BRISTOL-A CITY WITH MANY SECRETS

Bristol:City of Secrets Whilst I could have properly researched this travelblog- I’ve decided not to. I may be wrong about some of the facts... but I want to feel gonzo today...I feel I need to do a Hunter S. Thompson on the good city of Bristol... a city built on human blood, sweat, flesh and tears...and city of IN- “ spire” ation and a city of hidden ghosts and secret slave caves... a city which has spawned secretive artists like BANKSY... and a city which is great if you walk or ride a bicycle or a canoe but terrible if you have a car... its one way systems specifically designed to confuse you into frustration...- my dad hated it!... but the city of Bristol makes up for any of its faults by its extremely friendly and personable people. It has a terrible city council that isn’t compassionate to homeless people but thankfully its residents are more so and Ive come across a remarkable community interest company called “ Positive Causes” which has a unique and direct way of raising cash for its operations and does at the same time help reduce petty crime in the area.www.positivecauses.co.uk And to top it all I was dressed as a banana yesterday on its gay pride day – to implement the method as a practical way of standing in the gap between what the government does and what normal charities do... and it is this... When someone is on benefits... it usually is not enough to live on... it barely maintains a person...and in some cases doesn’t even supply housing needs. Due to the unsympathetic Tory council Bristol is maintaining its hardnosed approach that gave it the desire and the ability to become the world’s centre of slavery... but this is not what this blog is about... It is about Bristol as a city of secrets. What I like about this city is the feel of it. It is the hipsters capital of the Uk...and has recently been declared the GREEN capital of the UK... its ambition..? to get off the grid and supply its own energy needs through a variety of means for example... TIDAL power...a scheme that would have been scrapped had it not been for the forward thinking mayor who is often seen sporting RED pants!!! You see the river has a tidal differential of around 6 metres... boats that came into its berth had to always prepare themselves for when the tide was low and the term in the British navy soon stuck...” Get it shipshape- Bristol Fashion...” Meaning tie everything down nice and tight and real good so nothing falls over and breaks! The other thing I like about the city centre is the colors on the buildings and the weird graffiti on buildings...it’s fantastic...and I can highly recommend a walking journey or hiring a bike to just see the street art around Bristol( mostly in Stokes Croft- near Full Moon Hotel& Backpackers) By the way...if you want cheap the best place and most central place to stay in Bristol is the Rock n Bowl who offer FREE bowling on a Monday night... I tried it for the first time last Monday and I won!!! I guess I’m a natural athlete. So I recommend a day just to see the street art... and of course you must see the Victorian Museum on Brandon Hill...the Bristol Museum and of course the Zoo...which is also world famous for its diversity. If you want to have an overview of the city take a walk up Park street and take a left on Charlotte street to see the Georgian architecture which reminds me a little of New Orleans French Quarter... in fact parts of the old city remind me a little of a combination of Amsterdam( Arnolfini) and Prague( Castle Park Bridge).. It is also quite interesting that HSBC has moved its headquarters here and other financial institutions have also followed suite to avoid the high prices of London... in fact this influx of London bankers has caused prices to go up by 20 % last year in property and any investment you make is bound to see a good return. There are other hidden gems in Bristol such as the SS Great Britain – built by Isambard Marc Brunel – the greatest British engineer... and of course the SLAVE CAVES!!! ( I discovered an entrance to one of them right under the city centre – pointed out to me by a Gambian brother)...Which no one talks about nowadays because it’s part of the shameful history of the city... and this is a pity because the city is so forward thinking in most other regards... TO ITS CREDIT BRISTOL HAS THROWN THE DOG A BONE BY PUTTING ON A TOKEN DISPLAY OF THE SLAVE TRADE BY PLACING A PERMANNET EXHIBIT AT THE MSHED NEXT TO THE SS GREAT BRITAIN...but – its tokenism and nothing more than that. Ask about the slave trade at the local tourist office and they will say..” huh?”- Que?” ... its like asking the Berlin Tourism office for the FUHRER BUNKER OR THE SPANDAU PRISON... this part of their history they have buried their heads in the sand ... and why is it important today? Its important because the heirs of the slavers have all benefitted and continue to benefit from the slave trade and the money created from this criminality. Whereas the heirs to the slaves themselves and the trade itself have not. In fact we see AFRICAN DISUNITY both in AFRICA and in the CARIBBEAN. The German government took pains to educate the youth of the horrors of the Holocaust and what they as a nation did to the Jews. They have not just educated them about this terrible event but they have placed museums and monuments to the fact... plus they have genuinely as a nation apologised and more importantly compensated their victims over a 60 year period. What has Britain done ? What has Bristol done? Tony Blair did take the admirable step of apologising but most people see his apology as only a token and not worth the breathe as he himself was responsible for Iraq and committing Britain to a disastrous war that cost this country money and blood and honor. But to take it back to Bristol... slavers built great big mansions which some are empty today...why don’t the council donate them to the AFRICAN PEOPLE TO BUILD UNITY IN AFRICA AND PROSPOERITY FOR ALL? Its all about acknowledging what pain was caused by slavery. And ding something about it today to make this wound be healed. It will never go away until collectively the British people do something about it. Currently we see disunity and pain on the African continent. Arguably the AFRICAN CHIEFS WERE ALSO RESPONSIBLE BUT THEY DID NOT CREATE THE TRADE... BRITIAN DID....and thus they are responsible for it... even in the holocaust there were Jews that sold out their own brothers... but it was the Nazis who created it. In any case we have found a big cave which we believe may have been used to keep slaves – so we as the Rainbow Family in Bristol have renamed it : “FREMANS “( Freemans)Cave... I had a debate with a radical feminist at the CREATE Centre – which alongside SPIKE ISLAND is an art centre and trying to show its 21st century hippy liberal nature... but comes across as being a bit sterile... like the Island ART STUDIO... there is an underground in Bristol ... a part the establishment want to reach for its creativity ...but it always tried to sterilise it which is unfortunate... Banksy street art tours and the graffiti on the building here in Bristol is quite amazing but it is no Bohemia...not yet anyway. So to return to the Slave question...YES...most definitely something needs to be done... seeing Cabot Towers and Colston Centre – two places named after the top slavelords feels a bit like calling SOMETHING Goring strasse or Hitler platz... WE CAN ARGUE IT IS PART OF OUR HISTORY... but is it a part to be proud of? That is the question! The Africa Unite Movement totally disagrees with how the good people are handling this sensitive issue and tokenism is not the way forward. I was told there is a Malcolm X centre and a St. Pauls festival but the African people collectively deserve a bigger apology than that for the holocaust they created and benefitted from. We are asking for a UNITED STATES OF AFRICA EMBASSY to be officially opened in one of these slave mansions... for example “ Burnhall House near the Clifton Suspension bridge... Something like this could assist with the development of political education and culture and panafricanism. And that’s what we would like to see in the future with the help of the local community leaders. But let’s stick our heads in the sand and move on to the next subject... Bristol has many secrets some good, some bad...and some ugly... take your pick... Its host to the gay pride day once a year that draws in lots of pink pounds... and one of the Shakespeare festivals as well as The St Pauls festival- which is hosted by the afro- Caribbean community of St Pauls. There are two universities here and Bristol has a very vibrant theatre scene – its one of the two places in the UK many people come to do Computer Science degrees and sociology... – the other place is Cambridge... rowing is also popular here on the River Avon and the surrounding areas of Bristol offer good day trips such a s Bath and Glastonbury- Cardiff and Cornwall( the Eden Project)...so HIP is this city becoming that the hotels are usually FULL over weekends...and because of the many different festivals and events going on in and around the town... there’s always lots of tourists coming through and lots of jobs for students to do part time... Bristol was voted recently as the happiest city to live in the UK and finally it has the highest LUX rate ( sunshine or light in the UK)... so if you don’t like the misery of Northern towns and their dampness...come to Bristol...there’s something for everyone here... it’s got a great library and last but not least it’s also known as the “CITY OF SPIRES!...” I would like to rename that to the CITY OF IN- “SPIRE” – ATION! There are many steeples and spires and towers that all taken together make up a cacophony of old and new architecture.... that pierces the British Vanilla Skies... Transport to London is good from the Bus station- only 5 quid by Megabus to London( 2 and a half hours) and by train ( one and a half hours to Paddington)- Temple Meads... it also has a good airport which is serviced by regular buslinks to and from the airport... For the price conscious who want to visit the south west region – it’s only a 20 minute ride to Bath or 45 minutes to Cardiff... and a ticket to and from Glastonbury for example will cost you only £7.10 return... Whilst the city council is very hard assed towards vulnerable people coming through Bristolians have a good heart and this city has per capita the most charities and community interest companies in Britain- which says one thing...people here GIVE! Oh yeah...one more secret... John and Charles Wesley started the first Methodist chapel right here in Bristol and often spoke out against slavery... in fact they were one of the first to do so...the chapel today is a museum but there are services or talks on Friday lunchtimes...and you can even see where the great man slept! And prayed with his fellows... apparently he was quite a bastard unlike his songwriting brother ... but men of the cloth were in those days... It is interesting to note that Michael Eavis the founder of Glastonbury himself is a Methodist and attends church regularly on Sundays... unlike others in the area who are mostly new agers... The community is quite diverse and the place to eat is St Nicholas Market which has food from all over the planet... comparable to Brixton... Another little secret of Bristol! I recommend anyone coming here to set aside at least 3-4 days to see the city properly. For the booze cruisers there’s always a boat ride on the Jolly Roger... so whether you look inside a guide book or discover the city for yourself... take your time!!! I can also recommend a visit to the Palestine Embassy for another point of view... Bristol is it seems quite open to things like that... a very progressive city on one way... a very conservative one in another... quite a quandary...quite a mystery... A city of secrets! A city of spires... a city of many colors... come and see it for yourself and make up your own mind...personally I love it !