Bristol Walking Tour - From Blackbeard to Banksy

20/04/2026

20/04/2026

Alright me babbers? 🦆
She’s back at Bristol City Hall for the 5th year… and this time she’s got 12 ducklings in tow. Has anyone given mum a name? UrbanNature ExploreBristol
bristoluk

05/04/2026

Looking for the ultimate Bristol “Easter egg”? 🐣🏴‍☠️🎨

Most people walk right past this plaque on Union Street, but it’s the site of a global revolution. In Bristol, an “Easter egg” isn’t just a hidden secret on our tour—it’s something we literally invented for the world.

Before 1873, chocolate eggs were solid, grainy, and essentially a workout for your jaw. That all changed at J.S. Fry & Sons:

1847: Fry’s creates the world’s first solid chocolate bar, turning chocolate from a drink into a snack.
1873: They debut the first-ever hollow Easter egg using specialized molds—saving our teeth and changing the holiday forever.
The “Crocodile” Secret: That bumpy texture on your egg? It was a Victorian “hack” designed to hide cracks in their fragile chocolate! 🐊🍫

BlackbeardToBanksy HiddenHistory JSFry Aardman50 ThingsToDoInBristol WalkingTour BristolLife ChocolateHistory LoveBristol

Video Transcript: "In 1847,“on this site, where J.S. Fry’s was, they made the first-ever commercially available chocolate bar. They took cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and sugar, blended it into a paste, and extruded that into a chocolate bar.

By the 1870s, Easter eggs were becoming popular in Europe—in France and Germany—but they were made out of solid chocolate and they were very difficult to eat. No good.

So, 1873, they took their mixture, poured it into molds, and made the first-ever hollow chocolate Easter eggs. Here in Bristol, a Victorian tradition that still endures today.”

24/11/2025

“In the chaos of 24 November 1940, one man’s courage saved countless lives. George Daniel Jones stepped into danger when others fled—averting a catastrophe during the Bristol Blitz. His bravery deserves to be remembered.”

24/11/2025

“On this day in Bristol’s history, the streets turned to fire. The air raids of 24 November 1940 left scars still etched into our city’s stones and stories. Discover what happened that night:”

04/10/2025

Warrior monks, tax-free profits, and a 4° lean… all in Bristol’s Temple Church. 👀⛪️
— transcript below —

This is Temple Church—ruined in World War II. In 1147, King Stephen granted this land to the Knights Templar, a group of warrior monks. The Templars weren’t just fighters; they were medieval venture capitalists.

Beneath me, these stones mark where they built their distinctive round church, modelled on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

They shipped wool, cloth, and hides to France and the Holy Land using their own vessels, and because they were a religious order, they paid no taxes, tolls, or duties. Pure profit!

By 1185, Bristol had become the heart of their trading operations in the South West. They were lending money to kings, running the most sophisticated banking network in Europe, and making monarchs jealous of the wealth they’d accumulated.

King Philip IV of France had racked up a massive debt with the Templars. He didn’t want to pay it back; and so, on Friday 13 October 1307, all the Knights Templar in France were arrested.
The Bristol Templars were luckier than their French brothers; many of them never faced persecution. But their empire was well and truly over.

In 1313, their church was acquired by the Knights Hospitaller, and it would be from here, in the 14th and 15th centuries, that the church would be rebuilt and expanded into the structure we know today—complete with its 4-degree leaning tower. Bristol’s answer to the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

17/08/2025

New piece of in 15th Aug marks the death of Belgian Surriealist . Tribute by artist 888

23/07/2025

Finally made it to galleon Andalucia

19/07/2025