We’re finally beginning to see signs of spring at the Cumberland Piazza and thanks to our committed volunteers colours are emerging in our planters and beds. It’s been such a wet winter and we seem to have scheduled our monthly sessions for the coldest days but people have persevered, planting bulbs and seeds, clearing litter and dead plants, shovelling soil, compost and mulch and painting over unsightly tagging. Thanks so much to Anais, Layla, Flynn, Ruby, Damian, Rik, Maggie, Ben, Andrew, Chris, Brian, Rachel, Julian, Eleanor, Max, Kean, Toby, Patrick and everyone else who’s helped over the past 6 months.
Photos of March Community Gardening Day by Layla and Ruby
We also have some lovely new artworks gifted by world class Bristol painters Acerone (AKA Luke) & Andy Council. One Dove promotes peace in troubled times as well as promoting urban wildlife via the common pigeon (also a great tune) and the Wood Dragon celebrates Chinese New Year in a unique way
‘To honour Chinese New Year this month we created a Wood Dragon intertwined with symbols of sacred geometry for the people of Hotwells in the community garden at Cumberland Piazza. 2024 is the year of the Wood Dragon – a symbol of growth, vitality and creativity. The connection between the Wood Dragon and sacred geometry can be understood in several ways. Symbolism: Both the Wood Dragon and sacred geometric shapes symbolize natural harmony, balance, and cosmic order. The intricate patterns and proportions found in sacred geometry reflect the underlying order of the universe, while the Wood Dragon represents the harmony between nature and the elements.’
Andy Council 2024
Making space for urban nature is one of the key aims of all the work we do at the Cumberland Piazza: we are in talks with the Team Wilder Ecological Advisory Service at Avon Wildlife Trust about how we can do more of this and will be hosting a talk by a bee expert later this year. If you would like to get involved any of the work we do here we welcome you. Just email Anna admin@hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk
Our lovely young Duke of Edinburgh Award volunteers have been asking the garden group why they like volunteering at the piazza. Here’s what some them they told us:
‘I like volunteering here because I help out my sister for Duke of Edinburgh and it’s a very nice area to come and stay in but it has to be cleaned soI think it’s good that people are clearing it all up.’
Flynn
‘It helps tidy up a space that would otherwise be a bit neglected and it meanswe can all useit. I see kids coming down here and skateboarding and playing basketball and people hanging out and if we didn’t come and help out, it might not be used that way’.
Damian
‘I do this for my Duke of Edinburgh skill, but I like helping the community and it creates a cleaner and safer place to be around.’
Layla
‘When the sun’s out it’s really lovely and it’s a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.’
Ben
‘I like working out of doors, I like being out in all weathers. I love meeting the minibeasts-I just met a ladybird. I never know what I’m going to find. The people who do this sort of work are always nice people and I like making a nice environment for people to live in.’
What has been happening at the Cumberland Piazza this year so far? Well, we’ve largely been letting the plants do their thing, and thanks to all the summer rain, we’re delighted to say that they’re flourishing! With the blooms come the bees and butterflies, and the spread of pollen across this urban nature corridor.
These corridors are so important for increasing urban biodiversity, and Bristol has some other great examples, such as Emerson Green. To find out more about wildlife in our city, visit the Bristol Wildlife Groups website and follow the links to BS3 to sign up to receive BS3 Wildlife News. The Hotwells & Cliftonwood Community Association supports the Art under the Flyover project, and this coming year, we will be developing a Community Climate Action Plan using guidelines from Bristol Green Capital Partnership.
It’s now time for a bit of a tidy up at the piazza and members of the H&CCA management committee will be on site for community gardening, chats and cake on Wednesday 23rd August 3-6pm- we’d love you to join us!
What else has been happening in 2023? Sadly a fire destroyed our ‘welcome’ mural, which we will repair this Autumn, but happily Luke Palmer gave us even more love and Andy Council and other famous Bristol mural artists have added to our open air gallery. Many trees have been flourishing and others have given up or been stolen. All contributions of outdoor plants are welcome- did you know that many of the planters contain ‘rescue’ plants and donated plants?
We would like to thank Bristol Waste for helping us to manage the rubbish at the piazza and responding so quickly to tidying up after the fire.
Please get in touch if you would like to volunteer at the piazza or have ideas for artworks and gardening admin@hotwellscliftonwood.org.uk.
H&CCA hosted Healing Through Community, a Celebrating Sanctuary event as part of BRF 2022 at the Cumberland Piazza on June 19th. We had about 60 people enjoying food, drumming and printmaking with a lovely mix of locals and refugees from many different countries. We’d like to thank all those who volunteered on the day.
As part of Bristol Refugee Festival we are hosting a Celebrating Sanctuary event on the piazza on 19th June 2022 13.30 to 16.00. Supported by H&CCA, we will be providing delicious snacks and cakes, free to those in need. Art activities will be run by Anna Haydock-Wilson and Amy Hutchings. Everybody is welcome we would love to see you there!
More details will follow but you can see most of the information on this flyer. Please email anna@artwithinthecracks.org if you have any questions
On March 26 we are doing a bit of gardening, litter picking and painting over some tagging at the Cumberland Piazza from 11.30am-2.30pm and we’d love you to join us. We’ll supply all tools and paints but please bring some gloves. This is usually a great way to meet your neighbours and enjoy all the spring flowers that are starting to bloom in our planters.
Brunel’s other Bridge group, aka BOB, are also doing a spring cleaning and would love you to come and join them. They are a great local heritage group aiming to restore this bridge and highlight the importance of our dock heritage.
We are delighted with a new artwork, gifted by world class street artists @acerone and @sepr and we hope you will enjoy it too.
Our local young artists have been busy again this summer creating delightful messages and momentos at the Cumberland Piazza. Funded by Hotels & Cliftonwood Community Association 2021 summer arts activities were once again led by Mhairi Stuart, who designed clay ornaments for people to make and ‘hide’ amongst the plants. She also showed us how to decorate and plant old fruit juice cartons.
Anna encouraged participants to add to The Sun Will Rise and So Will We protest posters begun at the Come Rain Come Shine festival in July. We have a bit more care and repair to give to these characters and we welcome all members of the community to share their ideas and opinions with us- although we do paint over offensive language and racist and misogynist phrases that sometimes sadly appear in our local public spaces.
The Sun Will Rise and So Will We is a project led by Grace Kress and Anna Haydock-Wilson that has grown from conversations about equality and how communities can amplify their voices in shared public spaces. The idea is that we can all have a say in how our cities and society can progress to benefit everyone. You can find out a little more about the project here
Making a Flower Bed
We had this idea that it would be good to create a flower bed from a dysfunctional bed, knowing that it’s really difficult to recycle old mattresses due to safety and hygiene. Some online research demonstrated lots of examples of vertical planters made from the springs, but the only use for the stuffing seemed to be refugees growing food in camps in arid countries. While adapting their ideas, in our space with no immediate tap water but in a country and city of abundant wealth, we reflected on the level of privilege we take for granted as well as on those in the UK who live in poverty and in unsanitary conditions.
This is something you can make at home!
You will need:
An unusable bed frame– if you have an old bed that you don’t want any more, please consider donating it to someone who can’t afford to buy one, either through Freecycle, Gumtree or through charities like Emmaus and Sofa.
Some heavy duty wire cutters, a screw driver, some screws, etc.
Cut the mattress cover away and dispose of it. Create space in and around the springs by moving the stuffing around. Secure the frame via any available means- wood batons, brackets, etc. Remember it only had to hold plants, not people. In this case we were using parts of an old bed and an old cot that had collapsed after several small children had used them. Line the bottom with plastic sheeting. Punch hols for drainage. Put the mattress on top, add soil and plants, then add some grit or pea gravel. Water well to start with. Remember that th idea with the mattress stuffing is that it will hold water so once the plants are established the idea is they may not need watering at all!
Mhairi Stuart is running workshops again this year for the well-being of local families. She will be making clay pendants with all comers on 7th & 8th August 2-4pm. The activities are FREE and there’s no need to book. On day one we will cut clay and let it dry over night. On day two people can paint and hang their ornaments adding positive messages if they like. We will have some pre made in case people can’t make both sessions.
On 18th & 19th August Anna will be joining Mhairi and we’ll add gardening activities in the mix. Weather permitting (if it’s not too hot and dry) we will be planting a mattress to make a ‘flower bed’. If this experiment is successful we’ll try and grow food next year as they are using mattresses in arid countries for this purpose. You may have noticed in the photos above that we have sneaked in some planted juice cartons- we’ll be experimenting with other things we can plant, including our newly acquired pink XR canoes. We’ll also be inviting more ‘colouring in’ of our protesters that we pasted up during the festival.
Please come and join in with creating murals, sculpture, planters, try some exercise classes, watch a vintage clothes fashion parade (all clothes are for sale), make some kefir, do pottery, Life Drawing and poetry workshops, or just meet up with friends and neighbours for curry, cakes and chats.
The event will be Covid safe (within current restrictions https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus) and suitable for all ages, with games, skate demos and music all day. Please bring drinking water, cash and a mask (it could be useful for some of the activities).
Here’s the Line up:
Chai Shai food 1-3.30pm & 5.30-8pm
Goki Cakes 2pm- til they’re all sold
Move More Fitness 1.30-5.30pm with breaks
Life Drawing 1-3pm
Flower Bed Gardening 1-4pm
Poetry workshops 2-4pm
Pottery workshops 3-5pm
Vintage Fashion Parade 3.30pm
Poetry Performance 4.30pm
Musicians 5.30pm-6.30pm
DJ’s 6.30-8pm
A big thanks to all the amazing people who are contributing their skills and equipment to make it happen:
Move More Fitness run outdoor small group fitness sessions throughout the week, all year round, here at Cumberland Piazza in Hotwells.
Sessions are fun, for all abilities, and will definitely help you to feel great in body and mind.
They also help with nutrition advice, accountability and lifestyle tips.
At the festival Chris from Move More Fitness will be offering FREE 30 min taster sessions at 2pm, 3pm, 4pm and 5pm, so make sure you head to see him to get your name down.
Or feel free to pop over to have a quick chat, if you have any burning questions on health, fitness and nutrition, Chris will be sure to help.
A & K’s Playground creative and imaginative workshops & events encouraging everyone to embrace play, no matter your age!
All activities are designed for children (aged 4+) and their grown ups to enjoy together.
Extreme Hopscotch
1:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 5:30pm. Armed with a piece of chalk, Alison & KT challenge you and others to take hopscotch to the extreme! Will you skip or stomp? Float or fly? Ramble or roam?
Giant Jenga
1:00pm – 7:30pm, Stacking blocks into a tower with a twist! You and your opponent will take it in turns, removing one block at a time to see how high you can build. Ask Alison or KT for bonus wellbeing challenges.
Gokin is a new baking business run by Kat Gover and Leo Ikin from their kitchen in Hotwells. Their ethos is that gluten free baking can (and should) be delicious, and not boring!
They will be providing a range of our gluten free cakes and bakes for everyone to try (you do not need to be on a gluten free diet to enjoy these, trust me!), in exchange for donations.
Kat and Leo wanted to support this fantastic event to meet more of our local community and because, really, who doesn’t love cake?!
PYTCH, a Bristol based international events and visionary company, are providing power, sound and support to add a bit of class! The sound system and DJ’s will be playing most of the day by the Skate Spot. Johnny Palmer, Managing Director, is keen to help us create more human habitat where people (especially young ones) can interact and maximise the community use of public urban space.
A local fermentary enterprise based in wapping wharf and run by Caroline and Kate from Cliftonwood, are joining us to provide tasters and free kefir making workshops
Covid news! So sad to say that Sally will be isolating and unable to provide free massage tasters. We will try and arrange for members of the community to meet Sally on another occassion.
Massage therapy works deep in the muscles, realigning the muscle fibres and connective tissue helping to increase blood flow, which in turn facilitates the body’s natural healing process. Treatment offers a profound level of relaxation, both physical and mental. For more information please take a look at my website.
Blind Justice Page are on a mission to rediscover the roots of Americana music, performing songs from and inspired by the golden age of old-time music and country-blues. Up for a dance?
Bob Walton is running Acer Rubrum a drop in poetry workshop in the Maple Grove 2-4pm with a performance at 4.30pm
Shilpi Choudhury will be painting with henna and we’re talking to some street artists about decorating the skate spot area with local young people.
Performance maker, Recession Gill, will be providing laughter and vintage clothes in the form of a fashion parade reflecting Hotwells and its past, present and future.
The Sun Will Rise & So Will We
Make some new permanent artworks for the Piazza with Anna Haydock-Wilson, Amy Hutchings & Lauren Maria Hill, using posters designed by Shelby X Studios. We will be using natural wheat paste to add a series of characters holding placards and banners and inviting you to help place them on the pillars and walls and to add your own words and phrases. This is part of the Hotwells Voices series which aims to enable local people and communities to express what they feel about the world. This activity is supervised and not suitable for children under 8 years old as Posca paint pens leave permanent marks.
Make a Giant Mosaic
Using brightly coloured pieces of wood, artists will help you to create a giant mosaic throughout the day on the old cafe base in the pocket park. There is no right or wrong with this activity and the pictures and patterns may change throughout the festival. When the day is done we will glue the mosaic together and the art will remain on display for a few weeks, so you can feel proud as you pass by. Artist Tim Southall will facilitate this piece.
Acer Rubrum PoetryWorkshop
Hotwells Poet, Bob Walton is bringing his superb wordsmithery to the festival inviting us all to write poetry and hang our offerings among the maple trees. Bob and his fellow poets will turn your words into performance.
Vintage Fashion Parade
Is it a fashion show? Is it street theatre? Is it pantomime? Whatever it is, if you don’t already know Recession Gill and her fabulous models, prepare to be entertained. Learn a little of the history of Hotwells through clothes and culture. There will be shopping & laughter!
Brick Project Mandala Workshop
The mandala is a cross cultural pattern, where creation and subsequent contemplation allows for a calming, meditative experience. Creating a group mandala is a unifying event in which people can express themselves individually within a cooperative structure. This project uses the same principles as all previous Brick Projects, allowing participants to use the medium of painting to represent themselves in a giant communal piece of art. There is no such thing as a bad painting – we encourage people to be brave and we are enthusiastic, approachable and ready to assist in developing techniques and offer support. Creativity is celebrated over virtuosity!
As I write we are approaching the end of the wettest May I can remember, never mind what the official stats say, and summer feels like a distant, half remembered pleasure. But there are signs of summer emerging. Beneath rain soaked leaves strawberries are forming and soon the calendula will raise their yellow faces to the sun. The sedum are about to burst into colour and the irises are blooming blousily.
Add in the explosion of wild flowers around the city and we should feel our spirit rising like the relieved bees who need these lines of pollinators to survive.
With the warmer weather we can make some plans to gather at the piazza. Please contact anna@artwithinthecracks.org if you’d like to do some gardening as I’m thinking about setting up a little ‘gardening club’. Or please join us on June 7th 4-6pm
On July 18th 1-8pm Hotwells & Cliftonwood Community Association are planning a community festival. Our working title is Hotwells Well-Being Festival and so far we have confirmed some really exciting play, art and gardening activities for people of all ages. This date is subject to covid restrictions and council permission and if it is not safe or permitted we will postpone to September.
Supported by Hotwells & Cliftonwood Community Association, we are planning a day-long festival to celebrate our community and offer local people a chance to come together. We want people to enjoy being sociable in a safe and fun environment after a difficult and distanced pandemic year.
Activities will include fun taster sessions by popular local fitness guru Chris from Move More Fitness, play sessions by expert play facilitators from A & K’s Playground, community arts activities with resident artists Anna Haydock-Wilson, Amy Hutchings and Mhari Stuart, poetry, music, gardening and a skate spot launch in partnership with an amazing Bristol based events and media company, PYTCH.
How can you get involved? We welcome people who want to deliver well-being activities in the broadest sense to offer taster activities to festival go-ers. We’re also looking for volunteers to help with stewarding, first aid and children. Please contact anna@artwithinthecracks.org of you’re interested.
With so much hope pinned on 2021 being a better year than the covid catastrophe of 2020, life in our local communities is ever more important. We made a new mural to help people express their hopes. We have begun with colours and words around Amy’s beautiful herons. The lettering is by graphic artists, Julia and Rosie, and swirls and colours by Mhari and Anna.
The idea is to add positive statements and ideas of what we’d like to change in the world and in our city in the coming year. We’ll do this by drawing characters holding placards like with the ‘Sun will Rise and So Will We’ created by myself, Lauren and Katya using designs by Shelby X Studios. This artwork is the second in the Hotwells Voices series.
On the old cafe base next to this wall I will rebuild Unlocking Bristol and chalk the 300 plus messages I have already from residents all over Bristol. These artworks are temporary and vandal proof & created by volunteers although we have applied for funding for some additional painting and planting.
At the end of 2020 the Hotwells and Cliftonwood Community Association carried out an extensive community survey, which included some questions about people’s aspirations for the piazza. Thanks so much for all your responses which were overwhelmingly positive and aligned well with the previous survey in 2014. The priorities back then were for more green areas, facilities for young people and artworks. This time artwork was lower down the list and extra seating was higher up along with community events and ideas for a regular market.
We recognise concerns when it comes to untidiness and nostalgia and love of Dame Sylvia Crowe’s original public space design with the play park and the paddling pool and pristine concrete. The cost of returning the Piazza to its former glory is beyond the capacity of H&CCA. With the possibility of ‘Western Harbour’ developments, the whole area could change over the coming years- another great reason to communicate, share and amplify our voices.
People seem to appreciate the attempts we have made over the years to minimise unpopular graffiti and repaint when people deface the pillars and walls. We are aware that tagging really upsets many people, so I thought it would be useful to explain how we currently manage this. If the graffiti is obscene you can call the council and the Bristol Waste Street Cleansing team will paint over it as soon as possible. If you also contact me or the community association we have many more colours and can restore the original artworks. Otherwise, I tend to keep an eye out and make time to paint over what I think people consider to be ugly when time allows and on a voluntary basis.
I have compiled a list of FAQs responding more thoroughly to the H&CCA survey. I hope they help explain who takes responsibility for maintaining & improving the piazza and outline how you can get involved.
We really, really hope 2021 is a better year for everyone.
Art Under the Flyover 