Give us exact replica of the Dutch House

SO the new development at the end of Castle Park is to have a building which vaguely resembles the beautiful Dutch House that stood on the site until the Second World War.

But why can’t we have an exact replica of the Dutch House? Albeit with up to date fire and safety standards. What a draw for tourists that would be. What a wonderful chance to reclaim just a little bit of the cultural heritage Bristol lost in the Blitz, a city once famous for its medieval churches and houses.

I think the proposed development is bland and uninspiring.

Couldn’t the developers carefully rebuild the streets we lost in 1940-41 just as they once were, and not just the Dutch House. This would be a chance for Bristol’s world renowned craftspeople, such as stone masons and carpenters, to show the world what they are capable of. Instead, it looks like we will be having the usual cheap steel girder boxes covered in glass. How boring!

Let’s not waste another opportunity with yet more timid blandness. Remember the renovation of the centre 20-odd years ago? Any other city would have leaped at the opportunity to reopen the Docks from beneath hundreds of tons of concrete. But not Bristol.

Instead we got yet more concrete with little fountains as a nod to the great waterway running beneath them. I wonder if many readers realise that the beautiful Bristol waterfront area stretches all the way past Broadmead? Wouldn’t it have been fantastic to have revealed it!

Imagine the cafes and restaurants that would have sprang up alongside, like the rest of the Docks.

Let’s have something worthy of the epicentre of Medieval, nay Saxon Bristol. Let’s have the ancient streets back again and our much-loved Dutch House.

Ernest B Skidmore, Montpelier