back to life

Number 2 – Acta Community Theatre

Deep in the heart of Bedminster in South Bristol is the home of a thriving community theatre group that is nearly 40 years old. I have been going to this theatre for many years to watch fantastic and original productions on a regular basis as my youngest son, Jake, belongs to the group and has been since he was a young teenager.

The groups are not afraid to tackle controversial and challenging subjects with well written, directed and amazingly acted productions. Also putting on Christmas pantomimes and other light hearted plays to entertain the Bristol public. The groups are a mixing bowl full of different ages and abilities and everyone works so hard to keep putting on fabulous performances.

It wasn’t until I started planning this post that I noticed that the picture in the book had a photo of Jake on the wall, which I love.

Number 5 – Arnos Vale Cemetery

This cemetery near Temple Meads Station was first opened in 1839 and served the city of Bristol for many years for the burial and cremation of loved ones. A wander around the gravestones will reveal the final resting places of the great and the good of Bristol past, such as the survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade.

In 2003 the city council took ownership creating a community hub with an event area and a café, regularly hosting weddings and other special occasions. The cemetery is a 45 acre haven for wildlife and if you look really closely at the foot of some of the trees you might find tiny doors for the fairies to come and go.

My son Jake and I found ourselves there last year to watch an outdoor showing of the 1980’s classic The Lost Boys, a very apt setting for a fabulous night with my lovely boy.

Number 14 – Bottle yard studio

Not far from my house and almost next door to my place of work lives the Bottle yard studios, this was formerly Harvey’s Bristol Cream where sherry was made and bottled for that traditional Christmas tipple. It is now the place where all sorts of TV and film productions are made. My absolute favourite coming out of these studios is Poldark starting the wonderful Aiden Turner, who I stood in line behind at a cashpoint in Bristol city centre, unfortunately he was chatting on his phone so I couldn’t say hello. I think Aiden dodged a bullet there and had a very lucky escape.

My experience of the studio was a few years ago when I got free tickets to be in the audience for Tipping Point – Lucky stars. Accompanied by my mum and my friend Deb, I joined a very long queue in the car park, mildly excited to watch some celebrities answering easy questions and dropping counters into a giant machine. We were almost at the final destination when an announcement was made to say there was no more room as the host, Ben Shepherd, had brought his family and they had taken up an entire section of the audience. So we never made it inside and went to a well known coffee shop chain for cake.

Number 52 – Goldney Hall Grotto

My bestie and I decided to be culture vultures and watch a production of my favourite Shakespeare play, Much ado about nothing, in the grounds of Goldney Hall. The backdrop for the performance was the beautiful orangery that started out as a rather posh greenhouse in 1714. The grotto was created by Goldney as he developed the gardens, the subterranean wonder is decorated with Bristol diamonds, iron rich quartz found around the city.

These days the orangery is used as an event venue, famously for Dr Watson’s wedding in the TV show Sherlock, where you’ll hear the best ever best man speech from the fabulous Benedict Cumberbach. On a more personal note it was also the venue for Jane’s daughter, Holly’s wedding, who joined us to watch the play. I didn’t visit the grotto on this occasion but I will return at some point to take a closer look.