Ministry of Funny Walks

Why Don’t We Do It In The Road? — love, sex and violence on the streets of Bedminster

Sinéad Nua posts are like a rural bus service, you wait for ages for one and then two come along at once!  I've been rather busy storing nuts for the winter but did manage to venture out one Sunday afternoon for a rather entertaining presentation of the history of Bedminster.  Why don't we do it in the road? is a weekly event run throughout Summer* by the Show Of Strength Theatre Company.  For a humble £6 (it's the large glass of pinot you'd have had with your sunday roast) this theatrical walk of North Street unveils tales of the most eccentric folk who graced the area over the last few centuries.  Apparently every word is true but I'll leave that up to you to decipher!

We started at the Aldi carpark and I wondered to myself, "What in the name of Caraboo is this location relevant to?"  I pondered whether I was being drafted into a cult however the cheery bunting displayed in the centre of the car park put me at ease.  So I handed over my money and the guides/performers introduced themselves and the tour, emphasising with great pride that this 'ere walk were about Bemmy folk and not those posh Cliftonites...gulp, with a BS8 postcode I started to get nervous, especially when we were encouraged to wave our arms in the air when the word 'Clifton' was mentioned...stay cool, it's all in jest, they'll never know...

We made our way to the Tobacco Factory where we were greeted by the first of many characters who were to enthrall us with their peculiar life stories.  We learned about the workers of Wills Tobacco, the local barber who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel & Britain's biggest gold robbery.  All of these were played by the two guides, subtly changing costume along the way.  The walk was highly entertaining and this approach to educating history is one I would wholeheartedly encourage in schools.  I'd have learned a helluva lot more if I had been taught this way!  However, the afternoon contained my most surreal experience to date - singing happy birthday to a pie shop...bonkers. 

*The last performance of 2011 is September 25th - go, go go!

http://showofstrength.org.uk/productions/wdwdiitr-2011 
Images: Sinéad Millea

Swimmin' With Da Fishes (well, not exactly)

South Bristol Divers Club

Some things just happen out of the blue (apologies for pun) and my trial dive was one of these things. I signed up as a member of the Bristol Active Social Club and, within a week, an e-mail landed in my inbox inviting members to try diving. I swim regularly but do it in a 1920s lady fashion (head above water with craned neck). It's not as graceful as it sounds, I look more like a drowning seal. So, needless to say, swimming under water would be a new experience for me. The trial dive was offered for the paltry fee of £10 by the South Bristol Divers Club. The Club have sole use of Bristol South Swimming Pool in Bedminster on Tuesday evenings and it's here that they practise, train and offer complete newbies taster sessions.

I arrived to meet a couple, Karen and Ian, who have been divers for 30 years and no doubt have a story or two to share. Ian was my trainer for the evening and after a detailed description of how the next 30 minutes would pan out, and the assurance that I would not be forced to drop myself backwards off the deep end, we got ourselves prepped for submersion. This involved, firstly, attaching an air canister to a divers jacket. The jacket itself looked, to me, like an airplane cockpit with all the knobs and pulleys (for inflation and deflation) but I got the hang of it eventually. Then, the lot was strapped to my back after a counter weight being tied around my waist to avoid toppling over and causing panic to the synchronised swimmers who were finishing their session at the deep end. I was provided with some goggles which I was encouraged to spit into to clean...my Nana would have been appalled. Then I was shown how to use the air tube thingy, a very important piece of kit for those who are not direct descendants of The Little Mermaid.

I found myself kneeling on the floor of the pool, breathing through a tube, watching the swimmers glide through the water and I felt very relaxed indeed. However the breathing apparatus took a bit of getting used to. In fairness, all you do is inhale and exhale but, in the context of the situation, I was thrown. I kept inhaling until my lungs were full and forgot to let any air out. When I did exhale I was surrounded by bubbles of my own air...pretty cool. My confidence grew quicker than I expected, by the end of the session I was kitted out in flippers and swimming up and down the pool. It turned out to be quite an uplifting evening despite my pre-dive nerves. The fact that it involved no actual diving was a relief.

The session was finished off with a well deserved half at the local pub where the club regularly meet. Having regulated my breathing to normal mode, I got chatting to Jas, who had sent the original mail through Bristol Active, and he introduced me to their various members. Steve was introduced to me as a "Paddy". I thought, "Ah, one of my own" but just before I asked him where in Ireland he's from Jas went onto explain that PADI is a diver training organization to which some of their members are associated. Good save. Aswell as earning qualification (BSAC membership), the club members organise trips abroad to dive proper like and see fish and all that palaver. I can imagine that would be awesome but baby steps for me, I have yet to master breathing through a tube.

http://www.southbristoldivers.co.uk
http://www.bristolactive.org.uk/
Image: southbristoldivers.co.uk