Independent news and stories from Bristol's BS7 neighbourhoods.
Guild of Dough has been given a four-star food hygiene grading – just months after being zero rated by the government’s Food Standards Agency. The bakery and coffee shop on Ashley Down Road had been ordered to make urgent improvements following a snap inspection which coincided with building works
News
The phones won’t be ringing in parts of Horfield after service provider EE removed a signal mast and failed to install a replacement. Customers have flooded EE’s community helpline with complaints about not being able to use their phones and having no wi-fi signal. In response, the
News
People living in vehicles in St Andrews and Horfield face the threat of eviction in the New Year under a new city council strategy aimed at getting them off the streets. There are currently more than 40 residential vans and caravans in the neighbourhood, the majority around St Andrews Park
Business
When sisters Katie and Lauren Hobbs began selling t-shirts at festivals more than 15 years ago they could never have imagined the business it would turn into. Today Wild Thing is a thriving fashion outlet with more than 200,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 100,000 more on
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More than half of the prisoners at Horfield jail are waiting to be dealt with by the justice system, according to a new report. The Independent Board of Monitoring at HMP Bristol says 52 per cent of its 560 inmates are on remand. The board’s annual report highlights a
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Roads in Ashley Down and Horfield were cordoned off as police kept rival football fans apart ahead of Saturday's lunchtime derby match between Rovers and Swindon Town. Hundreds of noisy but good-natured Swindon fans were kettled outside the Sportsman pub on Seymour Road before being led in
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The derelict former Co-op building next to the new Ashley Down store is in the process of being transferred to new owners. But there are no signs yet of any redevelopment plans. The site was sold for £1.8m in April 2019 to two Manchester-based companies. Land Registry
Community
A seasonal Christmas tree sale is expected to raise more than £30,000 for Aid Box Community, the St Andrews based charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers. Under the banner Refutrees, some 1,500 pines are being sold from St Bart’s Church, just around the corner from the
News
A decision on controversial plans to turn a former bank on Gloucester Road into a block of serviced apartments is expected next month. More than 90 objections have been made to the proposals to redevelop the old Nat West at the junction of Shadwell Road. Honor Properties Ltd has applied
News
A government planning inspector has refused a final appeal by a property developer to build new homes in Ashley Down. Martin Thomas wanted to construct three houses on a patch of land behind Ashgrove Avenue and York Avenue currently occupied by eight garages that date back to the 1950s. Each
Business
Health food store and cafe La Ruca is set to close in February 2027 after 30 years on the Gloucester Road. Owners Patricia and Alfonso Alvarez are to shut up shop when their lease expires. La Ruca was among the first coffee shops in the area. Its ‘fair trade’ goods
Business
Opening a coffee shop was one of the last things on Pat Muncaster’s mind when he and some friends took over the empty Drumbank Studios nearly four years ago. But after opening in September, the cafe now forms a social hub and community space in the revitalised building on