Fact 51: Monty Bristol's Green-Cross-Cat
Monty the cat lived in the Quadrant public house on the corner of Princess Victoria Street and Regent Street, from where he would regularly traverse the zebra crossing for his visits to the bakery. His influence on others gained him massive support against changing the crossing to a public operated one. Monty had many admirers and apparently a lot of power!
Monty on wet squally days loved the warmth of the baker’s shop where he used to have his morning snack. He was used to meeting people. He was known to the privileged but remained an enigma throughout most of his life. He was briefly reported in the Dublin Daily Herald, was a comfort to the bystander and a friend of the poor.
His wise and war-worn features were evidence of having carved a place for himself in the world. Well laid routes from his home encompassed regular visits, passing conversations and occasional meals, but above all he had command of the Queen’s highway. Even the Lord Mayor would catch his eye as the chauffeur obeyed strict instructions to give him the right of way on the zebra crossing. Yes, Monty was rather special, because he was the Clifton cat, destined to become a legend in Clifton Village.
Monty had no problem operating the Clifton traffic system, Monty’s portrait was unveiled in the public bar November 1983. Sadly, Monty had to make that final journey after living to a ripe old age. The village had lost a popular character and the Quadrant a faithful member of the family.
Fact 52: The Life & Times of William Watts’ the Redcliff Plumber
The first shot tower in the world was built on Redcliffe Hill by plumber William Watts. In 1782 he invented a way to make perfectly round lead shot by pouring molten lead through a sieve and allowing it to drop from a height into water. When his tower was demolished for road widening in 1968, it was replaced by this 140-foot tall reinforced concrete landmark. It no longer makes shot, but as a listed building will be preserved as part of Bristol’s skyline.
What Watts didn’t realise was that the lead he used, from the Mendips, contained arsenic, making his process possible. Without that added ingredient, the tumbling lead would not have formed tiny balls.
He was soon a rich man and sold the business to Sheldon Bush and Co. for £10,000, investing much of it in property speculation on the Clifton hillside.
He came a cropper when developing Windsor Terrace on its cliff-like site and was almost bankrupted but he survived the tricky times of the Napoleonic Wars and was honoured by a gift of china by King George IV in 1820 to mark his achievement. The modern method of using shot towers to form shot is reported to have occurred in a dream in 1782.
The dreamer was a plumber in Bristol, England by the name of William Watts, who, in his dream, visualised rain as perfectly round little spheres. Being a hunter and a plumber who knew his lead, Watts conducted an experiment of pouring molten lead through a sieve from the tower of the St. Mary Redcliffe church.
It looks like a streamlined prison camp observation post and it’s a poor replacement for one of Bristol’s most fascinating industrial buildings. It once stood opposite Redcliffe Church until it was pulled down for road improvements in the 1960s.
‘It’ is the new Shot Tower in Cheese Lane, a drab monument to a time when Swinging Sixties just as often meant the swing of the demolition men’s ball-and-chain as it did mini skirts and psychedelic pop.
November 1968 saw the Old Shot Tower demolished to make Redcliffe Hill a dual carriageway. So vanished Bristol’s first brick-built building and the historic home of plumber William Watts who, in 1782, had a startling dream of molten lead being poured from a great height and falling into water in perfect little balls of lead shot.
He was so convinced that he dismantled his house, raised a tower and removed the kitchen floor flagstones so lead could fall freely from the roof into the deep well below and, amazingly, the trick worked! Molten lead trickled through his perforated frame, fell and formed into exactly the shapes he wanted.
Fact 53: Richard Whittington from Gloucestershire
Dick Whittington is little more than a panto hero these days. But he did exist and many of his descendants still live in the Bristol area. It was 600 years ago this year that Gloucestershire landowner's son Richard Whittington was first elected Lord Mayor of London. He held the post an unprecedented three times in all ( 1397, 1406 and 1419 ) and also represented the city in Parliament in 1416.
It is also highly probable that the two John Gonninges ( father and son ), who were sheriffs and mayors of Bristol in the seventeenth century were Whittington family descendants. It is now generally accepted that Dick Whittington was born around 1358 at Pauntley Court, Newent, a house occupied by Whittingtons for three centuries.
On the other hand, his mother, Lady Joan de Berkeley, married Sir William Whittington after her first husband, Battle of Crecy veteran Sir Thomas de Berkeley, died, and Dick may have been either born at her home, Coberley Hall, or spent much of his childhood there.
There's also a spurious tale that he came from Bitton, near Bristol, although this probably arose because there are family descendants in the village, as well as in Stonehouse, Cold Ashton, Dyrham and Stroud. But it is now generally accepted that Pauntley Court is, at least, the place from where he set out to seek the streets paved with gold in London. And it was probably there that Richard grew up with his brothers, William and Robert.
Actually it wasn't quite so romantic as the much later children's story relates. He was the fifth son of a Gloucestershire knight and had little chance of inheriting anything. One brother, Robert, was an MP and another, Guy, was destined to take over the family estates.
Dick's father had been outlawed, possibly for marrying one of the Berkeley family without royal consent. So at the age of 13, Richard was sent off to London to be apprenticed to Sir John Fitzwaryn ( or Fitzwarren ). a West Country merchant venturer and mercer.
He was the Alderman Fitzwarren who always appears in the Dick Whittington panto's and he really did have a daughter called Alice who Dick married. That much seems to be true the clever black cat and the story of the bells of London calling on him to turn again were later additions, possibly filched from the story of Puss-in-Boots.
Young Dick did pretty well for himself, specializing in luxury materials like velvet. By the late 1380's, he had a contract to supply exotic cloth to the royal court. He also became a financier and banker, lending money to Henry IV and Henry V, although, sadly, he didn't get a mention in any of the three Shakespeare plays about them.
He died childless in 1423 and, unlike the legendary Dick, was never knighted. But he left a considerable amount of money to London charities, including one which is still run today by the Mercers-Company on the proceeds of his bequest. A pyramid-shaped structure, built in London's Highgate Hill to receive alms for lepers, became inextricably linked with the Whittington legend when its original purpose was forgotten, and it became the place where he heard the bells tolling his future.
The stone was broken up by the local council in the early nineteenth century and the stone used for the floor of a local pub. It seems to have been a mistake as a replacement was hurriedly erected in 1821 and a large cat ( Britain's only listed cat ) was added later by a writer of children's books called Bissett. Dick's grave was, however, destroyed in the Great Fire of London.
One Whittington family descendant who lived at Pauntley was Eleanor Fettiplace, a friend of Sir Walter Raleigh, who wrote Britain's first cookery book and enjoyed smoking the new tobacco leaves discovered by Raleigh in America. But anyone called Gunning, Mansell, Horton, Bennett, Staunton and Daunsey ( and any close variations ) from Bitton or the other Gloucestershire villages mentioned above, are probably Whittington family descendants.
Dick left plates to Pauntley church in his will and Pauntley Court still exists, although only a small part of the current building dates back to Dick's time. Poet Laureate John Masefield, who was deeply moved by the plight of the unemployed in the thirties, arranged for some of them to restore the court and its farm, and it was home to many of them for many years.
Quite why this gifted but hardly unusual businessman should be immorralised in a children's story and panto isn't clear. The original ballad and play ( which introduced the cat ) only date back to 1605 nearly 200 years after his death, when he should have been long forgotten. Either he had a good public relations advisor or it was a belated tribute to his generosity to charity-gifts which, over the years, transformed a cloth merchant into a legend.
Fact 54: Bristol and Ribena
Ribena was originally manufactured by the Bristol-based food and drink company Carters as a blackcurrant cordial. The drink was launched in the 1930s and it was given the name Ribena, from the botanical name for the blackcurrant, Ribes nigrum in 1938. Blackcurrants are a rich source of Vitamin C. During World War II other fruits rich in vitamin C, like oranges, became almost impossible to obtain in the United Kingdom.
Blackcurrant cultivation was encouraged by the Government and the yield of the nation's crop increased significantly. From 1942 almost the entire British blackcurrant crop was made into blackcurrant syrup (or cordial), almost all of it manufactured by Carters, and distributed to the nation's children for free, giving rise to the lasting popularity of blackcurrant flavourings in Britain. Carters were bought out by the Beecham company (later to become GlaxoSmithKline) in the 1950s. For a short period in the late 1990s a carbonated version, sold in cans, was trialled in the UK, but did not prove successful. The mid-1990's vampire TV show Forever Knight used undiluted Ribena as prop blood, as it seemed to be of similar consistancy.
The history of the blackcurrant cordial eventually named Ribena goes back to 1872 and the Bristol-based food and drink company Carters. In the 1930s it had established a range of citrus-based squashes, but pioneering work at the nearby Long Ashton Hortcultural Research Station led to the manufacture of a blackcurrant cordial which was found to have extremely high concentrations of vitamin C. In 1938 it was called Ribena, from the botanical name for the blackcurrant, Ribes nigrum.
The healthy attributes of the syrup came in handy during the Second World War, when children were given free blackcurrant cordial as an instant vitamin C boost - and the Carters factory supplied almost all of it. As in so many of these histories, the wartime necessity proved a bit hit in peacetime. Carters was now able to sell the product on the open market under its original name, but the Bristol factory was bomb-damaged and a new site was found in the Forest of Dean where the factory still stands. Eight years later, the Beecham company, now Smith-Kline Beecham - soon to be Glaxo Smith-Kline - bought the brand from Carters.
A total of 19 flavours have been launched since 1975, including apple and strawberry smoothie as well as Ribena Tooth Kind, with no added sugar, accredited by the British Dental Association.
Fact 55: Plasticine was invented by William Harbutt of Bath
Some claim Plasticine was invented by Franz Kolb of Munich, Germany in 1880. He sold 'Kunst-Modellierton' ('art-model-hone'). His invention was similar, but not the same. Plasticine was invented by art teacher William Harbutt of Bathampton, near Bath, as a substitute for clay, in 1897.
Plasticine is popular as a teaching tool for its soft and non-hardening characteristics. Plasticine has been on sale to the public since 1908.
Now though, a deal has been struck with a company that specialises in breathing new life into classic toys. Plasticine is being re-marketed to try to bring about a nostalgic revival.
The new look Plasticine should soon be reappearing in toy shops across the country. For many of us Plasticine is a toy which we grew up with during our childhood. Its malleable form meant that it helped shape our growing imaginations. Plasticine was invented in Bath and made famous in Bristol, but where is it now?
It all started with the frustrations of a Victorian art teacher, William Harbutt. He invented an oil based modelling clay for his sculpture students to stop their work drying out too quickly. It was only when his children started playing with plasticine at home that he realised it might have wider appeal. Small scale production began in a basement in Bath, using a garden roller to flatten out the clay.
Within four years, production moved to Harbutt's first factory in Bathampton, a small village just outside of Bath. Hundreds of uses for plasticine were found, but it was TV producers in Bristol who brought it international fame. The animated children's character Morph was modelled from plasticine. The same techniques are still being used today by Aardman to create the characters in the new Wallace and Gromit feature film.
In the early 1980s Harbutts were taken over and the Bathampton factory was closed down. The Harbutts name disappeared from the packaging and production was moved overseas. Sales plummeted.
Fact 56: Cadbury & J.S. Fry & Sons
J.S. Fry & Sons Ltd merged their financial interests with Cadbury in 1919. The earliest records of J.S. Fry & Sons go back to 1728, when a Bristol apothecary called Walter Churchman started his business. Walter Churchman must have been one of the authorities on chocolate making in his day because in 1729 he was granted Letters Patent by George II. The following notice appeared in Farley's Bristol Newspaper at that time:
'His Majesty having been pleased to grant to Walter Churchman of Bristol, Letters Patent for the sole use of an Engine by him invented for the expeditious, fine and clean making of chocolate to greater perfection than by any other method in use, the patentee purposes to sell his Chocolate at the common prices... N.B. Buyers of shells may be furnished with any quantity of them at a low price at his house in Broadmead.'
Medical literature in the late 17th century and into the 18th century vigorously recommended chocolate for its beneficial medicinal qualities, particularly as a mixer for less palatable medicines. Soon manufacturers realised that with the correct flavourings, this supposed therapeutic potion could be made into a palatable and particularly pleasant drink.
After the death of Walter Churchman, his son Charles carried on the business, until he died in 1761. The Churchman's business was then taken over by a young Quaker, Doctor Joseph Fry, who purchased the patent and recipes. Born in Sutton Benger, Wiltshire in 1728, Dr Joseph Fry was apprenticed to apothecary Dr Henry Portsmouth of Basingstoke, receiving extensive training in the medical properties of plants and herbs and the compounding of drugs. As a fully qualified physician he settled in Bristol in 1748 opening an apothecary shop in Small Street.
He had taught himself a number of recipes for chocolate applying his considerable energy and business talent to its production, moving to larger premises in Narrow Wine Street in 1759. Two years later in 1761 the Churchman business and patent was purchased and in 1777, Dr Fry moved his business to the newly constructed Union Street premises.
In those early days, progress was a combination of trial and experiment: Joseph Fry was a great innovator, able to adapt the inventions and experience of others for use in his own business. Basic chocolate production techniques involved cocoa beans being roasted over an open charcoal fire, with hand winnowing followed by grinding and crushing on a heated slab. Cocoa mass was mixed with flavourings and sugar in copper or tin pans, then shaped into tablets. Eating chocolate was unknown and consumers would make a chocolate drink by placing the tablet in the bottom of a chocolate cup adding hot water or milk.
Production was small, often hindered by inadequate supplies of raw materials. Heavy import duties excluded all but the richest people from the purchase of Fry's Bristol chocolate. In 1776, one pound of Fry's famous chocolate retailed at 7/6d (35p), a sum only slightly below the average agricultural labourer's weekly wage. Joseph Fry was a remarkable man who not only visualised the commercial possibilities of chocolate but also had interests in other businesses such as printing, china manufacture in the celebrated Bristol China Works, a soap and candle firm, and a chemical works in Battersea, London.
He died in 1787 and his business interests passed to his wife Anna. Joseph had earned the respect and affection of his brethren in the Society of Friends for his efforts in raising the moral tone of the denomination. Chocolate and confectionery have been made on the Cadbury Somerdale site in Keynsham near Bristol since the 1930s. However the history of chocolate manufacture in the area goes back to the middle of the 18th century when Dr Joseph Fry, a young Quaker physician, began to make chocolate at his apothecary shop in Small Street, Bristol. This was the origin of J.S. Fry & Sons, the oldest chocolate firm in Britain, and possibly in the world.
Joseph Fry was a remarkable man, an innovator with tremendous business acumen. Following his death the business was passed to his wife and son, Joseph Storrs Fry, under whose stewardship the company became known as J .S. Fry & Sons. The Somerdale story encompasses the fascinating history of the Fry's chocolate traditions, which span the reigns of ten British monarchs from George II to Elizabeth II. Some of the most famous and longest-established brand names in UK confectionery, from big sellers like Crunchie and Picnic to well established favourites such as Fry's Turkish Delight and Chocolate Cream, are produced at Somerdale, using the most advanced processing technology.
Fact 57: Bungee jumping
What is the world's first bungee jump? Bungee jumping started about 1,500 years ago in the Pentecost Islands where men would leap from a tree with a vine attached to their ankles as a rite-of-passage. According to legend the world's first bungee jump was performed by a woman fleeing her husband. She climbed up a banyan tree, tied a vine around her ankles and leapt off a cliff.
The first modern day bungee jump was performed by Alan Weston, David Kirke, Tim Hunt brother of motor racing James Hunt, and Simon Keeling, who were the Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club. On April 01 1979 they jumped from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England (dressed in tuxedos and top hats) in the world's first bungee jump, creating a new extreme sport in the process.
Fact 58: Brave Hero John Chiddy from Hanham
John Chiddy was foreman of Birchwood Quarry situated near the eastern mouth of Bristol No 2 Tunnel. Just before 2pm on March 31, 1876, an Up local passenger train dislodged a large stone from the quarry's stack beside the line and fouled the Down track.
Knowing that the Down 'Flying Dutchman' express was imminent, John Chiddy tried to shift the heavy obstruction. This he succeeded in doing, but at the cost of his own life, for the express engine struck him before he could leap clear. In due course, the train which had been travelling at 50mph, stopped and a collection made. The 'Flying Dutchman' at the point when John saved it was running on a ledge high above the Avon and had it become derailed, would most certainly have plunged into the river with considerable loss of life.
So how much did those thankful passengers give? Just £3 17s 0d - precious little compensation for a wife and seven children who had lost their breadwinner. Hearing of this stinginess, Lord Elcho was so incensed that he took up the case in Parliament and said that if a man risked his life to save others, he should do so 'with the consciousness that his family would not be dependent on charity, or the workhouse'. In reply, the Chancellor of the Exchequer explained that he had no funds to help such people.
The ensuing press publicity however resulted in an account being opened in Bath and another in Bristol, the Bank of England contributing £10 when informed that two of its officials were on the train with a large quantity of gold. The total collection of £400 was used to purchase half an acre of land on which the six-bedroomed Memorial Cottage was built in what is now Memorial Road on the Hanham bank of the Avon. (was called Pit Lane)
The north side of the house carries a plaque with the inscription: 'Erected AD 1877 by public subscription for the widow and family of John Chiddy who was killed by an express train whilst removing a large stone from the metals of the Great Western Railway near Conham, March 31, 1876'.
Fact 59: Cavaliers and Roundheads and Bristol’s weak spot
The plaque calls it Washington’s Breach, but it’s hard to imagine what could be breached on busy Queen’s Road in Clifton. In fact when the Civil War broke out between King Charles I and Parliament, this spot stood along the defences thrown up by the city fathers to try to protect Bristol.
Parliamentary supporters found refuge in Bristol early in the war and King Charles ordered the city to be taken by his nephew Prince Rupert. Finding a weak spot in the defences was the trick and one of the Prince’s commanders, Colonel Washington - ancestor of George Washington, founding President of the United States - pulled it off. He and his forces ran forward from near today’s Victoria Rooms, found shelter from gunfire from nearby forts and then made their attack on the defences, hurling hand grenades and routing the defenders.
They were soon down to College Green and it wasn’t long before Bristol surrendered to two years of Royalist rule.
Fact 60: When the balloon first went up..and landed in St George
It’s altogether fitting that the first hot air balloon to be seen in Britain soared over Bristol’s skies and landed in St George. With modern Bristol the hot air ballooning capital of the world thanks to the efforts of Don Cameron, how right that when pioneer balloon-maker Mr Dinwiddie’s unmanned hot air balloon came to rest after its historic flight from Bath, it landed in what has become Bristol.
The event caused such a sensation that local folk named the landing site Air Balloon Hill, and the name has stuck ever since, with the local pub named after the event. In France in 1783 the Montgolfiers burned straw and wool beneath silk bags to invent lighter-than-air flight and the news of their balloons caused a sensation.
Mr Dinwiddie and a friend Dr Parry were hard on their heels with a double launch on Saturday January 10th, 1784. Dr Parry’s vanished without trace but Mr Dinwiddie’s flew west along the Avon valley to its place in British aviation history.
