recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Chimney ventilator

This object is on display in the Features section in the Places Gallery

Getting rid of smoke from houses was a constant problem. Fireplaces with chimneys were introduced in the 1100s and became more common by the 1300s. Medieval houses had a hearth in the centre of the main room. Smoke escaped through a hole in the ceiling, which was covered by a pottery ventilator like this Redcliffe ware example, which was probably made in Bristol between 1300-1500. It was restored from fragments found during an excavation at Parsonage Field, Stoke Gifford in the 1980s
Sir Archibald Russell

Sir Archibald Russell (1904–1995)

Archibald Russell joined the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1925 when he was 21. He was involved in designing all their aircraft after that and took the lead in designing the Brabazon, Freighter and Britannia. He presided over the British contribution to the Anglo-French supersonic aircraft, the Concorde, including the development of the characteristic ‘droopsnoot’ nose, the fuel-handling systems and the engine air intakes. Russell retired in 1969, shortly after the British Concorde first flew at Filton.
Barges, Lighters & Tugs

A barge is a type of flat-bottomed boat, and a lighter is a type of barge. While both were used to carry goods to and from large cargo ships, lighters tended to be used in the harbour while barges could carry goods much further afield.

Before the City Docks closed to commercial traffic in 1975, cargo arriving on large ships was often loaded onto smaller boats such as barges and 'lighters'. Some of these were 'dumb' meaning they had no sails or engines and would be towed by tugs, like the Museum's steam tug, Mayflower, to places throughout Britain.
James Hilhouse

James Martin Hilhouse (1748–1822), shipbuilder

Hilhouse set up a shipbuilding business in Hotwells in
1772, with money inherited from his father. Six years later, he won a contract
to build frigates, or warships, for the Royal Navy. They were so impressed by
his ship Medea that they placed an order for 11 more. Each ship was slightly
different, taking about four months to build and requiring a team of over 20
skilled craftsmen.

This company would eventually spawn the Bristol City Line after the company was taken over by Charles Hill.
Bristol Touring Car

Colonel Rolleston’s car was delivered from the Bristol Motor Company

in 1906.
It was similar to the carriage it replaced. Its body was custom-made by
coachbuilders but instead of being driven by a coachman, it was driven
by a chauffeur until it was sold in about 1920.
In 2006 there were about five times more cars in Bristol than there had
been in the whole of Great Britain when the Colonel’s car was made.
Edward Hodges Baily

*A bust of E. H. Baily by E. G. Papworth Jr is on display in the People Gallery*

Edward Hodges Baily (1788 - 1867) was a sculptor born in Downend, Bristol.

Baily's father was a renowned carver of figureheads for ships, and Baily had started to follow in his fathers footsteps on a similar commercial path. However Baily leaned strongly towards his artistic abilities, having produced wax busts of his school fellows as a boy.  After working from age fourteen in a mercantile house, he abandoned his career at age sixteen and began executing portraits in wax.

In 1807, after John Flaxman was shown two Homeric studies that Baily had executed for a friend, the celebrated sculptor took the latter on as a student in London.

In 1809 Baily entered the Royal Academy Schools.
The Flying Flea

The Flying Flea is a light aircraft that was designed by french furniture maker Henri Mignet in 1933. It was a home built aircraft which meant that that purchaser of the aircraft would build that craft itself from the design provided. thedesign was banned in the UK after only three years due to a number of fatalities.

###

###

### Design Flaws

The fatalities of the plane were caused by an inability to recover from a shallow dive. the lack of elevators and the overlapping wings meant that elevation had to be controlled by the throttle which did little good once in a shallow dive.

### The Blue Finch

The example of a flying flea on display in the M Shed was built by Harry Dolman, a Bristol Aeroplane Company engineer. The blue finch was operated without incident until the type was banned in 1936. The wings are wood and canvas and the engine is a yet unspecified Douglas motorcycle engine.

###

## Anecdote

-One visitor claimed that there had been a mistake in the plans when translating the French Metric designs to the English Imperial used at the time. the claim is that the body should be roughly two feet longer and that would solve the problem of the wing overlap allowing the plane to fly safely.

According to another visitor, the flying flea was later remodelled with the larger main wing higher up so that there would be a larger gap between wings. How far this went to correct the shallow dive /stall problem is uncertain.
Christmas Steps

The street was originally called Queene Street in medieval times before becoming known as Knyfesmyth Street, after the tradesmen there. The Middle English pronunciation of Knyfesmyth, with the K sounded, may be the origin of the street's modern name. An alternative theory is based on the nativity scene found in a stained glass window of The Chapel of the Three Kings of Cologne, which stands at the top of the steps.

In the 17th century, the Christmas Steps is also believed to have been called Lonsford’s Stairs for a short period, in honour of a Cavalier officer who was killed at the top of the steps during the siege of Bristol in the English Civil War.

After the main set of steps the steps continue on the other side of Colston Street and then again across Perry Lane, leading to St Michael's Church these steps were originally unbroken by road and known as St. Michael's steps
Teddy Boy Jacket

Teddy boy jacket. Pink tweed Teddy Boy / drape jacket, with black velvet coll

   ar and cuffs and pale pink lining. Pink jackets like this one were also called 'Cochran jackets' after the singer Eddy Cochran who popularised the colour. Worn by Mr Bob Davies in the early 1960s. It is currently on display in the Life Gallery.
Clifton Victoria Baths

I've always had a soft spot for the old lido tucked away in Clifton's Oakfield Place, the only open-air pool left in the city, as I regarded it as something of a life-saver during the legendary long, hot summer of 1976.

Gerry Brookes, Bristol Evening Post, 2008.

The Clifton Victoria Baths were designed by the architect R S Pope and opened in July 1850.

Built as subscription baths at a time when local authorities were beginning to provide municipal public baths, the Clifton Victoria Baths were eventually bought by the Corporation in 1897 and later became the UK's first electrically heated pool.

The baths had fallen into decline by the 1990s and were closed to the public. Saved from redevelopment by a local pressure group and restored by a local restaurant owner, the Clifton Victoria Baths are now known as the Clifton Lido, and are a subscription pool once again.
Broadmead

".. a rush of 2000 Bristol housewives and a number of men ...Ahead of them all was Mr W. G. Smith, of 22 Rodbourne Road, Westbury-on-Trym. He began queuing at 2pm yesterday ... "I've never been first at anything since I won the egg and spoon race in my younger years."
Bristol Evening Post, 30 May 1957

When Jones department store opened in Broadmead in 1957 thousands of excited shoppers turned out.

Bristol's historic shopping streets with their myriad of specialist independent shops were decimated by bombing during World War II and slowly replaced by modern new shops in Broadmead.
The local press followed the development with regular images and updates, and when the two giant department stores Jones's and Lewis's opened in 1957, people queued for hours to get in.
Jones and Lewis's, with its 'futuristic' roof garden, were the flagship buildings of the new shopping centre. These buildings represented a new era, a celebration of mass production and mass consumerism.

Bristology - Many concrete and futuristic shopping centres sprang up across the country in the late 1950s. Sir Hugh Casson, the architect of the Royal Festival Hall in London, drew up a design for the same in Bristol but it never came to fruition.
Gran Turismo

This painting by Megan Davies hangs in the Mshed Life Gallery above a display table which has 4 places set in four different historic periods : medieval 1350, Ashton Court 1640, post-war 1948, Victorian1880.

So the scene is set to place the painting into context and the current times : Two teenage brothers, Najahf and Salim, are concentrating intently on the video game ' Gran Turismo' . It was a typical Sunday afternoon's entertainment when they visited their grandmother.

The artwork prompts questions about family mealtimes and TV dinners, IT games and leisure activities, generation gap and communication, as well as cultural and historical changes around 'shared time'.

On the explanatory plaques correlating to the plates on the table are questions as : What's on my plate ? What's the conversation ? And one wonders what would the answer be were these applied to ' Gran Turismo' . . .
Dale Wakefield

This person is on display in the Contributing Wrap in the People Gallery

(1941 - 2020 )

Equal rights activist

Born in Bristol during the Second World War, Dale married
and had two children before the marriage broke up. She moved to London to work as a prison officer, and fell in love with a woman although no romantic relationship followed.

Dale returned to Bristol in
the early 1970s where she came out on the gay scene, and then became an
activist in the Women’s Movement. She co-founded ‘*Move’* magazine and
began to attend a Gay Women’s Group meeting in Clifton. The constant phone calls
received at the premises from gay men and lesbians alike, caused her to realise
the need for a sympathetic ear and more information and support. She founded
the Bristol Gay Switchboard at her home 1975, using her own private phone line.
For the next three years she operated the switchboard from her home with
volunteers taking calls during advertised hours and Dale picking up calls at
other times, including the night. In 1978, Switchboard moved to new premises at
Bristol Gay Centre, although Dale remained involved until the early 1980s, and
she later helped to organise Bristol Lesbian
Line. Dale has also additionally worked as a teacher, a nurse and in later
years in accounts.

Dale died on 5th September 2020 at Bridtol Royal Infirmary after a long illness.
Trows

'...merchants of the town... loaded...corn into vessels called 'trowes', but while the said vessels were coming down the King's river of Severn, certain malefactors... seized them...and took away the corn.'

Calendar of Patent Rolls 13 May 1429.

A trow is a type of flat-bottomed sailing barge which was popular with Bristol merchants for over 500 years. They were ideal for loading and offloading cargo, whatever the state of the tide, but they were slow and easy to rob.

Trows could travel as far as Gloucester, Chepstow and further inland to Worcester, Birmingham and the north of England. They fell out of use in the early 1900s because they were unable to compete with newer, faster forms of transport such as trains, steam tugs and lorries.
Floating Harbour

The plan ... will probably be considered as embracing ... every improvement of the harbour of Bristol which has heretofore been suggested ... It may, when matured and finally adjusted, be considered as the most perfect.

William Jessop, 1802

For centuries, ships relied on the tidal current of the River Avon to carry them to and from Bristol but during the latter half of the 1700s, the number of ships using Bristol doubled.

While the port remained tidal, it couldn't cope with this volume of shipping efficiently and reached crisis point in 1788.  Several engineers had suggested solutions by then, but none were deemed suitable until 1803 when William Jessop's plans were finally accepted. Work started in 1804, to turn two miles of tidal river into a non-tidal 'floating harbour' where ships could stay continually afloat. When it opened on 1 May 1809 it was the largest artificially enclosed stretch of water in the world. The biggest man-made feature, however, was the 'New Cut', originally suggesteby William Milton, vicar of Temple church in the 1790s. Milton realised that damming the tidal river would remove its current and make it more difficult for ships to get in and out of the Harbour and so he proposed creating a tidal bypass. Jessop's scheme adopted  and improved Milton's ideas but Milton had to lobby hard for recognition of his contribution.

In Jessop's original design, the Avon would be dammed, with an 'overfall' weir at what is now the Underfall Yard, in order to set the water level. To solve the problem of silt build up, Isambard Kingdom Brunel revised the design in the 1830s by replacing the 'overfall' weir with 'underfall' sluices.

In creating the Floating Harbour, Jessop also created Spike Island, the name given to the piece of land situated between the Cut to the south, and the Floating Harbour to the north. Spike Island was a true Island, completely bounded by water from all sides until the Second World War, when Bathurst Basin lock was filled in with concrete. It was feared that the lock left the docks vulnerable: if it was bombed it could drain the Harbour Into the Cut.

The Floating Harbour preserved Bristol's commercial heart and gave it scope for expansion over the next 150 years.

Photos:

1. Plan from the Casson-Conder report of 1972 on Bristol Docks showing the impact of all the then proposed road schemes in the area

1. Jessop's 1802 plan
Edward Packer

(b.1849)

Edward Packer
was originally an employee of Fry’s who set up his own chocolate business
called Packer & Co in 1881.

The business
was close to Edward’s home in Armoury Square, Easton and his first employees
were his nephew, brother and sister.  As
trade increased Edward took on 13 year old Lily Brown, and moved to larger
premises in St Pauls.

Edward only
owned the company he set up for five years, but the Packer name was in use until
1962 .
New Gaol

This display is in Places Gallery

... for health, convenience, and excellent arrangement is not to be equalled in England, commanding extensive views of the surrounding country. ... The boundary wall (20 feet high) is built of hewn variegated marble from St Vincent's Rocks, which has a beautiful appearance.

Mathews's Bristol, Clifton and Hotwell Guide, 1828.

Bristol New Gaol opened on the Cumberland Road in 1820. Architect Henry Hake Seward was commissioned by the Corporation to design a new state-of-the-art prison in 1816, as conditions in Bristol's other gaols were so appalling. It cost £60,000 (£2million today) to build and was designed to hold 197 men and women in single cells. More attention was paid to prisoner welfare than ever before by supplying inmates with hot and cold water, gas lighting, good bedding and an improved diet. As a result it was considered the most modern gaols of its day and a model to be copied throughout the country. Shortly after it became operational a 'drop' for public executions was ordered. It was used for the first time in 1821 for the hanging of John Horwood.

1849 saw Bristol's final public hanging at the New Gaol. Servant girl Sarah Harriet Thomas, 17, had been found guilty of killing her elderly employer Miss Elizabeth Jefferies - bludgeoning her to death in her own bed.
Throughout her trial she had not appeared to treat the court proceedings seriously, but records state that when the Judge put on his black cap and passed sentence she collapsed and broke down completely.

William Calcraft, the longest-serving executioner in England was contracted to carry out the sentence, but even he was greatly affected by her youth and good looks. On the day of her execution she was dragged screaming to the gallows where she continued to sob, scream and plead for her life right up to the final moment.

The New Gaol was attacked by rioters in 1831 and set on fire but after public order was restored it was repaired and continued to be used until 1883. It was replaced by Horfield Prison in 1884.. After being sold to The Great Western Railway in 1895 all of its buildings, except for its gatehouse that can still be seen on Cumberland Road, were demolished.
Andy Council

This person is on display in the Contributing Wrap in the People Gallery

This person is the co-creator of a mural in the Life Gallery

(1974 - )

Artist and illustrator

Andy Council is a Bristol-based artist who has
received international recognition for his work. He has exhibited with the
Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles who brought the ‘Art from the New World’
exhibition to Bristol Museum & Art Gallery in 2010. He has also shown his
work at the Royal West of England Academy and has a piece in Bristol City
Museum's permanent collection.

Andy Council
grew up in the city of Bath and settled in Bristol after studying animation at
Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design. Influenced by the street art
around him and childhood inspirations like dinosaurs and the 1980s cartoon series
‘Transformers’ (which depicted a war between giant robots that could transform
into vehicles and other objects), he developed complex works that combine technology
and urban design with the natural world.

His
distinctive style often weaves dinosaurs with Bristol’s architectural landmarks
to make fantastical beasts. His works also reflect his ability to draw precise,
intricate detail using a combination of graphics, ink and paint pen. Andy’s
work continues to change and evolve with his focus currently shifting to other
animal motifs. Making the link between dinosaurs and modern birds, some of his
more recent works feature peacocks and chickens.

His work incorporates
many iconic landmarks that capture the city’s character. His work has featured
in many books, magazines, and public spaces around the city – including his ‘West
Street Horse’ artwork in Bedminster, South Bristol and a large mural, created
with fellow artist Luke Palmer, in the Bristol Life Gallery at M Shed.
Mild Mild West

Banksy’s urban art has a
universal and timeless appeal, the bandit and folk hero fighting corporate
culture. The wit and audacity of his work has made Banksy a household name, the
most famous artist in the world. This alone would give him the credentials to
be included in the list but his work also marks a time when the boundaries
between high and low art have been challenged and blurred.
Carpet tile

This object is on display in Places Gallery in M Shed

This tile was commissioned for the Bristol Jamia Mosque. Tiles like these are repeated throughout the mosque so that this bright and colourful pattern covers most of the floor. It carries appropriate images much like the tiles that were commissioned for the floors of medieval churches and chapels.
Bristol Sewers

In the early 1800s Bristol stank.

The tidal rivers and medieval drains that had previously removed Bristol's waste could no longer cope with the growing population. The Floating Harbour, completed in 1809, added to the problem by eliminated tides in a stretch of the River Frome effectively making it an open sewer.

Several attempts were made to improve the situation. The Dock Company, charged with running the port and an effective sewage system, was taken to court in the 1820s. Forced into action, they commissioned William Shadwell Mylne to come up with a plan, but this did little to solve the problem.  Following cholera and typhoid outbreaks, Engineer James Green was commissioned to improve sanitation in 1848 but it wasn't until the 1850s that real improvements began to be made.

The City created a Local Board of Health in the form of a Sanitary Committee, in 1851.  Working in conjunction with the Bristol Waterworks Company, under the supervision of civil engineer Frederick Ashmead, the Sanitary Committee began to install an impressive system of main drainage that would significantly improve public health.

By 1874, 43 miles of sewers carried sewage to the tidal Avon below the Cumberland Basin. This creation of a sewage system was a major achievement - the hidden public health infrastructure radically transforming the living conditions of Bristolians throughout the city.

During the 1880s, Dr Joseph Yabbicomb proposed a new tunnel network to improve Bristol's sewerage. It took over 100 years for this sewer network to be completed.

Work began in the 1950s with further developments made between 1960 and 1964, when a huge sewage treatment works was built at Avonmouth. When the water industry was privatised in 1989, Wessex Water has continued the sewer network constructing four tunnels more than 16 miles in length, under the streets of Bristol.

Wessex Water finally completed the underground network when they opened the Bristol Tunnel in 2009. Created between 2006-2008, the tunnel is half a mile long and at a depth of 75m. It took 500 controlled explosions, cost £9million and links the Victorian Kingsdown sewer with the Northern Foul Water Interceptor. The new tunnel reduces the risk of flooding in the city centre and directs waste to the Bristol Sewage Treatment Works at Avonmouth.
Bristol Harbour Railway

Bristol Harbour Railway
was a joint venture by the GWR and the Bristol and Exeter Railway, opened in
1872 between Temple Meads and the Floating Harbour. Its route included a tunnel
under St Mary Redcliffe church and a steam-powered bascule bridge
over the entrance locks at Bathurst Basin. In 1876 the railway was extended by
1/2 mile to Wapping Wharf.

In 1978, the preserved
railway was established as an element of Bristol Industrial Museum using locomotives
built in Bristol and formerly used at Avonmouth Docks. At first, it connected the
Museum with the s.s. Great Britain but when commercial rail traffic ceased the
museum railway expanded to use the branch alongside the New Cut. The railway
operates on selected weekends on standard gauge track for half a mile. The railway is
currently in use as far as B Bond Warehouse (home to the Create Centre and Bristol Record Office), a mile from the
museum.
John James

This person is on display in the Contributing Wrap in the People Gallery

(1906-1996)

“Why wait to give money away, why not
do it now?” became entrepreneur John James' philosophy. Born in 1906, he grew up
in Bedminster and when he was 12 his mother died suddenly. As his father worked
long hours at Avonmouth Docks, John looked after the home while studying at the
Merchant Venturers' School where he had a scholarship.

He sold wild blackberries to buy
football boots and, leaving school at 15, joined the Royal Air Force where he
gained the skills needed to become a radio salesman. His father had saved all
the money John had sent home while in the RAF for him to start a business, but
this was put on hold by World War II.

Returning to Bristol after the war, with
his wife and their four children, John set up a radio shop in Broadmead. By
offering his customers part-exchange and credit facilities, John made new
radios affordable for all and soon became the biggest radio retailer in
England.

In 1953, the BBC’s live television broadcast
of the Coronation meant for the first time television viewers exceeded radio
listeners.  To get televisions into as
many homes as possible, John offered customers the chance to rent a television.
When in 1959 John sold his Broadmead Group, it was the world's largest single
ownership TV and radio business, worth £5.8 million, that is £50 million in
today’s currency.
Theatre Royal playbill

The Theatre Royal playbill in Places has some interesting characters on it.

Kate Terry was a sister of the actress Ellen Terry and began acting at a young age. She is the grandmother of John Gielgud. She fell upon hard times when she grew older and made her living as a landlady.

George Melville was in numerous stage productions, and was popular in Hollywood. Before his career took off, he was also a prisoner-of-war during WW2.

Henrietta Hodson was at the beginning of her career at the time of this playbill. She left her husband, a Mr Pigeon, in the late 1800s amid allegations he mistreated her. She also fell out with the librettist W.S. Gilbert during the play Ought We To Visit Her, threatening him with legal action when he told others and demanding a written apology. When he wrote one, she made it public.

She tried to sue him again in 1877 over a role in she felt she was owed in Pygmalion and Galatea, and after she tried to switch her assigned role in his revival of The Palace of Truth he declined further performances by her. Naturally her response was to circulate a pamphlet criticising his directing methods amongst acting professionals.
Bristol Bridge

Bristol bridge has played an important part in Bristol history. Bristol is a derivation of the saxon Bricigstow which means "Place of the Bridge"

'that the workmen might lay the foundations with perfect ease and security, they laid the whole bed of the river dry by turning the current into a temporary channel dug for that purpose'

A Short History of the Port of Bristol by Charles Wells, 1909.

The Saxon bridge, which spanned the River Avon between Bristol and Redcliffe, played a key role in its future prosperity as a settlement.

It was essential for fostering trade as the main crossing point into the town and, being built of timber, was fine for light traffic.  As Bristol grew, however, a stronger bridge was required. London had replaced its wooden bridge around 1200 with one of stone, and in the 1240s Bristol followed suit. Stone bridges could support greater loads in transit, were less vulnerable to fire and flood, and could even support other buildings.

This was part of Bristol's first major redevelopment and helped to incorporate the area south of the river into the town. Over the space of a few years Bristol would see enormous investment go into the building of a new harbour, the construction of the stone bridge, and strengthening of the town walls.

The completed bridge was a sturdy structure on four arches, with columns so thick they impeded the flow of water and created small waterfalls. It was rapidly lined with small shops and although less than 6m wide, this narrow strip was very much in demand.

Bristol Bridge was rebuilt for the second time in the 1760s. A fire had destroyed many of the timber-framed houses it supported in 1647 and the level of traffic it carried had increased to dangerous levels. The houses on London Bridge had been cleared away and Bristol followed suit. Demolition began in 1760 and architect James Bridges was commissioned to design its replacement, which had three arches instead of four. A new quay wall was built on the north side and the Redcliffe wall on the south enlarged so that the new bridge was much shorter than its predecessor. Bridges used 'caissons' to create a temporary wooden structure to allow masonry work to go on in the river - this may well have been the first time this was attempted outside the capital. The new bridge opened in 1768 and led to many of the roads leading to it also having to be improved and a ripple of redevelopment that gradually spread across the city.

Unfortunately Bridges didn't see the work completed  - he wasn't well looked after by the Council and his rivals schemed against him so successfully that he resigned and left for the West Indies.
Francis Fry

Thsi information is on display in the Places Gallery

Cycling was all the rage at the end of the 1800s. But as a sport it was mainly the preserve of wealthy young men such as record-breaking Bristolian Francis Fry.

Cycling clubs had sprung up around the country almost as soon as bicycles started to appear in Britain. In Bristol, several clubs frequently raced on roads around the city, incurring the kind of public wrath that cyclists still frequently attract today.

After many months of training at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, in 1883 Francis Fry, a member of the famous chocolate-making family set the record for 100 miles on a solid-tyred bicycle. It took him 5 hours 50 minutes and 5.6 seconds, riding round and round the course there.

His penny- farthing bicycle was not really practical for day-to-day use but could be ridden very fast. The pedals were connected directly to the front wheel, so that one revolution of the pedals turned the wheel once. If the wheel was made bigger, one revolution took the bicycle further. Bicycles with front wheels of just over 1.5 metres in diameter were not uncommon. There was a special knack to mount and dismount from such high machines, and riders had to keep a close look out for obstacles in the road that could upset them. The machines had no effective brakes but stopping was achieved by stopping the pedals.

The record Francis set on such an awkward machine is believed to stand to this day.
S.S. Great Britian

Brunel proposed to extend his transport network across the Atlantic, and so the Great Western Steamship Company was co-established for this purpose, by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thomas Guppy, a marine engineer and businessman. A construction committee was formed of Brunel, Guppy, Captain Claxton RN who was Quay Warden of Bristol Docks, and William Patterson, a shipbuilder and Navel Architect who's own company was responsible for building Brunel's designs, including the Great Britain.

The S S Great Britain was launched in Bristol on 19 July 1843. Construction took place in a dry dock (now known as the Great Western Yard) which the Steamship Company leased and enlarged, as unlike the Great Western, launched before her in 1838, she was too large to be built in Patterson's yard.

She was 289 feet long by 50 feet wide and weighed 3270 tons, easily the biggest ship in the world. She was the first large ship to be built of iron, and the first large ship to be driven by a screw. She had the most powerful engine built up to that time, over 1000 horsepower, and the first balanced rudder. She had a double bottom and watertight compartments.

Built to provide a shuttle service for the growing
transatlantic passenger trade between England and the United States, she was
the first propeller driven, ocean going, iron wrought ship in the world and was
unique at the time in terms of construction as well as size. She was built of Iron on the recommendation of the construction committee. The Great Western, launched before her, was built of wood. The Great Britain was the 'mother' of all modern ships.

She was salvaged and
returned from the Falkland Islands to Bristol in 1970, where she has been
restored to her former glory and is moored in the Great Western Dry Dock, where
she was built.
Beddoes' Family Moped

This information is on display in the Moving by Bike section of Places Gallery

Private transport has never been cheap and even today is regarded as a luxury. While cars may have still been out of many people's range to buy, other forms of motor vehicles such as mopeds were more easily affordable, especially if they were second hand.

In 1974, the Beddoes family in Bristol bought a second-hand Raleigh Ultramatic moped for their teenage children to use. Their daughter, Sally was the first to use it for riding to piano lessons in Muller Road. Her journeys there were usually event-free, but when returning home the bike inevitably broke down, leaving Sally "pedalling past Horfield Common and all the way home" to Coldharbour Road. Going down hill was fine, but as soon as Sally went up hill the engine cut out.

Later, the moped was passed on to Sally's brother Philip, who discovered that the source of her frequent breakdowns was a nail in the petrol tank. He rode it for a year, on paper rounds and to school, at all times going at top speed. He said "Occasionally the speed even approached 30mph when going down Falcondale Hill". Philip later graduated to ever-larger motorbikes, and the moped was passed to the next son in the family.
Bristol Centre

Until the early 1800s, goods were commonly moved around Bristol on horse-drawn sleds, which were used in preference to carts for several reasons. Because sleds were low on the ground, it was easy to roll barrels onto them. In some streets in the centre of the town, wine merchants had cellars just beneath the pavement; the city's authorities felt that heavy-wheeled vehicles might fall through into them or disturb maturing wines with the vibrations of their wheels. In 1651, a local law decreed that if any cart with ironbound wheels was found within the city walls it would have its wheels confiscated. During the 1720s, Daniel Defoe noted that the use of sleds wore down the pavements to such an extent that the surface was potentially lethal. Over time, the sleds became known as "gee-hoes"; the reason for this is unclear, although cart drivers, either to spur on horses or to bring them to a halt, commonly used the words "gee" and "ho". Bristol's sled drivers were notoriously aggressive, frequently running their sleds against the edge of the pavement, injuring pedestrians and street animals as they went. By the early 1800s sleds fell into disuse, unable to match the efficiency of wheeled vehicles and the new four-wheeled carts that were fitted with windlasses to haul up heavy barrels.
Bristol Coat of Arms

A ship is shown sailing away from the water-gate of Bristol Castle. It is based on the early seals of Bristol and versions of it have been used since the late 1300s. The complete arms consist of the shield plus several other elements that were granted in 1569 including the crest that sits above it (consisting of two arms holding a green serpent and a set of golden scales)  and two unicorns as supporters. The serpent represents wisdom and the scales justice, whilst the unicorns will only pay homage to men of virtue. The motto 'Virtute et Industria' sits below the shield and means 'Virtue and Industry'. The arms appear all over the city as an expression of civic identity - the golden unicorns which sit on top of the Council House are based on those supporting the arms.
Trams

On 9 August 1875, Charles Challenger boarded a tram outside the King David Inn on Perry Road and set off for the Redland terminus at St John's Church on Apsley Road. This was the first horse-drawn-tram journey in Bristol, a landmark event that attracted enormous crowds and Charles was the conductor. Horse-drawn trams were faster than horse-drawn buses, reduced traffic and provided affordable transport to the suburbs. The tram could carry up to 16 passengers inside and 16 outside and their suspension system of vulcanised India rubber provided a smoother ride on Bristol's hills. Each was pulled by two horses (by more on steep routes) and speeds of up to eight miles per hour could be achieved on the flat.

A Bristol Mercury reporter wrote about the new form of transport, 'The interior of the car is lofty, well ventilated and very commodious...The cushions of the seats are stuffed with hair, and covered with Utrecht velvet.' Unfortunately these early trams were not so popular with everyone. Residents of Clifton and Redland were concerned about the prospect of hoards of the 'lower classes' coming into the area, while traders worried about losing business to city centre shops. Others simply felt it was a cruel way to treat horses.

Charles Challenger worked his way up through the ranks, became General Manager of the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co. Ltd, and invented a hinged seat-cover to keep top-deck seats dry in rainy weather.

In 1895 Bristol became the first British city to install an electric tramway powered by overhead cables.

Electric trams were more cost-effective than horse trams. They could travel faster, climb steeper hills and carry more passengers. The system's electrification resulted from the efforts of businessman Sir George White and engineer Sir James Clifton Robinson,

White was a major figure, not only in the development of Bristol's transport, but also in the development of the country's transport as a whole. At the age of 18, he negotiated parliamentary bills to reform the city's failing horse-drawn tramway and in 1874 became secretary of The Bristol Tramways Co. for the next twenty years. He became managing director in 1894 and chairman from 1900 until his death in 1916. For most of his career, White worked alongside Robinson, an engineer highly skilled in tramway construction and operation. With White's entrepreneurial skills and Robinson's technological know-how, they made a visionary and dynamic team. Despite frequent resistance from local authorities and residents, both men were enthusiastic advocates of technological advancement..

The new system opened on 14 October 1895 and ran from Old Market to Kingswood. Sir George and Sir James ensured that they were riding on top of the first and second trams out of the Old Market terminus. Vast crowds thronged the streets, greeting the men with huge applause whilst buildings were draped with bunting, and church bells rang in the neighbourhoods.
Bristol's Oldest Park

This info is on display in the Park life ICT in Places Gallery

Brandon Hill is one of the city's,if not the country's, oldest public open spaces having been given to the Corporation in 1174.

The land was granted to the Corporation in 1174 by Robert, Earl of Gloucester and sublet to farmers for grazing until 1625 when it became a public open space used for 'unrestricted recreational pursuits' including hay-making and clothes drying.

Civic ownership of the land had been bought into some doubt by events that took place during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I when a small plot of land there was claimed on behalf of the Crown. It seems that Robert had actually also given a small plot of land on the hill to Tewkesbury Abbey in 1129 and the Corporation were forced to buy it for £30.

A commonly held belief is that it was Elizabeth who had given Brandon Hill to the city as a place to dry clothes but this is mistaken and is borne out by Corporation documents that existed before she was born.
Colston Boy's School

Colston Boys School was established by Edward Colston in 1707 in a Tudor mansion known as The Great House, which had occupied the site after the Dissolution of The Monasteries in 1536. In the 13th Century, the site was occupied by a 13th Century Carmelite Friary (built around 1256) known as Whitefriars. The Friary would, at the time, have overlooked the River Frome. The Great House was built by John Young, a local merchant who had acquired the site in 1536. It overlooked the quay and was used by Queen Elizabeth I during her 1574 visit to the city. The site is now occupied by the Colston Hall.

Thomas Chatterton was sent to Colston's School at the age of 8. A school register showing Chatterton's attendance is on display in the Life Gallery.
Fred Wedlock

(1942–2010)

Fred Wedlock grew up in a pub in Redcliffe and lived his whole life around Bristol. He was one of the singers who emerged from the Bristol folk scene of the late 1960s. He said, ‘I used to do a lot of serious songs but I always got more reaction from comic numbers … Now I tend to be classed as “an entertainer” – I’m never sure whether I should be pleased or offended.’ Fred is best remembered for his hit single, ‘Oldest Swinger in Town’.
Suppressor

An image of a Suppressor

## Appearance and Usage

The Suppressor attachment appears as a slim black cylinder with a small screw in end on one side. When fixed to a gun, a Suppressor dampens the sound of the shot making it difficult to pinpoint exactly where the shot came from.

## Location

The Suppressor can be in the Gun Locker and around the base at Army, in Bunker, and in the main complex of Factory.
Jenny Foster

This person is on display in the Contributing Wrap in the People Gallery

(1967- )

Jenny was born in Hertfordshire and grew up in Essex. She
went to the University of York, and worked in London for 10 years in
community care before moving to Bristol in 1998. Over the past 20 years, Jenny
has been committed to the Fairtrade movement.

She first worked as a Tradecraft rep, selling Fairtrade
goods at her local church. She later ran a Fairtrade cafe in Bishopston for 3
years before becoming Fairtrade Co-ordinator in 2006.

Jenny expresses her commitment to Fairtrade as “something
ordinary people can do to make a difference in the world without waiting for
governments to solve the problem of world poverty.” Her dream is that Fairtrade
will eventually bring a fair trading system where every person receives a
living wage with no need for aid or room for exploitation.

As chair of the Bristol Fairtrade Steering Group, she
started the Fairtrade Business awards in Bristol to get more local businesses
stocking and selling Fairtrade products. She also hosted a Fairtrade coffee
producer from Sopexcca Co-operative in Nicaragua for the Fairtrade Fortnight
campaign in 2014. As a result of active campaigning, Bristol will host the
International Fairtrade Conference in 2015.  Jenny has helped place Bristol in the
forefront of the Fairtrade campaign in the UK with a growing reputation in
Europe and around the world.
Fairbairn steam crane

=== The banana-shaped Fairbairn steam crane was built in Bristol by Stothert
& Pitt, to a design patented by Sir William Fairbairn. Erected in 1878, it
is a scheduled ancient monument and the oldest surviving exhibit of its type in
Britain. The crane’s strength lay in
its distinctive curved jib, which was made of wrought-iron plates riveted
together to make an immensely strong tubular-section girder, enabling it to
lift up to 35 tons (35.56 tonnes). When the City Docks were closed to
commercial traffic in 1973 the crane became the responsibility of Bristol
Museum. It has now been restored to full working order and can be seen in
operation on occasional weekends. ===
Peter De La Mare

When King Edward I needed new coinage in 1279, some of
this work was contracted out to regional mints including Bristol. Peter de la
Mare, the Constable of Bristol Castle, was put in charge of a team that
produced over £40,000 worth of silver pennies, halfpennies and farthings in two
years, at least half a million coins per month. Every coin was made by hand, by
striking a piece of silver between two dies.
Nature Camera Action Exhibition

The exhibition was developed by the National Media Museum Bradford in partnership with the BBC Natural History Unit and BBC History. MShed is currently the only tour venue.

"The deepest oceans, the coldest continents, the most fearsome animals - wildlife film makers and photographers faced it all in pursuit of the perfect shot. Through films, objects used 'in the field' do lots of hands-on exhibits , visitors can explore the challenges filmmakers face and the amazing kit they use. Exciting for the whole family."

The show covers the earliest days of wildlife photography right through to ' THE HUNT ', a BBC series currently in production , which will air this autumn.
The Homemaker tableware range

Homemaker tableware was a range of mass produced crockery designed by Enid Seeney and manufactured by the Ridgeway Potteries in Stoke on Trent. It was launched in 1957 and was sold by Woolworth's during the 1950's and 1960's.

Homemaker was earthenware transfer printed with a glaze applied on top - this made it relatively cheap to produce and appealed to the mass market.

The design was black on white and featured illustrations of home furnishings such as tripod lights, sofas and armchairs.

Today, it is highly collectible but few pieces are rare.

Anecdote

A couple noticed the bowl in Life Gallery as they collected it during the 1960's. They went to the big Woolworth's in Broadmead and bought one item at a time when they had saved up the money. They had plates,cups, saucers, milk jug, sugar bowl. Apparently the latter two were just plain black.

They have now passed the collection onto their daughter who does not use them as they are not dishwasher proof.

*Cereal bowl in Life Gallery*
Hannah Moore

A portrait of Hannah More is on display in the People Gallery as part of the Contributing Wrap.

Hannah More is depicted in the painting 'Some Who Have Made Bristol Famous' (30) in the People Gallery.

Hannah More (1745 - 1833) was an educator, English religious writer, philanthropist and anti-slavery campaigner.

More became one of the leading figures in the Abolition movement, and one of the few women involved in running the national campaign. She used her writing talents to support the movement, inspired by her new-found Evangelical Christian faith and friends such as the MP, William Wilberforce. She published Slavery, a Poem to launch Wilberforce's Parliamentary campaign for the abolition of the slave trade in 1788. Her poems, such as Slavery and The Sorrows of Yamba, popularised the political debate.

Anti-slavery feeling developed soon after the transatlantic slave trade began in the 1450s.  A few people spoke against the trade in the next centuries, but it was in the late 18th century, when the slave trade was at its height, that enough people felt strongly enough for it to develop into a campaign to end the slave trade.  The Committee for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed in London in 1787.  Local committees were set up.  Nonconformist Christians led the anti-slavery campaign locally, boosted by Thomas Clarkson's visit in 1787, and William Wilberforce's visit in 1791.

Equally, the campaign for abolition of the slave trade gave rise to a campaign in support of the slave trade.  In Bristol, men whose livliehoods were inextricably linked to the slave trade joined this campaign, and argued that the enslaved Africans in the Caribbean were better cared for than the poor of Britain, and that the slave trade was vital to Britain's economy.

A blue plaque for Hannah More is displayed at Finders Keepers Cottage, Brislington, where More founded the first school circa 1796.

Hannah More has a primary school named after her in the St Philips area of Bristol.
Blaise Estate

This info is on display in the Park Life ICT in Places Gallery

Miss J I Powell was so taken with her visit to Blaise that she wrote about it in a letter to her uncle.

'I longed for your society one day last week when I called at Blaise Castle.  Mrs Harford was just going out to meet an appointment, and as I had always been prevented by indisposition from attending her musical parties when the new Picture Gallery was open, she kindly offered me a Catalogue and having shown me the way to the Gallery left me there for as long a time as I pleased.  You may be assured I availed myself of such a kind offer and remained till the Church Clock reminded me that the leg of mutton would be spoiled if I delayed longer. I never paid so agreeable a visit to the Castle in my life and only wanted you by my side to make the enjoyment perfect.'

Blaise Castle Estate, near Henbury, is a world of wooded glens, winding paths, cottages, monuments and a folly.

The estate was so popular by 1774 that a local inn ran a stagecoach to carry people to view it. This popularity increased when Humphry Repton redesigned the landscape and a grand new house was built for its owner, John Harford, in the late 1790s.

Harford's house is now a museum and the grounds a public park and children's playground. It is one of the best-loved green spaces in the city.
Joseph Fry

(1728 – 1787)

Joseph Fry saw opportunities in chocolate
making when it was still a new product, which lead to one of the most
successful chocolate companies in history.

Born into a family of Quakers in
Wiltshire, he qualified as a physician and opened an apothecary shop in Small
Street when he was 20.

He began selling chocolate for medicinal
purposes in 1756.  Five years later he
bought a patent and recipes from the apothecary business of the late Walter
Churchman.  When he died the business
passed to his wife  Anna and son Joseph
Storrs Fry.