Words

Mono Monday: Words

A visit to the People's Republic of Stokes Croft this lunch time to get a shot of this local landmark. To the casual passer by the words on this local building may seem quirky, or possibly even quaint.  But they recall a riot in April 2011 which left a number of people injured on both sides of the confrontation.

Stokes Croft, which is immediately adjacent to the St Paul's area, has long had a hippyish/counter culture vibe to it.  Yes, that is a dragon up there on the roof of the bakery.  You can't see, because this is a mono image, but it is a red dragon.

Back in 2011 there was an anti-establishment, anti-capitalism and corporations riot when Tesco attempted to open a Metro store in this area. Suggestions that occupants of a local squat were preparing fire bombs with which to attack the new store, saw the Police take action and move to close the squat.  Some blame heavy handed policing for the riot that then followed; others blame lawless criminal hooligans.  Mistakes were certainly made in the police approach which had the opposite of the desired effect and turned some bystanders into rioters.  Who knows where the truth lies, possibly somewhere between the two?  It is fair to say that I don't think any evidence of an actual fire bomb manufactory were found at the squat, but I may have that wrong.

Perhaps rioting is something that Bristolians are particularly prone to.  What is for sure, is that Bristol has a long history of riots going back hundreds of years.  If you look at Wikipedia, you will see that there were riots in 1793, 1831, 1932, 1944, 1980, 1987, 1992, April 2011 and August 2011.