January Highlights

News, events and new titles from Bristol Books this January

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History talks with Clive Burlton

Bristol Books director Clive Burlton marks his 10th year of giving talks to local community groups with a busy January.

In the next week he is appearing at Longwell Green Probus meeting to talk about the Life and Times of Harry Dolman – Clive is co-author of Harry’s biography. He’s at the Corner Club in Clifton Cathedral talking about Bristol Citizens at War and at Bristol Soroptimists on his book on Bristol’s Lost City and his book on The Matthew of Bristol to Probus Club of Mendip.

Open to the general public are Clive’s talk on The Whitchurch Airport Story on January 9 at Totterdown and Knowle Local History Society and January 12 at Sodbury and District History Society on January 12.

Also open is a talk on Bristol’s Lost City to the U3A at Chipping Sodbury on the morning of January 10; Trenches To Trams at Hutton Friendship Group on the afternoon of January 15 and A Picture of Health – the NHS at 70 to Kingston Seymour History Society on the evening of January 10.

Anyone interested in attending a talk can email Clive on Clive@bristolbooks.org.

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Browse a local bookshop

Bristol is blessed with some great independent bookshops and also gift shops that sell our books alongside many other titles.

January is a quiet time in the book trade so why not pop in and browse for a good book! We recommend Heron Books, Clifton; Bookhaus, Rope Walk, Bristol; Max Minerva in Henleaze and Portishead; Born In Bristol, St George, Gloucester Road Books, Bishopston, We Make Bristol, Canford Lane and John Wesley's New Room, Broadmead.

There are also excellent factual book sections at M Shed, Bristol Museum and SS Great Britain for the local history lover. Happy browsing!

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Fred’s Story

How did a man from Bristol end up singing on Top of The Pops in a satin suit surrounded by scantily clad dancers? The incredible story of Fred Wedlock – Funnyman of Folk by John Hudson is still one of our most endearing tales. It also highlights some amazing stories of the folk boom of the 1960s and the Troubadour Club in Bristol. You can see Fred performing his biggest hit here:

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Bristol’s Pauper Children

A BBC Antiques Roadshow Special at Christmas highlighted the discovery of a box of photographs showing British children sent to Canada as part of the British Home Children Scheme. You can learn more about the programme here.

Many Bristol children were sent to Canada and their story is in our book, Bristol’s Pauper Children, written by Shirley Hodgson. Orphaned, destitute and abandoned children were a common sight in Bristol in Victorian times. The lucky ones were fed, clothed, educated and taught skills by church and charitable organisations, workhouses, reformatories and industrial schools.

Shirley Hodgson describes the workings and motives of the organisations formed to care for the poor and vagrant children in the city and opens a window into their ancestors’ past for the estimated 60,000 Canadians descended from Bristol’s Pauper Children.

December Highlights

News, events and new titles from Bristol Books this December

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A Bristol Book is the perfect gift

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for a lover of all things Bristol?

Easy to wrap and always appreciated we have books that tell stories of some of the city’s most fascinating characters and places. For a selection box of all that Bristol offers choose Bristol Miscellany 1 or 2 – chock full of interesting and juicy historical facts about the city.

Or you can look to the future with Bristol 650, celebrating the 650th anniversary of Bristol becoming an independent county with essays on how the city might adapt to the future.

Delve into quirky tales from the past such as Maid of The Haystack or Bristol’s Lost City or Saints, Crooks and Slavers. There are also biographies on some of the city’s most famous sons and daughters and revelations about local areas, including Old Market, Shirehampton, Hotwells and Keynsham.

To be sure to receive your book before Christmas please order by Sunday December 17 – we can not assure delivery after that – but we always try our best to support our local customers.

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Visit Bristol’s book shops

You can touch and feel our books before you buy at some of the city’s great independent bookshops.

Gloucester Road Books will feature the Bristol 650 book (and many others) during a special Christmas event on the evening of December 7. That is the ideal time to get festive by looking around the Goucester Road Christmas Market. Some of the essay contributors will be there at times during the event, which runs from 5:30pm.

Heron Books in Clifton stock a wide range of books, including our titles and is tucked away in the beautiful Boyces Avenue Arcade alongside other independent shops. We Make Bristol in Canford Lane stocks our books, as well as other wonderful Christmas gifts and we are huge fans of Bookhaus and Max Minervas – two of the city’s great independent shops.

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Dementia awareness session

Tony Hall, author of A Bucketful of Patience – living with dementia will be speaking at a special event in Congresbury, North Somerset on Tuesday December 5.

The one-hour dementia awareness session starts promptly at 11 am at Congresbury Bowling Club in Mill Leg and is open to anyone wanting information about dementia. Those attending are asked to arrive at 10.30 am. Copies of the book will be available.

Tony formed Bristol Dementia Action Alliance and wrote the book to help others after he experienced the challenges of supporting his wife through her final years with dementia. You can hear Tony on Radio Bristol here at 1hr 23 mins 40 secs.

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Test yourself in our festive Bristol quiz

How good is your knowledge of Bristol and its history? Test it out in our fun annual quiz. The answers can be found in the Bristol Miscellany Vol II.

The Bristol Miscellany Quiz 2023

This Christmas we’re once again delighted to provide you with a new festive quiz for you and your friends or work colleagues to share.

All the answers can be downloaded here, but are also found in Manson’s Bristol Miscellany Volume 2 - the perfect gift for a Bristolian this Christmas!

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1. In 1712 a new tax was introduced. Dubbed “a tax on knowledge” what was it really a tax on. Bristol was first in the country to have one.

2. Who sits astride a horse in the centre of Queen Square?

3. In what street was Bristol’s first ever public library, opened in 1740?

4. What famous movie star lived in Chalk’s Road, Redfield before becoming famous?

5. A Bristol sea captain Woodes Rogers rescued Alexander Selkirk from a Pacific Island in 1709 – what book did it inspire?

6. Goldilocks and the Three Bears was written by a Bristol author. What was his name?

7. A street in Speedwell has a name first suggested as a joke, but adopted in 2020. What is the road name?

8. In 2009 queues formed outside Bristol Museum for an exhibition by which artist?

9. The house of which poet still stands near St Mary Redcliffe Church?

10. The ethereal piece of music “The Lark Ascending” was completed at Kings Weston House, Bristol in 1914 by which composer?

Find the answers here

November Highlights

News, events and new titles from Bristol Books this November

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A Bucketful of Patience

A Bucketful of Patience, written by Tony Hall, exploring the challenges of living with dementia is selling across the UK as it resonates with so many people.

The book was officially launched at the Bristol Dementia Action Alliance annual award ceremony and AGM at Westbury Baptist Church, Bristol and is available to buy through our website here. The book sets out Tony’s experience caring for his wife Barbara and is full of practical help and advice for those with a loved one with dementia.

Any profits from the sale of the book will go to the Bristol Dementia Action Alliance, which you can learn more about here.

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Bristol 650 book launch

The Watershed played host to a major event at which the Bristol 650 book was launched, along with news of other projects being run as part of the anniversary celebrations of Bristol becoming an independent county through a Royal Charter in 1373.

The book brings together essays from over 30 contributors, addressing some of the challenges the city faces and sharing ideas about how we might meet them. From dealing with the past, the future of social care, culture and housing to building a city of aspiration, the book looks to promote learning about the future of Bristol and encourage new ideas to come forward.

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Clifton LitFest: Bristol’s Lost City

A special updated edition of Bristol’s Lost City will be featured at the Clifton Village LitFest in November with copies also available at Heron Books in Clifton Arcade during the festival weekend.

Since the book was first published in 2014 telling the story of the 1914 Bristol International Exhibition and its role at the start of the First World War author Clive Burlton has continued to uncover more interesting facts and photographs.

The most recent came while leafing through a catalogue at Yate Heritage Centre in September when he found a previously unknown photo of his own grandfather Stanley Barnes (pictured here) He was standing with his mates in front of a building that was once a part of the 1914 Bristol International Exhibition.

The site was transformed into a barracks in 1WW and Clive is telling the story of Bristol's Lost City at the Clifton Literary Festival on 11th November. Check out the full line up here.

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Manson’s Bristol Miscellany Volume 2

“A second helping of Michael Manson’s extravagant, locally-sourced antiquarian buffet. And it’s all good for you as he cherry-picks his way around Bristol’s past, taking in the big history a well as the more incidental quaint and interesting bits like Bristol’s weather and where to find the city’s oldest tree” - Eugene Byrne, Editor of Bristol Times.

A better gift than a selection box for any history-loving friends that you have this Christmas!

Artist Till Lukat Selected as Illustrator of the Cover of the Bristol 650 Book

Till Lukat has won the competition to find the cover illustration for the upcoming Bristol 650 book, which will feature a collection of newly commissioned essays about the future of Bristol.

Bristol Ideas received applications from 33 local artists to design the cover of the Bristol 650 book. From these, three were selected to move forward to a shortlist, from which Till Lukat was named as the winner.

The Bristol 650 book will be designed, printed and published by Bristol Books, with 1,000 copies being given away for free at the Bristol Ideas Festival of the Future City in October 2023. The book is being funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Throughout 2023, Bristol Ideas is running Bristol 650, a project which marks the 650th anniversary of Bristol becoming an independent city and country. As part of this project, Bristol Ideas has commissioned a collection of new essays about the future of Bristol

Topics included in the Bristol 650 book include:

• A city for all ages

• A city learning from the past to build a good future

• A city which takes the past seriously and does something about this

• Beacons across the city

• Culture for all

• Fairness

• Good quality public housing

• Just transition

• Local green action making big change happen

• People having time for more than work

• Social change and justice

• Social mobility

• The future of work

• The soul of the city

• Vibrant high streets

• Vibrant nightlife