What a Difference a Post Makes

What a month.

Barely had I finished my earlier post highlighting the emergence of new media in the area - notably the Westbury on Trym People site - when I found myself caught up in the phonomenon and offered a paid writing job with the neighbouring site, Redland People.

The ad for the post specified that the Community Publisher for the new local community news site should be (I paraphrase) used to running a local blog or news site (thank you) and, ideally, be comfortable with the so-called new social media.

Rarely having heard my skill set described so perfectly, I was down to the Evening Post building in a flash and, after a testing interview, was offered the post.

Inevitably, the new role, which I am continuing part time alongside running my Kumon Study Centre in Redland, has taken up quie a bit of time and has resulted in a brief lull in proceedings here at Trym Tales.

This is shame as there has been so much going on locally to comment on.

One brief item will have to suffice: the eco-festival in Westbury High Street ten days ago was, in my opinion, a really important event. Not only was it well attended, but I think it has put the Sustainable Westbury group on the map in a big way. The message of low carbon communities has, I think, taken a significant step forward.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Today in Westbury

Badminton School has an Open Day this morning for prospective families.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Banksy Christmas Special (3)

A few notes on the stories behind this image.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc, the nine-year old Vietnamese girl whose image is at the centre of this Banksy, was caught in a bombing raid of North Vietnamese positions near the village of Trang Bang in June 1972. Now a Canadian citizen and a committed Christian, the adult Phan Thi Kim Phuc has written her story - The Girl in the Picture. You can read more about her here.

The company that produced the napalm that was dropped by American forces in the Vietnam War (napalm was a weapon that caused huge gas-based fireballs to explode at ground level) is called Raytheon, the fifth largest defence contractor in the world. Today, Raytheon produce a range of high tech weapons, especially cruise missiles such as the Patriot and Tomahawk and the
GBU-28 "bunker buster", a 5,000-pound bomb used in the Tora Bora campaign in Afghanistan.

Raytheon have an office in Bristol, at 510 Bristol Business Park, Coldharbour Lane (near the UWE Campus in Frenchay) where, since December 9th, a small but sometimes noisy group of protestors have been occupying the roof of the Raytheon building in protest at the company's activities and presence in Bristol. You can read more about the rooftop protest and see photos here.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Westbury on Trym News

As the weekend approaches, a round up of some of the mundane but none the less mildly interesting events or developments in and around the village.

The large house at the bottom of Henbury Road remains unsold and the owners appear to have lost faith with estate agent Savills, the six-bedroom property now being marketed by Andrews. The asking price for the executive property has dropped in price by £100,000 over the last eight months.

I have never seen the sign at the entrance to Red Maids School looking quite so scrubbed and pristine. Could the school's open day have anything to do with this dramatic facelift?

Another brave entrepreneur has taken on the commercial property at the top of Westbury Hill, near its junction with Falcondale Road and Grange Court Road. This time, it has become a retail wine merchant. I wonder if this business will fare any better than the numerous car showrooms and other outlets that have occupied this oddly-sited commercial space over the last ten years.

The Westbury on Trym local food market takes place this Saturday morning for all things locally sourced.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Carter's Steam Fair Extends Bristol Stay

Carter's Steam Fair - described by Jonathan Ross as "more like a film set than a travelling fair" - is extending its stay on Bristol's Durdham Down by an extra weekend, following a spectacular washout during its initial stint last weekend.

The Fair consists of vintage rides and attractions salvaged from the skip, so to speak.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

More Impressions of Cabot Circus

For reasons too opaque to go into, I visited the Cabot Circus website again this afternoon.

Based on the tiny amount I know of how businesses and organisations do branding exercises, I will assume that the Cabot Circus team (aka the Bristol Alliance) got their marketing and design people together in one of the office buildings where the Alliance's two partners are based - Land Securities at 5 The Strand in central London and Hamerson based round the corner on Grosvenor Street - and had that "let's think creatively about who we are as a retail concept" discussion so beloved of marketing and communications people.

Assuming the people in these two teams know their stuff, and have an understanding of their target market (Susan from Southville, perhaps) I find the result both revealing and depressing.

The average customer who might be attracted to the new Cabot Circus is, judging by the images on the home page, aged 20-35, white, single or in a relationship. In addition to this, they are perennially unhappy (not a smile on the model's faces) and, it appears, attracted to androgyny.

At least a couple of reasons therefore why I won't be at the front of the queue on the grand opening on September 25th.

Go on. Take a look. You know you want to.

Hmm.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Tiblisi, Georgia and Bristol

As events unfold in the Caucuses, Bristol residents may be unaware of the link that has existed for 20 years between their city and Tiblisi, the capital of the now war-torn nation of Georgia.

2008 is the 20th anniversary of the Bristol Tiblisi Association and a variety of events are being held to mark the fact, including The Falcon and the Unicorn - a cultural and literary exhibition currently running till October at the Central Library.

Stoke Bishop Councillor and former Lord Mayor of Bristol Peter Abraham made an official visit to Tiblisi in 2007 where he was hosted by the city's first elected mayor, Gigi Ugulava, tipped by some as the next President of Georgia (Russian invasions notwithstanding.)

It seems a timely opportunity to become better informed about the links between the two cities.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Hope Springs Eternal for North Bristol Churches

The May Bank Holiday weekend sees hundreds of volunteers from north Bristol churches working in partnership with local residents on a range of community projects and outreach events in Southmead, Manor Farm, Lockleaze and Horfield.

Projects include:

• rubbish and litter clearance in public spaces
• free banquets for over 80 senior citizens on Sunday afternoon
  
• free kids' clubs on Saturday and Monday morning
• sports activities for young people every afternoon in numerous locations
• community fun afternoons on Horfield Common (Saturday), Gainsborough Square (Sunday) and Glencoyne Square (Monday).

Monday afternoon sees an end-of-noise celebration at 4.45 at Glencoyne Square Southmead followed by a Bar-B-Q, which , in keeping with the theme of the weekend, is also free.

Participating churches included the new Community Church, which has recently relocated from Westbury on Trym to the Greenway Centre in Southmead, Ebenezer Church Filton Avenue Avenue, Woodlands Church in Clifton and St Stephen's Southmead.

The Noise is a national initiative which has been running in Bristol for 7 consecutive years. Its website describes the aim of the Noise as "showing God's love in practical ways".

The Noise is part of a wider year-long national project - Hope 08 - which aims to focus hundreds of local churches on outreach and community service in their localities.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Return of the Car Boot Sale

Glad to see that the arrival of Spring has seen the return of car boot sales to Bristol.

Two that have caught my eye are:

• Fairfield High School Boot Sale - Saturday 26th April (yes, that's tomorrow) from 12.00 to 3.00. Sellers' pitches are £6.00 and available inside and out. The publicity says sellers should book in advance. I don't know whether you can just turn up and sell. The organiser can be contacted at ecjohnson@blueyonder.co.uk
  

• Red Maids Boot Sale - Sunday 11th May. An annual event usually stocked with decent quantities of posh stuff at knock down prices.
  

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.