128-587: Hotwells is a neighbourhood in the English port city of Bristol . It is located to the south of and below the high ground of Clifton , and directly to the north of the Floating Harbour . The southern entrance to the Avon Gorge , which connects the docks to the sea, lies at the western end of Hotwells. The eastern end of the area is at the roundabout where Jacobs Well Road meets Hotwell Road. Hotwells
256-804: A Bristol Tramways route, Hotwells railway station was the city terminus of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier line to Avonmouth , the lower terminus of the Clifton Rocks Railway , the Rownham Ferry which crossed the River Avon to Bower Ashton , the locks giving access to the Floating Harbour, and the landing stages used by passenger steamers. In the 1920s, the A4 Portway Road was driven through
384-470: A Roman road ); another was at the present-day Inns Court . Isolated Roman villas and small forts and settlements were also scattered throughout the area. Bristol was founded by 1000; by about 1020, it was a trading centre with a mint producing silver pennies bearing its name. By 1067, Brycgstow was a well-fortified burh , and that year the townsmen beat back a raiding party from Ireland led by three of Harold Godwinson 's sons. Under Norman rule,
512-411: A statue of Colston was pulled down from its plinth by protestors and pushed into Bristol Harbour. The statue was recovered on 11 June and has become a museum exhibit. Bristol City council consists of 70 councillors representing 34 wards, with between one and three per ward serving four-year terms. As of May 2024, no party has an overall controlling majority, but Green Party are the largest group on
640-591: A car, van, motorbike or taxi, 2.2% commute by rail and 9.8% by bus, while 19.6% walk. The Runnymede Trust found in 2017 that Bristol "ranked 7th out of the 348 districts of England & Wales (1=worst) on the Index of Multiple Inequality." In terms of employment, the report found that "ethnic minorities are disadvantaged compared to white British people nationally, but this is to a greater extent in Bristol, particularly for black groups." Black people in Bristol experience
768-451: A child Pope survived once being trampled by a cow , but when he was 12 he began struggling with tuberculosis of the spine ( Pott disease ), which restricted his growth, so that he was only 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 metres) tall as an adult. He also suffered from crippling headaches. In the year 1709, Pope showcased his precocious metrical skill with the publication of Pastorals , his first major poems. They earned him instant fame. By
896-417: A compulsory load line on ships. By 1867, ships were getting larger and the meanders in the river Avon prevented boats over 300 ft (90 m) from reaching the harbour, resulting in falling trade. The port facilities were migrating downstream to Avonmouth and new industrial complexes were founded there. Some of the traditional industries including copper and brass manufacture went into decline, but
1024-495: A concerted propaganda assault against Robert Walpole 's Whig ministry and the financial revolution it stabilised. Although Pope was a keen participant in the stock and money markets, he never missed a chance to satirise the personal, social and political effects of the new scheme of things. From The Rape of the Lock onwards, these satirical themes appear constantly in his work. In 1731, Pope published his "Epistle to Burlington ", on
1152-402: A continuance of Pope's tradition – William Wordsworth found Pope's style too decadent to represent the human condition. George Gilfillan in an 1856 study called Pope's talent "a rose peering into the summer air, fine, rather than powerful". Pope's reputation revived in the 20th century. His work was full of references to the people and places of his time, which aided people's understanding of
1280-687: A developed area between the Bristol city boundary and the M4, M5 and M32 motorways (now in South Gloucestershire) was so named as part of a 1987 plan prepared by the Northavon District Council of Avon county. The West of England Combined Authority was created on 9 February 2017. Covering Bristol and the rest of the old Avon county with the exception of North Somerset, the new combined authority has responsibility for regional planning, roads, and local transport, and to
1408-509: A lesser extent, education and business investment. The authority is led by the Mayor of the West of England , Dan Norris . Bristol's boundaries can be defined in several ways, including those of the city itself, the developed area, or Greater Bristol . The city council boundary is the narrowest definition of the city itself. However, it unusually includes a large, roughly rectangular section of
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#17327719045071536-755: A loss of funding and the lease was surrendered to the owners, the Congregational Federation . Since 1981 the Hotwells Pantomime group has performed in Hope Chapel every year. The cast and crew are all local and give their time to raise money for local charities and have a great time too. The following suburbs are in the same urban area, but lie in South Gloucestershire or North Somerset : Bristol Bristol ( / ˈ b r ɪ s t əl / )
1664-593: A scathing pamphlet called Shakespeare Restored , which catalogued the errors in Pope's work and suggested several revisions to the text. This enraged Pope, wherefore Theobald became the main target of Pope's Dunciad . The second edition of Pope's Shakespeare appeared in 1728. Apart from some minor revisions to the preface, it seems that Pope had little to do with it. Most later 18th-century editors of Shakespeare dismissed Pope's creatively motivated approach to textual criticism. Pope's preface continued to be highly rated. It
1792-487: A shipbuilding and manufacturing centre. By the 14th century, Bristol, York and Norwich were England's largest medieval towns after London. One-third to one-half of the population died in the Black Death of 1348–49, which checked population growth, and its population remained between 10,000 and 12,000 for most of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the 15th century, Bristol was the second most important port in
1920-495: A small estate at Popeswood , in Binfield , Berkshire , close to the royal Windsor Forest . This was due to strong anti-Catholic sentiment and a statute preventing " Papists " from living within 10 miles (16 km) of London or Westminster. Pope would later describe the countryside around the house in his poem Windsor Forest . Pope's formal education ended at this time, and from then on, he mostly educated himself by reading
2048-613: A student of Dr Samuel Ward in the late 1620s, reported that 'beer brewed thereof is wholesome against the spleen; and Dr. Samuel Ward, afflicted with that malady, and living in Sidney College , was prescribed the constant drinking thereof, though it was costly to bring it through the Severn and narrow seas to Lynn , and thence by the river to Cambridge .' In 1650 Dr Venner recommended Hotwells water for those 'who have hot livers, feeble brains, and red pimply faces' and after 1680
2176-493: A translation of the Iliad . The work would be available by subscription , with one volume appearing every year over six years. Pope secured a revolutionary deal with the publisher Bernard Lintot, which earned him 200 guineas (£210) a volume, a vast sum at the time. His Iliad translation appeared between 1715 and 1720. It was acclaimed by Samuel Johnson as "a performance which no age or nation could hope to equal". Conversely,
2304-456: A villa at Twickenham , where he created his now-famous grotto and gardens. The serendipitous discovery of a spring during the excavation of the subterranean retreat enabled it to be filled with the relaxing sound of trickling water, which would quietly echo around the chambers. Pope was said to have remarked, "Were it to have nymphs as well – it would be complete in everything." Although the house and gardens have long since been demolished, much of
2432-438: A wholly original poem that reviews his own literary career and includes famous portraits of Lord Hervey (" Sporus "), Thomas Hay, 9th Earl of Kinnoull ("Balbus") and Addison ("Atticus"). In 1738 came "The Universal Prayer". Among the younger poets whose work Pope admired was Joseph Thurston . After 1738, Pope himself wrote little. He toyed with the idea of composing a patriotic epic in blank verse called Brutus , but only
2560-475: Is 106 mi (171 km) west of London, 77 mi (124 km) south-southwest of Birmingham and 26 mi (42 km) east of the Welsh capital Cardiff . Areas adjoining the city fall within a loosely defined area known as Greater Bristol . Bath is located 11 mi (18 km) south east of the city centre, Weston-super-Mare is 18 mi (29 km) to the south west and the Welsh city of Newport
2688-503: Is 19 mi (31 km) to the north west. The climate is oceanic ( Köppen : Cfb) , milder than most places in England and United Kingdom. Located in southern England, Bristol is one of the warmest cities in the UK with a mean annual temperature of approximately 10.5 °C (50.9 °F). It is among the sunniest, with 1,541–1,885 hours of sunshine per year. Although the city
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#17327719045072816-649: Is a city , unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England , the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon , it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. The county is in the West of England combined authority area, which includes the Greater Bristol area ( eleventh most populous urban area in
2944-645: Is built on the creative media, electronics and aerospace industries; the city-centre docks have been redeveloped as cultural and heritage centres. There are a variety of artistic and sporting organisations and venues including the Royal West of England Academy , the Arnolfini , Ashton Gate and the Memorial Stadium . The city has two universities; the University of Bristol and the University of
3072-509: Is different from what it is anywhere else.' Later customers of the water included Admiral Horatio Nelson , whose correspondence includes references to his purchase of Bristol water in 1798. Known for his abstemious habits, it was said 'He never exceeded four glasses of wine after dinner, and seldom drank three; and even those were diluted with either common or Bristol water.' The Jacobs Well Theatre , built in 1729, provided entertainment for visitors and Bristolians, however Hotwells never attained
3200-529: Is false. He had been gay [happy], but left that way of life upon his acquaintance with Mrs. B." In May 1709, Pope's Pastorals was published in the sixth part of bookseller Jacob Tonson 's Poetical Miscellanies . This earned Pope instant fame and was followed by An Essay on Criticism , published in May 1711, which was equally well received. Around 1711, Pope made friends with Tory writers Jonathan Swift , Thomas Parnell and John Arbuthnot , who together formed
3328-692: Is partially sheltered by the Mendip Hills, it is exposed to the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel . Rain is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, with autumn and winter the wetter seasons. The Atlantic Ocean influences Bristol's weather, keeping its average temperature above freezing throughout the year, but winter frosts are frequent and snow occasionally falls from early November to late April. Summers are warm and drier, with variable sunshine, rain and clouds, and spring weather
3456-459: Is represented by 5 constituencies, East , North East , North West , South , and Central . The city has a tradition of political activism. Edmund Burke , MP for the Bristol constituency for six years beginning in 1774, insisted that he was a Member of Parliament first and a representative of his constituents' interests second. Women's-rights advocate Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence (1867–1954)
3584-411: Is served by two schools, Hotwells Primary School and St George C of E Primary School. The latter has been under threat of closure by Bristol City Council , but is now to be re-evaluated in 2013. The nearest secondary schools are Ashton Park School , Cotham School and Bristol Cathedral Choir School . Towards the end of the 19th century, the western end of the district was the location of a terminus of
3712-400: Is split between the city wards of Clifton, and Hotwells and Harbourside . Hotwells is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Bristol city centre lying just north of the Floating Harbour and the River Avon . To the north and some 300 feet (91 m) higher is the suburb of Clifton. Much of the built up area was originally salt marsh known as Rownham Mead. Nearly half of Rownham Mead
3840-519: Is tempered, however, by a genuine, almost voyeuristic interest in the "beau-monde" (fashionable world) of 18th-century society. The revised, extended version of the poem focuses more clearly on its true subject: the onset of acquisitive individualism and a society of conspicuous consumers. In the poem, purchased artefacts displace human agency and "trivial things" come to dominate. Though The Dunciad first appeared anonymously in Dublin , its authorship
3968-1035: Is unsettled. The weather stations nearest Bristol for which long-term climate data are available are Long Ashton (about 5 mi (8 km) south west of the city centre) and Bristol Weather Station, in the city centre. Data collection at these locations ended in 2002 and 2001, respectively, and following the closure of Filton Airfield, Almondsbury is the nearest weather station to the city. Temperatures at Long Ashton from 1959 to 2002 ranged from 33.5 °C (92.3 °F) in July 1976 to −14.4 °C (6.1 °F) in January 1982. Monthly high temperatures since 2002 at Filton exceeding those recorded at Long Ashton include 25.7 °C (78.3 °F) in April 2003, 34.5 °C (94.1 °F) in July 2006 and 26.8 °C (80.2 °F) in October 2011. The lowest recent temperature at Filton
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4096-596: Is unusual among major British towns and cities in its larger black than Asian population. These statistics apply to the Bristol Unitary Authority area, excluding areas of the urban area (2006 estimated population 587,400) in South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) and North Somerset—such as Kingswood, Mangotsfield, Filton and Warmley. 56.2% of the 209,995 Bristol residents who are employed commute to work using either
4224-921: The Ashton Court Estate , South Bristol crematorium and cemetery, High Ridge common and Whitchurch, with a further area around Frenchay Farm. The belt extends outside the city boundaries into surrounding counties and districts, for several miles in places, to afford a protection from urban sprawl to surrounding villages and towns. According to the 2011 census , 84% of the population was White (77.9% White British , 0.9% White Irish , 0.1% Gypsy or Irish Travellers and 5.1% Other White ); 3.6% mixed-race (1.7% white-and-black Caribbean, 0.4% white-and-black African, 0.8% white and Asian and 0.7% other mixed); 5.5% Asian (1.6% Pakistani , 1.5% Indian , 0.9% Chinese , 0.5% Bangladeshi , and 1% other Asian); 6% Black (2.8% African, 1.6% Caribbean , 1.6% Other Black ), 0.3% Arab and 0.6% with other heritage. Bristol
4352-583: The Church of Holy Trinity , designed by Cockrell, and Albemarle Row, a Georgian terrace. Also listed is the Pump House , formerly the power plant for Bristol Harbour 's bridges and other machinery, now a public house . Hotwells features in two 18th century novels. The Expedition of Humphry Clinker , by Tobias Smollett has scenes set at the spa. Fanny Burney 's Evelina is partly set in Hotwells, as
4480-728: The European Green Capital Award in 2015. The name derives from the Old English Brycgstow , meaning "assembly place by the bridge" or simply "site of the bridge", presumably in reference to a crossing over the Avon. The final l is an unetymological addition that first appears in the 12th century. An older form of the name survives as the surname Bristow , which is derived from the city. Archaeological finds, including flint tools believed to be between 300,000 and 126,000 years old made with
4608-534: The IRA , in 1974 and again in 1978 . The 20th-century relocation of the docks to Avonmouth Docks and Royal Portbury Dock , 7 mi (11 km) downstream from the city centre, has allowed the redevelopment of the old dock area (the Floating Harbour). Although the docks' existence was once in jeopardy (since the area was seen as a derelict industrial site), the inaugural 1996 International Festival of
4736-453: The Kennet and Avon Canal , which had fully opened in 1810 as the main route for the transport of goods between Bristol and London. Competition from Liverpool (beginning around 1760), disruptions of maritime commerce due to war with France (1793) and the abolition of the slave trade (1807) contributed to Bristol's failure to keep pace with the newer manufacturing centres of Northern England and
4864-586: The Levallois technique , indicate the presence of Neanderthals in the Shirehampton and St Annes areas of Bristol during the Middle Palaeolithic . Iron Age hill forts near the city are at Leigh Woods and Clifton Down , on the side of the Avon Gorge , and on Kings Weston Hill near Henbury . A Roman settlement, Abona, existed at what is now Sea Mills (connected to Bath by
4992-558: The West Midlands . The tidal Avon Gorge, which had secured the port during the Middle Ages, had become a liability. An 1804–09 plan to improve the city's port with a floating harbour designed by William Jessop was a costly error, requiring high harbour fees. During the 19th century, Samuel Plimsoll , known as "the sailor's friend", campaigned to make the seas safer; shocked by overloaded vessels, he successfully fought for
5120-453: The established Church of England , banning Catholics from teaching, attending a university, voting, and holding public office on penalty of perpetual imprisonment. Pope was taught to read by his aunt and attended Twyford School circa 1698. He also attended two Roman Catholic schools in London. Such schools, though still illegal, were tolerated in some areas. In 1700, his family moved to
5248-687: The "Great Chain of Being", at a middle stage between the angels and the beasts of the world. Accomplish this and we potentially could lead happy and virtuous lives. The poem is an affirmative statement of faith: life seems chaotic and confusing to man in the centre of it, but according to Pope it is truly divinely ordered. In Pope's world, God exists and is what he centres the Universe around as an ordered structure. The limited intelligence of man can only take in tiny portions of this order and experience only partial truths, hence man must rely on hope, which then leads to faith. Man must be aware of his existence in
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5376-620: The 1640's, during the English Civil War , the city was occupied by Royalists , who built the Royal Fort House on the site of an earlier Parliamentarian stronghold. Fishermen from Bristol, who had fished the Grand Banks of Newfoundland since the 16th century, began settling Newfoundland permanently in larger numbers during the 17th century, establishing colonies at Bristol's Hope and Cuper's Cove . Growth of
5504-631: The 16th century, Bristol merchants concentrated on developing trade with Spain and its American colonies. This included the smuggling of prohibited goods, such as food and guns, to Iberia during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) . Bristol's illicit trade grew enormously after 1558, becoming integral to its economy. The original Diocese of Bristol was founded in 1542, when the former Abbey of St. Augustine (founded by Robert Fitzharding four hundred years earlier) became Bristol Cathedral . Bristol also gained city status that year. In
5632-510: The 18th century Hotwells Water was extensively bottled and exported. Daniel Defoe noted in 1724 that there were over 15 glass-houses in Bristol, 'which are more than in London...and vast numbers of bottles are used for sending the water of the Hotwell not only over England but all over the world." Alexander Pope was another admirer, claiming in 1739 that 'I am satisfied that the water at the Well
5760-561: The 20th century much of the housing in Hotwells was in a poor state of repair, but since the 1970s there has been refurbishment of the older Georgian properties and new housing built on derelict dockside wharves and along the Hotwell Road. Grenville Chapel, a Methodist church, was opened in 1839 in an Early English Style building. For many years it was used as a garage and is now housing association managed flats. Hotwells has several of Bristol's Grade II* listed buildings , including
5888-492: The 3rd highest level of educational inequality in England and Wales. Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature , Pope is best known for his satirical and discursive poetry including The Rape of
6016-694: The Avon Gorge to provide better access from the city to Avonmouth Docks , in the process removing all signs of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier's station. Since the 1960s, the western end of Hotwells has been dominated by a flyover complex, which enables traffic from the city centre and the A4 Portway to cross the river and harbour entrance locks to access the south west of the city. Public transport links include buses serving Weston-super-Mare , Clevedon and Portishead which pass through
6144-637: The Future 's 2008 Sustainable Cities Index. Local initiatives include Sustrans (creators of the National Cycle Network , founded as Cyclebag in 1977) and Resourcesaver, a non-profit business established in 1988 by Avon Friends of the Earth. In 2014 The Sunday Times named it as the best city in Britain in which to live. The city received the 2015 European Green Capital Award , becoming
6272-522: The Lock ), was twenty years older than the poet and had made many acquaintances in the London literary world. He introduced the young Pope to the ageing playwright William Wycherley and to William Walsh , a minor poet, who helped Pope revise his first major work, The Pastorals . There, he met the Blount sisters, Teresa and Martha (Patty) , in 1707. He remained close friends with Patty until his death, but his friendship with Teresa ended in 1722. From
6400-571: The Lock , The Dunciad , and An Essay on Criticism , and for his translations of Homer . Pope is often quoted in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations , some of his verses having entered common parlance (e.g. " damning with faint praise " or " to err is human; to forgive, divine "). Alexander Pope was born in London on 21 May 1688 during the year of the Glorious Revolution . His father (Alexander Pope, 1646–1717)
6528-492: The Memory of an Unfortunate Lady and the famous proto-romantic poem Eloisa to Abelard . Though Pope never married, about this time he became strongly attached to Lady M. Montagu, whom he indirectly referenced in his popular Eloisa to Abelard , and to Martha Blount, with whom his friendship continued through his life. As a satirist , Pope made his share of enemies as critics, politicians and certain other prominent figures felt
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#17327719045076656-628: The Sea held in and around the docks affirmed the area as a leisure asset of the city. From 2018, there were lively discussions about a new explicative plaque under a commemorative statue of one of the city's major benefactors in the 17th and 18th centuries. The plaque was meant to replace an original which made no reference to Edward Colston 's past with the Royal African Company and the Bristol Slave Trade . On 7 June 2020
6784-641: The United Kingdom , both electoral wards are in the Bristol Central constituency . Hotwells and Cliftonwood Community Association (HCCA), is a registered charity run by volunteers to improve the quality of life for those who live and work locally. For many years HCCA ran the Hope Centre in the listed Georgian Hope Chapel , which provided a base for community groups and offered a programme of arts events. The Hope Centre closed in 2001 following
6912-524: The United Kingdom) and nearby places such as Bath . Iron Age hillforts and Roman villas were built near the confluence of the rivers Frome and Avon. Bristol received a royal charter in 1155 and was historically divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset until 1373 when it became a county corporate . From the 13th to the 18th century, Bristol was among the top three English cities, after London, in tax receipts. A major port , Bristol
7040-592: The Universe and what he brings to it in terms of riches, power and fame. Pope proclaims that man's duty is to strive to be good, regardless of other situations. FATHER of all! in every age, In every clime adored, By saint, by savage, and by sage, Jehovah , Jove , or Lord! If I am right, thy grace impart Still in the right to stay; If I am wrong, O, teach my heart To find that better way! Save me alike from foolish pride, Or impious discontent, At aught thy wisdom has denied, Or aught thy goodness lent. Teach me to feel another’s woe, To hide
7168-459: The Universe: no matter how imperfect, complex, inscrutable and disturbing the Universe may be, it functions in a rational fashion according to natural laws, so that the Universe as a whole is a perfect work of God, though to humans it appears to be evil and imperfect in many ways. Pope ascribes this to our limited mindset and intellectual capacity. He argues that humans must accept their position in
7296-550: The West of England (UWE Bristol). It is connected to the world by Bristol Airport ; to the rest of the Great Britain via Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway mainline rail stations; by road by both the south-west to West Midlands M5 and the London to South Wales M4 (which connect to the city centre by the Portway and M32 ). Bristol was named the best city in Britain in which to live in 2014 and 2017; it won
7424-512: The abdication of James II . One of these banned them from living within ten miles of London, another from attending public school or university. So except for a few spurious Catholic schools , Pope was largely self-educated . He was taught to read by his aunt and became a book lover, reading in French, Italian, Latin and Greek and discovering Homer at the age of six. In 1700, when only twelve years of age, he wrote his poem Ode on Solitude . As
7552-425: The age of 12 he suffered numerous health problems, including Pott disease , a form of tuberculosis that affects the spine, which deformed his body and stunted his growth, leaving him with a severe hunchback. His tuberculosis infection caused other health problems including respiratory difficulties, high fevers, inflamed eyes and abdominal pain. He grew to a height of only 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 metres). Pope
7680-437: The age of 23, he had written An Essay on Criticism , released in 1711. A kind of poetic manifesto in the vein of Horace 's Ars Poetica , it met with enthusiastic attention and won Pope a wider circle of prominent friends, notably Joseph Addison and Richard Steele , who had recently begun to collaborate on the influential The Spectator . The critic John Dennis , having found an ironic and veiled portrait of himself,
7808-576: The area. There is a ferry service to the city centre and Temple Meads railway station . For elections to Bristol City Council , Hotwells is divided between electoral wards. Areas to the north of Hotwells Road are in Clifton ward; areas south of Hotwells road, and some buildings fronting directly onto the north side of the road, are in Hotwells and Harbourside . For elections to the Parliament of
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#17327719045077936-416: The arrest, trial and subsequent acquittal of a local slaver captain named Kimber. The city was associated with Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel , who designed the Great Western Railway between Bristol and London Paddington , two pioneering Bristol-built oceangoing steamships ( SS Great Britain and SS Great Western ), and the Clifton Suspension Bridge . The new railway replaced
8064-560: The castle. A third bomb-damaged church nearby, St Nicholas was restored and after a period as a museum has now re-opened as a church. It houses a 1756 William Hogarth triptych painted for the high altar of St Mary Redcliffe . The church also has statues of King Edward I (moved from Arno's Court Triumphal Arch ) and King Edward III (taken from Lawfords' Gate in the city walls when they were demolished about 1760), and 13th-century statues of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (builder of Bristol Castle ) and Geoffrey de Montbray (who built
8192-419: The charge was untrue, it did much damage to Pope. There has been some speculation on a feud between Pope and Thomas Hearne , due in part to the character of Wormius in The Dunciad , who is seemingly based on Hearne. An Essay on Man is a philosophical poem in heroic couplets published between 1732 and 1734. Pope meant it as the centrepiece of a proposed system of ethics to be put forth in poetic form. It
8320-423: The city and trade came with the rise of England's American colonies in the 17th century. Bristol's location on the west side of Great Britain gave its ships an advantage in sailing to and from the New World, and the city's merchants made the most of it, with the city becoming one of the two leading outports in all of England by the middle of the 18th century. Bristol was the slave capital of England: In 1755, it had
8448-417: The city's walls) from Bristol's Newgate . The rebuilding of Bristol city centre was characterised by 1960s and 1970s skyscrapers , mid-century modern architecture and road building . Beginning in the 1980s some main roads were closed , the Georgian-era Queen Square and Portland Square were restored, the Broadmead shopping area regenerated, and one of the city centre's tallest mid-century towers
8576-876: The city, and its surrounding land has been protected from development as The Downs and Leigh Woods. The Avon estuary and the gorge form the county boundary with North Somerset , and the river flows into the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth . A smaller gorge, cut by the Hazel Brook which flows into the River Trym , crosses the Blaise Castle estate in northern Bristol. Bristol is sometimes described, by its inhabitants, as being built on seven hills, like Rome. From 18th-century guidebooks, these 7 hills were known as simply Bristol (the Old Town), Castle Hill, College Green, Kingsdown, St Michaels Hill, Brandon Hill and Redcliffe Hill. Other local hills include Red Lion Hill, Barton Hill , Lawrence Hill , Black Boy Hill, Constitution Hill, Staple Hill , Windmill Hill , Malborough Hill, Nine Tree Hill, Talbot, Brook Hill and Granby Hill. Bristol
8704-412: The city-council boundary, such as Kingswood , Mangotsfield , Stoke Gifford , Winterbourne , Almondsbury , Easton in Gordano , Whitchurch village, Filton , Patchway and Bradley Stoke , but excludes undeveloped areas within that boundary. Bristol lies within a limestone area running from the Mendip Hills in the south to the Cotswolds in the northeast. The rivers Avon and Frome cut through
8832-415: The classical scholar Richard Bentley wrote: "It is a pretty poem, Mr. Pope, but you must not call it Homer." Encouraged by the success of the Iliad , Bernard Lintot published Pope's five-volume translation of Homer's Odyssey in 1725–1726. For this Pope collaborated with William Broome and Elijah Fenton : Broome translated eight books (2, 6, 8, 11, 12, 16, 18, 23), Fenton four (1, 4, 19, 20) and Pope
8960-399: The council. Between 2012 and 2024, the council was led by a directly elected mayor, the Mayor of Bristol . The post was abolished following a 2022 referendum, in which voters chose to replace it with a council committee system. The lord mayor of Bristol is a figurehead elected each May by the city council. The lord mayor is Councillor Andrew Varney. In the House of Commons , Bristol
9088-401: The country, trading with Ireland, Iceland and Gascony . It was the starting point for many voyages, including Robert Sturmy 's (1457–58) unsuccessful attempt to break the Italian monopoly of Eastern Mediterranean trade. New exploration voyages were launched by Venetian John Cabot , who in 1497 made landfall in North America. A 1499 voyage, led by merchant William Weston of Bristol, was
9216-599: The early 1900s by the Royal Edward Dock. Another new dock, the Royal Portbury Dock , opened across the river from Avonmouth during the 1970s. As air travel grew in the first half of the century, aircraft manufacturers built factories. The unsuccessful Bristol International Exhibition was held on Ashton Meadows in the Bower Ashton area in 1914. After the premature closure of the exhibition
9344-595: The enslaved captives were transported across the Atlantic to the Americas in the Middle Passage under brutal conditions. Plantation goods such as sugar, tobacco, rum, rice, cotton and a few slaves (sold to the aristocracy as house servants) returned across the Atlantic to England. Some household slaves were baptised in the hope this would lead them to be freed. The Somersett Case of 1772 clarified that slavery
9472-616: The eponymous heroine visits Bristol during its spa-town years. The 2001 United Kingdom census recorded Hotwells as two Super Output Area Lower Layers , 034A, the western part of Hotwells and 034C in the east. The latter layer included parts of Cliftonwood . The figures recorded in the two areas were broadly similar with 034A recording a population of 1,485, with about 58% being described as economically active, 17% students and 7% retired. 42% of homes were owner occupied. 50% of residents had university degrees or equivalent. 50% described themselves as Christian and 44% as having no religion. In 034C
9600-465: The fault I see; That mercy I to others show, That mercy show to me. Mean though I am, not wholly so, Since quickened by thy breath; O, lead me wheresoe’er I go, Through this day’s life or death! To thee, whose temple is all space, Whose altar, earth, sea, skies! One chorus let all Being raise! All Nature’s incense rise! Pope, "The Universal Prayer" The Imitations of Horace that followed (1733–1738) were written in
9728-494: The figures were a population of 1,522 with about 66% being described as economically active, 12% students and 6.5% retired; 65% of homes were owner occupied; 55% of residents had university degrees or equivalent; 50% described themselves as Christian and 46% as having no religion; and 1,438 persons in 034A were described as white, with 28 of mixed race, 19 Asian, 17 black and 18 Chinese. In 034C 1,374 were described as white, 33 of mixed race, 24 Asian, 24 black and 29 Chinese. The area
9856-521: The first UK city to receive this award. In 2019 Bristol City Council voted in favour of banning all privately owned diesel cars from the city centre. Since then, the plans have been revised in favour of a clean air zone whereby older and more polluting vehicles will be charged to drive through the city centre. The Clean Air Zone came into effect in November 2022. The city has green belt mainly along its southern fringes, taking in small areas within
9984-574: The first expedition commanded by an Englishman to North America . During the first decade of the 16th century Bristol's merchants undertook a series of exploration voyages to North America and even founded a commercial organisation, 'The Company Adventurers to the New Found Land', to assist their endeavours. However, they seem to have lost interest in North America after 1509, having incurred great expenses and made little profit. During
10112-470: The form of little bubbles, as if the whole had been in a ferment." He says the water tasted "particularly pleasant and soft" was "quite inodorous" and "lukewarm" only, rising from the pump at a constant 76 °F. In 1692 the Society of Merchant Venturers leased the springs and a pump room was built. The pump room of 1696 was demolished and replaced by Hotwells House in 1816 which was itself demolished when
10240-679: The fortunes of the Tories , and Pope's friend Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke , fled to France. This was added to by the Impeachment of the former Tory Chief Minister Lord Oxford . Pope lived in his parents' house in Mawson Row, Chiswick , between 1716 and 1719; the red-brick building is now the Mawson Arms , commemorating him with a blue plaque . The money made from his translation of Homer allowed Pope to move in 1719 to
10368-403: The grotto survives beneath Radnor House Independent Co-educational School. The grotto has been restored and will open to the public for 30 weekends a year from 2023 under the auspices of Pope's Grotto Preservation Trust. An Essay on Criticism was first published anonymously on 15 May 1711. Pope began writing the poem early in his career and took about three years to finish it. At the time
10496-461: The history of the Irish slave trade from Bristol, which he provocatively claimed continued into the reign of Henry VII . Hannah More , originally from Bristol, and a good friend of both Wilberforce and Clarkson, published "Slavery, A Poem" in 1788, just as Wilberforce began his parliamentary campaign. His major speech on 2 April 1792 likewise described the Bristol slave trade specifically, and led to
10624-635: The hostility of its victims and their sympathizers, who pursued him implacably from then on with a few damaging truths and a host of slanders and lies." According to his half-sister Magdalen Rackett, some of Pope's targets were so enraged by The Dunciad that they threatened him physically. "My brother does not seem to know what fear is," she told Joseph Spence , explaining that Pope loved to walk alone, so went accompanied by his Great Dane Bounce, and for some time carried pistols in his pocket. This first Dunciad , along with John Gay 's The Beggar's Opera and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels , joined in
10752-539: The import and processing of tobacco flourished with the expansion of the W.D. & H.O. Wills business. Supported by new industry and growing commerce, Bristol's population (66,000 in 1801), quintupled during the 19th century, resulting in the creation of new suburbs such as Clifton and Cotham . These provide architectural examples from the Georgian to the Regency style, with many fine terraces and villas facing
10880-643: The largest number of slave traders in the country with 237, as against London's 147. It was a major supplier of slaves to South Carolina before 1750. The 18th century saw an expansion of Bristol's population (45,000 in 1750) and its role in the Atlantic trade in Africans taken for slavery to the Americas. Bristol and later Liverpool became centres of the Triangular Trade . Manufactured goods were shipped to West Africa and exchanged for Africans;
11008-431: The limestone to the underlying clay, creating Bristol's characteristically hilly landscape. The Avon flows from Bath in the east, through flood plains and areas which were marshes before the city's growth. To the west the Avon cuts through the limestone to form the Avon Gorge, formed largely by glacial meltwater after the last ice age . The gorge, which helped protect Bristol Harbour, has been quarried for stone to build
11136-420: The moral qualities and virtues inherent in an ideal critic, whom Pope claims is also the ideal man. Pope's most famous poem is The Rape of the Lock , first published in 1712, with a revised version in 1714. A mock-epic , it satirises a high-society quarrel between Arabella Fermor (the "Belinda" of the poem) and Lord Petre , who had snipped a lock of hair from her head without permission. The satirical style
11264-457: The neglected spring.' A new pump room was built in 1822, but was demolished in 1867 to allow for widening of the River Avon. A new pump was set up in 1877 and continued in use till 1913. However, the pump appears not to have tapped into the original spring. When it became clear that the pump's waters were polluted, the pipe was sealed off. There were trial borings in 1913 and 1925 to relocate the original spring, but these were unsuccessful. In 1799,
11392-441: The neighbouring village of Kingswood , often in the open air. Wesley published a pamphlet on slavery, titled Thoughts Upon Slavery, in 1774 and the Society of Friends began lobbying against slavery in Bristol in 1783. The city's scions remained nonetheless strongly anti-abolitionist. Thomas Clarkson came to Bristol to study the slave trade and gained access to the Society of Merchant Venturers records. One of his contacts
11520-487: The opening lines survive. His major work in those years was to revise and expand his masterpiece, The Dunciad . Book Four appeared in 1742 and a full revision of the whole poem the following year. Here Pope replaced the "hero" Lewis Theobald with the Poet Laureate , Colley Cibber as "king of dunces". However, the real focus of the revised poem is Walpole and his works. By now Pope's health, which had never been good,
11648-656: The physician Thomas Beddoes opened the Pneumatic Institution in Dowry Square. Free treatment was advertised for those suffering from consumption, asthma, dropsy, "obstinate Venereal Complaints" and scrophula. The laboratory superintendent was Humphry Davy , who investigated nitrous oxide , also known as laughing gas, using equipment designed by James Watt . Under Davy's supervision laughing gas parties were held, attended by guests such as Robert Southey , Thomas Wedgwood and Samuel Taylor Coleridge . In
11776-414: The poem was published, its heroic couplet style was quite a new poetic form and Pope's work an ambitious attempt to identify and refine his own positions as a poet and critic. It was said to be a response to an ongoing debate on the question of whether poetry should be natural, or written according to predetermined artificial rules inherited from the classical past. The "essay" begins with a discussion of
11904-412: The popular Augustan form of an "imitation" of a classical poet, not so much a translation of his works as an updating with contemporary references. Pope used the model of Horace to satirise life under George II , especially what he saw as the widespread corruption tainting the country under Walpole's influence and the poor quality of the court's artistic taste. Pope added as an introduction to Imitations
12032-513: The remaining twelve. Broome provided the annotations. Pope tried to conceal the extent of the collaboration, but the secret leaked out. It did some damage to Pope's reputation for a time, but not to his profits. Leslie Stephen considered Pope's portion of the Odyssey inferior to his version of the Iliad , given that Pope had put more effort into the earlier work – to which, in any case, his style
12160-525: The river was widened in 1867. In the Georgian era , Hotwells was developed as a spa including the building of Dowry Square in an attempt to compete with Bath. Many visitors came, including the diarist John Evelyn and the travel writer Celia Fiennes , who hunted for Bristol Diamonds in the gorge. The Somerset historian John Collinson came to Hotwells in 1793 seeking recovery from an unspecified lingering illness and died there on 27 August 1793. During
12288-492: The road, and at right angles to it. In the early 19th century, the romantic medieval gothic style appeared, partially as a reaction against the symmetry of Palladianism , and can be seen in buildings such as the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery , the Royal West of England Academy , and The Victoria Rooms . Riots broke out in 1793 and 1831; the first over the renewal of tolls on Bristol Bridge, and
12416-489: The rocks of the Avon Gorge underneath the Clifton Suspension Bridge. The springs were documented in 1480 by William Worcester , the 15th century chronicler and antiquary . He described the waters as being milky and as warm as those at Bath . By c.1630 the water of Hotwells was becoming known for its medical properties, both in its original form and when used to brew beer. Thomas Fuller , who had been
12544-550: The same status as Bath. In the 1790s 'the celebrated hot mineral spring, denominated the Bristol Hotwell' still featured in tourist guides. However, the spa went into decline during the Napoleonic Wars and by 1816 a local physician said of Hotwells that 'It has the silence of the grave, to which it seems the inlet. Not a carriage to be seen once an hour, and scarcely more frequently does a solitary invalid approach
12672-457: The satirical Scriblerus Club . Its aim was to satirise ignorance and pedantry through the fictional scholar Martinus Scriblerus. He also made friends with Whig writers Joseph Addison and Richard Steele . In March 1713, Windsor Forest was published to great acclaim. During Pope's friendship with Joseph Addison, he contributed to Addison's play Cato , as well as writing for The Guardian and The Spectator . Around this time, he began
12800-513: The second against the rejection of the second Reform Bill by the House of Lords . The population by 1841 had reached 140,158. The Diocese of Bristol had undergone several boundary changes by 1897 when it was "reconstituted" into the configuration which has lasted into the 21st century. From a population of about 330,000 in 1901, Bristol grew steadily during the 20th century, peaking at 428,089 in 1971. Its Avonmouth docklands were enlarged during
12928-517: The site was used, until 1919, as barracks for the Gloucestershire Regiment during World War I . Bristol was heavily damaged by Luftwaffe raids during World War II ; about 1,300 people living or working in the city were killed and nearly 100,000 buildings were damaged, at least 3,000 beyond repair. The original central shopping area, near the bridge and castle, is now a park containing two bombed churches and fragments of
13056-403: The socioeconomic circumstances of the city's Afro-Caribbean residents. Local support of fair trade was recognised in 2005, when Bristol became a fairtrade zone . Bristol is both a city and a county, since King Edward III granted it a county charter in 1373. The county was expanded in 1835 to include suburbs such as Clifton , and it was named a county borough in 1889 when that designation
13184-460: The standard rules that govern poetry, by which a critic passes judgement. Pope comments on the classical authors who dealt with such standards and the authority he believed should be accredited to them. He discusses the laws to which a critic should adhere while analysing poetry, pointing out the important function critics perform in aiding poets with their works, as opposed to simply attacking them. The final section of An Essay on Criticism discusses
13312-418: The sting of his sharp-witted satires. Some were so virulent that Pope even carried pistols while walking his dog. In 1738 and thenceforth, Pope composed relatively little. He began having ideas for a patriotic epic in blank verse titled Brutus , but mainly revised and expanded his Dunciad . Book Four appeared in 1742; and a complete revision of the whole in the year that followed. At this time Lewis Theobald
13440-594: The subject of architecture, the first of four poems later grouped as the Moral Essays (1731–1735). The epistle ridicules the bad taste of the aristocrat "Timon". For example, the following are verses 99 and 100 of the Epistle: At Timon's Villa let us paſs a day, Where all cry out, "What ſums are thrown away!" Pope's foes claimed he was attacking the Duke of Chandos and his estate, Cannons . Though
13568-622: The town had one of the strongest castles in southern England . Bristol was the place of exile for Diarmait Mac Murchada , the Irish king of Leinster , after being overthrown. The Bristol merchants subsequently played a prominent role in funding Richard Strongbow de Clare and the Norman invasion of Ireland . The port developed in the 11th century around the confluence of the Rivers Frome and Avon , adjacent to Bristol Bridge just outside
13696-432: The town walls. By the 12th century, there was an important Jewish community in Bristol which survived through to the late 13th century when all Jews were expelled from England. The stone bridge built in 1247 was replaced by the current bridge during the 1760s. The town incorporated neighbouring suburbs and became a county in 1373, the first town in England to be given this status. During this period, Bristol became
13824-406: The water became well known as cure for diabetes. The physician Alexander Sutherland, published a summary account of the qualities of Hotwells water in 1773, typically known by that time as "Bristol Water". Sutherland says of it that "BRISTOL-WATER received in a glass, appears, to the naked eye, colourless, pellucid, and manifestly impregnated with Air, sparkling and bounding through its substance, in
13952-540: The western Severn Estuary ending at (but not including) the islands of Flat Holm (in Cardiff , Wales) and Steep Holm . This "seaward extension" can be traced back to the original boundary of the County of Bristol laid out in the charter granted to the city by Edward III in 1373. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has defined a Bristol Urban Area , which includes developed areas adjoining Bristol but outside
14080-840: The work of translating the Iliad , which was a painstaking process – publication began in 1715 and did not end until 1720. In 1714 the political situation worsened with the death of Queen Anne and the disputed succession between the Hanoverians and the Jacobites , leading to the Jacobite rising of 1715 . Though Pope, as a Catholic, might have been expected to have supported the Jacobites because of his religious and political affiliations, according to Maynard Mack , "where Pope himself stood on these matters can probably never be confidently known". These events led to an immediate downturn in
14208-572: The works of classical writers such as the satirists Horace and Juvenal , the epic poets Homer and Virgil , as well as English authors such as Geoffrey Chaucer , William Shakespeare and John Dryden . He studied many languages, reading works by French, Italian, Latin, and Greek poets. After five years of study, Pope came into contact with figures from London literary society such as William Congreve , Samuel Garth and William Trumbull . At Binfield he made many important friends. One of them, John Caryll (the future dedicatee of The Rape of
14336-564: Was a piece that he sought to make into a larger work, but he did not live to complete it. It attempts to "vindicate the ways of God to Man", a variation on Milton's attempt in Paradise Lost to "justify the ways of God to Man" (1.26). It challenges as prideful an anthropocentric worldview. The poem is not solely Christian, however. It assumes that man has fallen and must seek his own salvation. Consisting of four epistles addressed to Lord Bolingbroke , it presents an idea of Pope's view of
14464-532: Was a starting place for early voyages of exploration to the New World. At the height of the Bristol slave trade , from 1700 to 1807, more than 2,000 slave ships carried an estimated 500,000 people from Africa to slavery in the Americas. The Port of Bristol has since moved from Bristol Harbour in the city centre to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Dock . The city's modern economy
14592-456: Was a successful linen merchant in the Strand , London . His mother, Edith (née Turner, 1643–1733), was the daughter of William Turner, Esquire, of York . Both parents were Catholics . His mother's sister, Christiana, was the wife of famous miniature painter Samuel Cooper . Pope's education was affected by the recently enacted Test Acts , a series of English penal laws that upheld the status of
14720-477: Was already removed from society as a Catholic, and his poor health alienated him further. Although he never married, he had many female friends to whom he wrote witty letters, including Lady Mary Wortley Montagu . It has been alleged that his lifelong friend Martha Blount was his lover. His friend William Cheselden said, according to Joseph Spence , "I could give a more particular account of Mr. Pope's health than perhaps any man. Cibber 's slander (of carnosity)
14848-440: Was better suited. In this period, Pope was employed by the publisher Jacob Tonson to produce an opulent new edition of Shakespeare. When it appeared in 1725, it silently regularised Shakespeare's metre and rewrote his verse in several places. Pope also removed about 1,560 lines of Shakespeare's material, arguing that some appealed to him more than others. In 1726, the lawyer, poet and pantomime-deviser Lewis Theobald published
14976-576: Was born in Bristol, and the left-winger Tony Benn served as MP for Bristol South East in 1950–1960 and again from 1963 to 1983. In 1963 the Bristol Bus Boycott , following the Bristol Omnibus Company 's refusal to hire black drivers and conductors, drove the passage of the UK's 1965 Race Relations Act . The 1980 St. Pauls riot protested against racism and police harassment and showed mounting dissatisfaction with
15104-523: Was demolished. Bristol's road infrastructure changed dramatically during the 1960s and 1970s with the development of the M4 and M5 motorways , which meet at the Almondsbury Interchange just north of the city and link Bristol with London (M4 eastbound), Swansea (M4 westbound across the Severn Estuary ), Exeter (M5 southbound) and Birmingham (M5 northbound). Bristol was bombed twice by
15232-553: Was excavated in the early 19th century to construct the Cumberland Basin , part of the entrance lock system to the city docks. The west of the area marks the beginning of the Portway road which connects Bristol to Avonmouth , passing under the Clifton Suspension Bridge which lies about 0.25 miles (0.40 km) north of Hotwells. Hotwells takes its name from the hot springs which bubble up through
15360-635: Was failing. When told by his physician, on the morning of his death, that he was better, Pope replied: "Here am I, dying of a hundred good symptoms." He died at his villa surrounded by friends on 30 May 1744, about eleven o'clock at night. On the previous day, 29 May 1744, Pope had called for a priest and received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was buried in the nave of St Mary's Church, Twickenham . Pope had been fascinated by Homer since childhood. In 1713, he announced plans to publish
15488-472: Was illegal in England. At the height of the Bristol slave trade from 1700 to 1807, more than 2,000 slave ships carried a conservatively estimated 500,000 people from Africa to slavery in the Americas. In 1739, John Wesley founded the first Methodist chapel, the New Room , in Bristol. Wesley, along with his brother Charles Wesley and George Whitefield , preached to large congregations in Bristol and
15616-633: Was introduced. On 1 April 1974, Bristol became a local government district of the county of Avon . On 1 April 1996, Avon was abolished and Bristol became a unitary authority . The former Avon area, called Greater Bristol by the Government Office of the South West (now abolished) and others, refers to the city and the three neighbouring local authorities— Bath and North East Somerset , North Somerset and South Gloucestershire previously in Avon. The North Fringe of Bristol ,
15744-421: Was not in doubt. Pope pilloried a host of other "hacks", "scribblers" and "dunces" in addition to Theobald, and Maynard Mack has accordingly called its publication "in many ways the greatest act of folly in Pope's life". Though a masterpiece due to having become "one of the most challenging and distinctive works in the history of English poetry", writes Mack, "it bore bitter fruit. It brought the poet in his own time
15872-399: Was outraged by what he saw as the impudence of a younger author. Dennis hated Pope for the rest of his life, and save for a temporary reconciliation, dedicated his efforts to insulting him in print, to which Pope retaliated in kind, making Dennis the butt of much satire. A folio containing a collection of his poems appeared in 1717, along with two new ones about the passion of love: Verses to
16000-738: Was replaced with the Poet Laureate Colley Cibber as "king of dunces", but his real target remained the Whig politician Robert Walpole . By the mid-18th century, new fashions in poetry emerged. A decade after Pope's death, Joseph Warton claimed that Pope's style was not the most excellent form of the art. The Romantic movement that rose to prominence in early 19th-century England was more ambivalent about his work. Though Lord Byron identified Pope as one of his chief influences – believing his own scathing satire of contemporary English literature English Bards and Scotch Reviewers to be
16128-400: Was suggested that Shakespeare's texts were thoroughly contaminated by actors' interpolations and they would influence editors for most of the 18th century. Pope's poetic career testifies to an indomitable spirit despite disadvantages of health and circumstance. The poet and his family were Catholics and so fell subject to the prohibitive Test Acts , which hampered their co-religionists after
16256-460: Was the owner of the Seven Stars public house , who boarded sailors Clarkson sought to meet. Through these sailors he was able to observe how slaver captains and first mates "plied and stupefied seamen with drink" to sign them up. Other informants included ship surgeons and seamen seeking redress. When William Wilberforce began his parliamentary abolition campaign on 12 May 1788, he recalled
16384-519: Was −10.1 °C (13.8 °F) in December 2010. Although large cities in general experience an urban heat island effect, with warmer temperatures than their surrounding rural areas, this phenomenon is minimal in Bristol. Bristol was ranked as Britain's most sustainable city (based on its environmental performance, quality of life, future-proofing and approaches to climate change, recycling and biodiversity), topping environmental charity Forum for
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