Bristol | Steve Woods

Stephen Williams MP caused by Al Qaeda – Post exclusive

15/10/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Media, Oddities, Politics

It’s not very often the Bristol Post manages to come up with an exclusive, but today’s online edition proved a winner on that score.

The text below was concealed in a letter to Post from reader Stephen Farthing:

THE news of 15-year-old girl Yusra Hussien leaving Bristol to become a supporter of IS, allegedly, is a worrying outcome and I echo what Stephen Williams said, that such an objective is not only foolish but profoundly unwise.

In some ways, what Al Qaeda started in 2001 has produced many problems of his kind.

Yes, you did read that correctly: “problems of his kind“, i.e. problems like him, if you prefer to paraphrase.

The Post has exclusively revealed that Bristol West MP Stephen Williams is a problem that has been caused by Al Qaeda, an organisation never before known for its links to the UK’s Liberal Democratic Party, let alone elected members thereof.

Perhaps Mr Williams would care to comment on his links to Al Qaeda below; or alternatively perhaps the Post could employ a little more care when publishing reader’s letters where a lost or missing consonant can give a phrase a whole new meaning.
TidyBS5 takes to the streets

15/10/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Media

After yesterday’s Easton & Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Forum meeting at Trinity Community Arts, local residents held a picket on a damp, drizzly Stapleton Road to draw attention to the litter and fly-tipping in east Bristol.

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.

The picket also features in today’s Bristol Post, where Stacy Yelland of Up Our Street is quoted as saying:

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.
Stapleton Road Community Market

11/10/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

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.
School English: see me after class

11/10/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Oddities

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.

In particular, they seem to have problems with the use of the apostrophe (posts passim), whether that entails its use as a possessive or as an indication of omission.

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. 🙂
Greengrocer returns to Post

04/10/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Media

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?
The FoI requests go in for #tidybs5

01/10/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

The struggle to clear the inner city of fly-tipping and litter continues (posts passim).

Earlier this week it was revealed that ward councillor Marg Hickman had taken Assistant Mayor Mark Bradshaw on a walk along Stapleton Road. Cllr. Bradshaw professed himself to be shocked and angered by what he saw. Let’s hope his involvement manages to stir council officers to take the area’s problems rather more seriously than they have to date.

Jane Street – a regular fly-tipping hotspot in BS5. Picture courtesy of @HelmoreAndHunt

My latest 2 FoI requests have now been submitted. Both seek to see how the BS5 area compares with the rest of the city as regards enforcement action as there is a distinct impression locally that the area is regarded as less worth bothering about than the city’s more affluent parts. The first concerns fly-tipping in the BS5 area and is reproduced below.

Dear Bristol City Council,

This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.

1. As regards Stapleton Road (the section between its junctions with Trinity Road and Fishponds Road) in particular:

a) How many fixed penalty notices have been issued for fly-tipping on this road in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?

b) How many people have been prosecuted for fly-tipping on this road in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?

2. As regards the BS5 area in general:

a) How many fixed penalty notices have been issued for fly-tipping in this area in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?

b) How many people have been prosecuted for fly-tipping in this area in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?

Yours, etc.

The second concerns the associated problem litter.

Dear Bristol City Council,

This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information
Act.

1. As regards Bristol in general:

a) How many fixed penalty notices have been issued for dropping litter throughout the city in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?

b) How many people have been prosecuted for dropping litter throughout the city in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?

2. As regards the BS5 area in general:

a) How many fixed penalty notices have been issued for dropping litter in this area in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?

b) How many people have been prosecuted for dropping litter in this area in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?

Yours, etc.
Even carefully placed litter is still litter

28/09/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Language

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.

Collins Dictionary defines litter as “small refuse or waste materials carelessly dropped, esp. in public places“.

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.

If you want to report litter in Bristol, the city council’s website has a handy form.
Happy Easton

23/09/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Media

As a part of inner city Bristol, Easton tends to get into the papers for all the wrong reasons, such as fly-tipping (posts passim).

However, it’s a vibrant area where I’ve lived for nearly 4 decades and so it can’t be all that bad, as is shown by the fact that community campaigners Happy Easton have produced their own video version of the record-breaking Pharrell Williams hit “Happy” to show a more positive side of Easton.

The video was filmed at 18 sites around the area including Easton Community Centre, Trinity Community Arts, the soon to be shut Trinity Police Station and various local shops and takeaways.

Are the dancing cops and PCSOs as embarrassing as your relatives at a wedding? Answers in the comments below! 🙂
Bristol’s Bitcoin machine handles £38K per month

10/09/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Media, Oddities, Tech

The Bristol Post is not renowned locally for its in-depth coverage of technology, let alone such exotic areas as crytocurrencies, but today proved an exception as it reported on the fortunes of Bristol’s only Bitcoin cash machine, which is located in Superfoods in St Stephen’s Street (review here) in the centre.

SatoshiPoint, the machine’s owners have hailed it a success after the machine processed 250 transactions and the equivalent of £38,000 in Bitcoins in the month of August alone.

SatoshiPoint’s Hassan Khoshtaghaza said: “Bristol is doing very well, in fact better than our London ATMs because there are now six of them in London so the use gets spread out. We are getting users from as far as Cardiff and Bath coming to use the machine in Bristol and our volume is increasing each month on buy and sell transactions.”

The company recently installed a Bitcoin machine in Brighton and further cities under consideration are Cardiff, Manchester and Edinburgh, plus Newcastle Airport, according to Khoshtaghaza.

SatoshiPoint’s Bitcoin machines accept £10 and £20 notes, but not debit or credit cards and users can buy anything from £10 to £1,500 worth of Bitcoins a day, at the live price plus 7% commission.

Originally posted on Bristol Wireless.
Jane Street, Bristol celebrates Zero Waste Week

01/09/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics, Social Media
Zero Waste Week, now in its seventh year, is currently taking place in the United Kingdom between 1st and 7th September 2014.

The aim of Zero Waste Week is to “an opportunity to reduce landfill waste & save money“.

The theme of this year’s event is “One More Thing“.

Jane Street in Redfield, Bristol, shows in the picture below just what can be achieved with “One More Thing” in Zero Waste Week, in this case, one more instance of fly-tipping!

Image courtesy of Amy Harrison

As part of the campaign to clear up Easton and Lawrence Hill wards (under the #tidybs5 moniker. Ed.), I recently attended a meeting with Marg Hickman, my local councillor, and council officers (news passim). At that meeting I was informed by the officers that the problem of fly-tipping in Jane Street had disappeared since a local mafrish – a café used for chewing khat – had closed down following the UK’s outlawing of khat. Obviously the council officers concerned hadn’t bargained for the persistence of Bristol’s filthy fly-tipping community!

Besides alerting @BristolCouncil via Twitter, fly-tipping can be reported to the city council by:
- using the dedicated fly-tipping report form on the council website (which also has a mobile version that works on smartphones);
- a third party smartphone app, such as My Council (which is available for both Android and iOS; and
- telephoning 0117 922 2100.
The most direct reporting route is using the fly-tipping form as the report is sent directly to the department concerned, whereas the other methods require the report to be forwarded by its original recipient.

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