1980 - From Silver Blades ice rink to Olympic champion
The 1980s was less than two months old when Bristol had something very special to celebrate. . . and the confirmation that its best-loved star since Cary Grant really was the greatest. Robin Cousins took the Gold Medal in figure skating at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics—and he kept the nation awake throughout the night to see if he really could become the champion.
Robin, the boyish 22-year-old from Sea Mills, had made steady progress through the skating scene. From a precocious youngster who'd showed rare skills as a novice at the Silver Blades ice rink in Bristol, he had developed into a skater with an extraordinary dramatic talent as well as a superb technique.
It was a heart-stopping blend of athleticism and artistry and the world was at his feet when he took to the ice in the final moments of the Olympic challenge.
He skated brilliantly, pipping the East German Jan Hoffman by the narrowest of margins to take the Gold Medal and achieve his lifetime's ambition. He didn't know whether he had won until a moment before the presentation ceremony, as millions of British fans could see as they watched the final on early morning TV. 'It was an incredible feeling when I realised I had won' he said minutes later. 'I couldn't believe it. 'My feet weren't attached to the rest of my body and I literally tripped on to the rostrum.' Back home there were cheers and huge sighs of relief when those marks went Cousins' way that early morning.
The Post kept an eye on Robin's neighbours to see how their night had gone. 'Bleary-eyed residents of Dingle Close, Sea Mills, Bristol, where Robin and his parents Fred and Jo live, are recovering from an all-night TV viewing session of the Lake Placid event. 'Next-door neighbour Mr Douglas Cotterell stayed up until nearly 4 o'clock this morning to watch Robin's victory. ' 'I was on the edge of my chair all night' he said. ' 'When he first started skating all those years ago I never dreamed he would win the Olympics. ' 'But he and his parents have worked incredibly hard for this and he's a very nice lad—I can't think of anyone who deserves a medal more.
' 'I expect the Close will be celebrating this in some way.' 'Sydney and Audrey Thompson, who have known Robin all his life, were also over the moon. But they didn't watch him win. ' 'We were really tired last night but we knew he was going to win anyway' said Mrs Thompson. ' 'It's funny to think the little kid who used to play next door is now a world skating star. This is a great honour for Bristol and for the Close.' 'Robins's victory did not go unnoticed elsewhere in the city.
'Window dressers started work on a special victory display at Sue Sheppard's Park Street Staff Bureau at 5 a.m. today. 'The display in giant letters, said: 'Well done Robin'. ' 'We planned it a long time ago in the hope that Robin would win' said Miss Sheppard. 'Now he has honoured the city in this way I hope that other traders will be doing the same sort of thing.' '
'The glass fronted seven-storey office block would look out on Bond Street and the Broadmead shopping area and stand at the corner of Newfoundland Street. 'If the suggestion that 'mirror' glass be used is accepted, it would make the building one of the most unusual and exciting in Bristol. 'At developers Espley-Tyas today, it was said the scheme would bring to Bristol a major, prestigious complex providing the type of accommodation 'normally found in central London but at half the cost to the occupiers.' ' The Spectrum building opened on October 4th, 1984 and was in trouble from the start.
Some loved it, including the Post's architectural correspondent Michael Jenner, some loathed it, like Avon's planning committee chairman Don Dolling who took a leaf out of Prince Charles' book by slating such hi-tech modernism as a 'glass monstrosity. . .if that is modem architec- ture, I'm sorry someone should have that point of view'. Then Spectrum failed to find tenants. Then those famous mirror glass windows started picking up nasty stains from the heat of the sun, so Bristol University expert Steve Lubetkin, son of one of the world's most famous modernist architects Berthold Lubetkin, who also lived in Bristol, was called in to devise a method of removing the stains.
After two empty years the first occupants arrived. Five years after the official opening ceremony. Spectrum was working at full stretch at last. On March 13th 1989 the Post reported: 'Spectrum, Bristol's futuristic office building which opened in 1984 and for a time seemed destined to become a 'blue' elephant, is now fully let. ' For the first two years no tenants could be found for the attractive glass-house that is illuminated in blue at night and lends an air of Dallas to the inner-city ring road at the mouth of the M32.
'Then the city council's development office was invited to move in rent-free. 'This was a wise move because it meant representatives of firms wishing to move to Bristol had to call at Spectrum—and their visit was an eye-opener. 'Eventually the economic development office had to move out to make way for other tenants. Spectrum has become the place to be.'
They were at Colston Hall in 1971, rich, resplendent and already re-spectable with' a backstage parade of superbly dressed wives and girlfriends like Bianca Jagger and a cornucopia of delicious, artistically arranged food and drink to please their tastes.
Eleven years later stadium rock, an American creation involving massive concerts in the biggest open air venues available, had crossed the Atlantic and the Stones—by then pillars of the older rock'n'roll establishment—latched on to this lucrative showbiz market gleefully with a lavish tour of brightly staged mega-shows to pull in the punters. The Bristol gig was an on-off affair until a few weeks before the main event. Too noisy for a Sunday, locals said. Then the authorities relented, ticket sales went wild and at last the Stones arrived to do the business.
'It needed more than a brief downpour to dampen the spirits of 36,000 passionate Rolling Stones fans as Mick Jagger and Co played their first Bristol concert for 11 years. 'The seething crowd, packed like sardines on to the pitch and crammed into the terraces on three sides of Bristol City's Ashton Gate ground, were never going to let a spot of bad weather take the edge off the jubilant proceedings. 'They arrived in marvellous humour. They sang, clapped, danced and chanted with all the gusto they could muster. 'The weather stayed kind throughout the warm-up proceedings. Indeed, the Stones were half-way through their long show when dark clouds rumbled overhead and the rain came down.
'Jagger himself remarked on the ill luck, pointing out that he was quite likely to end up on his backside if he kept on racing like a teenager around the slippery, sloping stage. 'But nothing could deter the band or their legions of passionate followers. The crowd response gathered momentum through the downpour and by the time the Stones launched into their old classics, the sun was out again. 'And when Mick Jagger tore off his T- shirt to wild applause, it was too much for one well-endowed young lady who decided to follow suit. She danced topless directly in front of her idol.
'The fans were by no means all from the West. Many had made long trips from the north, Midlands and Wales. 'Life-long Stones fan Paul Merrett from Hereford said: 'There was no way I could get tickets for the Wembley concerts, so when I heard about the Bristol gig I got down here as quickly as possible and queued all night. ' 'To be honest, I don't reckon the band are as good as they were 10 years ago. But that doesn't make any difference, because they're still the best and you don't know if you'll ever get a chance to see them again'.
'The band received a five minute standing ovation before they returned for an encore to play their most famous number, Satisfaction. 'The curtains were pulled back again to reveal Jagger chanting the words from a hoist platform which moved out directly over the heads of the front of the audience. 'In true Stones tradition, they went out with a bang. As they left the stage, a deafening fuselage of fire-crackers, rockets and smoke bombs was set off behind the stadium.' And, in true Stones tradition, they cocked a snook at authority even in their middle age.
Locals in Ashton and Bedminster hadn't minded the sound of the music ... but that ear-splitting finale of explosions was too much. It caused so many complaints that Bristol City Council decided that never again would Ashton Gate be granted permission for a mega-rock show.
1983 Friday June 11th - The love affair between Tony Benn and Bristol
'Tony Benn hinted that he would be looking for a political future outside Bristol after his defeat in yesterday's General Election. 'Mr Benn, who has been an MP in the city for 33 years, lost in Bristol East by 1,789 votes. 'He left the count to cheers from his supporters while newly-elected MP Jonathan Sayeed walked out almost unnoticed. 'Mr Benn went off to a private party at Transport House in Bristol almost immediately after his defeat. 'He told the assembled crowd outside Brislington School: 'I would like to thank the people of Bristol who, for a third of a century, have returned me to Parliament.
'' I would like to tell them how glad I am that I stayed. Nothing but the decision of the people of Bristol that someone else should represent them would have induced me to leave this city. ' 'Nobody should be discouraged by this result and I hope nobody will weep for me'.
'Insurance broker Mr Sayeed (35), who was fighting his first Parliamentary election, said:' I would like to congratulate Mr Benn for sticking to his guns and not running to a safe Labour seat.' 'Mr Benn looked cheerful while the result was announced but tears welled up in his eyes when a chant of 'You'll be back' went up.
'The Post's Political Editor Michael Lord writes: 'The love affair between Tony Benn and Bristol is over, 33 years and 13 elections after it began. 'It took a succession of boundary changes, a huge Tory swing, Liberal intervention and a collapse of public faith in Labour to cut the link between the city and Britain's most controversial politician. 'He could have had any number of safe Labour seats but was determined to give the people of Bristol East the final decision on his future. 'Tony Benn, who chose to stand and fight, is out and the Commons has one radical thinker fewer.'
1984 April 9th - Murder on the farm
Derek Robinson, well-known author, broadcaster and later Evening Post columnist told the Evening Post not many weeks before that Horton was one of those places where nothing had happened for the past thousand years and nothing would happen for the next thousand years. The Bristol-born top thriller and war story writer who had made his home in the hamlet near Chipping Sodbury couldn't have been more wrong. On the morning of April 9th farmer's wife Maggie Backhouse, aged 40, climbed into the family Volvo estate at Widden Hill Farm in Horton to set out for supplies from a local vet. The car exploded.
The Post reported: 'A village vendetta led to farmer's wife Mrs Maggie Backhouse being injured in a car bomb explosion at her home in Horton, near Bristol, today. 'She was taken to Frenchay Hospital where she was undergoing surgery this afternoon. 'Mrs Backhouse managed to stagger from the car. She was seen by passers-by at 8.20 this morning.
The farm was immediately cordoned off and sniffer dogs were used to scour the area. 'Detective Superintendent Tom Evans, leading the inquiry, said the family had been receiving threatening anonymous telephone calls. ' 'There has been a recent history of anonymous phone calls to the home threatening the husband and the family.
The police are investigating' he said. ''A lamb's head was found with a message which gives us reason to connect it with the telephone calls'. 'Mrs Backhouse and her husband Graham, aged 44, are well liked, villagers said today. 'Local author and neighbour Mr Derek Robinson said: 'Hearing of a car bomb in Horton takes my breath away. I can't believe it has happened to Maggie—she is a typical farmer's wife.'' The Post was back in Horton three weeks later on the morning of May 1st. This time someone had been killed.
'Police called on villager Mr Colyn Bedale-Taylor only hours before he was found shot dead at the home of hate-campaign victim Mr Graham Backhouse in Horton last night. 'Today Det. Chief Supt. Alan Elliott said the police visit was a pure coincidence although former Army officer Mr Bedale-Taylor, aged 63, had been interviewed more than once over the bombing. 'Last night police called to Widden Hill Farm found Mr Bedale-Taylor dead with gunshot wounds and Mr Backhouse with stab wounds to his face and body.
'Mr Backhouse had been guarded by police after the bombing incident. It was called off at Mr Backhouse's request on April 19th. 'Both Mr and Mrs Backhouse are now under police guard at Frenchay Hospital.' Later Graham Backhouse was arrested after police pieced together the full story of how he had fallen into debt, attempted to collect £100,000 by murdering his wife with a bomb and then shot dead his neighbour Colyn Bedale-Taylor hoping to make him the scapegoat.
The sheep's head, the telephone threats and the rest of the 'vendetta' had been a deception. The deception, like the bizarre insurance fraud, failed fatally. Backhouse was sentenced to life imprisonment.
1985 Friday November 22nd - Beefy on the march
It was the most public John 0'Groats to Lands End walk for decades. . .and when the lan Botham Roadshow arrived in town, Bristol gave the West Country's favourite Bad Boy/Good Guy a hero's welcome. The story had begun in the West Country—when Botham had accepted an invitation to visit children suffering from leukaemia in Somerset during his days as one of the Taunton-based stars of the Somerset Cricket Club. He vowed to help and decided that a sponsored walk would be his gift. He was joined by three friends, sports journalist Chris Lander from the Chew Valley, John Border, brother of Australia's cricket captain Alan and Phil Ranee, who all started on Day One.
And the story reached its triumphant finale in the West Country. From the moment that lan Botham stepped into the Evening Post's circulation area near Stroud on the A38 in the final marathon leg of his tip-to-tail trek through Britain, he knew he was among friends. The Bristol leg of his giant stride was a day-long march from Newport, near Dursley, on the A38 and then along the main road through Almondsbury, Filton, Bishopston, Stokes Croft to the centre before continuing up through Bedminster and Bedminster Down to Lulsgate.
A total of 28 miles. 'Botham's funny hat stood out like a beacon as he prepared to take on the full force of fan worship from onlookers of all ages as he approached Bristol. 'He talked about the daily routine of his marathon trek with its unbroken discipline of four miles an hour for seven hours. 'We find it easier to think of hours' he said. 'Rough times? Yes, we have had some and we did try too hard at first when we were doing 35 miles a day.
' 'Once it is over at the end of each day, we'll sit around, our special POW T-shirts on—the four Prisoners of the Walk—and have a drink'. 'One of his fellow POWs, Manchester hairdresser Phil Ranee—Phil's wife Lin comes from Pilning, said: 'Both has been great. The public don't see the side of Both we have seen and we have got to know each other well. ' 'If one of the four is having a hard time, we instinctively know it and there's always support from each other'. 'By the time the procession arrived on the outskirts of Bristol, the crowds were getting bigger, the walk more hurried as teenagers bustled and danced and pushed their way into the column.
' Botham brought Bristol to a halt as the march went through town. Tens of thousands cheered and urged him and the procession onward and Botham, for once, looked stunned. The next day's Post reported from Lulsgate as the walk headed further south . . . and after the donations on the Bristol leg had been counted. 'Bristol has proved to be the most generous place so far on lan Botham's charity walk. 'A total of £26,808 was donated on the 27th stage of his 870 mile walk . . . and yesterday's greetings from Bristol gave the Somerset star enormous pleasure.
'He said: 'It was the best reception I've had so far. What a great day!''
1986 Sunday November 30th- Archie visits Bristol
Archie Leach fled Bristol as a stage-struck teenager, became Cary Grant in Hollywood and was one of the brightest stars of the golden age of Hollywood. He was the epitome of screen elegance, witty, urbane, dashingly handsome, a man for every romantic part. Gary's love affair with Bristol lasted and lasted. Although he made his home in California, he came back to the West Country year after year, first on ocean liners, then on the early intercontinental prop airliners which had to break their journey in Iceland to refuel and finally on today's familiar jetliners. The morning after his death in America, the Post's veteran showbiz writer and diarist Alston Thomas could at last write about the Cary he knew. 'I knew him for the better part of four decades and for some years lived a few doors away from his late mother, Elsie, in Coldharbour Road, Redland.
'Towards me he was always kind but not unduly friendly. I was one of two journalists entrusted with his private bedside telephone number at his California home. 'There were times when he was most communicative, others when he was taciturn to the extreme. 'He struck up what, for such a private character, was a special relationship with Bristol newspapers after an unfortunate altercation at the funeral of his father, Elias Leach, during which a photographer's camera was damaged. 'He promised to tip them off whenever he came to Bristol. He posed for a few pictures and gave brief interviews.
'In return, pressmen promised never to pester his mother for her views on her famous son's career and his many romances. 'She was easily confused by strangers and he had a dread that his fans would learn she had spent some years in a mental hospital. 'Although it was difficult to do so unnoticed, he enjoyed visiting the Bristol Hippodrome where he had made his Bristol debut as an acrobatic dancer in August 1918.
'Earlier he had worked as a stagehand at the Empire Theatre in Old Market, Bristol. 'His last act in connection with his native city came in April when he broadcast the weekly radio appeal, Week's Good Cause, on behalf of the University Settlement, Barton Hill. 'It brought one of the biggest responses the programme had known and donations poured in from all parts of Britain and the continent. 'His fear of becoming old was almost an obsession and he hated to talk of death.
He refused to celebrate his 80th birthday although he admitted to having been deeply touched to receive the 80th birthday greetings from the Lord Mayor of Bristol. 'All his life he boycotted television. When it became the major entertainment media 30 years ago, he vowed never to get involved. 'He saw it as a threat to the film industry, to which he owed everything, and to his close friends in movies. 'The BBC in Bristol had planned to bring him back to the city for a major documentary on his life to mark his 80th birthday, taking in his birthplace in Hughenden Road, Horfield, his old school and many other places associated with him. 'But he refused to cooperate and the venture was abandoned.
'Evening Post photographer Jack Garland probably got on better with Cary Grant than other newspapermen. 'Cary took Jack's phone number with him around the world and frequently called him. 'One dismally dull day in August 1965, when Cary had just married Dyan Cannon, Jack received a call from Cary which simply said: 'I'm on my honeymoon. If you're at the top gate of Bristol Zoo at 11.30 you'll see a tatty old Austin Cambridge. My cousin, (the late Eric Leach) my new bride and I will be in it.' After posing with his bride, Cary drew Jack aside and whispered: 'You've got the only honeymoon pictures. You could make yourself a lot of money.' ' Sadly for Jack, when he returned to the office the then editor of the Post was so delighted with the scoop that all the pictures and negatives were seized so that they could not leave the office.
Cary said later: 'It was a great pity. I only wanted to do Jack a favour. I could always trust him and wished to show my appreciation.'
1987 Friday July 17th - Bristol's Housing Boom
Buy your own home . . . and join the property boom! - That was the message everyone was receiving in the mad, mad, multi-billion home buying spree of the late 1980s. One subject dominated conversations that summer. How much houses were worth today, how much they had cost yesterday and what they would be worth tomorrow.
No wonder it was front page news. And there was a new breed of buyer who came singly or in couples to join or cash in on the new opportunities the spiralling prices offered. Bristol began to hear more and more about the Yuppie, the Young Urban Professional and the Dinkies, the Double Income No Kiddies duo who were setting the pace in the big scramble for that dream home of your own. On July 17th the Post gave the final confirmation that things were out of hand:
Home Boom Goes Crazy the front page banner headline read. It was true. Under the headline the Post's chief reporter Martin Powell wrote: 'The property market in Bristol is now so buoyant that one man has just spent two days queuing for a flat that he may sell without even moving in. 'Mr Paul Hamblin and Mr Chris Merrick have slept on the pavement for two nights to buy a studio flat overlooking Bristol's water-front. 'Four flats in the Buchanan's Wharf complex in Redcliffe were released at 9 a.m. today and were immediately snapped up—they could have been sold ten times over.
'Mr Hamblin started queuing on the pavement on Wednesday determined to be the first in when the doors opened today. 'The one-bedroom studio flats are being sold for up to £55,000. A £69,000 two-bedroom flat has been released through Bristol city council. 'Said Mr Hamblin: 'I was determined to get the flat that is overlooking the waterfront. I knew there were at least 20 people interested so I got here early'. 'At 8 a.m. yesterday Cheryl Matthews and her boyfriend Wayne Collins joined the queue as did Mr Don Duon, which meant all four flats were taken.
'Said Mr Duon: 'I would think about 100 people have walked up and gone away when they realised that there was a queue of four and all the flats would go. ' 'I have even been offered money for my place in the queue, but would not accept it'. 'Mr Hamblin said: 'I may not even move in. There are another eight flats being released next week and I understand that the price may rise by £2,000. '' 'With that sort of money being made, I may sell the flat without moving in to the highest bidder. ' 'To buy a property in the centre of Bristol overlooking the waterfront will be very difficult in the future.
This is a tremendous area, which is improving all the time and is so close to the heart of the city'. 'The interest in the flats has been so high that the sales office does not open on Saturdays—it does not need to. 'The flats, which have a view of Bristol Bridge, are part of an urban renewal development by Bristol city council and Lovell Homes.'
Lloyd's went one stage further. They decided to turn the demolition into a public event and announced that it would take place at 7 a.m. on a Sunday. No-one who was there will ever forget it. I was lucky, invited to the VIP area directly in front of the warehouses. We were served early morning bacon sandwiches and a Bucks Fizz of sparkling wine and orange juice. Other companies with offices overlooking the site did the same. It was early morning party time and it was impossible to count the gigantic crowds who turned out to see the biggest bang. 100,000? Maybe.
Perhaps even more. It was raining at 5 a.m. Half an hour later the clouds fled. By 6.55 a.m. the air was so clear you could almost touch the Dundry hills if you were standing in the city looking south.A tiny camera-carrying model aircraft was started up just in front of us. It wobbled, weaved and took off. Then came the bang of the warning maroon flare. And then came the blast itself. Monday's Post reported: 'At 7 a.m. yesterday Bristol had its ugly, unloved tobacco warehouses.
One crunching, crumping, heart-stopping bang later and they shuddered, cracked, heaved and finally vanished in a blinding cloud of dust. 'It was a marvellous moment. Photographers cursed because their cameras had shaken, some of Bristol's leading planners shook fists in the air in sheer exultation, dignitaries stood open-mouthed in awe and the thousands and thousands who'd left home at dawn to pack every vantage point cheered and cheered and cheered. 'The moment I'll never forget came in the aftermath as a great plume of dust grew and grew and grew over Canon's Marsh and VIPs scurried for shelter from its relentless, menacing advance.
'For a minute or two I stood utterly alone as everyone hid from the blinding, choking, clothes-and-hair covering dust with its acrid taste of stale tobacco. 'It hid the sun and it hid the sky until,at last, the palest edge of blue filtered through. 'And as the dust gently drifted below the skyline first the masts of the s.s. Great Britain appeared and then the lunatic sight of huge, rafted heaps of white concrete where the warehouses once stood.
'It was demolition expert Mr Charles Moran's encore and he well deserved his second round of applause when that breath-taking sight came into view.'
1989 Thursday February 23rd- judge, jury and executioner
Bristol had suffered the Luftwaffe blitzes of World War II and two bombing attacks by the IRA in the 1970s. The 1980s closed with a bizarre new brand of violent terrorism . . . from the Animal Lib bomber. 'The Senate House in Tyndall Avenue, Clifton exploded in a blue flash just after midnight and Army bomb disposal experts said that a 51b bomb was responsible. 'It was planted in the corner of a bar on the fourth floor of the building. 'The blast happened 12 hours after police bomb experts, with sniffer dogs, searched the building, following warning calls to two newspapers—one the Evening Post—by a man claiming to represent the Animal Abused Society.
'Forensic experts and Army bomb disposal experts were examining the scene today. 'The blast ripped a hole in the fourth-floor ceiling and blew a hole in the floor. Water pipes were damaged and the heavy plate-glass windows blew out, showering glass into the car park of the nearby Hawthorns Hotel. 'Hotel worker Mr David Dowty said: 'I was getting ready to come off duty. I heard an almighty bang and saw a big blue flash, and there was a shower of glass all over the road.'
'University spokesman Mr Don Carleton said the violence of the blast was such that if anyone had been walking in the vicinity they would have been killed or seriously hurt. ' 'There is nothing we do at the university that would merit this kind of attack' he said. ' 'However, we equally well know these people act as judge, jury and executioner. The first you know about any charge they make is when it explodes.'
'One theory being followed by police is that the bomb had a timing device and the bombers may have thought it would go off at noon yesterday instead of midnight. ''A device of the power which was involved here could have killed many, many people' said Dep. Chief Constable John Harland. 'The bar in Senate House is not used by students. Police were checking groups that may have hired rooms in the block recently. 'Bristol West MP Mr William Waldegrave said: 'There must be people in our city who know who these madmen are. I urge them to contact the police before there is loss of life.'
'Education Secretary Mr Kenneth Baker broke off from a Cabinet meeting to visit Bristol. 'Mr Baker, speaking outside the bombed building this afternoon said: 'This is an appalling act of terrorism. ''Fanatics who reach for the bomb have to be condemned. They have no excuses. They have no justifications. ' 'This bomb is bad news for a civilised society. ' 'Universities enshrine free speech and measured arguments. They should not be scenes of violence and intolerance.''
Please feel free to add your own comments to the Guestbook or Forum
Memories of Bristol over the past 100 years including 3000 photographs on-line
This non commercial 'hobby' site, has been evolving and expanding on line since 2001 and is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only.
