Category: Bristol

Do you know someone who knows someone who went to Bordeaux for an exchange?

If it’s a yes, he/she will more than welcome to share his/her memories to Bristol Bordeaux Partnership last event of the year.

Located in Sea Mills, this FREE event will be the perfect opportunity to celebrate the long history between our 2 cities. Link to event here.

See you there!

Late in the evening of 13th July, five members of l’Association Bordeaux- Bristol arrived at Bristol Airport and were met by Mike and Teresa of the Bristol Bordeaux Partnership, who took them to their hotel/lodgings in Clifton/Horfield. In the group were Michel and Huguette Bordeau, Valérie Bonnet, Maggy Leglise and Nathalie Pasquier.

The following morning – ‘le quatorze juillet’ and a beautiful day – Vivien, Rob and Teresa took them to Clevedon, where, for ‘morning coffee’ at No. 5, The Beach, Nathalie was delighted to be served tea in a teapot with a tea cosy – knitted by the granny of one of the waitresses!

A visit to the historic and beautiful Victorian pier was appreciated by all and was followed by lunch at the Glass Box restaurant.

In the evening, some met with David Vowles, longstanding member of the original Bristol Bordeaux Association, and friend of many, at Teresa and David’s (not forgetting Monty) in Sea Mills.

On Friday morning all five Bordelais, now joined by Joël Goumy and his wife Marlène and accompanied by Thomas and Vivien, met up with Rob Collin, a Blue Badge Guide for the South West, who conducts walks which focus on the history of slavery in Bristol. He took the group on a short walk in the centre which was packed with information: indeed he proved to be both extremely knowledgeable and totally passionate about the need to accurately convey to visitors the facts about the slave trade in Bristol, particularly of course in relation to the part played by Edward Colston.

Rob was very impressed by Huguette’s knowledge of some aspects of Bristol history and he was very touched when Huguette presented him with a copy of her book about John and Sebastian Cabot.

He was also impressed by the keen interest shown by the group in the rather difficult subject matter. I think he would have happily extended the tour well into the afternoon but lunch had been booked at the Watershed and the group had to leave their guide on College Green.

To mark the 75th Anniversary of both the Bristol-Bordeaux and the Bristol-Hannover twinnings, members of BBP and ABB, together with a strong representative from the Bristol Hannover twinning, gathered on College Green, to await the arrival of the Lord Mayor of Bristol. Tea and cake were served in the City Hall and speeches given by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Paula O’Rourke, the Lord Lieutenant of Bristol, Peaches Golding and Dr Ann Kennard, chair of the Bristol Hannover Council. There was also a video recorded message from the Mayor of Hannover who was unable to attend in person as he had contracted Covid. The speeches were followed by an uplifting performance from RISE, the youth dance group.

A special cake had been made for the occasion…

On Friday evening, still not exhausted by the day’s activities, some of the Bordelais group managed to meet up with old friends from previous visits.

On Saturday the Bordelais were free to visit the Harbour Festival at their leisure and in the evening the group, now joined by Cathy Barquero and her daughter Ethel, her sister and a friend from Bordeaux, met for a very pleasant farewell meal at The Lion in Cliftonwood.

Some of the group flew back to Bordeaux on Sunday and others managed to fit in a few more visits to old friends before flying home on Monday.

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This project has been developing over the past few years. It has previously targetted schools, colleges and universities. A coffee or cocoa producer from Nicaragua comes to our city and visits schools and colleges by arrangement. They speak about their life as a food producer with emphasis on how little they are paid in the food chain compared to supermarkets, distributers and the like. They also work in classrooms with role play and similar games. University students are used to interpret. The university involved are so pleased at this real life situation that they awarded £1000 to the project last year. This year the focus is on business. Hoteliers, restauranteurs and catering colleges who buy in bulk and go on to work in hospitality in future have been involved. The aims are; Awareness raising for sustainable topics. Sustainability in the entire city administration. To implement international, ecological and social development goals at the local level. To show possible actions for sustainable lifestyles To develop local strategies and to promote dialogue.

This is a very current and worthwhile initiative between the developed world of Europe and developing world of the coffee/cocoa producers of Nicaragua.

We had a very successful Black History month event at the ColstonHall on 17th October. M. Lopez from the Mairie in Bordeaux gave an excellent lecture on L’Histoire de L’Esclavage in Bordeaux that parallels Bristol’s own sad history of slavery.
But we also had excellent musicians from Senegal and buffet food from Senegal-Gabon.
An informative and most enjoyable evening.

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The student exchange had 30 participants and everyone met the Lord Mayor Cleo Lake in July for a guided tour of the Lord Mayor’s Chapel.

 

Various visits were organised in Bristol for the students. They had a great fun and a nice weather !

The group of Bordeaux Exchange Students with their Bristol hosts visited Brunel’s SS Great Britain on Bristol Harbourside. Everyone enjoyed learning about I.K. Brunel’s revolutionary steamship and the radical improvements to speed up travel across the ocean that are still in use in ship design today.