How Bristol's culture is bouncing back after slavery protests in 2020

Hang on a minute… surely Sheffield sowed the seeds of the Northern cheese-loving bachelor and his dog?

Well, yes, it’s where the animated characters’ creator Nick Park studied, at the city’s polytechnic, now Hallam University.

But for 40 years, he’s worked for Aardman Productions in Bristol, in one of the old industrial buildings now given over to award-winning media companies.

You can see why they’re here. As well as being buzzy and progressive, the city has a reputation for irreverence, shown in good measure on Luke’s popular walking tours.

The ‘Blackbeard to Banksy’ one provides an entertaining introduction to Bristol’s diverse heritage and rich artistic traditions – among them Banksy’s public transformation from street artist as public nuisance to the West Country’s answer to Andy Warhol.

The walk also explores Bristol’s links to the transatlantic slave trade, culminating in the infamous 2020 toppling of the statue of Edward Colston, benefactor, philanthropist - and slave owner.

The bronze statue, still splattered with red paint, now rests on its side in the harbour’s M Shed museum.

This month sees the city’s annual Harbour Festival, celebrating its varied maritime heritage, music, and culture.

It’s a ten-minute walk or waterbus ride from Colston’s empty plinth to the M Shed, a bustling place dedicated to the city and its people and highlighting their reputation for protest and rebellion, from the 1831 riots pressing for electoral reform to the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement.

One display concentrates on Extinction Rebellion, referencing climate activist Greta Thunberg’s visit that year, and celebrating Bristol’s reputation for ‘supporting a cause, direct action, human rights’.

Nearby is Banksy’s famous Grim Reaper mural, showing a skeleton rowing a boat.

Elsewhere, older Bristolians have shared their memories of the Nazi bombing raids of November 1940, when over 200 people were killed, almost as many seriously injured, and many landmark buildings were destroyed.

Another short walk away is Brunel’s SS Great Britain, called ‘the biggest ship in the world’ when it was launched in 1843 as ‘the greatest experiment since the creation’.

Built of iron, with a propeller rather than paddle wheels, it carried cargo including South American seabird guano – much sought-after as a fertiliser for European gardens. Now very much a tourist attraction, the ship offers an atmospheric look at conditions both on deck and below.

Another major city landmark is, of course, the Clifton Suspension Bridge, with its stunning views across the Avon Gorge.

Its visitor centre traces the history and construction of the bridge, which had to be built high enough to allow tall ships to pass underneath.

Although Brunel’s Egyptian design was chosen in 1830, the bridge didn’t actually open until December 1864, five years after his death.

Completed as ‘a monument to his fame’, it had certainly lived up to its motto of ‘Suspensa Vix Via Fit’ (‘a suspended way built with difficulty’).

Today, it costs nearly £1.5m a year to maintain – including removing snow with calf urine crystals - hence the men in yellow high viz jackets along the bridge and the toll booths at either end.

At one, the attendant is shouting at tourists to get off the wall where they’ve perched for selfies.

“You have to have a loud voice in this job!” he laughs. And a head for heights. You also need stamina, and good walking shoes.

Georgian houses lining streets called Richmond Terrace, Royal York Crescent and Buckingham Place.

Brandon Hill is full of wildflowers and birdsong and, across from the impressive university buildings at the top of Park Row, the Georgian House Museum conjures up the luxurious lives of Bristol’s 18th Century merchants.

An elegantly restored townhouse, richly furnished and high-ceilinged, it was built by John Pinney, a wealthy slave plantation owner and one-time Lord Mayor.

Two of his servants were enslaved Africans, including Pero Jones, after whom one of Bristol’s 45 bridges is named.

Like the university’s Wills Memorial Building, the Museum and Art Gallery was funded by the founder of the W. H Wills tobacco company.

A series of ‘Uncomfortable Truths’ labels point out the sometimes-controversial acquisition of some exhibits, along with a reference to ‘the ethics of using profits from enslaved labour to fund public buildings’.

Less controversially, there’s a paint-splashed angel sculpture by Banksy, and an extensive collection of Bristol Delftware, European ceramics and 300 examples of Chinese glassware, described as ‘one of the best collections outside Asia’.

But the ghost of Edward Colston is never far away. It also haunts St Mary Redcliffe Church, whose soaring spire can be seen across the city.

Described by Queen Elizabeth 1 as ‘The fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England’, the current church has been called ‘a masterpiece of Gothic architecture’ and ‘a treasure of international importance’.

Four stained-glass windows praising Colston as ‘one of the most virtuous and wise sons of their city’ were removed in 2020 and replaced with others showing Bristol’s ethnic diversity.

Depicting Christ “in multiple ethnicities to counter the Anglo-centric narrative of ‘white Jesus’”, as an information board explains, they also reference refugees and the 1960s bus boycott that helped bring in the 1965 Race Relations Act. Six decades on, and the conversations continue.

Bristol Harbour Festival runs from 18th-20th July www.bristolharbourfestival.co.uk

www.visitbristol.co.uk

CrossCountry trains run regular train services to Bristol from across the north www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk