Bristol Neighbourhood Guide: Eastville & Stapleton
Posted on: 11 May 2023We’re back with our guide to Bristol’s diverse and vibrant neighbourhoods – with some cherrypicked spots to showcase just how much is going on in each corner of the city.
This week, we’re taking a look at Eastville and Stapleton, a historic neighbourhood that sits beside Easton and boasts a glut of green, open spaces that have hosted some of Bristol’s biggest festivals as well as an enviable multi-cultural food scene.
Read on for our guide to all the nightlife, food, shopping, cultural and historical highlights of Eastville and Stapleton…
Nightlife:
Basking under the imposing silhouette of IKEA (perhaps the area’s most immediately recognisable landmark) is The Eastville Club. Literally located at the rear of the shopping centre, the club has been serving the local community for over 100 years in several iterations. With a diverse clientele, the club features darts, skittles, pool and snooker and regularly hosts karaoke, comedy nights and other events – you can even book it for private events!
A real Eastville landmark, The Queen’s Head certainly deserves an inclusion with its historic, instantly recognisable exterior and welcoming atmosphere. The pub’s cheaply priced beverages and two pool tables (play free on Wednesday nights) have made it a real favourite with locals and there is a large beer garden as well as regular live music events.
In addition to these traditional watering holes, Eastville Park has played host to some of Bristol’s biggest festivals. Before moving to Ashton Court, the city’s largest music festival, Love Saves The Day, was based in the park and – over the years – has welcomed the likes of Lily Allen, Chase & Status, Fatboy Slim, Little Simz, Stormzy, Dizzee Rascal, Kano and many other artists.
Still held at Eastville Park, Tokyo World is one of the country’s leading urban and dance festivals. Held over two days, massive artists including Craig David, De La Soul, Aitch, Action Bronson, Sister Sledge, Mike Skinner, Wilkinson, Roots Manuva and Ghostface Killah have previously played with Pendulum and Rudimental leading this year’s proceedings
Food:
We’re kicking off our food rundown this week with Elm Tree Farm Shop. Tucked away on a 37-acre site in Stapleton, the farm is a real community enterprise, and the shop is no different, with a wide range of fresh fruit and vegetables as well as meat cuts available throughout the seasons. All stock grown at Elm Tree Farm is produced using organic methods and grown within 200 metres of the shop.
If it’s mouth-watering Jamaican cuisine you’re looking for then Caribbean Fix on Fishponds Road, Eastville is the place for you. Prepared fresh each day with authentic Caribbean spices, this is soul food made using only the finest ingredients around. Not only can one pop in and pick up food to enjoy in Eastville Park on a sunny day, but there is also the option to get jerk chicken, goat curry and more delivered piping hot to your door – you will not regret it!
On the topic of Eastville Park, if you’re walking through the park between 8.30 AM and 4 PM, then why not stop off at the Kind Regards Coffee Co. Based in a glorious vintage Ford Transit, visitors can expect speciality coffees, teas, toasties and sweet treats all served with a friendly smile. For those based in South Bristol, you can find Kind Regards at The Tobacco Factory Market, North Street on alternating Sundays – they are also available to book for private events.
Culture:
First up on our culture roundup is an Eastville staple, the much-loved Wai Yee Hong Chinese Supermarket. A mainstay of Bristol’s food scene, the family-run shop opened over 40 years ago as a small corner shop before moving to Station Road where it remained for over 20 years. Moving into their current purpose-built home back in 2007, Wai Yee Hong promote East Asian products and culture, spanning a diverse selection of nationalities including Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Korean, Indonesian, Filipino and Japanese. Each year, they also host the South West’s largest Lunar New Year celebrations with a day of dance and musical performances, dancing and a buzzing street food market.
Next up is a spot that has already been featured heavily in this guide. A vast Victorian park, Eastville Park boasts a spacious and diverse green landscape. The Park features fishing and ornamental lakes (one of which has even been used for a production of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream), multiple tennis courts, three football pitches, a bowling green, a playground, and on-site toilets
The beautiful woodlands and wildflower meadows, which are spread over 70 acres, are home to an abundance of wildlife the park has become a favoured spot for many local birdwatchers and wildlife photographers. Kingfishers, grey herons, woodpeckers, badgers, and otters are just a few of the park's residents and The River Frome also runs through the sprawling greenery.
Located in Royate Hill Nature Reserve is Bristol Moon Temple. In July 2020, the community arts collective Brick Project were invited to transform a derelict building into a vibrant art installation with local artists invited to express themselves on the dilapidated walls, adding a drip of colour onto the decaying building.
History:
Eastville Park was bought by Bristol City Council from prominent local landowner Sir Greville Smyth in 1889 and transformed into a park to provide a sanctuary from the squalor and overcrowding enveloping the city. Many of the park’s striking trees date back to this time and the grand swimming pool (pictured below), an original feature, has been unused since it was hit by a bomb during the Bristol Blitz in the Second World War.
Greenbank Cemetery was originally established in 1871 and has expanded greatly since. The cemetery is home to multiple war memorials with one of the most significant commemorating the Bristolian civilians killed during the Blitz of 1941. Indeed, two of the most famous incumbents are war heroes, namely Victoria Cross recipient Frederick George Room and US Navy Peacetime Congressional Medal of Honor, Antonio Williams.
Situated just outside of the cemetery grounds is The Rosemary Green Memorial, recognising the Eastville Workhouse burial ground. Unveiled in 2015, this signifies the site where over 4,000 men, women and children who died in the workhouse were buried in unmarked graves. This memorial stands in recognition of all who lived and died in the workhouse.
Eastville is also significant as the ex-home of Bristol Rovers Football Club. Constructed in 1897, Eastville Stadium hosted greyhound racing and, briefly in 1986, the ill-fated Bristol Bombers American Football Team. Rovers played at the ground up until 1986 when they were forced to leave due to financial difficulties – it is now the site of the previously mentioned IKEA superstore.
The location of the stadium is also the reason for the famous nickname for Rovers Fans, ‘The Gas’ or ‘Gasheads’. It began as a derogatory nickname on the part of Bristol City fans due to the constant smell of gas around the stadium thanks to its proximity to Eastville Gas Works!
So, there it is, 365Bristol’s guide to Eastville & Stapleton. Please note that we have had to be loose in terms of neighbourhood borders so as to fit everything that’s amazing about Bristol into these guides. It’s also impossible to sum up everything that’s great about our city in such a short article, but please get in contact with us here and let us know your favourite neighbourhood highlights.
Images: Patrick Bate
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Stan is a born and bred Bristolian, recently graduated from studying English Literature in Sheffield. His passions are music and literature and he spends the majority of his time in venues all over the city, immersing himself in Bristol’s alternative music scene. A lifelong Bristol City fan, Stan’s Saturdays are spent watching his team both home and away.
