Bristol

  • The price of petrol – an object of worship

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Media

    image of petrol pump nozzle in tankThere’s been a lot of coverage in the media recently on the falling price of crude oil – and consequently of petroleum products – but it is questionable whether any other coverage has attained the level of religious fervour exhibited by the Bristol Post, an organ not normally renowned for its piety.

    Yesterday’s Post featured a report with the headline Unleaded petrol drops below £1 in Swindon – but when will Bristol see the hallowed price?

    Yes, that’s right – hallowed.

    According to Collins English Dictionary, the adjective hallowed has the following meanings:

    1. set apart as sacred
    2. consecrated or holy

    Nowhere else have I encountered the price of petrol being referred to as being set apart as sacred, let alone consecrated or holy.

    Collins also adds helpfully that hallowed is used to describe something that is respected and admired, usually because it is old, important, or has a good reputation.

    I hardly think any of the adjectives so helpfully added by Collins could be applied – even in the broadest sense – to the price of petrol in the West Country.

    Could it be that the unnamed journalist responsible for the piece is ignorant of the meaning of hallowed?

    Quite possibly.

    Furthermore, the Bristol Post is well known locally for its unquestioning championing of the motorist and demonisation of cyclists, not to mention its barely concealed opposition to Bristol Mayor George Ferguson’s plans for residents’ parking zones. That being so, perhaps Post “journalists” do worship piously at the pumps every time they fill up. 🙂

  • Temple Meads prepares for track electrification

    Steve WoodsBristol, Oddities

    Never having had the desire to learn to drive, I’m reliant on the railways for long distance travel and follow all developments on the iron road with great interest.

    At present the Great Western line from Paddington to Bristol and South Wales is to be electrified in coming years and preparatory works are already well underway all along the route.

    To be able to accommodate the power lines serving the tracks, the redundant Royal Mail conveyor at the west end of Bristol Temple Meads has been removed in recent weeks.

    Network Rail has just released the video below which documents these works at Temple Meads.

  • Bristol – European fly-tipping capital?

    Steve WoodsBristol, Oddities, Politics

    In the world of the city’s great and good, Bristol is off to a flying start celebrating its year as European Green Capital.

    Plans are already well advanced to spend thousands on spurious ‘green‘ arts projects, such as dumping a load of old boats in picturesque Leigh Woods.

    According to the blurb on the European Green Capital website, the “European Green Capital Award (EGCA) has been conceived to recognise and reward local efforts to improve the environment, the economy and the quality of life in cities.”

    However, it would appear that there’s been little local effort – apart from protests by local residents and councillors – to improve the environment and quality of life in inner city areas such as Easton, Lawrence Hill and St Pauls, judging by the amount of fly-tipping that still goes on daily on our streets with no sign of a slackening or any meaningful enforcement efforts or action by Bristol’s seemingly impotent or uninterested city council.

    The photographs below were taken this morning by local resident Hannah Crudgington and are typical of the grottiness we inner city residents have to endure every day. All the photographs were taken within a couple of hundred metres of each other in the BS5 postcode area.

    fly-tipping at Twinnell House

    fly-tipping on Stapleton Road

    fly-tipped mattress on Goodhind Street

    Was Bristol awarded the European Green Capital award on false premises? Some in the city believe that to be the case. Judging the evidence of my own eyes, awarding Bristol with the European Green Capital award would have been more appropriate.

    Do you agree? Please feel free to comment.

  • Beyond compere

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Media

    a female compereThere’s a classic homophone in today’s online Bristol Post, which carries a feature on the return of What the Frock!, the city’s all-female comedy night.

    The homophone in question is in first sentence of the third paragraph, which at the time of writing reads as follows:

    The line-up features extended sets from both Mae Martin and Anna Morris and will be compared by Bristol’s very own Jayde Adams, pictured, winner of the Funny Women 2014 Awards.

    Compared? With what? Or whom? 😉

    The word you’re looking for, struggling Post journalist, is compere, whose dictionary definition is:

    com·pere
    (kŏm′pâr′) Chiefly British
    n.
    The master of ceremonies, as of a television entertainment program or a variety show.
    v. com·pered, com·per·ing, com·peres
    v.tr.
    To serve as master of ceremonies for.
    v.intr.
    To serve as the master of ceremonies.

  • Dark Ages Christmas cancelled at Poundland

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Media

    cards with wording hark the herald anglesLocal papers around the country, including the Bristol Post, have reported that budget retailer Poundland has withdrawn Christmas cards containing a basic spelling error.

    The cards themselves feature the words “Hark the Herald Angles“.

    Furthermore, The Independent also reports that Poundland was also selling Christmas decorations spelling out either “Merry Shristmas” or “Merry Christmay“.

    It is apparent that proof-reading costs far too much and would – if implemented – destroy Poundland’s profit margin on seasonal kitsch.

    Incidentally, the Angles of East Anglia, in the shape of the Wuffingas dynasty, were instrumental in the establishment of Christianity in England. Rædwald (who was buried in the ship burial at Sutton Hoo) was the first East Anglian king to be baptised in 604. His descendant King Anna (or Onna), who reigned from c. 636 – 654 AD, had several of his offspring canonised as saints: his son Jurmin and all his daughters – Seaxburh, Æthelthryth, Æthelburh and possibly a fourth, Wihtburh.

  • An idea from Yorkshire

    Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

    I’m indebted to Up Our Street for the picture below.

    fly-tipping covered in Environmental Crime Scene tape
    Picture courtesy of Up Our Street

    It shows fly-tipping somewhere in Sheffield covered in tape bearing the wording “Enviro-crime scene“.

    The tape is being used in Sheffield and Rotherham in Yorkshire.

    According to the Rotherham Advertiser, the tape is being used to help make the public aware of the problem of illegal rubbish dumping.

    According to the mandatory council spokesperson quoted by the Advertiser, use of the tape “lets residents know that the council has responded and reassures the public that the council is aware of the items and that they will soon be removed.

    The spokesperson continues:

    It has also been our experience that once people realise that the council is on top of the matter it encourages residents to let us know who has been causing the problem.

    It also helps the cleaning team know that the item has been fully checked for evidence that could be used in prosecutions and indicates that it is ready to be removed.

    Can we get hold of some of this tape for Bristol’s BS5 area?

  • Crowdfunding for Bristolians only

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Media, Oddities, Tech

    What could have been a fine report on a local space technology story has been ruined by poor writing in the Bristol Post.

    Yesterday’s Post carried a story on Bristol SpacePlanes and its efforts to develop a reusable orbital vehicle.

    CGI impression of Bristol SpacePlanes Ascender craft
    A CGI impression of the Bristol SpacePlanes Ascender craft

    The Post’s journalist gets off to a bad start in the first sentence:

    Bristolians are being invited to help launch planes into space in a new crowd-funding [sic] campaign.

    Just Bristolians, Bristol Post?

    I thought the idea of crowdfunding (minus the hyphen. Ed.), was that anyone can be part of the crowd that provides the funds, irrespective of geography.

    This suspicion is borne out by 30 seconds research. The first item on crowdfunding I found, from Wikipedia, states: “Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet.”

    Nowhere in the Wikipedia entry is there is indication at all that crowdfunding is to be restricted solely to Bristolians.

    Or am I just misreading to local media’s propensity to find a local angle to a story? Here’s a hint: it already has one, featuring a local high technology company and doesn’t need a second one! 🙂

  • TidyBS5 at the Neighbourhood Forum

    Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

    The regular meeting of the Easton & Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Forum took place in Barton Hill yesterday evening and once again the problems of litter and fly-tipping were a prominent item.

    I gave a brief summary of what had been happening campaign-wise over the last month and there were also some excellent contributions regarding future actions.

    One new development was a cleanliness petition which attendees were encouraged to sign by local councillors Hibaq Jama and Marg Hickman. The petition will be going online shortly and a link to it will be posted here when it’s available.

    One new angle to the cleanliness campaign is the Tidy BS5 Volunteer of the Month. The December winner is Angela Smith, who organised a Sunday litter pick in November in Bloy Street with her neighbours.

    Angela Smith receiving her award
    Angela Smith receiving her award. PiEdcture courtesy of Stacy Yelland

    The local police also support TidyBS, as can be seen from the photo below.

    Police and local residents show support for TidyBS5
    Police and local residents show support for TidyBS5. Picture courtesy of Stacy Yelland

    Bristol Mayor George Ferguson will be visiting Easton & Lawrence Hill wards in January and his minders for that visit will be making sure that the litter and fly-tipping problems which residents and those working in the area have to endure daily are well and truly to the fore in his itinerary.

    One related matter raised was recycling in the area’s high-rise flats. Young local people are trying to get then instated in some local tower blocks. At present, some blocks dating from the 1960s and with over 1,000 residents have no recycling facilities at all. (Not a very positive message or good example from a city that’s only a fortnight or so away from being European Green Capital for 2015. Ed.). However, Deputy Mayor Gus Hoyt has been talking to researchers at UWE about recycling in high-rise blocks. UWE’s researchers have found out that when flats are given recycling boxes, the average recycling rate is only about 10%. In reality it is more economical and efficient to collect rubbish together and then sort it at the waste depot. Gus’ research is continuing and will no doubt lead to changes in recycling practices sometime in the future

  • Gaunt’s Ham Park supports TidyBS5

    Steve WoodsBristol, Politics, Social Media

    This morning residents living around Gaunt’s Ham Park in Barton Hill became the latest to add their support for the TidyBS5 campaign to rid the streets of BS5 of litter and fly-tipping (posts passim).

    The picture below was posted online earlier this morning by Up Our Street.

    Gaunts Ham Park residents with banner
    Picture courtesy of Stacy Yelland

    The more support, the more chance there is that Bristol City Council will take the residents of East Bristol seriously when the raise their voices, something they have not always done in the past.

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