First time I went to what’s locally known as “The Bearpit”, was back in 1994. I’d spent the day looking for somewhere to live with a friend. I remember it as a pleasant sunny day having a sandwich break before going onwards to Montpellier. Apparently it was more of a ‘snakepit’ -Full of belligerent beggars, dangerous druggies and malicious muggers. But I didn’t see that. But as my friend was an alcoholic rattail-wearing art-school reject and me- an anorexic hippy with acne, we probably fit perfectly… It the nexus between the anarchist Stokes Croft area, the poor St Pauls and the capitalist shitbrick of Broadmead. It was bombed in WW2, redeveloped after the war and again in 1968, it may have been better to have left it a bomb crater. Its now being redeveloped again, Its bee-hive inspired flowerbeds have given way to its now iconic checker-pattern bear and left-wing slogans. It rightly hasn’t moved on the homeless, but tried to make it a little nicer for everyone. Its now filled with bric-a-brac stalls, arty graffiti, a taco bus and carbon monoxide. Its a bit rough around the edges but it fits in with the Stokes Croft vibe. You don’t cure the problems of poverty buy building a new Tesco Express and moving rich morons into new luxury apartments. You build a community that feels connected. In an ideal world you get rid of shitty landlords and stop bailing out banks that shit on society for its stockholders and executives. The Bearpit should reflect how the locals feel about themselves, not how others think about them. Bristol has privatised enough land already and doesn’t need another shitty Cabot Circus style redevelopment.
