ca news autumn 2013

7/27/2019 CA News Autumn 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ca-news-autumn-2013 1/8

1 H O

T W E L

L S & C L

I F T O N

W O O D

N E

W S

A

u t u m n 2 0 1 3

P u b l i s h e d b y H o t w e l l s & C l i f t o n w o o d C o m m

u n i t y A s s o c i a t i o n , 3 , C h a r l e s P l a c

e , H o t w e l l s , B r i s t o l , B S 8 4 Q W

w w w . h o t w e l l s c l i f t o n w o o d . o r g . u k

h&ccaHOTWELLS & CLIFTONWOODCOMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

Hotwells summer showsits sunny side

Blaise Nursery plant sale in June is always a

good place to stock up with materials to re-fresh the displays on Cumberland Piazza. Thisyear the lack of rain was a real problem be-cause all water has to be carried on to the site.Anyone like to design a solution for harvesting rainwater and storing it

in time for next year?

Green Days Out launch on Cumber-land Piazza in July sent our project to pro-

mote local walking and cycling routes off to a flying start. Here Matti Hemmingsdemonstrates the finer points of profes-sional bmx riding. By the way –thoseumbrellas are not to keep the rain off. Itwas actually too hot!

Cliftonwood Open Air Cinema organisers shrewdly expoited this sum-mer’s ’gromitmania’ with a sell-outshowing of Aardman’s The Curse of the

Were Rabbit. This annual communityevent in September is always a joy toexperience but only just escaped rain.

Giant fairy attacks Hotwells.

The balloon fiesta came a bit too close to home in

August, nearly bringing traffic to a halt in HotwellRoad while the ’special shapes’ launch passed low

overhead. The Fiesta only missed one launchduring a weekend of almost perfect weather .

Cliftonwood town green has beenawarded a Gold Medal for Community par-ticipation and a Silver-Gilt medal for 'Your

Street' in Bristol in Bloom's garden com-petition. There have been two very

popular (and rain free) barbecues thissummer. The next will be held on Hal-

loween at 6:00 PM. It will soon be time forthe Autumn planting; look out for details of the working party.(thanks to Chris Ford for info. & picture)



2

Boost for shopping inHotwellsThe precarious state of retail businesson Hotwell Road is at last showing signsof improvement with a new shop open-

ing and another at the planning stage.Hotwells Fabrics is a new face on theHotwells retail scene. The shop looksready to open its doors, though at timeof writing a sign in the window says:“Opening Soon: but please feel free tocome in and browse (just excuse thepickle).” The shop sells fabric for up-holstering, as well as offering made-to-

measure services for curtains, covers,blinds and other soft furnishings.Hotwells Deli. A licensing applicationhas surfaced for a new conveniencestore and deli at 257 Hotwell Road,next door to Hotwells Fabrics. Thebuilding has been empty for many yearsbefore which it was a pharmacy. Theapplication relates to the sale of alcoholbetween 08:00 and 23:00 seven days aweek and, although the area welcomes

new retail business, this aspect of theoperation has raised concerns amongsome local residents. The deadline forobjections to the application was Sep-tember 2nd.

Jayne Marshall

Hotwell(s) name challengeCurrently languishing at the bottom of the league table for online petitions toBristol City Council is the following:“We, the undersigned, feel that the nameof Hotwell road should be officially changed to Hotwells Road, in line withwhat most people call it”

This proposal has gathered a grand to-tal of 2 votes as we go to press.It seems likely that Hotwell Road wasso named because until the 1860s it led

to the ‘Hot Well ‘ –with its pump room sited next to the Colonnade on what isnow the Portway. In fact the problemis, how did the Hotwell become Hot-wells. Should we not be petitioning forour district to be renamed Hotwell inline with the name of the principal thor-oughfare? -discuss.

Ray Smith

Join the Piazza Skate park

campaignSome skate enthusiasts (or parents of!)have come together to move forwardthe planning and fundraising for theWheels Park as part of the HotwellsPiazza. The ultimate aim is to create awheels park section in the Piazza as perthe plans - catering for older kids whohave grown out of the play park butwho still need a local play area. Cur-rently there is nothing for this agegroup in the Hotwells / Cliftonwoodarea. This is in very early stages, and if anyone is interested in getting involvedplease get in touch. A Facebook pagehas been initiated to show interest soplease search for Hotwells Skate Park and 'like' and 'share' the page. The Pi-azza is an ideal space for some sort of wheels park and with a bit of work we're sure the community can cometogether to make this happen!

Rachel Drummond-Hay

to contact the skate park campaign group youcan email [email protected] phone 9291883 and leave a message

Community Newsh&ccaHOTWELLS & CLIFTONWOODCOMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

O117 9291883

Hotwells & CliftonwoodCommunity Associationc/o Southernhay House,Southernhay, Bristol BS8

4TL tel: 0117 9291883

[email protected] www.hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk

Management CommitteeDennis Gornall (Chair)Brenda McLennan (Treasurer)Rosemary Stibbon Adminis-

trator Ray Smith CommunicationsMike Timmins Open spacesHelena Kowalski Anna Wilson

CONTACTS

Advertising Pays!You may recall an advertise-

ment that ran in this newspa-per over a few editions lastyear for, Gary Marshall Elec-trical Services - if you don’tremember, there’s no chanceof seeing it again as Gary;the man behind the ad, hadto give up advertising hereas it was too successful!That’s right, he got too muchwork off the back of the adand had to stop. Gary said:“It’s the first time I’ve adver-

tised in 40 years of tradingand although I would haveliked to continue supportingHotwells News, the truth is I

just couldn’t cope with thedemand!”

Apart from being the onlysource of revenue that paysto put the latest neighbour-hood news through your let-terbox on a regular basis,advertising here works andcan cost as little as £30

which includes an online en-try on our website as well.So if you have a local prod-uct or service to offer, give ita try!Contact:[email protected] to find out more.

creative use of space under a flyover

-a skatepark under Westway in London



3

green lightfrom Transition Hotwells & Cliftonwood

Community News

Trinity Care ServicesLeanne Parkes has taken over as Co-ordinator of Trinity Care Service DayCentre, working out of Holy TrinityChurch, Hotwells.

Since the beginning of July, TCS hasdownsized to a one-day operation.Miriam Jones, TCS Chair, said “Weare just delighted that we have man-aged to keep operating. It was touchand go early in the year as Bristol CityCouncil funding fell dramatically asHealth & Social Care client referralsfell to minimal levels. We took thedecision to withdraw from our con-tract with BCC and to reduce to a

Thursday only operation. We havereceived tremendous support fromlocal charities-The Grateful Society,Saint Monica’s, the Merchant Ventur-ers and of course The Hotwells Pan-tomime and we are now funded wellinto 2014. All service users who pre-viously attended on other days havebeen found places at other local DayCentres which operate on Mondaysand Wednesdays. Our own Thursdaynumbers are increasing and close tocapacity. We are still in business andproviding the same home-cookedmeal, transport and friendly, lively ser-vice for older people in our area.”If you have a bit of spare time on aThursday, we always welcome volun-teers or, if you know any older per-son who is lonely or isolated andwould like to join us -just give Leannea call on 0117 9838878.

Andrew Murray

Trinity Care Service is looking for a new cookas Heidi will be leaving us soon. This is a paid post for about 4 hours on a Thursday. If youare interested give Leanne a call on 0117 983 8878.

Crisis in primary school provisionThis is a city-wide problem but hashad a particular impact in Cliftonwoodwhere some parents have not been

able to secure reception places at anyof the three nearest schools and arehaving to travel nearly 2 miles toLuckwell Primary in Bedminster or St. Johns in Worrall Rd.With none of our local schools havingany space for expansion and the pro-posed new Harbourside Primary nowdeferred until after 2015, it seems thisproblem will not be resolved any timesoon. No site has yet been identifiedfor Harbourside. The City has theproblem that they are always outbidby developers for any new schoolsites not already in Council owner-ship. Meanwhile, parents have tocope with horrendous commuting todistant schools. Our public transportlinks to South Bristol are non-existentand Cliftonwood is separated fromBedminster by two waterways so evena car journey requires a long detour.The fear is that families with young

children will be forced to leave thearea and prospective residents will bereluctant to move in, unless adequateschool provision can be made availablesoon.

It's been a great summer. A bril-liant “Big Green Week”, Bristolwinning the “European GreenCapital” title, and plenty of sun-shine to make “green days out”from Hotwells particularly enjoy-

able, and provide free hot water and electricity to households withsolar thermal or pv. Looking for-ward there's plenty to do as thetemperature drops.Bristol Green Doors open homesweekend - 28th/29th September -will give the opportunity to seelocal examples of energy savingat home:www.bristolgreendoors.org/

Opportunities to use Bristol

Pounds to support the local econ-omy have continued to expand.Places where you can Text2Paynow include Reg the Veg (Boyce

Avenue), Create canteen, Water-shed cafe, Folk House Cafe, 20thCentury Flicks, Bristol TicketShop. Also gets you a 10% dis-count at Clifton Thali! Open your account at:http://bristolpound.org/.

Bristol Freedom To Ride cam-

paign launched in May sets out avision and the plan to get there,including dedicated cycle lanesand network of freeways, quiet-ways and neighbourhood links.You can support via e-petition athttp://bristolcyclingmanifesto.org.uk/and see more at:http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/free-dom_to_ride_the_bristol_cycling_ manifesto/

Finally, new Bristol communitybike cafe now open - Roll for theSoul, 2 Quay Street - betweenCentre and Nelson Street..Bikeworkshop and seating area up-stairs vegetarian wraps and sal-ads downstairs. Delicious!

Hotwells Panto 2014 —call for writersAs well as being the social event of the Hotwells year, this year’s pantomade a profit of nearly £2,000, half of which was given to HCCA. Trinity

Daycare has been given a grant of £1,500.Next year’s panto dates are 5th-8th March and there will be a Scriptwrit-ers’ meeting on Friday 18th Octo-ber at 6.30pm at 17 York GardensBS8 4LN. Any potential new writerswould be very welcome (please [email protected] in advance. )Bear in mind that new writers :a. need to have seen at least one

Hotwells pantob. will be paired with an old handc. mustn’t be too upset if their care-

fully honed script is re-hashed bythe editorial committee!

Leanne Parkes



4

Cars dominate our neighbourhood and, this Summer, they have beendominating our time as well with two major City Council consultations.The first, which fits well with the Community Association’s Traffic Strategy, is theproposed introduction of 20mph over much of the city. We were surprised to find that Hotwell andMerchants Roads had been left at 30 mph. Other main arterial routes like Cheltenham/Gloucester and

Whiteladies roads are identified as 20mph, we could not understand why the limited stretch of Hotwell Rd,along with a bit of Anchor Road, and Merchants Road had been left at 30 and have therefore made repre-sentations that our main roads should be reduced to 20mph. We have also suggested that the 40mph limitalong the Portway should drop to 30mph before the Colonnade where the houses of our community begin.We have also had consultations on the Residents Parking Zone for this area. We know that not everyone isin favour of an RPZ, but given the Mayor’s decision to implement schemes, at least in the central areas, weare happy that there has been plenty of opportunity for people to try and make the scheme fit the circum-stances of our area. It is good that there is a built-in arrangement for review after six months when we will

have had the opportunity to experience the realities of the scheme. We shall again be trying to facilitate thatreview when it comes. The next stage will be a formalconsultation this autumn regarding all the Traffic Ordersthat must be introduced to mark the roads and put upsigns relating to the scheme. The scheme should then beintroduced early in the new year.

Dennis Gornall

Reducing speed limits—a resident’s view

As a resident of Oldfield Road, Hotwells, I welcome the deci-sion to enforce a 20mph restriction on traffic in the centralarea. However, the proposal to retain the existing speed lim-its of 30mph along Hotwell Road and Merchants Road in Hot-wells, together with a 40mph limit on the whole of the Cum-

berland Basin flyover system, completely ignores the long-standing concerns of the residents of the area locallyknown as 'The Island' in Hotwells and pays little heed to the race-track mentality behind the driving that causes somany accidents on the flyovers.The existing speed-limits, inadequate pedestrian access to 'the mainland' (across Merchants Road to The PumpHouse and Harbourside, and across Hotwells Road to Dowry Square) and the accelerated phasing of the traffic-lights funneling traffic into Merchants Road near The Merchants Arms make the entire zone extremely dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists, including parents who are encouraged to walk their children to Hotwells Primary School.Councillors and traffic officers have long been made aware of this at meetings, by correspondence, by protests andby publicity in the press. Essentially, the speed of traffic around the one-way system severs this area from the rest of the neighbourhood. This is the major danger to the community, to the increasing number of visitors to the area be-cause of events at this end of Harbourside and to road-users themselves.

In addition, simple eyewitness experience indicates that the number of accidents on the Cumberland Basin flyover complex continues unabated. There have been several severe incidents on Hum-phrey Davey Way in recent months as well as on other access points such as thatfrom Bower Ashton. Before the decision to maintain the 40mph speed limit over theCumberland Basin system is taken, a full report of accidents should be undertaken.

Bob Walton

40....30....20.... stop!

Spycams patrol Hotwell Road bus lane! Getting booked by men (or women) in peaked caps and bigsatchels seems an almost nostalgic experience now. Have younoticed this camera near the Spar store? It seems to pick up

any car stopping between 16:00-18:30, silently, covertly andautomatically. Anyone not checking the signs very carefullycould be easily caught out by the beguiling single yellow lines.Someone was recently prosecuted for parking here for 3minutes!



5

This the third time of trying but but we understand that planting trees in the paved North side of Cumberland Piazza is definitely in the TreeBristol programme for this coming winter season.In 2010-11, we were assured that money for this would come from the Bus network improvement grant that waspaying for new bus stops everywhere. The money ran out before they got round to our project.In 2011-12. We had pledges of financial support from the Neighbourhood partnership and individual donors but

TreeBristol felt we hadn’t given them enough time to carry out the work.2013-14 looks like our best chance yet. Treeplanting here is complex and expensive because of the hard paving andthe sub-surface conditions (mainly rubble from the houses demolished to build the flyover). Large tree pits have tobe excavated and retaining borders constructed around the margins to give the new trees the best chance to thrive.However, all our research suggests that most people want this to be a greener space and we think that trees withthe potential to grow higher than the flyover ramps will create a major impact on this desolate space. As well ascreating a more ‘park-like’ feel, they will eventually contribute to visually masking the overhead roads, reducing thetraffic noise and kick-starting the process of transforming Hotwells’ biggest open space. This year the cost has esca-lated. We already have pledges for nearly £10,000 but we need to raise another £5,000 as the Council starts a con-sultation with residents living near to the site. Ray Smith

Hope Chapel—tales from the cryptHope Chapel has been an important meeting place for the Hotwells community since it opened in1787. In the nineteenth century many local people would be at the chapel every night of the week for various religious and social activities.When the building fell into disrepair in the 1960s and 70s it was rescued by the local community. It was transformedinto the ‘Hope Centre’ - a successful community centre and performing arts venue. Then in 2000 the church con-gregation began to grow again as ‘Hope Community Church’ was formed. Whilst the main vision of Hope Chapel isnow to be a church it will always seek to be a meeting place at the heart of the Hotwells community. The annual

Hotwells Pantomime and Hotwells Music Group continue with greatstrength from their beginnings in the Hope Centre days. A children’sStreet Dance club, toddler group (Little Stars), Youth Group, Tangoclub, youth drama group and the Hotwells Primary School play aremore recent regular users of Hope Chapel. Increasing numbers of children on a Sunday, and wider demand for meeting space during theweek prompted the development of the crypt underneath HopeChapel.This work has been progressing steadily in recent years and is nownearing completion. Archaeologists have been recording artefacts andburials throughout the work. Most graves in the chapel grounds wereunmarked and those in the crypt had been robbed at some point in

history so this has been a good opportunity to record each burial and re-bury the remains in a vault beneath thechapel. Osteoarchaeological analysis of the bones revealed a well-nourished population who weren’t suffering from

any of the diseases associated with poor diet which are commonly found in 18th and 19th century populations. Thisis perhaps unsurprising given the site’s location in one of the wealthier areas of the city.The converted crypt will be able to operate independently from the rest of the building to host various events andgatherings. This additional meeting space, with vaulted ceilings reminiscent of the Cavern Club in Liverpool, will helpto keep Hope Chapel at the heart of the Hotwells community for the decades (and centuries!) to come.

Chris Bond www.hopechapel.co.uk

Tree Planting at Cumberland Piazza

help us make the Piazza greener Donations to the Piazza Tree Campaign of any amount you can afford will be much appreciated but if you donate at least £50 you can get a year’s free sub-scription to the HCCA 500 Club (worth £12) and beincluded in monthly draws to win prizes of £250 or 4 x£25. If you already have a 500 Club subscription youcan double your chance of winning!Donate online by going to:

www.hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk/piazzatrees or Email [email protected]



6

Events & Reviews

West Bristol Art Trail 12-13th Oct.The 6th West Bristol Art Trail, opens with over one hundred local artists exhibiting in homes and venues acrossHotwells, Cliftonwood, Redland and Clifton. Local venues include Footworks at Charles Place, Dowry Parade, TheGrain Barge and Holy Trinity Church on Hotwell Road which will be hosting 6 artists and the opportunity to ex-plore this historic building as well as enjoying tea and cakes. The Polygon has no less than 3 open houses exhibiting

5 artists between them.Perhaps the most unusual venue is Cumberland Piazza. Events here will include: Voices of the Pillars, a piece whichbegan in 2011 when local poet Bob Walton ran some community poetry workshops resulting in the site-specificpoem ‘Voices of the Pillars’, which he then performed at 2011 Art under the Flyover event. The Arts Trail weekendwill see extracts from the poem posted around the site and a poetry workshop on the Saturday relating poetry toarchitecture. ‘No. 1 Rose Street’ is an installation mapping and remembering the houses that occupied the space be-fore the flyover was built. Over the Arts Trail weekend, the Piazza’s old toilet block will become, ‘No.1 Rose St’, are-imagining of one of the former homes, decked out in period 50s and60s chintz and historical pictures of the lost streets. DeDum, will usethe sound the traffic makes going over the road bridge and turn it into alive sound piece. People will be asked to use their smart phones to re-cord the traffic noise from underneath the road at various points on the

Piazza, the pieces will then be collated and conducted in the DeDumSmartphone Orchestra. Claire Sharpe’s colourful translucent banners,produced for the recent ‘Green Days Out’ launch event will also be ondisplay again.The West Bristol Arts Trail begins on Saturday 12th October and runsuntil 5pm on Sunday the 13th October. There is a launch event at theRWA on the evening of Friday 11th October to which all are invited.See the Trail’s website for full info: http://www.westbristolarts.com/

Music WorkshopHotwells Music Workshop is a community organisation based at Hotwells School, that has provided a forum foramateur music-making in chamber groups since 1971.

Who's it for? Hotwells Music Workshop welcomes new members. It is suitable for almost any player of an orchestral instru-ment who wants to play chamber music – though it isn't suitable for complete beginners who can't read music.Experience suggests that those who have found Music Workshop most useful and enjoyable are: people who haven't played since their school days and want to get going again Moderate players who welcome a relaxed, non-judgemental and supportive environment to improve and

enjoy their music-making Experienced players who enjoy encouraging and supporting those who are less experienced Less experienced players who want to play with others but are not confident about (or interested in) play-

ing in a large orchestra or wind band

People with experience of playing in large groups who want to try something different Those whose commitments make it hard for them to join music-groups which make longer-term demands Those who are new to the area and wish to meet other players of all standards

How does it work? The 'six-week session' is at the heart of the way Music Workshopworks. Players sign on for a session of six (occasionally five) con-secutive Thursdays. There are six such sessions each year – butyou only commit to one at a time. There are no meetings duringschool holidays.Music Workshop has the great merit that you don't have to com-mit yourself to long-term membership. Each player in a chamber

group is indispensable, however, so the expectation is that all play-ers undertake to attend all the Thursdays in any session they'vesigned up for.

For further details see the website: www.hotwellsmusic.org.uk



7

Events Diary

DIARY when

what where

Sat Sep28th—Sun29th

Bristol Green Doors weekendSee:

http://www.bristolgreendoors.org/

various

Sat Oct12th– Sun13th

West Bristol Arts Trail -see:

http://www.westbristolarts.com/

various

Wed Oct16th

19:00for 19:30

Hotwells Clifton & CliftonwoodLocal History Society -(see below)

Create Centre,Smeaton Rd.

Tues Oct

22nd

19:00 Clifton & Cabot Neighbourhood

Partnership

The Pavilion, Hannover

QuayMon Nov4th

19:00 Clifton Neighbourhood Forum Clifton High School,College Rd. BS8 3JD

Sun Sep29th

Make Sundays Specialmonthly closure of City Centreto traffic. food & drink, fun andgames for all ages

Corn St and Old City

CHECK FOR UPDATES TOEVENTS HAPPENING

LOCALLY AT:www.hotwellscliftonwood.or g.uk/content/whats-on.html

Venue available for hireMusic gigs, private

functions, exhibitions,training days, clubs &

classes.Multiple spaces, 2 bars/

stage/sprung floor dancestudio/skittle alley/garden

areawww.southbankclub.webs.com

0117 966 5552

Dean Lane, Bristol BS3 1DB

A harbourside walk

S O U

THBANK

S O U

THBANK

S O U

THBANK

Hotwells History SocietyHotwells, Clifton and Cliftonwood Local His-tory Society meets on WEDNESDAY 16th OC-TOBER at 7.00 pm for 7.30 pm at theCREATE CENTRE. To mark the success of Underfall Yard's application for money to en-sure its future as a Heritage Site.

NIGEL COOMBES will speak about the Chan-nel Steamers. Campbells had an office at theYard and during the first half of the 20th cen-tury they were a major part of local life, em-ploying many people, especially during thesummer cruising months. A small exhibition of photographs of those happy days will be ondisplay. The cost is £4 which includes a glassof wine or soft drink

New books by local authorsTwo new books of local walks have just been

launched by Clifton residents Julia Killingbackand Michael Pascoe. Both authors haveworked in the community for many years asvolunteers helping to improve and promote thismuch loved part of Bristol.Michael’s great knowledge of the area’s historyproved invaluable. Julia, who has designed for many large companies world wide, devised the

visual conceptand compiled amyriad of col-ourful images,some her own

illustrations.The variedwalks are de-signed to beenjoyed by peo-ple of all ages!



8

Dowry Chiropractic Clinic

3 Dowry Place

Hotwells, Bristol BS8 4QL

come and see one of our BCA & GCC

registered Chiropractors, specialising in:

Back PainMuscle and joint painNeck and shoulder painSports injuries

MigrainesArthritis supportHeadachesHip/knee/ankle/footproblems

Treatments include: spinal & extremitymanipulation, mobilisation, remedial mas-sage, dry needling and posture & lifestyleadvice.

Call 0117 9298384 to book your appointmentor a free 15 minute consultation

Local Services

Yoga Yoga Yoga Yoga provides time for stillness ina busy world Gentle Class

Thursdays from Sep 26th,11.00-12:30 Clifton Library,

Princess Victoria StreetCall Em Sawday to book a

place0117-9738213 or

07833751235 [email protected]

TO ADVERTISE HERE AND REACHEVERY HOUSEHOLD IN HOTWELLS& CLIFTONWOOD, [email protected]

J H THOMPSONJ H THOMPSONJ H THOMPSONJ H THOMPSON

BA (Hons) DO MRO

REGISTERED OSTEOPATH

39 Oldfield RoadHotwellsBRISTOLBS8 4QQ

Tel: (0117) 927 2100

ca news autumn 2013

Documents