1) A forlorn Gromit at Paddington station
Bristol and the Gromit Unleashed trail was not promoted particularly well in one of London’s busiest railway stations. It was a huge opportunity missed, as between platforms 8 and 9 Gromit remained a forlorn figure.

Gromit Unleashed Paddington station

2) Gromit Unleashed auction raises £2m for Grand Appeal
The Bristol Royal Hospital for Children was more than two million pounds better off in October after an astonishingly successful auction of the Gromit Unleashed sculptures that had become a feature of the Bristol landscape over the summer.

Gromit Unleashed auction room

3) Bristol arts and culture power list 2013
Bristol is often described as a hub of creativity, but behind the glitz and the glamour seen by the paying public, who are the real power brokers backstage?

Bristol collage

4) Red Light
Bristol’s newest and most secretive cocktail bar was opened in October by Richard Tring, formally head bartender at the Milk Thistle, that other bar hidden in plain sight.

Red Light

5) New plans for the Bearpit
A slide from road level and a cafe within a double-decker vintage Bristol bus are among new plans for the future of the Bearpit.

Bearpit Bristol slide

6) Dozens of Bristol businesses fail food hygiene inspections
Seven businesses failed even to score a single point in the Food Standards Agency ratings: Costcutter, Sandy Park Road, Brislington; Domus Pizza, Whiteladies Road, Clifton; Kam Xing House, Harrowdene Road, Knowle; Lay Lee, Hollway Road, Stockwood; Lucky Inn, Glyn Vale, Knowle; New City Fish Bar, Filton Avenue, Horfield; and Star Value, Harrowdene Road, Knowle.

Food hygiene Bristol

7) Empire Theatre returns to Old Market
The new pop-up arts space in a former bank on West Street hosting circus, cabaret, film and live music only opened in September but was sadly closed by the end of the year.

Empire Theatre

8) New Banksy on Park Row?
As usual when a new stencil appears in Bristol, the news media gets all aquiver about whether it could be a new Banksy. This girl on a swing held aloft by two red heart balloons appeared above Bristol Fine Art Shop on Park Row in May. The artist was actually Jamie Paul Scanlon, aka JPS, from Weston-super-Mare.

JPS girl balloons Park Row Bristol

9) Naughty Norris the Bedminster cat
A spate of thefts hit Bedminster in August, carried out by a notorious cat burglar whose territory is the area around North Street. Homeowners near the Old Bookshop have received a note from an apologetic Rich and Soph, who have a “growing horde” of swag half-inched by the notoriously naughty Norris.

Naughty Norris letter

10) Shit Bristol
Bristol is great. But sometimes it’s shit. In the spirit of Shit London, we came up with a few things that won’t be making it into the next viral blog celebrating how we love street art and invented chocolate.

Royal Mail sorting office Bristol Temple Meads

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