Remembering Bristol’s post-war links with a small French town

In Béthune in northern France, the street Rue Bristol is a reminder of our city’s once strong links with this small town.

It’s a rather non-descript road today, with a weeping willow tree at one end overlooking some recycling bins. But its name comes from a time after the First World War when the people of Bristol gave generously to provide aid to this community that was just one of many devastated by the ravages of conflict.

The story might have been forgotten if not for the efforts of two Bristol historians, Jeremy Banning and Clive Burton, who regularly lead battlefield tours of France and who recently visited Béthune 98 years after a civic delegation from Bristol first formed a friendship.

An out of town car park might seem like a strange place to take a tour group. It is here, however, where a stone panel commemorating the generosity of the people of Bristol almost a century ago is now located.

The panel used to be attached to a housing block of eight maisonettes and eight houses for the widows and families of French soldiers killed in the war, the money for which had been raised by Bristolians thanks to the efforts of the British League of Help.

A civic delegation from both Bristol and Béthune at the official opening of the new housing in Béthune on March 24 1925 – photo: Bristol Archives (17563/1/0751)

Clive Burton (left) and Jeremy Banning (right) in Béthune – photo: Jeremy Banning

The British League of Help encouraged British towns and cities to be a ‘godparent’ to a small French town or city that had been destroyed in the war.

Béthune, in the Pas-de-Calais département of the Hauts-de-France région, was a town of 15,300 people in 1914 but this had fallen to just 5,000 by 1920, with almost every house either destroyed or severely damaged in the war.

Bristol officially adopted Béthune in October 1920 and £5,564 (£530,000 in today’s money) was raised to build new homes, with architects from Bristol regularly visiting the town.

The opening ceremony of the housing block took place on March 24 1925, with Bristol dignitaries in attendance including lord mayor Ernest Brookhouse Richards and sheriff FO Wills, who later laid wreaths at Commonwealth war graves and the French war memorial.

The sheriff and lord mayor of Bristol in Béthune – photo: Bristol Archives (17563/1/0746)

“The opening ceremony of the Bristol houses at Béthune, Bristol’s adopted town, yesterday was marked by a striking display of enthusiasm and gratitude on the part of both the French inhabitants of that stricken town and the French officials,” said the Western Daily Press of March 25, 1925.

“Any former differences of opinion were completely forgotten in the warmth of the welcome which was accorded…

“Everybody seemed determined to let the Bristol visitors know how they appreciated the gift of eight commodious houses, which will accommodate sixteen families, in a town in which, although much has been done to repair the terrible ravages of war, still suffers severely from shortage of houses.”

Some of the new houses at Béthune and their new inhabitants – photo: Bristol Archives (17563/1/0752)

The panel which now stands in the out of town car park in Béthune reads: ‘Given by the citizens of Bristol, England, to the town of Béthune, in memory of true comradeship during the Great War, 1914-1918. Erected 1925’

In 1967, the lord mayor of Béthune wrote to the lord mayor of Bristol informing him that these houses had fallen into disrepair, asking for permission to demolish them so they could be replaced by new housing.

Jeremy’s research found that the families were moved to a new municipal site on the other side of town: Rue Bristol.

Rue Bristol in Béthune – photo: Google Maps

Find out more about the link between Bristol and Béthune in this fascinating Twitter thread by Jeremy. To book a place on Jeremy and Clive’s battlefield tours, visit www.westernfrontfootsteps.com

Main photo: Bristol Archives (17563-1-0760)

Read next:

• A forgotten piece of Bristol’s First World War history
• Memorial panels rediscovered, restored and rededicated
• Commemorative World War One horse statue unveiled
• The UK’s oldest war memorial could be in Bristol

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