Events

Book Launch

Our City: Community Activism in Bristol – with Tangent Books

This book is a collection of essays written by activists focusing on promoting inclusion, community campaigning and city planning. We Love Stoke Lodge is proud to have authored one.

Campaigns erupt when something we care about is under threat. The campaigns described here involve Ursa the Bear, boaters’ rights, allotmenteering, public access to Stoke Lodge playing fields, street trees, and Yew Tree Farm. Contributors describe their determination to expose and challenge poor decision-making.

Speakers included Suzanne Audrey, editor of the book; Richard Jones from Tangent Books; Andy Leake (Making space for Bristol’s diverse queer community); Helen Powell (We Love Stoke Lodge: Defending access to open space); Joe Banks (St Mary le Port: Something rotten at the historic heart of the city); Joanna Booth (The Bristol Arena project: A chronicle of ambition); Holly Wyatt (Bristol Allotmenteers Resist); Vassili Papastavrou (Saving Bristol’s Urban Trees); Tom Jones (Sell Out at Bristol Zoo Gardens) and Anna Haydock-Wilson(Rebranded or re-imagined?).

You can get your copy for £15 from Waterstones or order online.

It’s still under threat!

Cotham School is going to the High Court next January asking for our Village Green registration to be removed.

We all know what that would mean: the fence would go back up, the gates would be locked and ‘public access’ would mean trudging around the narrow and dangerous perimeter walkways. Wildlife, trees and open public access are all at risk. Cotham School has done it before and they would do it again – if they got the chance.

The community and the Council are defending our Village Green in the High Court and we are confident that the law is on our side.

Our community has fought for 15 years to protect this beautiful and historic parkland. This is the final stage of our journey and our legal case is ready. You can help.

We are now excited to share that the Open Spaces Society have formally said that they are supportive of our fight to save Stoke Lodge and have donated significant sum towards our legal costs, we are very grateful to them.