News / southmead
‘May the Mead be with you’
New granite benches in Southmead celebrate the area and one of its most famous sons.
‘May the Mead be with you’ is inscribed on one of the benches on either side of Arnside Road, paying tribute to Southmead’s David Prowse, who played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy.
Other artwork by Nick Hands of The Letterpress Collective and artist Simon Tozer features memories of the area and illustrations of familiar buildings in the neighbourhood.
is needed now More than ever
A Bristol City Council spokesperson said that the refurbishment aims to make the area “a more attractive, safer and eco-friendly place to visit”.
The shopping area has been substantially updated, including new pavements, kerbs and walkways, new cycle stands and bollards, street planting beds to help natural drainage and increase biodiversity, and new car parking areas on Greystoke Avenue.
The work on Arnside Road is a first step in the ‘Southmead Masterplan’, with current proposals to sell council land to Aldi to enable them to build a larger supermarket.
This will mean relocating services that currently take place in the youth centre to newly refurbished space at the Southmead Adventure Playground, with Southmead Library also being moved first in temporary space at Southmead House before a new library is built. created for it as part of future development in the area.
All photos: Martin Booth
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