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Save Avonvale Road Victorian school

27/05/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Oddities, Politics

There seems to be a passion for demolishing what’s left (and unlisted) of Bristol’s 19th century buildings at present (posts passim).

The latest potential victim is the Victorian era school in Avonvale Road in St George.

Avonvale School. Picture credit: Mariateresa Bucciante

Bristol City Council, those champions of preserving the city’s heritage of past centuries (as long as it fits in with their particular view of what constitutes heritage. Ed.), together with Redfield Educate Together (who’ll be running the school to be opened on the site) and the builders, PPP ‘experts’ Skanska, have submitted a planning application proposing the demolition of the old Victorian school buildings and the building of a box-like, bland, modern replacement.

The existing building has apparently been declared unsuitable by the city council’s Children and Young People’s Service, the trendy, modern moniker for what used to be the Local Education Authority.

A petition has been organised to try and avert its demolition and the information below comes from it.

The Victorian school currently occupying the site was designed in 1898 by the acclaimed local architect, Herbert J Jones, and it is a candidate for local listing. It is a local landmark in St. George, an area with a strong character and the building, in excellent condition, was used by the council until recently (isn’t it curious how the same building can be used and then regarded as unsuitable by the same body? Ed.).

The petitioners believe, as recommended by English Heritage advice on reusing Victorian schools, that the building should be saved and adapted for the new school. If not large enough, other school buildings are available, such as the other school in Avonvale Road in Barton Hill.

The advice from English Heritage is strong: “Where re-use for educational purposes has been ruled out, every effort should be made to find a new use. The aim should be to obtain the best return for the taxpayer consistent with government policies for protecting the historic environment.”

The replacement defeats Bristol City Council’s draft policy DM26 which states that, “Development should contribute positively to an area’s character and identity, creating or reinforcing local distinctiveness.”

The petition, which is addressed to Bristol City Council, concludes as follows:

We acknowledge the urgent and strong need for a new school in the area and we very much support the reuse of this building and the search for more suitable sites, and for a school which is truly inspiring for the future generations of Bristolians.

We believe you should reconsider your plan, looking for the advice of English Heritage’s experts independent from the proposal of a single developer.

Sign the petition.
Keep Castle Park open

27/05/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

One of the jewels of Bristol is Castle Park – a reasonably large green space in the middle of the city.

In times gone by this was partly the heart of the medieval city and contains the ruins of Bristol Castle. It also used to be the city’s main shopping area before World War 2. It lost that status when Broadmead (virtually unscathed by bombing) was developed as the city’s central shopping area. The construction of this bland, uninspiring mid-20th century retail development required the demolition of an area of Victorian, Georgian and Tudor buildings.

The west end of Castle Park, Bristol. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

For most of the past week, Castle Park has been closed to the public for a private commercial event, causing great inconvenience to those who use it regularly, such as cyclists and pedestrians making their ways to and from work or the shops, as well as more casual users wanting a bit of respite in pleasant surroundings in their lunch breaks.

To try and prevent Bristol City Council from closing Castle Park in future for its pure commercial gain and allow citizens access to their parks at all times, a petition has now been started on the 38 Degrees website.

The petition reads as follows:

To Bristol City Council

Following the complete closure of Castle Park (Bristol UK) for the 3rd year running, we propose that public parks should never be fenced off in their entirety for commercial events.

Tens of thousands of people attending a music event can negatively affect local residents and will inevitably cause damage to this small park. Damage which takes time and money to repair, and that can ruin the enjoyment of the park for the general public for weeks to come.

A park should be available for general public use at all times and even more so during School or Bank Holidays.

We request that Bristol City Council only license commercial events to be held at more suitable venues and allow people access to public parks.

Keeping parks open and accessible at all times is important because parks and green spaces have been shown to improve the well-being of local people and attract visitors from further afield.

According to Bristol City Council’s Parks and Green Spaces Strategy, central Bristol Bristol is so lacking in green space that temporary park closures would further deplete Castle Park.

Finally, parks are a public service provided by the council on behalf of the people of Bristol; they should not be exploited to the latter’s detriment as a means of generating revenue.

Sign the petition.
Southwark Crown Court shambles

25/05/2014 Steve WoodsLanguage, Politics

The report below – written by Heather Howe and reposted from Linguist Lounge – shows that the Crapita/MoJ court interpreting disaster is still rumbling on (posts passim).

Chaos such as this is being repeated in magistrates and Crown Courts in England and Wales every day. Nevertheless, this shambles – as Heather Howe so aptly describes it – and criminal waste of public funds is not getting the attention it really deserves in the mainstream media.

SOUTHWARK CROWN COURT – 23rd May 2014 serious matter listed not before 11am. No interpreter until 10.50 could be found therefore no assistance with conference with client and counsel. Into Court and started lengthy sentence hearing interupted [sic] by Jury returning in another matter and delayed until 12.30 ish. Returned to court and interpreter announces that he has to leave by 1pm. Case started but unable to finish and further interpreter sought. 2.15pm advised that only intepreter available was unqualified and without court experience. Further delays until about 3.30 when Court sat and considered adjourning case. All parties huge inconvenience and court empty for most of afternoon. An interpreter never arrived and we proceeded to sentence in the absence of interpreter and agreement of client. Lengthy conference will be required in prison with registered intepreter and full notes to explain sentence. Additional costs for all concerned. The last hearing at Southwark CC we have already complained that no interpreter arrived. That was simply a mention hearing and we managed after some delay and costs of empty courtroom. I am writing to the MP and the Court about this and lodging a formal complaint.

There was a case I did in Northampton last year with 4 Columbian clients and multiple charges. Two interpreters arrived and refused to attend the cells for conference. Again one had to leave at lunchtime, delayed again and hours spent for counsel and prison staff while clients were seen. SHAMBLES.
Slade alive

25/05/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Oddities

Thursday morning’s post contained an unusual item for me: my invitation from my niece to attend the private view of her art degree show at the Slade School of Fine Art in London’s Bloomsbury.

Silk screen printed lining paper by Katherine Midgley. Image courtesy of the artist.

On Friday afternoon I hopped on the train from Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington and made my way to the Slade in Gower Street in time for the opening of the private view, entry to which was slightly delayed by a fire alarm. Coincidentally, news began to filter through at about this time of the disastrous fire at the Charles Rennie Mackintosh building at Glasgow School of Art.

One of the degree show exhibits currently greets visitors as they enter the quadrangle of where the Slade stands – Ellen Yeon Kim’s The Shelter.

Once inside the Slade, the degree exhibition is spread over 3 floors of the labyrinthine building, whose institutional white emulsion and grey gloss décor does nothing to detract from the students’ work and lets the latter not so much speak for itself, as declaim.

As an indulgent uncle, I was very impressed by my niece’s exhibits as I know full well how much hard work and effort she has put into it. However, there’s one part of her show I have yet to experience – the commentary to her video, but that’s in hand.

As one would expect from one of the UK’s finest art schools, the standard of work on show was exceptionally high. If I could pick out a couple of highlights, these would be Danielle Tay and Ben Westley Clarke, not forgetting Lori Ho.

The private view of the degree show is usually the opportunity for the students’ parents, family and friends to view their work. I do nevertheless wonder how many parents felt perplexed at their offspring’s output.

The BA/BFA degree shows are open to the public until Thursday 29 May, weekdays 10am – 8pm, weekends 10am -5pm, whilst the MA/MFA Show will be open from Thursday 12 – Wednesday 18 June, weekdays 10am – 8pm, weekends 10am -5pm.
Shredder poll: UKIP wins

22/05/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics, Social Media

All election materials delivered to my home are recycled and those containing my personal detailed are shredded before recycling.

Each election I keep a tally of the number of communications received from each candidate or party, which has acquired the name of the shredder poll over the years.

Today the UK votes in elections for the European Parliament (posts passim). In addition, one-third of the council wards in Bristol are also up for election, although my ward of Lawrence Hill isn’t one of them.

Click here for a full list of candidates for the European Parliament elections (PDF).

The lack of a council election in my ward could account for the low level of election leaflets received in the run-up to the poll: a mere 6.

The graphic below shows the results of the shredder poll.

Well done UKIP! Perhaps this win will go some way to make up for your misguided #WhyImVotingUkip Twitter campaign.
New Alpha of 0 A.D. released

21/05/2014 Steve WoodsLinux, Open Source, Tech

Wildfire Games has published a new version of its free real-time strategy game 0 A.D. The game comes with an open source licence and can be played on Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. New translations have made their way into 0 A.D. Alpha 16 “Patañjali” and the game can now be played in 13 different languages. Additional languages will follow. A Japanese translation is also ready; however, it has not been incorporated into the latest release due to the size of the script files. In addition, these make heavy demands on the hardware. The Japanese translation with its script files is therefore available as a separate download.

A new AI called Petra should demand more of players and behave more aggressively during expansion and fighting. Just like human opponents, it builds defensive towers and fortifications. Petra will handle resources better than its predecessor (called Aegis) and also conduct trade with allies.

The interface style introduced with the multi-player lobby in version Alpha 15 is now used throughout the game. Biolinum, a font from the Libertine Open Fonts Project is used as the game’s new font. In a multi-player game all players must now conform the game settings using “Ready” before it can start. A new version of the SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine, which provides new functions, has also been incorporated in 0 A.D. Alpha 16. Information about additional new features in 0 A.D. can be found in the release notes.

Download 0 A.D. Alpha 16 Patañjali.
Bloody Foreigner!

21/05/2014 Steve WoodsLanguage, Media, Politics

There has been much scrutiny in the media about UKIP’s xenophobia in the run-up to tomorrow’s European Parliament election.

Indeed, party leader Nigel Farage got into a little difficulty in a radio interview on LBC last week, giving rise to accusations of racism, something he later explained away as being due to tiredness.

The picture below (for which Ade Cooper gets a tip of the hat. Ed.) should bring a smile to the face of anyone similarly stricken to me in years who doesn’t share young Nigel’s Little Englander view of the world.

To prevent any further incursion of foreigners and/or Foreigner, perhaps the UK should deploy a squadron of Farage balloons around the coast. Similar to the barrage balloons used in the 20th century’s 2 world wars, these isolationist windbags could soon blow any threat of invasion to the shores of Blighty back to whence it came. 🙂
Ah! Bristo

20/05/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Media

One of the features of the variety of English spoken in Bristol is the terminal ‘L’ – a final, intrusive ‘L’ on words ending in a vowel sound. As a consequence, Bristolians live in areals of the city and some of them do their shopping in Asdal.

This terminal L found its earliest expression in the city’s name itself, which has mutated from Brigstowe in Saxon times.

However, the terminal L is now under threat from poor writing and editing at the Bristol Post (or should that be Bristo Post? Ed.), as revealed in this blatant advertisement masquerading as news, complete with obligatory screenshot.

More of this poorly written junk can be expected in future as the Bristol Post – along with the rest of the Local World group to which it belongs – will be making increasing use of user-provided content, presumably to save on employing trained journalists.
Staffordshire oatcake to get protected status?

18/05/2014 Steve WoodsOddities, Politics

Will the Staffordshire oatcake be joining Melton Mowbray pork pies, the Cornish pasty and Newcastle Brown Ale by having its status protected by the European Union?

Filled Staffordshire oatcakes. Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The BBC reports that the the West Midlands Labour group of MEPs is promising to apply to get it protected by the European Union if re-elected.

One of the candidates, Sion Simon, is reported as saying: “They’re part of our heritage and culture in the West Midlands and they should be protected in the same way other European countries protect their food products.”

Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates are also said to be broadly supportive of the proposal, although UKIP are being curmudgeonly and refusing to support the move (another reason not to vote for Nigel’s Little Englanders? Ed.).

However, I cannot help wondering if this proposal is a local Labour response to the rise of UKIP, particularly amongst Labour’s long-term core voters – the traditional white working class – the people it has taken for granted for far too long.

It is unclear from the BBC’s article which type of protection – PDO (Protected Designation of Origin), PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) or TSG (Traditional Speciality Guaranteed) – will be sought, although my feeling is that it should be one of the first two.

I hope this is not just another manifesto promise from Labour that, like so many others, will be quietly dropped after the election when they have served their purpose.
Save Ebenezer Chapel

16/05/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

The historic Ebenezer Chapel, the last remaining non-conformist chapel in the St Philips area of Bristol, is under threat of demolition from its owners, who seem very unconcerned about its value.

As a non-conformist building, it is very interesting architecturally too, looking more influenced by the Romanesque or Norman style (as it is otherwise known in England. Ed.) than the more usual Gothic Revival.

Ebenezer Chapel in its days as an architectural salvage emporium. Picture courtesy of John M (via Geograph)

However, a petition has been started to try and save (some of) it.

The text of the petition reads as follows:

Ebenezer Chapel, on Midland Road, is under imminent threat of demolition. The landowner wishes to destroy this important and beautiful reminder of the history of St Philips and Old Market, to replace it with a modern block of flats.

The chapel was built in 1849, the first Primitive Methodist chapel built in Bristol. Notwithstanding its beauty for local residents and the thousands of pedestrians and cyclists which pass it each day, it is the last-remaining architectural evidence of the education and spiritual support given to the first residents in the area, who settled in the early nineteenth century.

An attempt has been made to get the building listed by English Heritage, while it is a very strong candidate for the Local List. But because it is not listed and is outside of a conservation area, Bristol City Council says it is powerless to intervene and save this beautiful building.

We would like your support for this petition, which aims to show how many people would like this building saved and, at the very least, incorporated into any new development that takes place.
The more public support we receive, the more we can do to persuade the landowner and council to work to save this important historical landmark for future generations, and in so doing create a better development for all.

As well as signing the petition, please consider writing to your local councillor and local media to express your support for saving the chapel, and calling on them to do all they can in the future to protect the heritage of our great city.

Sign the petition.

Easton blogger Ursula Wills-Jones has also written a post on the proposed demolition of the Ebenezer Chapel, describing it as “short-sighted and stupid”.

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