Winter 2010 - Shipshape Magazine Bristol
Winter 2010 - Shipshape Magazine Bristol
Winter 2010 - Shipshape Magazine Bristol
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<strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
winter <strong>2010</strong><br />
www.shipshapebristol.co.uk<br />
free<br />
Celebrating<br />
the very best of<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong>’s historic<br />
harbourside<br />
Trading Places: do more markets make sense?<br />
Interviews<br />
Fuel delivery man Gary Grizzell<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> Ferry Boat’s Rosie Dee<br />
Features<br />
At-<strong>Bristol</strong>’s Toddler Takeover<br />
Fascinating Finzel’s Reach<br />
Events<br />
Eat Cheese at Glassboat<br />
Breuer in <strong>Bristol</strong>
Sunday Roasts - 1pm-5pm<br />
The<br />
Rummer Hotel<br />
Cellar<br />
bar open,<br />
Friday and<br />
Saturday<br />
late<br />
All Saints Lane <strong>Bristol</strong> BS1 1JH<br />
Tel: 0117 9290111<br />
Tucked away in the back alleys of the Old City,<br />
The Rummer Hotel not only boasts the most extensive<br />
spirit collection in the region, fine wines and local ales, but<br />
an eclectic menu of modern British dishes prepared by Head<br />
Chef Greg McHugh from the freshest local ingredients.<br />
Just remember to make a reservation during busy times...<br />
email: info@therummer.co.uk | www.therummer.co.uk
contents<br />
Welcome...<br />
...to the winter issue of <strong>Shipshape</strong>.<br />
At the time of going to press, <strong>Bristol</strong><br />
City Council was concluding its<br />
Markets Review, a study into the<br />
health of the city’s markets and the<br />
desirability of allowing more markets<br />
to take place in the centre. Its findings<br />
will be hotly anticipated by a number<br />
of key local business people who<br />
believe that more markets will make<br />
for a better <strong>Bristol</strong>. Mark Sayers dons<br />
his fingerless gloves and dives into the<br />
debate on page 10. There’s plenty<br />
more inside, of course, and at<br />
www.shipshapebristol.co.uk. Enjoy!<br />
Trading<br />
Places<br />
page 10<br />
Inside<br />
Arts & events 4<br />
Things to see and do this quarter<br />
Trading places 10<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong> looks into the Markets Review<br />
Getting around 16<br />
Harbourside map & ferry guide<br />
Coal porter 18<br />
How Gary Grizzell is keeping us warm this winter<br />
I ❤ Harbourside 21<br />
Rosie Dee from <strong>Bristol</strong> Ferry Boat Company<br />
Miniature marvels 25<br />
At-<strong>Bristol</strong>’s Toddler Takeover day<br />
Harbourside directory 26<br />
The very best of the waterside<br />
10 things you never knew… 30<br />
…about Finzels Reach<br />
Pictured clockwise from top: Josh from Hand Picked Shellfish at Corn<br />
Street’s Farmers’ Market; The old George Brewery on the Finzels Reach<br />
site; ss Great Britain – the book; wide-eyed wonder at Toddler Takeover;<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> Ferry Boat’s Rosie Dee.<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> Issue 4, winter. <strong>Shipshape</strong> is published by The Group of Seven<br />
Editorial, design and production: thegroupofseven.co.uk<br />
Advertising enquiries: The Clifton Agency: peter.robinson@thecliftonagency.com or 0117 906 4060<br />
Want to get involved in future issues of <strong>Shipshape</strong> magazine? Call us on 01225 448891 or email us on info@shipshapebristol.co.uk<br />
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,<br />
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.<br />
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.<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
arts & events<br />
explore<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> & Bath Unlocked<br />
Saviours of beleaguered parents<br />
up and down the country, Emily<br />
Kerr and Joshua Perry (pictured)<br />
present their fourth days out guide<br />
for children. They were designed<br />
with the help of over 200 children<br />
and are packed with illustrations,<br />
stickers, photos and suggestions<br />
like where to ride a donkey, walk<br />
around a tractor graveyard or<br />
climb a clock tower. Here, Emily<br />
and Joshua pick their favourite five<br />
watery days out:<br />
1 Float on a boat around<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> Harbour<br />
It’s one of the best ways to see<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong>, there are awesome historic<br />
ships such as the Matthew and the<br />
ss Great Britain, and it’s a ferry nice<br />
way to spend a day!<br />
2 Take a trip on the Waverley<br />
paddle steamer<br />
It’s a lovely leisurely way to spend<br />
a day, and we think it’s rather<br />
heroic that the Paddle Steamer<br />
Preservation Society bought the<br />
Waverley for one pound and has<br />
now fully restored it.<br />
3 Canoe down the<br />
Kennet & Avon Canal<br />
Kids love canoeing and<br />
we’re basically kids – this is<br />
as good a place to do it as<br />
any and you can hire bikes<br />
and other boats nearby.<br />
4 Ride the <strong>Bristol</strong><br />
Harbour Railway<br />
steam train<br />
We both went on the train<br />
as kids with our families,<br />
and have particularly fond<br />
memories of Brunel’s<br />
Buttery, where you can buy<br />
excellent bacon sandwiches on a<br />
Sunday morning.<br />
5 Open up a lock at the<br />
National Waterways<br />
Museum, Gloucester<br />
We love museums that have handson<br />
exhibits, and we think it’s great<br />
that this museum doesn’t just tell<br />
you about locks, they actually give<br />
you a chance to work one<br />
More: <strong>Bristol</strong> & Bath Unlocked,<br />
£8.99, unlockedguides.com<br />
read<br />
The Incredible Journey<br />
‘The Incredible Journey’ charts the wonderful story of the ss<br />
Great Britain from 1970 to the present day. Written by 78-year-old<br />
Captain Chris Young, the book describes the events leading up to<br />
the ship’s salvage, charts her years in the Great Western Dockyard,<br />
follows the remarkable sequence of events that led to the Heritage<br />
Lottery-funded conservation and restoration project, and<br />
celebrates its ‘relaunch’ as an award-winning museum in 2005.<br />
The official book launch with Captain Chris Young takes place on<br />
16 December at 3pm at Brunel’s ss Great Britain.<br />
More: ssgreatbritain.org<br />
four
arts & feature events<br />
celebrate<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> wins<br />
Purple Flag<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> city centre has become<br />
one of the first UK cities to be<br />
awarded the prestigious Purple<br />
Flag. The award, which is<br />
given to ‘well managed and<br />
vibrant places to visit and<br />
enjoy’, was announced on 3<br />
November <strong>2010</strong> and follows<br />
a joint bid by <strong>Bristol</strong> City<br />
Council, Avon and Somerset<br />
Constabulary and Destination<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong>. “Just as the Blue Flag is<br />
an indicator of a good beach,<br />
the Purple Flag indicates a<br />
centre that is vibrant and a<br />
pleasant place to be,” says<br />
John Hirst, Operations Director<br />
for Destination <strong>Bristol</strong>. “We<br />
are delighted to have won the<br />
award and it will bring positive<br />
publicity for our city centre<br />
and allow us to build on our<br />
success.” Special praise was<br />
given to the development of the<br />
waterfront by the Watershed,<br />
which the judges felt was<br />
exemplary in returning this<br />
critical area to diverse use.<br />
More: purpleflag.org.uk<br />
❉<br />
shop<br />
made in<br />
bristol<br />
xmas fair<br />
Get a gift for your granny, a<br />
stocking-filler for your sister or a<br />
treat for yours truly at the Made<br />
in <strong>Bristol</strong> Christmas Fair, Colston<br />
Hall, 11 & 18 December<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
More: colstonhall.org<br />
Eat<br />
Cheese please<br />
In the run-up to Glassboat’s Eat Cheese festival, which takes<br />
place on 30 January from 10am to 4pm, Alex Te-Strote, of St<br />
Nick’s wonderful Trethowan’s Dairy, tells us why we should all<br />
be eating more cheese this winter<br />
Looking after the wholesale business for<br />
Trethowan’s Dairy means constant contact with<br />
some of the top chefs in <strong>Bristol</strong>, and one of the<br />
elements that excites them all is seasonal food.<br />
Few people, however, would include cheese in that<br />
category. The fact is, when dealing with artisan<br />
cheeses, even those that are available all year will<br />
change with the seasons depending on what the<br />
animals are eating. With daylight at a premium,<br />
our bodies crave comfort foods and, as a stored<br />
product, cheese has always been an important<br />
winter protein source. Here are some of my<br />
favourites to turn to as the days close in:<br />
Our own Gorwydd Caerphilly will increasingly be<br />
made with silage-fed milk, giving concentrated<br />
flavours and creaminess. The melting buttery-ness<br />
and mushroomy earthiness from the rind make it<br />
perfect for cheese on toast. Seek<br />
out a good sourdough loaf for<br />
the perfect snack.<br />
Ogleshield is another great one<br />
for melting. Made by Jamie<br />
Montgomery of Cheddar<br />
fame, we use this West Country<br />
Jersey milk cheese on our<br />
raclette machines. It also makes<br />
wonderfully rich pommes<br />
dauphinoise or pasta bake. Add<br />
a salad of winter greens and<br />
supper is done.<br />
Ordinarily I would classify<br />
goat’s and sheep’s milk cheeses as late-spring/earlysummer<br />
cheeses, when they first reappear after<br />
lambing or kidding. But Dorstone, an ash-rolled goat’s<br />
cheese made by Charlie Westhead in Herefordshire,<br />
has a meatiness at this time of year that satisfies. Look<br />
out for the apricot and cider chutney that will be<br />
paired with it at Christmas.<br />
Everybody thinks of stilton as Christmas draws<br />
near, but Stichelton, an unpasteurised blue cheese<br />
made by Joe Schneider on the Welbeck Estate in<br />
Nottinghamshire, is supreme in my opinion. The<br />
balance of sweet milk and salty blueing will win<br />
over any doubters.<br />
Finally, Vacherin Mont d’Or was designed for winter<br />
eating. Made with milk from Alpine cattle that<br />
graze in high mountain pastures, these first become<br />
available around mid-October until they run out in<br />
February/March. Trethowan’s<br />
carries one of the few handmade<br />
versions still available. Intended<br />
for high calorific intake to survive<br />
mountain winters, it’s a great<br />
sharing cheese. It can be baked<br />
in the box and scooped like a<br />
fondue. So do your bit for the<br />
planet, turn down the heating<br />
and eat more cheese this winter.<br />
More: trethowansdairy.co.uk.<br />
Eat Cheese takes place on 30 January,<br />
glassboat.co.uk<br />
five
thursday 27 january<br />
bournemouth symphony orchestra<br />
Yan Pascal Tortelier conducts<br />
Tchaikovsky's violin concerto and<br />
excerpts from Prokofiev's Romeo<br />
and Juliet<br />
wednesday 9 february<br />
vienna tonkunstler orchestra<br />
'The miracle of Vienna' Andres<br />
Orozco-Estrada conducts Mozart,<br />
Brahms and Beethoven<br />
Join us at <strong>Bristol</strong>’s home of<br />
world class, groundbreaking,<br />
heart-stoppingly great<br />
classical music<br />
thursday 3 march<br />
bournemouth symphony orchestra<br />
The orchestra of the South West play Don Juan<br />
and Mahler's 7th symphony<br />
thursday 17 march<br />
bournemouth symphony orchestra<br />
Nicola Benedetti performs Szymanowski's violin<br />
concerto no 1<br />
wednesday 27 april<br />
philharmonia orchestra<br />
Lorin Maazel takes us on a journey with Mozart<br />
and Mahler<br />
box office +44 (0)117 922 3686 www.colstonhall.org<br />
Discover one of<br />
Bath’s hidden gems...<br />
bud.<br />
our community<br />
is your business<br />
the Moon & Sixpence<br />
and<br />
The Moon Bar & Cafe<br />
‘There is only one<br />
thing in life worse<br />
than being talked<br />
about, and that is not<br />
being talked about’<br />
Oscar Wilde<br />
Get people talking about your business<br />
Bud UK Ltd<br />
Public Relations<br />
Contract Publishing<br />
Marketing<br />
Business Development<br />
27 Milsom Place, Bath BA1 1BZ<br />
01225 320088 / reservations@themoonandsixpence.com<br />
themoonandsixpence.com<br />
For an informal chat about our services, please call 01225 317175<br />
email: nigel@bud.uk.com or christina@bud.uk.com<br />
www.bud.uk.com<br />
six<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
arts & events<br />
arts & events<br />
See<br />
Maefla<br />
The Maelfa Shopping Centre,<br />
situated on the outskirts of Cardiff,<br />
was built around a block of<br />
high-rise flats in the mid-1970s.<br />
Once a thriving centre in the local<br />
community, it steadily declined<br />
over the years and was soon<br />
earmarked for demolition. Before<br />
its destruction, artist Sean Edwards<br />
took up residence in the centre,<br />
creating this series of poignant<br />
works inspired by this functioning<br />
yet near derelict space.<br />
More: Maelfa, Spike Island, 21<br />
Jan-10 Apr, spikeisland.org.uk<br />
❉<br />
watch<br />
Swallows<br />
& Amazons<br />
What do you get when you<br />
team Neil Hannon of the<br />
Divine Comedy, the director of<br />
the West End hit ‘War Horse’<br />
and the writer of the National<br />
Theatre’s ‘Coram Boy’? <strong>Bristol</strong><br />
Old Vic’s new musical ‘Swallows<br />
and Amazons’, of course. Such<br />
is the excitement surrounding<br />
the project that a number of<br />
mutinous stunts have taken place<br />
around the city in the run-up to<br />
opening night – the latest being<br />
a riotous hijacking of <strong>Bristol</strong>’s<br />
very own Matthew by <strong>Bristol</strong><br />
Old Vic’s Young Company.<br />
But none of this compares to<br />
the adventures the crew will<br />
face as they follow Captain<br />
John on his exotic expedition to<br />
Wild Cat Island. Get into the<br />
spirit of things by booking a<br />
‘houseboat’ (aka a box at <strong>Bristol</strong><br />
Old Vic) and enjoy a voyagers’<br />
picnic, complimentary grog,<br />
programmes and ice cream, all<br />
for £200. All together now: yoho-ho<br />
and a bottle of rum!<br />
More: <strong>Bristol</strong> Old Vic, until 15 Jan,<br />
bristololdvic.org.uk<br />
ASK<br />
Liz Payne<br />
After working at the awardwinning<br />
Clarke’s restaurant in<br />
London for 18 years, Liz Payne<br />
came to <strong>Bristol</strong> in 2006 to take<br />
the role as head chef at Bordeaux<br />
Quay. She joined Glassboat in<br />
October <strong>2010</strong>. We caught up with<br />
Liz between sittings to talk about<br />
her career in the kitchen.<br />
How long have you been in<br />
the industry?<br />
Quite some time, thank you!<br />
Was it always your dream<br />
to become a chef ?<br />
I’ve always had a passion for<br />
cooking and remember cooking<br />
for my family as a child (from<br />
the age of about nine onwards).<br />
It was just my love of food that<br />
inspired me to become a chef.<br />
What are you hoping to<br />
bring to Glassboat?<br />
I’d like to bring seasonal,<br />
well-sourced food, simply<br />
cooked, whose flavours speak<br />
for themselves. I think the food<br />
will match the stunning dining<br />
environment.<br />
Head chef, Glassboat<br />
What did you think about<br />
Glassboat before you arrived?<br />
Unfortunately, as head chef of a<br />
busy establishment, I didn’t get<br />
the opportunity to dine out very<br />
often. However, I did manage to<br />
enjoy the odd meal at Glassboat<br />
and also heard good things. Apart<br />
from anything else, its longevity is<br />
a testament to the restaurant. It’s a<br />
serious <strong>Bristol</strong>ian icon.<br />
What five ingredients<br />
couldn’t you live without?<br />
I couldn’t live without lemons!<br />
Also, bitter chocolate, garlic,<br />
fresh chillis and fresh herbs.<br />
What’s your top tip for<br />
creating the perfect<br />
Christmas dinner?<br />
A time-plan: work ahead where<br />
possible and be nicely organised<br />
on the day. And always have a<br />
gin and tonic in your hand!<br />
Which chef do you most<br />
admire?<br />
Sally Clarke [owner of Clarke’s<br />
Restaurant, Shop and Wholesale<br />
Bakery] has had the greatest<br />
Don’t miss Arnolfini’s 50th anniversary<br />
celebrations, which begin on Sat 19 Feb with<br />
a new exhibition of work by Cosima von<br />
Bonin (pictured) plus talks, free activities for<br />
the family and more. We’ll be running a full<br />
feature on Arnolfini’s anniversary next issue<br />
influence – she’s a friend, mentor<br />
and inspiration.<br />
If you could cook in any<br />
kitchen in the world, where<br />
would it be?<br />
The Chez Panisse Cafe in<br />
Berkeley, California.<br />
Turkey or goose on<br />
Christmas day?<br />
It’s turkey in our house because<br />
it’s really traditional (and the kids<br />
prefer it).<br />
What’s your signature dish?<br />
From our current menu, the dish<br />
that really reflects what I do is a<br />
starter of grilled pigeon breast<br />
and watercress with sweet and<br />
sour blackberries.<br />
Anything else you’d like to add?<br />
I consider it a great honour to<br />
cook at Glassboat. I hope that the<br />
food I inspire my team to create<br />
is something that customers will<br />
want to come back for regularly.<br />
Come and see us!<br />
More: glassboat.co.uk.<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
seven
the<br />
pigguide<br />
.com<br />
Speak to your GP about the flu jab today<br />
It’s life, Bath... but not as you know it.<br />
Upcoming events<br />
at Glassboat<br />
Plenty of fun events to keep you<br />
going during the cold, dark months!<br />
Tuesday 25 January Burns Night Whiskey-matched menu,<br />
readings & reeling. £35 a head Sunday 30 January Eat<br />
Cheese! Back for it’s second year. Eat Cheese festival brings<br />
a host of stalls, tastings, live music and family fun & games<br />
to the dockside. Special Sunday menu onboard First Sunday<br />
of every month Soul Food Lazy Sunday menu, brunch and<br />
proper roasts, free Bloody Marys, laidback soul tunes Sunday<br />
13 February, 10.00am–4.00pm Valentine’s Brunch Special<br />
Valentine’s set menu with free pink bubbles and live music. £25<br />
per person 12 & 14 February, 5.30pm–11.00pm Valentine’s<br />
at Glassboat Special Valentine’s set menu. £45 per person,<br />
inc. three courses and arrival cocktails<br />
For more information please contact Kirstie on<br />
0117 9290704 or restaurant@glassboat.co.uk<br />
Glassboat Welsh Back <strong>Bristol</strong> BS1 4SB 0117 929 0704<br />
E bookings@glassboat.co.uk W www.glassboat.co.uk<br />
eight<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
arts & events<br />
feature<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
BOOK<br />
richard ii<br />
Shakespeare at the Tobacco<br />
Factory celebrates its 12th<br />
season with a brace of<br />
plays – ‘Richard II’ and ‘The<br />
Comedy of Errors’. Running<br />
from Thursday 10 February until<br />
Saturday 19 March, ‘Richard<br />
II’ is Shakespeare’s theatrical<br />
account of the eponymous<br />
king’s last days after he takes<br />
the disastrous decision to exile<br />
his cousin Henry Bullingbrook<br />
and seize his Lancastrian<br />
estates. Bullingbrook returns to<br />
England, overthrows Richard<br />
and takes the throne for himself<br />
as Henry IV, setting the stage<br />
for the bloody Wars of the<br />
Roses. We’ll be previewing<br />
‘The Comedy of Errors’ in the<br />
spring issue.<br />
More: sattf.org.uk<br />
❉<br />
discover<br />
all about us<br />
Launching in March, All<br />
About Us is At-<strong>Bristol</strong>’s new<br />
£1.5million permanent<br />
exhibition. As the name<br />
suggests, it’s a veritable<br />
celebration of the human body<br />
and how it works. There’ll<br />
be more than 50 new or<br />
siginifantly improved hands-on<br />
science exhibits – including real<br />
body parts, for your little CSI in<br />
the making. Hear music through<br />
the vibrations of the bones in<br />
your jaw, look at your veins<br />
under infrared lights, watch<br />
food run through a skeleton’s<br />
body, see your own blood cells<br />
move through the capillaries of<br />
your eye, and much more!<br />
More: at-bristol.org.uk<br />
visit<br />
Breuer in <strong>Bristol</strong><br />
You’ve only got until Christmas Eve to see the<br />
Architecture Centre’s fascinating exhibition about<br />
one of <strong>Bristol</strong>’s most unlikely friendships. Breuer<br />
in <strong>Bristol</strong> is the story of the partnership between<br />
Bauhaus master Marcel Breuer and Crofton Gane,<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> furniture manufacturer, which resulted in one<br />
of the most important examples of early Modernist<br />
architecture: The Gane Pavilion 1936 (pictured).<br />
The exhibition will reveal the reasons behind<br />
laugh<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong>’s Slapstick<br />
Silent Comedy Gala<br />
Laurel & Hardy, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd: all the<br />
greats are present and correct at the seventh annual Slapstick Silent Comedy<br />
Gala, taking place on Friday 28 January at Colston Hall (£16-£20). Special<br />
guest hosts Barry Cryer, Ian Lavender and Bill Oddie will be introducing<br />
four classic short films, including Buster Keaton’s ‘Neighbors’ (1920)<br />
and Charlie Chaplin’s ‘One A.M.’ (1916), and each of the shorts will be<br />
accompanied live by either the European Silent Screen Virtuosi or 25-piece<br />
youth big band Jazz Train. There’ll also be special guest vocal performances<br />
from Neil Innes (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band) and Paul McGann (pictured).<br />
The night forms part of <strong>Bristol</strong>’s Slapstick Festival.<br />
More: colstonhall.org<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong>’s dalliance with Modernism at a time<br />
when the Arts and Crafts movement was the<br />
driving force in design. Find rare archive images,<br />
artefacts, Breuer-designed and Gane-manufactured<br />
furniture, and a specially made model of the Gane<br />
Pavilion. You can also hear what <strong>Bristol</strong>’s residents<br />
thought about this key moment in the city’s history.<br />
More: Architecture Centre, until 24 Dec, architecturecentre.co.uk<br />
Impress your peers with your new-found knowledge of<br />
art – What Is… Contemporary Art? A Beginners Guide,<br />
Arnolfini, Sat 26-Sun 27 Feb, 2-5pm (£20/£15)<br />
eleven<br />
Gane’s Pavilion, <strong>Bristol</strong> , England , ca. 1936 / Courtesy of the<br />
Marcel Breuer papers, 1920-1986, AAA, Smithsonian Institution
feature<br />
The <strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
winter investigation<br />
✺<br />
Trading<br />
places<br />
They help boost the local economy, are good for the environment and<br />
make for a better shopping experience all round. So why are there so few<br />
markets around the Harbourside? Mark Sayers investigates<br />
“We’re ready. We’ve got the producers, we’ve got the landlords’<br />
consent. I would hope to be up and running as a permanent<br />
Harbourside market by Easter. I just need the green light from the<br />
Council.” This is Bryony Morgan, Director of Love Local, an events<br />
organisation showcasing locally produced art, crafts and artisan food<br />
via regular markets at Paintworks and Colston Hall. Bryony also runs<br />
the Tobacco Factory’s weekly food and crafts market and, last June,<br />
managed a successful four-week trial market on the Harbourside.<br />
She’s now hoping to reintroduce the latter on a permanent basis from<br />
next spring. Bryony is just one of a group of voices calling for more<br />
street markets around <strong>Bristol</strong>, with the Harbourside cited as a prime<br />
spot for a big weekly or even daily food and craft event. Markets, goes<br />
the argument, carry all sorts of benefits.<br />
Continued over...<br />
ten<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
feature<br />
They help start-up traders get a foothold on<br />
the commercial ladder; they cut food miles<br />
and packaging by sourcing local produce;<br />
they make for a more inviting, sociable and<br />
varied shopping experience, for city-dwellers<br />
and visitors alike, than the corridors of your<br />
average identikit hypermart. Bryony and<br />
others see a Harbourside market as a crucial<br />
step in turning <strong>Bristol</strong> into a market city – the<br />
eventual aim being perhaps a dozen weekly<br />
neighbourhood markets across town.<br />
Before this can happen, though, they must<br />
wait for the findings of the Markets Review, a<br />
study commissioned by <strong>Bristol</strong> City Council into<br />
the city’s markets landscape (and whose findings<br />
have just been published – have a look at<br />
bristol.gov.uk/retailcentres for details). BCC<br />
– which runs the city centre’s only regular<br />
market, St Nicholas – commissioned the Review<br />
to investigate the current health of the city’s<br />
“I want to offer a<br />
living, breathing, sensory<br />
experience of all that<br />
makes living in the<br />
South West so fantastic”<br />
Bryony Morgan, Director of Love Local<br />
markets, and the desirability of allowing further<br />
markets to develop in the centre of town.<br />
Bryony’s Harbourside Market would be a prime<br />
candidate if any further markets were allowed.<br />
The Markets Charter<br />
So why is the Review so crucial to <strong>Bristol</strong>’s<br />
market future? A quick history lesson, if you<br />
don’t mind. Through its 650-year-old Markets<br />
Charter (granted by Edward IV in 1462 as a<br />
reward for <strong>Bristol</strong>’s support during the Wars<br />
of the Roses), the Council has strategic control<br />
of markets throughout the city. Most crucially,<br />
it has the power to prevent any person<br />
operating a market within 6.7 miles of any<br />
council-operated market (ie. St Nick’s) without<br />
Council permission. Thus far, BCC has used<br />
these rights with discretion, allowing a clutch<br />
of privately run markets to spring up at areas<br />
including Whiteladies Road, Fishponds Park<br />
Common Loaf Bakery<br />
and Christmas Steps. Now, though, there is<br />
growing pressure from Bryony and others<br />
for markets around the Harbourside, one of<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong>’s most historic and most visited areas<br />
and also one of the zones most in need of<br />
‘animation’ – a new lease of life and activity.<br />
Those who consider that the Harbourside<br />
would benefit from a street market (and we’ll<br />
look more closely at the reasons why very<br />
shortly) question the Council’s adherence to,<br />
they say, an outdated piece of legislation.<br />
Hence the newly published Markets Review,<br />
for which BCC asked consultants Market<br />
Squared (one of the founders of London’s<br />
hugely successful food market, Borough<br />
Market) and Roger Tym & Partners to<br />
examine <strong>Bristol</strong>’s market landscape in detail.<br />
The Review has studied a range of factors,<br />
including current and future prospects for<br />
markets in <strong>Bristol</strong>, public demand for more<br />
markets, and whether the Council’s use of<br />
the existing Charter is in the best interests<br />
of consumers and stallholders.<br />
Put simply, the findings may (or may<br />
not) recommend allowing more markets<br />
to develop around town, and it may (or<br />
may not) find that the Council’s use of the<br />
Charter is no longer appropriate.<br />
“If the consultants find that there is room<br />
for other markets in the city, I’d hope that<br />
the Council would then look at our proposal<br />
on the Harbourside,” Bryony continues. “A<br />
Saturday food market in the eighth biggest<br />
city in the country – how hard can that<br />
be? Every market town in Somerset and<br />
Gloucestershire has a Saturday food market.<br />
And we know – from the trial back in June<br />
– that we’ve got the food producers to make<br />
it happen.”<br />
The big idea<br />
So when, where and what would the<br />
Harbourside Market be? It would be sited<br />
on Bordeaux Quay, the covered walkway<br />
outside Watershed and the Tourist<br />
Information Centre, although it could<br />
also spill onto Narrow Quay opposite<br />
and, on occasions, BQ’s neighbour,<br />
Anchor Square. The initial proposal is for<br />
a Thursday, Friday and Saturday food,<br />
art and craft market, perhaps introducing<br />
Sunday for a non-food browsers’ market<br />
– antiques, books and records, plants,<br />
etc. Opening hours would be 10am-3pm,<br />
with the possibility of further opening<br />
days and perhaps a late opening to catch<br />
home-from-work shoppers.<br />
“We don’t want to duplicate St Nick’s,<br />
so we’d ensure that the food market would<br />
be on a different day from Wednesdays<br />
[when St Nick’s holds its farmers’<br />
twelve<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
feature<br />
market],” Bryony explains. In fact, she believes<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> could support a market every day<br />
of the week in different parts of town. “For<br />
markets to catch on, they have to be accessible.<br />
And one farmers’ market, one morning a<br />
week, isn’t enough for a city of <strong>Bristol</strong>’s size. I<br />
admit that I shop in supermarkets, because I<br />
don’t have enough access to locally produced<br />
food to suit my schedule. I’d love to go the<br />
farmers’ market every Wednesday but I won’t<br />
always have time that day.”<br />
And what would be on sale? “A varied<br />
programme, with quality being the main<br />
criterion. I want to offer a living, breathing,<br />
sensory experience of all that makes living in<br />
the South West so fantastic. And, of course, to<br />
support local traders and provide a useful and<br />
affordable shopping experience.”<br />
But what’s so great about markets in the<br />
first place? There are several tiers, Bryony<br />
explains, to the pro-markets argument. For<br />
one thing, they present brilliant trading<br />
opportunities for hard-working local food<br />
producers, who’d otherwise find their profit<br />
margins squeezed by the supermarkets.<br />
“For a local economy, markets are an<br />
incredibly useful, immediate way to grow your<br />
business – especially in a tough economic<br />
climate like this. Markets are hard work, but<br />
they are an immediate way to get your products<br />
out there and test demand. Not providing those<br />
opportunities stifles the local economy.”<br />
But it’s not just down to economics. The<br />
South West can also draw on huge reserves<br />
of knowledge, expertise and natural wealth<br />
to support its market culture. “We are lucky<br />
enough to live in a very rich farming region,<br />
and it seems daft not to use the amazing<br />
produce grown here. We’re also a very well<br />
equipped, knowledgeable city when it comes<br />
to food. And there are huge benefits from<br />
feeding yourself from your surrounding<br />
countryside – it’s healthier and fresher,<br />
it makes you much more aware of the<br />
natural wealth of your region, and it<br />
associates you much more closely with<br />
where you food comes from.”<br />
A market would also, she says, bring a muchneeded<br />
lease of life to the ‘Waterfront’ area<br />
– ie. Anchor and Millennium Squares, areas<br />
that have been blighted by a concentration<br />
of big drinking venues, somewhat forbidding<br />
to visitors in search of a more relaxed night<br />
out. “The Waterfront has been associated in<br />
recent years with ‘vertical drinking’ [large chain<br />
bars where alcohol is sold relatively cheaply].<br />
That’s changing, though – thanks, ironically,<br />
to the economic climate. Bars like Baja and<br />
Chicago Rock have closed, buildings are lying<br />
empty and the area’s desperately in need of<br />
a new lease of life. It now needs venues that<br />
can welcome all sorts of people.” She cites<br />
fledgling venue The Harbourside, further along<br />
the same Bordeaux Quay strip that houses<br />
Watershed, as an example: as well as serving<br />
locally sourced food, TH has a small shop<br />
where customers can browse, an oyster bar and<br />
sofas outside. It also acts as a ticket desk for the<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> Ferry Boat Company.<br />
“That sort of animation is immediate,<br />
relatively simple, and can bring an area to life. But<br />
if you want to keep an area alive, you have to put<br />
life in it. That’s especially true when businesses<br />
are failing in a recession – empty buildings make<br />
an area feel far less welcoming, while markets are<br />
a brilliant way to animate a street.”<br />
Market shopping shouldn’t be seen as a<br />
middle-class preserve, either. “The enormous<br />
farmers’ market in Turin [admittedly a city<br />
with twice <strong>Bristol</strong>’s population] runs six<br />
days a week and the whole city is there<br />
– there is a price point for everyone,<br />
from ultra-organic stuff downwards.<br />
You’ll find the same in countless<br />
European cities. Paris has 80 markets,<br />
most of them huge on our scale." ➳<br />
Market<br />
forces<br />
Grab your reusable bags and head to one<br />
of these fabulous markets<br />
Christmas Steps Artisan Market<br />
Taking place on the first Saturday of the month<br />
Eastville Market<br />
Huge outdoor market every Friday<br />
and Sunday<br />
Farmers’ Market<br />
The award-winning weekly<br />
market on Corn Street, where<br />
you can buy delicious produce<br />
direct from the producers<br />
every Wednesday<br />
Fishponds Farmers’ Market<br />
Small outdoor food market open for business<br />
every second Thursday of the month<br />
Fruit Market<br />
Outdoor market selling more than just<br />
fruit every Sunday in St Philips<br />
The Nails Market<br />
This weekly crafts market takes place<br />
every Friday and Saturday on Corn Street<br />
and Wine Street<br />
Slow Food Market<br />
Takes place the first Sunday of every<br />
month on Corn Street<br />
St Nicholas Market<br />
Independent retailers sell their wares (from<br />
records to olives) from Monday to Saturday<br />
Tobacco Factory Market<br />
Lovely outdoor market with around 30<br />
traders selling food and crafts every Sunday<br />
Westbury-on-Trym Local Produce Market<br />
Food and crafts on offer every fourth<br />
Saturday of the month<br />
Whiteladies Road Farmers<br />
and Fair Trading<br />
Food market open for business every first and<br />
third Saturday of the month on the corner of<br />
Whiteladies Road and Apsley Road<br />
Woolies Indoor Market<br />
Find 34 stalls over two<br />
floors at the top of<br />
Whiteladies Road.<br />
Open Monday to<br />
Saturday<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
thirteen
feature<br />
The Ferguson factor<br />
Another crucial activist in the markets movement<br />
is George Ferguson – architect, owner of the<br />
Tobacco Factory (Sunday market and all) and coowner<br />
of the aforementioned Harbourside bistro.<br />
“<strong>Bristol</strong> has, along with most UK cities, a<br />
pathetic market culture,” George reflects. “UK<br />
markets tend to be a relative pinprick compared<br />
with the staple food provider they are in many<br />
European cities, where supermarkets have not<br />
taken the same stranglehold they have here.”<br />
The latter, he says, are driven by an obsession<br />
with growth and market share. “This has the<br />
inevitable effect of damaging the independent<br />
providers and retailers, and supermarkets’<br />
centralised distribution systems militates against<br />
regional and smaller suppliers who can benefit from<br />
cutting out the middle men and selling direct.”<br />
And the solution? “We could give up, admit<br />
that the big chains have won the battle and that<br />
markets are for a fringe middle class – or we<br />
could work with our regional food providers<br />
and makers to provide a real challenge. There<br />
is plenty of potential for a market culture in<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong>, but we need to work hard at helping<br />
producers who feel trapped by the supermarkets’<br />
ruthless purchasing methods.”<br />
The benefits of markets aren’t confined<br />
to stallholders’ pockets, either. “Street<br />
markets that bring provider and consumer<br />
together have a great educational role – they<br />
demonstrate that apples, for instance, come<br />
in hundreds of local varieties, shapes and<br />
flavours, rather than the bland, largely foreign<br />
varieties on supermarket shelves.”<br />
Magnus Macdonald is another interested party<br />
in the markets debate. Chairman of the Glassboat<br />
Company, Magnus co-founded the floating<br />
restaurant on Welsh Back; he’s also a hugely<br />
experienced markets man, having run markets<br />
Pictured clockwise from top: Vincent<br />
Castellano of Castellano’s Charcuterie<br />
and Traiteur; Helen Brent-Smith and<br />
David Kasper of Day’s Cottage Apple<br />
Juice; Sandra Paget and Terry Duncan<br />
of Paget 4th Generation Grocers.<br />
twelve<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
feature<br />
at festivals including Glastonbury, V<br />
Festival and The Big Chill. Recently, he’s<br />
introduced a series of successful themed<br />
markets along Welsh Back, including Fish<br />
Fest, Eat Cheese and Summer Fayre.<br />
“I’m a passionate believer in the future<br />
of <strong>Bristol</strong>’s docks, and I see markets<br />
as a central part of the docks’ future<br />
wellbeing,” Magnus observes. “But it’s<br />
fiendishly difficult to get things moving<br />
in <strong>Bristol</strong>. The Council’s Markets<br />
department does a perfectly good<br />
job, but is hiding behind a 650-yearold<br />
piece of legislation [the Markets<br />
Charter] that no longer has a function.<br />
“Steve Morris [<strong>Bristol</strong> City Council<br />
Market Manager] is actually a very<br />
good market manager – he looks after<br />
St Nicholas Market and its traders<br />
very well – but it’s only on a limited<br />
scale. The general view is that any new<br />
markets would compete with St Nick’s –<br />
but, in fact, other markets will only bring<br />
benefits, because you get people into<br />
the market habit, get them thinking, ‘OK, it’s<br />
cold and wet, but at the market we can get<br />
interesting, good-quality stuff.’”<br />
He also underlines Bryony’s point about<br />
markets’ crucial role in getting small businesses<br />
moving. “Everyone’s asking, ‘Where are all<br />
these jobs going to come from?’ You’d create a<br />
few hundred jobs just by getting markets going<br />
in <strong>Bristol</strong>. The current climate is bringing mass<br />
redundancies – one way people can take back<br />
control of their lives is through market trading.<br />
Overheads are cheap, you’re in direct contact<br />
with buyers: markets are the rawest and most<br />
immediate way of learning to manage your<br />
own venture. Some will fail, others succeed,<br />
“I’m a passionate<br />
believer in the future of<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong>’s docks, and I see<br />
markets as a central part<br />
of the docks’ future<br />
wellbeing. But it’s<br />
fiendishly difficult to get<br />
things moving in <strong>Bristol</strong>”<br />
Magnus Macdonald,<br />
Chairman of the Glassboat Company<br />
others will go off and think about how to do<br />
things differently – but at least you sow the seeds<br />
of people’s future independence.”<br />
Magnus has similarly ambitious plans for<br />
the parts of town (Welsh Back, King Street<br />
and Queen Square) adjoining Glassboat, as<br />
Bryony does for the stretch of harbour further<br />
west. “The pedestrianisation of King Street<br />
would be a brilliant idea. Regular events there<br />
would animate this area and give <strong>Bristol</strong> a<br />
whole extra two miles of quayside to generate<br />
visitor income. King Street is a dead end at<br />
the moment – one of the most beautiful streets<br />
in <strong>Bristol</strong>, yet one of the least used. Ten years<br />
ago it was home to various drinking clubs, but<br />
these have all died off and it’s in urgent need<br />
of a new lease of life – partly to take advantage<br />
of such a gorgeous street but also to ensure it<br />
doesn’t become derelict or intimidating.”<br />
What might be the template for a modern<br />
market in the area? “You could have a weekly<br />
CD/book market on King Street and Welsh Back.<br />
And King Street is just asking for a Christmas<br />
Market. Pedestrianise the street to create a regular<br />
market area, move the bins between Spyglass<br />
restaurant and The Apple cider bar and<br />
install a bandstand in their place, where<br />
you’d invite buskers to play. Combine that<br />
with some sensitive traffic management, and<br />
you have an inexpensive way to animate an<br />
underused gem in the heart of <strong>Bristol</strong>.”<br />
But, warns Magnus, markets aren’t<br />
plain sailing. “They need hard work to<br />
succeed. You’ve got to give people reasons<br />
to come to markets, and numbers take<br />
time to build up. If it’s cold and wet<br />
people won’t come. And if traders don’t<br />
make money they won’t come. Markets are<br />
delicate things – they need nurturing.”<br />
Back to the Charter<br />
Magnus is less than enamoured of the<br />
650-year-old Markets Charter – or, at least,<br />
of its modern application. “The Markets<br />
Charter is a wonderful historical anachronism.<br />
But in today’s shopping environment, it’s<br />
damaging rather than benefiting <strong>Bristol</strong>. It<br />
gives the Council the right to decide who has a<br />
market within six miles of the city centre – but<br />
I would argue that Tesco, Sainsbury’s and so<br />
forth are basically indoor markets. Worse, they’re<br />
not bringing any of the benefits that markets<br />
would – livelihoods, animation of an area, social<br />
interaction, using local producers and makers. It<br />
would be interesting to see what happened if the<br />
Markets Charter was put up against Tesco!”<br />
George Ferguson is yet more adamant on<br />
this point. “Why they did not think of using the<br />
Markets Charter to restrict the domination of the<br />
supermarkets is beyond me. A thriving market<br />
culture is a major attractor at a time when cities<br />
have to compete for attention, tourism and outside<br />
investment. They’re also a fundamental element<br />
in the greening of cities, in terms of reducing food<br />
miles and all sorts of wasteful energy practices.<br />
They are also extremely sociable places.”<br />
The Council was unwilling to comment in<br />
depth before the findings were made public, but<br />
Steve Morris issued this comment: “The City<br />
Council has an excellent market track record, with<br />
nationally recognised and award-winning markets.<br />
We are currently conducting an independent<br />
review of markets in the city and are also looking<br />
at the potential for developing additional,<br />
sustainable markets in <strong>Bristol</strong>.<br />
“The Council and its partners such as<br />
Destination <strong>Bristol</strong> know that sustainable<br />
and viable markets bring many benefits to<br />
residents and the wider region. This review<br />
will inform a markets policy and examine<br />
potential future opportunities for markets in<br />
the city. The review will also help to shape<br />
a robust business plan for the Council’s own<br />
market operations at St Nicholas.<br />
“The Council believes that markets will play a<br />
key role in <strong>Bristol</strong>’s future sustainable economic<br />
growth. We are aware of the huge economic,<br />
social and environmental benefits markets bring<br />
to the city, from creating small-scale, start-up<br />
opportunities for burgeoning businesses to<br />
attracting more visitors and from providing a<br />
platform to showcase locally sourced goods and<br />
services to encouraging reuse and recycling in its<br />
widest possible sense.”<br />
Last word to Bryony, back on the<br />
Harbourside. “We want the harbour to be<br />
a focal point of our city again, rather than<br />
somewhere people should feel scared to go.<br />
It’s <strong>Bristol</strong>’s USP – we are a port, a centre of<br />
commerce, and what better way to show that<br />
than by putting commerce right back onto the<br />
waterfront, where merchants have unloaded<br />
their goods from boats for centuries?” s<br />
For more on the Market Charter and a detailed analysis of the Markets Review,<br />
see www.bristol.gov.uk/retailcentres. <strong>Bristol</strong>’s first Christmas Market takes place<br />
in Broadmead West until 19 Dec, selling arts, crafts, food and drink from<br />
across the region. The German Christmas Market also returns to Broadmead<br />
East until 22 Dec. See http://tinyurl.com/39mdku4 for more info on both<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
fifteen
harbourside map & ferry guide<br />
getting<br />
around the<br />
harbourside...<br />
If you’re not familiar with the area<br />
(or even if you’re just looking for a little<br />
inspiration), our map will help you plan your<br />
trip and move around the Harbourside with<br />
ease. Use it to find where you are in relation<br />
to some of the area’s best-loved landmarks,<br />
identify which ferry stops are the most<br />
convenient for your journey and locate some<br />
of this season’s most exciting events<br />
Sightseeing<br />
City Sightseeing <strong>Bristol</strong> runs open-top bus<br />
tours of the city, from the historic harbourside<br />
up to <strong>Bristol</strong> Zoo in Clifton and beyond.<br />
Running from mid-March to the end of<br />
October, the tours last for an hour and a<br />
quarter but you can hop on and off as you<br />
please. Harbourside stops can be found at<br />
the CREATE Centre, Baltic Wharf, Brunel’s<br />
ss Great Britain, At-<strong>Bristol</strong>, Prince Street<br />
and <strong>Bristol</strong> Bridge.<br />
Brunel’s ss Great Britain – world famous<br />
Capricorn Quay<br />
l<br />
don’t miss<br />
pirate walks<br />
Swashbucklers and scallywags, ahoy! Want<br />
to know how Blackbeard met his end? Eager<br />
to learn more about Italian explorer John<br />
Cabot? Fancy taking a trip into a smuggler’s<br />
cave? Then Pirate Pete’s your man. His<br />
hour-long Pirate Walks around <strong>Bristol</strong>’s<br />
Harbourside are something of an institution,<br />
packed with historical facts and fascinating<br />
stories of pirating pursuits in the 17th and<br />
18th centuries. Suitable for pirates of all ages<br />
(including those of the canine kind), the walk<br />
is flat and wheelchair accessible.<br />
MORE piratewalks.co.uk<br />
MORE citysightseeingbristol.co.uk<br />
Mardyke l<br />
l Grain Barge<br />
Brunel’s<br />
ss Great Britain<br />
(for Spike Island)<br />
l<br />
Marina l<br />
Blue Reef – aquarium & 3D cinema<br />
l Pump House<br />
(for Suspension Bridge)<br />
l Marina<br />
cross<br />
harbour<br />
ferry<br />
Jacks Brasserie l<br />
l<br />
Nova Scotia<br />
(for Create Centre,<br />
Lockside and Tobacco<br />
Factory)<br />
l<br />
The Cottage<br />
l Olive Shed<br />
Hotwells Route<br />
Temple Meads Route<br />
At-<strong>Bristol</strong> – interactive science centre<br />
Sightseeing – see panel<br />
sixteen<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
harbourside map & ferry guide<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> Ferry Boat Co<br />
Throughout the winter their RED Hotwells service is out on the<br />
water daily – departures start at 10.30am from the city centre and<br />
Temple Meads. Their blue service is out on the water at weekends<br />
only with departures from Temple Meads starting from 10.10am.<br />
Their ferries are like a bus (a waterbus even), so use them to jump<br />
on and get to your favourite attraction, cafe, restaurant, pub, place<br />
of work or to enjoy a circular tour enjoying the great sights and<br />
sounds of the historic harbour. There’s lots to see – swans, geese, a<br />
whole array of unusual boats of varying shapes and sizes, St Mary<br />
Redcliffe’s spire, Cabot Tower, stunning views towards Ashton<br />
Court and Clifton – a vista feast in fact! See also entry on page 26.<br />
For full details and timetable visit: bristolferry.com<br />
Castle Park<br />
(for Cabot Circus, Broadmead)<br />
l<br />
Festival<br />
eat cheese<br />
Sunday 30 January, 10am-4pm, Welsh Back<br />
If you like cheese (and, let’s face it, who<br />
doesn’t?), then you’ll have made your way<br />
to Glassboat’s irresistibly moreish Eat Cheese<br />
festival last winter. (<strong>Shipshape</strong>, heavily<br />
pregnant at the time, wept through the whole<br />
thing, unable to sample many of the stinky<br />
delights on offer.) Well, they’re at it again,<br />
and this time they’ve invited along the West<br />
Country’s finest cheesemongers (including<br />
Trethowan’s, who we’ve talked to over<br />
on page 5) to show off their wares. Find<br />
demonstrations, chutneys, woodwork, livestock,<br />
games, competitions and a ‘taste off’ battle<br />
between three well-known local producers. Live<br />
music, canon-firing fun from The Matthew and<br />
an all-round party atmosphere will complete<br />
this lactose loving day.<br />
MORE glassboat.co.uk<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> Bridge<br />
(for St Nicholas<br />
Market)<br />
l<br />
The Rummer – cocktail bar and dining rooms<br />
Bordeaux Quay l<br />
Millennium Square<br />
(for At-<strong>Bristol</strong> and<br />
Blue Reef)<br />
l<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
City Centre<br />
(for Colston Hall, Cathedral,<br />
Park St and main bus routes)<br />
l<br />
l Watershed<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> Visitor<br />
Information Centre<br />
River Grille<br />
l<br />
l<br />
Shore<br />
l<br />
Architecture<br />
Centre<br />
l<br />
Arnolfini<br />
l<br />
Prince Street<br />
(for The Louisiana)<br />
l<br />
M-Shed<br />
Olive Shed – tasty tapas<br />
Bordeaux Quay – ethical eatery<br />
l<br />
Mud Dock l<br />
Thekla<br />
The Ostrich l<br />
l<br />
Welsh Back l Redcliffe Back<br />
(for Old Vic and Renato’s)<br />
l<br />
l<br />
Riverstation<br />
Glassboat l<br />
Severnshed<br />
l Bathurst Basin<br />
l<br />
Spyglass<br />
l<br />
The Apple<br />
l Myristica<br />
Source – food hall & café<br />
Myristica – award-winning<br />
Arnolfini – contemporary arts centre and café<br />
Glassboat – fine dining and spectacular views<br />
Temple Bridge l<br />
Temple Quay<br />
(for Temple Meads<br />
train station)<br />
l<br />
Look out for<br />
the spring issue<br />
of <strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
- available across<br />
the Harbourside<br />
from 7 March<br />
three
feature<br />
Shipwright Gary Grizzell<br />
invites <strong>Shipshape</strong> aboard<br />
his burgeoning waterbased<br />
business, Floss’s Fuel<br />
Delivery Service<br />
The fuel-delivery service is a spin-off, really.<br />
My main job is as a shipwright at the <strong>Bristol</strong><br />
Classic Boat Company on Redcliffe Boat<br />
Yard. It was my first job out of marine school<br />
and I was lucky enough to be part of the team<br />
that built the <strong>Bristol</strong> Channel Pilot Cutter for<br />
the Island Trust. Daytime work is building,<br />
repairing and maintaining boats that people<br />
bring in – we’ve got nine boats in for repair at<br />
the moment and have just taken delivery of a<br />
big yacht for a refit for winter. We do all the<br />
maintenance for <strong>Bristol</strong> Ferry Boat Company<br />
too. I do my wood and coal delivery at the<br />
evenings and weekends.<br />
The idea for the Floss’s Fuel Delivery<br />
Service came about after a conversation I had<br />
with Mark [Rolt, director of <strong>Bristol</strong> Classic<br />
Boat Company] about selling the spare wood<br />
produced on the yard as fuel. We produce a<br />
lot of wood waste on the yard so I thought it<br />
would be a good idea to chop it into logs and sell<br />
it on. I did a census around the docks and got<br />
pretty positive responses – before I knew it I was<br />
buying coal wholesale. I also do waste collection,<br />
picking up old batteries and used oil.<br />
I’d had my eye on Floss for quite a few<br />
years, when I was living down in Cornwall.<br />
I begged the owner to sell her to me but he<br />
refused. I got her in the end though. I didn’t<br />
buy the boat with fuel in mind – I just bought<br />
it because I really wanted it. I absolutely<br />
haemorrhaged cash doing it up and then had<br />
to come up with a way of paying the bills.<br />
I started delivering in December 2009<br />
after a bit of delay in getting Floss ready. But<br />
this year we’ve hit the ground running. I’ve<br />
got the boat here, the coal here, last year’s<br />
customer base to work off. Were thinking of<br />
offering a general recycling service too but<br />
there are quite a few hoops to jump through.<br />
We’d need a bigger boat too.<br />
I reckon I’m up to about 100 customers now.<br />
And I’m starting to get random calls about<br />
collecting waste oils and batteries. There have<br />
also been enquiries from Saltford and Hanham<br />
too, so that’s something I’m looking into. The<br />
business has developed into a nice thing but<br />
it’s all down to Mark’s generosity and patience.<br />
I operate out of the yard and can store<br />
everything there so it’s really down to him.<br />
If I do have any spare time, I don’t go very<br />
far from the habour – there’s everything you<br />
need down here: the Old Duke, Grain Barge,<br />
eighteen<br />
Shakespeare Tavern, Nova Scotia – nice<br />
pubs, good food, great music venues and a<br />
good community spirit.<br />
The redevelopment of some of the dockside<br />
is a benefit to the city. I’m a big fan of<br />
interesting architecture and new design but I<br />
don’t see a lot of that going on. I think the city<br />
should be doing more to encourage boats in,<br />
making it a more interesting and inviting place<br />
for big commercial yachts. We’ve got bags of<br />
space, after all. A lot of the boats that are fitted<br />
out in France and Spain should be coming<br />
here – we’ve got the skills and infrastructure<br />
but they’re enticed away. The facilities abroad<br />
are taken care of and looked after and I think<br />
the Council has taken its eye off the ball a<br />
little bit here. If you’ve got big privately owned<br />
yachts coming in, it brings the money in.<br />
I’ve lived and worked on the Harbourside<br />
for about 12 years. I live on boats, work on<br />
them and deliver door-to-door so you could<br />
say that I live and breathe boats, really. The<br />
people who I’ve been nodding<br />
and saying ‘all right’ to I’m now<br />
having conversations with. It’s<br />
definitely a very friendly place to<br />
be – everyone living the same way,<br />
slap-bang in the middle of the city<br />
centre, not that you’d know it. It’s<br />
a different way to live. Not freezing<br />
cold in the winter, like everyone<br />
thinks. Once you get the woodburner<br />
going it’s lovely and cosy.<br />
More: bristolclassicboat.co.uk,<br />
07530 173989<br />
s<br />
Coa<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
feature<br />
“I think the city<br />
should be doing<br />
boats in, making it a<br />
more interesting and<br />
inviting place”<br />
more to encourage<br />
l porter<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
nineteen
Cosima von Bonin, detail of ENGLAND (SLOTH BEARDSLEY VERSION & MVO’S COSIMOS<br />
SONGS), 2007 / <strong>2010</strong> Courtesy the artist, Galerie Daniel Buchholz (Cologne) and Friedrich<br />
Petzel (New York) Installation photo Witte de With 2009: Bob Goedewaagen<br />
Bookshop<br />
Café bar<br />
Dance<br />
Events<br />
Exhibitions<br />
Film<br />
Music<br />
Performance<br />
Free admission to exhibition spaces<br />
open from 11am Tue – Sun<br />
café bar open daily from 10am<br />
16 NARROW QUAY, BRISTOL BS1 4QA<br />
WWW.ARNOLFINI.ORG.UK<br />
twenty<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
interview<br />
feature<br />
I ❤ Harbourside<br />
This issue, <strong>Shipshape</strong> caught up with <strong>Bristol</strong><br />
Ferry Boat Company skipper and educational tour<br />
operator Rosie Dee to talk seagulls, the M Shed and<br />
what she’d miss if she got a “proper job”<br />
Why did you decide to get a job<br />
working on the ferries?<br />
Having finished my MA I was desperate to<br />
escape the silence of lonely rooms and the<br />
artificial air of a centrally heated building:<br />
I needed the outdoors. My best friends had<br />
worked the boats for years and, as it was familiar<br />
territory for me, having lived with my mum on<br />
a barge, it seemed an ideal way of scraping a<br />
living. It was just supposed to be a stopgap before<br />
getting a ‘proper job’ but I fell in love with it.<br />
Then I got my ticket, started learning all about<br />
the history of the harbour, met my partner Steve<br />
(who’s also a ferry skipper), made loads of great<br />
friends and that was it – I was totally hooked.<br />
What’s the best part of your job?<br />
Interacting with the passengers, helping them<br />
out, witnessing their pleasure, sharing our<br />
passion. And we get everyone on the ferries, of<br />
all ages and from all walks of life, from tourists<br />
to commuters – it’s a mini microcosm of society.<br />
The commuters are my favourites – there’s<br />
a sense of camaraderie between us because<br />
we’re all at work; we see them first thing in the<br />
morning and last thing at night so they become<br />
almost like friends. And we love the couples<br />
from the Caravan Club up at Baltic Wharf<br />
– you get to know them over the week and<br />
hear what they’ve been up to and what<br />
they’ve discovered and then they’ll recognise<br />
you when they return the year after! The<br />
hardest part? <strong>Winter</strong> and the long hours<br />
being cold and damp – wet ropes are never<br />
a joy, particularly first thing in the morning.<br />
What’s your favourite spot around<br />
the Harbourside?<br />
The ferries, without a doubt – no single spot<br />
can beat perambulation. Out there you’re<br />
in the centre of it all; you get to shelter from<br />
the rain under the bridges or chase the sun<br />
as it goes down, and watch all the little events<br />
unfold around the harbour while listening<br />
to the splash of the bow waves (if you’re lucky<br />
enough not to be stuck by a noisy engine).<br />
Do you go out on the Harbourside much?<br />
Most of the ferry crew spend their spare time<br />
around the harbour; quite a few are sailors and<br />
live on boats or help on the Matthew and the<br />
other tall ships that enter the docks, so it’s our<br />
stomping ground in or out of work. For me it’s<br />
the Grain Barge: I like that it was built just across<br />
the way from its present mooring at Charles<br />
Hill’s yard in 1936. It’s one of those little signs of<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong>’s trading history you can find all around<br />
the harbour, plus the food is exceptional and<br />
affordable, there’s always a crossword in one<br />
of the newspapers to do, and it’s just a really<br />
comfortable place to sit and watch the water. ➳<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
twenty-one
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Creatively.<br />
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Maybe the secret is little more than the<br />
years of experience or maybe it’s an<br />
obsession with getting things right.<br />
Event Organisers of the Year<br />
2006/2007/2009<br />
Richmond Event Management Ltd 59 Prince Street <strong>Bristol</strong> BS1 4QH<br />
Tel 0117 9276614 Fax 0117 9221497 Email info@rem-events.com<br />
www.rem-events.com<br />
clifton<br />
kitchen<br />
Modern British food<br />
Traditional Sunday roasts<br />
Relaxed and sociable dining<br />
Stylish and comfortable interior<br />
112 Princess Victoria Street Clifton BS8 4DB Tel. (0117) 9467870<br />
www.cliftonkitchen.com<br />
twenty-two<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
interview<br />
Rosie and owner Jane<br />
Salvidge (right) aboard<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> Ferry Boat HQ<br />
What one thing could significantly<br />
improve life around the Harbourside?<br />
I can’t think of one big thing really – it’s hard<br />
to complain about such a great environment.<br />
I suppose I’ve always thought that St<br />
Augustine’s Reach should be reopened and<br />
extended to its original length, but I know<br />
that’s never going to happen. Otherwise I<br />
think they need to throw a bit more money<br />
at rubbish clearance on the water. They’ve<br />
got a cool little boat that comes and clears<br />
flotsam away that’s floated down from upriver<br />
or that’s gathered after big events – they need<br />
to clone it. Oh, and fewer seagulls wouldn’t<br />
go amiss either, or at least a better class of<br />
seagull that ate fresh mackerel rather than<br />
people’s burgers and so didn’t suffer ADHD<br />
and anger management issues as a result.<br />
“I think they need to throw a bit more<br />
money at rubbish clearance on the water.<br />
They’ve got a cool little boat that comes<br />
and clears flotsam away that’s floated down<br />
from upriver or that’s gathered after big<br />
events – they need to clone it”<br />
Are Harbourside workers a closeknit<br />
bunch?<br />
Yes, I’d say so. Everyone knows everyone out here<br />
and if you don’t get a chance to meet during the<br />
working day the likelihood is you’ll see them in<br />
the pub in the evening. There are of course some<br />
‘office politics’ with lots of businesses sharing<br />
the same territory, but on the whole it’s a great<br />
dynamic and we all try to help each other out.<br />
How do you feel about the new-build<br />
flats around the area?<br />
It’s hard to be polite about some of the most<br />
recent additions. I fear that in some instances the<br />
Harbourside authorities may have fallen victim<br />
to the plague of short-termism and mercenary<br />
ends. I believe that, on the site of the present<br />
Crest Nicholson flats, there was a plan for a<br />
sort of Little Venice with extended waterways<br />
reaching in among low-level housing. I think<br />
in the long-term it would have been a far<br />
more profitable venture, not only providing<br />
good quality housing in a stunning setting but<br />
also bringing more tourism to <strong>Bristol</strong>.<br />
What about the M Shed?<br />
I know there’s been a lot of controversy over<br />
the amount of money they’ve spent on this<br />
project but I give it my full backing. It will be<br />
a great new attraction for the Harbourside,<br />
bringing more people down to the water who<br />
mightn’t otherwise have come, and because<br />
it’s free anyone and everyone will be able to come<br />
and learn more about <strong>Bristol</strong>’s fascinating history.<br />
I’m particularly excited by the focus<br />
on people’s stories they’ve taken on<br />
this new museum – I can’t wait!<br />
Why do you love the Harbourside so much?<br />
Wow, what a question – loads of things. The<br />
sky! There’s so much sky around here, above<br />
you and below you reflected in the water, so<br />
despite being in the middle of the city you<br />
never feel enclosed. I also love the way it<br />
changes over time, through the ebb<br />
and flow of the day and the seasons<br />
of the year. The light and immense<br />
peace first thing in the morning when<br />
the water’s like glass is unbeatable,<br />
even the way the raindrops hit the<br />
surface of the water in heavy storms<br />
is something I’d miss if I got a proper<br />
job. When you work indoors you lose<br />
contact with all this stuff but out here<br />
you can’t miss it, you’re part of it. s<br />
twenty-three
lido<br />
restaurant, spa & pool<br />
Pre-wedding<br />
pampering<br />
An alternative to the traditional<br />
hen party, the Lido’s Pre-Wedding<br />
Pampering Package is the perfect<br />
indulgence before the big day<br />
For full details and special offers visit<br />
www.lidobristol.com<br />
Oakfield Place, Clifton, <strong>Bristol</strong> BS8 2BJ<br />
Reception 0117 933 9530 Restaurant 0117 933 9533<br />
www.lidobristol.com<br />
twenty-four<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
feature<br />
feature<br />
Far left: At-<strong>Bristol</strong>’s<br />
cavernous Flight Zone.<br />
This pic: Morph proves<br />
a crowd pleaser<br />
Miniature<br />
marvels<br />
Jason Ewing took his son to At-<strong>Bristol</strong>’s Toddler<br />
Takeover… but, he asks, is it better than chucking him in<br />
the Learn and Groove and putting the football on?<br />
Any new parent has the same set of anxieties: your<br />
baby’s health, sleeping through, eating like a horse<br />
and so on… and just as important is making sure<br />
that you’re doing enough so they don’t get bored.<br />
So At-<strong>Bristol</strong>’s latest innovation – the Toddler<br />
Takeover day – was welcomed with open arms in<br />
our household, even if our little fella wasn’t quite<br />
old enough to partake in all that was on offer.<br />
Spread over two floors, there are enough knobs<br />
to twiddle, water to splash and shiny bits to whack<br />
to ensure even the most demanding tyke puts<br />
down his Nintendo DS for a couple of hours. We<br />
arrived (late – nappy logistics) at around noon<br />
and things were already in full swing with the<br />
buggy parking areas full-to-bursting and each<br />
of the exhibitions well thumbed, gummed and<br />
drooled over. We ventured into the aircraft<br />
hangar-like main exhibition area, where Dexter<br />
bared his teeth (two, bottom row, just visible)<br />
to an over-zealous mum<br />
hogging the ‘build a body<br />
with plastic bits’ installation.<br />
Mission accomplished – she<br />
took the hint and threw<br />
in the towel – we took in<br />
a whistle-stop tour of the<br />
Archimedes’ screw (splash,<br />
smile), model lock gates<br />
(wide-eyed wonder) and<br />
some shiny things to hit with<br />
a hammer (the undisputed champion).<br />
Out in the Flight Zone, Dexter was happy<br />
to roll around with stuffed dinosaurs and perch<br />
triumphantly on the full-size aeroplane wheel<br />
while the older children launched flying objects,<br />
burned off some calories (and shifted buckets of<br />
Hands-on fun<br />
for the family.<br />
The next Toddler Takeover<br />
days take place on 14<br />
January (with a theme of<br />
Crazy Creatures), 25 March<br />
(Super Senses) and 6 May<br />
(Wonderful Weather). They run<br />
from 10am-4pm. Admission<br />
(including Gift Aid) is £6.90<br />
for adults and £5.90 for 3-<br />
to 4-year-olds. Members and<br />
under-3s go free.<br />
water) in the huge treadmill and<br />
mucked about in the sandpit.<br />
The afternoon brought more<br />
fun for tiny scientists as they<br />
learnt how to paint butterflies,<br />
helped birds catch bugs, made<br />
giant rainbows and sifted through<br />
autumn leaves. While most of this may have<br />
been lost on Dexter (who was content watching<br />
Morph doing cartwheels in the praxinoscope),<br />
we saw plenty of families settling in for the day,<br />
safe in the knowledge that tears and tantrums<br />
were off the menu… for now.<br />
At-<strong>Bristol</strong> prides itself on its hand-on<br />
approach to learning, and while Dexter<br />
might not have been quite up to some of the<br />
lessons on offer, we know there are plenty<br />
of educational (and fun) afternoons out just<br />
waiting for us in this cavernous kids’ paradise.<br />
And even if we weren’t oblivious to Dexter<br />
filling his undergarments after only 10 minutes of<br />
arriving, as another brightly coloured plastic body<br />
part was thrown around the room, he was.<br />
s<br />
More: at-bristol.org.uk<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
twenty-five
shipshape directory<br />
Arnolfini<br />
Arnolfini Contemporary Arts Centre<br />
16 Narrow Quay, <strong>Bristol</strong> BS1 4QA<br />
Tel: 0117 917 2300/01<br />
www.arnolfini.org.uk<br />
Opening times: Exhibition Spaces: Tue - Sun<br />
11am - 6pm & Bank Holidays; Bookshop: Tue<br />
11am - 6pm, Wed - Sat 11am - 8pm, Sun<br />
11am - 7pm; Café Bar: Daily from 10am<br />
Based at the heart of <strong>Bristol</strong>’s harbourside, in a<br />
fantastic waterside location, Arnolfini is one of<br />
Europe’s leading centres for the contemporary<br />
arts. Arnolfini features a regularly changing<br />
programme, presenting visual art, live art and<br />
performance, dance, music, cinema, poetry and<br />
literature events and a busy education programme<br />
of tours and talks. Arnolfini boasts one of the best<br />
arts bookshops in the country and a stylish, lively<br />
café bar featuring an Italian inspired and<br />
children’s menu. Free admission to the building,<br />
exhibitions and café bar.<br />
At-<strong>Bristol</strong><br />
Anchor Road, Harbourside, BS1 5DB<br />
0845 345 1235, at-bristol.org.uk<br />
Opening hours: weekends and holidays<br />
10am-6pm; weekdays during term-time<br />
10am-5pm. Open every day except 24-26<br />
December<br />
There is so much to discover in At-<strong>Bristol</strong> - one of<br />
the Country’s biggest and most exciting interactive<br />
science centres! With over 300 hands-on exhibits<br />
(from becoming an animator for the day to walking<br />
through a tornado), live science shows and a<br />
Planetarium, where you can take a trip to the stars<br />
and learn how to spot beautiful constellations!<br />
At-<strong>Bristol</strong> also has a unique venue hire space with<br />
terraces overlooking the iconic Millennium Square<br />
and <strong>Bristol</strong> Cathedral. 2011 sees Wallace & Gromit<br />
Inventor weekends, Toddler Takeover days and much<br />
more! Check the website for more information.<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> Ferry<br />
Boat Company<br />
For full details visit: bristolferry.com<br />
For a map of the service – complete with<br />
ferry stops – and more information,<br />
turn to pages 16 & 17.<br />
Services travel between Temple Meads and the city<br />
centre (calling at Cabot Circus) as well Hotwells and the<br />
city centre on our distinctive yellow and blue boats. Their<br />
most famous Public Trip for the winter is ‘Sail with Santa’,<br />
voted one of the top ten best venues to see Santa in the<br />
Guardian (2009). Christmas themed cruises provide a<br />
fun alternative for that office or group of friends, festive<br />
do and are all on covered heated boats. Private charters<br />
are very popular with birthdays and booze cruises<br />
proving top of the list. Quote ‘<strong>Shipshape</strong> <strong>Winter</strong>’ and<br />
receive a 10% discount off any of our 3 hour charters<br />
(excluding food- and drink-inclusive packages).<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> Tourist<br />
Information<br />
Centre<br />
E Shed, 1 Canons Road, BS1 5TX<br />
0333 321 0101 (calls charged at national<br />
rate), ticharbourside@destinationbristol.co.uk<br />
Opening hours: open daily all year round<br />
(except Christmas day and Boxing day).<br />
10am-6pm (April-September), 10am-5pm<br />
(October–March)<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong>’s Tourist information Centre is located in E-Shed,<br />
next to the Watershed Media Centre. Services include<br />
accommodation bookings, ticket sales for events and<br />
attractions, and general advice and assistance on<br />
how to make the most of visiting, living in or travelling<br />
around <strong>Bristol</strong>. Find a range of gifts, souvenirs, books,<br />
maps and travel guides, and work by local artists.<br />
You can get up-to-the-minute travel information from<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong> City Council’s transport team and a wide range<br />
of travel leaflets and timetables are also available.<br />
A unique drop-in information point has also been<br />
created by the University of the West of England.<br />
twenty-six<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
shipshape directory<br />
Brunel’s Buttery<br />
Wapping Wharf, BS1 6DS<br />
0117 929 1696<br />
Opening hours: Monday-Friday 8am-4pm;<br />
Saturday-Sunday 8am-5pm<br />
Situated on the water’s edge between the ss<br />
Great Britain and the new Museum of <strong>Bristol</strong>,<br />
Brunel’s Buttery is something of a <strong>Bristol</strong><br />
institution, serving up cheap, cheerful and<br />
very tasty lunches and stomach-filling snacks<br />
to the ravenous hordes. They’re famed for<br />
their chunky bacon sandwiches but you can<br />
customise your buttie by adding sausage, egg,<br />
cheese or mushrooms (or all of the above,<br />
if you’re particularly peckish). There’s also a<br />
selection of cakes and hot drinks for after. Take<br />
your food away or eat on the tables outside.<br />
Brunel’s ss<br />
Great Britain<br />
Great Western Dockyard, BS1 6TY<br />
0117 926 0680, ssgreatbritain.org<br />
Opening hours: from 10am<br />
Closing: 5.30pm (27 March-31 Oct);<br />
4.30pm (from 1 November)<br />
Last ticket sales: one hour before closing<br />
Open every day except 24 and 25 December,<br />
and 10 January<br />
Descend under the glass ‘sea’ and step back in time<br />
in the Dockyard Museum! See, hear, touch and even<br />
smell what life was like for Victorian passengers and<br />
crew on board Brunel’s ss Great Britain. There’s plenty<br />
to do to keep everyone entertained at this multi awardwinning<br />
and fully accessible visitor attraction. Join the<br />
40th anniversary celebrations of the ss Great Britain’s<br />
epic salvage from the Falkland Islands and return to<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong>. Events range from ‘The Incredible Journey’<br />
exhibition and family trail to Ratcatcher’s Halloween<br />
and Victorian Christmas. Tickets provide free return<br />
visits for a year. To find out more, visit ssgreatbritain.org<br />
Pic: David Noton<br />
Colston Hall<br />
Colston Street, BS1 5AR<br />
0117 922 3686, colstonhall.org<br />
Opening hours: Box Office: Mon–Sat 10am-<br />
6pm; H Bar café: Mon-Fri 8am-11pm, Sat<br />
9am-10pm, Sun 10am-9pm; H Bar Bistro:<br />
Daily 11.30am-3pm and 5-11pm<br />
Colston Hall is <strong>Bristol</strong>’s premier live music venue<br />
hosting a varied and regular programme of rock<br />
and pop, classical, leftfield and comedy events.<br />
In the past year Snow Patrol, London Symphony<br />
Orchestra and Grace Jones have all played at the<br />
Hall. In 2009, Colston Hall’s new foyer building<br />
was opened to the public. Built with £20 million<br />
from <strong>Bristol</strong> City Council and the Arts Council, the<br />
new foyer has improved the customer experience<br />
of visiting the Hall with audiences now able to<br />
enjoy their new café bar, restaurant and interval<br />
bars in light and spacious surroundings.<br />
City<br />
Sightseeing<br />
Information Hotline 09067 112191<br />
Hop on one of our bright red City Sightseeing<br />
buses with our 24 hour ticket (or 3-Day ticket) and<br />
let us show you the sights of this fascinating city,<br />
which is full of vitality and variety. Operating daily<br />
every 30, 45 or 90 minutes our guides will regale<br />
you with stories from pirates & princes to paupers,<br />
show you great churches, cathedrals and museums<br />
and our exciting harbourside, the jewel of which is<br />
Brunel’s ss Great Britain. A popular stop over is<br />
the gleamy gold Colston Hall entrance building,<br />
with it’s mix of eating and performance places,<br />
it’s certainly the ‘place to be’.<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
twenty-seven
shipshape directory<br />
Glassboat<br />
Welsh Back, BS1 4SB<br />
0117 929 0704, glassboat.co.uk<br />
january sale<br />
Two persons, Two courses each,<br />
One bottle of House Wine,<br />
Tea/Coffee only £30!<br />
Valid from 13th Jan-10th Feb from<br />
5.30pm-7pm on our early evening menu.<br />
Opening hours: lunch: Tues-Fri<br />
12-2.30pm; dinner: Mon-Sat<br />
5.30-10.30pm; Sunday brunch: 10am-4pm<br />
Well-established and much-loved floating<br />
restaurant that’s been serving <strong>Bristol</strong>’s food<br />
fanatics for nearly 25 years and now<br />
boasting an entirely glass aft section.<br />
Beautiful views of <strong>Bristol</strong> Bridge and beyond,<br />
knowledgeable staff, an extensive wine list<br />
and a locally sourced, seasonal menu can<br />
all be found here. The lower deck can also<br />
be hired out for breakfast, lunch, dinner and<br />
half- or full-day events for up to 40. Take<br />
advantage of their Express Lunch menu: two<br />
courses for £10 (Tuesday to Saturday).<br />
offer<br />
dine for<br />
less in our<br />
january<br />
sale<br />
The Harbourside<br />
1 Canons Rd, BS1 5TX<br />
0117 929 1100<br />
The Harbourside is a contemporary new addition<br />
to the wonderful waterside environment. Customers<br />
can relax in the comfortable surroundings and<br />
listen to classical music while enjoying a locallysourced<br />
meal and a glass of wine. Boasting a<br />
prime location on <strong>Bristol</strong>’s city-centre waterfront, the<br />
bistro offers a contemporary menu using the freshest<br />
ingredients as well as an oyster bar – unique to<br />
the area. The riverside lounge is open daily from<br />
9am for great quality coffee, specialist sandwiches<br />
and much more. The Harbourside also has a shop<br />
selling teas, herbs and remedies.<br />
Lido Restaurant,<br />
Spa & Pool<br />
Oakfield Place, BS8 2BJ<br />
0117 933 9530, lidobristol.com<br />
Opening hours: restaurant: 12-3pm and 6.30-<br />
10pm; spa: 7am-10pm; poolside bar: all day<br />
A 21st century spa, restaurant and alfresco<br />
pool housed in beautifully renovated 19th<br />
century surroundings. The Lido originally<br />
opened its doors in 1850 and remained in<br />
business for over 100 years before falling into<br />
disrepair in 1990. The Glassboat Company<br />
saved the building from developers (who<br />
wanted to turn the site into flats) and restored<br />
the buildings to their former glory, reopening in<br />
November 2008. Find a heated, low-chlorine<br />
infinity pool, sauna and steam room, restaurant<br />
and poolside bar, and luxurious spa.<br />
The Matthew<br />
When in <strong>Bristol</strong> check website for mooring location<br />
0117 927 6868, matthew.co.uk<br />
A magnificent replica of a Tudor merchant<br />
ship that recreated the Atlantic crossing by<br />
explorer John Cabot. He was searching for a<br />
sailing route to Asia but ended up “discovering”<br />
Newfoundland. Get the best views of <strong>Bristol</strong><br />
harbour from the deck on one of their regular<br />
public cruises – fish and chip suppers on board<br />
are extremely popular – or you can venture<br />
down the scenic Avon Gorge under the Clifton<br />
Suspension Bridge. There are also offshore sailing<br />
opportunities and the ship is available for private<br />
hire – check website for sailing programme.<br />
twenty-eight<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
shipshape directory<br />
Myristica<br />
51 Welsh Back, BS1 4AN<br />
0117 927 2277, myristica.co.uk<br />
now available<br />
Tiffin boxes of Indian food to takeaway –<br />
£4.95 per box<br />
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 12-2pm (lunch),<br />
Mon-Sat 5.30-11.30pm (dinner), Sunday<br />
5.30-10.30pm (dinner, last orders at 10pm)<br />
Having recently taken up residence on <strong>Bristol</strong>’s<br />
Welsh Back, Myristica joins a host of wellknown<br />
establishments delivering a five-star food<br />
experience along <strong>Bristol</strong>’s waterfront. You’ll find<br />
a delicious range of authentic, delicious regional<br />
Indian food served up by chefs from some of<br />
India’s top hotels. Specialities include pista<br />
murgh (chicken breast cooked in a mild cream<br />
sauce with ground pistachios and saffron) and<br />
prawn chettinad with Kerala paratha (black tiger<br />
prawns cooked with a roasted blend of fennel,<br />
peppercorns and curry leaves).<br />
tiffin<br />
boxes to<br />
takeaway<br />
available<br />
now<br />
the rummer<br />
All Saints Lane, Old City, BS1 1JH<br />
Email: info@therummer.co.uk<br />
General Enquiries: 0117 9290111<br />
Bookings: 0117 9294243<br />
One of <strong>Bristol</strong>’s favourite cocktail bars and dining<br />
rooms, The Rummer Hotel is a sophisticated venue<br />
serving a discerning clientele. An independent<br />
bar and restaurant with a passion for quality, the<br />
kitchen produces some of the best food to be found<br />
in <strong>Bristol</strong>, and the bar holds over 300 premium<br />
spirits from around the globe – the largest collection<br />
in the region. Boasting a classic, stylish interior,<br />
the Rummer provides a wonderful ambience and<br />
an intimate drinking venue. Open every day, with<br />
Head Chef Greg McHugh serving modern British<br />
food on his lunch and evening menus.<br />
Spyglass<br />
Welsh Back, BS1 4SB<br />
0117 927 7050, spyglassbristol.co.uk<br />
Spyglass has a non reservation policy for groups<br />
of less than 8. To book a table for a group of 8 or<br />
more please contact spyglassmgr@glassboat.co.uk<br />
or 0117 9277050<br />
Spyglass closes for it’s <strong>Winter</strong> Break on 23<br />
December and reopens in the Spring on 10 March<br />
Opening hours: daily 11am-11pm<br />
Spyglass is <strong>Bristol</strong>’s only Seasonal restaurant. Set on a<br />
contemporary 170-seater converted barge on <strong>Bristol</strong>’s<br />
Harbourside it is probably the busiest restaurant in<br />
the city during the summer months. In the <strong>Winter</strong> the<br />
powerful heaters come on and the menu reflects the<br />
change of season with plenty of winter warmers such<br />
as Hungarian goulash and Spanish chicken & chorizo<br />
casserole alongside Spyglass classics like lamb kebabs<br />
with harissa and cous cous and whole sea bass with<br />
lime chilli and coriander. Spyglass is currently taking<br />
bookings for Christmas Parties – starting at £15 for the<br />
set-menu (meze, main course & dessert).<br />
Watershed<br />
1 Canons Road, BS1 5TX<br />
0117 927 5100, info@watershed.co.uk,<br />
watershed.co.uk, dshed.net<br />
Cafe/bar opening hours: Mon<br />
10.30am-11pm, Tues-Thurs<br />
9.30am-11pm, Sat 10am-midnight, Sun<br />
10am-10.30pm<br />
Watershed is the perfect social space on<br />
<strong>Bristol</strong>’s historic Harbourside, showing the best<br />
independent films from across the world. With<br />
three cinemas to choose from and a welcoming,<br />
relaxed café/bar enjoying unique waterside<br />
views, it’s the ideal place to meet friends, enjoy a<br />
meal and watch a film. Come and try their Plot to<br />
Plate organic menu showcasing the tastes of the<br />
South West, or tempt yourself to a drink before or<br />
after a film. For detailed film and events listings,<br />
visit watershed.co.uk or head to dshed.net for an<br />
online gallery and creative content.<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong><br />
twenty-nine
and finally...<br />
1The Finzels Reach<br />
development covers<br />
an area of over<br />
1,000,000 square<br />
feet and is located on<br />
the former Courage<br />
brewery site<br />
2Courage brewery<br />
closed in 1999,<br />
prompting an<br />
10 things<br />
8,000-name<br />
petition from members<br />
of the Campaign for<br />
Real Ale (Camra)<br />
3Before Courage<br />
took over the site ... you never knew about the<br />
in 1961, George’s Harbourside’s latest multi-millionpound<br />
development, Finzels Reach6Archaeologists 4As reported in <strong>Shipshape</strong>, 5The site is named after<br />
from Oxford<br />
had been brewing<br />
there since 1788<br />
the development<br />
Conrad Finzel, the<br />
Archaeology, CgMs and <strong>Bristol</strong><br />
includes a state of the<br />
German-born owner<br />
City Council have discovered a<br />
art pedestrian and<br />
of the Counterslip<br />
13th-century wood-lined well,<br />
cyclist bridge – Mobius Bridge Sugar Refinery that was based a crossbow trigger and a 12th-century<br />
(left) – which will link Finzels on part of the site. The refinery string instrument called a rebec<br />
Reach with Castle Park. The was said to be the largest in on the site. The excavation was<br />
bridge is expected to be finished the country and, at its peak, the largest archaeological dig ever<br />
by December 2012<br />
employed over 700 men undertaken in the city centre<br />
7 It will cost over £250m to complete<br />
8<br />
The Generator<br />
Reach donated 500 mugs to St Peter’s<br />
building, a historically<br />
Hospice to be sold for £1 in stores across the city<br />
protected part of the<br />
– following in the footsteps of ‘The Good Conrad<br />
site, powered <strong>Bristol</strong>’s<br />
Finzel’, who reportedly gave at least £10,000 every<br />
trams until the 1920s 10Finzels<br />
year to Muller’s Orphanage in <strong>Bristol</strong><br />
9The scheme<br />
includes 92<br />
affordable<br />
housing units<br />
thirty<br />
<strong>Shipshape</strong>
CITY CENTRE<br />
LIVING FROM<br />
£127,500 *<br />
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FROM £127,500 WITH EASY START*<br />
GREAT WESTERN DOCKYARD<br />
Gas Ferry Road, <strong>Bristol</strong> BS6 6TY<br />
Sales & Marketing Suite and Show Home<br />
open daily 10am to 5pm<br />
Call 0845 676 0127 or<br />
visit lindenhomes.co.uk<br />
* On selected homes only, subject to scheme rules. Price correct at time of going to press.