I just got the latest upgrade/bug fix for Affinity Publisher beta – still free. I haven’t found any bugs and I am enjoying using it. It has excellent file export choices including .pdf. I found colour printout to be very good as well; although the colours of my Xerox laser can be a little over-saturated there are many possible choices in the print dialogue box.
Across the stylish Pero’s Bridge, having skirted the Watershed, a place I have eaten at frequently since it opened in 1980, but which charges excess for a simple château irregular, unfortunately. Food is good but not so much choice as before. Has ‘movies’ and is therefore unspeakably vulgar, which is a good thing. Popular and often crowded, but with many tables.
Long ago at the Watershed (the ’90s) dance music was played continually, from worn out and stretched cassette tapes (please explain to younger readers) and although I personally did not overly object many other diners opted to eat elsewhere, at that time. The staff still appear to be influenced by narcotics, on occasion, although that can be hard to discern from their general demeanour.
Pero’s bridge, being rather too narrow for the traffic offers the quiet traveller a chance to observe the pedestrians cheerfully interacting with energetic cyclists, the latter clearly late for some meaningless appointment; serious violence rarely ensues. Or greet the beggars and buskers, many of whom are quite charming. Some loose change may help. Further along from the Watershed on Canon’ Marsh are outdoor cafe tables fronting several indistinguishable and quite large establishments.
I will turn briefly left to sample the street food available around the Fountains (formerly St Augustine’s Parade); falafel, crepes and much more on high days and holidays. Yummy and friendly. I was offered a swig from a can just the other day, whilst sitting on Neptune’s Steps waiting for the ferry home. Amazing what you can catch in Bristol.
Just opposite the Watershed floats Under The Stars, a converted boat, one of the better places and quite easy to run up a decent bill – although the menu prices are reasonable – which may have something to do with the delightful cocktails, and the 1920s theme. Good place to meet and eat as it is so central, and a little under-rated. Then along to the YHA cafe, which is the first to open in the morning and is friendly, has good coffee, and a wonderful selection of bemused tourists to provide entertainment if the scene at Pero’s Bridge has paled. The best site for people-watching, or people-chatting to. Sometimes hosts meetings in the evening.
It is possible to eat and drink in the Arnolfini – formally an art gallery until it lost it’s government grant by forgetting to ask for it – and it can be an enjoyable experience. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. Just nearby on the Prince Street bridge is the Crepe Coffee Cabin with a Big Issue pitch and some outside seats. Cheaper than the Arnolfini and with an ever unfolding drama of colliding passers-by, a few of whom cannot afford earphones, poor things. Various beggars, tourists, plank riders and other wheeled citizens enliven the melee. The Metro Bus now passes nearby, . I awaited the long delayed roll-out of the Metro Bus with excitement as it passes a few metres from my dwelling, where the bus shelter lights stayed on for many months before the launch, in joyful anticipation.
Across the road is El Puerto, good for tapas and more substantial Spanish fare. And close by the Arnolfini the Shakespeare, a pub for the homeward commuter.
Turning left after the swing bridge then crossing the Bathurst Basin footbridge brings the footsore pleasure seeker to The Ostrich Inn which seems to have fallen from favour somewhat, judging by the online reviews and comments. I can’t really say, having not eaten there for nearly a year and only had a snack, which took an age to arrive. One of the most attractive sites on the Harbourside so no excuses, it seems that the Cottage Inn syndrome may be spreading.
Strolling past the new apartments on the old General Hospital site one may find the Velindra, named for a steamer of old, which might be described as quirky. May or may not be open, as it appears to inhabit the same parallel dimension as the Myrtle Tree and is under new ownership as I write. Fine views of the Avon and Bedminster Bridge, across to the ASDA car park. Permanent traffic congestion (and one of the world’s smaller bus lanes at just 50 metres,) may reduce the air quality below the level which will sustain life, so carry oxygen. Said to be dog friendly, but the mutts are at floor level aren’t they, so hoovering up the carbon monoxide. The new flats next door start at around £260k, but only penthouses are still available new, at £825k upwards.
The Louisiana, just along to the west over the Commercial Road bridge, is one of the city’s best music venues, many famous names play here, so check out their web site (which has a list of past as well as upcoming acts) and visit.
We are now back on the mystery wrapped in an enigma (to many Bristolians) that is Spike Island, and we may drop in at the M Shed museum or a number of cafes. Pork eaters may enjoy the Pigsty, (I have only sampled the coffee, which was cool). Far more interesting is the famous Olive Shed which is lovely and lively, tucked behind a big red shed. Top food overall on the Harbourside, booking is necessary especially on the busier days, although weekdays lunch is usually ok. It has some outdoor tables. Opens at 11am.
Having enjoyed the best you may happen upon the inexplicably popular Brunel’s Buttery, a shed next to the water with some outdoor tables. The bacon butty is popular, my coffee was surprisingly cool and unpleasant, and so little of it. Staff stay cheerful in the face of relentless touristic optimism. Strictly for meat eaters with no discernible interest in food.
My culinary journey is entering the final phase, as I am now just a few hundred metres from home, among the more up-market flats, more up-market than mine at least. Next to the Great Britain – the ship – is the Greenshank, a floating cafe and catering service which is part of the Bristol Packet enterprise. Nautical, tourist, good, and often quite peaceful.
Heading inland – necessary to avoid falling in the dry and wet docks – one may happen upon The Orchard Inn and again find free music, jazz at least one night a week, and quite a lot of different ciders, some of them mildly alcoholic. It even has wine. Described as ‘unreconstructed’ by google, it will have snacks around lunchtime and early evening. Intimate. A chance to meet the locals and drink what they drink.
Coffee and culture may be got during the day by calling into the Spike Island arts complex on Cumberland Road, with the Vauxhall footbridge across the Avon opening new vistas to the south. On the M2 Metro Bus route.
Should you cross over the 200 year old New Cut, brave mortal, the spicy pleasures of the Coronation Curry House await. Bookings not required, very popular with the locals. The Avon Packet loiters nearby, described by CAMRA as fascinating, for reasons known only to real ale aficionados. It could be the collection of toy buses.
That completes my brief culinary tour of Harbourside west, I may venture further south to the spas of Southville, or east up the river at another time.
I have missed at least one cafe – they sprout like fungi don’t they – and a restaurant, the Shiraz, which I have yet to patronise, so not quite all on Harbourside. The Gallery, a cafe at 133 Hotwell Road is a little gem which seems to open according to some occult rule I cannot quite interpret. Lovely. Perfect coffee.
After which the casual stroller must face a long and uncertain hike, hounded and harassed by the aforementioned joggers and cyclists until the next oasis shimmers into sight. The Bag O’ Nails which lurks at the base of Jacob Wells Road like a portal into another cosmos, one in which the feline animal is dominant. Since my last visit they seem to have put up a sign which may say (I could only glimpse it from the doorway) , ‘No Pub Crawl Idiots’, why this may be I cannot imagine. Pork pies are available, a local delicacy, evidently, accompanied by mustard in pots. Described by tourists and other riff-raff as, ‘a proper boozer’.
A very short amble eastwards brings one to The Myrtle Tree, a favoured haunt of extra-terrestrials such as the famous Yoda and although food as we know it is rarely available the quality of the company more than compensates. Baguettes may be offered. Check your health insurance before imbibing.
There a couple of chirpy but forgettable coffee houses closer to the water amongst the astronomically priced shoe-box apartments but why venture there unless awaiting the ferry? Or some other encounter. And the Spin Bar, formerly the Salt, which has music sometimes.
So onward and very slightly upwards to the Three Tuns, a haunt of the lunchtime scholar and a good place to find music now and then, for no charge whatsoever. Burgers and similar stuff are produced to a quality unknown in the western hemisphere, with chips. So I am told. Food is unavailable in the evenings I believe, although my information may have dated as there are new proprietors.
Any further jaunting along Deanery Road will inevitably lead the weary and barely refreshed traveller into the fleshpots of the Bristol metropolis, with all the inevitable disappointment that would entail. So, dear reader, we will turn to the right and venture southwards through the new-built desert of Cannons Marsh. Oh, but that it might have retained it’s former dilapidated, but honest glory, a urine soaked scrubland of abandoned warehouses; that was not to be and so one may enjoy the delights of a Marks and Spenser food outlet, nestled nearby a casino, which, with other similar excrescences serve to rook the foolish adventurer of their abundant surplus cash.
The eateries pile against each other, overwhelmed by the flood of 30-somethings desperate to part with their hard-earned in return for some unleavened bread and a spread of tomato paste garnished by unspeakable factory-farmed and factory-made salami stuff, or similar. And some over-priced fizzy alcohol to wash down and sit on the concoction to hold it in place.
Before crossing the swing bridge and leaving Spike Island (an area of great historic significance and thousands of homes, an arts complex, restaurants, M Shed museum, water activities, steam train &c,) I should mention the Chef’s Table, which is wonderful place to eat but is a proper occasion, good for anniversaries and such, and not cheap. Unmissable for the gourmet.
The attractive Pump House arrives just 50 metres on and directly facing the Nova Scotia across the lock, a little up-market and with really decent food. Quieter mid-week when the Clifton crowd stay home. Cheescake to die for, and chefs who like cooking. The current landlord will talk about food if he gets a chance. Save up and then enjoy.
Or, for a more run-of-the-weekday sort of place there is the Rose of Denmark. Stumble terrified across the three lanes of bridge traffic onto Humphry Davey way, (that’s the man who invented nitrous oxide, rubber balloons and the phrase, ‘die laughing’) then a short stagger to Hotwell Road and in we go. Not exactly charming but a friendly pub food with some attention to detail and good value. Curry night on Wednesday, quite a few veggie dishes, good all-rounder. Live music sometimes.
From the Rose one can gaze across the Cumberland Basin to Lockside, a surprisingly busy daytime eatery built into and under the concrete Plimsoll Bridge slipway. Breakfasts of the ordinary sort.
Just around the corner lies The Bear, Hotwells. Not a place I drop into often, atmosphere is rather claustrophobic to my taste; the Sunday lunch is English traditional and has a good rep. A local inn, for local people? Surrounded on all sides by heavy traffic and the frequent siren scream of emergency vehicles heading into the South Bristol netherworld, it exudes an unusual charm, which includes a quite large outdoor area. However it does enjoy redemption in the form of the Be-Bop Club, Friday night jazz, which seriously must be checked out. Hotwells slummers hangout.
Round to the Merchant’ Arms, a bar smaller than many micros, which has cheese and onion rolls and beer. Luckily I like cheese and onion, within limits. Clientele have interesting stories, often involving complex illegal activities which they are happy to regale you with, for an indefinite period of time. How we laughed as the long winter nights crawled by. One chap explained a scientific conundrum to me, as to how the speed of light is 180,000 miles an hour (Disc World, perhaps), which causes anomalies. Seemingly. Perhaps it is an effect of the tides, which are famously large in these parts. Although I’m not certain that the punters in this pub are aware that there are tides nearby, unless they are unfortunate enough to fall and encounter them.
The Adam and Eve, a fine establishment only a short climb up the hill from Dowry Square. I used to work in Dowry Square, many years ago. Short climb. Apparently it has nine beers and four ciders. Uphill though.
As far as I can tell – after extensive research – the next watering hole is the world-famous-in-Bristol Mardyke, which according to Google closes at some point, though not at any time known to Einstein, who often drank there (Martin Einstein, Withywood). It may be more accurate to say it opens at 12 noon. One of the few pubs in England (all Scottish pubs have them I am told by Brian, a native of that fine land, where any food item may be battered and deep fried) to have it’s own fish and chip shop. That’s it’s only worthwhile note, these days. Although I find it is unusually easy to make the acquaintance of attractive young(ish) ladies. Why that may be I cannot fathom.
So, to the Grain Barge, a floating conceit, one of several around the docks which offers food and beverage to the unwary, and even the wary, should they be overcome by a craving for fluids in these climate warming times. A fine ship and a popular venue with those desperate to escape meaningless employment in the pulsing city (disclaimer: the Bristol pulse may have it’s own gently rhythm, rather slower than elsewhere ), who may desire to entertain and thereby win friends and influence their uncle, as a famous man said. Could do with a more interesting menu to say the least. Has original art by local artists from time to time.
tbc.
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