When Alison Kjellstorm first walked down the tree-lined paths of St George park over 25 years ago, she immediately felt at home as it reminded her of where she’d grown up in France. The park in East Bristol has recently been voted the best picnic spot in the city and the fourth best park in the UK.
Recently, St George Park lake has seen major council investment and the much-awaited project is now almost complete. Most of the fencing has been removed and fish are swimming once again in the recently refilled lake.
Locals say that the high street, Church Road, which runs parallel to the park, has become a lot busier in recent years. Beyond Aldi, as the road stretches further away from town, several new independent businesses have sprung up over the last couple of years in an area which is said to be ‘up and coming’.
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However, the cost of living means that not everyone benefits from the new additions to the high street and some locals are upset about the services that have been lost in the area. Ms Kjellstorm, who runs a small upcycling business, now has to go to Kingswood to make cash deposits as Natwest has become an artisan bakery and Lloyds has become an upmarket pub.
Like many places in Bristol, the house prices have gone up, having increased by 20 per cent since 2019, three per cent more than the average increase for Bristol overall. Almost 50 per cent of those living in St George West ward, own their own home, which is about average for Bristol.
Abby Hechavarian, who grew up in St Werburghs, moved to St George over 20 years ago because she felt the house prices were low. She feels the area has improved in recent years and enjoys having a range of shops and cafes on her doorstep rather than having to go into town or Clifton to access such places.
Ms Hechavarian said: “I moved to St George because it was just cheaper at the time, house prices were starting to go up but not as fast as other areas. It’s busier than it used to be, it feels a bit more up and coming and there’s more cafes, shops and delis. It’s something that I wanted on my doorstep rather than having to go further afield.”
An 'up and coming' area
In the last two years alone, there have been several new additions to the high street and the quiet end of Church Road, from The Fountain cafe down to Aldi, has a whole new row of shops. The Fountain cafe itself is one of the oldest businesses on Church Road and tends to attract regulars who’ve been going there for decades
Donna Hepper, who has been helping out her mum at the greasy spoon for the last ten years, doesn’t think the area has changed that much. Although she has noticed the high street becoming “a lot busier” and believes the area to be “up and coming.”
Poco Deli moved in two years ago, and in the last year the small stretch of the road has seen at least three additional small businesses pop up, including a record shop and a pattern design studio which is set to be converted into a book and clothing store in November.
The most recent addition on that stretch of Church Road is L’amore Living, a small gift shop which also serves coffee. In the last few months, The Bristol Loaf has expanded into a bottle shop and wine bar, Cake Box has opened in Redfield and, just last week, The George and Dragon reopened under new ownership and with a complete overhaul of beers and ciders.
Anna Hewitt - who owns L’amore Living - is hopeful the area will be good for her new business although the shop is sometimes very quiet. She opened the shop after being a stay at home mum for years, while her son was undergoing treatment for Leukaemia.
She said: “There’s a lot of people moving to this area, house prices are going up and there’s a mixture of people and cultures - there’s a lot of raw feeling to it.
“It’s up and coming. The park is great, you get young people, families and the older generation, it really does bring people together
“Everyone just looks out for each other, customers love the shop, they love the fact that there is something like this now that they can come to for gifts. They’ve really welcomed the shop, it’s been nice.
“We talk to the other local businesses to try and bounce off ideas. I’m doing okay but it could be better.”
Have all the changes been positive?
Despite all the praise the area has been given in recent years, not everyone feels that the changes in the area have always been positive. Ms Kjellstorm, who has lived in the area for 25 years, said she no longer feels safe at night and believes there has been an increasing number of “incidents” in the park.
The rate of ‘Youth Offenders’ is almost double the average for Bristol, according to the ward data from Bristol City Council. Ms Kjellstorm said: "There’s been a lot more problems with young people in the park, we’ve had a lot more police presence.”
She thinks it’s got worse since Youth Services in Bristol were centralised. Although there is a small community centre on the edge of the park, there is nothing on offer for young people and the majority of classes are paid for sessions.
Ms Kjellstorm thinks Church Road has improved, with new shops opening over the years, but is not happy about some of the closures. The closure of the Post Office and the two banks in the area has caused inconvenience for Ms Kjellstorm as she runs her own upcycling business from home.
The cost of living crisis combined with the recent pandemic is also having an impact. Although she likes the range of shops and restaurants on Church Road, she no longer can afford to eat out and finds there has been less opportunities to sell her goods at markets.
Ms Kjellstorm said: “I’m very strapped for cash so I tend to stay home and eat. There used to be a really good festival (RedFest), I used to do a market there, I hope it comes back.”
Despite the area almost having “something for everyone”, Kizzie Foluke - who moved to the area six years ago after previously living in Montpelier and Easton - said that she rarely visits the part of Church Road beyond Aldi. Although she loves the park and green spaces and woods nearby, she feels St George lacks the “community spirit” she has felt in other parts of Bristol.
Her immediate neighbours are the only people she’s got to know and often they talk about the “bizarre things that happen” at the end of her road. Although the police sirens and fights give the neighbours talking points, Ms Foluke said she still thinks it’s a “nice area” and doesn’t feel unsafe.
Ms Foluke said: “St George is a nice place but it’s lacking the tight-knit community, there’s just something missing. Maybe people who grew up here feel differently but often when my daughter makes a friend in St George Park she says ‘I’ve made a friend, I’m never going to see them again'.
“I don’t get anything through the door, we used to have a local magazine and I used to go through it but I guess it stopped. I never get any leaflets about the community centre and whenever I do go, it’s always shut.”
The future of the park
As the council-funded lake project finally comes to an end, the future of the skate park and the playground remains uncertain. Community groups of volunteers have been set up but will have to raise thousands of pounds if the regeneration of the high street is to filter through to the much loved freely available park facilities.
The playground has not seen any major investment since 2009 when the former St George West councillor, Ron Stone (who has now passed away) approached primary school children in the area and asked for their ideas on what that playground should look like. The playground cost £87,000, with £50,000 coming from a government grant and £37,000 from developers’ improvement funding.
It was the idea of local primary school children to have a dragon-shaped slide as the centrepiece for the playground. Ron Stone, who named the playground after his predecessor, told BristolLive at the time: “It will be named after John Deasy as a living tribute to his dedicated work to families and a permanent memorial to him in the heart of his ward, a place he loved.”
The community-led project, ‘play in St George Park’, would like to raise £400,000 to improve the play park, money they hope to get from donations, charity funding grants and Bristol City Council. They describe they existing playground which lost its dragon's head some years ago, as “tired” and “nearing the end of it’s natural life".
The group are looking for public support and feedback for their vision for a new playground would also like to see a bigger playground with more separation of equipment for different age groups.
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