In search of Southville – the Bristol suburb some say doesn’t exist

Just south of the River Avon, a curious sign perches near Bedminster Bridge Roundabout.

A mostly unremarkable guidepost gives directions to places including Temple Meads, St Mary Redcliffe and the city centre. But it also points east with an arm which reads: “Too far.”

One of the zany relics of George Ferguson’s time as Bristol Mayor, it might also be seen as a reflection of the way many in BS3 feel about the idea of Southville.

It can be found at the top of Bedminster Parade, which according to Bristol City Council’s latest ward boundary map is in Southville, despite historically being considered part of Bedminster.

The map, some locals feel, is a symptom of years of estate agents and developers trying to market Ashton and Bedminster as the “posher” Southville to push up the values of homes.

Spending time in BS3, I saw real frustration from some residents who feel the rebranding is a “load of c**p”. I even heard a theory that the ever-expanding Southville is an entirely made-up marketing tool.

Locals told me it is part of a broader problem of “outrageous” gentrification which has seen the area’s identity “taken over” and communities driven out by rocketing house prices.

Last year, someone felt strongly enough to place a guerilla sticker on a development at the western end of North Street, covering the word “Southville” with a sign reading “Ashton Gate”.

It did fall within the council’s boundaries for the Southville ward – but these also encircle Greville Smyth Park in the west, widely recognised as being in Ashton Gate, and East Street in the east, traditionally seen as part of Bedminster.

The soul of a community is in its people, not in estate agencies or official boundaries, so I asked people in BS3 what Southville is, where it is and how they feel about it.

‘Southville wasn’t a thing then’

I catch John Worgan just before he heads into the White Hart on Bedminster Parade for a pint.

The friendly 56-year-old retiree tells me: “I was born and bred in the Parson Street area. Southville wasn’t a thing then.

“I moved to Ashton 10 years ago, and that was when I started hearing it. They have even started calling Ashton ‘Lower Clifton’.

“It’s a load of c**p. It is from estate agents, but the young people will talk about Southville, especially when they’re asked where they live.

“This is Bedminster. It always will be. If someone asks me if I’m from Southville, I will say, ‘No, I’m a Bemmie boy.’”

I ask if he has heard of “Bedmo”, a recent alternative to Bemmie. A look of bemusement follows.

John feels his area’s identity is being airbrushed by attempts to rebrand it, which he describes as “bad for the whole place”.

“When I was a kid, you’d go into the city centre for a meal out,” he adds. “Now you go to Ashton.”

Is that not a positive change?

“Not for me,” John says. “Everything in Ashton is so expensive now.”

The influx of trendy restaurants and cafes to North Street is of no benefit, John believes, if the original community cannot afford to enjoy them.

“Ashton has gone upmarket and Bedminster has gone downmarket,” he says. “When I was a kid, there was a wide range of shops in East Street, but now it’s all newsagents and charity shops.”

Despite John’s frustration over what he sees as the decline of East Street and Bedminster Parade, he hopes the gentrification of BS3 does not spread there.

“I prefer an old-fashioned pub like this, where the drinks are cheaper,” John says, looking up at the White Hart.

Southville was a recognised area when John was growing up in Bedminster, but it was a place name in far narrower usage.

The suburb dates back to shortly before the construction of Southville Road’s St Paul’s Church in 1831. At that time, Southville was just a small collection of villas in a semi-circle of streets around the church, including Alpha Road and Acramans Road.

Walking through the quiet, mostly terraced area, I pass a multicoloured row of houses on Southville Place and head onto Alpha Road, where I meet Rich, a postman who takes a few minutes to chat in the middle of his round.

‘I have got kids who would never be able to live in Ashton’

There are few better qualified to comment on how the area has changed than Rich, who has been a postie in south Bristol for 35 years.

The 53-year-old says: “Southville is a real place. I would say this [Alpha Road] is Southville, but now it’s moved into the little roads off North Street, like Lime Road.

“I think it started out as an estate agent thing, and it’s got to a point where people have seen Southville and think that’s the whole area.

“A lot of us who work for Royal Mail in south Bristol joke about it. It does wind us up a bit.

“I was born on Gore Road in Ashton. I’ve heard Ashton called Lower Clifton. I’ve heard Southville Village. If you’re not from Bristol, you’re not going to know any different.”

Over the years, Rich has seen BS3 become a popular place for people from outside Bristol to relocate and settle.

“It is part of a wider problem of gentrification,” he says. “The area’s been taken over a bit. For some of us, it has been to our advantage.

“When I was younger, I remember buying a two-up two-down in Morley Road for about £35,000. Now it’s valued at £300,000.”

Rich was able to sell the Morley Road house at a profit and move south into a bigger property in Headley Park. He considers himself to be part of a generation which has benefited from the changes to BS3.

But he adds: “I have got kids who would never be able to live in Ashton. It affects those who were not on the housing ladder when the gentrification started.

“My kids are in Bedminster Down, which is not the end of the world to be fair.

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“Southville and Ashton are nice places to live. I don’t blame people for wanting to live there.”

Closing the back doors of the Royal Mail van, he points at the homes on Alpha Road: “If you wanted to buy somewhere on this street, it would cost you about half a million.”

Rich is right. A search of the Rightmove website shows one three-bedroom semi-detached house on Alpha Road went for £585,000 in 2018, having sold for £250,000 a decade earlier.

Born almost in the shadow of Ashton Gate stadium, Rich is a lifelong Bristol City fan. After disappointing him by saying I don’t have any gossip on who will be the next manager, I carry on down Alpha Road and onto Dean Lane.

‘We are a bit more down to earth this end’

I arrive at The Tap and Barrel, a boozer whose BS3 credentials are clear from the sign above the door: “Home fans only.”

There is no Bristol City game when I walk in on an early Thursday afternoon, but there are still about a dozen people enjoying pints as Wham’s Club Tropicana blasts from the speakers.

I strike up a conversation with the bartender Ricky, who multi-tasks while serving a steady stream of Thatchers to customers.

“It’s only £2.30 a pint on weekdays til 7pm, which is why we do a good trade,” he says. “Even at weekends you can get a pint here for less than £3.”

The 46-year-old, who lives upstairs, believes the Tap and Barrel is part of the real Southville.

“I would class Southville as up to the mini-roundabout at the end of Dean Lane. If you go past that roundabout, a pint goes up from £2.30 to £3.70.

“It’s full of students, I am sorry to say it. It bumps all the prices up. We are a bit more down to earth this end.

“Southville is classed as the posh part of Bedminster, but I don’t think it really is the posh part.”

Showing me a Robins tattoo on his bicep, Ricky adds: “This is a Bristol City pub. It’s a working class pub. It’s always going to be a working class pub.”

Brislington-bred Ricky believes the success of the Tap and Barrel is in contrast to the fortunes of watering holes in East Street, and in Hartcliffe and Knowle.

He says: “All the businesses are shutting down on East Street. We are doing better on this side.

“So many pubs have closed in Knowle and Hartcliffe, and a lot of people from there like to come here because we’re not smack in the centre of Bedminster.

“It’s good for business in one way and not so good in another. Hartcliffe and Knowle don’t always mix. There’s a bit of a rivalry.

“It doesn’t necessarily spill into violence, but it does happen. That happens everywhere though, it’s not just one pub.”

I head down to the mini-roundabout which Ricky believes marks the end of “real Southville”.

‘I don’t live in posh Southville’

It leads onto North Street, where a 73-year-old woman stops to speak to me and needs little excuse to launch into a passionate speech about the countless cafes around us.

“There are too many of them, and not enough shops,” says the pensioner, who does not wish to be named.

“There are only places to eat. There are some proper shops, like we have brilliant greengrocers, but there is not enough practical stuff.

“There should be things like hardware shops, for the people who don’t want to drive out to B&Q.”

The woman, who moved to Bedminster from St Pauls 10 years ago, believes the flood of cafes is a by-product of a new, more affluent class of residents.

“What concerns me is it used to be a very working class area. Where are all the old families going to go? I saw the same thing happen in St Pauls.

“I don’t live in posh Southville. I live in a council flat in Bedminster.

“I could not afford my own home round here, only a rabbit hutch, unless I went back to work forever.”

The pensioner thinks the new homes in the area are too small and too expensive.

“Let’s build some proper homes, not little boxes,” she adds. “We need a proper sense of community. It’s outrageous.”

About a minute after parting ways, I hear a shout from behind and see the woman running back to me.

“Here’s a quote for you – it’s all about lifestyle, not living,” she calls out.

‘I love this area’

There is a noticeable shift in atmosphere as I head back from North Street onto East Street, with fewer artisan cafes and more empty units cropping up.

But a positive perspective arrives as I move onto Bedminster Parade and meet Giulio, who has worked at his dad’s Vince and Son barber shop for 20 years.

Chatting through his coronavirus visor, the 43-year-old says: “This is Bedminster, for me.

“I would say Southville starts once you walk past the Asda car park. It probably becomes Ashton when you get to Duckmoor Road.

“But I would say Southville, Ashton and Bedminster are all linked now. I don’t mind that.”

Giulio, who lives in Fishponds, welcomes the buzz around Southville. He gives the example of the Wills Yard development of nine homes on Raleigh Road, including three four-storey townhouses.

He says: “The area needed things like that. It’s going to be better in 10 years. When I first started working here, it wasn’t a horrible area, but there was not much happening.

“You can see the difference. There is still the same problem of empty shops, and the internet has changed things, but it’s good to see new developments and more faces around the area.

“It’s nice to see more things going on, like the Upfest graffiti you see around here.

“There is a bit of a problem with street-drinking, especially since lockdown, but not much trouble.

“I feel pretty safe here. I love this area.”

Bristol City Council declined to comment.