People / My Bristol Favourites
My Bristol Favourites: Jonathan Brecknell
Jonathan Brecknell is the founder and director of Urban Creation, an award-winning property developer based in Hotwells which creates homes for students and professionals in the heart of Bristol. Their most recent project is The Manor House, a Grade II listed 17th century mansion tucked away off St Michael’s Hill which is being converted into 12 studio and one-bedroom student apartments.
Here are Jonathan’s top-five Bristol favourites:
Whiteladies Road Farmers Market
is needed now More than ever
“There is such a fantastic community spirit in Bristol and a real sense of pride in our independent local producers. It’s really important to me and my family to shop locally – you know exactly where the food has come from and you get to know people better. The farmers market on the corner of Whiteladies Road and Apsley Road every Saturday morning is a real local favourite. I love browsing the stalls with my kids, picking up our fruit and veg for the week, before walking back home via Rare Butchers and Wild Oats on Lower Redland Road.”
Baristas Coffee Collective
Bristol Artists! @BaristasBristol is looking for artists to show their work. Interested? #Bristol pic.twitter.com/t25h6Y2S9f
— miss magpie (@miss_magpie_spy) July 3, 2015
“Baristas on Victoria Street is one of the best coffee shops in town. When I started Urban Creation back in 2004, there were just two of us trading out of my back bedroom so whenever we needed a meeting or break-out space, we used to go to Baristas. George, the owner and chief barista, is a great bloke. It’s like meeting a long-lost friend every time I go in – we chat for ages about life and business, putting the world to rights over a coffee or two.”
The Downs
“We are so lucky in Bristol to have such an enormous green open space in the middle of a bustling city, and I spend a lot of time up there, exercising and cycling with the kids at the weekend. I love the many different faces of the Downs – in the summer, it is all about green trees, ice creams and kicking a ball about in the sun overlooking the gorge. In the autumn, it becomes about the changing colours of the leaves, starting to wrap up warm and going for a jog in the misty mornings.”
The harbourside
“Bristol’s harbourside has changed beyond recognition over the years that I have known it. I remember walking across the railway tracks of the Bristol Harbour Railway when I was at university here and it was just horribly derelict. It’s now absolutely packed with great restaurants, bars and places to go with the kids like M Shed and the ss Great Britain. It’s so close to work that I often head over for lunch, particularly in the summer when I can get the boat over from Hotwells. And of course you can’t go to the harbourside without paying a visit to Brunel’s Buttery – it’s a Bristol breakfast institution and has the best bacon and egg sandwiches.”
Corks of Cotham
It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! pic.twitter.com/wQsGEYtw4x
— Corks of Cotham (@CorksofCotham) December 14, 2016
“Nobody knows more about wine than the team at Corks of Cotham. You can pop in with an idea of the sort of thing you want, and they’ll offer you different suggestions and find you a bottle (or two) that fits the bill perfectly. They demystify wine!”