# Where to live in Bristol?



## lillia (May 7, 2008)

Ok urbanites of Brizzle... help me out!?! 

I am hoping to move to Bristol this year - it's all hinging on the sale of my house here at the mo , but I just want rid so hopefully will get a stupidly low offer and just cover my costs... Then I can pack up the crap I've collected, the cats and the good lady wife and head for lovely lovely Bristol. 

SO. Where to live in Bristol? Ideally we'd like a two-bed place with a (little) garden, but I know this might be stretching it? Looking to spend about 500-600 quid a month on rent at the most. (Cheaper than this would be good tho!)
Could do with somewhere not too far from town if possible. We're coming down at the end of the month to get more of a feel for where we'd want a base for a week or so, and I'd like to have a look round a few areas to see whats around. 

I know central Bristol well enough, but that's about it - any help appreciated!


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## greenthumb77 (May 7, 2008)

Hi there, need help moving to our Brizzle do we?, well I would say if you are a cultural person then near the city would be good. Montpellier or St Werbergs is nice and chilled but, you maybe streatching your finances a bit. Other than that, I lives in Kingswood which is on a main bus route into town about 20mins form centre and about an hour back out again, darn bus service! You will love it down yer my friend its gert lush I tell thee


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## strung out (May 7, 2008)

i'd probably say you're looking at somewhere like Montpellier, Bedminster and other places like that within walking distance of town. Generally rent tends to be a bit cheaper in these places and i'm also going to be looking for a similar place to you in a couple of months. there are quite a few really cheap places on the outskirts in places like emersons green etc but tbh, i wouldnt want to live that far out (currently living near cribs causeway which is bad enough as it is). unfortunately my knowledge of resdiential areas in central bristol isnt too great, only really having lived on the outskirts in the north and worked in clifton for 8 years. Someone like JTG or kalidarkone would probably have a bit more info, having had more experience of these areas and being a lot more wise than me! good luck, and i'm sure you'll love bristol! its a great city


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## JTG (May 7, 2008)

off the top of me head, you may be expecting a bit much to live in Bedminster, Montpellier or St Werburghs for 500-600 a month in a house. But go a little further out and you may do OK - not looked at prices at all but St George, Easton etc may be better.


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## electrogirl (May 7, 2008)

yeah i've just been looking for  aplace in bedminster/southville and i think your budget could be a bit tight to live that near town, depends on how far you're prepared to walk though!

as for areas, it depends what you're looking for, i've lived in clifton, redland, st george and bedminster and they are all so different!


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## lillia (May 7, 2008)

Thanks all... will have a look at some of these when I'm there - I had a feeling we may have to try to stretch the budget a bit - if we find the right place we might have to shave some money off the beer budget. (Look for the post in 6 months' time about cheap places for a night out ).

We just want somewhere with a nice feel to it - few decent bars/places to eat within (preferably) walking/stumbling distance. Am in a bit of a crappy area here - I love the people who live on the street but we've been burgled twice - once at knife point - and had the car graffitied and attempted-stolen, so somewhere we feel a bit more settled!

I AM SO EXCITED!!!


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## greenthumb77 (May 7, 2008)

you dont live in yate do you?


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## lillia (May 7, 2008)

greenthumb77 said:


> you dont live in yate do you?



No - Levenshulme in Manchester...  am making the move back down south after 8 years up here. Can't wait. That's why I want to get moving asap... now I've made the decision I want to move NOW. 

Takes deep breath.


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## greenthumb77 (May 7, 2008)

Kool, welcome home brother


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## lillia (May 7, 2008)

greenthumb77 said:


> Kool, welcome home brother



sister


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## greenthumb77 (May 7, 2008)

lillia said:


> Ok urbanites of Brizzle... help me out!?!
> 
> Then I can pack up the crap I've collected, the cats and the good lady wife and head for lovely lovely Bristol.
> 
> Which lead me to believe you were maybe a man although I did wonder why you had a girlie name, my apologies


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## kalidarkone (May 7, 2008)

You would get something for £500-600 per month in Easton/ Fishponds kind of area. About a 20-30 min walk to the centre (40 mins if you are me) also a cycle path and a bus route and the little train!! which is really  and gets you from Easton to Temple meads in 5 mins or the other way to Clifton also in about 5 mins and cost 70p!

Lots of culturally diverse food shops and places to eat, quite a good bohemian/hippy/creative scene..Easton cowboys and Easton can can troupe -what more could you ask for? easy to score. Ikea

On the downside... easy to score...can get a bit ruff n ting on Stapleton road at 4am....fucking kids on mopeds Ikea.

If you want greenry- check out Greenbank - its the posh end of Easton near a huge grave yard, cycle path and an empty chocolate factory which looks as if it may be developed into some kind of community space. 

I'm biased. I love it I does.


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## Geri (May 7, 2008)

Greenbank is nice (I was going to buy a house there before I bought this one but it fell through) but most other parts of Easton I wouldn't really want to live in.

How about Eastville? It's close to Easton but a lot quieter, and we have a lovely park.  You don't even notice Ikea either if you are on the right side of the motorway. It's also handy for Tesco.

The downside is prostitution and if you live near to Fishponds Road you can get kerbcrawled but I've live around the corner and never really had any problems.


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## Crispy (May 7, 2008)

Just checked out the stapleton road trains and there's actually a pretty decent service


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## xenon (May 7, 2008)

Try looking on the classifieds at www.venue.co.uk

Might give you a feel for what property's around. There's a brief guide to some of Bristol's bars and restaurants on the site somewhere.


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## Geri (May 8, 2008)

Venue generally ignores East Bristol, in my opinion.


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## gentlegreen (May 8, 2008)

Perhaps we should draw up a Boothian-inspired Google layer for Bristol.


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## hermitical (May 8, 2008)

Geri said:


> Greenbank is nice (I was going to buy a house there before I bought this one but it fell through) but most other parts of Easton I wouldn't really want to live in.
> 
> How about Eastville? It's close to Easton but a lot quieter, and we have a lovely park.  You don't even notice Ikea either if you are on the right side of the motorway. It's also handy for Tesco.
> 
> The downside is prostitution and if you live near to Fishponds Road you can get kerbcrawled but I've live around the corner and never really had any problems.



you forgot wonderful Eastville Park.....


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## lillia (May 8, 2008)

Wow! Thanks all - some really helpful info...

Will definitely have a look around Easton/Greenabnk and Eastville when we're there in a few weeks - will have a look at the other suggestions as well - Montpelier and Bedminster etc. We've got a week, so can hopefully get a good idea of where we'll look. 

I'll keep an eye on Venue as well - thanks for that!

And Easton can-can troupe? Now that's a reason for moving!! 

I think I posted this too soon. I'm too excited now.


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## kropotkin (May 8, 2008)

Damn it- I just read this thread and am also now excited.
And I'm not even moving there for a year!


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## greenthumb77 (May 8, 2008)

Morning guys & girls, Welcome to Bristol

Makes such a difference when the weathers good

Had a most enjoyable walk down at St Georges park last night with me pet pigz, gert lush mind


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## gentlegreen (May 8, 2008)

greenthumb77 said:


> pet pigz,











??


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## hermitical (May 8, 2008)




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## kalidarkone (May 8, 2008)

gentlegreen said:


> ??



OMG i WANT THAT PIG!! Is that your pig Greenthumb? Where do I get a pig like that? Is it house trained?


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## lillia (May 8, 2008)

kalidarkone said:


> OMG i WANT THAT PIG!! Is that your pig Greenthumb? Where do I get a pig like that? Is it house trained?



I think Greenthumb's pig is a dog called pig... iirc... 

but if you do get one can I walk it for you when you don't want to?


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## Geri (May 9, 2008)

hermitical said:


> you forgot wonderful Eastville Park.....



That's the place I was talking about when I said "we have a lovely park".


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## hermitical (May 9, 2008)

ah yes....sorry!
you seen the plans for their lottery bid?


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## Geri (May 9, 2008)

hermitical said:


> ah yes....sorry!
> you seen the plans for their lottery bid?



No I haven't - do you have a link?

What I like most about Eastvilel park is that it's more than just a park, as you can carry on walking through to Snuff Mills and it's just like being in the middle of the countryside.


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## fizzerbird (May 9, 2008)

It's friggin difficult to afford to live here these days.


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## Geri (May 10, 2008)

fizzerbird said:


> It's friggin difficult to afford to live here these days.



What - Hartcliffe? Is it becoming gentrified?


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## keybored (May 10, 2008)

Geri said:


> What - Hartcliffe? Is it becoming gentrified?









Urban Splash are "working on it". Think it'll be a while before you see a Starbucks on Symes though


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## hermitical (May 12, 2008)

Geri said:


> No I haven't - do you have a link?



http://tinyurl.com/45q832


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## Geri (May 12, 2008)

A cafe would be cool! And I'd really like it if they could tun the swimming pool into a pool again, instead of a garden, but I doubt that will ever happen. And a new boathouse and boats, definitely.


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## Sunspots (May 12, 2008)

I just had a look at those pdfs.  

The proposals look ...er... surprisingly good! 

Fingers crossed...


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## hermitical (May 12, 2008)

I'd hate to see boats disrupt the wildfowl/wildlife of the lake though


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## Crispy (May 12, 2008)

Sounds like they still need to organise the money, but that all sounds good!

Anyone else been in the Ice House? It's very  - ooh, I just found out it's grade II listed.




There's a tunnel through the cliffs on the other side of the river, too.


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## Sunspots (May 12, 2008)

hermitical said:


> I'd hate to see boats disrupt the wildfowl/wildlife of the lake though



Hmmm, fair point.  Probably depends on whether the lake and boats are supervised.  (-Mandatory nowadays, I'd guess, what with Health & Safety, etc...)  Blanket CCTV, or hire a bastard parkie (-like in Viz... ); IT'S THE ONLY WAY.  

The proposals do seem to place emphasis on wildlife and ...er... nature stuff though, so I'd say the signs are at least promising.  (-Or maybe I've just drunk the greenwash... ) 

If you live in the area, maybe you should go along to a public meeting (-if there is one) and 'consult' on the matter?


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## Sunspots (May 12, 2008)

Crispy said:


>



Wow, is that the entrance to the Ice House, or to the tunnel through the cliffs?  

Either way, I've probably walked past it loads of times without realising what it is! 

(-Any idea where the tunnel goes to?)

I'll definitely have a better look at it next time I'm there.


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## Crispy (May 12, 2008)

That's the entrance to the ice house. You probably haven't walked past it, because you have to go back on yourself after crossing the river, just past the weir. (it's on the left bank, if you're facing upstream) The tunnel through the rocks is on the right hand side a bit further up, iirc. It's been a while  It has a low ceiling and a blocked up passage on one side. There might even have been some narrow guage rails, but I could be imagining it.

Ah, I see from http://www.fromewalkway.org.uk/historygeology.html, that the local stone is the common grey sandstone you see round bristol, and it was quarried in the area. I suspec that's what the tunnels to do with.


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## Sunspots (May 12, 2008)

Crispy said:


> That's the entrance to the ice house. You probably haven't walked past it, because you have to go back on yourself after crossing the river, just past the weir. (it's on the left bank, if you're facing upstream) The tunnel through the rocks is on the right hand side a bit further up, iirc. It's been a while



Thanks, I think I know where you mean with both of those. 



Crispy said:


> It has a low ceiling and a blocked up passage on one side. There might even have been some narrow guage rails, but I could be imagining it.



So, by the sounds of it, it doesn't go anywhere as such; there isn't another end of it that emerges somewhere else?

Sounds intriguing none the less though.  That's one of the things I love about Bristol; so much history, including so many hidden caves and tunnels.


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## Crispy (May 12, 2008)

the tunnel goes through an outcrop, so it's quite short - maybe 6 meters? But it's the bit that forks off into the bowels of the rock that intrigues me


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## Sunspots (May 12, 2008)

Crispy said:


> the tunnel goes through an outcrop, so it's quite short - maybe 6 meters? But it's the bit that forks off into the bowels of the rock that intrigues me



Right, I _might_ investigate.  

If I appear to have stopped posting in the next few days though, you know where to look...


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## Sunspots (May 12, 2008)

_-Aaaaaaactually_, even at this early stage, my plan has all the potential to be an episode of _Casualty_, doesn't it!...   

_Maybe_ I'll try and find out a bit more about it _before_ I try wandering off into a pitch dark tunnel of unknown dimensions...


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## Sunspots (May 12, 2008)

Oh, and lillia, apologies for the massive derail!   

-As I recall, you were asking about where to live in Bristol, _not_ about what might be in some old tunnel down by a river...


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## big eejit (May 12, 2008)

I was talking to someone who regularly walked underground from near the Ostrich to Temple Meads. One day he never came out....


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## Sunspots (May 12, 2008)

big eejit said:


> I was talking to someone who regularly walked underground from near the Ostrich to Temple Meads. One day he never came out....



Those caves are _usually_ locked up...


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## big eejit (May 12, 2008)

Sunspots said:


> Those caves are _usually_ locked up...



Probably explains a lot.


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## JTG (May 12, 2008)

big eejit said:


> I was talking to someone who regularly walked underground from near the Ostrich to Temple Meads. One day he never came out....



so you were talking to him after this happened?

were you visiting him in the Underground Kingdom?


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## Geri (May 13, 2008)

hermitical said:


> I'd hate to see boats disrupt the wildfowl/wildlife of the lake though



They managed to co-exist peacefully for many years previously. I used to know the bloke who worked on them, he was a friend of my ex-husband. Huge bald bloke, his dad was Lord Cocks of Hartcliffe.


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## lillia (May 13, 2008)

Sunspots said:


> Oh, and lillia, apologies for the massive derail!
> 
> -As I recall, you were asking about where to live in Bristol, _not_ about what might be in some old tunnel down by a river...



I was quite excited when I scrolled through this thread this morning, and glanced at those pics. I thought someone had found me a cave to live in.  Just trying to work out the scale to see if the sofa would fit through the door...

All derails welcome... far more interesting than discussing housing...


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## hermitical (May 13, 2008)

fair enough...
the lake is one of the draws for me...so peaceful. At the moment there are 2 or 3 families of coots, at least 5 families of ducks. Just saw the first group of goslings there this morning and one of the pairs of swans are nesting on an island. There's also the local heron often seen perching on a bank, the odd cormorant, the gulls and terns and just down the river I saw a kingfisher the other week. Also saw a sparrow hawk in the park last week having a go at a rook


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## jusali (May 15, 2008)

St George is cool for the quiet life but there's not that much retail entertainment apart from a few charidee shops in nearby Redfield.
I love the park though


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## gentlegreen (May 15, 2008)

Yep, Weatherspoons and a few rough pubs ....


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

St George is quiet, but boring; nothing doing, except for the great park. 

A couple of decent cafes have opened up in the last year though.


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## electrogirl (May 15, 2008)

i think st george is getting better though, i loved there for a short while and there was trendy foos shops opening. old market is getting less seedy too.


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## gentlegreen (May 15, 2008)

Loads of new flats going up in Redfield - not sure if they're for rent or sale.


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## jusali (May 15, 2008)

Would that be "Luxury" flats?


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## gentlegreen (May 15, 2008)

jusali said:


> Would that be "Luxury" flats?


I doubt it - they're made of plywood, with flat rooves and packed in tight.

This is a more recent series of developments than "On The Park" ...


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## gentlegreen (May 15, 2008)

Here's a scary one - right on a busy junction - where the post office was :-









> £650 p.c.m.   £650        CHALKS ROAD, BRISTOL               Brand new two bedroom terraced house, unfurnished. suit professional couple. No pets, DSS, smokers or students.


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

electrogirl said:


> i think st george is getting better though, i *loved* there for a short while



-OMG, I didn't realise _you_ posted on Urban!...   

-------------------------------------------------------------

Yep, hints of slightly more metropolitan pursuits _are_ slowly encroaching upon sedate St George.

I reckon The Black Horse and The George & Dragon aren't going to turn into Pret A Manger for at least another 50 years yet though.   ...-Which is probably a good thing.  (-After all, I wouldn't want the charity shops disappearing! )


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

gentlegreen said:


> This is a more recent series of developments than "On The Park" ...



Speaking of which, I saw something tied to a lamppost the other day about the latest proposal for more 2 or 3 story flats overlooking the park.  I think they'd be on (-what you'd probably consider) the far side, maybe where there are currently some industrial units (Hudd's Vale Rd?  )...

I'll have a closer look at the notice next time I go past.  I doubt these flats will be affordable enough for most local people though...


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## jusali (May 15, 2008)

gentlegreen said:


> Here's a scary one - right on a busy junction - where the post office was :-



Looks aweful that one, that road's always busy. It would drive me bonkers living there, especially in a plywood house  BCC eh? Seems that if you bung 'em a tenner you can build anything anywhere at the moment 
Then there's those cardboard ones they built at Lawrence hill a stiff breeze and the could be gone shortly...........


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## gentlegreen (May 15, 2008)

Does anyone know where all the young Poles (??) I encounter in Tesco are living ?


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

jusali said:


> Looks aweful that one, that road's always busy. It would drive me bonkers living there, especially in a plywood house



Yeah.  Their front doors are about two feet from the busy road; they're hemmed in at the back by that garage/carwash yard, so is there even be enough room for a back garden?  

I presume that if they've got a car, they have to leave it across the road in the poorly-lit (park) car park, where the recycling bins (-and probably the doggers... ) are.


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

gentlegreen said:


> Does anyone know where all the young Poles (??) I encounter in Tesco are living ?



Don't know, but I noticed that one of the two Polish shops up alongside the park seems to have shut down recently (-like so many other shops/pubs there before it... ).


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## jusali (May 15, 2008)

Sunspots said:


> Don't know, but I noticed that one of the two Polish shops up alongside the park seems to have shut down recently (-like so many other shops/pubs there before it... ).



That's 'cos theyre all in tesco's


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

jusali said:


> That's 'cos theyre all in tesco's



True.  Not forgetting Aldi/Lidl too.  

And I don't think it's just because Tesco (etc) started stocking a big range of Polish food.  I'd like to be able to shop in what few small independent shops there are left on Church Road, but I can't afford to.  Same as me; rights and wrongs of the big supermarkets aside, I expect the Poles have simply gone where basic food is cheapest.  

(-I wonder how long the other Polish shop will last?...)


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## jusali (May 15, 2008)

Is the porn factory still operating up that way? I occasionaly see unusually clad ladies in the vicinity and get all turned on by the idea


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

jusali said:


> Is the porn factory still operating up that way? I occasionaly see unusually clad ladies in the vicinity and get all turned on by the idea



-WTF? First I've heard of this.   Is this, er... common knowledge?...


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## gentlegreen (May 15, 2008)

Sunspots said:


> -WTF? First I've heard of this.   Is this, er... common knowledge?...



I know someone who used to edit video there.

there's also a beansprout factory around there somewhere....


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

jusali said:


> Is the porn factory still operating up that way? I occasionaly see unusually clad ladies in the vicinity and get all turned on by the idea





gentlegreen said:


> there's also *a beansprout factory* around there somewhere....



First a 'porn factory', now THIS!!!...


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## gentlegreen (May 15, 2008)

Could this be them ?







I think they may have gone legit now.

http://www.bristolfilmstudios.com/pages/studios/studio_a.php


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

gentlegreen said:


> I know someone who used to edit video there.
> 
> there's also a beansprout factory around there somewhere....



Where are these places then?  This really is all news to me. 

-Can't say I've ever noticed any of the _'unusually clad ladies'_ that jusali mentioned, but surely I'd have at least noticed a constant beansprout-y smell?...  

-If you feel discretion is necessary, please PM me! 

*Edit: whoops, too slow; you've posted already.*


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## gentlegreen (May 15, 2008)

My ex. applied to work at the beansprout factory, but her inability to speak Chinese was a major problem.


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## gentlegreen (May 15, 2008)

No - this must be them :-



> *Pumpkin Film Productions Ltd*
> 
> *Pumpkin Film Productions* Ltd create and distribute high-quality videos and DVD's, for the adult market, on a regular basis, featuring some of the United *...*
> www.[B]pumpkin[/B]*film*s.com/adult/adult_video.html - 16k - Cached - Similar pages




A vertitable hive of activity in such a small block - I must take a detour that way .


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

gentlegreen said:


> My ex. applied to work at the beansprout factory, but her inability to speak Chinese was a major problem.



So, where's that in St George then?


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

gentlegreen said:


> A vertitable hive of activity in such a small block



Tbh, I did PM jusali when he mentioned it, saying that I've occasionally seen bright/weird coloured lighting coming out of a top floor window of a building up there.  That map would seem to correlate with the same building I'm talking about.

I really had no idea I was living in the shadow of such a ...er... reputable media complex...


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## electrogirl (May 15, 2008)

jusali said:


> Is the porn factory still operating up that way? I occasionaly see unusually clad ladies in the vicinity and get all turned on by the idea



more info pretty please please


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## jusali (May 15, 2008)

Well, it all started when I googled Leonard road (Redfield) which was where are first house was and found out that someone on the street was running a food fetish business where people could romp around naked and rub each other with cakes etc (had a funny name like scat but not ). 
Anyways being a sociable chap I got talking with the locals and they said that not much was known about them per se but there was akinda porn studios where GG outlined in his satelite image above. 
Years later when my wife was taking little one to Redfield playgroup she got friendly with one of the Mum's who lived at the end of the street where porn factory was and had seen dodgy characters around there.
I often pass that way and keep my eye out and notice the occassional porn star esque type characters and you know      imagine things


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## jusali (May 15, 2008)

electrogirl said:


> more info pretty please please



Give me the carbooty information now please.........


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## Geri (May 15, 2008)

hermitical said:


> Also saw a sparrow hawk in the park last week having a go at a rook



I thought you said having a go at a* rock* first! I was about to say, that's probably a waste of energy.

I saw some crows (or they could have been rooks) chasing squirrels in the park yesterday.

In the wintertime they sometimes have owl spotting evenings.


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## gentlegreen (May 15, 2008)

I see now that I have inadvertently lassoed Bethel United Church in my picture.



> *The Apostolic Church* is a Pentecostal Christian denomination which can trace its origins back to the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival.
> 
> <....>
> 
> ...



*I wonder what they tell the children about their neighbours !  


*


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

gentlegreen said:


> I see now that I have inadvertently lassoed Bethel United Church in my picture.
> 
> *I wonder what they tell the children about their neighbours !
> 
> ...



Yes, their close proximity to each other had crossed my mind too.


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## Jografer (May 15, 2008)

gentlegreen said:


> Could this be them ?
> 
> 
> 
> ...





jusali said:


> Well, it all started when I googled Leonard road (Redfield) which was where are first house was and found out that someone on the street was running a food fetish business where people could romp around naked and rub each other with cakes etc (had a funny name like scat but not ).



...that's not Leonard Road...


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## gentlegreen (May 15, 2008)

Jografer said:


> ...that's not Leonard Road...



Keep up there.


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## Sunspots (May 15, 2008)

This thread's been very informative; so far, I've learnt:

-Eastville Park is up for a facelift...
-there's an old icehouse and a spooky tunnel down along by The Frome...
-big eejit once met someone who went missing in Redcliffe caves...
-there was/is a 'Lord Cocks Of Hartcliffe'...
-hermitical is probably a bit of a 'twitcher'...
-electrogirl once 'loved' in St George...
-'the Poles are all in Tesco'...
-there was/is a house dedicated to 'food play' fetish parties in St George...
-there are porn and beanshoot factories in my neighbourhood...
-they're not the _same_ factories though...
-no-one seems to know where the decent car boot sales are these days.

Who needs The Evening Post, eh?


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