What is Bristol to you? To many, it’s colourful houses, incredible street art, hot air balloons, and indie cafes. To others, its drum ‘n’ bass raves, pints of cider in the sunshine, and protests. You know, postcard stuff. There’s bad stuff too—traffic jams, noise complaints, student flats, and the smell of cannabis everywhere—but what we’re trying to say is that to different people, Bristol can be a different place.
That’s why we took to social media (Instagram and Facebook to ask our followers what they really think about the city – and not to hold back! We asked them to ‘describe Bristol in five words or less…’ and they came up with some incredible answers. Some good, some bad, and some downright weird (I’ve also highlighted a few of my personal favourites…):
The good
“Gert mint accent and dialect!” – Professor of Bristolian
“Cary Grant was born there” – Ruth Elizabeth Vaughan
“Lush lush lush lush lush” – Stuart Smith
“Great city for the weekend” – Charlotte Edwin
“Big bold brave bootiful bristol” – Deborah LH
“Bloody gurt lush my babby” – Gail Lewis
“Still the best UK city” – Carolyn Bugnius
“Bridge, balloons, cozy, comfy” – Olena Struk
“Bristol’s cultural vibe is awesome!” – Richard Jenkinson
“Right Gurt An’ That Mukker” – Tawm Loid-Jownez
“Beautiful RomantIc SecreT Or peacefuL” – Renátó Simon
“The Finest City by far” – Robin Radford
“A wonderful place to live” – Dave Newman
“Is gert lush me babber” – James Duckworth
“Gert Lush My Baba” – Ben Griffiths
“Ace ace ace ace ace” – Lee Anthony Barber
“Best city in uk” – Russ Crow Man
“Amazing gritty survivor city” – Ange Morrissey
“Turbo island forever” – Alvaro Loureiro
The bad
“Stinks of weed, my luvver” – Rob Mutter
“Full of shitty graffiti” – Stevie Ralph-Taylor
“Great city ruined by lefties” – Ray Steele
“Traffic couldn’t get much worse” – Erika Bultitude
“Was once a great city” – Sue Whitaker Sheppard
“Worse Rugby team ever” – Filton Kingswood
“Backwards, money grabbing council” – Carlo Bonomini
“Weed, terrible traffic system” – Liz Callaghan
“Clean air zone city destruction” – Ron Nash
“Hills, rain, homelessness, graffiti, cafes” – Bailey Karen
“Reverse Robin Hood Effect” – Jacktheuncool
“Student hamster cage dystopia” – Brett Buckle
& the weird
“Churches, weird culture, cheers drive” – Leigh Fricker
“Bonkers mental house eating itself” – Tracey Edmonds
“A hungover fancy dress party” – Sophie Gifford
“I lost my virginity there” – Richard Jones
“Cider me up NOW Landlord” – Pete Abraham
“Just off the M five” – Katy Mac
“Ket on thekla bathroom floor” – _jarredsullivan:
“Not too far from Swindon” – Steve Cox
“Saxon, Motorhead, Dio, Colston Hall” – Paolo Giorgio Kriszanowski Miniussi
“Pull down the statue” – Ger McIntyre
“Oo arr Ark at ee” – Peter Maddock