Seeds of change in St Paul’s

Luxury flats with price tags to match rise above the streets of Portland Square and gleaming bicycles line park railings as the scent of fresh coffee lingers in the air.

But as day turns into night, a homeless person huddles to get warm on a wooden bench, prostitutes hover in the shadows of the lights and a still prevalent drugs trade indicate the darker underbelly that once epitomised this area.

The leafy neighbourhood with its stately Georgian buildings and close proximity to the city centre is now catching the eyes of developers as plush city living becomes the order of the day and plans for a boutique hotel reflect its changing status.

Gentrification is happening at a faster rate here than perhaps anywhere else in Bristol, but it is not necessarily those who have worked to turn around its fortune who stand to reap the rewards.

Amirah Cole says gentrification brings with it the breaking up of communities

Growing up, Amirah Cole remembers knowing everyone on her street, a place where people felt safe letting their children go off on their own, confident that there would always be a door for them to knock on.

This was the St Paul’s of her childhood, one where there was certainly hardship, but where the tightly-knit neighbourhood pulled together. It is this strong sense of community spirit that she fears could be lost for ever.

“My parents bought a house in the 60s, so we have all grown up here and gone to school here and seen the changes,” says Amirah, director of the Malcom X Community Centre on City Road. “I think places should change and develop. As money pours into Bristol, there is no reason why St Paul’s shouldn’t have some of that too. It used to have a reputation for violence, but a lot of good people put a lot of hard work into changing the area.

“What I do not think is a good thing, is when you start looking at corporate people coming in and deciding that St Paul’s is the flavour of the month and making it so people who have grown up in the area and worked to improve it cannot hope to buy, or even rent a home here.

“Gentrification, which is definitely what’s happening here, brings with it the breaking up of communities. It seems so very unfair that you would spend your time working to make it better and now it’s being done up, you cannot even enjoy the change you have worked for and you are displaced out into some other community.”

The carnival has not been held since 2014, although smaller, community events have taken place

The sense of community spirit is epitomised by the world-renowned St Paul’s Carnival that was first held in 1968 as a celebration of the neighbourhood’s Afro Caribbean and multi-cultural identity. But some feel the vibrant tradition has become removed from its original ethos.

The event was cancelled in 2015 and Arts Council England (ACE) pulled funding amid allegations of mismanagement.

A carnival committee was set up, out of which came a new community interest company (CIC) which is now working on the groundwork for 2018’s landmark half-century celebration.

Paul Brown says the home he loves has gone through a lot of changes in his lifetime

Paul Brown remembers being one of the children in the very first carnival procession and has mixed feelings about the changes he has witnessed in his neighbourhood over the years: “It’s a lot different to what it was in the 60s when I was born. The community support which was so strong has gone.

“I lived here during the riots. I remember, I was just about to leave school at 16 and there were not many prospects. St Paul’s had that sort of association, so if you were applying for a job, you were often overlooked.”

Paul went on to succeed against the odds, becoming a qualified a tradesman, before eventually going on to study at the University of Bristol.

He says he does feel sad to see some of the changes. “They have taken our carnival and then changed it. Our one day in the year.”

Cleo Lake (right) with former carnival vice chair Rebecca Scott and the lord mayor in 2013

Cleo Lake has been involved with the carnival for many years and was chair of the committee from 2012 to 2014. When she came on board, Cleo says she was shocked to find out how much of the operational roles were going to people from as far afield as Bridgwater and there was a feeling that the St Paul’s community was becoming increasingly sidelined.

“This contributed to culture clashes and misunderstandings on the streets,” says Cleo, who is a Green party councillor for Cotham. “I attended a course at which a leading trainer in event management and a former high ranking police officer made the statement, ‘Black events come with a certain risk assessment’.

“This, sadly, was a systemic mantra that would go on to define the challenges we then faced going forward with the event once the event managers and general manager left.”

The fact there has been no full scale carnival since 2014 is – in some ways – not a bad thing, according to Cleo, who says the smaller grassroots events that have taken place instead featuring family friendly entertainment, arts and culture, are more in keeping with its original ethos.

As a St Paul’s resident, Cleo says she feels quite positive about many of the changes happening in the area. She added: “There are still problems with the supply and demand of illegal drugs and I feel that I would rather see a safe space such as what is known as a ‘shooting gallery’ than have people take drugs in view of others.”

Josh Bowker says the diversity of the area is what sets it apart

Josh Bowker opened Milk Teeth Café & Stores just off Portland Square four months ago and, as the first of its kind in the area, the business is indicative of the changing times.

“We moved into a place on Brigstocke Road and this felt like the perfect opportunity to invest in the community we live in,” explains Josh. “The thing that still sets St Paul’s apart is that it is interesting and diverse.

“I think it is in danger of losing that potentially, but I do not think it’s inevitable. It’s one thing for new people to come and add to the flavour, but it would be dangerous if it was this commercial takeover that pushes out everyone else.”

Dicky Parsons is breathing fresh life into a building that was boarded up for years

Dicky Parsons of Dicky’s Barbershop agrees that new independent businesses that provide services for people in the community can only have a positive impact, adding that his Brigstocke Road premises was boarded up for six years before he took it on.

“The community is so strong,” Dicky said. “One elderly woman came in and said to me ‘you’re one of us’ that meant so much to me coming from someone who had been here for decades.”

Boarded up windows will soon be a thing of the past in the rapidly changing neighbourhood

“My best memories of St Paul’s were the times I spent at the restaurant with my father, writing him songs, listening to music and eating ice cream”

Cleo Lake: My memories of St Paul’s

“My father owned the Jamaican Good Food restaurant (now One Love Café) in Ashley Road in the mid-1980s. It was an important focal point that served the local community and beyond.

“My father, known locally as ‘London’ or ‘Brixton’, was a hardworking and well-respected community member, who sadly passed away hours after my 10th birthday. My best memories of St Paul’s were the times I spent at the restaurant with him, writing him songs, listening to music and eating ice cream.

“His right hand man in the restaurant was Tarzan Hector. To me, he was a grumpy old man who I was kind of scared to talk to, but since then I have come to realise that he was actually a major figure in the Caribbean music history in the UK. Tarzan was also known as ‘The High Priest’ and happens to be Tricky’s grandfather.

“More recent highlights include being part of the Black Lives Matter march which started and finished at the Malcolm X Centre and signalled the biggest mass movement of young black people in a generation or more.

“Overall, I remember the sense of safety and respect in the community back in the 80s and 90s.”

Fliss and Dave lived as property guardians in St Pauls

Fliss Smith and Dave Clement lived as ‘property guardians’ of an old Georgian house in Portland Square that has recently been turned into flats.

Reflect on their time on the fringes of the neighbourhood, they say: “We were a very close knit group, despite coming from all walks of life. The square itself was very active, we enjoyed people watching from the top floor window.

“However, it was never hard to spot some less welcome comings and goings, such as prostitution and drugs drops, which were both very common.

“There was certainly an edgy undercurrent throughout the area. The square had two sides to it, in the day, it looked quite commercial and well-to-do, but at night, you felt that the square could be claimed by anyone who passing through to Stokes Croft.”

“We were a very close knit group, despite coming from all walks of life”

Read more: Sadness in St Paul’s following news Carnival won’t go ahead in 2017