“Bollocks, it’s raining.” I peek out from my flat’s doorway late one afternoon – suede boots were not the best choice. I’ve got a coffee date with an impossibly sexy blue eyed man and now I’m going to turn up looking like a drowned rat! I arrive at the café soaking wet. I see him; black shirt, black slacks and those blue eyes. Right from the hello I am in a jelly-like state burning what feels like 1000 calories a minute purely from nerves. The night is a blur of amber light, electricity and butterflies that will not tire. When I eventually arrive home in a love-drunk state where everything is pure poetry, I don’t sleep a wink for the butterflies don’t sleep. Nearly three years have passed since that first date and although the butterflies still flutter each time he comes through the door, there’s nothing quite like those first date flutters and here are a few places you may find yours.
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Having recently moved to Bristol, I’m still discovering with delight the many quirky pubs and bars this whacky city has to offer. Obviously it’s a given that to settle into a new place, one must consume copious amounts at the local - it’s the only way to get to know somewhere, really - so one rainy weekday night, anoraked to the max and looking trendy with it, my friends and I decided it was time we cycled on over to St Werburghs to check out a boozer we’d heard a lot of very good things about, the heralded Duke of York. If you find yourself lost in the residential abyss of St. Werburghs, here’s a little tip: look out for the enormous graffiti flamingo. When you’ve reached this big pink beauty, you’ve reached your destination. Covered in flora and fauna, frogs and birds, the outside of this pub promised a lot. The inside proved even better.

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Waxmouse, otherwise known as Dave Bain, is an extremely active and creative young man with many strings to his bow. A thoughtful DJ who really puts a lot of effort into his work, Dave has a real drive to seek out music that excites him and, as a result, his sets are diverse and interesting. His many years of record collecting have given him an innate skill in recognising music that is right on the cutting edge yet he also has a knack of spotting tunes that are timeless and will still sound great ten years from now. As well as being a DJ, Dave is a prolific artist whose work is highly sought after and when you see it you’ll know why. Here’s a little insight into the things that make him tick:

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Is swimming the most efficient exercise possible? It’s one of those pub trivia questions that divide groups of friends as they rage at the madness of each other’s stupidity. Swimming’s advocates will argue that the sport uses every muscle in the body when done properly, efficiently exercising every limb together, while opponent’s will disagree, claiming that the water only makes it ‘feel’ efficient and that in fact the purest and therefore most efficient form of exercise is walking. The debate rages on but either way, something we can all agree on is the swimming is bloody good fun.

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Local Band Profile

Over the past few years, Bristol has been home to an underground country music scene which has been accidentally nurtured by a group of friends and musicians looking for a place to hide amongst the concrete and steel of the city. You may have noticed names such as Jon E. Vistic, Emily Breeze and The Hinkley Veltones appearing on gig posters together. Another name may have been Howlin’ Lord. Whilst almost certainly once the runt of this litter, H’L ambitions are beginning to be realised. Through hard work and sheer bloody mindedness he has put together a live show and band that echoes Neil Young’s Crazy Horse or The Band, at 3am in the Big Pink. His last release, The Blackheart Sessions, in name, references the studio in Easton that he and the previously mentioned Vistic and Breeze shared. Sharing recording space, band members and whiskey.

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You’ll not be too surprised to learn that Old Market, the area of Bristol just off the city centre behind Cabot Circus and St Pauls, used to be a thriving…er…market. Historically it was situated right beside Bristol Castle with traders selling wares there as early as the 12th century before it grew up to become the first suburb outside of the castle walls. Right up to the early 20th century, Old Market was a focus for much of Bristol’s commerce, retail and business and Victorian photos show its wide streets awash with trams, carts and people, all bustling back and forth in pursuit of a quick buck. That was then.
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It’s Sunday morning and your head is calling out for a strong coffee, your lungs are calling out for some fresh air, your limbs are calling out for some cosy warmth, and your stomach is calling out for something fried and substantial. An early afternoon trip to that perfect pub or café around the corner then is a life-raft for the over-worked and over-partied Sunday man. This weekly ritual is a place to meet very causally with friends, a time to capitulate in front of a warm radiator (or fireplace if you’re particularly lucky) and an occasion to try your damnest at the Sunday crossword. It curves all of our weekends off with a very palatable laziness and it is the calm in our lives we need before the restart button is hit Monday morning but, ladies and gentlemen, prams are threatening this angelic existence!

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Mild West Heroes is a Bristol-based, ethical t-shirt company that promotes the artwork of West Country illustrators. Started in 2007, the company is run by Jude and Mark Lawson who, after moving from London, fell in love with Bristol and felt inspired by its creative vibe. Whilst embracing the DIY attitude of the city, they also became more aware of its strong ethical and environmental views: “We wanted to create something that was fair for all, whilst also being as low impact and sustainable as possible. We thought promoting local artists and sharing any money made was a good place to start.”

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Did you know that Bristol has one of the most prestigious, successful and well respected graduate theatre schools in the country, whose alumni regularly grace TV and film screens, theatre boards and radio plays nationally and internationally? It has been a bit of a standing joke in the school that the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is one of Bristol’s best kept secrets, despite garnering huge acclaim around the world. Thankfully, that is changing, and so it should. With graduates like Jeremy Irons, Pete Postlethwaite, Helen Baxendale, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gene Wilder and Sir Patrick Stewart, this home-grown Bristol establishment deserves to be held aloft as one of the jewels of this city.

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I’ve never met Margaret, my landlady, but she has one of those direct, no-nonsense voices. I assume she is afraid of nothing. I’m told she drives a Volvo Estate (probably one of the old ones that sound like industrial fans, their interior including backwards facing seats in the boot and those horrendously disconcerting seat warming devices) and she most likely wears Hunter wellies and a Barbour for purely practical reasons too. Anyway, she said to me when we moved into our flat in Redland that we should; “Watch out for the foxes. You know, for the cat.”

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