Bristol24/7’s 25 most read stories of 2017

1. Theresa May confronted by angry crowds in Brislington

Protesters shouted and gesticulated as May’s car pulled away from a Community Centre in Brislington, a few days before the snap General Election that gave Labour a clean sweep of four MPs in Bristol.

2. Bristol named best place to live in the UK

A car-free Portway welcomes happy cyclists

This story about the Sunday Times naming Bristol as the best place to live in the UK was the first of a flurry of accolades and positive press for our fair city throughout 2017.

3. ‘Seven reasons why I’m leaving Bristol’

Alex Rankin penned our most read and most controversial opinion piece of the year. After slagging off the city’s transport system, festivals and hippies, Alex revealed he was moving sufficiently far from it all: to Portishead.

4. Bristol: A tale of two cities

In this longform feature we examined the other side of Bristol’s popularity boom, and how constantly being voted the best place to live in the UK was leading to massive inequalities between the city’s haves and have nots.

5. Elbow to headline Downs Festival 2017

Back again despite complaints from residents and last year’s biblical rainstorm, the Downs Festival was one of the highlights of the late summer season, headlined by Elbow, Seasick Steve, De La Soul and Soul II Soul.

6. Mass brawl breaks out on Clifton Triangle

This massive fight outside Analog nightclub resulted in four stabbings. The area was catapulted to national infamy later in the year when England cricketer Ben Stokes was arrested, resulting in him missing the Ashes.

7. Developers destroy interior of historic Bristol building

After a plaster ceiling from 1620 was destroyed by developers creating student flats, it ignited huge debate about Bristol City Council’s duty to preserve old buildings, and about the city’s lucrative student property market.

8. Labour win clean sweep of Bristol seats

Bristol24/7 journalists were up stationed at the four counts during the General Election to provide live updates as soon as information came in. With the ousting of Charlotte Lesley by Darren Jones, Labour took all four seats.

9. Five Bristol restaurants among Sunday Times top-100

Awards and accolades for Bristol’s restaurants were plentiful this year, particularly for chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias. He ensured Casamia kept its Michelin star and helped sister restaurant Paco Tapas pick up another.

10. Tim Bowles becomes West of England metro mayor

While Marvin Rees was barely out of the news this year for his plans to build underground railways and cuts to public services, it was Tim Bowles who became the region’s newest mayor in early May.

11. A coffee and a cake with one of the best views in the world

Tea, coffee, cakes and ice cream started being served on the artificial grass-clad roof of the Clifton Observatory, as a new cafe opened this summer, just in time for a perfect view of hot air balloons rising at the Balloon Fiesta.

12. Bedminster bar has epic response to online criticism

The Old Butcher’s in Bedminster took a bad TripAdvisor review in their stride, naming their new cocktail The Ponce’s Dungarees after a customer took umbrage at the owner’s dress sense during a visit in July.

13. Bristol overtakes London to be named UK’s smartest city

The UK Smart Cities Index placed Bristol at the top, ahead of London, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds, thanks to a pioneering approach to innovation and digital technology.

14. CCTV issued following homophobic assault on College Green

This homophobic attack happened in a year that police focussed efforts on tackling hate crimes. In October, Avon & Somerset became only the third force in the country to recognise sexual harassment as a hate crime.

15. Body of Deakon Wilkins found in the Floating Harbour

The body of the 24-year-old from Weston-super-Mare was discovered after an extensive search. He is thought to have died accidentally after falling into the water on a night out at Motion nightclub in St Phillip’s.

16. Bristol cat cafe slammed by animal welfare charities

You & Meow on Denmark Street, Bristol’s first cat cafe, was publicly criticised by charities including the RSPCA and Cat’s Protection for welfare standards including worries that the animals would become stressed.

17. First glimpse inside world’s first treehouse on a crane

Crane 29 outside M Shed was transformed during the summer, as Canopy & Stars built a luxury treehouse and opened it up to paying guests. Many thousands applied to stay for a night, at a cost of £185.

18. Is Bristol’s restaurant bubble about to burst?

Photo: Jon Craig

While the food and drink scene continued to improve, particularly with the Cargo development, there were some high-profile casualties, including Bagel Boy. We investigated how long the growth could expect to be sustained.

19. New hire bike scheme coming to Bristol 

Despite a few false starts, involving the fleet being recalled and retrofitted with improved locks to avoid theft, bright yellow YoBikes have become commonplace around the city since their introduction in May.

20. Video of bicycle theft on College Green goes viral

Bicycles were a recurrent theme in the news this year, though few thefts were as brazen as this daylight robbery. A man cut the lock with a pair of bolt-cutters and seemed unconcerned that he was being filmed doing it.

21. Time called on two of Bristol’s most popular pubs

Back in March we lamented the closure of both The Stag & Hounds and The Kingsdown Wine Vaults, though happily both have reopened – the latter as Kingsdown Vaults, managed by the same team as The Golden Lion.

22. 17 reasons to love Bristol

As the accolades flowed in and Bristol was voted the UK’s most inspiring city, one of the most colourful in the world and Britain’s best shopping destination, in January 2017 we rounded up the titles clinched in recent years.

23. Bernie Sanders to speak at Bristol Festival of Ideas

Image: Jon Craig

He might have been beaten by Hilary Clinton in the primaries, but he was a winner in our eyes when the veteran Democrat visited Bristol in June, speaking at St George’s to a sell-out crowd.

24. Cannabis factory discovered on Whiteladies Road

200 plants worth more than £100,000 were found in the raid. Later this year, Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire hit national headlines for her calls for drugs reform following BBC programme Drugsland.

25. ‘I’m weary of trying to convince my sisters that their worth is more than their dress size’

Our opinion section was chock-full of interesting points of view and personal stories this year. This moving and heartfelt piece by dressmaker Gill Cockwell was deservedly one of our most read stories.