Monday 4 December 2017

Can You Change History?

It has become a bit of an annual event for us to go to a Christmas Concert each year with The Royal Marines Band. This is held at The Colston Hall in Bristol. It's a rousing start to the Christmas season with lots of familiar tunes and plenty of flag waving.


We will have to think of something else next year because The Colston Hall is to be closed for refurbishment. The main part of the hall is Grade 2 listed and is 150 years old this year. The front which used to house the foyer has quite a Byzantium style.

                                                                        Photo taken from the Internet.

A new grand foyer was added some years ago which also has restaurants and bars.

                                                                           Photo taken from the Internet.

It certainly makes for a very comfortable meeting area.


The Colston Hall has not been without it's own controversy these last few years. The hall was named after Edward Colston who had founded a school on this site. Edward Colston was a wealthy merchant and slave trader in the early 18th Century. He had profound influence in Bristol.It is thought by some that his name should be obliterated from the city. This includes two schools, a pub and several roads named after him. The slave trade was undoubtedly a terrible thing and its association with Bristol is indisputable but is it sensible to obliterate history?
The decision has been made influenced by a massive arts grant dependant on a name change. When the concert hall reopens in 2020 it will have a brand new name.

4 comments:

  1. What a very big hall for music. My wish always, is when they refurbish old buildings is to be sure to respect the old, the original vision ...

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  2. I don't really understand this latest fuss to try to rewrite the past and remove Colston's name from various buildings and schools. It was on the news again last night as one of the schools has now decided to be renamed. It doesn't change Bristol's past or remove the association with the slave trade does it.

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  3. I pressed the button too soon ... how's your mum?

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  4. I agree with Eileen, not just about Colston but about attempts worldwide to "correct" what is long in the past. We are all of us of our time, and in most cases the historical figures, some of whose opinions/behaviour may be unpalatable to us today, were not criminals according to the standards of their eras. Many of them did a great deal of good, which we still benefit from today.
    It reminds me of my uncle talking about the British in India - his view was along the lines that "we" (they) continue to benefit from the infrastructure, educational systems, utilities etc put in place by the British, but then tear down Raj-era monuments and statues in New Delhi. You don't have to honour the statues but they too are part of the nation's history and serve as a reminder of both the good and bad inherent in it. Let them stand for what they stand for. (He always said one of the best things the British left behind was their language - served the country well going forward!)
    Glad you asked?!

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