Shipshape 7 - Autumn 2011

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Shipshape autumn 2011

www.shipshapebristol.co.uk

ARTS,EVENTS, HARBOURSIDE & HISTORY News | Features | Interviews

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bristol international classical season 2011-12

thursday 6 october bournemouth symphony orchestra

wednesday 19 october moscow philharmonic orchestra

thursday 10 november bournemouth symphony orchestra

Featuring Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto played by Renaud Capuçon, ‘one of today’s outstanding violinists’ (The Guardian). Kirill Karabits and the BSO raise the season’s curtain in style.

Tickets: £28, £25, £22, £19, £15, under 26s £8, under 18s £1

Moscow magic awaits as Tchaikovsky Competition winner Nikita Boriso-Glebsky performs Tchaikovsky’s iconic Violin Concerto.

Tickets: £31, £28, £25, £21, £18, under 26s £8, under 18s £1

With his ‘high octane technique’ (New York Times), the former Eurovision Young Musician of the Year Julian Rachlin is the soloist in a Hungary-themed concert shot through with Magyar magnetism.

7.30pm, Tickets: £28, £25, £22, £19, £15, under 26s £8, under 18s £1

sunday 20 november earth music bristol with the bbc national orchestra of wales Part of a brand new festival, Earth Music Bristol celebrates music by Britten, Elgar and Vaughan Williams inspired by the natural world. BBC Radio 3 will record the performance for broadcast on Monday 21 November.

3pm, Tickets: £16, £13, £9, under 26s £8, under 18s £1

wednesday 23 november warsaw philharmonic orchestra One of the best-selling conductors Antoni Wit will be taking the helm of the orchestra currently celebrating its 110th year for a performance of Tchaikovsky’s cheerful folk-inflected Symphony no 2.

7.30pm, Tickets: £31, £28, £25, £21, £18, under 26s £8, under 18s £1

boxoffice +44 (0)117 922 3686 www.colstonhall.org

tuesday 25 october 2011 ares ulg le mystère des voix b gly beautiful folk Spinetingling and hauntin former Bulgarian songs from the choir of the ale Vocal Choir.

Fem on visi Tele and State Radio of the most one A truly special concert from music. in es voic ed rish che distinctive and naging to plumb “This is strange music, ma scale the heights and s nes sad of the depths n of ecstasy.” The Guardia rich, strange “Timeless melodies and ry hair on your harmonies that make eve Out, New York e Tim .” end on body stand 7.30pm, Tickets: £20, £15

rg 3686 www.colstonhall.o 2 92 7 11 (0) 44 + e fic box of

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contents

Autumn 2011 Bristol Harbourside has enjoyed one of the most successful page 12 summers of its 200-year history. M Shed welcomed its 100,000th visitor and the 40th Bristol Harbour Festival was a roaring success.

And autumn is looking no slouch, either, with a packed diary. In between all that, we’ve found time to sit in the corner of some of Bristol’s historic Harbourside boozers (like the Nova Scotia, pictured right) and followed The Matthew as it plied our coasts.

So clamber on board your essential companion to this city’s brilliant arts scene and to harbour life in all its variety…

Thomas Ware & Sons Tannery – p20

Harbourside Market – p7

Stephen Merchant at Colston Hall – p5

pIC: GrAHAM Burke

Encounters at Watershed – p9

Simon Morrissey talks art – p34 Gathering Voices – p5

MAp: CHrIS dICkASON

Martin Parr at M Shed – p6

Arts & events

Features

Regulars

Martin Parr 6

In the drink 14

Map & Ferry Guide 18

New show at M Shed from Bristol’s famous son

Celebrating the area’s historic pubs

Getting around the Harbourside

Kneehigh Theatre 4

Leather report 20

Harbourside directory 29

Inimitable Cornish troupe back in town

A walk around Thomas Ware & Sons Tannery

The very best of the waterside

Encounters film fest 9

Matthew gospel 24

I ❤ Harbourside 34

Short film festival at Watershed

On board Bristol’s iconic boat

WOrkS|prOjeCTS’ Simon Morrissey

Shipshape Magazine Issue 7, winter 2011. Shipshape is published by The Group of Seven. Editorial, design and production: thegroupofseven.co.uk Past issues and galleries: shipshapebristol.co.uk. Advertising or directory enquiries: info@thegroupofseven.co.uk or 0117 904 9414.

Want to get involved in future issues of Shipshape magazine? Email us on info@shipshapebristol.co.uk Disclaimer The information contained in this publication is provided as a general guide only. While every care is taken to ensure that the details are as accurate as possible, we make no warranty or representation, express or implied, about the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this publication. The views or opinions expressed in this publication are strictly those of the authors. The publishers and/or any of its associated companies or business partners accept no responsibility for damage or loss, howsoever caused, arising directly or indirectly from reliance upon any information obtained from this publication.

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arts & events

see

Kneehigh Theatre If you’ve lived in Bristol for the past decade and have even a passing affection for theatre, chances are you’ll know (and love) the work of Kneehigh Theatre.

This renegade touring theatre troupe, based in a tumbledown set of barns on the south Cornish coast, have been in existence since 1980, but it’s been during the last decade that their visceral, colourful brand of theatrical storytelling – reinventing folk tales and myths with song, dance and oodles of comic invention – has really started to resonate with audiences.

And nowhere more so than in Bristol, where a string of shows – The Bacchae, Don John, Nights at the Circus – have been sell-out successes. A Kneehigh visit has become an annual highlight for the discerning Bristolian theatregoer, and the company have come to regard our town as a home from home.

Happily, this autumn brings the charismatic Cornishmen to town once again. Kneehigh’s latest show The Wild Bride tells of a girl whose father accidentally sells her to the Devil: betrayed and alone, our heroine walks into the wilderness, rejecting not only Lucifer but also her home. In the wilds she meets a prince and becomes pregnant: but when he is called to war, her heart breaks as she is forced to step out on her own again.

In short, a gripping tale of passion, struggle and the transition from girlhood to womanhood – and classic Kneehigh fare. The company’s usual port of call is Bristol Old Vic – but, with the latter currently under

eat xmas at myristica If you fancy a slightly different office Christmas party you could do far worse than Welsh Back’s highy-rated Myristica. Mains include chicken patiyala, ghost labadar (slow-cooked lamb) and hariyali machhi (curried halibut). Available for lunch and dinner throughout December with prices starting at £17.95 including complimentary side dishes and naan bread.

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❉ refurbishment, Kneehigh will stage The Wild Bride at the atmospheric St George’s Bristol from 18-22 Oct. We fancy Kneehigh’s passionate, elemental style should make an interesting marriage with St George’s imposing, atmospheric Georgian interior.

Further ahead, the Old Vic’s Christmas show will be the stage adaptation of Coram Boy (20-30 Dec, at Colston Hall), Jamila Gavin’s Whitbread Awardwinning tale of two cities (Bristol and London), two orphans and two conjoined destinies. First adapted for the National Theatre by Helen Edmundson, the show has been further developed by BOV’s feted Artistic Director Tom Morris, whose NT War Horse recently scooped six prestigious Tony Awards.

More from Mr Morris next issue. s More: bristololdvic.org.uk

eat

Glassboat Cheese Fest

reaD inspiring change This summer saw the launch of ‘Bristol - inspiring change’, a new book detailing how our fair city is leading the UK towards a prosperous, low-carbon future – and aiming for the title of the UK’s first European Green Capital City.

Co-produced by local publishers Alastair Sawday and the Bristol Green Capital Partnership, the book celebrates Bristol’s green success stories across food, transport, governance and more.

“Bristol is changing, and must do so thoughtfully if it is to prosper in this unpredictable century,” says Alastair Sawday. “As well as a celebration, the book is also a gentle provocation to Bristolians: how would you like your city to grow?”

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sawdays.co.uk/bookshop/ worldwide/bic/

Another of Glassboat’s brilliant, periodic foodie fests calls into port on Sun 4 Dec. CheeseFest will feature, among others, stalls and demonstrations from Homewood Cheeses, from Radstock near Bath, and the awardwinning Trethowans Dairy. You can also expect the usual music and family games, plus – of course – a great lunch on board.

More: glassboat.co.uk four

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heaR GatheRinG Voices Last autumn’s Gathering Voices Festival of Song saw over 2,500 local singers tuning up for a multi-cultural, cross-generational smorgasbord of song over 10 days and across 50 Bristol venues. Highlights included the Song Raids, two themed singing tours including a Harbourside Seadog’s Circuit (see the results at bit.ly/pt55Rk). And the good news is that thousands of vocal chords are limbering up once again this autumn (7-16 Oct) for the second Festival of Song.

This year’s festival will spread its tentacles across town, and most of its performances, workshops and more will be free, with nothing over a fiver. From the top, then... festivalofsong.org.uk and gatheringvoices.org.uk

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GATHERiNG VOiCES PiC: GRAHAm BuRkE

leaRn & conseRVe cReate Do you live in a conservation area, listed building or a pre1919 property? And are you interested in making your home energy-efficient and ‘future-proof’?

Then an ‘eco-advice day’ on Refurbishing Your Period home at CREATE, the eco skills centre just off the Harbour’s south-western edge, could be just the thing.

Turn up at CREATE on Sat 5 Nov (11am-3.30pm) and you can sound out a team of experts about planning permission, grants and funding streams, materials and techniques and much more. Short talks by conservation officers, energy efficiency advisors and eco-refurbishment specialists, meanwhile, will help demystify the whole eco-makeover process.

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book ahead

Autumn gems at Colston Hall A typically busy autumn season at the Hall includes these gems from the worlds of music and comedy.

Find plenty more at colstonhall.org Spiers and Boden Sun 25 Sept, 8pm, £14 Britain’s best modern folk duo, John Spiers and Jon Boden are favourites round these parts – most recently as headliners of this year’s Bristol Folk Festival, where they led their own ceilidh. Before that, though, and as part of the brilliant eleven-piece Bellowhead, they’ve lit up the Bristol Jam and elsewhere. Spontaneous, punky, energised English folk at its raw and resonant best.

Stephen Merchant Sun 23 Oct, 8pm, £25 Ricky Gervais’ comedic partner-in-crime (and surely the funniest man ever to emerge from Hanham, east Bristol), Merchant makes a triumphant return to his hometown as part of his first-ever UK stand-up tour. “Most people don’t realise that I was a stand-up comedian before I met Ricky Gervais and his coattails,” Merchant reflects. “Life can be lonely as a TV writer, so this tour is a great opportunity for me to get out there and meet my fans. And make at least one of them my wife.” Easy now, ladies…

Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares Tue 25 Oct, 7.30pm, £20/£15 If you haven’t seen this incredible, all-female Bulgarian choir, and you’re even remotely susceptible to the spiritual power of the human voice, you should clear space in the diary for this. First discovered in the UK by the hip and ethereal 4AD (they of the Cocteau Twins et al), Le Mystère… sing hauntingly beautiful Slavic folk music, blending traditional songs with modern arrangements.

They’ll arrive at Colston Hall fresh from a one-off London concert as part of the Barbican’s Transcender Festival.

Reginald D. Hunter Thur 3 Nov, 8pm, £20/£18 Part of a full-fat autumn comedy season at the Hall alongside Merchant, stand-up/adventurer Dave Gorman and shell-suited comic creation Lee Nelson, Reg D. Hunter is a charismatic, straight-talking and ever-arresting comic from Georgia, USA. There are always some brutal truths about modern life in his sets – but they’re masked beguilingly beneath silken language and quicksilver comic timing. Unsettlingly good.

eat

Pub grub at The Shakespeare Having recently enjoyed a tasteful makeover (yes, they’ve sorted out the loos), historic drinking hole The Shakespeare Tavern on Prince Street is celebrating with an eclectic new menu. Expect to see newcomers such as hand-made haggis and macaroni in whisky sauce alongside the usual solid pub fare. And landlord Graham Williams is already gearing up for Christmas with a menu that features all the usual suspects plus slow-cooked beef or Stilton, mushroom and walnut filo parcels. The rear bar can be reserved for parties of up to 25, and prices start at just under twelve quid.

More: shakespearebristol.com

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arts & events

VISIT SPIKE ISLAND

SEE

Martin Parr The Harbourside’s fledgling M Shed museum is a celebration of Bristolian culture past and present. And who better to tell that story than Martin Parr?

This autumn, Spike Island welcomes the touring exhibition ‘Again, A Time Machine’, a movable feast of new commissions that changes identity as it moves from one venue to the next.

Wide-ranging and temporary they may be, but the various installations and performances on the tour all address notions of time, archive and distribution, received pasts and possible futures. Spike’s instalment (16 Sept-9 Oct) will include ‘The Wanderer’, an installation by conceptual artist Laure Prouvost. Visitors will set off on a labyrinthine journey, encountering mysterious fragments of film, sculpture and signage before arriving at a large-scale video piece featuring a bizarre, time-shifting storyline. Curious? Us too…

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The world-renowned photographer and longtime Bristol resident has famously been taking pictures of Britons – and especially West Country folk – at their leisure for the last 40 years. Fitting, then, that a selection of his inimitable photos makes up the M Shed’s first major exhibition in its top-floor gallery space.

Parr’s largest hometown exhibition since 1974’s Home Sweet Home at Arnolfini, Bristol and West (showing until 27 November) features some 60 scenes from Bristol, Bath, Weston and surrounding areas, taken over three decades. There are pictures of the fearless Clevedon Swimmers taking their ritual daily dip in the Bristol Channel; of the carnival atmosphere during last summer’s World Cup footer screenings in Queen Square; of sedate bowls matches; livelier St Pauls Carnival scenes, and much more. You’ll also find images from

The Cost of Living, Parr’s 1980s project about the middle classes in Bristol, and scenes from life in Chew Stoke, a ‘typical’ traditional-cum-commuter village south of town.

“To be the first exhibitor in M Shed’s new exhibition space is special,” says Parr. “I hope visitors will enjoy the exhibition and perhaps see a link between my images and the essence of what M Shed is all about: local people, their unique lives, and the individual stories behind those lives.” Visit the exhibition and you’ll also have the chance to help choose the small selection of prints to go to the Museum’s permanent collection. An accompanying programme of events, meanwhile, will include an evening in conversation with the great man himself (Tues 11 Oct, 7pm). s More: mshed.org

DRINK

Spyglass’ Winter Pimm’s Chase away the autumn blues with this zesty autumnal toddy courtesy of our friends at Spyglass, Welsh Back’s enduringly excellent barbecue boat.

Ingredients: 50ml Pimm’s No. 3 or Pimm’s Winter Cup; Hot apple juice; Cinnamon; Slice of apple. Method: Mix together, sit back and enjoy the mellow fruits of autumn…

spikeisland.org.uk

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CELEBRATE BRISFEST The Harbourside’s superb community arts festival returns this September (23-25). Expect a packed weekend of music, comedy, street theatre, circus and art across Lloyd’s Amphitheatre, Waterfront Square, Millennium Square and Anchor Square from 6pm on the Friday. Highlights include the Carny Villains, members of The Invisible Circus’ irresistible walkabout performance troupe, and ace local bands Phantom Limb, First Degree Burns and Laid Blak.

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arts & events

celebrate Picture this at 20 This autumn, the Spike Island-based artspace Picture This celebrates 20 years of displaying and commissioning artists’ moving-image work. The latest in PT’s often striking, thought-provoking series of artists’ film commissions is avalon (22 Sept-3 Nov), a new work by New York video and performance artist Maryam Jafri. The twelve-minute film considers the changing nature of labour in today’s globalised society, via the story of a man who, in 2001 in an unnamed Asian country, was given $700 USD by his father and told to make something of himself. ‘F.R.’ founded a clandestine, multi-million dollar company that secretly exports fetish wear to the West. The dozens of mostly female workers, however, believe themselves to be sewing body bags for the US Army and props for circus animals. Jafri uses this strange scenario to muse upon the links between emotion, labour and commodity – and the different forms that work takes today, from the production of goods to the production of subjectivity.

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picture-this.org.uk

visit

Bristol Folk House You probably think of it primarily as a place to go and learn a raft of skills from calligraphy to clowning – but the Folk House has, over recent years, steadily built up its events calendar, and is now one of the busiest venues for both art and live music in the centre of town. A packed autumn music season includes two splendidly niche festivals, the Bristol Cajun & Zydeco Festival (14-16 Oct: bristolcajunfestival.com) and, a fortnight later, the Bristol Harmonica Festival (28-30 Oct: harmonica. co.uk/festival.htm). A tasty looking line-up of oneoff gigs, meanwhile, includes visits from local singer-

songwriter (and rising acoustic star) Katey Brooks (17 Sept) and slide-guitar maestro Martin Simpson (21 Oct). The Folk House Café’s rolling programme of art exhibitions, meanwhile, includes a fine-looking solo show by Simon Hopkinson (work pictured), a local painter with a fascination for the sprawl and decay of our modern cities. Further ahead, October’s exhibitor Rachel Milne is a gifted painter of still lifes, portraits and landscapes who works out of Bristol’s thriving Jamaica Street Studios. s More: bristolfolkhouse.co.uk and folkhousemusic.com

shOP

Harbourside Markets Things may not be rosy right across the retail landscape, but trade is certainly buzzing down at the Harbourside Market. The brainchild of waterside venues No.1 Harbourside and the Watershed, the Market is now a fixture along Bordeaux Quay (the covered walkway outside the two venues) every weekend from 11am-4pm, with stalls selling food, art and crafts (Saturdays) and books, art, records and plants on Sundays.

With some 40 local traders – from artists and designers to food suppliers – on its books, the Market’s all about celebrating local talent and enterprise – and Bristol’s strong independent shopping culture. “The market showcases traders from across the region and offers a new incentive for people to feel a part of Harbourside life,” says Lizzie Keates from No.1 Harbourside. “With a focus on fine local produce, we’re part of the cultural shift that has been taking place on the Harbour over the last few years.”

Elsewhere, two other city markets continue to thrive. The Tobacco Factory’s Sunday Market (10am-2.30pm) now features over 30 stalls plying everything from cakes and fine cheese to crafts and jerk chicken – and there’s even a resident bike mechanics team for all your two-wheeled worries.

Head down over the weekend of 17-18 September, meanwhile, and you’ll find Factoberfest, the TF

and Bristol Beer Factory’s annual beer festival, in full swing with over 30 real ales and ciders on tap – including, yessir – a hazelnut latte stout.

In the centre of town, St Nick’s Market reaches a peak on the first weekend of each month, with six markets open for business including the monthly Slow Food Sunday and Book and Art Markets, plus the regular covered market, Corn Street’s Nails Market and a specialist food market over in Quakers Friars. s More: no1harbourside.co.uk/markets/, tobaccofactory.com and bristol.gov.uk/page/st-nicholas-market

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arts & events

EXPERIENCE

Arnolfini at 50 Arnolfini, the Harbourside’s pioneering arts centre, celebrates 50 years of artistic adventure and exploration this year: and the festivities come to a head in September with a music, art and performance weekender, followed by a typically eccentric and intriguing autumn exhibition programme.

Artists Jeremy Rees, Annabel Lawson and John Osborn founded Arnolfini above a bookshop on The Triangle in March 1961.

Two further homes – in Queen Square and today’s Watershed – followed, before Arnolfini moved to its current home, a derelict warehouse on the then very derelict Harbourside, in 1975. The Harbour, recently closed to commercial traffic, was something of a dead zone, and the ‘fini’s move was a brave one. A crucial one, too, for the area’s regeneration: one report has estimated that it was worth £600,000 in terms of regeneration and income for the Harbourside.

The 50th celebrations come to a head from 23-25 September, with a packed multimedia weekend kicked off by artist Cerith Wyn Evans, who’ll present a text-based firework

piece on pontoons in the Harbour.

There’ll also be live music from Anika, a Bristol-based singer-songwriter with a beautifully glacial, otherworldly sound, and dark London synthpoppers Factory Floor – plus global food stalls, the next instalment of Arnolfini’s popular Mash Up family sessions, and an opening night party for the ‘fini’s new exhibition Museum Show Part 1.

The latter sounds, in typical Arnolfini vein, intriguingly leftfield: it’s a selection of the oddest and most striking ‘museums’ – some real-life, some fictitious – created by artists worldwide since the mid-20th century.

Eye-catching exhibits will include the Museum of Soy Sauce Art, the Museum of Contemporary African Art and, yes indeed, the Museum of Safety Gear for Small Animals.

A playful and intriguing exhibition, then, to round off 50 years of playfulness and intrigue.

“Back in 1961, Jeremy Rees described Arnolfini’s role as being ‘to seek out challenging, often controversial, sometimes

relatively unknown artists and to provide a vital showcase for their work’,” observes Arnolfini’s Director Tom Trevor. “And that’s essentially what we’re still doing. We’ve continued to build our programme around those twin pillars of experimentation and openness.” s MORE arnolfini.org.uk

VISIT

Brunel’s ss Great Britain With its beautifully restored interiors, everywhere from the opulent First Class Dining Saloon to the humbler steerage quarters, the ss Great Britain makes for an absorbing visit any time of the year. This autumn, though, it becomes even more of a must-see than usual. For one thing, the ship’s painstakingly restored galley kitchen is now open to visitors – and it’s been made up to evoke a busy morning in 1866, during the ss GB’s transatlantic cruiser heyday, with a lavish feast in preparation.

On-board exhibition The Incredible Journey, meanwhile – celebrating the 40th anniversary of the ship’s retrieval from a muddy Falkland Islands shore and homecoming to Bristol – continues throughout the year. If you live or work anywhere near the boat, meanwhile, you’ll want to head along to some of the new Archive in Five events, which allow you to eight

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pop into the Brunel Institute (next door to the ship) during your lunch break and see hidden treasures from the National Brunel Archive. Objects that have been hidden away for more than a century will be on display in the Institute for just one hour.

Curators will select one object from the Institute’s 45,000-strong collection for each Archive in Five opening, on Tuesdays (12.30-1.30pm), Wednesdays (2-3pm), and the first two Saturdays of the month (1-2pm). The collection includes 4,500 maritime and shipbuilding books, 100 ship models, 35,000 maritime photographs and passenger and crew diaries and 50 films. Other highlights include Brunel’s engineering designs, his locked diaries, stereoscopic photographs, and the ship’s passenger letters. s More: ssgreatbritain.org and brunelistitute.org Shipshape

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arts & events

cruiSe

See richard WoodS Artist Richard Woods is perhaps best known for his witty, eye-catching temporary makeovers of buildings. He’s covered part of an Oxford college in supersize, cartoon-style red bricks, for example, and done the same to a respectable semi-detached in south London. Woods’ practice isn’t confined to these massive architectural overhauls, though: his paintings and sculpture, likewise, play with image and surface, with the interplay of decorative and functional design.

You can get a flavour of Woods’ unique take on our relationship to art, architecture, function and design this autumn at the Spike Island gallery WORKS|PROJECTS, where Woods presents a second solo exhibition. handmade Modern (16 Sept-19 Nov) will feature new paintings and sculpture that “both celebrate and gently mock British nostalgia for bygone eras and undercut the self-congratulatory nature of Modernism.”

An eclectic range of 2D and 3D pieces will include paintings from Woods’ new Mock Tudor Mono Prints series: designs based on hard-edged, Modernist renditions of ‘Mock Tudor’ suburban decoration, or “suburban Cheshire meets Neo Geo”. A wry look, in short, at our fascination with both the earthy and the ersatz, the functional and the flamboyant.

MORe

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ILLuSTRATION: CHRIS DICKASON

Bristol Ferry Tours The brilliant Bristol Ferry Boat Company celebrated this summer’s pre-Harbour Festival Water Week with a series of on-board Harbour Wildlife Tours. And, nature-lovers rejoice, there’s one final Tour to come before the long shades of autumn draw in. On 10 September at 3.45pm you can board one of BFBC’s ferries for a three-hour cruise downstream and back up, in the company of renowned local nature expert Ed Drewitt. The tour costs £20 (£18 concessions): you should get to see various of the waders – redshank, oystercatcher, lapwing and more – that haunt the Avon’s muddy banks, and maybe get a view of the Gorge’s magnificent peregrine falcons. You might even catch a glimpse of the family of otters that have recently taken up residence in reeds on the north side of the Harbour.

Elsewhere on the ferries, there’s now a full programme of Educational Tours on offer for schools and colleges. From Key Stage 1 right up to degree courses, BFBC have designed a

range of Tours to help learners experience the Harbour’s history and development from the best possible vantage point. The guided tours feature commentaries on a range of topics. A Harbour Through the Ages tour, for example, takes passengers on a fascinating journey through 1,000 years of Harbourside history, while the Brunel Special inspects at close hand the life and work of the great IKB, from the Suspension Bridge and ss Great Britain to the Great Western Railway terminus at Temple Meads. s More: 0117 927 3416, trips@bristolferry.com and bristolferry.com

See

Film festivals and a spy classic at Watershed Autumn’s always a busy time at Watershed, Bristol’s world-renowned film and new-media powerhouse, and this year is no exception.

November brings, as ever, the return of Encounters (16-20 Nov), the ‘shed’s enduringly excellent celebration of the global short film scene. The UK’s oldest competitive short film festival, Encounters is also the leading gateway, for Britain’s budding short cineastes, to the world’s most prestigious short film awards including the Academy Awards and the BAFTAs. This year’s fest will feature shorts from Bristol to Brazil; specialist-led symposia on future ideas and trends within the format; an animation profile with Studio AKA (creators of the Loyds TSB ad campaigns); and Q&As with guests including Francine Stock, presenter of Radio 4’s Film Programme.

A few weeks before that, Watershed welcomes the return of the Afrika Eye Film Festival (28-30 Oct), Bristol’s own African film festival, promising another packed programme of African and Diaspora cinema, music and discussion. Highlights of this year’s AEF include a sneak preview of a new film about Robert Mugabe, plus the south-west premiere of a biopic of actor, singer and human rights activist Harry Belafonte.

Festivals aside, Watershed’s regular film programme is looking none too shabby either. Pick of the bunch, we reckon, looks to be the new adaptation of John le Carré’s classic Cold War spy novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Le Carré’s thriller has been adapted by Tomas Alfredson, he of last year’s brilliant Scandinavian vampire chiller Let The Right One In. The film stars Gary Oldman as the renegade spook George Smiley, with a supporting cast including Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch, and slips covertly into Watershed from 16 Sept. s More: watershed.co.uk, afrikaeye2010.blogspot.com/ and encounters-festival.org.uk nine

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Bristol is a Purple Flag area, which means it has been recognised for its great night-time entertainment, hospitality, safety and cleanliness

aut umn 2011

ÂŁ5.50 lunchtime deal Book now for your christmas party kids eat free*

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Help Bristol to retain this prestigious award by: TM n caring for the area n regularly using the area n recommending the centre to others

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For further information visit www.atcm.org/purple-flag or email saferbristol@bristol.gov.uk John Hirst john.hirst@destinationbristol.co.uk Insp Keith Rundle keith.rundle@avonandsomerset.police.uk

TM

Purple Flag

working in partnership for a safe and well managed night-time city centre

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arts & events

LisTen auThor evenTs and much more aT FoyLes Bookshops these days understand well the importance of gathering their reading public around them via regular events – author visits, book clubs, readings and such.

And Bristol’s Foyles, opened last year in Cabot Circus, understands this idea better than most.

Foyles’ autumn events calendar is packed with inviting evenings, from author talks and signings via monthly fiction and graphic novel book clubs to open mic nights and weekly kids’ storytelling afternoons.

To pick out a few highlights at random: on Tue 13 Sept the bookshops hosts anna Funder, author of stasiland, the acclaimed account of the East German Stasi and its incursions into the private lives of millions of Germans.

On Saturday 8 Oct Bristol’s brilliant comic-book creators The etherington brothers (pictured below) drop in, while on Sunday 16 local writer/ performers Tom Wainwright and Adam Peck will present a series of monologues about life in our fair city. And on Thursday 24 November, historian Judith Flanders discusses The invention of murder, a study of the roots of our uneasy fascination with violent crime.

The book under discussion at that month’s Fiction Reading Group (Monday 28 Nov), meanwhile, is a visit from the Goon squad, Jennifer Egan’s Pullitzer Prize-winning novel which follows a large cast of mostly self-destructive characters back and forth in time and space from the Sixties to the present day, and from California and New York to Italy and Africa.

MORe

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foyles.co.uk

harbourside news

Building 4 gets go-ahead Developers Crest Nicholson have received planning permission for Building 4, their proposed residential development on the north section of the harbour, just to the east of the Purifier buildings. Building 4 will be the last residential building within the Harbourside masterplan: the plan is for work to start on site early next year, with the entire project completed by autumn 2014.

More: crestnicholson.com/harbourside/

maKe

Glassboat’s hake, mussel & saffron broth IngRedIents (seRves 4)

4 175g hake fillets; 24 cleaned mussels; 500ml fish stock; 200 ml white wine; 1 carrot/1 head of fennel/2 celery sticks/1 leek (all finely diced); butter; olive oil, salt and pepper; 1 clove garlic (crushed and chopped); 1 banana shallot (finely diced); pinch of saffron; 2 tomatoes (deseeded and diced); juice of ½ lemon; 100g blanched French beans (sliced); 4 diced medium potatoes (pre-cooked in water with a little saffron & salt); small handful of chopped parsley, dill and chives InstRuctIOns

To finish the broth add the tomato, French beans (in half-inch slices) and saffron potatoes. Strain the mussels’ cooking liquor into the broth – watch out for grit at the bottom. Heat gently and check seasoning. Add the lemon juice and chopped herbs. Divide between the bowls, placing vegetables in the middle. Spoon the broth liquor around the bowl and place hake on top. s More: For info on joining the Glassboat Club – for exclusive wine, beer or cider tasting nights, gourmet evenings, seasonal menus and more – visit glassboat.co.uk/join-our-club/

In a saucepan, melt 30g of butter and gently sweat the garlic and shallot. Add the finely diced vegetables and sweat for a few minutes. Add half the white wine and reduce by half, then add the fish stock and saffron and simmer gently for a few minutes. Heat a non-stick pan until hot. Rub both sides of the hake with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes on the skin side. Then turn it over and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes – or until it is cooked, but still moist. Cook the mussels separately with white wine and a little water.

Cover and cook for a couple of minutes or until they open.

Discard any unopened, and arrange in the serving bowls.

26/8/11 16:44:09

arts & events

See

Theatre at the Tobacco Factory A short hop from the Harbourside’s western fringes, Southville’s Tobacco Factory Theatre has grown steadily in stature since its beginnings in an old Wills’ cigarette factory just over a decade ago.

A short hop from the Harbourside’s western fringes, Southville’s Tobacco Factory Theatre has grown steadily in stature since its beginnings in an old Wills’ cigarette factory just over a decade ago.

Under current Artistic Director Ali Robertson the momentum’s been particularly impressive, and the Factory is now one of the very best small-tomedium theatres in the country, programming an adventurous mix of Edinburgh Fringe hits, high-quality local fare and a goodly mix of the intriguing and unclassifiable. Demand by both companies and audiences has been so strong, in fact, that 2009 saw the arrival of the TF’s studiotheatre sibling, The Brewery, just down the road.

The coming autumn season is typically appetising. Highlights include a visit from the acclaimed touring theatre company Northern Broadsides, whose We Are Three Sisters (4-8 Oct, pictured above right) draws not on Chekhov but on the story of the three literary Brontë sisters, locked up in their remote North Yorkshire parsonage, telling tales to keep the darkness and confinement at bay. Or why not book up a visit to see Opera

Project, masters of intimate, emotive smallscale opera, who tackle Puccini’s La Bohème (pictured below right), a tale of love, despair and death set in a Parisian student garret, from 11-22 Oct. A little later, the bold and brilliant Volcano Theatre present their stage version of A Clockwork Orange (14-16 Nov), Anthony Burgess’s masterpiece of urban violence and Sixties dystopian ennui. And, hard on Volcano’s heels, the hilarious, multi-talented Filter Theatre (whose 2009 Twelfth Night at the Factory was one of Shipshape’s picks of the year, nay decade) turn their hand to Will’s whimsical woodland comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream (21-26 Nov).

The TF and, especially, Brewery also continue to support and showcase the best and most adventurous local theatre companies – like Darkstuff Productions, whose Outside (6-17 Sept) is a story of murder, intolerance and a search for a life worth living, inspired by Albert Camus’ great Existentialist manifesto L’Etranger. s More: tobaccofactorytheatre.com

experience

At-Bristol Brains – weird spongy things or mindbogglingly complex repositories of our every thought, feeling, memory and sensation? Both, of course. And you can see a real-life example of this extraordinary organ at At-Bristol. It’s part of All About Us, the science centre’s exhibition all about the human body.

More: at-bristol.org.uk twelve

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Shipshape

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26/8/11 15:57:08

In the drink feature

Ostrich image: Vaughan cOllectiOn Of pOstcards at BristOl recOrd Office, BrO ref: 43207/32/1/1.

Bristol Harbourside is home to a number of 18thcentury hostelries that have bucked the trend for glitzy makeovers and held on to their colourful maritime heritage.

Mark Sayers discovers the secrets of their enduring success and the role they’ve played in the area’s busy past

“When I started drinking here in the 80s, all the boatie folk drank here – Hywel Price, a brilliant boatbuilder from the MacArthur’s Yard, used to sit in the corner designing boats on the back of a fag packet...” The speaker is Alan Collier, a Bristol pest controller better known to many as Alan the Ratcatcher. Alan knows many of the Harbourside pubs inside out: he and his wife lived on a boat in the harbour for decades, and he’s been a part of Bristol’s boat community since they stepped aboard.

He’s talking to Shipshape about (and, indeed, inside) the Nova Scotia, for decades his haunt of choice. The Nova celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, as testified by an ‘1811’ inscription on stones adjoining its archway. And it’s perhaps Bristol’s most archetypal dockside pub. Maritime cues are everywhere: its walls are plastered with faded maps and sea charts, and photos of the docks in their heyday. The mahogany bar was originally intended for a ship, but was the wrong size. Its name commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), when France ceded Nova Scotia (peninsula and islands off Canada’s Atlantic coast) to England, and its pub sign shows a schooner trading in icy North Atlantic waters.

“It’s always been frequented by people who worked on boats and built boats – especially on a Friday night.” Alan’s been a Nova regular for 30 years, during which he’s seen some changes, but plenty of continuity. fourteen

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“There have been some strange happenings here,” he says from a seat on one of the benches outside on the Nova’s little corner of Spike Island. “20 years ago a company called C&H Inns took it over and took down the green wooden partition dividing the two bars.

There was an instant outcry from regulars, until someone popped down and said, ‘You realise this is a listed building: now put that back’, and they did.”

By contrast, current landlord Mark Walter has steered the Nova back on course. “He’s an old-fashioned landlord: nothing fancy, no frills, very good pub food, good beer, knows his customers inside out, looks after people.

There’s rarely any trouble apart from very occasional football scuffles outside.”

The Nova is also a barometer of the changes that the Harbourside has experienced, from the 1970s dying days of the busy port via a transitional period in the 1980s when it became a boaties’ paradise, onto today’s thoroughly modern leisure zone.

Les James, an ex-docker and fellow Nova habitué, remembers the pub’s history a little further back, during the busy port days.

“It was a proper old dockers’ pub for the people working at Charles Hill [the Bristol shipbuilding company that operated from Albion Dockyard – now Abels Shipbuilders – until 1977] and Underfall Yard. The continued on page 16

This pic: The Nova Scotia on Cumberland Basin – a popular haunt for those who made their living working on the boats.

Above right: The Ostrich in the early 1900s.

Shipshape

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he k

feature

“It was a very different atmosphere back then: a grown-up, working man’s atmosphere. When you were 18, you were tolerated in pubs – but you did what you were told, kept your mouth shut and drank up quietly in the corner” Richard Perrington Shipshape

BoozersNEW.indd 3

eleven

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feature

tables had draughts boards built in – draughts was a real dockers’ game. Friday night was darts night, when they’d clear the bar and put out the dartboard.

“This was a working port back then, completely different to now. There was no leisure – apart from the pubs, of course.

Just ships unloading, dockers at work everywhere you looked. And the dockers, if they had no work for the day, would just retire to the pub.”

Another ex-docker, Richard Perrington, grew up in Oldfield Place, Hotwells – next to the Merchants Arms, where he drinks to this day. Richard worked on the docks for four decades, both on the harbour and at Avonmouth. “My young drinking career was mostly spent in Hotwells. I played darts for the Nova for years. It was a very different atmosphere back then: a grown-up, working man’s atmosphere. When you were 18, you were tolerated in pubs – but you did what you were told, kept your mouth shut and drank up quietly in the corner.” all a-bard

Alan Collier also frequented the Shakespeare on Prince Street. Rejoicing in the title of Bristol’s longest-serving ale house, the Shakey was built in 1725 as a fine townhouse for the timber merchant John Hobbs, and had become a dockside inn by 1775, This pic: The Rummer sits on the site of Bristol’s oldest hostelry – see panel, right.

Below right: maritime detail at the Nova Scotia.

“Lunchtimes were very busy, with people trying to get in as much as they could before going back to work – two, three, four pints in their lunch hour” Rob Merchant serving food and drink to shipworkers and warehousemen. Throughout the 19th century, the Shakespeare was used as a meeting place for the Beaufort Lodge of freemasons. Says the Masons’ annals: “It used to be largely frequented by captains and officers of merchant ships. It was kept very select and no common sailor or dock labourer would have presumed to enter without instructions from his superiors.”

Alan remembers the pub from more recent times – the early 1980s, when two fine old ships, a barque called ‘Marques’ (which sank during a 1984 race) and the brig ‘Ciudad de Inca’ (later the ‘Maria Asumpta’, shipwrecked off Padstow in 1995) were moored in St Augustine’s Reach and the pub was frequented by, among others, the crews of the two boats. And many more besides: “The Shakespeare was always used by boat folk from that [eastern] end of the dock, and the Nova for this end. In those days, the Shakespeare had a similar atmosphere to Nova.

And it still looks the part today.”

Indeed it does, with its wood panel walls, open fireplaces in each bar and maritime cues galore, from chandlers’ signboards to Bristol Channel navigation charts.

there be treasure

At the other end of Prince Street, the Hole in the Wall also has deep roots in Bristol’s seafaring past. For one thing, it’s believed to be the model for the Spyglass Inn in Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island’ (Stevenson is said to have visited the pub).

A small ‘spyhole’ on the side of the pub, meanwhile, would probably have been used by lookouts to warn sailors drinking inside of any Customs men searching for smugglers. Or, indeed, for Press Gangs – teams of men sent by the Navy to collect anyone incapacitated by drink, and force them into service.

Another pub with ‘Treasure Island’ associations is, of course, King Street’s Llandoger Trow. Tradition has it that Daniel Defoe met Alexander Selkirk, his inspiration for ‘Robinson Crusoe’, here (Selkirk was a Scottish sailor who spent four years marooned on an uninhabited island, before being rescued and brought back to Bristol) and it was also Stevenson’s inspiration for the Admiral Benbow inn in ‘Treasure Island’.

Built in 1664, the Llandoger was one of the last timber-framed buildings built in Bristol – before 1666’s Great Fire of London changed building regulations forever. And the name? Neighbouring Welsh Back was the launch point for boats (or trows) heading across the Bristol Channel to trade with Wales, bringing back slate, stone, timber and coal: Llandogo is a village just 20 miles over the Channel, where trows were built in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The first customers over at the Ostrich, built in 1745, were probably the ships’ captains who built their handsome houses in nearby Guinea Street. The Ostrich has always been connected with the water: for much of the 20th century it was known as a cider house (and furnished inside with bus seats), a spit-and-sawdust joint popular with dock workers, especially crews of the sand dredgers who came up through the harbour to Bathurst Basin, depositing sand at the Holms Sand & Gravel depot near where the John Sebastian Lightship now sits.

Three theories circulate about the pub’s name. It may have been named after a ship from the era, which may have docked in Bristol; sailors may have brought ostrich feathers to the Ostrich from their travels, selling them to the pub as a curio in return for free board and lodging; or, indeed, ladies of the night may have visited the pub, wearing ostrich feathers in their hair.

Legend also has it that smugglers Shipshape

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feature

used the pub, escaping from waiting Customs officers via the neighbouring Redcliffe Caves – one of the pub’s this pic: Victoria Street’s King’s head. walls has been partly demolished Above left: the Orchard. to reveal the interior of one of the many caves, probably used as a cold store in the early-18th century, perhaps as fast alongside with all her new mooring a hiding place for contraband goods. The ropes. Everyone would have the day off to cave was subsequently blocked up, then recelebrate. Then some of those same people discovered in 1866 when the harbour’s new would come back on Friday and Saturday railway lines were laid out. nights, dressed up to the nines. This was long before bowling alleys and multiplex in cider trading cinemas so this was their night out.

Rob Merchant runs River City, the pub “There were so many characters – like just along Cumberland Road from the Bert Monks, a tall, thin chap who worked in Spike Island arts complex. This place was the Charles Hill Yard as a blacksmith’s mate. formerly the Albion, a well-known docker’s He always used to carry £1,000 in old blue pub, until Rob’s arrival in 2007. He has fivers, bound together with an elastic band plenty of dockside heritage himself, and in his pocket. And when he got pissed he not only because he worked on the docks – used to pull ’em out and say, ‘That’s £1,000 as a docker and crane driver – throughout there, brother, and that’s to make sure I get the 1970s. Rob’s parents ran the White a decent burial when I’m dead’.”

Horse (then the Orchard) just up the street Did trade die off when the Charles Hill from 1960 to 1979, at which point Rob Yard shut down in ’77? “It was a big blow himself took over until his move down the for my Mum and Dad, because that was street in 2007. their bread and butter trade. There were There was, Rob recalls, a friendly rivalry 1,000 people at Charles Hill – 240 boilerbetween the Orchard and Albion. Both makers at any one time, for example. But pubs were popular with the huge Charles things didn’t change all that drastically.

Hill workforce just yards away, as well as For a while, a lot of the dockers just kept workers at the Baltic Wharf timber yards. coming back, because they were used “Both pubs had their own clientele. They’d to it. And it shut down over a period, have the pints lined up along the bar ready not overnight. As always happens, once for the workers coming in – ‘that’s yours, the docks shut down, workers were that one’s got orange, that one’s got a dash coming in to clear the site, and then of lime’… The siren would go, you’d have came the building contractors and the five minutes to clean up and then you’d go property developers. There’s always been and get lunch down the pub – bread and something going on here.” cheese, and a couple of pints.

Long may that continue. s “The Albion was always a beer pub, WitH tHanKS tO and the Orchard a cider pub. Lunchtimes Brizzle Born and were very busy, with people trying to get in Bred flickr.com/photos/ as much as they could before going back brizzlebornandbred/ to work – two, three, four pints in their Old Inns of Bristol lunch hour. The pubs shut at 2.30pm, (CFW Dening / preface but we were allowed to open on Launch

by Maurice Fells / Tempus Days – when a ship was launched, in Publishing, £12.99) the water, wasn’t leaking, and was made Shipshape

BoozersNEW.indd 5

Ale And heArty 12 of Bristol’s oldest hostelries tHe rummer All SAintS lAne, off Corn St

originally the Greene lattis, there’s been a pub on this site since 1241. elizabeth i, Charles i and ii and oliver Cromwell are all reputed to have stayed at the inn on this site. rebuilt by John Wood the elder – better known for his work in Bath, but in Bristol building the Corn exchange – in 1741, and renamed the rummer.

Full mOOn StokeS Croft

A coaching inn since around 1300. tHe HatcHet froGmore St (formerly frog lane)

Dates from 1606, though has been altered considerably since then. original features include the woodwork and studded front door.

Ye SHaKeSpeare ViCtoriA St

An inscription on the front of the building dates the pub to 1636. the rumours run that highwayman Dick turpin, on visits to Bristol, might have sat in the bar parlour eavesdropping on the travel plans of its wealthy regulars.

KingS Head ViCtoriA St

Ye Shakespeare’s near neighbour dates back to 1660. llandOger trOW kinG St

Dates from 1664 – see also main feature. tHe WHite Hart loWer mAuDlin St

its inscription bears the date 1672, and it’s very likely been a pub and coaching inn ever since. tHe SHip inn reDCliffe

Parts of this pub date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. tHe OStricH loWer GuineA St

established in 1745 – see also main feature. tHe Bear / tHe plume OF FeatHerS Both hotWell rD

Both listed as trading in 1775.

tHe Seven StarS thomAS lAne, reDCliffe

this pub was clearly trading by 1787 when the abolitionist thomas Clarkson visited to collect information about Bristol’s role in the slave trade. the landlord, a mr thompson, “showed the abolitionist some of the haunts frequented by seafaring men when the slave traffic was rampant.”

seventeen

29/8/11 11:00:06

harbourside map

getting around the harbourside if you’re not familiar with the area (or even if you’re just looking for a little inspiration), our map will help you plan your trip and move around the harbourside with ease. use it to find where you are in relation to some of the area’s best-loved landmarks, family attractions, arts centres and watering holes. and identify which ferry stops are the most convenient for your journey.

WHy NOT Ferry-iT! Both the Bristol Ferry Boat Co’s reD and Blue services run throughout September, commencing at 10:30 from the City Centre and 10:10 from temple Meads respectively. timetabled service reduces from October, please check website for details. Whether you’re headed for a tourist attraction, a pub or restaurant, or just want to see it all, remember to ferry-it! there is no better way to see the city than from the water. Avoid the busy streets, kick back, relax and enjoy the serenity of the docks instead. See swans and geese, tall ships and beautiful landmarks. It beats the bus lane!

For full details and timetable visit: bristolferry.com

sightseeing City Sightseeing Bristol runs open-top bus tours of the city, from the historic harbourside up to Bristol Zoo in Clifton and beyond. running from February to the end of October, the tours last for an hour and a quarter but you can hop on and off as you please. Harbourside stops can be found at the CreAte Centre, Baltic Wharf, Brunel’s ss Great Britain, At-Bristol, Prince Street and Bristol Bridge More

citysightseeingbristol.co.uk

Grain barge – great views

Watershed – arts centre

Capricorn Quay l Mardyke l

l Grain Barge

Brunel’s ss Great Britain (for Spike Island) l

Borde Marina l at-bristol – interactive science

l Pump House (for Suspension Bridge)

l Marina

croSS harbour ferry

Jacks Brasserie l

l Nova Scotia (for CreAte Centre, and tobacco Factory)

l The Cottage

Olive Shed l Spike Island – creative hub

eighteen

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brunel’s ss Great britain

Shipshape

26/8/11 16:50:28

Mille (for Brist

harbourside map

HOT DATeS VicTOriAN chriSTMAS STOryTelliNG

December 6, 10 & 11, Brunel’s ss Great Britain, 11.30am & 2.30pm. Enter a magical Victorian Christmas with traditional tales from professional storyteller Sarah Mooney.

Mr BruNel ViSiTS

December 10 & 11, Brunel’s ss Great Britain, 11.30am & 2.30pm. Meet Britain’s greatest engineer, in festive mood (10am to 4pm), plus readings from ‘A Christmas Carol’ BriSfeST

September 23-25, Lloyd’s Amphitheatre/ Waterfront Square/Millennium Square/ Anchor Square, Fri 6pm-midnight/Sat 11amMidnight/Sun 11am-10pm. Three days of the best music, comedy, street theatre, circus and art from Bristol and beyond.

TOddler TAkeOVerS foyles – great bookshop

Castle Park (for Cabot Circus, Broadmead) l

cheeSe feST

Bristol Bridge (for St Nicholas Market) l

colston hall – landmark

September 30, At-Bristol, 10-5pm. Themed fun days exclusively for the under-fives. Today’s theme is ‘Splish, Splash, Splosh!’ – come prepared for lots of fun with water and bubbles.

December 4, Glassboat. Stalls, demonstrations from more some of the country’s leading artisan cheesemakers. Plus music, family games and lunch served on board.

Glassboat – fantastic views

Glassboat l

City Centre (for Colston Hall, Cathedral, Park St and main bus routes) l

Temple Bridge l l Welsh Back (for Old Vic)

Bristol Packet l

River Grille l

Architecture Centre l

nce

Millennium Square (for At-Bristol and Bristol Aquarium) l

l The Apple Shakespeare – great grub

l Arnolfini

l M Shed

Severnshed l l Riverstation

l Bathurst Basin The Ostrich l

Shed l

Arnolfini – arts centre

The Ostrich – great alfresco

Shipshape

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Sightseeing – see panel

l Myristica

l Thekla Mud Dock l

Hotwells Route Temple Meads Route

l Shakespeare

l Prince Street (for The Louisiana)

sserie l

Spyglass – barbecue boat

queeN SquAre

l Shore

Bordeaux Quay l

Temple Quay (for Temple Meads train station) l

l Redcliff Backs

l Spyglass

l Watershed Bristol Visitor Information Centre

e

St Nicholas Market – huge

Myristica – fine Indian dining

Look out for the winter issue of Shipshape - available across the Harbourside from 6 December five

26/8/11 17:00:37

Leather report feature

Pictured clockwise from left: Drying areas; Tanyard: the pelts are tanned in the lime pits and become leather – a process that can take up to a year; Shedding processes: further treatment of the leather to make it look right for the customer; Limeyard: the hides are prepared for tanning in a series of water and lime pits for a week; Hides: the hides are salted to aid preservation during storage before processing; Leather hides hanging in the drying areas.

Thomas Ware & Sons Tannery has occupied its sprawling five-acre site at the bottom of Southville’s Coronation Road for over 170 years. Shipshape explores its fascinating history Established in 1840, Thomas Ware & Sons Tannery is one of only three remaining traditional vegetable tanneries in the country.

Plenty of us have driven past its anonymous facade but few know the story behind one of Bristol’s longest running family businesses.

Three generations of the Brearley family have worked at the site – currently Marcus (Managing Director) and son Alastair (Export Manager) run the business.

Still proudly shining a light for the national leather industry besieged by cheaper imports, and strictly adhering to traditional processes, the Southville factory is an eye-opening step back in time.

It’s easy to get lost, given the vast footprint of the yard and, exploring the chilly hangar-like warehouses full of bubbling lime-pits and sweat rooms filled with animal skins hung on meat hooks, Shipshape was struck by the sheer scale of the operation. First came the pungent lime yard twenty

Tannery.indd 2

where the meaty hides are slowly broken down as pulleys and pipes whirred and creaked. Then the gloomy tanyard – the site’s biggest room – where tiny figures operate equipment from a bygone age.

As we moved through an almost pitchblack drumyard – where the smell is the most intense (the gas mask wasn’t for show) – and numerous drying areas, we started to become disorientated.

But as we approached the end of the factory line where the finished hides are cut and packed, we noticed the pleasant whiff of leather and the experience turned from one of olfactory overload to a slick factory operation.

If Alastair and the team ever decided to offer a tour of their fascinating workplace, Shipshape would recommend a visit to this most visceral of production lines.

More: thomasware.co.uk Shipshape

26/8/11 17:22:49

er

feature

HIDE AND SEEK Thomas Ware is particular about the beef cattle that supply its raw material – they’re chosen for their plump hides and are reared to exceptionally high standards. Their commitment to quality and tradition continues throughout a process that can last up to 12 months. So how does it work?

PREPARATION

First stop is the cavernous Beamhouse, an aircraft hangar-like room populated by countless pits brimming with translucent liquids.

The first step of the tanning process involves soaking the cow hides in water and other solutions to loosen any hair. They are then transferred to a lime solution swelling the hides before they are stripped of the hair and any remaining fleshy bits.

TANNAGE

The actual tanning happens over a period of up to six months, as the hides (now called pelts), soak in complex combinations of vegetable tannings. Varying the temperature, acidity and strength of the tannings affects the attributes of the finished product.

SHEDDING

Now officially leather, the hides are transferred to the drying sheds where they are hung for a further two months and undergo machine processing.

FINISHING

Finally the leather can now be selected for a specific use and, depending on the end result, will either be returned to the Beamhouse for further soaking (as might be the case for speciality equestrian leathers), go back to the sheds or be trimmed and packed ready for shipping.

Shipshape

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twenty one

26/8/11 16:51:58

Where were you in... 1986?

The Glassboat sails serenely on in it’s own inimitable style and will be proudly celebrating it’s 25th birthday this Autumn.

Come and join us for 3 courses for £25 throughout the month of October. Selected wines will also be offered at prices from the 80s, glass of Bollinger anyone?

Glassboat Welsh Back Bristol BS1 4SB T 0117 929 0704 E bookings@glassboat.co.uk www.glassboat.co.uk

rem plan and run every type of event...

Carefully.

Creatively.

Meticulously.

Maybe the secret is little more than the years of experience or maybe it’s an obsession with getting things right.

Event Organisers of the Year 2006/2007/2009

Richmond Event Management Ltd 59 Prince Street Bristol BS1 4QH Tel 0117 9276614 Fax 0117 9221497 Email info@rem-events.com

www.rem-events.com

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26/8/11 15:54:31

feature

Kids’ stuff Tom Burnett rounds up this autumn’s top 10 family treats on and around the Harbourside

1. Earplugs, anyonE?

5. hauntED Bristol

Adults may cringe in horror at the thought, but kids will love a session at Karaoke-Me! These private party rooms in the centre of town are perfect for children’s parties or just an afternoon of family fun, and with over 6,000 songs to choose from, including the latest kids’ favourites, you’re guaranteed an unforgettable experience…

More: karaoke-me.co.uk

Kids aged eight and over will enjoy these atmospheric walks around Bristol’s creepier spots. You can see a famous haunted cinema, visit a 16th-century haunted house – and hear about the ghostly dwarf highwayman! Tours leave Bristol Cathedral every Friday night at 8pm.

Prepare to be horrified…

More: hauntedandhiddenbristol.co.uk

This Hallowe’en (29-30 October) haematologist Dr Munford will be conducting some blood-curdling experiments, while from 22-28 October visitors can dissect hearts, lungs and eyeballs (animal, not human!) as part of the new Live Lab experience. Also, look out for the Toddler Takeover days in September and November: fun family days for all ages!

More: at-bristol.org.uk 3. gooD Clown BaD Clown at Bristol olD ViC

Following the huge success of this summer’s performances of Treasure Island, younger theatregoers will join clowns Hiphop and Zimzam in this highly visual, comic tale of high jinks and heroics. The show runs from 1 December into the New Year, and promises to be a great Christmas laugh for ages four and over.

More: bristololdvic.org.uk 4. shiVEr ME tiMBErs: frEE nosh!

During half term, Spyglass restaurant is offering a free Pirate Club menu for all under 12s accompanied by a dining adult. The menu includes garlic bread, a choice of main, fries, salad and ice cream, and the little swashbucklers will also receive a free pirate set and colouring placemat. Avast, me hearties!

More: spyglassbristol.co.uk

Shipshape

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6. through thE lEns at M shED

Use your camera to take a creative look at your fellow Bristolians!

On 27 October children aged ten and over can learn how to take interesting portraits, with expert guidance from photographer Kamina Walton. Booking is essential: call 0117 922 3567 or email museumbookings@bristol.gov.uk More: mshed.org

This pic: Brunel’s ss Great Britain’s opulent Dining Salon. Bottom: view from M Shed’s roof terrace.

7. BrunEl’s ss grEat Britain

Experience life on board ship – the good, the bad and the yummy – from the new historic ship’s galley to fabulous trails for children and special events. And, on 27, 29 and 30 October, challenge your taste buds with Victorian food in the First Class Dining Saloon. Oyster stew, anyone?

More: ssgreatbritain.org 8. thE grEat outDoors

Bristol is awash with opportunities for outdoor adventure close to the city centre. The Adventurous Activity Company can organise climbing, abseiling, canoeing and other activities in and around the Floating Harbour and River Avon, with opportunities for children of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. More: adventurousactivitycompany.co.uk

9. up thE spiral stairCasE at CaBot towEr

Open to the public once again, the 105-foot commemoration of John Cabot’s voyage to America offers unparalleled views of the harbour and beyond. Over £400,000 has been spent on the tower over the past four years, ensuring it remains a proud reminder of Bristol’s seafaring past.

10. CinékiDs at watErshED

Cinékids is Watershed’s monthly film workshop series for children aged 8-12, costing just £2 for children and £3.60 for adults. Next up, at 1pm on 17 September, there’s an animated version of Winnie the Pooh, followed by a free storyboard workshop for budding filmmakers. s More: watershed.co.uk

bottom pic: james@thegroupofseven.co.uk. illustrations: chris dickason

2. MEEt Dr BlooD at at-Bristol

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Matth gospel feature

Thanks To C. P. Coombs and shawn sPenCer-smiTh for all The PiCs

From sea shanties to C.S. Lewis, Bristol’s iconic wooden ship has had a busy summer – as the log of skipper Rob Salvidge records The Matthew, the beautifully-built wooden replica of the boat on which John Cabot set sail for Newfoundland in 1497, has had a typically busy summer plying the coasts of southern Britain and beyond. The ship left Bristol under cover of darkness on the midnight tide on March 1, returning on July 3: the longest time the ship’s been away from her Bristol home since her epic transatlantic voyage 15 years ago, when she travelled 2,000 miles in a recreation of the original ship’s pioneering journey to Newfoundland, Canada.

This summer’s crew were a mixture of professional sailors and volunteers drawn from the Matthew’s loyal band of supporters. Diary dates included a visit to London where, to promote the next film from C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series, the Matthew was dressed up in the regalia of Lewis’ fictional ship, the Dawn Treader. Read on…

March 3: NewlyN, corNwall

Sailing down the north Cornwall coast, past the old tin mine workings and deserted beaches, was wonderful. There was a glorious solitude, before the tourists’ arrival: when we return in a few months everywhere will be parched and teeming with trippers.

Now, it’s freezing – we even had a few flurries of snow the other night.

March 11: PolruaN, Nr Fowey, corNwall

Tom’s Yard in Polruan is a timeless masterpiece of a boatyard. Junk and rotten twenty four

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boats are overgrown with brambles and strewn at the bottom of a cliff, but somehow there’s enough space for some seriously expensive yachts – and for our fine craft to be hauled precariously out of the water and worked on, ready for the season.

We’ll inspect the hull, slap some anti-foul paint on and do a few small jobs, then we’re off to the Big Smoke.

March 21: loNDoN

The Matthew is transformed into the Dawn Treader for our big promotional day. Hundreds of people watched in amazement in Ramsgate as we craned bits of Matthew onto the quay and March 16: eNglish chaNNel oFF Dorset carefully put on her amazing fancy dress outfit.

We’re under way! All sails set, and the ship We do some nutty things on this ship, but turning is creaming along nicely. The chalk cliffs of the whole thing into a giant floating dragon the Dorset coast are away to port, lines of big has to be the craziest. But crazy is good and it ships chugging up and down the Channel to helps pay the bills. So thanks to C.S. Lewis, 20th starboard. On a day like today – crew excited, Century Fox and Narnia fans worldwide for good smells from the galley, lapping water and getting our year off to such a great start. the sun breaking through – you want to bottle Continued on page 27 and sell the experience.

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feature

Pictured clockwise from this pic: Sails drawing well, setting sail from Falmouth for France; sheltering in Newlyn Harbour alongside Cornwall’s hard-working trawlers; dragon’s den - the ship transformed into Narnia’s Dawn Treader; relaxing on board.

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photo by r evans

Have you booked your Xmas party?

Bristol Ferry Boat Co. has a FantastiC range oF paCkages For a CeleBration with a diFFerenCe this Festive season!

our 2 or 3 hour trips include crawls around Bristol’s best dockside pubs, karaoke! and luxury Cocktail Cruises with your very own flare bartender! with Bristol Ferry Boat Co. your party venue is the whole of our beautiful harbour and our boats are covered and heated meaning you can enjoy winter on the water and get your Christmas off with a real splash!

If you want effective messaging about your business, speak to us Bud UK Ltd - Public Relations and Marketing T: 01225 317175 M: 07866407657 E: nigel@bud.uk.com / christina@bud.uk.com W: www.bud.uk.com

bud.

0117 927 3416 trips@bristolferry.com

www.BristolFerry.Com

lido

restaurant, spa & pool

The Lido is a fantastic location and venue for festive celebrations, with the restaurant offering views over the pool, the Lido offers a unique setting for your celebration.

Our promotion for December For all parties who book between 28th November-10th December for the three course menu we will include a glass of house wine and a swim voucher for each guest.

Please direct all enquiries to christmas@lidobristol.com

o d i l e h t t a s Chr istma Lido, Oakfield Place, Clifton, Bristol BS8 2BJ Tel: 0117 933 9530 www.lidobristol.com

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feature This pic: The Matthew gained many new fans in tucked away Cornish coves. Below: sailing day and night - no rest for the helm.

MAY 1: ST MARYS, ISLES OF SCILLY

We’ve brought 12 strong men and true from Clevedon to participate in the annual World Pilot Gig Rowing championships. There are hundreds of gig clubs and thousands of rowers up and down the West Country, and they all seem to be in tiny St Marys right now. Great news for the pubs – and great news for us.

Arrived in the Golfe this morning – after a calm, moonlit overnight passage down the Brittany coast – for the Semaine du Golfe sea festival. They love their lighthouses in this part of the world: the coast and outlying islands are twinkling with them. We passed another British tall ship, Earl of Pembroke, in the night, ghosting along under full sail. We waved and whistled at them and will probably catch up ashore later.

We picked up a French pilot called Bernard to guide us into the narrow gulf entrance.

Navigation isn’t difficult with huge great stone beacons to mark the rocks, but the current is ferocious. Good to have a local to point out the swirling eddies and whirlpools to avoid.

We’re at a lovely anchorage just off a wooded island. The French frigate Etoile du Roy is here, and a beautiful Dutch schooner Oosterschelde is also swinging gracefully on a mooring nearby.

Always exciting to arrive in a new place with other travelling ships. We’ll meet the crews and hear their voyage tales later.

And their boats are beautiful. The Bretons, like the Cornish, love their sea heritage.

To have a little boat, and to fish, sing, sail, cook and wear stripy sweaters and berets, and tell improbable stories and build impossible harbours in amongst the rocks, feels natural here. And we fit in well because the Matthew looks improbable and almost impossible to sail in rock-strewn bays, but we do it and we love it and it makes people happy. The skipper did interviews for French TV, radio and papers in faltering pidgin French, and we were hailed as a small ship with a big heart.

JUNE 12: FALMOUTH, CORNWALL

People sometimes ask, ‘What’s the Matthew like at sea?’ Last night’s gales showed the ship What an incredible week. The French are at its best: rolling around like a fairground fantastic at maritime festivals. Sometimes you bronco ride, but storming along under full sail, feel there’s no organisation, just a collective will eating up the miles. Despite poor visibility and by 2,000 boat owners to have the best driving rain, yesterday we were in France and time ever and all go sailing together today we’re drying out back in Falmouth. We’ve every day. Of course there’s structure, been doing six, seven, sometimes eight knots, to planning, programmes and whoops of delight from the helm and crashing logistics: but none of and grinding from down below as cabin contents the fencing-in, crowd were re-distributed with every extravagant lurch. control and nasty Poor old Dave, our cook: he already had a fast food stalls dodgy leg, and he got bashed on the other one that can make by the tiller. Then the contents of the galley British events bin – yesterday’s fish heads and pasta slops – feel sterile. got deposited all over him while he was trying to sleep.

JUNE 5: BRITTANY

JUNE 18: FALMOUTH SEA SHANTY FESTIVAL

Someone should write a shanty about this June’s flippin’ weather. It’s been cold, wet and windy, but that didn’t stop the fine men and women of Cadgwith Cove putting on a spirited concert on board last night. Ships like ours would have been tied up on the Custom House quay here 400 Shipshape

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hundred years ago, and glorious simple but full-blooded songs would have permeated the air as sailors and hobblers and ship owners bustled to fill storehouses with precious cargoes.

The Matthew deck is an inspiring place to sing – my mind conjured up my dear departed father, who loved the sea and in particular Cadgwith where he had many friends and spent many nights crooning with Hartley, Buller, Lamby and Sharkey. Great names for great men. Their spirits live on in song.

JUNE 27: NEAR ISLES OF SCILLY

We’ve left the Cornish mainland, our adopted home for several months, and we’re heading for Scilly again. The last few days in Penzance (for the Golowan Festival), were crazy. The Cornish sure know how to enjoy themselves. Highlight: a world-record-breaking ‘pirate’ gathering on Penzance promenade, with us and the Penlee lifeboat sailing circuits around the bay and a massive canon battery on the shore. I’ve never seen so many bad Captain Jack Sparrow costumes in one place.

Now, peace and tranquillity. We’ve got some lovely guests on board, some nice food and hopefully some calmish weather.

JULY 1: BRISTOL CHANNEL

On our way back to Bristol for a busy season of harbour tours and channel sailings. On our way up the Cornish coast we stopped at Lundy, where postcards were written and stories told of a spectacular sailing voyage.

So closes yet another chapter in the continuing saga of the world’s only replica sea-going Medieval caravel. s More: matthew.co.uk or Facebook page: on.fb.me/nIzLHX

THANKS TO C. P. COOMBS AND SHAWN SPENCER-SMITH FOR ALL THE PICS

MAY 29: GOLFE DU MORBIHAN, BRITTANY, FRANCE

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TrIps 0117 927 6868

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C o r p o r aT e f u n C T I o n s

i n f o @ m a t t h e w. c o . u k

w w w. m a t t h e w. c o . u k

Illustration: cargocollective.com/luciesheridan

Glass desiGns & Gallery

a gallery and craft shop specialising in design, build, restoration and repair of stained glass and showcasing local artists and gifts Glass designs & Gallery 261 north street, Bristol Bs3 1Jn Tel: 0117 378 9227 email: info@glassdesignsgallery.co.uk Web: glassdesignsgallery.co.uk

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Pop into the Bristol Tourist Information Centre, next door to Watershed Media Centre, for friendly advice and a great range of gifts and souvenirs

Accommodation bookings

E Shed, 1 Canons Road, BS1 5TX Tel: 0906 711 2191 (calls cost 50p per minute plus network extras) Email: ticharbourside@destinationbristol.co.uk www.visitbristol.co.uk

Opening Hours Open daily 10am–5pm (October–March); 10am–6pm (April–September)

Tickets General advice and information Gifts Souvenirs Books Postcards Maps Travel guides Leaflets Brochures

26/8/11 15:54:59

shipshape directory

ArnolFInI CEntrE For ContEmporAry Arts 16 Narrow Quay, BS1 4QA Tel: 0117 917 2300/01, arnolfini.org.uk Opening times: Exhibition Spaces: Tue-Sun 11am-6pm & Bank Holidays; Bookshop: Tue 11am-6pm, Wed-Sat 11am-8pm, Sun 11am-7pm; Café Bar: Daily from 10am

At-BrIstol Anchor Road, Harbourside, BS1 5DB 0845 345 1235, at-bristol.org.uk Opening hours: weekends and holidays 10am-6pm; weekdays during term-time 10am-5pm. Open every day except 24-26 December *toddler takeover events are special themed days filled with activities, storytelling and star shows for the under fives - all for a reduced rate! Visit at-bristol. org.uk to book tickets and for more information.

BrIstol FErry BoAt CompAny For full details visit: bristolferry.com For a map of the service – complete with ferry stops – and more information, turn to pages 16 & 17.

ShipShape offer

Quote ‘shipshape’ and receive a 10% discount on any 3 hour private bookings!

BrIstol BEEr FACtory The Old Brewery, Durnford St, Bristol BS3 2AW Tel: 0117 902 6317, Fax: 0117 902 6316 simonb@bristolbeerfactory.co.uk bristolbeerfactory.co.uk Available around the Harbourside at The Cottage, Watershed, Bordeaux Quay, Tobacco Factory, Grain Barge, Barley Mow (5 minutes walk from Temple Quay) and No1 Harbourside

Shipshape

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Based at the heart of Bristol’s Harbourside, in a fantastic waterside location, Arnolfini is one of Europe’s leading centres for the contemporary arts. Arnolfini features a regularly changing programme, presenting visual art, live art and performance, dance, music, cinema, poetry and literature events and a busy education programme of tours and talks. It also boasts one of the best arts bookshops in the country and a stylish, lively café bar featuring an Italian-inspired and children’s menu. Free admission to the building, exhibitions and café bar.

there is so much to discover in At-Bristol – one of the country’s biggest and most exciting interactive science centres. With over 300 hands-on exhibits, live science shows and a planetarium, it’s a whole day of interactive play. you can become an animator for the day, walk through a tornado and take a trip to the stars! With the latest exhibition, All About Us, you can take a look at your own veins and even listen to music through your head-bones to discover just how amazing you really are! plus look out for special events and seasonal programming.

plus! special tOddler takeOver days*

these distinctive blue and yellow boats offer relaxed round trips and an efficient ferry service on two routes; one between temple meads and the City Centre (calling at Cabot Circus), the other from the City Centre to Hotwells (please check website for changes to winter timetable). public trips include: Gorge and Cut trips under the suspension Bridge, engaging Wildlife tours with local expert Ed Drewitt and the popular ‘sail with santa’ family trips in December – not to be missed! Also available for winter are fantastic Booze Cruises with dockside pub stops for your Christmas party!

Offer! save On 3 hOur private trips

the Bristol Beer Company produces ‘Independent Beers for Independent Drinkers’. Its artisan ales are hand crafted in small batches using the very finest ingredients carefully selected by the award-winning brewing team. tried and trusted styles of beer with a contemporary twist are brewed in Ashton’s hundredyear-old brewery tower. the Bristol Beer Factory joins the tobacco Factory’s annual celebration of beer, Factoberfest, which takes place on 17th & 18th september - a free event running from midday ‘til nightfall, over both saturday and sunday, featuring over 30 real ales and ciders enjoyed with live music.

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BRUNEL’S ss GREAT BRITAIN Great Western Dockyard, BS1 6TY 0117 926 0680, ssgreatbritain.org Opening times: from 10am Last ticket sales one hour before closing (4.30pm to March 27; 5.30pm March 28 to October 30). Open every day except December 24 and 25, plus second Monday in January

COLSTON HALL

Colston Street, BS1 5AR 0117 922 3686, colstonhall.org Opening hours: Box Office: Mon–Sat 10am6pm; H Bar café: Mon-Fri 8am-11pm, Sat 9am-10pm, Sun 10am-9pm; H Bar Bistro: Daily 11.30am-3pm and 5-11pm

CITY SIGHTSEEING

Information Hotline 09067 112191

FOYLES BOOKSHOP 6 Quakers Friars, Philadelphia St, Cabot Circus, BS1 3BU cabotcircus@foyles.co.uk 0117 376 3975 foyles.co.uk Opening Hours: Mon- Sat 10am-8pm, Sunday 11am-5pm

Descend under the glass ‘sea’ and step back in time in the Dockyard Museum! See, hear, touch and smell what life was like for Victorian passengers on board Brunel’s ss Great Britain.

There’s plenty to do to keep everyone entertained at this multi-award-winning attraction. In 2011 Brunel’s ss Great Britain celebrates the good, the bad and the yucky of Victorian dining with events ranging from ‘Gruesome greens’ storytelling to ‘Mrs Beeton Bakes’ cookery demonstrations.

Tickets provide free unlimited return visits for one year. Go to ssgreatbritain.org/whatson.

PIC: DAVID NOTON

shipshape directory

Colston Hall is Bristol’s premier live music venue and has seen the likes of the Manic Street Preachers, London Symphony Orchestra, Penguin Café, Staff Benda Bilili and Ricky Gervais perform in the past year. The city centre venue also offers plenty of eating and drinking options: H Bar Café serves a variety of wines, beers, cocktails, spirits and hot drinks, with its tasty Mediterranean food earning the café a spot in the Guardian’s top ten Bristol budget eateries. For a more formal experience, there’s H Bar Restaurant with its mouth-watering mix of Latin American and Mediterranean flavours cooked up by Humberto Benevenuto.

Hop on one of the bright red City Sightseeing buses with their 24-hour ticket (or 3-Day ticket) and let them show you the sights of this fascinating city, which is full of vitality and variety. Operating daily every 30, 45 or 90 minutes their guides will regale you with stories from pirates and princes to paupers and show you great churches, cathedrals and museums and the exciting Harbourside, the jewel of which is Brunel’s ss Great Britain. Ticket holders can receive a variety of discounts from Harbourside attractions and eateries including entry to At-Bristol and Coffee Beach on Broad Quay.

Independent booksellers Foyles have settled into their new home in Quakers Friars, Cabot Circus – their first and only shop outside London.

Foyles offers the widest possible range of books, so whether you’re looking for the latest bestseller or something a little more unusual, their expert, local staff will be able to help.

This summer they expanded onto a second floor, where you’ll find more to read plus a cosy events and exhibition space. Visit their website for more information or pop in and give them your thoughts.

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Pic: DaviD NotoN

shipshape directory

GLaSSBoat Welsh Back, BS1 4SB 0117 929 0704, glassboat.co.uk Opening hours: lunch: Tues-Fri 12-2.30pm; dinner: Mon-Sat 5.30-10.30pm; Sunday: brunch 10am-4pm; lunch 12.30-4pm ShipShape Offer

25 year celebration 3 courses for £25, available anytime in the month of october, max 8 persons.

GRaiN BaRGe

Mardyke Wharf, Hotwell Rd Bristol, BS8 4RU Tel: 0117 929 9347 hello@grainbarge.com grainbarge.co.uk Opening hours: Mon - Thurs: 12pm-11pm; Fri - Sat: 12pm-11.30pm; Sun: 12pm-11pm

LiDo ReStauRaNt, SPa & PooL

Oakfield Place, BS8 2BJ 0117 933 9530, lidobristol.com Opening hours: restaurant: 12-3pm and 6-10pm; spa: 7am-10pm; poolside bar: all day

tHe MattHew

When in Bristol check website for mooring location 0117 927 6868, matthew.co.uk

Shipshape

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Located on the floating harbour in the heart of Bristol, Glassboat affords spectacular views of the city; bridges, churches and of course the swans on the water itself. whatever the celebration, small or large, with work or with loved ones, Glassboat remains the considered waterside restaurant of choice for Bristolians young or old. Head chef Kevin King has a wealth of experience, using only the best local suppliers and cooking classic dishes simply. Glassboat proudly celebrates its 25th birthday this autumn: sign up via the website to receive more news via the Swan.

happy

25th

birthday

the historic Grain Barge, moored on Hotwells Road, below cliftonwood, has a panoramic view of Brunel’s ss Great Britain down to cumberland Basin, both from its main harbourside bar and dining area, and from its ‘al fresco’ deck. the lower Hold Bar and function room provides a great venue for its famous Friday night live music and can also be hired for private parties and events. we our now taking christmas party booking - the set menu for 10-20 people: £21.50 for 2 courses or £24.50 for 3 courses. if you book before Sunday 30th october you will receive a £20 food voucher to spend in the New Year.

the Lido is a veritable oasis tucked within a courtyard of Georgian terraces in the backstreets of clifton. First opened in 1849, it was recently saved by the Glassboat company from developers after falling into disrepair. Find an outdoor pool and period changing rooms alongside a spa for massage and general pampering. Head chef Freddie Bird presides over 2 floors of poolside eating; daily changing menus of local and seasonal treats in the first-floor restaurant; or take breakfast, coffee, a snack or afternoon tea in your robe on the terrace or in the bar.

a magnificent replica of a tudor merchant ship that recreated the atlantic crossing by explorer John cabot. He was searching for a sailing route to asia but ended up “discovering” Newfoundland. Get the best views of Bristol harbour from the deck on one of their regular public cruises – fish and chip suppers on board are extremely popular – or you can venture down the scenic avon Gorge under the clifton Suspension Bridge. there are also offshore sailing opportunities and the ship is available for private hire – check website for sailing programme. thirty one

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shipshape directory

51 Welsh Back, BS1 4AN 0117 927 2277, myristica.co.uk CHRISTMAS AT MYRISTICA

Lunch: £17.95 per person; dinner: £24.95 per person. Includes complimentary side dishes and naan breads. Minimum 4 diners required and all orders must be placed in advance.

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 12-2pm (lunch), Mon-Sat 5.30-11.30pm (dinner), Sunday 5.30-10.30pm (dinner, last orders at 10pm)

OSTRICH INN

Lower Guinea Street, Redcliffe, BS1 6TJ 0117 927 3774, ostrich.bristol@marstons.co.uk Opening hours: daily 12-11pm.

Food served: Mon-Sat 12-3pm & 5-9pm, Sun lunch 12-5pm

THE SHAKESPEARE TAVERN

68 Prince Street, Bristol, BS1 4QD 0117 929 7695 Opening hours: Mon-Thur 11am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11am-12am, Sun 12pm-11pm

SPIKEI SLAND

133 Cumberland Road, Bristol BS1 6UX 0117 929 2266, spikeisland.org.uk Galleries open 11am-5pm Tuesday to Sunday Café open Monday to Friday 8.30am-5pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am-5pm

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Having recently taken up residence on Bristol’s Welsh Back, Myristica joins a host of wellknown establishments delivering a five-star food experience along Bristol’s waterfront. You’ll find a delicious range of authentic, delicious regional Indian food served up by chefs from some of India’s top hotels. Specialities include pista murgh (chicken breast cooked in a mild cream sauce with ground pistachios and saffron) and prawn chettinad with Kerala paratha (black tiger prawns cooked with a roasted blend of fennel, peppercorns and curry leaves).

OK

TIFFIN BOXES TO TAKE AWAY AVAILABLE NOW

Serving the Harbourside with great ale, great food and great company since 1745 (ish), traditional pub the Ostrich Inn is now firmly back on everyone’s map. They’re spending lots of money on the outside area: look forward to an outside bar, new furniture and real ale festivals. You’ll find the world-famous ‘Ostrich Cave’ situated in the pub – can you spot their oldest regular? They’re owned by Marston’s, so expect good, cheap Midlands prices – “No recession problems here!” – with real ales £2.85-£2.95, lager £2.75-£3.20 and cider £2.80-£2.85. Monday is half-price steak night; quiz and curry on Wednesdays.

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This historic dockside pub has recently enjoyed an extensive refurb – but evolution, not revolution, is the name of the game here. Bristol’s longest-serving ale house has been providing harbour folk with sustenance since 1775, and it has the handsome interior – all wood panelling – to prove it. On a fine day, meanwhile, head for the raised patio, to watch life stream by on land and water. Under new landlord Graham Williams, the welcome is as warm as ever, including cask ales, draft ciders and a range of premium lagers and wines. A grown-up food menu, meanwhile, ranges from sharing platters to Bristol’s scrumptious Pieminister pies.

Spike Island is a centre for the production and exhibition of art and design based in an 80,000 square foot former Brooke Bond tea packing factory.

Spike’s year-round public programme features free exhibitions by local, national and international artists, as well as regular talks, events and activities for all. Spike Café is open seven days a week, serving hot and cold drinks, snacks and homemade meals in a relaxed setting overlooking the river.

Spike Island is also a busy working building, home to a range of artists, designers, students, creative businesses and other arts organisations.

PIC: STUART WHIPPS

MYRISTICA

Shipshape

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PIC: Stuart WHIPPS

shipshape directory

SPyGLaSS Welsh Back, BS1 4SB 0117 927 7050, spyglassbristol.co.uk Spyglass has a non-reservation policy for groups of less than 8. To book a table for a group of 8 or more please contact spyglassmgr@glassboat.co.uk or 0117 927 7050 Opening hours: daily 12 midday -11pm ShipShape offer

Light Lunch Offer: Main meal and a soft drink only £5.50. Choose from a menu of 4 dishes. available Mon- Fri

St NICHOLaS Market Corn Street, BS1 1JQ bristol.gov.uk/markets Email: markets@bristol.gov.uk Tel: 0117 922 4014.

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 9.30am-5pm and first Sun of the month 11am-5pm.

tHe ruMMer

All Saints Lane, Old City, BS1 1JH Email: info@therummer.co.uk General Enquiries: 0117 9290111 Bookings: 0117 9294243

WaterSHed

1 Canons Road, BS1 5TX 0117 927 5100, info@watershed.co.uk, watershed.co.uk, dshed.net Cafe/bar opening hours: Mon 10.30am11pm, Tues-Thurs 9.30am-11pm, Sat 10ammidnight, Sun 10am-10.30pm

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Now in its ninth year, this lively waterside restaurant has become a Bristol institution, serving an assortment of meat and fresh fish from the grill to create their popular signature dishes with some new and exciting options thrown in for good measure.

With a location to die for, food that’s as simple as it is tasty and a price to suit any wallet, it’s no wonder Spyglass has become a destination for both locals and foodies alike. Make the most of the expected Indian summer, we have plenty of blankets and heaters to keep you snug if not. Spyglass remains open throughout the autumn.

Offer Light Lunch £5.50

Spectacular market found in the heart of the Old City. Such is the variety on offer from these local independents, you can drop in for some lunch, get your shoes fixed, grab a bag of sweets, buy clothes, browse for vinyl and more. If you like your food local and direct from the producers, don’t miss the perennially popular Farmers’ Market every Wednesday on Corn Street and Wine Street (9.30am-2.30pm). Literature lovers, meanwhile, should find plenty to inspire them at the award-winning Book Market on the first Sunday of every month (10am-4pm).

One of Bristol’s favourite cocktail bars and dining rooms, the rummer Hotel is a sophisticated venue serving a discerning clientele. an independent bar and restaurant with a passion for quality, the kitchen produces some of the best food to be found in Bristol, and the bar holds over 300 premium spirits from around the globe – the largest collection in the region. Boasting a classic, stylish interior, the rummer provides a wonderful ambience and an intimate drinking venue. Open every day, with Head Chef Greg McHugh serving modern British food on his lunch and evening menus.

Watershed is the perfect social space on Bristol’s historic Harbourside, showing the best independent films from across the world. With three cinemas to choose from and a welcoming, relaxed café/bar enjoying unique waterside views, it’s the ideal place to meet friends, enjoy a meal and watch a film. Come and try their Plot to Plate organic menu showcasing the tastes of the South West, or treat yourself to a drink before or after a film. For detailed film and events listings, visit watershed.co.uk or head to dshed.net for an online gallery and creative content. thirty three

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feature

What brought you to a gallery on the Harbourside?

I was actually born in Bristol but only lived here for six months before my family moved to South Wales. I didn’t have any plan to come back to work in Bristol – it just sort of happened through a chain of circumstances. After working as a gallery manager, exhibitions curator and teacher, I was asked to do some teaching on the University of the West of England Fine Art course. I was living in London then, but soon decided to move my family to Somerset. Slowly more and more of my activity took place here. In 2003 Arnolfini asked me to curate the exhibition that would close the building before it was refurbished. I kept getting asked to teach and to curate exhibitions in Bristol, including one for Spike Island in 2008. Shortly afterwards I decided to open WORKS|PROJECTS.

I ❤ Harbourside Simon Morrissey, curator at Harbourside gallery WORKS|PROJECTS, tells Shipshape about the joys and challenges of running a bold contemporary artspace down a Harbourside back alley

What are the advantages, and the challenges, of having a contemporary gallery in a quiet Harbourside street?

In many ways where we are made who we are. When I first decided to open the gallery in 2008 Lucy Byatt, then Director of Spike Island artspace, virtually insisted I open the gallery next to Spike. The space she offered me allowed us to stage the ambitious shows that we have built our reputation on. The low rents compared to London, or even a more expensive area of Bristol like Clifton, mean that we can afford a much bigger space here, so our exhibitions have been ambitious and we’ve quickly got noticed both nationally and internationally.

The one disadvantage of being here is that we are quite invisible to the majority of the Bristol public. We have a loyal audience but you have to

This pic: M Shed.

Right: Brunel’s ss Great Britain. ten

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What do you think could improve the Harbourside?

Some more joined-up promotion. Our end of things is perhaps a little overlooked, and something as simple as some intelligent council signage directing visitors to the host of free culture just yards from ss Great Britain could do wonders. Oh, and a wrecking ball could be useful know we are here – or seek us out. Most Bristolians – I can think of a few eyesores I’d particularly aren’t aware that they can buy some of the best art like to level to the ground. The only consolation in the city down a graffitied back street! is that M Shed is such a sensitive re-imagining of an existing building – both fantastically What does being next to Spike Island contemporary and historically sensitive at once. mean for you?

We are right in the heart of Bristol’s contemporary The Harbour’s traditionally been a place art culture. More than any other institution in of skilled manual crafts and labour… how the city, Spike Island is where contemporary art do you see its present, and its future? is produced as well as exhibited – via its dozens It’s easy to associate the area with tourist of artist’s studios, the UWE Fine Art degree attractions like M Shed and ss Great Britain, course based here, and much more besides. but what’s interesting is that it’s still very much a The block around Spike Island, meanwhile, is place of production. Especially at its western end, quickly becoming the ‘gallery quarter’ of Bristol. there’s a rawness that I find inspiring, and there As a visitor on any given day you could visit is production around every corner. Some of that exhibitions at four different venues – Spike Island, production is still in the Harbour’s traditional fields Picture This, WORKS|PROJECTS and Bristol – boats, leather-making, engineering – and some Diving School. And this group includes public, of it is in new cultural industries like Aardman commercial and artist-run spaces, so Animations, TV prop-making and the mass of art you’ve got real variety down here. and design studios around Spike Island. Though they may seem very different, both these new and old industries are about a skilled marriage of head and hand – and they keep alive that living, working environment that is vitally important to the Harbourside’s character. s More: worksprojects.co.uk Read more about WORKS|PROJECTS’ current Richard Woods exhibition on page 9.

Shipshape

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