Avon Stories

Standing under the M5 motorway bridge at Lamplighter's Marsh, Bristol, listening to the traffic. 5th August 2018.

Rain outside my window, 23:18, 11th August 2018 by A podcast and art project by Sarah Connolly

00:05, 10th August 2018

Friday night in Bristol - 1st June 2018

Sitting on my doorstep, listening to the spring rain in the dusk

One of the ways to explore a place is through its sounds - & in this episode, Dan Pope took me on a soundwalk along the River Avon to find out what we could hear. We talked about what soundwalks are, Dan's work as an acoustic consultant, how soundscapes can be added to places, and what people can use to explore sounds in their area. There are some resources, a map and lots of links on my website: https://avonstories.com/2018/04/26/podcast-23-soundwalking-dan-pope/

As you can guess, from the fact I make podcasts, I really love the medium, and one of the ones I enjoy is the Bristol History Podcast. This has been created by Tom Brothwell, and he interviews different historians and authors to cover a wide range of different subjects that he's interested in, and wants to find out more about. We talked about why he started, his approaches to history, and lots more, including some of the history about the River Avon. For links to Tom's podcasts and more things we talked about, click through to my website: https://avonstories.com/2018/04/18/podcast-22-tom-brothwell-bristol-history-podcast/

Shawn Sobers is a filmmaker, photographer, writer, curator and academic, and I always found his community-based practice and his range of interests to be completely inspiring. We walked along the River Avon at Lacock on a snowy day, and talked about what he does, and how and why he does it, about teaching photography, his film-making practice, projects about TransAtlantic slavery, the sinking of the SS Mendi and much more. There are links to Shawn's work, and things we talked about, on my website: https://avonstories.com/2018/04/05/podcast-21-shawn-sobers/

Back in 2007, artists Kayle Brandon and Heath Bunting were making some really interesting work together, including about exploring the Bristol in different ways. One of these was the Avon Canoe Pilot project, with all kinds of different aspects: sport, trying to get a Blue Flag for the Harbour, dredging rubbish, clearing a jetty, swimming... all of which sound wholesome, but were done in incredibly subversive ways. In this podcast, they talk about the Project, and other work - and if you'd like to find out more, I have links on my site: http://avonstories.com/2018/03/06/podcast-20-avon-canoe-pilot-project/ The image is the cover of the Avon Canoe Pilot Project, and used with kind permission of Heath Bunting and Kayle Brandon

Dru Marland is a poet and artist who lives on a narrowboat on the Kennet & Avon Canal. I went to visit her on a wet, grey day, and she told me all about her work and her life on the water, and about the community of canal-people. We talked about how she started out as a poet, and the traumatic experience that lead her to become a full-time artist, as well as the beauties and difficulties of narrowboat life, from having to find a new berth every fortnight, to more prosaic issues like dealing with the mud, and a boat's equivalent of plumbing. You can find links to her work on my website, http://www.avonstories.com The illustration is Dru Marland's map of the West End of the Kennet & Avon Canal, and is used with her kind permission - all rights reserved.

Every two years the Bristol Harbour Master's office runs a salvage auction, of boats that, for one reason or another, they need to remove from the Harbour. All the proceeds go into the maintenance of the Harbour, and it's a chance to buy a boat for what's likely to be a fraction of the usual cost. I talked to the auctioneer, Graham Cockle, about what's in the 2018 auction, and more about why it's on. If you want to have a look at the boats yourself, there are public viewings on each February weekend - more details and links on how to bid, as well as photos, on my website: https://avonstories.com/2018/02/06/avon-stories-podcast-18/

The Underfall Yard sits at the western end of Bristol's Floating Harbour, a cluster of Victorian redbrick buildings, reminding us of the Harbour's industrial history. Join me as Sarah Murray, the Underfall Yard Trust's Community, Learning & Volunteering Manager, took us for a tour around the Yard, and told me about the history and engineering on the site, as well as how they balance running a heritage and leisure site in an important working environment - as well as telling me her favourite things about her job. Links & photos of things we talked about on my website: https://avonstories.com/2018/01/30/podcast-17-underfall-yard/

Bristol's New Cut was built to enable River Avon to be turned into the fixed-height Floating Harbour, to try to keep Bristol as one of the most important ports in the UK, while the tidal river would be diverted through a huge trench. Now, the Cut is an urban nature reserve, a green corridor that's home to a wide range of flora and fauna. Roy Gallop took me for a walk along the river, and told me about the history, nature and future of the Cut, and how the Friends of the Avon New Cut have worked to celebrate and protect it. Links, photos and maps that go with this podcast are on my website, https://avonstories.com/2018/01/11/podcast-16-avon-new-cut/

The Cumberland Basin to Ashton Gate road system is this confusing tangle of roads passing above and below each other. It's generally seen as a brutalist concrete nightmare, but back in the 1960s, when it was built, it was seen utopian and futuristic, full of exciting new ways to live in a city, with vibrant spaces and an urban park,, all designed by Sylvia Crowe. Wendy Tippett took me walking through here, and told me about how the spaces would have looked in the 1960s, the design elements that are taken for granted these days, and why, ultimately, it failed. Photos, a plan and links to historic photos on my website https://avonstories.com/2017/12/14/podcast-13-sylvia-crowe-wendy-tippett/ Image credit: Sylvia Crowe Cumberland Basin Bridges, Landscape Plan. Coloured up by Wendy Tippett, with our Avon Stories walk marked up in red line. Ref. Landscape Report, Cumberland Basin Bridges & Ashton Gate Junction, April 1964, University of Bristol Library.

Ellen Southern is a vocal artist, whose Site Singing project includes visiting lesser-known heritage sites, and making vocal pieces responding to the spaces, alongside drawings, photos and writing. I met Ellen when she was performing a piece under the Avon Bridge, as part of a walk, and I was delighted when she invited me to come and visit one of her sites, Over Bridge. This is a beautiful, abandoned bridge to nowhere on the River Severn in Gloucester, and we explored the space together, while she told me more about the bridge, and why she loves it. Links to things we talked about, and photos, on my website: https://avonstories.com/2017/12/07/avon-stories-podcast-14-ellen-southern/

Ben Barker has been at the heart community development work in the Bristol neighbourhoods of Southville and Bedminster for over 25 years, involved in everything from projects that look tiny and have no budget, right through to things like the Business Improvement District that has helped the local high streets remain vibrant. I always enjoy talking to Ben, so I wanted to find out more about his approach, especially to areas like social isolation, and projects impacting on elderly and disabled people, including making the area more accessible. Find links to the projects we talked about on my website http://www.avonstories.com The graphic for this podcast is the Bedminster Toilet Map, and you can see the map here: http://www.linkagebristol.org.uk/uploads/files/bedminstertoiletmapA.pdf

Bristol isn't a city famous for links with the Romans, like Bath, but the Romans were here for around three hundred years, and built a port on the Avon, Portus Abonae, which became the town of Abona, now Sea Mills. In this podcast, Gail Boyle, the Senior Curator for Archeology at Bristol Museums, told me about Abona, the other Roman sites in the city, and what we know about who the Romans in Bristol were, where they came from, and why they were here. She told me about the Roman remains in Sea Mills and the Kingsweston Roman Villa, and how a lot of what we know is thanks to teenage archeology enthusiasts. She also told me what we can visit today, and I've included links and photos of what they look like on my website http://www.avonstories.com

Did you know that in the 1960s there was a plan to turn Bristol's Floating Harbour into roads, and it was only luck that prevented it? Richard Holden worked in Bristol City Council's Planning department for 36 years, and told me about this and more of the good, the bad and the ugly of the Harbourside redevelopment, including current threats to the Harbour, and what we can do to help. There are photos, a map, and a presentation by Richard on my site http://www.avonstories.com. Picture used with kind permission of Richard Holden.

I met Richard White when I went on one of his Sweet Waters walks along the Avon, exploring the legacies of the Transatlantic slave trade. This podcast is a walk we took down the Avon to the Black Castle pub, via a closed path and the weir that stops the Avon being tidal, and had all kinds of experiences along the way. We talked about his Sweet Waters project, how Richard uses walking and social media in his art practice, and what we saw as we went. You can find photos we took and links to Richard's work on my website, https://avonstories.com/2017/08/08/avon-stories-10-richard-white/

The Bristol Avon Rivers Trust is a community-based charity that works to protect and improve the rivers and streams. I talked to their Project Officer, Claire Hutchinson, about the challenges and issues facing the rivers, including the different forms of pollution, and what they, and we, can do to protect our environment. You can find links to their work, including how to report pollution you see, on my website http://www.avonstories.com

Dr Edson Burton is a man with many strings to his bow: historian, poet, playwright, performer, storyteller and programmer/curator, just as the start. I talked to him about his work, how he got into writing in the first place, running poetry and story-telling workshops, events he curates, and much more. And we finished the conversation by Bristol Harbour, where he read one of his poems. You can find the links to Edson's work, including his recent play on BBC Radio 4, on my website: https://avonstories.com/2017/07/26/avon-stories-8-edson-burton/ Photo provided by Edson Burton, taken by Claudio Ahlers.

In this week's podcast, Charlie Revelle-Smith, author of Bristol-based murder mysteries, told me about some of the famous historical murders around the Bristol Harbour, and what they reveal about the city, as well as some of the ghost stories. He also told me about his Weird Bristol twitter, which shares fantastic factoids about the city. You can find links to the things we talked about on my website: https://avonstories.com/2017/07/21/avon-stories-7-weird-bristol/

John Raymond-Barker runs RB Boatbuilding, one of the last boatyards on Bristol's Harbour. He builds Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters, and told me about these unique boats, and being a link back to Bristol's history. More information, and photos, on my website:https://avonstories.com/2017/07/15/avon-stories-podcast-6-rb-boatbuilding/

A walk down the Avon with Nikki Pugh, an artist who investigates how we perceive, move through and interact with our surroundings. Her work combines a mixture of techniques, including sculpture, walking, playfulness and use of technology. Often it also includes other people getting involved in some way. We talked about her art, playing in the city, and a lot more, and got very excited about the tide going out, and the silt in the Avon - please join us! Our photos from the walk are on my website http://www.avonstories.com

Part 2 of a conversation with Dr Peter Fleming, a professor at the University of the West of England, who specialises in Medieval History. We talked about the people who lived in the city, from the Icelandic slaves to the Knights Templars, the Jewish communities, how women lived, and more; how the city responded to the huge events of the era, including Plague and war; and what Bristolians did for fun. For links to everything we talked about, go to my website, https://avonstories.com/2017/07/05/avon-stories-4-podcast/

The first of a two-part podcast with Dr Peter Fleming of the University of the West of England talking about Bristol in Medieval times, and how the River Avon and the River Frome were integral in making it one of the most important cities in England and Western Europe. We talk about the physical city and the infrastructure, how the geography made Bristol so important, as well as how people lived, who had the power, and what the city would have looked (and smelled) like. There are maps, photos and links to things we talked about on my website https://avonstories.com/2017/06/27/avon-stories-podcast-3/

For this Avon Story, I travelled 20 miles outside of Bristol, to find out about the railway line that runs up the Avon Gorge to Pill and the Royal Portbury Dock, and used to continue on to Portishead, on the Bristol Channel. Dave Chillistone of the Portishead Railway Group took me for a walk and told me why the railway was built, the impact on the town, why it was closed, and why the PRG are campaigning for it to be re-opened. You can follow our walk, with photos and lots more information, on my website, http://www.avonstories.com

Avon Stories is a podcast exploring the River Avon in Bristol, and one of the best resources to learn about the city and the river is Know Your Place, where you can overlay maps going back to the early eighteenth century onto current maps, and view photos, paintings and all kinds of archive material in context - and add your own, to help build up the record of the city.. Pete Insole is the Historic Environments Officer who runs Know Your Place, and he how and why it was developed, how it has expanded across the whole of South West England, and how it helps us understand some of the key aspects of the city's history, including, of course, the River Avon. Find the links to things we talked about over at the Avon Stories website: https://avonstories.com/2017/06/03/avon-stories-podcast-1-pete-insole/