Bristolian presents
IF you’re stumped for Christmas present ideas for the Bristolian Who Has Everything, there are plenty of locallyflavoured gifts out there.
In 2020, it goes without saying, a lot of local firms have taken a serious hit financially because of Covid, so it’s on all of us to buy local where we can – food and drink, clothing, and of course local history things.
At the time of writing, museums in Tier 3 remain closed (M Shed and the City Museum & Gallery are unlikely to open until February), but most gift shops are open for online orders, and there are other local businesses which are trading online as always. So here are just a few suggestions:
Bristol Museums Shop
» shop.bristolmuseums.org.uk
» CALENDARS, homeware, Japanese prints and much more – the things you’d find on sale at the city-run museums. Including the perennially popular M Shed model Lodekka bus.
Bristol Books
» www.bristolbooks.org
» A BIG range of local history, nostalgia and biography titles and the beautiful Bristol scroll brooch, yours for just a tenner and looking great on any lapel.
Tangent Books
» www.tangentbooks.co.uk
» LOCAL history and fiction and more besides. Also does most of the Bristol Radical History Group publications. Lots of books on local urban culture, too.
Redcliffe Press
redcliffepress.co.uk
THE granddaddy of all local history publishers, as founded by the late John Sansom. Too many titles to list here, but there will be something for everyone.
The Bristol Books Bristol scroll; the most stylish accessory in the world, and yours for merely a tenner
Amberley Publishing
» www.amberley-books.com
» GLOUCESTERSHIRE based firm specialising in all manner of subjects from military and transport history to sport and local interest from all over the UK. A vast range of titles, but some really good Bristol books. Certainly anyone interested in local buses or 1960s/70s nostalgia should seek out the works of Stephen Dowle, for his great photos and superb prose.
The History Press
www.thehistorypress.co.uk CHELTENHAM firm which publishes on a bewildering range of subjects, with loads of Bristol titles covering everything from the Bristol Colouring Book (yes, really) to the volumes on local quirks and oddities by our own Maurice Fells. Go to the site, type Bristol into the search box and see what comes back.
Stokes Croft China
www.prscshop.co.uk RADICAL prints, clothes, tableware and more for the woke ones in your life.
Beast Clothing
beast-clothing.com
FOR they Bristolian flavoured clothes.
Bristol Tourist Information Centre shop
» www.bristolshoponline.co.uk
» BOOKS, maps, prints and much more. A really good selection of stuff.
SS Great Britain
» shop.ssgreatbritain.org
» DEAR Santa, I particularly want the SS Great Britain Haynes maintenance manual, and an Isambard Kingdom Brunel duck. Everything Brunellian and more besides.
Clifton Suspension Bridge Visitor Centre
https://tinyurl.com/yyte9uen CURRENTLY closed, but with a small online shop selling bridgethemed things.