August Highlights
News and events from Bristol Books this August
COMING SOON… PRE-ORDER NOW!
Bristol Green Walks
12 easy walks around Bristol’s Green Spaces
by Sue Cullimore
This new book brings together 12 short walks exploring the many green spaces within the Bristol city boundaries. From wooded valleys and wildflower meadows to reclaimed industrial sites now returned to nature, formal parkland and local nature reserves.
These walks have been selected for relatively easy walking and accessibility, with options for shortcuts, detours and extensions. As well as detailed walk descriptions and route maps, each walk has accompanying information on local history and heritage, nature notes, plus ideas and activities for families and children to help get the most out of your walk. There are also suggestions for public transport links and nearby car parking, plus ideas for refreshment stops along the way.
Pre-order now: This title will be released on 19th September, 2026
COMING SOON… PRE-ORDER NOW!
The Women Who Built Bath
by Jane Duffus
Inside this book by Jane Duffus, author of the popular The Women Who Built Bristol series, you will find the previously untold stories of 200 incredible women from Bath’s history. They were all women who helped to shape Bath into the extraordinary city that it is today. A few of them you will know… but most of them will be new names to you.
You can expect to find 26 suffragists, six artists, four doctors, two pioneering police officers and one big-hearted chicken in here… plus many more besides. Such as the sisters who enjoyed wild swimming into their 70s, the woman who founded a community of almshouses for single women, the doctor who travelled to her patients by horse so as not to be late, and the homeowner who made her voice heard by sunbathing in a scandalously yellow bikini.
Pre-order now: This title will be released on 9th September, 2026
Book Launch: The Women Who Built Bath
Wednesday, 9 September 2026 – 7-9pm
Upstairs at the Townhouse, 18-19 Old Bond Street, Bath, BA1 1BP
You are warmly invited to the book launch for 'The Women Who Built Bath' by Jane Duffus. Join us for drinks in the bar, followed by Jane in conversation with BBC presenter Laura Rawlings, and then book sales and signings.
Tickets: £5 (fully redeemable against a book purchase at the event)
The Mint, later St Peter’s Hospital, which was bombed in 1940.
The last coins to be struck in Bristol were during the reign of William III
Over the years, Bristol has had several mints. Indeed, the first evidence for the existence of Bristol comes from a few small silver pennies struck during the reign of Aethelred the Unready (968-1016).
In 1272 it was recorded that there were ‘twelve furnaces in Bristol for melting silver, and hammering and stamping perfect money.’ Initially, the mint was probably within the castle precinct though in 1422 a new mint was set up in Norton’s Mansion – later St Peter’s Hospital, which was bombed in 1940 (pictured above).
The last coins to be minted in Bristol were during the reign of William III (1689-1702). In 1696, there was a national ‘Great Re-coinage’ when old-style hand-hammered silver coins were replaced by new milled currency manufactured by a screw press. The milled edge of the coin was to deter fraudulent clipping. Branch mints were set up in Bristol, Chester, Exeter, Norwich and York. Bristol’s coins were recognisable by the letter ‘B’ under the head.
This is an extract from Manson’s Bristol Miscellany: Volume 1 by Michael Manson – A treasure trove of tales from the city’s rich and diverse history.