Eugene Byrne is a journalist and author whose new book Unbuilt Bristol: The City That Might Have Been 1750-2050, is published by Redcliffe Press.
The book details schemes in Bristol that never happened, ranging from the idealistic, through the commercially hard-headed, and onwards to developments which would have been brutally inappropriate or just mad.
They include plans to concrete over whole stretches of the city docks, Post Office proposals for a brutal tower block looming over King Street and a vision for a stunning concert hall on the waterfront.
Here are Eugene’s top-five Bristol favourites:
The Pub
“My better half claims that the pub is my natural environment, and despite all the disasters of recent years, Bristol is still reasonably provided-for when it comes to old-skool boozers. As opposed to the awful corporate drinking barns which boomed in the noughties but don’t look quite so clever nowadays. Favourites? Too many to mention, but try the Prince of Wales in Westbury on Trym (for sporty blokes – and it has best outdoor smoking area in Bristol), the Victoria in Westbury-on-Trym (in a magical hidden setting), or the Shakespeare on Victoria Street (an absolute gem), or the Shakespeare by the Arnolfini, or the Cornubia, or Renato’s (which scores nul points for its beer and maximum points for atmosphere).”
The streets in the sky (below)
“Central Bristol is full of fascinating little backstreets, none more so than the aerial walkways, “pedestrian decks” and upper level plazas over Rupert Street, Nelson Street and Lewins Mead. This is an amazing bit of 1960s futurism, part of a network of upper level pavements to separate pedestrians and traffic which was never built.”
Cemeteries
“There’s something around 420,000 people here in Bristol; even more if you count the bits that are part of the conurbation but which have been hived off to other piddling local authorities (‘South Gloucestershire’ my arse). But the dead population is even bigger, and nothing beats hanging around in burial places to commune with the city’s past, with the joys and pains of its people and, if we’re talking about rich Victorians, the weird, neurotic status anxiety that prompted them to erect extravagant monuments to themselves and to loved (and unloved) ones. Arnos Vale is great, and properly interpreted, but there are plenty of others to be discovered. I love Avon View, Greenbank and Canford, but nothing beats exploring all the little churchyards, many of them long closed, in all sorts of odd corners. There’s even a hidden little Jewish cemetery in St Philips.”
Museums
“Hmmm… tricky. M Shed is terribly good, but I kinda prefer the intimate social history you get at Blaise Castle. Like the Industrial Museum of old, this is the sort of place where three generations of a family can go and the parents and grandparents can go on about how they used to have a bath or washing machine like that. Or there’s the Kingswood Heritage Museum, made by and for the people of Kingswood without any professional help or grant funding. It’s a bit raggedy round the edges, but so much the better for it. Every Kingswoodian should be ferociously proud of this place.”
Bristol Central Library reference section (below)
“A treasure trove of old Bristol stories beyond your wildest imaginings. Old newspapers, books, magazines, prints and more; full of yarns waiting patiently down the decades and centuries for someone to come along and rediscover them. And all served up by helpful and dedicated staff who have taken no end of kickings from successive cuts. Honour them.”
