I’m a great lover of no-frills, working-class pubs. They’re what I grew up with and frequented when I first started drinking. Indeed I still give them my custom and can often be found at the Little Russell in Barton Hill, Bristol (posts passim).
One worrying development in recent years is the rise of the ‘gastropub‘.
The Eagle, Clerkenwell, London, reputed to be the first victim of gastration. Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.The term gastropub is a portmanteau of gastronomy and pub, and originated in the United Kingdom in the late 20th century. The establishment itself is defined as ‘a bar and restaurant that serves high-end beer and food‘.
My Bristol Wireless colleague Rich has devised the verb ‘to gastrate‘ to describe the phenomenon of converting boozers to gastropubs. I would define the verb as follows:
gastrate (v.) – to ruin a perfectly good pub by converting it to sell small, overpriced portions of food.
See also: gastration (n).
The process of gastration is also being actively encouraged by the media, as shown in a piece last week on the Bristol Post website.
Will traditional drinkers soon be struggling to find traditional boozers if this trend continues?
What could George have been doing in Easton to have fled minus his trousers? Answers in the comments below.
Of course, as a politician George sometimes risks more than the loss of his trousers; he’s wagering the shirt off his back on 2 potentially huge white elephant projects in Bristol both being funded by municipal borrowing – the Bristol Arena and Metrobus/BRT, whose costs keep escalating out of control.
These awards are presented every year to people who make a difference in the part of East Bristol where I live. Nominations all come from the local community, i.e. friends and neighbours.
This year the awards were presented by local MP Stephen Williams, whilst the event was compèred by local broadcasting husband and wife team Pat Hart and Sherie Eugene Hart. Those honoured ranged in age from people still at school to pensioners.
The biggest cheer of the night was for Lil Stiddard, who received a standing ovation. Lili’s citation read:
It was 32 years ago that Lil and her husband became involved in setting up a club for older people in the community. Before Easton Community Centre was built, they met at the Chelsea Road Old Co-op. The floor collapsed with all the dancing the first time they used a temporary venue. At the age of 97, Lil is still active in the club, setting out the tables and chairs, bringing the tea and assisting the treasurer. “We are all human beings,” she says, “and need to learn to pull together.”
All the winners were photographed together at the end of the presentation.
Here’s a short film of vox pops shot at the awards.
If you are male, speak Welsh and have problems with your love life, particularly those related to erectile dysfunction, then maybe the new Aberystwyth store opened by Tesco (motto: every little helps) can come to your rescue.
The Daily Post reports that the cash machine installed at Tesco’s new outlet in Aberystwyth is offering a “free erection” (codiad am ddim) to Welsh speakers whilst Anglophones have to be content with withdrawing cash free of charge.
Sexual favours for Welsh speakers?
According to the Post, a Tesco spokesperson is reported to have said: “We’ve taken down the sign and will replace it with the correct translation. We appreciate this is a sensitive area.”
Here’s a little help for Tesco: next time use a professional translator! 😉
A couple of years ago, after a less than ideal consultation by Bristol City Council (my own street was omitted from the process! Ed.), communal bins – called skip bins by some – were imposed on residents.
They are not popular with locals since they attract abuse – fly-tipping by traders, dumping of recyclable materials by the uncaring and so on – and are unappealing to have outside one’s front door. They may be a good idea for block of flats if adequately screened, used properly and regularly emptied, but not for residential areas or shopping streets. Even in my own road where the communal bins never suffer the levels of abuse or levels of filling that they do in on busier streets, they are not popular with residents.
A local Stapleton Road resident has now produced a short video to draw attention to the problems they engender and her evident frustration with the council’s attitude to Easton.
As regards abuse of the communal bins, recent analysis of 2 bins on Stapleton Road by the city council revealed that their contents were roughly:
one-third waste for landfill;
one-third recyclable materials; and
one-third illegally dumped trade waste.
That analysis shows there is clearly a lot that needs to be done both as regards educating residents on what materials can be recycled, as well as enforcement, cracking down on traders who are not complying with their obligations in respect of proper disposal of the waste from their businesses.
When it comes to trade waste, the council has 2 options when it comes to enforcement action. It can impose a fixed penalty of £300 or taking offenders to court, where a maximum fine of £50,000 and/or up to five years imprisonment.
As regards the siting of communal bins, the idiocy evident in the video is not an isolated instance. Walton Street in Easton, which is some 300 metres in length, has one communal bin, whilst adjoining Northcote Street – a third of the length of Walton Street – has three!
If having to put out the rubbish on a cold, rainy night, I’d prefer to live in Northcote Street. Wouldn’t you?
Furthermore, it’s not just the major thoroughfares that have problems with fly-tipping, trade waste and the like, as this blog has previously highlighted with Jane Street (posts passim) on the borders of Redfield and Lawrence Hill districts.
Next month a residents’ rubbish summit will be held at Felix Road Adventure Playground as part of the #tidyBS5 initiative. Details will be posted here when they are finalised.
The protesters were supported by local councillors Marg Hickman (Lawrence Hill ward) and Afzal Shah (Easton ward), whilst a photographer from the Bristol Post also arrived to take pictures.
Other local residents also showed their support for the protesters by thumbs up signals, waves and the like, although we did get bemused looks from passengers on passing buses.
We want to get the message out there that people are sick of this mess and there should be more respect for keeping the streets clean and tidy.
“We realise that May Gurney and the city council are doing their best – this is more about urging residents to make sure they get rid of their rubbish properly.
Picking up on Stacey’s point about disposing of rubbish properly, the city council website has full details of what can be recycled. Recyclable materials happen to include lots of what is fly-tipped, such as cardboard from traders, or dropped as litter, such as aluminium drinks cans.
When it comes to bulky items like furniture, these can be taken to the tip in Folly Lane, off Days Road, St Philips, Bristol, BS2 0QS or the other one in Kings Weston Lane, Avonmouth, Bristol, BS11 0YS. Opening times are on the council website. Alternatively, these can be collected by the council, which will collect up to three bulky items for £15. All additional items are charged at the same rate. If you receive certain benefits, you are entitled to one free bulky waste collection of up to three items every six months. Full details on the council website.
It feels as if something is finally starting to happen along the Stapleton Road corridor on the fly-tipping and litter front (as well as on other problems. Ed.). Bristol City Council has helped draw up an action plan which will see greater enforcement and education on these two matters.
However, such encouraging developments should not detract from tackling the filth of illegal dumping and litter elsewhere in the BS5 area and Bristol’s inner city in general, which are equally deserving of attention.
A community market event took place earlier today on the section of Stapleton Road between Easton Way and Lower Ashley Road.
Image courtesy of Bristol News
Although interspersed with showers, the event was well attended and had such attractions as food, music, bouncy castles, face painting and – at one point – a samba band adding yet more sound and vibrancy to our main local street in this part of town.
The event was organised by the local community for the local community and has evidently gone down well with the people at Bristol News, who commented:
The amazing people on Stapleton Road are having fantastic fun today and doing it for far less money than Make Sunday Special has ever done. And more importantly the community is doing it for itself. This is the “real spirit of Bristol” not the water slides, skiing clowns and ambling bands.
It also shows a different side of a place that’s frequently just regarded, particularly by the rest of Bristol, as a source of inner city problems.
I do worry when schools display lack of proficiency in the English language. After all, they are establishments whose tasks include imparting formal training in the vernacular.
The latest example from the nursery slopes of Mount Academia was found almost on my doorstep at St. Nicholas of Tolentine RC Primary School in Pennywell Road, Bristol, which seems to think that childrens is the plural of child.
Should anyone from the school happen to be reading this, the correct punctuation is children’s. In the words of several of my old teachers: you could do better; see me after class. 🙂
Thursday’s Bristol Post saw the welcome return to journalism of a local greengrocer, with a report featuring a superfluous apostrophe in the headline.
The writer from the fruit and vegetable trade has been rather quiet on Temple Way recently. This blog has not featured his or her work for nearly a year now (posts passim).
One question that should be asked of Localworld, owners of the Bristol Post, is whether it was it such a great idea to get rid of sub-editors?
It’s not just fly-tipping that’s a problem in my part of Bristol (posts passim). Litter’s an associated problem that makes the place look scruffy and gives it that intimidating air.
However, some litter is not carelessly dropped, but is carefully placed – preferably off the ground – so that the perpetrator doesn’t feel so bad about being anti-social, as in the example below.
Here’s a quick reminder for the hard of thinking: even carefully discarded waste materials are still litter if not placed in an appropriate container, like a bin. Not using a bin – or mistaking the street or public open space for a litter bin – may earn you an on-the-spot fine of £75 in Bristol.
As for those who drop litter next to a litter bin, words fail me.
Anyway, that particular bottle is plastic and can be recycled, so will be out with the rest of my recycling tomorrow, ready for collection.
