This was started at 88 West Street by ironworkers and miners from the nearby South Liberty pit. A public meeting was held in the British Schoolroom,  a provisional committee was formed, and the Bedminster Industrial Co-operative Society was launched.

This edition of the St Luke’s Gazette is packed with discoveries, local legends, and vivid glimpses into the lives of the people who built St Luke’s as we know it today. Our Futures Past Heritage Project has unearthed remarkable stories from St Luke’s Road and Crescent — tales of bustling pubs, bustling families, steep steps and steeper struggles, and the colourful characters who once called our streets home.

West Street was well known for its public houses. Many of the original names reflected the Street's link to the countryside:  The 3 Horseshoes (now the 3 Lions), the Plough & Windmill, the White Horse, the Red Cow, the Lamb and the Spotted Horse (now the Albert Inn).

by the West Street Heritage Group for Futures Past Jenny Stone This is a photo of my parents, Frank and Olive James wedding. They owned Frank's Model Bakery in West Street opposite the White Horse pub. I remember the other businesses in West Street as Chapmans butchers, a chemist shop, Mrs Stevens haberdashery, Hector Tanners television shop and Brooks cleaners on the corner of Chessel Street. My Uncle Fred and Auntie Margaret owned the greengrocers shop on the corner of Osbo

This free resource contains maps, memories, photos, drawings, and voices of people who live and work here.

In the 1800s, the majority of women living in and around St Luke's Road worked from home earning a pittance in 'sweated trades'; these mainly involved sewing and seamstress work. A women's group working as part of the St Luke's Community Heritage Project 2024 have created approximately 50 pillow-cases printed and embroidered in memory of just some of these bygone women. Their work can be seen along St Luke's Road adjacent to the worker’s former homes - demolished in 1962 to m

by the St Luke's Heritage Group for Futures Past

This is a street map travelling up the Chessels in Bedminster. These are the shops I remember from the sixties. Anyone else remember them?

by the West Street Heritage Group for Futures Past This artwork is produced by children at Compass Point School, who have learned about the West Street coalmine and the lives of the miners. The exhibition focuses on the pit explosion of 13th August 1891 when 10 men were killed. In 2016, the West Street Neighbourhood Group organised a two day pop up museum in the United Reformed Church Hall. 500+ people visited, many with stories and photos of their lives on and around our hi

Today West Street and its neighbourhood are home to a large mixed community of all ages. The West Street Neighbourhood Group, established in 2009, has done much to improve the area through dedicated fundraising.

By 1911, there were over 80 shops and public houses including bakers, butchers, tailors, boot repairers, fish fryers, hairdressers and newsagents.  

The St Luke’s Steps are an iconic emblem of this part of Totterdown and over the past 160 years, hundreds of thousands have ascended or descended this historic stairway.

Churches, public houses and places of work were where most people found a social life and sports activities such as football and cricket. Bedminster Cricket Club exists to this day. 

This edition of the St Luke’s Gazette is packed with discoveries, local legends, and vivid glimpses into the lives of the people who built St Luke’s as we know it today. Our Futures Past Heritage Project has unearthed remarkable stories from St Luke’s Road and Crescent — tales of bustling pubs, bustling families, steep steps and steeper struggles, and the colourful characters who once called our streets home.

In the 1800’s three schools served the West Street Neighbourhood, although we are told there was also a school started by the miners on the site of the then gospel church on West Street, later the United Reformed church.

The Bristol Blitz during of 1940/41 was fierce.  The raid of 24 November lasted over six hours. 148 bombers dropped 1,540 tonnes of high explosives and over 12,000 incendiary bombs down on the city. Within an hour over 70 fires were raging.

by the St Luke's Heritage Group for Futures Past Struggle for equality and emancipation, Totterdown 1867 - 1918 As we have seen elsewhere in our project, the impact of the 1867 Voting Reform Act was felt in St Luke’s among the newly enfranchised male builders working along the road (see Edwin Bennett). But this act also bookends the struggle for representation for women up to the 1918 (first) Voting Reform Act. Work on the building of St Luke’s Road began in 1867, so it is ap

by the West Street Heritage Group for Futures Past Ebenezer Methodist Church (now Bedminster Methodist) British Road Amongst those pictured: Bern Naas, Bill Davies, Don Cross, Jack (“Skip”) Holder, Rev. Harry Carr, John Picken, George Brown, Ted Tremlett. Rev Harry Carr was minister at Ebenezer 1952-1958.

by the St Luke's Heritage Group for Futures Past With fingers weary and worn, With eyelids heavy and red, A woman sat in unwomanly rags, Plying her needle and thread- Stitch! stitch! stitch! In poverty, hunger, and dirt, And still with a voice of dolorous pitch She sang the "Song of the Shirt" "It is not the linen you're wearing out, but human creatures' lives" It was written in honour of a Mrs. Biddell, a widow and seamstress living in wretched conditions. In what was,

The joy spilled onto East St as generations came together to mark the special and unforgettable occasion.