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HOTWELLS&CLIFTONWOOD

NEWS

Autumn 2006

Published by Hotwells & Cliftonwood Community Association, Hope Chapel, Hope Chapel Hill, Hotwells, Bristol, BS8 4ND

h&cca HOTWELLS & CLIFTONWOOD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

supported by

Pooles Wharf wins award

Trevor George says ‘on the spur of the moment I entered our Pooles Wharf Court formal garden into the Bristol-in-Bloom competition "Community Garden" category, and I was informed by letter that we have won the that category and will be pre-sented with a 'Gold Certificate' at some, as yet, undecided time’. Congratulations to everyone at Pooles Wharf and thanks to Trevor for the photo. How about some more entries from our area next year? Let’s have some seri-ous competition!

Following a meeting in the Plume of Feathers on July 24th a group of trad-ers have decided to set up ‘Hotwells Traders Network’ to represent the interests of businesses in Hotwells & Cliftonwood. Research done on behalf of HCCA by con-sultants Vivid Regeneration has shown that traders in our area would benefit by having better access to the specialised BCC Retail Development Team and the Retail Forum which exist to foster the development of small businesses. The group has already started to work on some ideas and make contact with other agencies concerned with planning, promotion and tourism. The next meeting of the Network is at Shoots Res-taurant on Monday October 2nd at 6 pm. Anyone working in a business in the area (not just retail) is welcome to attend.

Cliftonwood Lower Green Good news! - Bristol City Council have agreed to lease the land below Cliftonwood Terrace to the residents of the Terrace for 35 years. This means that we are able to preserve this last pocket of green land as a wildlife area for the bene-fit of all the local community.

We would like to thank the many local resi-dents and organisations who have sup-ported our application to lease the land. Once the legal formalities have been dealt with, we will let you know about how we plan to improve the area for wildlife and humans. Watch this space!

Nigel Derrett, Cliftonwood Terrace Residents Assoc

Brunel Swing Bridge The bridge parked on the dockside in the shadow of the Cumberland Basin flyover, in spite of its modest size, is a historic Brunel design. Although it has not swung for many years it has been maintained by the Docks engineer and now a small group of enthusi-asts has emerged to try and re-store it to full working order. A wide, flat route across Cumberland Basin would be a great benefit to families with children and cyclists to avoid the hazardous lock gate or the spiral steps up onto the main bridge. It would also be a boon for events like Ashton Court Festival or the Balloon fiesta now that the Suspension Bridge closure at these times seem likely to be permanent. Tentative approaches are being made to the Heritage Lottery Fund but the support of the City Council as own-ers is crucial to raising funds. For more information or offers of help contact David Neale Tel: 01275 392336

Traders unite to Traders unite to Traders unite to Traders unite to promote Hotwellspromote Hotwellspromote Hotwellspromote Hotwells

The Green -A wilderness now but potentially a resource for the whole community

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Community News h&cca HOTWELLS & CLIFTONWOOD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

O117 9291883 Admin@hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk

Hotwells Pharmacy After a period of uncertainty when the opening hours of the pharmacy in the back of the Hotwells Off-Licence seemed to be very limited, we have now heard the good news that it has been taken over by the Co-op and will be open Mon-Fri. 9am to 6pm with Charlie continuing as the pharmacist in charge. Mean-while, the convenience store itself seems to have now closed.

Is anyone in Hotwells and Cliftonwood inter-ested in making up a team in next year's 2007 Dragon-Boat Racing for Charity? It costs around £50 per per-son to enter (or more) which goes to a nominated Charity. The next race is on Sunday 1st October 2006, but is fully booked, but please watch the race and imagine your-self on one of those seats. Be inspired! For more info see www.pooleswharf.com/dragon_boats.htm

PAULA SPIELMAN Paula Spielman, who died recently, moved with her husband John into Dowry Square. However, few people will know about Paula’s generosity to the commu-nity through the Spielman Charitable Trust, as it was something she always wanted kept private. For many years she stood surety for major events such as Book-samazing, the trilogy of Community Plays and the photographic exhibitions about Hotwells. Miraculously, we never had to take advantage of her kindness although she did give us the money to buy recording equipment and a video player. Without the financial security she provided we could never have taken the financial risks of putting on such major events. Typically, at her funeral, absolutely nothing was said about her huge generosity, but I just wanted to make sure that everyone in Hot-wells knows what she did for us. Sue Stops

HCCA Office Move The Community Association is leaving its office in Hope Chapel at the request of Hope Community Church. This is because the Church is expanding its activities and needs additional accommodation. Both or-ganisations recognise the importance of Hope Chapel as the only large space avail-able for events and meetings, and the Church has offered assurances that the community activities currently using Hope Chapel can continue, despite the C.A. not having a permanent presence in the build-ing. These include the Youth Theatre, the annual Pantomime and other ad hoc events that need a large public hall. A number of other clubs and classes attended by local people also use the building. Silas Crawley, Pastor at Hope Chapel says “From October 1st Hope Chapel will be open from 7am to 11pm daily. A member of the church will be on duty to welcome anyone into the building. All bookings will be free of charge and can be discussed with Alex, bookings manager, with priority being given to local community events”. There are plans to open a café and, next year, part of the crypt will be opened up as an area for youth activities. The Community Association, has been looking for an independent base some-where in Hotwells which is large enough for small groups to meet as well as provid-ing a permanent office. We are hopeful that somewhere will be found by November when we need to leave Hope Chapel.

HCCA Administrator Heather Angel who has proved a versatile and dynamic worker for HCCA is, unfortu-nately moving to London which leaves us with a vacancy which will, hopefully be filled by time you read this. Thanks to Heather for her support and we hope she doesn’t miss life in ‘Bristle’ which, of course, she is only leaving under duress! A new adminis-trator, Sarah Adamczuk, will join us early in October

Reader’s Rant - Parking

We all know the problems, but what to do about them? Residents parking is being mentioned again, but I sus-pect any scheme would merely make life more difficult for us. 1) Parking bays would get marked out, which would reduce the number of spaces (look at the Church Lane/Cliftonwood Road markings). 2) Some local road are already overfilled by residents’ cars. Look at Ambra Vale East, where even more houses are being turned into multi-occupancy. 3) The present congested and often illegal parking works as an excellent traffic-calming device - I think that’s a clear important benefit. 4) Residents parking will not come cheap. I’m quite happy to pay for a clear benefit, but I think parking will simply become more difficult - residents’ parking is merely a licence to hunt for a space. I’m well aware that the Harbourside development might make our parking worse. However, in the context of residents’ parking, bear in mind that Harbourside residents would still be entitled to park in our streets. It seems very odd to me that the Coun-cil has a policy of discouraging the provision of parking spaces in new-build at a time when the public trans-port system is in a shambles.

Don Egginton

Tenants Representation Vacancies exist for Council tenants to sit on the Area Housing Committee where at present there is no represen-tative from Hotwells. There is an annual budget for Environ-mental Improvements and if there is no voice to speak up the money will be spent else-where. Meetings are on the last Wednesday of every month at 7.00pm at the Ten-ants Resource Centre, Red-cliffe Hill. Expenses will be paid. If you are interested or want to know more please contact Roger Allen, Tenant Participation Officer Tel: 0117 903 9859 Email: roger_allen@bristol-city.guv.uk

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h&cca HOTWELLS & CLIFTONWOOD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

O117 9291883 Admin@hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk

Refuse and Recycling Collections

Plastic bottle recycling We believe that agreement has been reached to place a plastics recycling container at the Create Centre but the timescale is uncertain. Note, the recycling bins at Create are a mixture of public and private, which can lead to confusion. You can dispose of cans and bottles in the appropriate containers but the cardboard container is for private use by Create. If you have too much cardboard to put out with the black box you will need to take it to one of the Council recycling cen-tres.

For anyone still confused about the new collection arrangements the fol-lowing information has been supplied by the Council: Bristol City Council has introduced new kitchen, cardboard and garden waste col-lection services in your area. You should have received a brown 5-litre kitchen caddy that can be used to put food waste in. Food that can be put in this caddy includes:

eggs, fish, meat, bones and dairy products

vegetables, tea bags, salad and fruit

bread, cereal, pasta and rice Householders should also have received a lockable, brown food waste bin to be kept outside their home into which they can put the food waste from their kitchen caddy. Food can be wrapped in newspaper and put in this bin. No plastic should be put in this bin

Remember there is the option of buying a green bin for garden waste such as grass and cuttings. For just £21, you can buy a garden waste wheelie bin and for 55p a week (£29 a year) it will be emptied on collection day. There are also compost bins available at £14 plus £3 delivery. Subsidies are available on both the green

bins and compost bins. Collections will be:

Every week Black box (Recycling) Brown kitchen waste bin Cardboard folded and placed by kitchen bin Green garden waste bin (optional)

Every other week Black wheelie bin for rubbish If you have any questions, please contact Bristol City Council on 922 3838 or visit our website at www.bristol-city.gov.uk/recycling. Don’t forget you can ask for a Waste Doctor to visit and give you advice on the new services. Please call us on the above number.

AIDS/HIV Support Bristol City Council provide a specialist team of Social Workers, and a Support Worker who provide ser-vices to people living with HIV infection, AIDS, and their Carers. Anyone wishing to make a referral to the team or refer themselves should contact Bristol Care Direct on 0800 444 000.

Art on the Railings On Saturday 17th June, the artists of Hot-wells and Cliftonwood put on a terrific open air exhibition on the railings of Albe-marle Row on the same afternoon as the Hotwells School Summer Fair. Paintings ranged in style and size from the very large – huge acrylics and a piece made from recycled wood – to the very small – Hotwells School childrens’ Cornish fishing scenes in the style of Alfred Wallis. And the artists ranged in age from the very young – toddlers from the Hope Chapel toddler group – to the considerably older – members of the Trinity Church Day Centre. Musical entertainment was pro-vided by the Bristol Brass Group, the Bris-tol Music Group’s wind quintet, the Hot-wells School Choir, Pete Airey on guitar,

Will Timmins on harp and ceilidh band Gypsy’s Kiss. Next year, we hope to make this event even bigger and better by closing the road for a proper street party!

Argyle Place Park Playground Improvements Progress is being made (slowly) in reaching agreement over the final design for new play equipment in Argyle Place Park, Cliftonwood. The Council have agreed to fund the project and after receiving pro-posals from various suppliers over the last year, one company has been chosen. Dur-ing this summer, a group of local residents have been working closely with the Parks Dept. and the chosen supplier to make sure that the design meets the residents’ wishes – as revealed by the results of the questionnaire sent out in spring 2005. The challenge has been to avoid over filling this very small park with too much equip-ment, as well as providing kit which suits a wide age range – from toddlers to teenag-ers – and also to provide more seating and better landscaping of under used areas. The final design scheme, which is about to be sent for planning consent, should meet all those aims. If all is well, the park make over should take place sometime this au-

tumn.

More better ways to travel Our guide to public transport in the last edition omitted the very useful 500 bus service which is subsidised by Bristol CC and operated by Buglers. It runs on a loop from Mer-chants Rd-Cumberland Rd.-Temple Meads-Centre-Broadmead-Hotwells using an experimental low-pollution vehicle. The frequency is around 20 mins. but there are currently no Sunday or evening services. Use it or lose it!

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It’s competition time! We are looking for the three best ideas for improving our area. Knocking down the flyover would be a good start, you might say but what we are looking for is a bal-ance between what would be of most benefit and what is realis-tically achievable. For example, money for various Council-sponsored projects has to be spent in a particular financial year, or it disappears into the general melting pot for fu-ture use. It ‘s often hard to predict how much money will be needed, and sometimes funds that have to be spent very quickly become available towards the end of the financial year. Council officials are usually able to find small pro-jects to use this money, and will where possible consult communities, but sometimes the resulting projects are not quite what a community had in mind. If we had a list of projects that we in Hotwells and Cliftonwood would like to see, then, when the opportunity arises, money available could be matched against ideas on the list. This way we might end up with something the commu-nity has considered a need, rather than scratching around at the last minute for ideas. The sums involved are quite small, and any public works are usually quite ex-pensive - planting a tree can cost up to £300, for example. Other things that might rate high on the ‘achievability’ scale range from strategically-placed lines of bollards, posher versions of lamp posts, and undergrounding of telephone wires. Other projects might be more ambitious and expensive but make a big-ger impact that benefits more people and be worth pursuing over a longer timescale. Here’s a random selection of ideas to agree or dis-agree with or perhaps de-velop further:

Hotwells Pine EST. 1985

Bristol Telephone/Fax: 01179 27 37 00

253 Hotwell Road, BS8 4SF

exciting new range of lamps now in stock!

Specialist in Floor Maintenance, Carpets, Windows and Daily

Office Cleaning. Fully Insured

G. J. TREASURE CLEANING CONTRACTORS

5 Britannia Buildings

Merchants Road Hotwells

Bristol BS8 4QD

Tel: (0117) 9290578 Fax: 9144316

Tell us your top ideas to make Hotwells and

Sui Generis Hair & Beauty

255 HOTWELL ROAD,

HOTWELLS, BRISTOL BS8

4SF

BOOKING & ADVICE LINE

0117 925 3611

Now that the

pavement has

been relaid,

how about

some planting

round the beau-

tiful trees on

Dowry Parade?

At the bottom of Joy

Hill, a path has been worn diagonally across

the grass. Clearly people

want to cross the grass

here, so why not actually

put in a paved path?

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SABINA BOWLER-REED BA HONS.

SOLICITOR 1, Britannia Buildings, Merchants Road,

Bristol BS8 4QD

EXPERIENCED IN FAMILY LAW

Ali Burrows, MSTAT.

ALEXANDER

TECHNIQUE

&

SING RAGA. Thursday

Evening group

Starting 21st Sept.

Cliftonwood

0117 987 2989

www.aliburrows.org.uk

Cliftonwood a better place to live

THE SHOOTS

FLOATING BAR & RESTAURANT

Hotwell Road, Tel:0117 9250597

not just for special occasions! open Mon-Sat from 6pm and Sunday lunch

from 12 noon. Why not just pop in for a drink

in our large bar with views of the docks

www.theshoots.co.uk

Career Counsel specialises in introduc-

ing high calibre lawyers to the leading

commercial law firms in Bristol, Cardiff

and the South West.

For a confidential career discussion,

please contact Andy Curtis on 0117 927

7636 or at :

andycurtis@careercounsel.co.uk

Alternatively, to find out more about

Career Counsel and our services visit:

www.careercounsel.co.uk

Specialist Recruitment and Career Advisers to the Legal Profession

Send a description of your project ideas to the Community Association office or by e-mail to : admin@hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk Explain why you think the idea is important to the community. Including photos or drawings we can exhibit may help to rein-force your proposal. Let us know if you need help with pro-ducing these. Closing Date October 31st. We will display all the ideas at the C.A. Annual General Meeting in November and ask everyone present to vote for the best three. Each of the lucky winners will receive a year’s free subscription to the 500 Club and a commitment from the Community Association to include the projects in our commu-nity development plans for next year.

Where the Hotw

ell road bend

s

round past D

owry Square

why

does there h

ave to be so m

any

acres of tarma

c? Could the

lay-

out be impro

ved to reduc

e this

unnecessary r

oad space, ca

lm

the traffic and

improve the

envi-

ronment for

people who l

ive

adjacent to th

is busy road.

Per-

haps a screen

of trees betw

een a

reduced layby

and the main

road.

Not just a be

nefit for Hotw

ells

but a better g

ateway to Bri

stol

for visitors fr

om the west.

Residents of the flats by Jacobs Wells Roundabout have mentioned the need for a pedestrian crossing over Hotwell Road to the harbour-side. This road is incredibly difficult to cross most times of day. Now there is housing all along this end of Hotwell Road and the prospect of linking up with a harbourside foot-

path all the way into the Centre, this idea seems very worthwhile.

How about some funds for a proper Hotwells Carni-val? Close Albemarle Row to traffic and have a big street party, in conjunction with the school? We have had two ‘Art on the Rail-ings’ events in Albemarle Row and closed Clifton Vale two years ago for ‘Streets for People’ day. All this experience needs to be brought together to make a special occasion for the whole community.

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Meet Your Neighbour Sheila Mary Graham —singer & artist

Sheila Mary has lived in Cliftonwood for 30years. I met her at the Trinity Church lunch club which she attends once a week. She told me of her pro-fessional life as a singer, performing for the rich and famous in venues as disparate as Goodwood Races, The London Savoy and Richard Branson’s boats -but how did this happen ? She had an unsettled early life with no knowledge of her father and was aban-doned by her mother who was “a good time woman known as the Duchess” so she was brought up by her grandparents. She subsequently married Bernard Staig Graham and they had a daughter Harriet and a son Justin in the early 1970’s. Bernard gave Art classes, but although Sheila was too shy to join in, neverthe-less had her own one woman show in Plymouth, as a result of which she was offered exhibition space at the Wood-stock galleries in London’s Bond Street. Sheila couldn’t afford the £100 needed- a lot in the 1960s, but subsequently has had 3 line drawings exhibited in the Royal West of England Academy. She still enjoys draw-ing as a hobby and has succeeded in selling some of her work. Sheila’s other talent as a singer only began when she was 40, in 1988. Having heard a song on the radio called “I’m going shopping with you”, she learnt it and sang it at one of Bristol’s hotels where her subsequent partner David Clifford had a seventeen piece band. After that gig they decided to go it alone, which involved busking in Bath, Yate and Wells, where the Dean used to put money in their box! A Corporate director spotted them and gave them a gig at Wookey Hole where they entertained the whole of the management, including Laura Ashley and her husband, who ended the evening by telling dirty jokes in French over Sheila’s microphone! After that they played two nights a week in Bristol’s Wild Oats restaurant where they were paid £5 each. A rise was given in the form of a £5 lunch voucher! One evening, film director David Hop-kins came in and asked them to play in a film, based on Shelley’s novel Zastrozzi for which they were paid the handsome sum of £500 each. They played three times at the Thornbury festival and seven times at the Marlborough festival. Some Saturdays they had three gigs, mornings busking, midday weddings and an evening party or two. Sheila recalls an embarrassing incident when she had been performing at the Queens Hotel at Cheltenham on a stage lined with pot plants – and she had been told to walk down steps into the audience but on doing so knocked most of the plants over on to the dance floor! Other bookings included Henley Regatta-a regular for seven years, twice at Ascot, London hotels including on the roof of the Ritz for BMW as a corporate booking for which they were paid £300, the Savoy, almost every stately home in Gloucestershire, a house party for one of the Queen’s ladies in waiting- (no pay, just food!)They auditioned other acts all day for 7 days in the late 1980’s to be chosen for HTV’s “The Weekend Starts Here” and London Morning Breakfast Show. They played for lots of charities and free of charge for at least two a year and once auctioned themselves for £150 for the RNLI. A pleasant recent booking was playing for Judith the Vet’s wedding where Fido their dog sat in their drum box! However, after this full and active career Sheila has decided to retire from singing, but her daughter Har-riet seems to have inherited her mother’s talent and made Sheila proud to hear her performing at the Festi-

val of the Sea. Helen Smith

The unusual site of this heron on the roof of a house in Hope Square was obviously disconcerting for the seagulls which took it in turns to ‘dive bomb’ it. I suspect it was interested in the ornamental garden pond below. Fish keepers beware! Ray Smith

fishy business!

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Events and Activities

CONTEMPORARY PAINTINGS * PRINTS JEWELLERY * CERAMICS * ENAMELS

CARDS * SCULPTURE

84– 86 HOTWELL ROAD BRISTOL BS8 4UB TELEPHONE 0117 929 2527

TUES-FRI 10AM—4.45PM Sat. 10AM—5PM CLOSED MON.

come and dance Great live music At Polish club 8.00 - midnight, 50 St. Paul’s Road, Clifton Quarter Daze is a new venture. We are creating an op-portunity 4 times a year to dance and meet in a fun and friendly environment.

22nd September: Los Bambinos 14th December: The Madness of King George Tickets £7 on door, £5.00 in advance Non-profit making. 120 tickets per event only Further information: Quarterdaze@yahoo.com Advance tickets from: Quarter Daze, 1 Britannia Blds. Mer-chants Rd, Hotwells, BS8 4QD, Tel: 0117 9259009

Hotwells Primary School Christmas Fair

Come along to Hotwells Primary School, Albemarle Row, on Sat-

urday 9th December from 2 to 4pm to buy all your Christmas

gifts. Presents to suit all purses and ages – including stocking

fillers, plants and bulbs, jewellery and crafts. Lots of fun ac-

tivities to entertain the kids, too. And don’t forget to buy your

Christmas tree here – on sale in the playground. If you'd like

to book a stall contact Morag Massey on 01275 393 675 or Morag.massey@btinternet.com

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Hotwells & Cliftonwood C.A. Hope Chapel, Hope Chapel Hill, Hotwells, Bristol, BS8 4ND tel: 0117 9291883 e-mail: admin@hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk Web site: www.hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk Bulletin board: www.hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk/forums Hope Chapel – to book the hall for meetings par-ties etc – 9215271

Security Anti-Social Behaviour—24 hour action line – this is council run but they keep records and this can be used by the Police to take action – 0845 605 2222 Nick Shaw is our local Police Constable based at Redland Police Station 0117 945 4453. e mail – Nicholas.shaw@avonandsomerset.police.uk Bobby Van Scheme – Free police security assess-ments for the over 65s 0117 927 7777

H&CCA Management Committee Ray Smith (Chair) Newsletter & web site Dennis Gornall (Secretary) Personnel Brenda McLennan (Treasurer) Projects Mike Timmins Open spaces Rachel McNally Events James Smith CHASE

Faruk Choudhury (elected Nov 2005) Emma Peddie School Liaison Pauline Barnes Community Links Sandra Fryer Planning (elected Nov 2005) Trevor George Bulletin Board Andrew Curtis (elected Nov 2005)

Transport Bristol Ferry Boat Company – 0117 927 3416 E mail : enquiries@bristolferryboat.co.uk Website : www.bristolferryboat.co.uk Bristol Dial-A-Ride – door to door bus service for any person for whom for whatever reason public transport is not accessible. The cost is about the same as public transport. If you have a concessionary pass you can use this to travel at half fare. 0117 939 5525 Minicom 0117 9395525 . E mail: admin@bristoldialaride.org.uk website – www.bristoldialaride.org.uk

USEFUL CONTACTS

∗ Class 4 & 7 MOT bays (2)

∗ Latest diagnostic equipment

∗ Fully qualified mechanics, quality

control and chief mechanic

∗ Manufacturer genuine parts or

quality non genuine

∗ Free collection and delivery

∗ Free wash and vacuum

∗ Evening vehicle servicing (by nego-

tiation)

∗ All vehicles serviced to 3.5 tonne

167-171 Hotwell Road, Hotwells, Bristol, BS8 4RY tel: 0117 907 8801

Servicing - MOTs - Repairs

www.mastersgarage.com

The Bear great hospitality in the heart of Hotwells

real ales & home-cooked food

served mon-fri (12.00– 3.00pm)

Sunday lunches (12.00-4.00pm)

barbeques in the beer garden

home of the famous Bebop

Club -every Friday night

large function room with bar

available for all occasions

Students welcom

e

261-263 Hotwell Road, Bristol BS8 4SJ

tel: 0117 987 7796 fax: 0117 987 0380

AVON GORGE CRUISES

See Brunel’s Suspension Bridge from a different angle!

Summer and Autumn series of public trips. Evenings with ferryman supper to see Clifton Suspension

Bridge’s new lights, and daytime cruises with or without wildlife commentary..

For dates & fares check out our website on

www.bristolferry.com Or call us: 0117 927 3416 / email: trips@bristolferry.com