People / My Bristol Favourites
My Bristol Favourites: Pete Simson
Pete Simson is a reporter and producer at BBC Bristol, where he works for shows across Radio Bristol and on television for Points West and Politics West.
The intrepid reporter enjoys nothing better than donning hi-vis and a helmet, or riding an inflatable jet ski through a flooded underpass.
These are Pete’s top-five Bristol favourites:
The Oxford
The Oxford is a fixture of the Totterdown community – photo: Martin Booth
“The Oxford in Totterdown is a great pub. It has all the right ingredients: live music, quality beer selection, an excellent landlord as well as an eclectic clientele. And it retains a frisson of edge of a weekend.”
The Banana Bridge
Officially named Langton Street Bridge, everyone knows this crossing over the New Cut as the Banana Bridge – photo: Martin Booth
“This takes first place as my favourite bridge. It’s not perfect, as people on wheelchairs or with buggies will attest. But any bridge that’s named after a fruit has to be a good thing. It does need painting.”
Victoria Park
A view from Victoria Park of Totterdown – photo: Judy Darley
“Victoria Park is great for tobogganing, hill sprints, bowls and guerrilla rope swings (often chopped down by the killjoy council). This is the best park in Bristol and I won’t hear otherwise.”
The Bristol Loaf
Inside Bedminster’s Bristol Loaf, which has other locations in Redfield and the Bristol Beacon foyer – photo: Martin Booth
“A choice that probably shows me up to be a gentrified metropolitan wanker, but I can live with that. The produce in the Bristol Loaf on Bedminster Parade is sensational. You can always experience traditional Bemmy by popping into one of the several excellent pubs that flank the building, or of course Asda that would definitely appear in my list of seven Bristol favourites.”
Hartcliffe Way Reuse & Recycling Centre
Hartcliffe Way Reuse & Recycling Centre can be accessed by foot and by bike, as well as by car – photo: Bristol Waste
“Hartcliffe Way Reuse & Recycling Centre is the best facility to open in Bristol in the past decade, which tells you a lot about the paucity of facilities (although I’m yet to check out the new Ninja Warrior in Cribbs Causeway). Hartcliffe Way is everything you want from a recycling centre. Clean, spacious, attentive staff and some great heavy machinery.”
Main photo: BBC
Read next:
- Underpasses in Bristol hit by floods for over a decade
- How BBC cuts will impact Bristol region
- Bristol’s third reuse & recycling centre due to open
- Sabet Choudhury jumps ship from BBC to ITV
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