Llancaiach Fawr Manor & Forest of Dean.

A small group of us set off for a Manor House in Wales with a name that tested our Welsh pronunciation skills! We arrived in South Wales in the sunshine, having left Bristol in a grey haze, at Llancaiach Fawr Manor where we embarked upon a tour of the Manor House. We were greeted and shown around by the "servants" of the owner, Colonel Prichard and again had to tune our ears to the Welsh accent. We learnt about the traditional customs the everyday life of ordinary people over 350 years ago. We got to see where they ate, slept and socialised. After the tour we traveled on some windy roads back into England to the Forest of Dean. Dean Heritage Centre was our lunch time destination, with a brief look at the museum of the forest and a game of frisbee whilst Elvyn and Hannah prepared lunch on the BBQ. After a late and relaxed lunch, we took at leisurely walk around Soudley ponds enjoying the scenery and sunshine of English countryside before returning to Bristol.
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Exam Lunches

For 3 weeks, lunch was served daily at BISC to those with, or without exams. A range of meats and cheeses were on offer, along with salad, pasta, bread, cake, crisps and fruit, and of course BISC’s special homemade salad dressing. Each day a range of people would come to lunch at BISC and enjoy relaxing from exams, revision and the stress that it brings. There were many willing volunteers who gave freely of their time and efforts to help prepare the lunch each day, to whom we are very grateful.
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Slave Trade Walk

With the 200th anniversary of the act in parliament to abolish slavery inEngland, BISC benefited from Elvyn's extensive knowledge for a guided touraround the city. From the Cathedral to St. Mary Redcliffe, the waterfrontand docks area, the Old Vic theatre to the Colston Hall, Elvyn skilfullyguided us with all the relevant facts and figures, names and dates.The tourrevealed some of Bristol's shameful past, built on money from the slavetrade. It also revealed those people who were keen to challenge the tradeand eventually help to bring about abolition.

One cannot underestimate the massive profits which were made from the tradewhich grew up from the times of American colonisation. Much of the wealth ofthe city and the grand buildings are a result of the money from the trade.From the grand warehouses along the docks, housing sugar and tobacco to thewealthy town houses of rich slave-owners in Clifton and other parts of the city.

Our tour took in the Georgian House, where Pinney, a slave owner withplantations in the West Indies had lived. We heard about Hannah Moore, awealthy heiress and highly intelligent and articulate head mistress, who hadset up a school where "Fopp" now stands. She was also a persuasive andpersistent abolitionist. Stopping by the Cathedral we were reminded of howmany of the apparent great and good of the city, with plaques in theirhonour, were also involved in this terrible trade.

We learnt how slaves were carried across the seas in appalling conditions.The journeys lasted 40-50 days and many did not survive along the way. Menand women were split up. Those who spoke the same language were split up.Sickness and disease were rife. And various methods of torture were used forthose who attempted not to conform.

It is important to remember that even to this day slavery continues in adifferent form and in different countries throughout the world. Whilst weare grateful for those who fought to ensure slavery in this form becameillegal 200 years ago, there is still a lot more to be done. Buying FairTrade products is a step in the right direction to ensure that workers todayreceive a fair price for their labour.

Click here for a few photos. Don't miss Elvyn's next walk on 18th June.

Russian Evening

The BISC Russian Evening, run in conjunction with the University of Bristol’s Slavsoc, was a night to remember with music, food, dancing and much laughter!

Between 40 and 50 people arrived and crammed themselves into the BISC centre, and we kicked off the evening watching a beautiful slow Russian dance from Ilona and Sasha. We then sampled some traditional Russian food including salads, black bread, cabbage & mushroom filled rolls (pirozhki) and meatballs. The Slavsoc girls and Katya’s grandmother had done a fantastic job, and also managed to keep the kitchen very calm and clean!

After this, a choir, which Dorinda from the Russian Department had been practicing with, accompanied by Luke on the accordion, sang us some lovely folk songs, and got us all joining in on a chorus. A rather impromptu rendition of the famous “Kalinka” followed, and some of us got up and danced to this – it just goes to show that you don’t need any vodka to have Russian fun!

More drinks, pancakes, biscuits and gingerbread were then the order of the evening, and the jokes and chat continued until people drifted off home to rest their voices.

Don’t miss the Hispanic Fiesta next Wednesday night – book in advance on the BISC website!

Click here for photos from Russian Evening.

Cambridge Trip

It was a very early start when we set off for Cambridge on the 12th May. But some of us dozed on the coach while others tested our knowledge of the university town on the BISC quiz. When we arrived it was time to try our hand at punting – there are plenty of pictures for you to look at and see how it’s done (or not how it’s done, as the case maybe; some of us had more success than others…It’s harder than it looks!). As you may be able to tell, the heavens opened at one point and a heavy shower drenched us to the skin! Lots of umbrellas shot up, but the unfortunate people who were punting at the time definitely got it worst!

We then had some free time for lunch and people wandered round the market, or found a café to dry off in.

Our guided walking tours after that were very informative, the guides were good, and it gave us a good chance to get an overview of the town and learn a lot about the history. We heard about the ghost that lived in The Eagle pub, how Henry VIII was involved in building the colleges and enjoyed a tour around Trinity College, which was very impressive.

In our free time after the tours, some climbed up Great St Mary’s Church tower to get a good view of the town, some continued to walk around enjoying the beautiful architecture and interesting markets, while some had a look at one of the many famous museums in Cambridge.

Although it did keep raining throughout the day, at least it also kept stopping, so we had some chances to partially dry out at least! Our day in Cambridge was good fun, and though it was a long journey, it was worth it!

Click here to view photos from a wet Saturday BISC trip. Please do click on 'comments' below and leave us your feedback.

Brunel Trail

A small and select group of students from such diverse places as Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Japan met at 9:30am on Saturday by the Clifton Suspension Bridge for a guided walk led by the famous Elvyn Griffiths with Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the theme. We discovered how Brunel's father was a clever French engineer, and many other interesting facts throughout the day. To start with, we had a good look at the Bridge and walked across it to the exhibition centre and back. The Bridge was designed by Brunel for a competition, which he won. Therefore his design was built, although unfortunately not finished until after his death. Then we walked down through the Clifton and Hotwells areas of Bristol, learning much more about each other as we chatted, and about Bristol's history from Elvyn. Having arrived at the SS. Great Britain, we took a nice lunchbreak, then proceeded on board the ship which has been turned into an award-winning museum. She was the world's first ocean-going, propeller-driven iron ship, and we could see what life was like for the passengers, as well as how the whole ship worked. I think we will certainly be going back to the Museum, as there was such a lot to take in!
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International Feast and Games night

About three people had booked in advance for the International Feast and Games night, so we were rather surprised, but very pleased, when more than twenty arrived bearing home-made food from around the world (as well as some cakes from Sainsbury’s…!). There was a lovely atmosphere as we all sat round the table passing Japanese rice, English cottage pie, Austrian chocolate cake and Belarussian cheese balls up and down to each other. After we’d all eaten as much as we could, Becky led us in a game involving drawing maps of Europe and the world from memory. We now know that Japanese geography lessons must be the best in the world, as Haruna and Yukari won this competition hands down! After this, we played Hannah’s “name game” where we had to describe famous people to each other without saying their names, then using only three words, then using no words at all. Our highlight from this game had to be Josh’s impression of Nelson Mandela in prison (hiding behind a stack of chairs), closely followed by Naved’s pirate impression, representing actor Jonny Depp! Maybe he will demonstrate for you one day…

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