Pubs and Potatoes, Giants and Geniuses
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A Story Walk Through Irish Bristol
Written and led by Clare Reddaway
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Walk, listen, discover, enjoy!
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'A story stroll to feed your soul' [walker, 2023]
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'A fascinating and very entertaining mix of history and storytelling. It was brilliant, I loved it. The time flew by.' (walker, 2023)
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Over 120 walkers have now joined Clare for a story-walk exploring the hidden histories of Irish life in Bristol. Walkers hear snippets of history and slices of fiction as they see the city with fresh new eyes. Clare's stories are inspired by the streets and buildings at the heart of Bristol and bring to life the people who once lived there.
Clare runs regular story-walks in Clifton. Audience members said of her Clifton walks: ‘Superb – a tour de force!’ ‘An absolute joy!' 'You have a little bit of magic in you’
The walk is now available for private bookings. It lasts approx 1½ hours. Suitable for 12 years and over. It begins (and ends) outside St Nicholas' Market, Corn Street, Bristol.
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This story-walk was part of the West of England Irish Culture Fest, a programme of events celebrating the Irish diaspora, with dancing, music and sports, culminating in the St Patrick's Day parade through the centre of Bristol. Clare led the story walk for the 2023 and 2024 festivals.
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Clare Reddaway would like to thank Dr Erika Hanna, Department of History, Bristol University, for her help and support in the creation of this walk. All mistakes are of course Clare's own.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
Walker
Emotive, animated storytelling which really brought the history to life
Walker
We loved everything about it.
Walker
The stories were cleverly chosen to develop the different roles and situations of the immigrant population
Walker
I liked the combination of historical fact and historical fiction (I was in tears at the first story) - the lovely gentle humour - the way Clare made me imagine that I was seeing the city as it was at the time when it was only the roads and modern buildings in front of me. I thought I knew Bristol well but I learnt a lot more.
Walker
I love your stories. They're very engaging and informative. I liked your breadth of knowledge.
Walker
I loved Clare’s powerful, captivating stories which vividly brought to life the hardships and resilience of those who lived in Bristol years ago. Still thinking about those stories, and I’ll definitely be looking out for any future story-walks led by Clare.
Walker
Very powerful stories, and I learnt a lot - thank you for bringing the history alive in such an entertaining and absorbing way.
Walker
A fascinating and very entertaining mix of history and storytelling. It was brilliant, I loved it. The time flew by. It was also interesting to hear other walkers stories of Irish migration and family history.
Walker
I liked that the right amount of research into the history of the Irish in Bristol had been done to inform each story. A good spread of ideas about the characters and places to fictionalise - and a good mix of parts of Bristol. Clare's a natural performer.
Contact Us
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Please use this form to get in touch.
To submit a story please cut and paste it into the ‘Write a message/Submit a story’ box.
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If your story is full of very fancy formatting that might get lost in transit, send us a message and we will respond with an email address. Then you can ping us your piece as a .doc/.docx attachment.
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Please note – if you submit a story it will ALWAYS be acknowledged. If you do not get an acknowledgment within 3 days something might have gone wrong. Please email clare.reddaway@btinternet.com to double check. Thank you!
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If you’d like to be added to our mailing list please fill in your name and email address, and specify whether you’d like to hear about Events, Submission Opportunities or Workshops – or all three!
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