‘My 100 bar challenge – two years on’

I bet you don’t go out enough in Bristol. You might think you do, but odds are you’re actually missing out on a huge slice of the best this city has to offer: and it might not be around for much longer.

Sure, some of you will be scoffing at this already, but humour me here and try making a list of how many different bars you’ve been to in Bristol. See if you’ve really been to that many; or just always go to the same few places.

A few years ago I’d certainly not spread my wings that much, so one dark December night I went to the pub with a friend and suggested that three of us spent 2014 going to 100 different bars – and keep track with a blog.

Our definition of a bar was a bit generous to say the least. Basically, all you needed was a licence to sell alcohol and a BS post code – so our ‘bars’ included the odd café and at one stage a laundrette (in Stokes Croft, obviously).

We also stuck mostly to the city centre and in truth 100 was quite a modest target, as I’m sure that even if we’d been more rigid with our bar definition we could have easily done 300 without going that far out.

But I said earlier that you might not get a second chance to visit a lot of these places, and I stand by that. Seriously. Bars in Bristol shut down all the time and I can give you a feel for how quickly it can happen.

Take our 100 as an example: two years after we finished and ten per cent of our venues are either shut (6/100) or completely different (4/100), with new management, an unrecognisable redesign, or even a new location.

So using our blog as a random sample it looks like each year five per cent of Bristol’s bars call time at the, well, bar. Now I know this isn’t really big news, as of course all city centres see regular turnover, but hear me out.

My point here is that each and every year a noticeable chunk of Bristol’s bars will shut. Some are better off gone (*cough* Big Chill *cough*) and many new ones rise up to take their place. But sometimes it’ll just never be the same.

Take the recent closure of Start the Bus for example. They used to serve a roast with crisps instead of potatoes, had an amazing selection on tap, and cared a lot about live music – will the chain that’s replacing it have all that flavour?

And no-one is safe. Even the most successful venues eventually meet their doom(bar). Look how The Gryphon was near a big fire last year, or The Fleece fearing new flats might one day cripple it with noise complaints.

So where does all this leave Bristol’s bar scene? Does it matter that it’s in such a constant state of flux?

I can’t tell the future, but I can look at the past. The BBC in Bristol recently marked fifty years since the Bamboo Club opened in St Pauls, hosting the likes of Bob Marley and Johnny Nash. It burned down in the 70s and was never replaced.

There are also venues which have changed styles – the Thekla used to be a cabaret and is now basically just a floating nightclub, The Fleece once hosted Queens of the Stone Age, and recently welcomed Kunt and the Gang.

Now I hasten to add that I like The Fleece and I’m obviously just generalising about a few music venues for a quick example, but my point is that Bristol’s bar scene will inevitably change and many will tell you the best days are gone.

Personally I wouldn’t go that far, and I feel Bristol has a lot to still be proud of. From old man pubs to prohibition bars, from independent ale houses to bait for bubbly hen dos; no other UK city has such colour and variety in such a small space.

But let me tie this back into my main point. Whatever you think of Bristol’s bars you need to remember not one of them will be here forever and you can never tell when a sudden change might rob you of a chance to visit somewhere you’ll love.

So if you have listed all your Bristol bars and find yourself struggling to pick up the numbers then sort that out! Get a few mates together and go do your own 100. It’s fun and every night in the city might just be a once in a lifetime experience.

Adam is a journalist on the radio in Bristol who went to 100 different bars in the city across a year to help write this blog.

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