Fact 235: TEN THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT KINGSWOOD
1, Kingswood was a big mining area. Until the mid 8th-Century, most of Bristol's coal came from there.
2, The miners were described as 'less civilised than savages' - George Whitefield, one of the founders of Methodism, was planning to go as a missionary to America when someone pointed out that the colliers were more savage than any Indians. Few had even basic education, living conditions were unspeakable and vicious colliery gangs terrorised the countryside. Whitefield is said to be the first person who showed any concern for the miners and his open-air meetings in Kingswood attracted 20,000 people.
3, The Bristolian word 'daps' meaning plimsolls originated in Kingswood. The word was derived from the initial letters of Dunlop Advanced (or Athletic) Plimsoll.
4, Kingswood boasted a fake castle - a tower that was originally part of an iron smelter, with castellations added on in Victorian times, when the tower was incorporated into a house and called Kingswood Castle.
5, The iron smelter was built at the time of the Civil War when Oliver Cromwell was facing a shortage of metal. The tower was built as a windmill to keep a constant stream of air flowing to heat up the furnaces. It was built by a Roundhead captain named Copley.
6, Cossham Memorial Hospital was founded by brothers Joseph and William Butler - sons of William Butler senior who ran Bristol's tarworks and was the first chairman of Bristol Tramways And Carriage Company.
7, Kingswood was once home to an ancient royal forest - the king's wood - where King John hunted. His lodge was demolished in 1936.
8, The classic Douglas motorbikes were made in a Kingswood factory from 1907 to 1957 and were taken for test rides around the area: They were affectionately dubbed 'Duggies'.
9, The area was terrorised by the Cock Road Gang - highway robbers and general villains which dominated from around 1780. Dozens of members were hanged or transported.
10, Mary Sewell, the mother of Black Beauty author Anna Sewell, was a prolific writer of children's poems and stories. One of her most famous, The Little Forester, was set in old Kingswood Forest. The family lived at Blue Lodge - one of the three royal hunting lodges.
Fact 236: TEN THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT BEDMINSTER
1, The Bedminster area once had 15 coal mines, the largest of which - Malago pit - employed 400 men. Its mining history peaked at the beginning of the 20th Century.
2, Holiday camp pioneer Billy Butlin went to Bedminster Down school and joined the Locke's Yard showmen of Bedminster.
3, The Tobacco Factory, now a theatre space, is a sole reminder of the tobacco trade that helped build Bristol and was based in Bedminster and Ashton. It was part of the Wills Tobacco empire.
4, Professor Charlie Stephens was known as the 'demon barber of Bedminster.' He was a daredevil and counted kissing lions and parachute jumping from a balloon among his many exploits. He died in 1920 in an attempt to go over the Niagara Falls in a barrel.
5, Lots of children used to have their own Black Hand Gangs but there was a real one in Bedminster in the Twenties. The initiation ceremony involved cutting wrists and mixing blood and collecting trophies such as policemen's helmets.
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6, The Verrecchia ice-cream dynasty was based in Bedminster. They sold icecreams for more than 70 years, opened Bristol's first ice-cream parlour in Coronation Road, Bedminster, and introduced the first mobile ice-cream maker.
7, Bedminster was under eight feet of water in the Great Flood of Bristol in October 1882. Three inches of rain fell in 48 hours, damaging 1,000 properties.
8, Bedminster is now the centre of the world's hot air balloon industry - entrepreneur Don Cameron has his factory in St John's Lane.
9, The remains of Roman villas have been found at Bedminster.
10, Bristol's greatest modern benefactor John James, who gave away millions to good causes, was the son of a Bedminster docker.
Fact 237: GOLLY'S AND JAM
Robertson's is a leading brand of Jam and Marmalade in the UK. The brand's most famous product is 'Golden Shred Marmalade'. Known as the 'The World's best marmalade', Golden Shred is the fastest-selling preserve in the UK. James Robertson was a grocer in Paisley, Scotland, who was persuaded to buy a barrel of bitter oranges. When sales were slow, James' wife Marion made the oranges into a batch of marmalade and 'Golden Shred' was born. In 1864 'Robertson's' was founded. Marmalade was originally produced at the back of the shop, but soon a factory was set up to meet increased demand, and jam and mincemeat were added to the catalogue. Robertson's has had a Royal Warrant since 1933, this means the British royal family use the products.
A YOUNG Scottish grocer called Robertson was once landed with a barrel of bitter Seville oranges which he couldn't sell. So his wife made some pots of orange preserve, or marmalade, for sale in the shop. These were so successful he started a small jam factory, soon followed by others in Manchester and London. There was enormous demand for Golden Shred, as his marmalade was called, and in 1914 a factory was opened in Water Lane, Brislington, Bristol.
Several different marmalades and jellies were produced, and a big seller was Wild Bramble Jelly made from local blackberries. In the 20s, the factory employed 300 local women and was described as situated in 'charming country', well away from the city.
The Golliwog emblem was brought from America in 1910 by John, one of the founder's sons. Before accusations of racism killed it off, the company sent out 12,000 enamel badges and 4,500 pottery golliwogs every week to children collecting the paper gollies in Robertson products. In the 60s, Robertsons took over Quantock Preserving of Bridgwater.
And although production was cut in Manchester and the London works closed, the Bristol factory, now employing 3,000, became the largest jam producer in Europe. But in 1975 the Glasgow factory went, as did most of Quantock Preserving. Brislington, down to 1,000, shed even more and closed in 1979. A year later Quantock Preserving was sold to Gerber Foods and Robertson's was taken over by the Avana group. There is now a Tesco store on the Brislington site but the Robertson family still retain their family seat at Combe Hay Manor, near Bath.
The Golly badge scheme, which offered Golly badges in a variety of different costumes, was run on each Robertson's label from 1928 to 2001. There was a short break during WW2, when the metal was required for other purposes! It was the the longest running collector scheme in Britain. It is a testomony to the business Know-how and entrepreneurial flair of James Robertson that Robertson's is today one of the most successful producers of preservesw in the world. The Royal Warrant, first presented to Robertsons by George V in 1933 is a testament to Robertson's continued quality.
In 1999 a Robertson spokesperson said, 'He's still very popular. Each year we get more than 340,000 requests for Golly badges. Since 1910 we have sent out more than 20 million.' Serious Robertson's collectors may have thousands of Golly badges in their collections. Nevertheless,Robertson's Golly badges still remain highly collectable, with the very rarest sometimes selling for more than £1,000, and even comparatively common and recent badges being worth £2.00–£3.00.
In August 2001, Robertson's (a jam-making company in England) announced that they would be replacing the character 'Golly' that traditionally appeared on their jar labels with a series of Quentin Blake illustrations of Roald Dahl characters.
Neon 'Golly' Signs on Bristol's City Centre
I would be very interested in any memories about the Robertsons jam factory at Brislington, I worked there for King & Co of Park Row, installing electrical equipment and heavy duty cables some years prior to World War II. I also erected a large neon sign on Broad Quay for the company which read, 'Robertsons Golden Shred Puts The Taste On The Toast'.
This featured the 'Golliwog' trademark with the golly holding a jar of marmalade to his chest. A member of the Robertson family lived on Rownham Hill. The war meant the shut down of all the neon signs which surrounded the centre and they have never been replaced. Regarding these neon 'Golly' signs, alot of them were stored in the carpenters' workshop at the rear of the shops. One day a group of young apprentices decided to pass the time of day by shooting at them with a air pistol' They were never replaced. They would be worth a lot of money now? even the badges are now very collectible. Now 88 years of age, I can still recall the good old days when the city was ablaze with light.
Author Jane Austen would have travelled the road, as did Charles Dickens, and it is thought he found the name for Pickwick Papers while travelling through the village of that name. Martin Yallop, who put together the exhibition with Elaine Arthurs, explained that the road was not just one road - there were actually two or three and which route was used would have depended on the weather. If the lower road was flooded, coaches would go over the hills, which Mr Yallop said led to several of them overturning.
After the English Civil War several soldiers ended up making a living as highwaymen. In the late 17th century, on his way to the gallows, Captain Phillip Stafford had a last drink at a tavern, telling the landlord he would 'pay for it on his way back'. Captain James Hind, who had fought with Charles II, was hung, drawn and quartered for treason after being captured for highway robbery. Captain Zachary Howard, a former Cavalier, held up Oliver Cromwell and was also accused of attacking the home of General Fairfax and raping his wife and daughter.
Mr Yallop said highway robbery began with the first public stagecoaches in 1658 and, as they began to carry mail in the 1700s, had to have more escorts. The last highwaymen targeting the Bath Road were the Hanham and Cock-Road Gang. They committed crimes in the Brislington and Keynsham area in 1850. Mr Yallop said: 'They were far more violent and brutal than the romantic image. Tom Wilmot, who had trouble taking a woman's ring off, cut her finger off. 'The road declined quite rapidly once the railway opened in 1841 and it ceased to be a through road until the motor car in the early 20th century.'
