People / My Bristol Favourites
My Bristol favourites: Maurice Fells
Maurice Fells is a journalist, broadcaster and author whose ninth book on Bristol is now preparing for publication. The Little Book of Bristol explores our city’s rich and sometimes bizarre history. Readers will learn how local bye-laws restricted carpet beating to certain hours – and why a Bristol Diamond would never be found in a jewellery shop. The book also dismisses the widely-held theory that hotels around the world called Bristol are dedicated to the city.
Fells’ back catalogue includes The A-Z of Curious Bristol, Bristol – History You Can See and Old Inns of Bristol. The Little Book of Bristol will be published by The History Press.
Here are Maurice’s top-five Bristol favourites:
is needed now More than ever
Observatory Hill
“Dog walking on Observatory Hill is a delight, especially for a local history buff when you realise you are walking on the site of an Iron Age camp. There’s more history with Brunel’s suspension bridge airily spanning the Avon Gorge. The view becomes surreal when the mist slowly rises revealing the gorge, Leigh Woods and Long Ashton.”
Cumberland Basin lock gates
“Standing on the wooden lock gates at Cumberland Basin watching yachts sail under the Clifton Suspension Bridge and then down the Avon Gorge and out to the sea. In the warmth of spring sunshine it’s wonderful daydreaming about the exotic locations for which the yachtsmen are heading.”
Bristol Central Library reference library
“The first floor of the central library on College Green is a treasure-trove of Bristoliana. Its historic Bristol Room with antique furniture and fittings brought from the old reading room in King Street which was used by the poets Coleridge and Southey, is something of a gem. Then there are the thousands of newspapers dating back several hundred years and the rare reference works on this city. I discovered the library as a result of a weekend homework task set at primary school and since then I seem to have had my nose in hundreds of books. The quiet, calm, surroundings are a bonus.”
Kennel Lodge Road Allotments
“Two wonderful friends of mine have an allotment at Kennel Lodge Road in Bower Ashton and I’m often recruited as head watering-boy when they are away. The almost panoramic view which takes in Ashton Court and the Georgian crescents of Clifton is fantastic. It’s also a wonderful place in which to sit in a deck chair and read a book or even write one (after the watering and weeding has been done!). The atmosphere is so peaceful. It’s no exaggeration to say it’s like being in the countryside far away from the hustle and bustle of the city.”
Clifton and Durdham Downs
“Walking across the 400-odd acres of Clifton and Durdham Downs, often with Alfie, a Parson Russell Terrier, is just wonderful, especially going along the Sea Walls. Need I say more?”