Anna Klonowski in September continues amid claims she was given a £70,000 payoff. Lib-Dem, Conservative and Green councillors have called for an independent review of how Ms Klonowski was appointed, and her departure after only seven months in the job. Several questions put to the council about the affair by the Voice remain unanswered, four weeks after they were submitted. We asked whether the correct process was followed in appointing Ms Klonowski, after claims that a proper vote was not recorded at two successive committee meetings. It has been claimed that one meeting voted against her appointment and a third meeting was called before the vote went in her favour. Unusually, both the Tories and the Lib Dems abstained at a

Marvin Rees and Anna Klonowski vote in full council in February to approve Ms Klonowski’s appointment. Gary Hopkins, Lib Dem leader and Knowle councillor, questioned if Ms Klonowski was entitled to a payoff, given that she resigned from the council to look after her elderly parents. He wants the council’s audit committee to look into the matter. The ongoing row saw an attempt to ban Cllr Hopkins and Conservative Cllr Richard Eddy from a human resources

committee meeting on October 16. Mr Rees has called the pair “untrustworthy and irresponsible” for their comments on Ms Klonowski. Cllr Eddy and Cllr Hopkins deny they have revealed anything confidential. Mr Rees said Ms Klonowski was not paid anything beyond what her contract entitled her to. But he did not give details, and the council has told the Voice the matter is confidential. Green Cllr Paula O’Rourke said: “Mayor Rees’s refusal to explain his behaviour in unnecessarily awarding six months’ pay to the departing chief exec is inexcusable given the current climate of cuts and his repeated insistence that the city must find savings. “This is money that could pay for about 15 lollipop crossing attendants, or even protect a number of libraries.”

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November 2017

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n NEWS

COUNCIL CUTS IN FOCUS

Lollipop patrols safe for another term LOLLIPOP patrols are safe at least until the end of the spring school term in April 2018, the Voice understands. There was anger among parents of children at several South Bristol schools when it was revealed that the council cuts threatened their crossing patrols. Holy Cross primary in Southville, which has never had a lollipop patrol and is in desperate need of a safe crossing because it is on a dangerous double blind

bend, will not be allowed one. Other schools at risk include Compass Point South Street primary and children’s centre, Parson Street primary, St Mary Redcliffe primary, Knowle Park primary, St Philip’s Marsh nursery and Hillcrest primary. At Luckwell primary, a child was injured nearby in March, after the patrol on Duckmoor Road was removed under a council spending freeze. However, the school is now listed

to retain both its two patrols. At Hillcrest, parents marched back and forth across the crossing in front of TV cameras. The school also had the highest number of responses to the consultation – 119 complaints. There are hopes that some of the patrols can be saved, as the savings possible are not great – about £3,000 for each patrol. The council cabinet is expected to make its decision on crossing patrols in December.

Mayor has hope for libraries; but what about Marksbury? CONSULTATION on cuts to Bristol’s libraries has revealed a public preference for an option which would keep open Knowle library, in the Broadwalk centre. Residents were asked to choose from three options, all of which propose closing 17 libraries and leaving 10 open. In South Bristol, Wick Road, Bishopsworth, Marksbury Road and Whitchurch libraries are threatened in each of the three plans. Filwood and Stockwood would also close under Option 1, which saves Knowle. Bedminster library and the Central library are kept open under all the options. The council’s survey results showed a majority of respondents – 1,341 – said they didn’t want any of the closure options. A further 1,037 voted for Option 1, twice as many as chose either of the other two options.

PLEA FOR MORE DROP-IN SERVICES ONLY 1,607 people responded to consultation about community links services for people with dementia, mental health or disability needs – less than half of the 3,473 who voiced an opinion about libraries. At eight public meetings held in the summer to discuss the whole range of neighbourhood cuts, the community services attracted only two questions, or one per cent of the 214 submitted. However, when discussions

The council is studying whether other services can move into library buildings to help keep them open. Mayor Marvin Rees said plans now being studied “could see a library service continue for most areas currently served”. No details of how this might work have been revealed. However, Marksbury Road is one of only two libraries where no other uses have been identified. Cllr Jon Wellington said the news might not spell an end for the library and the council was still looking at options. “I know the people living around there are very concerned,” he said. “We have got to try to keep the building for community use because there’s not much else round there.” Bristol’s Liberal Democrats, whose leader is Knowle councillor Gary Hopkins, said the council is belatedly coming

round to the idea of using volunteers and setting up a trust to run the libraries. At some libraries, including Marksbury Road, friends groups and library users don’t want the responsibility to fall on volunteers. At Wick Road there is also doubt whether sufficient volunteers could be found – it is estimated that 20 volunteers are needed to do the work of one full-time paid librarian. Cllr Hopkins said the council should look at using paid library staff to supervise volunteers and keep more libraries open. An all-party group of councillors, called the ‘task and finish’ group, also back the idea, he said. “But because they are trying to do things in a great rush, they are going to destroy things before they can get around to it,” he said. The cabinet will decide on the library cuts next January.

were held at the public meetings, a third of comments on the service voiced concern about “the cumulative impact the cuts would have on the vulnerable members of society, by increasing disadvantage and isolation”. A council report said: “A theme that was expressed in all the meetings was that disabled people are being unfairly targeted and unfairly discriminated against and that they have been the subject of repeated cuts. This includes cuts to welfare benefits, changes to respite provision, as well as previous changes to day services

in Bristol over the last few years.” In the council’s online survey, the vast majority – 84 per cent – backed plans to keep drop-in day centres open, with a smaller majority of 61 per cent agreeing that transport to the centres shouldn’t be provided to everyone. Most backed an earlier opening time for the centres of 8am, and a later close at 8pm. Many in South Bristol asked for extra drop-in services. Top of the list was Hartcliffe and Withywood with 160 requests, followed by Bedminster with 109. People in Knowle made 75 requests.

n NEWS Sing along with your bump A NEW choir for pregnant women aims to provide a fun space for mums-to-be to sing with each other and their bumps. Starting on November 1, the choir will run every Wednesday from 7-8.30pm at Windmill Hill City Farm in Bedminster. Women at any stage of pregnancy are welcomed and no singing experience is necessary. Studies have shown that foetuses begin to respond to sound by around 18-20 weeks. Singer Rosie Sleightholme, who is herself in her third trimester of pregnancy, set up the choir after finding there were no singing groups for pregnant women. She believes singing is hugely beneficial for expectant mums’ well-being, and is also a great way for mothers to connect with their unborn child. The drop-in price is £7; to find out more email Rosie at: • rosiesingssomesongs@hotmail. co.uk

Help us make the Vale tidier ASHTON Vale Together (AVT), a group of residents who try to make Ashton Vale a nicer place to live, are appealing for more people to join in monthly litterpicking sessions. Meetings are held at Ashton Vale Community Centre, Risdale Road, in the side room, and are advertised on local notice boards. AVT’s annual general meeting is on Tuesday November 14 from 7-8.30pm at the community centre. To find out more, email ashtonvaletogether@gmail.com or call 07840 680516. • Facebook: Ashton Vale Together

Chanson-along LOVERS of French song will be drawn to the Hen & Chicken in North Street, Bedminster, on Friday November 10, when accordion player Jacques and singer Corrine perform songs from the likes of Edith Piaf and Yves Montand, as well as some compositions of their own. The event is organised by Alliance Française de Bristol. It starts at 8pm and tickets are £10. For details call 07932 377130.

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

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n NEWS

November 2017

BEDMINSTER GREEN

‘Don’t sell our trees and green space to be built on’ COMMUNITY planning group WHaM has asked the council to exclude the open space on Bedminster Green from the land to be built on by developer Urbis. The green area between Whitehouse Street and Malago Road has several mature trees and is part of of Plot 5, one the biggest sites slated for redevelopment in the wider Bedminster Green area. The council owns most of Plot 5 and has a development agreement for it with Urbis. Urbis is proposing an

18-storey high rise, a block of 300 student homes and an underground car park, which would mean the trees and the green being ripped up. Urbis would provide other open spaces and restore the River Malago. WHaM’s chair, Howard Purse, has written to Cllr Paul Smith, the cabinet member for housing, urging him not to sell the green for development. “We fail to see how the entire removal of the only green space in the area, including established trees, and a reduction of this

More consultation promised at school and the city farm

Experts struggle to convince residents on energy centre

THE POLLUTION from a proposed energy centre to serve the new Bedminster Green development will be negligible and will pose no risk to residents, a public meeting has been told. The new plant would provide heating, hot water and power to about 1,000 new homes planned to be built around Bedminster Green. It would generate about 2.5 megawatts of electricity and 6MW of heat at peak times, powered by natural gas. A packed room at the Hen & Chicken pub in North Street was told that the new centre will not harm children at the nursery at Windmill Hill City Farm, which is next door to the proposed site off Clarke Street, or pupils at St Mary Redcliffe primary school, a few hundred yards away. Many of those present were not convinced. “The wind is

predominantly from the south west, and it blows towards the school,” said one woman. “It’s already an area that has a high concentration of pollutants. Don’t add to it!” Another woman cited figures from a Danish study of similar combined heat and power plants, which found that they produce tiny amounts of potentially toxic chemicals such as arsenic, formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds. Duncan Valentine, a director of Energy Networks Europe, one of the firms in a partnership behind the plans, said he had studied the Danish paper and had looked to see how much of the toxic chemicals would be released – and said they would be so low

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space by nearly 50 per cent … is an improvement to the public realm,” wrote Mr Purse. WHaM is also unhappy that the green would cease to be public and any open space that replaced it would be under private control. “Privately owned public spaces are not subject to bylaws but governed by restrictions drawn up the landowner and usually enforced by private security companies. Our streets and public spaces should not be privately owned and controlled.

as to to be unmeasurable. Far more significant, he said, was lower nitrogen dioxide (NO) emissions from the plant – 30 per cent lower than if 1,000 homes each had their own boiler. In future the plant will be able to run on hydrogen, seen as the clean gas of the future, when fossil fuels run low. It could also run on naturally-produced biogas. It would emit 1.9 micrograms of NO per cubic metre of air, said Mr Valentine. This is much lower than the EU legal limit for air pollution of 40 mcg/m3. But Mr Valentine said this is far exceeded by traffic pollution on Malago Road and Bedminster Parade, where levels reach an illegal 60mcg/m3, and in the city centre, where NO levels exceed 90mcg/m3. One parent with a child at Windmill Hill City Farm said she had only just heard of the plan. “I just cannot think of a worse place to put it,” she said. Other parents had also not heard there might be a power station with a 31m chimney next door, she said. Mr Valentine responded that in Cambridge, a very similar plant is a few feet away from people’s homes and does not cause problems. And it is quiet – planning regulations say it must be 5 decibels quieter than the background noise level in the area at dead of night. He said the pollution would disperse high above the area, over at least one square kilometre.

These are a legacy too important to be sold off,” Mr Purse said. Cllr Smith told WHaM that he did not want to delay the project further. He said the Urbis plan offered 30 per cent affordable homes and other “substantial benefits” including an upgrade of Bedminster station, and the potential for key worker housing. However, Cllr Smith is reported to have told a meeting hosted by Bristol Labour Party on October 18 that he did not want to see student accommodation on Plot 5.

When it is measured at receptors on the ground it would have dispersed so much it would make a negligible difference, he said. Richard Clarke, managing director of developer Urbis, said the plant would be managed by a new firm, South Bristol Energy, which would offer grants to help with energy saving measures for up to 20 local homes each year. Mr Clarke promised that meetings would be held to consult people at the city farm and the primary school. A planning application for the centre is expected by December. • Correction: The Totterdown edition of this paper stated the plant’s emissions as 40 mcg/m3. This was wrong: our apologies.

THE ALTERNATIVES PEOPLE at the public meeting asked about other ways of generating power at Bedminster Green, or if it had to be produced there at all. • Council rules and government guidance say that large developments have to generate power and heat; • Solar power to generate the same amount of electricity (2.5MW) would cover six or seven acres; • Wind turbines would be needed in high numbers and cover a huge area; • Ground source heat pumps are not practical on this scale: they would have to cut through 30-40m of Bristol clay.

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n NEWS

TEMPLE CIRCUS

Student flats will be built but they do need planning permit, says developer Investors say they can’t get answers; We are preparing a statement, says firm A FORMER hotel near Temple Meads will be converted into student accommodation, insists a property firm, despite the qualms of some of its investors. The Voice has been contacted by a South Bristol investor who ploughed £10,000 into the Grosvenor Student Accommodation, widely advertised online. The project is a proposed conversion of the derelict Grosvenor hotel, one of two old hotels on an island site opposite Temple Meads station. The plan appears to be a joint venture between two London firms – Grosvenor Property Developers Ltd and Earlcloud Ltd. Earlcoud owns the building although, according to a statement made to Bristol city council’s planning department, Grosvenor is in the process of taking over the ownership. Grosvenor promises investors “a 7.5 per cent net return guaranteed for five years” in return for the £99,000 price of a student studio. The studios have been advertised since February 2017, on several websites which still claim the building will be ready by the third quarter of 2017 – which ended on September 30. It’s not clear whether any work has taken place on the building this year. The project appears a long way from completion, with the building shrouded in scaffolding and substantial amounts of greenery growing out of the roof. One

How it is: The Grosvenor hotel, shrouded in scaffolding investor, who does not want to be named, has told the Voice he believes promises made by Grosvenor have been broken. He has asked for his £10,000 back, which he made as a deposit on two of the 144 “high spec student studios”. His solicitors have been unable to get a response from Grosvenor. Grosvenor’s phone number has not worked on the numerous occasions the Voice has tried to call; a recorded voice cuts in, saying “Sorry, there is no reply.” The company provided a statement to the Voice on October 18. Signed by someone calling themselves only “Russ”, the firm said it was preparing a statement to its purchasers “which will be released in the next eight weeks or so”. The Voice had put several questions to Grosvenor, asking whether any work had taken place on the property, whether the proposed conversion was feasible given the condition of the building, and more. Grosvenor said the questions were “hardly objective and are clearly slanted”. “We are not proposing to answer each of your questions,” said the email. The company now accepts

that converting the hotel into HOTELS ON AN ISLAND student accommodation will THE GROSVENOR hotel sits on a need planning permission. It has traffic island next to its Victorian engaged Bath-based architects neighbour, the George & Railway. BBA to prepare plans. Previously The George, which is closer to it had told investors and its own Temple Meads, is the subject of a marketing partners that council-backed plan to preserve permission was not needed, its Grade II-listed facade, and build because the student use was a giant glass cube behind it to covered by the existing planning house the Engine Shed business permission for a hotel. incubator. This application is Grosvenor told the Voice: “Q3 likely to be decided by December. 2017 was a target date but for a The council-backed plan for variety of reasons which will be the Temple Meads Enterprise explained to our purchasers this Zone is also seeking outline has slipped. The investments are permission to later demolish the subject to planning permission Grosvenor and replace it with being obtained. All purchasers are 27,000 sq m of offices. This plan legally represented and have taken claims the Grosvenor is not worth their own advice. We are working saving and casts doubt on the on some extant queries and will condition of the building. respond as soon as we can. The road around the west side “No admissions are made and of the island site is being torn up we deny any misrepresentation. in a year-long project to remove We are not going to conduct a the Temple Circus roundabout. dialogue through the media. This It’s not clear how the council is a commercial matter between plan could succeed without us and a number of high net ownership of the Grosvenor. BBA worth individuals who are legally Architects, acting for Grosvenor represented and we don’t PROPERTY MAINTENANCE Property Developers, has filed an propose to comment further.” objection to thePAINTING plan for offices. The Voice has been in touch INTERIOR & EXTERIOR A campaign exists to save the with a second investor who says FENCING • PATIOS • LANDSCAPING Grosvenor, which is locally listed, he has been unable to speak to which English• Heritage also LOGhis STORESand • GUTTERING FASCIAS Grosvenor and has not had wants to see saved. queries answered.

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n NEWS

November 2017

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n NEWS

Fireworks and bonfires

Getting to know new head at tea PREFECTS at Merchants’ Academy in Withywood and their families were invited to an afternoon tea with the chair of governors Colin Skellett and the new principal Sam Williamson. The prefects, from Years 11, 12 and 13, have an important

leadership role, helping out with break and lunch supervision, volunteering at academy events such as sports day and open evenings, and mentoring and supporting new students. Mrs Williamson is pictured with Year 12 and 13 prefects.

We know boys often see things a little differently

build the bonfire from 3pm, refreshments and beer stall from 5.30pm, Guy competition 6pm, fire lit at 6.15pm. Organisers have warned that no fireworks are allowed, and if fireworks are let off, there is a risk the event may lose its licence. • vpag.org.uk n Bristol Telephones RFC Annual Fireworks Display, BTRA Sports Ground, Stockwood Lane, Stockwood BS14 8SJ. Fireworks, BBQ food and bar. Gates open at 5.30pm, fireworks at 7pm. Adults £6, children £3, family (two adults and two children) £15. n Festival of Light Trinity Centre, Trinity Road BS2 0NW. Gates open at 6pm. Invisible Circus, outdoor activities, bonfire, fireworks and winter treats. From 8pm, move inside for music from the likes of Evil Usses plus DJs. For more firework displays across Bristol see: • visitbristol.co.uk/whats-on/ bonfire-night-displays-bristol

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Sam Williamson, new principal at Merchants Academy, with prefects

Friday November 3 n Knowle Cricket Club Broad Walk, Knowle BS4 2QN. The tenth anniversary for the KCC bonfire and fireworks. Hot food, hot and cold drinks, tuck shop. Gates open at 4.30pm; fireworks at 6.45pm. Adults £5, children £3, family (two adults and two children) £15. Details: 0117 977 5255 n Compass Point school South Street, Bedminster. Gates open at 6pm and the fireworks start at 7pm. Entrance is £10 for up to five people, or £3 each. Under fives are free. There will be games, stalls and food. n Perry Court E-Act Academy Great Hayles Road, Hengrove BS14 0AX. Gates open 4.30pm, display at 6pm. Family tickets £14 for up to four, single ticket £6. Food and drink. • perrycourtprimary.co.uk. Sunday November 5 Victoria Park Bonfire Organised by VPAG, the Victoria Park Action Group. Volunteers

Wanted: Ideas that could help save Ashton Court A MEETING to decide ways of saving Ashton Court’s 15th C mansion will be held at the historic house on November 24. Bristol Civic Society is hosting the event alongside Bristol city council. The council is closing its events business, which hires out the mansion for weddings and other events, at the end of the year, because it is losing money. The civic society is concerned

that the house could be boarded up and even suffer vandalism. The cost of bringing the whole building back into use is estimated at around £20 million. Any campaign to save the mansion will also have to focus on the 860-acre grounds, which have been nominated as one of Britain’s best parks (see right). The council’s plans to expand income from its parks depend

heavily on increasing income from Ashton Court and its grounds. If a campaign is started to place the estate in a charitable trust, it’s not clear how the council can continue to earn money from the site. Tickets to the event are free but must be booked online. • eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-futureof-ashton-court-mansiontickets-39224746272

All aboard for next stage of journey to help the homeless SOUTH Bristol’s efforts to help people without a home have shifted up another gear with the arrival of a double-decker bus. It’s the fulfilment of a long-held ambition for Jasper Thompson, founder of Help Bristol’s Homeless (HBH), who is now getting started with homeless supporters and other volunteers to convert the bus. They aim to turn it into sleeping accommodation for 12 people, sited at the charity’s temporary home, a vacant building site in Malago Road, Bedminster. Jasper expects the works to take several months. But by the end of winter he also expects to have 10 shipping containers converted into temporary homes. He’s calling the bus project HBH 360 Winx, which he explained thus: “Forty winks is the same as a power nap, or 10 minutes shut eye. We looked up the average adult’s recommended night’s sleep, which is six hours, so we multiplied 10 x 6 x 6 which gave us 360. Three sixty is an

expression used for a turn around, which is an aim of the project – to support the homeless to turn their lives around!” The bus, which used to work the 75/76 route, was donated by First Bus. Bristol companies and trades people are falling over themselves to help HBH, with trades people donating their skills and equipment to convert the containers. Much of the work is done by homeless people. The charity is also celebrating achieving national fame by proving to be one of the most talked-about attractions at the Grand Designs Live show in Birmingham’s NEC. Jasper was interviewed by Kevin McCloud, presenter of the Channel 4 series Grand Designs, as pictured on the front page. A specially-fitted out container home was transported to Birmingham by Network Rail after a flurry of activity at Malago Road to finish it in time. • Facebook: Help Bristol’s Homeless

Christmas fair

Old Bemmie

THERE’S a Grand Christmas Fair at Bedminster Methodist Church in British Road on Saturday November 25 from 11am to 2pm. With lots of stalls, refreshments and a visit from Father Christmas, it’s in aid of homeless charity Julian Trust and church funds.

LEW Pedlar, editor of Remember Be’minster, will be talking about memories of Bedminster at the meeting of Greater Bedminster Old People’s Forum on Wednesday November 15. It’s from 10am-noon at Monica Wills House, West Street, Bedminster.

NOMINATED AS BRITAIN’S BEST PARK Ashton Court estate Dame Emily park, Southville Redcatch park, Knowle Victoria park, Windmill Hill Northern Slopes, Knowle To vote for a park to reach the shortlist go to • fieldsintrust.org/bestpark

HOW YOU CAN HELP

James Freeman of First Bus hands the keys to Jasper Thompson

HBH holds a Christmas fair on Saturday November 25, from11am-2pm, at the Elephant House in Dean Street, Bedminster. There will be a chance to meet Santa, lots of stalls, tea, coffee and refreshments, a tombola, raffle and more. Entrance is 50p. • Online shoppers who sign up as supporters can earn HBH as much as £300 when they buy car insurance, for example. • easyfundraising.org.uk

Happy Thanksgiving!

Join us for an evening of songs, hymns and spiritual songs from Harding University Choir us for traditional 2017 fromAmerican-style 7pm. onJoin Thursday 18thaMay

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Thursday, 23rd November 6pm Children’s Activities 7pm Thanksgiving Meal

Bedminster Church of Christ

Harding University is a Christian University 298 St John’s Lane based in Searcy, Arkansas. They will be Bedminster, Bristol BS3 5AY visiting Bristol as part of their UK tour.

www.churchofchristbristol.org For more information contact JasonFacebook: Snethen 07795560990 bristolchurchofchrist Church of Christ, 298 St Johns More details fromLane, Jason Snethen Bristol, BS3 5AY on 07795 560990 www.churchofchristbristol.org www.facebook.com/bristolchurchofchrist

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

n NEWS

The winners

WE HAD a terrific entry to all our competitions in the October issue of South Bristol Voice. Not surprisingly, lots of you were keen to get your hands on two VIP tickets to watch a football or rugby game in the Heineken Lounge at Ashton Gate. The winner is Edward Holloway of Southville. Winner of a family ticket to SS Great Britain is James White of Bedminster. The winner of a night out at Totterdown Canteen in Wells Road is Suzanne Jones of Knowle. The winner of the New Year’s Eve night out at the Thunderbolt in Bath Road, Totterdown, is Leslie Oram.

Tea service

VOLUNTEERS are needed for South Bristol tea party groups, to take isolated older guests to Sunday afternoon tea once a month. To find out more email Helen.ker@contact-the-elderly. org.uk or call (free) 01225 873812. • contact-the-elderly.org.uk

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2017

mar B ristol Gram l Schoo

n NEWS

Maze is finally set for plants to arrive despite vandalism EVERYTHING is on course to see the Berry Maze at Malago Greenway completed on time – despite the attention of some thoughtless young vandals. The maze, which will feature 232 berry plants, ranging from blackberries to jostaberries (a cross between a blackcurrant and a gooseberry), is now a reality, with posts and planters ready for planting on November 18. Organiser Raluca McKett told the Voice that despite countless hours of hard work throughout September and October, the surprises came one after the other, not all of them pleasant. After the initial shock of finding rubbish buried underneath the weeds, which had to be cleared before the Open Doors Day event September 9, volunteers got down to the almost unending

on Off Clift e l g n a Tri

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Finishing touches: Volunteers install a mosaic as one of the feature of the maze

task of digging. They turned up piles of shoes, wellies, cassettes, car radios, bricks, knives, forks, cables and car parts. As one of the volunteers, Anna, put it: “Anyone thinking of building their own car should apply – we found nearly all the bits you need!” Meanwhile, mulch has been laid, wooden posts driven in, planters built and wires set up to support the plants. The volunteers worked bravely through the most challenging situations (even in the pouring rain), often accompanied by the runners from Good Gym. Raluca said : “Nearly every weekend the Good Gym came to our rescue – they came for one hour at a time and were given the most difficult tasks, but they’ve done brilliantly! One of the children saw them coming and said ‘Here come the superheros!’ I don’t think he was far off from

the truth.” Unfortunately, little more than a day after the posts and wires were installed, on October 16, three boys aged about 13 or 14 decided it would be fun to swing from the wires, breaking four of the posts. Despite the upset caused to the volunteers, the vandalism was treated as a minor glitch and the damage repaired. The volunteers will be in Brixham Road Open Space, just between Parson Street and Marksbury Road, between 9am and 4pm on November 18, to plant over 230 berry plants and cover the bedding with mulch. It’s planned to create a banner commemorating everyone who has given time to the maze, and the many South Bristol businesses who have donated funds and equipmment. More information by emailing yourberrymaze@gmail.com. • Facebook: @TheBerryMaze2017

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Funny six-pack THE COMEDY Depot at Zion continues on November 24 with no fewer than six comedians. The Bishopsworth Road venue welcomes Jo Public, a 50-year-old guitar-playing songstress who makes funny songs from her life experiences

southbristolvoice

– “Absolutely brilliant”, said the Funny Women Awards. Londoner Daniel Keilty will bring stories from his life as boxer, hairdresser and bailiff. The night is headlined by multi-award winning Cornish comedian Ann Keirle. Entry £5, food available with table service. • zionbristol.co.uk

Children get started on making lanterns brilliant

Figure of fun: Children at Luckwell school assemble their giant lantern IT’S ONLY just begun – but these children at Luckwell primary school are determined their entry in the Bedminster Lantern Parade will be one of their best ever. Children from nine schools will be busy making their paper lanterns, with the help of artist Alan May, for the big event on December 9 – the biggest street event in South Bristol. However,

there’s a chance the event may not happen if the organisers can’t find dozens more volunteers to help out between 3 and 6pm on the day. Around 50 stewards are needed to marshal spectators and stand at road closures, and so far only 15 have signed up. If you’d like to find out more, email info@bwlp.org.uk.

A chance to chatter over coffee COFFEE and chat is one of the main attractions of the Bedminster Social Club, which meets regularly at Mezzaluna Cafe, West Street. But members also enjoy lunches, skittles and

trips together. Anyone over 55 is welcome: the next meetings are on Wednesday November 1 from 10.30am, Tuesday November 7 from 2pm and Monday November 13 from 10.30am.

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November 2017

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n NEWS Book discount for readers ONE of Britain’s biggest secondhand book businesses which used to be be based in Totterdown is making a special offer to Voice readers. Bookbarn International, which for several years was based at Paintworks on Bath Road, is offering a 10 per cent discount to readers who visit its vast book store, housed just off the A37, with the advert below. Co-owner William Pryor said: “Our business is mostly online but our warehouse in Hallatrow near Bristol is attracting an increasing number of visitors. “They can buy books in our vast secondhand book store, browse antiquarian and rare items in our Darwin Rare Book Room or relax in our Full Stop Café.” The Bookbarn is located 30 minutes south of Bristol where the A39 meets the A37, at Hallatrow. • bookbarninternational.com

n FEATURES

WINTER WILDLIFE SPECIAL

How to help wildlife make it

November 2017

southbristolvoice

WINTER WILDLIFE SPECIAL

through the winter

There’s plenty we can do to protect our non-human neighbours, writes Alex Morss

ITH its cloak of warm colours inflamed in ethereal sunlight, the whiff of bonfires and gardens bountiful with exciting harvests, autumn is my favourite time. It can also be a time of plenty for much of our city wildlife, especially if we have been halfdecent nature guardians. So how welcome are our wild neighbours this season, in our little green spaces? Right now there is a lot you can do to ensure they get the best chance to thrive as harder months approach. Wild creatures need to be well nourished and in

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Beware of hedgehogs curling up wherever they feel cosy, like in a sack good health to help them survive whatever winter will throw at them, so think: food, water, shelter, and safety.

BONFIRES November 5 is the next big challenge, not just for pets but also for those poor hedgehogs who thought they’d found the perfect pyre of wood to snuggle up in and maybe start to hibernate. Our funky frogs, toads, newts and slow-worms are also vulnerable to the bonfire stack. All these species are thankfully still common in our city gardens, allotments and some parks in south Bristol. Even if they escape the fire, the noise and smells will traumatise them and may prevent them foraging for food. Please spare them a thought – don’t burn everything, leave a refuge area of deep leaves, lawn cuttings, wood or logs in your garden so you don’t make them homeless in your quest to build the biggest inferno. Avoid building it until the day of lighting, so nothing has time to sneak in.

HEDGEHOGS What do you do if you find a hedgehog in distress around bonfire night? Kay Bullen, a trustee of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, advises: “Any rescued hedgehogs can be put into a high-sided box or pet carrier with some towelling that they can snuggle into. Make sure they cannot get out of the box.

Some hedgehog food or meatbased cat or dog food can be left in the box, and a dish of water. This can all be put into, perhaps, a greenhouse, shed, downstairs toilet or similar until the noise and heat from the fire has died down. Once calm is restored, they can be released with some more food and water.” There is still a little time before hog hibernation starts to take part in our Hedgehog Highway Appeal with Avon Wildlife Trust, and make an access into your garden for hedgehogs. This will help our prickly friends find a choice of safe places to hibernate over winter. You may find they sneak into your shed or a gap under it and carry off your piles of leaf litter to build a hibernation nest. By opening up your garden, you give them an increased range of places to shelter plus lots of extra habitat in which to find food. This enables them to build up those vital fat reserves without wasting energy on big foraging trips. As the temperature drops, their metabolism will slow down. Their heart rate will crash down from 190 beats per minute to a faint 20, their temperature will fall from 35 Celsius to 10, and they will barely breathe. Once this process kicks in, they will have a better chance of surviving hibernation if they start off at a good weight. You can leave out meat-based cat food (never fish, milk or bread) or buy proper hedgehog food online to help fatten them

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If you provide birds with food and water in the winter, do it regularly up. Late-born juveniles and hogs with low body weight are at risk of dying. If you find one awake during the day, please immediately contact Bristol’s Hedgehog Rescue’s Yvonne Cox, at: hedgehogrescue@yahoo.co.uk Lots more advice here: • britishhedgehogs.org.uk/ hibernation/

and my favourite creepy crawlies. Spare the ivy and holly. They will be coming into flower to offer a rich autumn nectar source to pollinators at a time when garden flowers have largely finished. Honeysuckle and clematis also offer late-season food and shelter to wildlife, especially thrushes, warblers and finches.

GARDEN TIDY UPS

BIRDS

The big garden tidy up is the next big peril. Many of us give our garden vegetation a shortback-and-sides makeover as we clear away dead growth but remember this is home to important insect garden friends, such as overwintering butterfly and moth cocoons, ladybirds, beetles, woodlice and worms. As well as the valuable compost heap, home to slowworms and amphibians, why not make an impressive insect mansion out of your garden leftovers? Research has shown that increasing insect biodiversity can boost the health of your whole garden. For inspiration, you’ll find some absolute stunners online. Insect hotel builders have turned it into an art form. • rspb.org.uk/get-involved/ activities/give-nature.../build-abug-hotel/

Most berries will be nutritious and vital to winter birds. You’ll often spot wrens, robins, blackbirds and tits happily scrambling through the tangled bushes. It’s a good time to welcome hungry birds with regular bird food hangers. Many are creatures of habit. You will be helping them learn a routine so they know where to come to find food as winter toughens its grip.

POLLINATORS Be patient and modest about hacking back hedgerows and climbers. Some will still be about to flower or fruit, giving vital food and shelter to bees, birds

PONDLIFE If you are doing pond maintenance, do it before amphibians settle down in there for winter. Be aware of overhanging autumn leaf fall, which will change the water’s nutrient status, reduce water oxygen and result in sludge build up. Also, it’s far better ecologically, environmentally and chemically to use water from your rain butt to refill ponds, not tap water. Remember that some amphibians will be relying on surrounding ground cover near your pond just as much as the water itself, for shelter, food and safety from predators such as

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cats. Please avoid tipping aquatic vegetation into drains - some pond species are invasive aliens known to clog up wetland areas. It is illegal to allow them to spread. If things go sub-zero, float a ball on the pond to help curtail it freezing over.

Still time (just) to enter the My Wild Bedminster competition

BATS

ALL SUMMER we’ve been supporting Avon Wildlife Trust and organising visits and support for schools to encourage children to think about wildlife. We’ve been asking pupils to explore the ways they could improve the environmment around their school for wildlife. There’s been some really interesting work done, with children finding out which plants are best to attract butterflies. Others have looked out for birds and some have studied snails. The contest was open to schools and individuals until October 30, but as that’s the date this issue is distributed, we’ll allow a few more days, and name the winners next month. • www.southbristolvoice.co.uk/ wild-photo-winners.html

Although the bat survey season officially ends by October, I often see a few bats out and about into December in Bristol on mild nights. In autumn and winter, they will choose different roost spaces to the summer maternity roosts. They may use tree holes in your garden, gaps in your loft, roof tiles or a shed. Just like hedgehogs, their metabolism slows as they go into torpor, then hibernation, and they become vulnerable if disturbed. Remember if you are planning winter building work that it is illegal to disturb roosting bats. Seek advice on how to proceed in a bat-friendly way, here: • bats.org.uk/pages/threats_to_ bats.html

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AUTUMN EATS AND DRINKS

November 2017

southbristolvoice

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AUTUMN EATS AND DRINKS

Warming ideas for food and drink to lift

the spirits out from the autumn gloom

HE SEASON has definitely turned, and lots of us are thinking about warm evenings inside with comforting food and drink. So we’re offering a selection of the best local places to eat this autumn and Christmas time – and who serve a selection of the very finest locally-brewed beer. You don’t have to travel far to eat, drink and be merry!

into the most innovative, creative producer in the West. Its new brews for autumn will showcase the world’s finest hops and use seasonal ingredients to elevate the flavours. Stephen has a dizzying variety of beers and the range is expanding, but the ethos remains to bring fresh, natural, handcrafted beers to a wider market, with a strong emphasis on locally-produced and sourced products. Look out for the Incredible Brewery on social media to find out where the beer is available in an expanding array of restaurants, bottle shops, cafés, bars and pubs as well as local producer markets and event bars. The brewery is open for sales of gift packs or cases on request via email from the website. Stephen says: “Our beer is a modern expression of place and tradition. A gift from time honoured cultures.” • incrediblebrewingcompany.com

Heart of the Bristol beer scene: the new Tap Room at the Bristol Beer Factory on North Street

Bristol Beer Factory

291 North Street, Southville BS3 1JP 0117 902 6317 Independent brewer and tap room RISTOL Beer Factory has been at the heart of the Bristol beer scene for quite some time, having started life in 2004 brewing just a few standard cask conditioned ales. Over the years, they have explored more styles of beer and expanded their range into bottled ales, cask and keg ales and regular ‘special’ ales. But they haven’t stopped

there. While remaining fiercely independent, they also run their own Brewery Tap Room in Southville and their traditional pub, the Barley Mow in St Philips. They have also recently taken over the Café Bar at the Arnolfini. Head to their Tap Room on North Street to stock up on Christmas presents from their

shop, buy a tour or just enjoy some more of their great beer at the bar. The core range of cask ale from Bristol Beer Factory consists of Nova, a hoppy session ale at 3.8 per cent abv, and Milk Stout, a dark favourite at 4.5 per cent. Independence at 4.6 per cent is a big-selling US-style pale ale and Fortitude is a 4 per cent amber ale. Meanwhile, specials

are being produced all the time –watch out for Southville Hop, an American IPPA at 6.5 per cent, or German-styled Mandarina Bavaria, a “Hazy Hefeweisen” at 4.8 per cent. Who knows what will be brewed for Christmas? Perhaps it’ll be Bristletoe, a 4.7 per cent festive oatmeal porter. Tap room opening hours: 12pm - 7pm Mon – Weds 12pm - 9pm Thurs & Fri 10am – 9pm - Saturday. • bristolbeerfactory.co.uk • Facebook: @bristolbeerfactory • Twitter: @BrisBeerFactory • Instagram: @bristolbeerfactory

Incredible Brewing Co 214-244 Broomhill Road Brislington BS4 5RG 07780 977 073 Craft brewery and shop NDER inventive brewer and proprietor Stephen Hall, the Incredible Brewing Company is evolving

Wide range: From pale ale to a grapefruit IPA to milk stout, the Incredible Brewing Co makes it all

Brewhouse & Kitchen

31-35 Cotham Hill, Cotham BS6 6JY 0117 973 3793 Pub, dining, microbrewery OR BEER lovers whowant to try their hands at brewing, the day-long experience on offer at Brewhouse and Kitchen in

The Brewhouse & Kitchen offers homely, cooked meals as well as the chance to brew your own beer

Bristol is a must, not least of all because you will learn under the guidance of award-winning head brewer, Will. The day begins at 10am with breakfast and a full briefing in the lovely pub before starting work in the on-site microbrewery. Try out the different stages of brewing, including mashing in, boiling,

adding hops and yeast, and the other quirks that go into brewing a quality craft beer. It’s thirsty work, so there are plenty of beer tastings throughout the day plus a tasty pub lunch accompanied by a selection of house brews such as a fruit wheat beer, called Ribeera Continued overleaf

THE HOME OF THE ORIGINAL BRISTOL BEER The Tap Room, 291 North Street, Southville BS3 1JP Tel: 0117 902 6317 Open 12pm - 7pm Mon - Weds, 12pm - 9pm Thurs and Friday 10am - 9pm - Saturday 31-35 COTHAM HILL CLIFTON BS6 6JY

We are all about the beer – we love to make it, we love to drink it and we love to share it.

0117 973 3793

Having started life in 2004 brewing just a few standard cask conditioned ales in Southville, we now brew 4 core brands whilst releasing 2 special cask ales per month, seamlessly blending tried and trusted styles of beer with modern interpretations. To see and taste for yourself, visit our website to find out about our monthly brewery tours and enjoy our beers at one of our Bristol venues and in Bristol’s best pubs and bars. • Stock up on Christmas presents at our Tap Room Shop • Become a Bristol Beer Club member – a great gift for that beer lover. • Public Brewery Tours once a month – private tours also available. Come and chat to us in our Tap Room, now serving wine too (although we know it’s all about the beer). @bristolbeerfactory

@BrisBeerFactory

@bristolbeerfactory

Also find us at: The Barley Mow / Grain Barge / Tobacco Factory / Arnolfini Café Bar

www.bristolbeerfactory.co.uk

enquiries@bristolbeerfactory.co.uk

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

Breakfast, lunch and the chance to sample different beers with the brewer, including all of the beers we brew right here on-site in the microbrewery! Then take home a 5 Litre Mini Keg of the beer you brewed!* *Due to 2 weeks fermentation time, Academy students can either take home a mini keg on the day or pick up a mini keg of the beer they brewed 2 weeks later

BOOK ONLINE: WWW.BREWHOUSEANDKITCHEN.COM

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AUTUMN EATS AND DRINKS Butcombe: A range of fine ale. You can win your weight in bottles of the Butcombe beer of your choice

WIN YOUR WEIGHT IN BUTCOMBE BEER! INCREDIBLE but true – those lovely people at Butcombe want to give one lucky South Bristol Voice reader an early Christmas present. Yes, you can win your weight in Butcombe beer if you can answer our question – and read the rules below. Q: What TV programme inspired Butcombe’s Christmas Special ale? RULES 1 Open to over 18s only. Prize will be the customer’s choice of

bottled beer, to match their weight, from the Butcombe range. 2 Not open to employees of South Bristol Voice, Local Voice Network, or Butcombe. 3 Entries with your address and phone number to paul@southbristol voice.co.uk or 18 Lilymead Avenue, BS4 2BX, by November 17. A winner will be chosen at random from the correct entries. 4 Entrants must supply name, address and phone number, and must live in the South Bristol Voice circulation area – BS3 and BS4. 5 The editor’s decision is final.

B orn i n th e 70s. Still a n o r ig ina l.

BUTCOMBE.COM

Continued from page 19 (named in honour of the famous drink Ribena which was invented in Bristol). This beer brewing day ends with a question and answer session, a beer and a five-litre mini-keg for you to take home and enjoy. The Brewery Experience Day is an ideal Christmas gift for the beer lover in your life, and Gift Cards are available for this purpose. The Brewhouse is taking bookings for Christmas parties, with a cosy upstairs function room available. • brewhouseandkitchen.com/ venue/bristol

Butcombe Brewery

Cox’s Green, Wrington BS40 5PA 01934 863963 Traditional brewer and pub landlord HE BUTCOMBE name is familiar to any beer lover in the South West. Founded in 1978 in Cox’s Green near Wrington, it’s no longer a small brewer but a major player in the region, achieved by sticking to a policy of making first-class, easyto-drink traditional ales. These days the classic Butcombe Original and Butcombe Gold are as popular as ever but there are also more adventurous brews. Goram, for example, is named after Bristol’s very own giant who was partial to a well-crafted ale. It’s an Avon IPA using a blend of American and Worcester hops to achieve the perfect balance between stone fruit, citrus and spicy hop aromas with bitter notes. More seasonal is a Christmas Special ale – not a heavy and overpowering brew, but one to bring cheer to the table, like the Morecambe & Wise Christmas Special. It’s got German crystal and English malts to offer notes of rich, spicy Christmas cake with herbal earthiness. Think of roaring log fires and sweet festive aromas. A perfect partner to turkey, or to balance the Boxing Day cheese board. Inspired a bit further from home is Bohemia, a beer with the soul of a Czech pilsner. Brewed colder and longer with lager yeast and cold-conditioned for four weeks. It’s great with rich, classic British fayre such as chicken and leek pie or suckling pig with dumplings, as eaten in the Czech Republic. • butcombe.com

November 2017

n NEWS Churches set to help people deep in debt CHURCHES in South Bristol are being urged to play their part in helping the rising number of people struggling with debt. Mayor Marvin Rees gave his backing to the drive launched by a national group called Christians Against Poverty (CAP), which gives practical help to get people out of debt. CAP wants to set up two debt advice centres in the south of the city, helping people to renegotiate their debts and pay them off over time. “I know that the success rates are quite phenomenal – 90 per cent [of people helped by CAP] are debt free after five years,” the mayor told a gathering of representatives of around 15 South Bristol churches, held at Victoria Park Baptist Church on October 4. He urged churchgoers to use their talents and the assets locked up in their churches to help people in need. Mr Rees, who is a Christian, quoted a passage from the Gospel about the beggar Lazarus, who suffered not because a rich man made him poor, or kept him poor, but because the rich man didn’t see him. He said the churches had an “ongoing calling” which fits with the challenge Bristol faces of stark contrasts in inequality. At present there are two CAP advice centres in the north of the city, but none in the south, where the need is greater. Steve Haines, a relationship manager for CAP, told the Voice that many people’s finances are so tight that one small change can tip them into debt. Even those in work are suffering. Delays in receiving benefits add to problems such as job loss, relationship breakdown, mental health issues and bereavement. Victoria Park Baptist Church is likely to be home to one of the debt centres. It already runs a food bank. • The mayor later made a move which will avoid tipping more families further into poverty: in his State of the City address on October 18, he bowed to pressure not to axe the council’s reduced rate of council tax to people in need.

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18/10/2017 11:35 am

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n NEWS

Wills, Trusts + Probate

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Do I need a Lasting Power of Attorney? Anna Molter, Associate Solicitor at Barcan+Kirby, explains the benefits of planning for the future now. What is a Lasting Power of Attorney? A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) enables you to appoint someone to act on your behalf should you lose the mental or physical ability to make your own decisions. It can also give this person specific instructions on important matters such as selling your house or arranging your care.

How do I make an LPA? Like a Will, an LPA is made with the help of a solicitor. There are two kinds of LPA – one for Health and Care Decisions, and another for Financial Decisions. The nature of an LPA is to be flexible according to your needs, so you can choose how much control to give your attorney when you draw yours up.

Why should I get an LPA? Making an LPA is arguably as important as writing your Will. In the same way that a Will appoints executors to handle your affairs after you pass away, a Lasting Power of Attorney appoints an attorney to make decisions on your behalf while you’re still alive if you can’t do so yourself.

When should I make one? The short answer is “now”. An LPA can only be made while you have mental capacity.

What if I don’t have one? With no LPA, if you lose mental capacity in the future then your family would have to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as your deputy. This would give them some control over your affairs.

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A Lasting Power of Attorney appoints an attorney to make decisions on your behalf while you’re still alive. In my experience however, having an LPA in the first place is usually less complicated and less expensive, and it gives you control over who may handle your affairs. Barcan+Kirby has six offices across Bristol and Gloucestershire and a team of solicitors experienced in all areas of Wills, trusts and probate. Professional advice, simply stated.

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November 2017

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SOUTH BRISTOL’S SECRET ARTS CENTRE

Courtyard flats plan could transform part of North St

Finished: Hannah in the refurbished studio. Inset, the WorldRoots singers practice in their grand new home

A world of harmony in a bath of sound: Gathering Voices rousing and beautifully harmonic children’s and adults’ choirs specialising in global vocals, Gathering Voices also works in music, performing arts, youth leadership, and offers training and coaching in creative skills. The charity has also worked on the music and performing arts space at The Park in Knowle West, and set up the Meanwhile BS3 creative space in a former shop just off East Street in Bedminster. There charity runs three choirs (see panel): WorldRoots A Cappella, for 12-22 year-olds, has been going for 15 years. “WorldRoots have performed at Glastonbury for the last 10 festivals, three times at Womad and twice for Sting and Trudie Styler at private events at their Wiltshire home!” Hannah said. “We are planning for an

exciting festival year in 2018. With Glastonbury Festival having a year off, we are applying to perform at a range of new festivals and are looking for enthusiastic singers aged 14-19 who would like to come join us now for the journey. There’s lots of hard work that goes into learning and rehearsing an a cappella harmony repertoire for our well-loved Song Raids and Sound Baths (which we take to festivals) but for those that are willing to put in the time, the rewards are massive. “Our Bristol Festival of Song is taking a leaf out of Glastonbury’s book and having a year off this year (after seven years) but will be back in 2018. “At the moment we are looking forward to singing at the Tobacco Factory Christmas Market on December 17.”

A CHOIR FOR EVERY VOICE GATHERING Voices’ choirs are directed by the charity’s creative director, Hannah Klewin. • WorldRoots A cappella World music youth a cappella ensemble for 12-22 years – 3 levels, depending on age and experience. Tuesdays 6.30-8.30pm; • NewRoots South Junior choir for 8-11 year olds. Tuesdays 5-6pm; • SoulRoots A cappella Women’s adult choir - old and new-style gospel/blues & evocative songs from other cultures. Thursdays 7-9pm. The choirs are currently open to new members. Hannah says “All three are based on our ethos of singing from the heart, with passion and power, without audition or written music, and are taught by ear. “ For information on how to join email info@gatheringvoices.org. uk or call 07980 765947. • Facebook: Gathering Voices • gatheringvoices.org.uk • factory8.org.uk

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Old Tollhouse

Exporter: Cameron Balloons

St re e

Brexit won’t harm us, says Don Cameron

Baynton Road

Durnfoord Street

A DEVELOPER has held a consultation event to gauge opinions on its plans for a radical transformation of the Ashton end of North Street. Developer Change Living is proposing to knock down warehouses and industrial units on a 0.72 acre site bounded by North Street, Baynton Road and Durnford Street. The meeting was held on Monday at the Tobacco factory, the same day that this edition of the Voice was published. The current proposal – which may be altered before a planning appplicati0n is made – is for 148 flats and two courtyards, with 1,947 sq m of shops. A previous plan submitted to the council in June was smaller – for 113 flats and 1,050 sq m of shops. Then the buildings were described as three storeys on the North Street frontage, rising to six storeys away from the road. It’s not clear how many storeys are now proposed. Residents may be concerned that in the original plan, only 47 parking spaces were proposed. The car park would be approached from Baynton Road. The shops could extend the commercial area of North Street and bring visitors to the area. Several workplaces will be lost in the many commercial units on the site, totalling 2,090 sq m, including the Crossfit Fort gym, the BCA auction rooms and the Elusive Press t-shirt printers. When Change Living makes its planning application it will be expected to justify the

No r

Ambitious singers have their sights on next summer’s festivals, finds Beccy Golding SOUTH Bristol-based youth arts charity celebrated their first year in their new creative base in September. Factory 8, the massive three-storey red brick building in Upton Road in Southville, is now home not only to the annexe to Ashton Gate primary school, but also to Gathering Voices. Hannah Klewin, creative director, said, “Originally the building was the Wills Tobacco No 8 Factory (No 1 is next to Asda and is being redeveloped by the same people who are redeveloping the General Hospital). We’ve been told No 8 Factory is where they used to make the tobacco tins. Its last incarnation was as the Imperial Tobacco HQ before they moved to Winterstoke Road. “We’d been looking for a new base since closing our previous venue, SoundWorks (just up the hill on the corner of Stackpool and Beauley Road), when the Methodist Church who owned the building decided to close the site and sell up. “We opened Factory 8 in September 2016 having spent the preceding three to four months refurbishing the building, which was essentially a shell full of lots of old building materials, with millions of staples in the beautiful bird’s eye maple floors that were left after we took up the old carpet. We spent many hours taking out the staples and scrubbing the floor with a wire brush and sugar soap! Luckily the memory of that has receded!” The carpeted ground floor is available for hire for community activities, which currently include yoga, singing, drama rehearsals and local meetings. The huge first and second storeys have wooden floors, white brick walls and windows on both sides. The first floor is for theatre and dance, and the top floor is for music – it’s where the choirs meet and has space for band practice and recording. It’s also the base for the Gathering Voices creative youth leadership programme. Well-known for its

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November 2017

Aerial view: The 0.72 acre site proposed for new flats by Change Living replacement of employment workspace with homes. In the earlier plan, the entrance to one of the courtyards faced the historic Grade II-listed Toll House, which dates from about 1820. In June, the council was told: “It is proposed that the commercial floorspace would be located at ground floor level around the perimeter of the first courtyard space within the northern area of the site. The residential units are proposed to be located on the upper levels. “Care has been taken in the design of the proposed apartments in order to ensure that no issues of overlooking are created. The majority of the proposed apartments are located surrounding the second

courtyard which will be ... landscaped in order to provide an area of useable amenity space for future residents.” The plot is the site of the old Ashton Brewery, which opened in the 1820s. There is no connection with former mayor George Ferguson’s Bristol Beer Factory, which is on an adjacent but separate part of the historic site. Ron Persaud, director at Change Real Estate, said: “It’s very important that we involve the local community in our plans, and this public consultation will enable everyone to view our proposals.” Comments can be emailed to kimberley.brown@gva.co.uk by Monday November 13. The plans can be seen onliine at: • changeliving.co.uk

THE FOUNDER of Cameron Balloons, Don Cameron, has hit back at rumours that he said have been spread about the future of the firm after Brexit. Mr Cameron, who backs plans for Britain to leave the European Union, says his Bedminsterbased firm – the biggest manufacturer of hot air balloons in the world and a major exporter– won’t be harmed by the move. In an address to its customers, the firm posted on social media: “Some competitors have been trying to spread rumours that Brexit will cause problems for purchasers of Cameron balloons and equipment.” “The following notice from the World Trade Organisation makes it clear that we do not expect significant problems.” Mr Cameron then goes on to quote from a WTO agreement on trade in civil aircraft, which eliminates import duties on all aircraft and aircraft parts. It covers 32 nations including the EU, the US and Japan. Mr Cameron adds: “There will perhaps be a little more paperwork, but the factory and your dealer will take care of these. From Cameron Balloons, it will be business as usual.” Cameron Balloons is a significant employer, with around 55 staff at its Bedminster site, a 42,000 sq ft former paper bag factory. It makes up to 200 balloons each year.

Festive stalls

New views: Two artist’s impressions of the proposed courtyard development of 113 flats, plus new shops

THIS year’s Festive Market at the Southville Centre is on Saturday December 9, 11am-4pm. If you’d like a stall, it costs £30 plus VAT. To book a space call 0117 923 1039 or visit the Southville Centre.

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

November 2017

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n HISTORY

Between 1968 and 1972, city planners wreaked more destruction on Totterdown than the Blitz ever did. The plans could have razed Bedminster too – all for a road which was never built.

THE RAVAGING OF TOTTERDOWN

November 2017

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n HISTORY

THE RAVAGING OF TOTTERDOWN

‘The last houses in Totterdown’; just visible, Mr Bradbeer’s house in Highgrove Street, with those either side preserved to prop it up

OTTERDOWN is one of the coolest places to live in the UK – in fact it’s the fifth hippest, according to The Times last year. Some longterm residents would say they have always known that. But it’s unlikely that the people who lived in this South Bristol suburb in the mid 20th century would have used the word hip. Busy, thriving, a solid community; those were more likely to be the terms applied by proud Totterdowners to their neighbourhood. But we are talking about almost a lifetime ago; the days before 1968, when the bulldozers and wrecking balls moved in, and the face of Totterdown changed forever.

TOTTERDOWN RISING THIS story about the aborted plan for Bristol’s Outer Circuit Road is largely informed by Totterdown Rising, the book by Kate Pollard, who spoke to dozens of Totterdowners over several months to write the definitive account of the clearances. Sadly Kate died in 2009. Her book is quoted and the illustrations reproduced with the kind permission of her publisher, Richard Jones, of Totterdown’s Tangent Books. This story is dedicated to her memory as well as to the memory of the 2,000 citizens who lost their homes and their neighbourhood for no reason. Richard has recently reprinted Totterdown Rising; it costs £12. • tangentbooks.co.uk

Flattened: 10 streets between Bath Road and Wells Road, pictured in the 1980s, as the new road layout emerges

Desecrated for no purpose – How many recent incomers are completely unaware of what Totterdown used to be, and how a community was nearly destroyed by a tide of concrete? The pride of older residents centred on Totterdown’s commercial life. To sum it up: you didn’t need to go into town, the area around Wells Road could supply all your wants. It had a Boots, for heaven’s sake; that’s not to mean that a high street brand is the ultimate badge of honour for a shopping area, but it shows how much the area has changed. Between the 1930s and the 1960s Totterdown had everything. A cinema. A famous poodle parlour. A Chinese laundry. Two hotels. Banks. Butchers and grocers aplenty. Three wet fish shops. And pubs and corner shops galore – all packed into the maze of up-and-down, hillside hugging streets that still give Totterdown its character. Except that then, there were many more of them. Six hundred more homes, in fact, housing 2,000 people. Whole streets knocked down, family ties broken, neighbours torn apart. A shopping centre and dozens of businesses ruined. And for what?

An unbelievably vast flyover scheme – which was never built.

AVERTING GRIDLOCK

owadays we are used to traffic congestion. We complain about it but we arrange our lives around it, aware that Bristol wasn’t built for cars, and its narrow streets and historic road layout are never going to flow freely with traffic. It wasn’t always so. Fifty years and more ago the car was a symbol of progress, something to aspire to, and Britain was working out how to accommodate more of them. From slow beginnings in the 1930s, dual carriageways were spreading throughout the country and motorways followed in the 1950s. In the 1960s a new ease of access was promised to Bristol city centre direct from the planned London-to-Wales motorway, the M4. That this new link, to be called the M32, could only reach the city centre by being mounted on stilts and towering over the terraces of Stapleton and Eastville was, for the planners at least, something to be marvelled at. There was remarkably little protest when the first plans for Bristol’s concrete superhighways were unveiled. This was partly

because many people shared the aspiration for a new age of technology and the personal freedom that the car could allow them. There were fears that roads could grind to a halt because car ownership was growing rapidly while cars themselves were getting bigger and faster. But it was partly because there was far less public debate about what was planned. Today we have plenty of energetic debate involving residents and the various political parties over the major issues that affect South Bristol – the plans for housing, for tower blocks, for the hoped-for arena, the council cutbacks and more. Planning applications all involve some degree of public consultation and major schemes such as the arena involve public meetings. In the mid-1960s a scheme for a four-lane Outer Circuit Road right around Bristol, at a distance of three-quarters of a mile, from the centre was simply announced. Stories appeared in the local press in council publications and in the upmarket Bristol Illustrated. A model was put on show in Quaker’s Friars. But there was no detail: it was impossible to tell exactly which

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Harris & Tozer’s, the last of the big retailers in Wells Road, pictured in the mid 1970s. It closed in 1979, making way for the Totterdown Centre

Totterdown’s lesson of history areas or roads would be affected. What was clear was the intention for the elevated dual carriageway to sweep across the Feeder canal and over St Philip’s, crossing the New Cut on the city side of Totterdown bridge. It would be high enough to carry the road up the hill to the junction at St John’s Lane, from where it would sweep downhill through the middle of Victoria park. (Today such an idea would be quite impossible to propose given that a plan for a cycleway through the park brings hundreds of objections!) From the park the road would cut across Windmill Hill and (possibly, it’s hard to tell) over Dalby Avenue to sweep through Bedminster Parade to a new flyover above Bedminster Bridge. At least that was one version. The plans kept changing. By 1971 a map showed the flyover piling through Bedminster and Southville and crossing the harbour to head up Jacobs Wells Road. From there a tunnel went through Brandon Hill and a flyover across parts of Clifton and Cotham and through Montpelier to link up with the Parkway, as the M32 was then called. Whatever the final plan was, the effect would be devastating.

And it wasn’t a pipe dream – on the other side of St Philip’s, Lawrence Hill had already been designated an Action Area. Streets were knocked down and replaced by tower blocks, allowing the Easton Way dual carriageway and then the elevated St Philip’s Causeway to be built. It was sincerely believed in the 1960s that this was a win-win situation – rows of supposedly unhealthy and unloved Victorian terraces could be removed, and wide highways built which would bring a new age of convenience and prosperity. Yet the Totterdown terraces weren’t the kind of back-to-back slums without bathrooms or gardens that deserved to be swept away. They were solid little houses with sanitation and their own backyards, seen by many as “little palaces”. Was Totterdown really next in line? The proposals were frightening. The dual carriageway would pass through the maze of streets that led off Wells Road between Three Lamps and Firfield Street. Not only that, Three Lamps junction would become an enormous four-level Interchange Centre. It would have slip roads

curving in every direction and also a multi-storey car park and a bus station. As it was officially described, it would “enable drivers to leave their cars outside the congested areas off Bristol’s centre and main shopping area and to carry on by bus … at least the site is intended for this possibility, a fact [for] which those in the next era may be truly thankful.”

A BUSTLE OF SHOPS

ell, those of us in the next era are far from grateful at what was proposed, and then not built. Ironically, a plan which was intended to give easy access to the city centre shops destroyed another shopping centre. For those who don’t remember Totterdown in the 60s, it will be hard to imagine. But from Three Lamps to way up Wells Road, certainly as far as Crowndale Road, it was a bustling street lined with shops. There were tall Victorian buildings on the river side of Bath Road, also with shops and pubs, and those who overlooked the New Cut would still see barges being pulled by tugs to be repaired by a shipwright at

Totterdown bridge (you can still see the remains of a wharf below the old petrol station). One pub, the Blue Bowl, backed on to the river: its downstairs bowling alley sometimes flooded at high tide. The trams were no longer running every five minutes up Bath Road and Wells Road – they had been halted during the war – but otherwise the street scene was as it had been for many decades. The two main roads were lined with shops, pubs and businesses, with houses in narrow terraces on each side. What is now green space on the west side of Wells Road, leading up from Three Lamps, was built up; so too were both sides of St Luke’s Road, on the edge of Victoria Park. Oxford Street had houses on both sides, and there were houses on St John’s Lane too, between Wells Road and St Luke’s Road. Kate Pollard quotes the memories of many residents recalling the glory days of Totterdown shops from the 1920s to the 1960s. Elsie Lawrence, who wrote her own book, Growing Up in Totterdown 1922-1936, lived in ‘Middle Totterdown’ between Bath Road and Wells Road. She would be told, “On with your coat, we are going up top,” which meant a trip up to Wells Road, Continued overleaf

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n HISTORY Continued from page 25 where there were chain stores such as the Home & Colonial, Co-op, David Greig’s (the supermarket chain which eventually became Key Markets, then Gateway, and eventually Somerfield), and Kings. There they would also find Greenough’s the draper’s, competitors to Harris & Tozer. Lower down, on the corner of Cheapside – which extended further than it does now, to Wells Road – was Seasons, referred to as the aristocrat of grocers. At the top of New Walls Road, which then ran directly between Bath Road and Wells Road, was Fansons hardware shop, with rows of chamber pots in sizes to suit every bottom. On Bath Road was another hardware store where Elsie eyed up the dolls made of celluloid. The junction with St John’s Lane was the centre of activity, with the Bush Hotel on one corner opposite the YMCA and Lloyds bank – now a gym and the Banco Lounge, though both the old uses are remembered in the stone signs above. There was even a Totterdown Hotel, on the corner of County Street. Vivien Pipping, quoted in Kate Pollard’s book, remembers a seamstress who worked from an old cottage behind the Bush Hotel, now the site of the small green outside the YMCA. Further up was the Knowle Picture House, known to some as the Fleapit or the Bug House, where Patco convenience store is now; this closed in 1961, killed by TV, not by the road plans. Mike Leigh told Kate Pollard that he got a weekend job at the Gateway supermarket which replaced the cinema, and which paid him 15 shillings a week (75p, or about £12 at today’s prices). Clive Clifford worked at Bushy TV at 100 Bath Road as an

‘WE’RE DOING YOU A FAVOUR’ IT MAY sound incredible, but many officials and councillors believed the Totterdowners displaced by the Outer Circuit Road would welcome the scheme. They were being removed from their dilapidated Victorian homes, the thinking went, and could take the chance to move to the new suburbs, where they could have spacious gardens and even a

THE RAVAGING OF TOTTERDOWN Lawrence favoured Flooks, which had roast leg of pork, silverside of beef, and tongue, all displayed on china stands. In the window were loops of black pudding and Bath chaps ready to eat (for the uninitiated, Bath chaps are pig’s cheeks, pickled in brine, then boiled and often rolled in breadcrumbs). In short, you could supply all the wants of everyday life in Totterdown without troubling to go to Broadmead, as evidenced by the recollections of Jean Lucas (in our panel, p29).

YOU’VE HAD YOUR TIME

Bye-bye Bedminster: This vision shows a dual carriageway through East Street and passing over Bedminster bridge. Many buildings appear lost apprentice. Nearby was the Glanville Lawrence motorcycle shop. When cars were still a rarity, motorbikes were popular, especially for tearing up and down Totterdown’s hills, and Glanville Lawrence used to tweak the racing bikes used at the Knowle speedway circuit (yes, that’s another story we’ll be telling before long) by the Bristol Bulldogs team. Clive remembered that if a bike made it up Vale Street, the steepest

residential street in Britain, it got a cheer from local children. When threatened by the road, the TV business moved to Green Street, though this was a risk as the plans for the flyover were so vague. Bushy TV was one of the lucky ones: many businesses folded when they were forced out, but by the late 1960s demand for televisions was rising. Meat was part of almost everyone’s diet and there were countless butchers. Elsie

driveway for their car. Kate Pollard wrote: “At the rare Totterdown public information meetings, council personnel appeared to have so much faith in what they were doing, that they presented astonishment that Totterdowners were not reassured by their careful explanations to show why the planning decisions on roads and transport were exciting. They appeared incredulous that locals were not going to lie back and accept these changes.”

THE MONEY WASTED IN 1970, the council estimated the cost of the Outer Circuit Road from Lawrence Hill to Three Lamps to be £10 million (£100m today). Around £1m may have been spent on purchasing the 550 homes demolished in Totterdown, which were generally priced at a cut-rate £1,000 to £2,000 each. In 1980, the later ‘Chiswick Flyover’ plan for Three Lamps was priced at £4.75m (£14m today). When that too was cancelled, a

he Outer Circuit Road was announced in 1966, and demolition began by 1968. It was helped by the fact that two prominent councillors from opposing parties both backed it – Conservative Gervas Walker and Labour’s Wally Jenkinns (to be dubbed “Mr Traffic” by the Evening Post for his enthusiasm for new roads). Both men led the planning committee at different times, and shared a vision that they were dragging the city into the modern age in a way that was supported by the Government. Hence, though there were no detailed plans for the road, and little to no consultation, letters started dropping onto Totterdown doormats in 1968. Home owners were told to put their homes on the market, though they couldn’t sell; tenants were simply evicted. Vivien Pipping, who lived on Bath Road, had barely read her letter before neighbours started arriving with theirs.They all had to get their homes valued – though with the threat hanging over them, values were at rock bottom. Vivien told her neighbours some things the council had not – such as that they could get their homes valued independently, and claim their moving expenses. “Totterdown cheaper scheme was suggested, costing £1.95m (£6m today) which would relieve traffic flows by building a new Angers Road to connect Bath Road and Wells Road. The current layout, with a slip road from Bath Road to Wells Road, the widening of St John’s Lane, and so on, was introduced year by year. It’s not clear what it cost but a Whitehall grant of £360,000 was made. Some parts – such as linking Bushy Park to Knowle Road – were dropped for lack of money.

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n HISTORY people were given no information from start to finish, except for leaflets given out at public meetings,” Vivien told Kate Pollard. There was dissent, of course. The Bristol Evening Post ran many critical articles and gave voice to the residents. Their MP was Tony Benn, the pipesmoking left-winger who had renounced his aristocratic title to serve in the Commons. Though he served as a technology minister in the Labour government of the 1960s, he was sceptical about the liberating potential of the motor car. In 1963 he described the struggle between capitalism and communism as a straight fight between Henry Ford (the car mogul) and Karl Marx. Benn believed the car was a symbol of affluence which was wooing the workers from their loyalty to their class; and car production figures had become an index for the success of an economy, he noted. Benn does not seem to have spoken out against the road, but

THE RAVAGING OF TOTTERDOWN

The Bushy Park junction. The site top centre is where Tesco is today he was suspected of trying to put the brakes on it by applying pressure inside the Government. The protest movement and the growth of groups such as the Totterdown Action Group, known as TAG, is a story in itself. There’s room here only to say that in the short term, the protests didn’t work. Despite there being no firm plan, or approval from the Government, 550 homes and 10 streets – a quarter of Totterdown, mainly

between Bath Road and Wells Road, was demolished. The Totterdown Traders Association, representing 50 businesses, could not believe that the evictions would apply to such a large body of important employers. They went to see Cllr Walker, “because no-one from the council came up to Totterdown,” recalled Mr McCloud, who had a newsagents on Bath Road. They were wrong: the traders got the boot too.

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With no one knowing where the road would go, hardly anyone in Totterdown could sell their home on the open market – who would want to buy? Hence the council paid tiny sums to owners. Compensation of £300 for the Swan pub on Bath Road for “trade disturbance” was probably one of the better deals. Some small businesses just folded without compensation, while the larger ones who could shout louder did better: well-known Bristol firm Bata Shoes won £5,000. As the plans kept changing, some homes were condemned, reprieved and condemned again. Vivien Pipping saw her house on Bath Road, which her family had left for a home in Bushy Park, redecorated by the council and then let out to tenants. Eventually the tenants were evicted, and it was demolished. Demolition began on the south side of Oxford Street, then the highway route was altered. The houses were given new roofs and let out to tenants before the Continued overleaf

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n HISTORY Continued from page 27 plans changed again and the homes were all knocked down. The 1960s had seen the arrival of an Asian community in Totterdown. The disused St Katherine’s church in Green Street was bought from the parish council and turned into a mosque in 1968. But these recent arrivals were no more immune to eviction than anyone else: at least five of eight evictees in 1970 from four homes in Highgrove Street and County Street were Asian. “Blight was a circular and debilitating condition,” wrote Kate Pollard. “People couldn’t leave if they wanted to; everyone in such a close community felt wretched about the evictees, frightened that they might suddenly join their ranks, worried that there was nowhere to shop now and depressed about the prospect of living in close proximity to a four-level highway interchange and their shortly-tobe-decimated park.” The bulk of the demolition was completed within four years. The new road was supposed to be started in 1972 but it was running late. The Government finally approved the plan in 1973, by which time the highway had reached Lawrence Hill – sparking 900 complaints from residents there about the noise from the new road. Meanwhile blight notices were served in Bedminster and Southvillle in preparation for the expected demolitions there. A few residents held out against the tide. Henry Bradbeer of 22 Highgrove Street refused to budge. He even succeed in getting an improvement grant from the city council at the same time as the new Avon county council, which had taken over the transport brief, was offering him £1,350 for his house plus a tenancy in Bedminster. Once Mr Bradbeer started the improvement work, he argued his house was worth more. The two houses either side of his had to be left in place while the argument went on. Eventually he settled a deal in 1975 and moved out, having become a local hero and being championed by the Evening Post.

THE PROTEST WIDENS

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y now there was a concerted campaign against the new road, not only in Totterdown, where it was too late to save the flattened

Comment

THE RAVAGING OF TOTTERDOWN

THIS month, we devote more space than usual to our regular history feature – a retelling of the Totterdown clearances. There are several reasons – it allows us to set in context news of the rebirth of the Totterdown Centre, which was born out of anger at the destruction of the 1960s and 70s. The demolitions are also an important story in their own right – surely the most significant event of the last century in South Bristol, more destructive (though less violent) than the actions of the Luftwaffe. This is a story that needs to be remembered, not only by those who lived through it, but by those who have moved to South Bristol in the last 20 years, who may not know the story. Let’s not forget that far more of the area was threatened than the 20 acres of Totterdown which were demolished. If the Outer Circuit Road had been seen through, Victoria Park would have been ruined – cut in two by a dual carriageway. Windmill Hill, Bedminster

and Southville would also have been torn apart. But it’s all a long time ago – why bang on about it now? Many readers will know why: South Bristol is on the eve of the biggest transformation it has seen since the 1960s. Unprecedented development is proposed in two areas: the Temple Meads Enterprise Zone, which extends up Bath Road as far as Paintworks; and Bedminster Green, the area between Windmill Hill and the shopping area of East Street. In both areas all the signals are that both the council and developers are thinking big. The tallest building in Bristol, a 25-storey tower, is proposed by the university of Bristol on part of Arena Island. And on Bedminster Green, towers of 18 storeys and 10 storeys are proposed, with more to come. In both cases, we are being told that we must build tall if we are to provide the social housing that South Bristol needs. It is not only the visual impact of so many tall buildings that many residents are worried about. They express well-argued fears about the density of development – the numbers of new residents needing schools,

doctors, dentists and sports facilities and, yes, even wanting to park their cars here, whether the council designates their new homes as ‘car free’ or not. Local democracy is much stronger today than it was in the 1960s, when Totterdowners were not consulted or even properly informed about the destruction of their neighbourhood. Such a plan would not get very far today. But are the current plans for thousands of new high-rise homes being presented in a similar way? The planners of the 1960s could not understand why the terrace-dwellers of Totterdown would not gratefully accept a new home in a tower block or a suburban estate. Fifty years on, our Victorian terraces are more popular than ever, and command higher prices than the larger modern homes we were supposed to aspire to. It’s the community and the character of these historic homes that so many of us want to preserve, while ensuring that residents of new homes enjoy a similar quality of life. Is that a noble ambition, or a Luddite view that stands in the way of social progress? The same question could have been asked in the 1960s.

streets, but in St Paul’s and Montpelier, where residents were determined they should not suffer the same fate. Aided by students from Bristol University, campaigners flooded the affected areas with leaflets throughout 1971 and 1972 to ensure residents were better informed. The Totterdown community had already been devastated. It was widely believed, including by some GPs, that some residents were so affected by the loss of their home that they died prematurely. Others lived the rest of their lives mourning the loss of the tightly-knit community where their family had lived for generations. Yet Cllr Gervas Walker, one of the principal supporters of the scheme, had the gall to accuse the objectors to the scheme of conducting “a consternation campaign that would frighten little old ladies to death.” Cracks were beginning to show, though. The Labour Party in Bristol cooled to the plans, advocating a delay until a full study of transport and land needs

was completed in 1974. A group called Joint Action Bedminster was formed to join the many Totterdown campaigning groups, and questions were asked in Parliament. Increasingly angry public meetings were held; at one of them, in Totterdown Methodist church hall, the ceiling fell down. Tony Benn, who was present, seized on this, saying the area needed regenerating rather than a new road. A Housing Action Area was declared in Totterdown and some homes were repaired. But the New Walls area was still a wasteland, deliberately left unfenced by the council, and eventually Travellers moved in, leading to complaints about rubbish and disturbance. Money was slashed from transport budgets and the City Engineer admitted to the Evening Post that the Montpelier section of the road would not be built within 15 years. In 1975 the late, long-awaited transport study concluded that the Outer Circuit Road would

bring only low economic benefits, would harm the environment and would probably not be effective. It should be halted, the report recommended – but only after the Totterdown section had been built. It took four years for the council to agree to cancel the rest of the road. Yet in 1980 a reduced, but still enormous, flyover plan for Three Lamps was presented, dubbed ‘The Substitute Chiswick Flyover’ after the infamous West London concrete interchange. Totterdown had already begun to show its spirit in a cultural fashion – an annual Totterdown Carnival had begun in 1973 and was to last into the late 1980s. This new flyover scheme sparked the Totterdown Action Group (TAG) to arrange a fancy dress march through the streets followed by a mass signing of a petition, with street theatre and music. By now South Bristol’s MP was Dawn Primarolo, and a public meeting chaired by her was told – to much anger – that if the community was to get the

Bristolians beware that this never happens again

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n HISTORY ‘A BLOODY DISGRACE’ THE Totterdowners forced out of their homes often tried to stay close to friends and family. Many moved to ‘safe’ parts of Totterdown. Others went to the new developments in Stockwood, St Anne’s, Hengrove and Knowle Park. Some were given council housing: 161 homes including accommodation for the elderly and disabled was planned in 1972 in Hengrove and Whitchurch, specially for those who had been displaced.

Though the new homes there were often more spacious, with bigger gardens and better bathrooms, the sense of community was not the same. Jean Lucas, 93, was one of the 2,000 people forced out of their beloved Totterdown homes for what turned out to be no reason. “We never had anybody come to the house to tell us what was happening. Nothing was discussed, we didn’t know they were going to pull our house

THE RAVAGING OF TOTTERDOWN down,” she told the Voice last year. “Everybody had to get out and nobody knew why.” She missed the old Totterdown, with its tight-knit community and huge range of shops. “We lived on New Walls Road where we had a beautiful Victorian house we bought off an old lady in the 1950s. It had four double bedrooms, two lounges and a huge cellar. “It was very upsetting, especially for the elderly people.

Some of them never got over it. I am still angry about it.” She moved to Broad Walk, Knowle and, like many, she still lamented the loss of Totterdown’s marvellous shops. “There were shops right up the Wells Road from Three Lamps as far as the bottom of the George hill. You never had to remove yourself anywhere else [to go shopping].” Knocking the heart out of Totterdown “was a bloody disgrace” she said.

put the Three Lamps flyover on hold for six months. Later, in 1980, Avon was forced to scrap the flyover for lack of money. The fight was over, and Totterdowners could focus their attention on getting the area rebuilt.

Bushy Park. Eventually, the bare ‘prairie’ – the core site of 20 acres – was rebuilt as the New Walls development in the 1990s. There was supposed to be a community hall on Zone N (in front of the YMCA). Later there were hopes it could be built on Zone A (next to Firfield Street). Neither plan has materialised. The hoped-for shops were a shadow of what Totterdown once had. A convenience store on a small paved plaza next to Oxford Street, at first tenanted by Dillons, later Tesco. Next to it, a row of small shops which have had varying fortunes but are at least now all occupied. But the new core site, New Walls, wasn’t a community for displaced Totterdowners. The homes were shared ownership, intended for young, first-time buyers. Margaret and Jim Dudbridge had moved from Angers Road, when it was knocked down, out to Hartcliffe, then returned as soon as they could to Stevens Crescent. Jim asked an estate agent if they could buy a house in New Walls. “He was told firmly that they were ‘not for Totterdown people’,” Kate Pollard recorded.

THE AFTERMATH

Symbol of hope: Tony Benn, MP for Bristol South East and also energy minister, opens the Totterdown Centre in 1979. He was given a sweater knitted by the centre’s knitting group but sadly it didn’t fit him. children’s play areas they wanted, even more homes would have to be knocked down. The TAG petition was just the

spearhead of a broad front of opposition – all of it reported in the Evening Post. It helped persuade the Avon councillors to

Need more space? You’ve already got it -

community, however, cannot be reconstructed with bricks alone. Nor was any attempt made to rebuild Totterdown as the important shopping and commercial centre it once was. Were councillors concerned that to do so would threaten the newer shopping areas of Broadmead and out-oftown retail parks? Even building new homes proved an interminable process. Though the community was consulted, residents were often told their desires were impractical, or too expensive. The shops couldn’t go where they had been; developers wanted a shopping centre, not streets of shops. Eventually the site of the Bush pub was agreed, next to County Street. The flats of Barrington Court were built, part-financing social housing at Bush Court in

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n THE MAYOR

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MARVIN REES Mayor of Bristol

We need to get a grip on the street litter problem which costs us so much

URING my annual State of the City speech last month I announced plans to get tough on fly-tipping. We know that Bristol still has a serious problem with litter and we are working hard to try and get a grip on this. I launched my Cleaner Streets campaign last year and we had a great response from schools, community groups and individuals. But it is not right that these groups should have to try to combat the problem alone. To keep Bristol tidy we need to realise that we all have a part to play. I was glad to be able to announce our plans to introduce a new enforcement team in

Bristol so that we can get tough on those people who are thoughtlessly spoiling the city for the rest of us. People who continue to drop litter, deface property with graffiti or let their dogs foul will face up to £75 on-the-spot fines. The new team is to be delivered at no cost to the council because it is predicted to be able to recover any costs through the payment of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs). Any profit from on-the-spot fines will be put back into

tackling environmental issues around the city. This team will work alongside the educational and community work that already takes place to try and ensure that we are finally able to get a grip on this problem which costs the council huge amounts of money to deal with. If you see someone on the street dropping litter, fly-tipping or damaging property with graffiti you can help us do something about it by reporting it on the council’s website – see below for the link. You can also get involved with the efforts to clean up our streets and be a part of my Cleaner Streets campaign (another link below). Together I hope we can work in harmony to clean up Bristol and show how proud we are of our city. I’d like to thank everyone who came to my State of the City speech this year. It has been a chance to look back at my past year and see how far we’ve come. While it has not been without its challenges I am really proud of the things me and my cabinet have been able to achieve over the year. I am sure the coming year will hold many more challenges but I look forward to seeing what we can achieve by working together. • bristol.gov.uk/report-a- street-issue • bristol.gov.uk/cleanstreets

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November 2017

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ADVICE FROM A PHARMACIST is an estimated 100,000 people Quitting may every year or one in six of all deaths. Despite many governmentled campaigns and laws, the rate of take a few people giving up has now slowed. Those in the lowest income groups, attempts but the unemployed or suffering from mental health issues struggle the most to quit. Sadly, they are also it’s worth it!

more likely to be heavy smokers at 21 to 30 cigarettes a day. The risks of smoking during pregnancy include premature delivery, increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and sudden infant death. What can Bedminster pharmacy do to help? Bristol city council, in spite of all their funding pressures, have continued to support community pharmacies to provide a stop smoking service. We offer free, NHS-funded smoking cessation products and the support

Another award!

the first-ever Patient Champion award, to owner Ade Williams. It recognises the pharmacy’s work to serve its community and adds to a shelf full of awards from Chemist & Druggist magazine.

MOKING is acknowledged to be the biggest contributor to health inequalities in Bristol. Some areas of South Bristol have smoking rates five times those of Clifton Down! At Bedminster Pharmacy, this fact remains a driving motivation for our involvement with Stoptober, a month-long stop smoking campaign that runs every October. Half of all smokers die as a result of a smoking-related disease. That

THE ROYAL Pharmaceutical Society has presented its own award to Bedminster Pharmacy,

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November 2017

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n YOUR MP of our trained advisers to recommend the right products and tailor a quit plan for you. Our service is confidential and non-judgemental. We know that most people succeed after a few attempts, so no attempt to reduce or give up is a waste of time. Scientists have already acknowledged that it is a difficult habit to beat but using a support service like ours increases your chances of doing so by 40 per cent. We listen to you and look for the solutions, products and approach tailored to you. We also support vaping, or the use of e-cigarettes, to help give up because in combination with our other products and support, your chances of success improve greatly. Even smokers acknowledge smoking is bad for health, socially

unacceptable and harmful to children. We respect your right to make decisions about your health and lifestyle, so we offer ourselves as friends, ready and willing to help. Come into Bedminster Pharmacy today to chat to us, have a look at our stop smoking displays or get more information on how we can help. Smoking tobacco kills. There is no doubt about that. Coincidentally, we have one of the highest successful quit rates in the city, so why not give us a try. October may be gone but any day is a good day to pack in the fags. Do it today. • This article by Ade Williams and Celine Lee of Bedminster Pharmacy aims to show how all pharmacies can help people with a variety of health conditions and ease pressure on other parts of the NHS.

Down on the Farm Crumbs! THE FARM café won the Crumbs Magazine award for Best Café in Bristol & Bath. Café staff accepted their prize at a swanky awards ceremony at Bristol Old Vic on October 1. The 421 nominations were whittled down to 104 finalists in 17 different categories. The café is open Monday to Sunday, serving food from 9am – 3pm. Weekend breakfasts are proving particularly popular. Glad tidings The café is now taking bookings for Christmas parties in December – a rare chance to enjoy an evening at the farm, with farm produce, seasonal, local and tasty goodies, and plenty of good cheer. Ring Anna, café manager, for more info on 0117 947 1185. If music be the food of love… Following the success of the first session in the summer, there will be an open mic night on November 10 from 7-10pm. Entry is free. Sign up on the night to play – all styles and abilities welcome – from 7pm, or just come along to enjoy the music, food and ambience - there’s also a chance to win a meal for two in the open mic raffle. What’s in season? You can buy farm-reared lamb and goat meat throughout November and December. Other beautiful autumn produce from

News from Windmill Hill City Farm

Farm news this month has a bit of a foodie focus, to celebrate ...

Tree tops You will be able to buy locallygrown Christmas trees at the farm from December 1. All profits will go into the farm’s health and social care programme, which supports groups including people with mental health issues, learning difficulties, or recovering from addictions. The farm’s Christmas Fair is coming up on Saturday December 9, 12-4pm. As well as the usual festive fun the event will be focusing on sustainability, environmentally-friendly gifts and waste reduction. • windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk

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KARIN SMYTH Labour MP for Bristol South

The system’s not perfect, but you do have a voice – if you use it

FERVENTLY believe in representative democracy. Our system isn’t perfect, but it ensures every citizen has a route into the decision-making process. That shouldn’t be limited to voting at elections. People can lobby their elected representatives, to have their voices heard on things that matter to them. Here are some examples. Last year the father of a toddler shot in the head with an air weapon in Hartcliffe started campaigning to prevent further tragedies, seeking changes to regulations governing their use. Ed Studley saw his route to influencing change as his local MP. So he talked to me, and I took up his cause with the Government. In no small part thanks to his work, last month the Government announced an air weapon review. That’s representative democracy in action.

You may recall the case of a Bedminster family, eager to improve the safety of towed trailers on our roads. Their lives were devastated by the death of their three-yearold son after a trailer came loose from a Land Rover. Donna and Scott Hussey asked me to help them bring about change and, as you may have read in the Voice in recent months,

we’ve made significant progress together. But our representative democracy is under threat. In my new role as Shadow Deputy Leader of the House I get a ringside seat – in the Chamber and behind the scenes – seeing how the government is ripping shreds through our democracy, using Parliamentary processes to try to stifle debates. So called Henry VIII clauses, echoing 16th century proclamations to enable laws to be changed without ministers needing to bother with Parliament, as part of the EU Withdrawal Bill, are one example. All residents have a role in influencing decision-making. I’m pleased many thousands of people living in South Bristol do so. But still too many don’t get involved, and a great deal of cynicism remains about the potential of democracy to transform lives. I want representative democracy strengthened further, with the lowering of the voting age to 16. In November MPs are scheduled to debate a Bill that if successful would do just that, and I’ll be in the Commons supporting Labour MP Jim McMahon’s Representation of the People Bill. Our politics must connect and engage with the public and I believe allowing 16 and 17 year-olds to vote will help energise and engage young people, and ensure their voices are heard.

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Visit us or call for advice and to book in a free site visit. Free parking: Glenavon Farm, 331 Bath Road, Saltford, BS31 3TJ 01179 243898 / 01225 874422 Got a story or any other inquiry? Call Paul on 07811 766072 or email paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk

November 2017

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n PLANNING APPLICATIONS 20 The Nursery BS3 3EB Rear extension. Granted subject to conditions 171-174 Coronation Road BS3 1RF Details in relation to condition 2 (Public art) of permission 15/02607/X: Variation of condition 44 (List of approved plans) attached to permission 11/01851/F for a mixed use scheme comprising employment floorspace and 78 dwellings. (Major application). Granted subject to conditions 3 Hebron Court, Hebron Road BS3 3AP New stair above to roof space, conservation rooflight (78 x 140cm) in southern slope, strengthen second floor ceiling, install toilet in roof space and rebuild partition on first floor landing. Granted subj. to conditions 106 Ashton Drive BS3 2PT Rear infill extension and hip to gable loft conversion including proposed rear dormer. Refused

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222 Ashton Drive BS3 2QA Two-storey attached dwellinghouse on land adjacent to 222 Ashton Drive. Granted subject to conditions Tesco Express North Street, Bedminster BS3 1HA Re-branding to include re-painting of fascia signage, new window graphics, new hanging signage and new ATM surround. Granted subject to conditions 1 Stillhouse Lane BS3 4EB Replacement dwelling and change of use from a commercial workshop. Pending consideration 94 York Road Bedminster BS3 4AL New window to rear and internal works. Pending consideration

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Industrial Therapy Organisation, Lydstep Terrace BS3 1DR Details in relation to condition 9 (Samples) of permission 14/01837/F: Demolition of building and mixed use development comprising nine houses, offices (use class B1), café/ restaurant (use class A3) and a children’s nursery (use class D1). Samples of the cladding, roof and flashings to be submitted. Pending consideration

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Former filling station, Coronation Road Details in relation to condition 4 (Remediation strategy – vapour membrane) of permission 15/03837/X: Four 4-storey town houses and apartment block containing seven flats. Pending consideration 69 Islington Road BS3 1PZ Demolition of premises and construction of 2-bed dwelling; resubmission of application 17/02998/F. Pending consideration 54 West Street, Bedminster BS3 3LH Details in relation to condition 2 (Contamination), 3 (Remediation scheme), 4 (Implementation of remediation scheme), 6 (Noise sensitive premises assessment), 7 (Construction environmental management plan), 9 (SUDS) and 11 (Artificial lighting) of permission 16/05399/F: Demolition of workshop and erection of three 3-storey houses and 3-storey block containing 4 flats. Pending consideration Lynwood House, Lynwood Road BS3 3HH Change of use from offices (use class B1a) to four units of residential accommodation (use class C3). Granted Ferodo House, Willway Street, Bedminster Change of use from offices (use class B1a) to residential (use class C3) for eight 1-bed flats. Granted 261 Ashton Drive BS3 2PZ Two storey front extension. Pending consideration Land to rear of 54 Swiss Road BS3 2RT Outline permission for two-bed house. Some matters reserved. Approval sought for access, layout and scale. Pending consideration 94-96 Bedminster Parade BS3 4HL Conditions 2 (Construction management plan) and 4 (Samples) of permission 16/00410/F: Demolition of first floor and erection of two new storeys for nine flats above the ground floor commercial space. Removal of brickwork infill and shop front glazing at ground floor, for replacement with new curtain walling and over cladding of structural piers to match new development above. Condition 2 Refused Condition 4 Granted

35 Bedminster, Southville & Ashton

61 Greenbank Road Southville BS3 1RJ Change of use from bed and breakfast accommodation (use class C1) to single dwellinghouse (use class C3). Granted subject to conditions Regent House, Consort House, Imperial Arcade and land rear of 36-40 East Street, Lombard Street BS3 1AL Details reserved by condition 4 (Energy strategy) of permission 15/04726/F: Change of use of part of Regent House from offices (use class B1a) to residential (Use class C3) (58 units) with 481 sq m of office use and 351 sq m of retail/ commercial units retained at ground floor. New mansard roof and associated works. (Major application). Granted 9 Upper Perry Hill BS3 1NJ Dormer roof extension and insertion of roof lights. Replacement garage and revised vehicular access. Granted subject to conditions St Catherines House, Dalby Avenue BS3 4HH Details in relation to condition 3 (Remediation strategy), 4 (Remediation scheme) and 5 (Unexpected contamination) of permission 17/03849/COU: Change of use from offices (use class B1a) to 40 flats (use class C3). Pending consideration 22 Blackmoors Lane BS3 2JJ Two storey side and single storey rear extension. Granted subject to conditions Blockbuster Video, Winterstoke Road BS3 2NS Change of use from video rental

store (use class A1) to a gym (use class D2). Granted subject to conditions 9 North Street, Bedminster BS3 1EN Conversion of buildings to front and rear with mansard roof extension, rear extension and other external alterations to create a mixed use scheme with nine flats and one retail unit. Withdrawn 26 North Street, Bedminster BS3 1HW Change of use from shop (use class A1) to mixed use (use classes A1, A3, D1 & D2). Granted 76 North Street, Bedminster BS3 1HJ Change of use from office (use class B1) to shop (use class A1). Granted subject to conditions 21-23 Cannon Street, Bedminster BS3 1BH Erection of 1-bed house to rear of shops. Withdrawn Rear of 209 Luckwell Road BS3 3HD Single storey garage and gym room in outbuilding. Pending consideration 15 Parklands Road BS3 2JW Removal of side storeroom and rear conservatory, and erection of double storey side and rear extension. Pending consideration 15 Ashton Drive BS3 2PN Roof dormer and window to front elevation. Pending consideration • The status of these applications may have changed since we went to press. Check for updates at planningonline.bristol.gov.uk

www.doorexpresssouthwest.co.uk

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

n YOUR COUNCILLORS

November 2017

southbristolvoice

O, IN the mayor’s ‘State of the Union’ speech on October 18, we got a one-liner about Charlie redeveloping Bolton the area around Green Cumberland basin Southville – but also going down to Ashton. A report in the Bristol Post suggests the end of Greville Smyth park may be up for grabs. The basic idea is to knock down the swing bridge, build another bridge further downstream, and build a load of housing in the space created. Well, first off, I have spoken to Paul Smith (cabinet member for housing) who assures me that Greville Smyth is safe (beyond any road realignment). Second, any scheme is years off – and I suspect most of us are pretty cynical about it ever actually happening. I’d suggest putting a new (and you’d have to assume ugly) bridge

Southville

closer to the suspension bridge will have an enormous heritage impact on views of this unique symbol of Bristol. In fact, I could only see it working as a tunnel, which sounds prohibitively expensive for an unfunded project. But if it did, you then, I presume, face the loss of the area opposite the Create centre. The landscaping here was by wellknown designer Sylvia Crowe, I’m told, and I know people who say it has merit in its own right – it was built in the 1960s to complement the bridge. You may also face the loss of the White City allotments, which are extremely popular. Set against this is the spaghetti junction of the swing bridge which is there now, and the opportunity to deliver some affordable housing. I have no great affection for the former, and we clearly need the latter. However, given the problems outlined, can I suggest looking for a solution which is altogether simpler?

How to contact your councillor: p2

T LOOKS like we will have to wait a little more time to see the first Metrobus trundle though our fair city. We Stephen were told services Clarke would start in the Green autumn, but now Southville it’s looking like early next year for the route from Long Ashton Park and Ride to Temple Meads. There were so many arguments about the merits of this transport scheme (the cost, limited benefits and disruption, if I recall) that I have a mixture of emotions about its arrival. Marvin has seemed very ambivalent about it, the costs have risen hugely (no surprise there I suppose) and the planned time savings still look pretty minimal. Nevertheless, having thought about it more, I have decided that actually I will welcome it with open arms! After all, I am a Green and we love public transport; partly because of the carbon saving from the reduction in cars on the road,

but also because not everyone can afford cars and this kind of enhanced transport helps to reduce inequality and access to jobs in our city. I will be on the bus on the first day waving my e-ticket … I also want to highlight a campaign I support to reduce the intrusion of advertising in Bristol. I accept that if I open a magazine or watch the TV I will see images and words trying to sell me things. What I (and a growing number of other Bristolians) find more unacceptable is a proliferation of images on billboards, bus stops and other public spaces. I have not chosen to look at these and frankly don’t want to (especially as many of them are selling things that are either bad for me or bad for the planet). I especially hate the giant illuminated digital adverts that are starting to pop up. Adblock Bristol is trying to raise awareness and use the planning system to try to curtail the abuses. Have a look at what they are doing: • adblockbristol.wordpress.com

November 2017

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n YOUR COUNCILLORS

Bedminster

Airport Flyer route changes E HAVE heard that the Airport and First Bus are considering changing the Flyer routes which would mean they no longer stop in West Street. This would impact on people travelling and the many living in Bedminster who work at the airport. We have made our concerns known and hope to have some further details to share soon. Ashton Gate: could match day parking restrictions help? fter big matches we get contacted by many local residents about access and dangerous parking. It is great to see Bristol City doing so well, and numbers attending matches for football (and possibly rugby in the future) are growing. Getting the Long Ashton Park and Ride hopefully available for match days, with better rail services and new Metrobus connections will all help, but traffic levels have reached unmanageable levels. As councillors, we are working

Mark Bradshaw Labour Bedminster

Celia Phipps Labour Bedminster

with council officers and Bristol Sport to find some solutions. There are several examples of match day parking schemes elsewhere in the country. Much of the work to research these has been done by the council and we want a commitment to bring forward options for discussion. Portishead line: restoring passenger services moves closer? he West of England Combined Authority is seeking views by December 4 on getting this long-awaited and much-needed rail line back into passenger use. Restoring this connection will have benefits for South Bristol, with potential

37 How to contact your councillor: p2

to see more stopping services at Parson Street and Bedminster. Some of the proposed work relates to the Ashton Vale area. Exhibitions showing the proposals are on Wednesday November 22 at Ashton Gate stadium from 12.30-7.30pm and Thursday November 23 at Long Ashton community centre, 3.30-7.30pm. Details can be found at: • metrowestphase1.org

Bedminster Lanterns – volunteers he organisers urgently need more people to volunteer as stewards to ensure the Lantern Parade on Saturday December 9 is safe and fun for all. Please email info@ bwlp.org.uk or visit Twitter @ BemmyLanterns or Facebook: • Facebook.com/groups/ BemmyLanterns/

New litter fines in Bristol nother hot topic for us is the amount of litter and flytipping, so we are pleased to see a pilot to fine

offenders. Litter undermines our area and adds to council (and council tax-payer) costs clearing it up. We hope there will also be enforcement for that minority of businesses and landlords who feel that they are exempt from making sure their or their tenants’ rubbish is properly dealt with. Way out West on West Street have been doing some great work on this. • news.bristol.gov.uk/council_to_ introduce_fines_for_dropping_litter Council Tax Reduction Scheme – vital help for those on low incomes t seems that this important funding which helps people on a very low income to pay their council tax bill will be protected for the coming year. While government cuts are the root cause of the drastic funding pressures, there continues to be a strong debate about local choices and ensuring funding is targeted at those needing it most. Given the constraints, some ‘blue sky’ projects may need to take lesser priority when it comes to money.

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November 2017

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n FEATURES

THE PROS AND CONS OF ADOPTION

It’s World Adoption Day on November 9. With increased numbers of children needing a new family, we asked a South Bristol mum with adopted children to talk about her experiences

“I

THINK the pros of adoption are very similar to those of birth families. We all love to see growth, improvement, achievement, happiness and determination in children, and this is no different in adopted families. Our targets and goals may be very different, even years behind a child’s expected age, but they are generally similar. But the cons of adoption … having Googled this topic, I am proud to say I disagree with most of the people voicing an opinion. Among the problems they suggest are the length of time it takes to be approved as an adoptive parent; having social services nosing in your home; that the child might not match your appearance; and paperwork issues. None of this bothered me. I think the cons of adoption are more emotional. I feel that I’m not good enough in my

Hidden fears: Some children feel they don’t deserve to be looked after

Adoption: the pain, and the rewards children’s eyes because I’m not their “real mum”. I stand out in the parenting crowd and get frowned upon by the school playground cliques for being stricter than them. I worry the kids won’t ever love me. These fears cause me real anxiety. On a good day when things have gone well, I sit and contemplate my kids in a calm and logical fashion over a cuppa and a biscuit. But on a day where nothing has gone right, where

I’ve been under attack, pre-and post-school, with the most hurtful and unfair comments screamed at me with venomous rage, I berate myself and reaffirm every rubbish thing anyone ever said to me. Only last night, when I was told that I was a rubbish mum who no one loved, I agreed, while sobbing in to my cup of tea, that yes, I must be, because clearly these kids aren’t improving and it must be down to me. However,

POLICE REPORT We’re cracking down on cars blocking paths

T’S HARD to believe that we are already a month or so away from Christmas. Michelle Hibberd, a PCSO for Ashton Vale, recently organised a small operation in response to complaints from businesses about people parking on Ashton Vale Road, where vehicles were being left with all four wheels on the pavement, preventing members of the public from using the footpaths. The team spoke to every business on Ashton Vale Road and later

With PCSO Charlotte Tait Broadbury Road police station

placed warning leaflets on to vehicles. We are now issuing tickets to those people who continue to selfishly block the pavement.

Mondays. However, we could do with more cadet leaders. If you are interested, please email policecadets@avonandsomerset. police.uk for more information.

icensing checks have recently been conducted at local pubs and bars. These checks are part of the work we do to support our establishments in providing a safer working environment as well as highlighting action we take in relation to anyone handling stolen goods.

e are once again opening up our popular Cop Shop in the Galleries this Christmas, to help Christmas shoppers stay safe. Our shop will be on the ground floor, next door to Thorntons and this year we are sharing the space with our partners in Avon Fire and Rescue, as well as with Cycle Republic, Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal, and Wessex 4x4 Response. As well as crime prevention advice, we will be running competitions for both younger

re there any adults who would be interested in volunteering with Police Cadets? We have a cadet group for Bristol South that runs on

having thought about it, although my emotions take a battering hourly, I truly believe the cons of adoption all belong to my children. Always feeling slightly different – yes, they do feel that. Worrying about being loved – definitely one of the most frequent comments out of their mouths. Not being able to handle tricky situations. Yes – any time they are challenged with situations that typically make adopted children feel insecure, they panic about how best to handle themselves. More often than not they choose flight mode out of the alternatives – fight, flight or freeze. Their anxiety gets the better of them on an almost hourly basis some days. And finally, there is the fear of never being good enough. This is 100 per cent a fear for my kids. Imagine feeling you are not good enough for your family, these people who have taken you in and tried their best to help. How can you be good enough for the toys and warmth and food they give when no one ever thought you were before? That must be a dark and lonely place to live. Of course my kids are more than good enough for me – they are wonderful, crazy, annoying, frustrating, exciting, happy, loving people who will always be a credit to this family no matter what – because they try their best. And surely that’s all anyone ever wants from their children, isn’t it?”

and older children and will be inviting shoppers to become detectives, following the clues through our mocked-up crime scene. Shoppers can also spread a bit of festive cheer by leaving a present under our tree for young people spending Christmas in hospital, as part of the Wallace and Gromit Grand Appeal. Last year we had nearly 4,000 visitors to the shop and we hope to see even more people this year. The Cop Shop opens on November 27 and closes on December 23. Opening hours are 9.30am to 6pm. Follow #CopShop on Twitter and post your #PoliceSelfies with officers at the shop. Until next time, PCSO Charlotte Tait

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

November 2017

southbristolvoice

LETTERS

39 Write to paul@southbristolvoice.co.uk or to 18 Lilymead Avenue, BS4 2BX

Council should call the bluff on developers’ gamble NICOLA Beech, cabinet member for urban design, was quoted in the October issue of South Bristol Voice as saying that people (like myself) who have their own home might want to think about “the thousands of people in this city living in poor accommodation or still living with their parents because they cannot get a foot on the housing ladder”. Has she not read the Community Planning Brief for the Bedminster Green area drawn up with considerable effort and expertise by WHaM, the Windmill Hill and Malago planning group? Believe it or not, we also have children who need somewhere to live. There is nothing we would like better than this area being densely developed with a good variety of different sizes of flats – family homes as well as one and two bedroom flats (she knows perfectly well that a “two-bed flat” in a modern private development means one small double bedroom and a box room – not suitable for families.)

And there should be a variety of tenures available – social housing, affordable both to rent and buy (though we all know what “affordable” means.) If the council does not get a grip on this area it will become a barren estate of transient professionals with no desire or possibility of putting down roots. Cllr Beech, of all people, as cabinet member for urban design, should know this. Urban design can be so much more intelligent, varied and inclusive, and still provide for high numbers of units. And history tells us that high-rise only works if it is built to a very high standard and maintained as such, at considerable expense to the tenants. Who are these poor people you say you care about so much who will be able to afford to live there, Cllr Beech? In the long run, these uncontrolled private developments, not built to the highest standard, will be soulless and sterile. Those who stay, and those of us who live on Windmill

Hill and in the flats on Malago Road, will not thank the council in 10 years time for caving in to developers now. Make them show their calculations – why only 10-plus storeys can be profitable here, when 4/5/6 storeys have been enough on other sites in Bedminster. They are exploiting the council’s admirable declared policy to build lots of houses, and the very real social misery of a housing crisis, to obscenely maximise their profits. The council should call the bluff of these developers. They have gambled. But gamblers have to accept that sometimes they lose. They must have overpaid to get their hands on these plots; now they expect us to bail them out. Believe it or not, this is a well-loved area. If the council wants to hit its housing target in one go, surely it would be better to erect tall tower blocks on part of the Downs – a much larger area of open space. A few acres could be spared. The local inhabitants have other parks and generally much larger gardens

than we do. But perhaps they and the developers have more influence than we inhabitants of Bedminster do, even with a left Labour council. Finally, a comment on the energy centre proposed for the site. At the consultation meeting on October 19 it was stated that on a still day the nitrogen dioxide emissions plume from the chimney, cleaned up as much as possible of course, will fall over an area of about one square kilometre. That means about half a mile in all directions from the chimney, having been ejected to a good height. We all know what happens in the summer when high pressure settles over the city. Bristol is down in a hole (and the proposed site is as low as you can go). A lid gets put on the pollution. It doesn’t get dispersed and levels rise alarmingly. From Windmill Hill the dirty soup of pollution is visible on sunny summer days. Do we have to pray for permanent low pressure and wind? Gareth Jones, Windmill Hill

Drugs policy isn’t working

regularly see piles of laughing gas canisters enjoyed by youths the previous evening. I thought they were banned as well? M Arkee, Knowle

any qualification at Level 4 and above ... Most courses are taught in universities, but plenty are taught at colleges and specialist course providers …” This important issue aside, I fully support any effort to create equality of opportunity for our children, but it is condescending to automatically conclude from the low university entrant figures alone that there remains a lack of opportunity. There are plenty of families, including my own, who know university might be an option for their children but do not regard it as an opportunity too good to pass up. Karin Smyth’s hand-wringing reinforces the decades old two-tiered view – that university is better, and those who could go, should go, to better themselves. It is high time we start to recognise equality in post-school choices, view the options as lanes of equal value rather than tiers, and applaud and encourage those who do not go to university as much as those who do. If our low figures can be shown to be due to a lack of access then we should certainly attempt a fix, but we must respect people’s

choices, and in our language we must avoid the damaging connotation that university is always the superior path. Ed Pitt Resident, Bristol South parliamentary constituency

I NOTE your article about the impact of drug dealing in our neighbourhood in the last issue. You make the point, or rather the police do, that so-called soft drugs can have very severe consequences, both in terms of dangerous side-effects and the criminality that results. Since your piece was published, I see that no fewer than four homeless people have died in the city centre after taking spice. The police made the point in your article that you never know what you are buying with spice – its ingredients and its strength are a lottery. This, surely, makes the case for legalising the drugs trade. Then we might get some quality control, and future tragedies could be avoided. That the current policy is useless is shown by the fact that though spice was supposedly banned last year it is still readily available. And on the streets round me in Knowle I still

Not everyone has to go to uni IN YOUR most recent edition Karin Smyth laments that we “send” the fewest schoolleavers to university of any UK parliamentary constituency. She intimates that the proportion of “white working class” families in Bristol South is a significant factor. She states that “huge sums have been spent … to improve access to higher education from groups that are traditionally under-represented” and then that “things still haven’t shifted as they should”. Higher education and university are not synonymous. UCAS defines higher education thus: “UK higher education offers a diverse range of courses and qualifications, such as first degrees, Higher National Diplomas (HNDs), and foundation degrees. It includes

Your stamps can save sight RETINITIS pigmentosa (RP) is a group of hereditary disorders that affect the retina, situated at the back of the eye. RP leads to a gradual loss of vision, and it can affect any age group, from children to adults. RP Fighting Blindness and the Macular Society have a new collaboration to fund talented young PhD students to carry out research in the field of genetic macular diseases. You can help us by sending us your used postage stamps. Stamps cut outside the perforations will earn the charity more. We are also grateful for any unwanted stamp collections, old and foreign coins. Ron & Gina Pritchard 22 Huckford Road Bristol BS36 1EA

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November 2017

PUZZLES Adult puzzles sponsored by SILVA CARE Children’s puzzles sponsored by DRIVE-TECH £36

MARTIN’S SHORTS • THREE City players, Taylor Moore, Joe Morrell and Freddy Hinds, are getting regular games on loan at Cheltenham Town. It is fantastic that they can play together and build an understanding at League Two level. Let’s hope these are stars of the future at Ashton Gate. • City travel to Hull on November 25. Since beating City in the play-off final in 2008 Hull have become a yo-yo club, bouncing between the Premier and Championship. A good win for the City could snap their string.

Ipswich hoodoo with a magnificent 3-1 away win at Portman Road. This particular hoodoo of not winning away against Ipswich had hung around for 39 years so it was a fantastic way to round off a magnificent series of games in September. Unfortunately the win meant that manager Lee Johnson won the Manager of the Month Award, which everyone knows comes with its own hoodoo, causing any manager to immediately suffer a dip in form. Johnson sensibly said he was dedicating the award to his staff, the players and fans – obviously hoping he could spread the hoodoo thinly and ensure results stayed on track. It also coincided with an international break. Now some teams have an International Break hoodoo, so it was a little worrying that it might mean City lost momentum. As an attempt at an antidote I did my bit by buying a new winter hat in the hope it might ensure good fortune. In truth the current City team look capable of laying to rest

Can you find 53 team names or nicknames hidden vertically, horizontally or diagonally?

Albion Alloa Aston Villa Blues Boro Burnley Bury City Clyde Crewe Darlington Dons Exeter When Lee Johnson won Manager of the Month, fans started wondering Forest PHOTO: JMP what misfortunes would befall the club in recompense Fulham many hoodoos this season. learned by this young side that Grimsby Although most commentators dominating a game is all very Hamilton remain surprised, City’s record of well, but you have to take your only losing one of the first 11 chances when they come. Hammers league games and defeating two The result means the new hat Premier League teams in the cup verdict is a tricky one. Did Hearts is down to more than luck. wearing it prevent an ignoble Hereford A strong defence has been at defeat that had been inevitable Hull the heart of things, allowing the since the Manager of the Month more forward players to express award, or would we have won if I Ipswich themselves with confidence and hadn’t worn it? The jury is out. Jays cause real problems for the The jury, in the form of the opposition. City crowd, was pretty Lincoln I wore my hat for the first unanimous in its verdict on Luton time against Burton Albion at referee James Linington, who Ashton Gate. Now, Burton somehow saw 32 fouls, awarding Millwall haven’t been in the league long free kicks every couple of Owls enough for any hoodoo to be in minutes, breaking up the rhythm place. In fact City had won one of the game and rather ruining it Partick and drawn one in the previous as entertainment. To make two encounters. But with all matters worse, when Bobby Pensioners Reid these hoodoos flying about there lashed the ball into the net from Preston was a fear that a surprise defeat 12 yards, the referee was just might even it all up. about the only person in theRaith Despite having 74 per cent of ground who believed an Rams the possession and ensuring innocuous nudge by Josh Burton didn’t have a single shot Brownhill on the edge of theRed boxDevils on target or a corner, the game merited ruling out the goal. Reds ended in stalemate 0-0, which From then on, the crowd sang I’m sure pleased Burton’s their opinion of the referee’sRobins manager Nigel Clough more than performance. They declaredRoss his County it did Lee Johnson. A lesson officiating was doo-doo. Saints

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HERE is an unwritten rule among sports writers that at some point you have to mention the word hoodoo. For readers who have rushed off to Google the word, I must explain that I’m not talking about a spike of rock in the USA but that almost tangible bad luck that afflicts certain events in football. Bristol City buried the

This month: Football teams

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November 2017

Albion, Alloa, Aston Villa, Blues, Boro, Burnley, Bury, City, Clyde, Crewe, Darlington, Dons, Exeter, Forest, Fulham, Grimsby, Hamilton, Hammers, Hearts, Hereford, Hull, Ipswich, Jays, Lincoln, Luton, Millwall, Owls, Partick, Pensioners, Preston, Raith, Rams, Red Devils, Reds, Robins, Ross County, Saints, Seagulls, Southampton, Southend, Stoke, Swindon, Tigers, Toffs, Torquay, Tottenham Hotspur, Town, Tranmere, United, Wanderers, Wigan, Wolves, York

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November 2017

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n WHAT’S ON New theatre to raise curtain next autumn SOUTH Bristol’s pioneering theatre at the Tobacco Factory has announced plans to open a new studio theatre costing £1.5 million, to open in October 2018. The plans will “completely transform” the first floor of the building, creating an 86-seat performance space alongside the existing Factory theatre. It comes after the Factory’s former studio theatre, housed the other side of North Street above Mark’s Bakery, closed in January 2016 because of issues with insurance and licensing. It meant the Tobacco Factory Thursday October 26 n Waiting for Godot Tobacco Factory theatre. Still time to catch this vibrant revival of Samuel Beckett’s 20th C classic, this “iconic play about the struggle for purpose, the power of friendship and the hunt for a pair of decent boots”. Until November 4. BSL signed performance on November 3. Tickets from £12 to £18. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com Monday October 30 n Moonshine Nights Acta theatre, Gladstone Street, Bedminster. The Malcolm X Elders Theatre Company bring back the show they created last year with more stories and songs from a Caribbean evening. 7-8.15pm, £3. Also on October 31. • acta-bristol.com Wednesday November 1 n Arnos Vale Business Networking Arnos Vale cemetery, 5-7pm. Collaborate

New look: Artist’s impression of the new bar and front-ofhouse at the Tobacco Factory

had to look elsewhere for its second performance space, and since then productions have been mounted at several places including the Wardrobe theatre in Old Market and Circomedia in Kingswood. The new facilities are expected to pull more than 30,000 extra people through the doors of the Tobacco Factory, with an extra 360 performances staged by 50

additional companies. There will be three new dressing rooms, a kitchen and technical areas, with soundproofing so that both stages can be used at the same time. The front of house and bar space will be extended. Mike Tweddle, artistic director, said: “This project is an enormously exciting step for Tobacco Factory Theatres. It builds on the great

WOMB SISTERS

want to live in? Debating a new future for Bedminster’s biggest community organisation. • greaterbedminster.org.uk n How to Win Against History Tobacco Factory Beyond – at the Wardrobe Theatre, Old Market. Seiriol Davies’s “tragi-gorgeous” musical about the 5th Marquis of Anglesey, who blew his family’s colossal fortune on diamond frocks, lilac-dyed poodles and putting on plays to which nobody came. Winner of an Edinburgh Fringe award from The Stage. £12/£10, until October 11. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com n Helen McCookerybook + Karen + Charlie Tipper Conspiracy The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Once a John Peel favourite in bands such as Helen and the Horns, Helen is playing songs from her new album, The Sea. Karen play a dreamy atmospheric pop, led

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Wednesdays 7-8.30pm Starts November 1, Windmill Hill City Farm, £7 ) rosiesingssomesongs @hotmail.co.uk with like minds from local businesses and take park in the Ceremonial Way Netwalk. • arnosvale.co.uk Thursday November 2 n Greater Bedminster Community Partnership AGM Acta Centre, Gladstone Street, Bedminster, 7pm. What sort of neighbourhood do we

November 10-19 n Carol Peace 25 Year Anniversary Show – A Bristol Celebration Paintworks

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THE celebrated sculptor chooses Paintworks, Bath Road, for a mini-festival which showcases her works in an 11-day extravaganza of sculpture, drawing, painting, words, food and music. Sculptures from the life-size to the minuscule are on show in Paintworks ‘ Event Space daily from 10am-6pm, admission free. Highlights include a musical

Public: Carol’s work in Portishead evening with Bristol acoustic trio Three Cane Whale on Tuesday November 14. Tickets £12, 7pm. On Thursday November 16,

Carol joins the Bristol 24/7 Autumn Feast as the Bristol arts and news magazine – based at Paintworks – hosts a banquet designed to bring people together. The food is from 12 young chefs led by the acclaimed Barny Haughton, founder not only of restaurants such as Bordeaux Quay but Knowle’s Square Food Foundation. On Friday November 17, from 6pm, Carol will be in conversation about the importance of drawing, with Alison Beaven of the Royal West of England Academy. • carolpeace.com

success of the organisation to date and enables us to look ahead to a bright future.” It will allow the theatre to involve more young people and residents of South Bristol in performance-making. It follows last month’s announcement that the Factory theatre is recruiting its own professional drama company for the first time. George Ferguson, the owner of the Tobacco Factory building, has agreed to give the theatre a 999-year peppercorn lease. Most of the money – £1.2m of the £1.5m needed – is already secured. Donors include Arts Council England, the Foyle Foundation and businesses including law firm DAC Beachcroft. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com/ reimagine-with-us

What sort of neighbourhood do we want to live in? GREATER BEDMINSTER COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Thursday 2nd November, 7 pm acta Centre, Gladstone Street, Bedminster by the founder of the Brilliant Corners. £5, 7pm. • thethunderbolt.net Saturday November 4 n Stand Up For The Weekend with Matt Green & Co Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, North Street. Matt Green’s intelligent act is a mixture of high energy observational and topical jokes combined with more personal stories. Plus guests. 7.45pm,£11. • thecomedybox.co.uk n Sgt Pepper’s Magical Mystery Tour The Tunnels, Temple Meads. All You Need Is The Beatles celebrate 50 years of The Beatles’ seminal LP Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the songs written for their 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour. 7.30pm, £12. • thetunnelsbristol.co.uk Monday November 6 n Control-Alt-Delete Knowle West Media Centre. The weekly Minecraft and computer coding

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November 2017

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Stand-up is for spaniels too REVIEW: Stand Up for the Weekend without Rhys James, Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, October 14

HE BILLED headliner Rhys James, recent young entrant to the Mock the Week, TV panel show gang, was unable to attend. Which was a shame – I’d heard good reviews and was looking forward to seeing him live. However, the beauty of Comedy Box nights is that you are guaranteed a great line up of national comedians, and if you haven’t heard of the acts before, you’ll always keep an eye out for them afterwards. Welshman Clint Edwards, our lanky compere, warmed the

£12, 8pm. • fiddlers.co.uk Saturday November 11 n Never Too Old To Disco Charles Padfield Centre, Victoria Park Baptist Church, Sylvia Avenue. Second Saturday of the month, 10.45-11.45am. Love to dance but don’t know where? Come and feel the disco beat

Much more than a war story, this will move you REVIEW: War Horse, Bristol Hippodrome T’S A decade to the day since War Horse, adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s book, first opened. At the end of tonight’s performance Tom Morris who, along with Marianne Elliott, conceived and directed the play and who now happens to be artistic director of Bristol Old Vic, gave an inspiring speech, calling on us to not forget the importance of playfulness and storytelling, and urging the 34-strong cast (who are all new for this tour, with Bristol only the second venue) to applaud us, the audience, for having the imaginations to make their creations of cloth and wood into reality. And indeed, ‘puppet’ seems a trite word for the strong, solid,

Waggy: Spaniel-like Adam Hess audience up nicely. He’s a relaxed, likeable chap with a twinkly smile and good crowd-banter – but woe betide the heckler who takes it too far – nice Clint knows how to lay down the law. Opener Tom Ward took the mickey out of his hair cut – pudding bowl 80s Oasis/Blur – so we didn’t have to. His act is rooted in a love of music it seems – from once more. Details from Zoe at nevertoooldtodisco@gmail.com n Annual Bazaar Totterdown Methodist Church 10am2.30pm. Various stalls with lots of bargains. Delicious food. Children’s activities. n Jim Causley Saltcellar Folk Club, Totterdown Baptist Church, entrance off Cemetery Unbelievably real: When the horses start to snuffle and stamp, it’s hard to remember that they are not living animals

life-size horses that are the stars of the show. It’s easy to forget they are not real. We see the performers within, holding up their backs, controlling their legs, and the actor standing to the front, who manipulates the head, yet still, the ear-twitches, the foot stamps, the fear, skittishness and strength, the snuffles and snorts, are utterly convincing. It feels like the players must have lived with horses for ever to embody them so entirely. Over 10 years, seven million people have seen this marvellous creation. Ten million soldiers died in the First World War – the war of the title. This production is beautiful and magical, yes – the torn-strip-of-paper backdrop where sketches of landscapes appear, the simplest of stage

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n WHAT’S ON

n WHAT’S ON sessions for ages 9-16 run from 4.30-6pm. This week: create designs for a robot and get pieces laser cut. Details from dot@ kwmc.org.uk or 0117 903 0444. • kwmc.org.uk Friday November 10 n Open Mic evening Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster. From 7-10pm, enjoy an evening of music in the farm’s new expanded cafe. A range of local beers and ciders, homemade sausage rolls and other treats on sale. Free entry, all styles and abilities welcome. • windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk Friday November 10 n Vice and Virtue: Old Market Through the Ages A talk for Knowle and Totterdown Local History Society by Mike Manson. Redcatch Community Centre, Redcatch Road. £1.50, visitors £3. • knowleandtotterdownhistory. org.uk n Jesuits Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster. The Bristol trio’s first headline show. “Jesuits use ethereal drones and loops to create a blank canvas for repeating noise, choral melody and pulsing patterns.” Support from local acts including E B U, Heavy Petting, and DJ sets from Silver Waves & Homo Duplex.

November 2017

furniture summoning houses, fences and more, the voices and seamless choreography and timing of the cast – but it is also brutal, shocking and devastating – depicting war in all its fear and ugliness. A scene where a tank blasts across the stage, black and stark against flashes of smoke and light, is overwhelming. A horse falls and dies, its three puppeteers withdraw, stepping back from the carcass – it’s as if we’re watching its very soul depart. This is powerful stuff. Many of the audience, including me, were moved to tears. But it is lifeaffirming and astonishing too. And on at Bristol Hippodrome until, fittingly enough, November 11. So there is still time to witness it for yourself. Beccy Golding

his samples of the most sexy bits of Prince songs, played on a tinny synth, to his re-discovered love of nightclub dancing, topped off with funnily accurate impersonations of Jools Holland and late-90s vocal-tuner Cher. When Adam Hess began his set I thought – oh he’s started fast, he’ll slow down when he settles in – but no. Frenetic stream-ofconsciousness is his style: he’s like a King Charles spaniel – all breathless and tail-waggy, it’s adorable. As he tells us about himself and his life he seems to be having lots of fun, and his story-telling is, most importantly, really funny. It turns out Adam’s housemate is the missing Rhys James. Apparently Rhys sleeps on the sofa a lot. I was dead chuffed that we’d enjoyed Adam’s frenetic puppylike energy this evening. Beccy Golding Road. Jim sings songs from his native West Country with a relaxed and playful stage presence. £5. 7.30pm. • saltcellarfolk.org.uk n Speaking in Tongues: Talking Heads Tribute The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. Chris Apthomas and band pay tribute to the New York art-punks with songs from the legendary live film Stop Making Sense. £10, 7.30pm. • thethunderbolt.net Sunday November 12 n Sculpture Tour Arnos Vale cemetery, 10.30am-12noon. “Discover beautiful carved memorials, their symbolic meanings and the stone-carvers behind them.” £5. Monday November 13 n Simon McBride The Tunnels, Temple Meads. McBride, “the man who everyone wants in their band” turned pro guitarist at the age of 16 and has played with various members of Deep Purple. Touring in his own right he has supported Joe Satriani, Jeff Beck and Joe Bonamassa. 7.30pm, £15. • thetunnelsbristol.co.uk Thursday November 16 n Flower arranging with Lizzie Valentine Zion Bristol, Bishopsworth Road. A modern take on flower arranging: this month, Terrarium Baubles For a Xmas gift. £25, 7.30-9pm. • zionbristol.co.uk Friday November 17 n An evening with Kate & Keith Zion Bristol,

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Bishopsworth Road. Singer Kate Dimbleby and Keith Warmington on harmonica, guitar and vocals return to Zion with guest Rebecca Hollweg. Songs by Bonnie Raitt, Kirsty MacColl, Leonard Cohen, Etta James and Richard Thompson as well as original material. 7.30pm, £11. • zionbristol.co.uk Saturday November 18 n 3 Daft Monkeys The Thunderbolt, Bath Road, Totterdown. With influences from Celtic music to Eastern sounds, 3 Daft Monkeys’ infectious worldfolk rhythms provoked the BBC’s Mark Radcliffe to call them one of the highlights of Glastonbury. 7.30pm, £10. • thethunderbolt.net Sunday November 19 n Jazz night Windmill Hill community centre. With the Mark Randall Six, on the third Sunday of every month, 8.30-10.30pm. • whca.org.uk Monday November 20 n Shakespeare Schools Festival Tobacco Factory theatre. One of a host of events nationwide in which 30,000 young people from primary, secondary and special schools will unite for performances of the Bard’s plays. Until November 24. £9.50/£7, 7pm • tobaccofactorytheatres.com Wednesday November 22 n Pamper Night at Zion Zion Bristol, Bishopsworth Road. Women only – treatments (from £5 each) include reiki, Indian head massage, reflexology, feet and nail treatments, and massage. Entry, at £2.50, includes glass of bubbly. Bar open 6.30-9.30pm. • zionbristol.co.uk Friday November 24 n Networking with Freelance Mum Windmill Hill City Farm, Philip Street, Bedminster. Zoe Hewett advises on how to create the perfect

DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR EVENT? This space could be yours for as little as £14. Community groups, pubs, charities, schools – get your message across in the best-read magazine in South Bristol. Call Ruth on 07590 527 664.

Bringing to life the real drama of life of grime in our mines REVIEW: Blood on the Coal, Acta theatre ECAUSE I’d read October’s SBV history feature on the mines of Bedminster, I came to this show with a pretty good understanding of the facts. This performance at Acta, as ever, put flesh on the bones – making the factual personal. Blood on the Coal told stories of the human cost; the day-to-day realities of the people who lived through the final years, in the late 1800s, of the Bedminster coalfields – life (and death) at the Malago pit. The show has been devised by The Thursdays – Acta’s community theatre group – and combines dramatic short scenes from them

Shining a light: The miners’ story with stirring songs, some traditional, some specially written, from Bedminster Community Choir – in all more than 60 people have been involved, and many of them appear on stage. There were some first night stumbles – slight gaps while the cast grasped for their words, or glanced around to see who had the next line. But it didn’t matter. Special mention must go to young Izzy Tippett, the 10-year-old soloist who sang with confidence and clarity. It seems accepted lore that the South Bristol accent has a Somerset twang, and now I know

why. Many of those who toiled in the local coalfields came from rural Somerset seeking work and a better life. In historical terms, none of this was so very long ago. I found myself wondering how the displacement of thousands of country folk into grime, hardship and poverty might still be having an impact today. We hear the story of an underground explosion where several miners were killed – the company claimed worker negligence, the unions blamed working conditions. The ensuing strike, lasting 15 months, left miners and their children starving, until eventually, having gained no concessions, the miners were forced back into an industry that was ironically, on its way out. As with previous show Gas Girls, Acta have done an excellent job of documenting the social history of Bristol – taking facts and statistics and finding the humanity in them; creating effecting, powerful drama that tells the story of our community. Beccy Golding

workspace when working from home. Children are welcome. £9 members, £12 non-members (children free). Includes coffee, cake and crafts for the little ones. • windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk n History of Alcohol Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, North Street. The Thinking Drinkers set out to prove “that alcohol has influenced everything that has happened. Ever.” 7.45pm, £14.50 (includes five free drinks, it says here, but that seems unlikely). • thecomedybox.co.uk Saturday November 25 n Lantern making workshop Ashton Vale Community Centre, Risdale Road BS3 2QY. Help make lanterns for the annual Bedminster Winter Lantern Parade, 1.30-3.30pm. £5 for 1

adult and up to 2 children, tickets via Eventbrite or on the door. • facebook.com/bemmylanterns n Christmas Fair Knowle Community Centre, Greenwood Road. 12noon-4pm. Tables can be booked at £5 each by phoning 0117 971 6667 or 0117 949 9342. Refreshments available. n Geoff Norcott & Co Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, North Street. Stand Up For The Weekend is headed by Geoff Norcott, the ‘Conswervative’ comedian recently seen provoking Nish Kumar on BBC2’s Daily Mash. 7.45pm, £11. • thecomedybox.co.uk n Doreen Doreen Fiddlers Club, Willway Street, Bedminster. The Fiddlers reunited with the venue’s

favourite band. £10, 8pm. • fiddlers.co.uk Sunday November 26 n Pocket Opera Arnos Vale cemetery. The Pocket Opera company return to Arnos Vale after a visit in June, with a programme ranging from English, French, German and Welsh songs to Italian opera, including Mozart. 2.30-4pm, £10. • arnosvale.co.uk Monday November 27 n Delve Into Devising Tobacco Factory theatre. Children 6-9 years-old come up with wonderful and weird ideas and create their own miniature plays. 4.30-5.30pm on successive Mondays, £6 per session or £15 for all three. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com

November 30-January 14 n Beauty and the Beast Tobacco Factory theatre THE FACTORY’S Christmas show retells the French classic fairy tale to remind us that beauty – and beastliness – are only skin deep. Theatre company New International Encounter, creators of acclaimed versions of Hansel and Gretel and Around the World in 80 Days, bring a “mischievous and music-filled marvel” of a Christmas show. Deep in the forest

Daring: Belle enters the forest lives a very unusual figure, suffering under a terrible curse. Meanwhile, in a poky farmhouse on the edge of town,

three remarkable daughters and their weary father are struggling to make ends meet. But everything changes beyond their wildest dreams when Belle, the youngest of the daughters, dares to enter the forest … The show played to packed houses at Cambridge’s Junction theatre last Christmas. Tickets are priced from £9.50 for schools at midweek matinées, to £62 for a family of four. Prices are lower after January 3. • tobaccofactorytheatres.com

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

November 2017

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n LOCAL SERVICES

n WHAT’S ON Triumph over life’s difficulties NEW DRAMA Up Down Man asks the question that faces every parent of an adult with a learning disability – what will happen when I’m not here? Playing at the Tobacco Factory theatre from November 8-18, it’s the sequel to Up Down Boy which was premiered at Tobacco Factory Theatres in 2010 and toured internationally. It stars Bristol performer Nathan Bessell as Matty Butler, a young man with Down’s syndrome. It’s inspired by real stories from families of young people with Down’s, gathered by writer Brendan Murray and director Heather Williams. There are relaxed shows for those with extra needs on November 9, 16 and 18, and a BSL signed performance on November 16. . tobaccofactorytheatres.com

GARDENING

An outpouring of despair? Far from it REVIEW: Waiting for Godot, Tobacco Factory theatre WAITING for Godot is one of the best-known plays of all time, famous for being the drama in which nothing happens. It’s a play which most theatregoers feel they know well. That, is until you see it performed, when you realise that it’s not about nothing, not at all; and actually you know nothing about it. That at least was my experience on seeing this fizzing production at the Tobacco Factory, directed by Mark Roseblatt. The setting is well known: a stage bare except for a forlorn tree, and Vladimir and Estragon, two characters in grimy clothes waiting, and waiting, for the arrival of Godot. They have no money,

n LOCAL SERVICES AERIALS

Outburst: Chris Bianchi as Lucky PHOTO: Mark Dawson

only a few turnips to eat, and no other friends. Every night, Estragon gets beaten up; he expects it, and isn’t curious about who’s doing it. Their only occupation is to wait; Godot may find them some work, but it doesn’t sound as if he is a generous employer. It would be so easy to stage this as a lamentation, a dreary progress from hope to boredom

and despair. But Beckett’s text is crackling with energy and humour, and so is this production. Estragon: That’s the idea, let’s contradict each other. Vladmir: Impossible. Estragon: You think so? And so on, continuously saying nothing and yet affirming something – that in the midst of despair, in a world where most people are being exploited, we find comfort in each other, even when we enrage each other. The performances are first-rate: Factory theatre regular Chris Bianchi shines as the wretched Lucky, a slave whose part is mostly silent except for a heroic outburst. Colin Connor as Estragon and David Fielder as Vladimir are utterly convincing, and gloriously alive in the worst of circumstances. As the old saying goes, the situation is desperate, but not serious. If you visit the theatre once a year, make this your choice. Be quick; it’s on until November 4. Paul Breeden

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