By Chris Guy posted on 3 Mar 2017 in Urban

This post combines a few locations that work together. There’s a general theme of grimey Bristol colour seen in the grey light of the first months of this year…

Colourful graffiti mural and tags on a concrete roadside wall, including red and blue lettering and a yellow cartoon bird, with bare brambles and a metal fence above.

Unofficial Skate Park on Festival Way

Bristol's White City

On a late afternoon in January around the Cumberland Basin I found myself on Festival Way, the site of an unofficial skate park, White City allotments and an abandoned tile depot. It was only later that I discovered the rationale behind the name.

In 1914 the Bristol International Exhibition was held on this site. It was ‘an optimistic celebration of the achievements of Britain’s empire and dominions, half trade fair half theme park with a roller-coaster ride, daily pageants and even a troupe of lions’ (source: Bristol’s Lost City by Clive Burton). The festival was not a great financial success and the site was re-purposed for military use when the First World War broke. It’s well worth watching Clive Burton’s video – Uncovering Bristol’s White City which explores the history of the site.

Derelict brick industrial units beside a cracked yard, bare trees and overcast sky, seen through silhouetted leaves.

Abandoned Tile Depot, Festival Way

Derelict brick outbuilding with peeling blue doors and boarded panels, overgrown verge and muddy yard, set against bare trees and a grey winter sky.

Abandoned Tile Depot, Festival Way

Old brick industrial building with a graffiti-tagged metal roller shutter and a yellow sign warning "No unauthorised persons beyond this point".

Abandoned Tile Depot, Festival Way

Graffiti-covered concrete ledge and small ramp beside a muddy path in an urban park, with bare trees, iron fence and distant apartment blocks under a grey winter sky.

Unofficial Skate Park on Festival Way

Bright teal and pink cartoon cat face painted as graffiti on a concrete wall beneath a bridge railing, with yellow accents and a strip of grass at the base.

Cumberland Basin Cat

Montpelier and Gloucester Road

In February Instagramers Bristol have been promoting and featuring images from the Gloucester Road area on their feed – with the hashtag #igerslovegloucesterroad. Gloucester Road being known for its independent shops and businesses, with allegedly the longest row of independent shops in Europe  – according to Barratt Homes (Source: Wikipedia).

@clogette and I joined last week’s Instameet exploring the shops, streets and streetart around St Pauls, Montpelier and the Gloucester Road itself. Below are a few shots from that meet plus other visits to the area.

Vibrant teal mural on a building depicting a stylised figure wearing a red creature hat, a tree, an inset window and a one-way sign.

Limited Press Arts Collective, Gloucester Road

Black-and-white stencil street art of DJ Derek painted on a white wooden gate, flanked by a red brick wall and white-painted bricks beneath a pale sky.

DJ Derek stencil by Stewy

White single-storey garage with large silver-and-yellow graffiti on the roller door, between a stone-fronted house and a pale pink building, with road markings in the foreground.

Cheers for Nowt Brexiteers

Vibrant graffiti mural stretches across a brick wall with bold, colourful lettering and tags; a painted bench sits on bare earth beneath overhanging trees.

Streetart, Montpelier Park

Urban rooftops with red graffiti and painted insects on walls, utility boxes in the foreground, rows of houses and a distant church spire above an 'Istanbul Mini Market' shop sign.

Istambul Mini Market, Gloucester Road

A colourful, graffiti-covered pedestrian bridge with painted metal arches and columns leading along a path towards a red-brick building in the distance.

L O V E – Fairfield Footbridge

White goat stencil painted on a mossy brick wall beside a pavement, with iron railings and wheelie bins visible behind.

Goat by Stewy

Teal shopfront labelled room212 with a black stencil of Cary Grant waving on the white wall above, beneath two upper windows with beige blinds.

Cary Grant Stencil at Room 212, Gloucester Road

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