Former city docks in ‘Harbourside’ area is now more akin to Benidorm

AS a born and bred Bristolian who recently celebrated his 75th birthday I am reflecting on whether I should be proud of the city of my birth.

Born during the closing stages of the Second World War, the memories from early childhood of the havoc wreaked by the Luftwaffe are still etched on my ageing mind.

Most, if not all, of the bomb sites have long since disappeared. These have been replaced by shopping malls, high-rise flats, offices, eateries and an inner city bedevilled with a multiplicity of one-way streets that will I suspect continue to ensnare motorists for generations to come.

Thus I would claim that, with a few notable exceptions such as Theatre Royal, Colston Hall and John Wesley’s Chapel, most if not all of my childhood Bristol has disappeared courtesy of both past and present city planners who have done their best to turn Bristol into Legoland!

One can only imagine what a child born in 2019 will on their 75th birthday in 2094 make of Bristol when any connectivity I can recall from an early age has been totally eradicated. For instance, to me, ‘Harbourside’ will forever be the ‘Docks,’ but most of its infrastructure has been given a makeover a la Spain’s Benidorm.

Moreover, those who would acclaim that the city planners have enhanced the Bristolian image might like to consider some words of an erstwhile City Editor (1970s) of The Sunday Telegraph, Patrick Hutber. Hutber’s law stated that: “improvement means deterioration”. If Bristol continues to ‘improve’ over the next 75 years by further distancing itself from its historical roots, then I fear its very name will be well past its historical sell by date. R L Smith Knowle