Fact 239: ‘the prettiest village in Somerset’
In the 19thC Brislington was described as ‘the prettiest village in Somerset’ and it must indeed have looked beautiful. Kingfishers could be seen on the banks of the brook , nightingales sang in St Lukes churchyard, children picked moondaisies in Holymead Fields, and the gentry shot hares and pheasants on their estates. In the 1890s Brislington began to expand and houses were built at ‘New Brislington’ (St Annes) and the Sandy Park area began to be developed. In 1895 part of the old parish of Brislington was taken into the Bristol boundary, but the area around the old village continued to be part of North Somerset until 1933.
Brislington had its own parish council from 1894-1933. In 1921 the Cooke-Hurle family of Brislington Hill House left the district (although most of their property was not sold until 1946) and the house was converted into flats sadly it was bombed in a wartime air-raid in 1941. Alfred Clayfield Ireland, the last ‘Squire of Brislington’ died in 1923 and his large estate was broken up. Brislington Hall was demolished in 1933 and the site now occupied with the B&Q building on Bath Road. Industrial building began with the CWS butter factory in Whitby Road in 1904, followed by the Motor Construction Works (later Bristol Commercial Vehicles) in 1912, and the St Annes Board Mills and Robertsons Jam Factory, both in 1914. Brislington Trading Estate began in 1927 with the building of Trist Draper ‘Top Dog Works’ in 1930, Smiths Crisps 1936, and John Wright & Sons printers 1948. Most major industry closed in the 1980s, however most buildings have now been demolished.
Brislington was still very much a rural , semi-agricultural community until well into 20th Century century. At the turn of the Century there were sixteen main working farms in the village and several small-holdings, as well as market gardens. The main ones being run by the Ford family (in the Bloomfield road area) and the Coggins family at the ‘Rock’, and Biggs at the ‘Shrubberies’. Only 5 farmhouses survive today. The village ‘smithy’ survived until mid 1940s. Despite many buildings being lost through thoughtless demolition and wartime bombing, over sixty examples of the big houses, farmhouses and cottages still survive. Most people know Brislington as a village they pass through on their way to Bath, or to visit the Showcase Cinema or to shop at the major supermarkets. Although Brislington is now a busy suburb of Bristol, it still retains something of its village past, and its history stretches back over a thousand years.
Fact 240: the fascinating history of ballooning in the city
AIR Balloon Hill in St George is a curious name for a street. Many people think it refers to a wartime barrage balloon - but the name has a much longer history than that. For it was here that one of the first British balloons landed on a flight in 1784. The French were well ahead in experiments on flight before Britain woke up to the potential - and even then, Italians flew the first British balloon. A static balloon was exhibited in Cooper's Hall, King Street, Bristol, in 1784 - but the first local flight was probably a few days later when doctor Caleb Parry launched a hydrogen-filled balloon from Royal Crescent Gardens in Bath. That reached Wells, where it was found by one Thomas Urch, who reinflated it with bellows and put it on show in Wells and Shepton Mallet. James Dinwiddie then arrived in Bath with his balloon, which he was taking on tour. It was displayed in the city for a week before it was launched from a riding school. It landed 10 miles away near Bristol on what is still known as Air Balloon Hill.
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Dinwiddie then came to Bristol and launched a balloon from Backfields, which got as far as Hilperton, near Trowbridge. New cottages in Wilder Street by the launch site were subsequently named Balloon Court. In 1784, the first English manned flight took off from London and the following year, Joseph Deeker, 18-year-old son of balloon seller James Deeker, chose Bristol for his first manned flight. Deeker took of from Little Avon Street, St Philips, in a strong wind and was blown close to Chippenham where he made a rough landing. A couple of spectacular deaths (including one chap who used a naked flame to heat hydrogen) and war with the French ended balloon flights for a while.
Then in 1802, ace French aviator Andre Garnerin, who had made the first parachute descent from a balloon in 1797, flew from Sydney Gardens, Bath, to Mells. Eight years later, James Sadler, the so-called Father of English Ballooning, took off from Stokes Croft with Bristol chemist William Clayfield in a gorgeous green and purple silk balloon. They dropped a cat in a basket by parachute, and the hapless animal landed safely and was adopted and renamed Balloon by a local doctor. Sadler and Clayfield, however, ended up in the sea off Devon and had to be rescued by Lynmouth boatmen. The pioneers were followed by the showmen, the commercial operators who used the newly discovered coal gas which was cheaper and safer than hydrogen.
It didn't always work - one planned flight from Bath was aborted because the gas works was two miles from the site and the supply pipe was blocked with dirt. Graham carried out a number of flights from Bath and Bristol, including one from St Philips gas works which lasted 105 minutes and reached two and a half miles high. Ascents became regular events and no fete or celebration was complete without one. George Pocock, the eccentric Clifton schoolmaster who invented a carriage drawn by kites, even launched six hot air balloons as part of a school project, including one of the opening of the Suspension Bridge in 1836.
One of the most famous flights was that of the Saladin in 1881. It was piloted by Captain James Templer and the passengers included Cheltenham MP James Agg-Gardner and Malmesbury MP Walter Powell. The balloon lifted from Bath gas works and flew to the Dorset coast, where it tried to land. The grapnel anchor would not hold and Templer scrambled out, urging his companions to follow. Agg-Gardner jumped and broke his leg, but Powell hesitated. Although Templer held on to a line until his hand was cut to the bone, the balloon was blown away. No trace of it or the Malmesbury MP were ever found.
Patrick Alexander had a factory at Combe Down, near Bath, around the turn of the century where he developed a number of aeronautical devices - and there was a celebrated flight in 1898 from Clifton College by the Rev John Mackenzie Bacon and his balloonist daughter Gertrude, which produced some fine aerial photographs of the city. In 1902 there was a special ascent to mark 100 years since the first manned flight from Bath. Among the guests were Major Baden-Powell and the Hon Charles Rolls, co-founder of Rolls-Royce.
Famous local balloonists of the time included the Hon Mrs Asserton Harbord, who flew 150 times before 1910 and crossed the English Channel five times, and Bedminster barber Charlie Stephens, who parachuted from a balloon into the path of an express train. He survived only to die while trying to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1920. Ballooning was badly hit by the First World War and airships took over in popularity afterwards. Balloons came back in the Second World War in the former of barrage defences. Bristol's brought down two RAF fighters and a bomber - but no German aircraft.
Then in 1953, American Ed Yost started the modern sport of hot air ballooning and the first new British balloon, Bristol Belle, flew in 1967. Co-pilot was a young aeronautical engineer called Don Cameron - and from that point ballooning really took off again. The amazing story of ballooning in Bristol and Bath from 1784 to 1999 is told in Up, Up and Away by John Penny (Bristol Branch of the Historical Association, £3) on which this article is based.
Fact 241: Old Market Street the widest street in Bristol
To me in those days it certainly appeared to be the busiest. It seemed always full of activity, tram cars travelling either way, starting and ending their journeys. Down through the middle of the road were two underground toilets with glass blocked roof. On the corner of Midland Road was a permanent fairground. On the other corner was that famous old pub The Palace Hotel, commonly known in those days as the Gin Palace. Right opposite was the firm with the three brass balls hanging over their door, Raselles. The wholesale meat improvers were one side and the other could be seen, Scudamore's Stores, and Hurwood's the pram shop. The street contained one theatre and two cinemas, the Empire, Tatler and King's cinema, where the first talkie was shown, making thousands of people cry in the weeks it was shown there.
The Central hall was used for mostly religious gatherings, the Kingsley Hall more for trade meetings or whist drives. The Drill Hall further down was the home for years of the Territorial army. There was also a famous brewery in the street, George's Beers. Anyone remember that familiar hat shop Pollard's, whose famous slogan was 'You need a hat to get ahead'. The street contained 10 public houses, two having the same name, The Bunch of Grapes. One was at no 5, and at 29. Along the end toward Castle Street was the square, four-sided clock, which enabled you to see the time from any angle. It was a famous meeting place for a first date.
Nearly all tram services went through Old Market: it was just as well known as the Tramways Centre. The White Hart pub, next to the Empire, was a very popular pub; mine host at that time was a Mr Holbrook. The Empire Stores next door, a sweet and tobacco shop, was always a hive of activity. On the corner next to the Tatler cinema was the clothing shop, called Weaver to Wearer, used to make measured suits for 50 shillings.
