Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Neil Maggs

Listen: Bristol Unpacked – from Wigan to LA, via Eastville, with Bristol Northern Soul Club

Neil chats to Bristol Northern Soul Club’s Levanna McLean and Eve Arslett about the scene’s resurgence – and how the Eastville Club has become an unlikely place of pilgrimage

Alex Turner George Colwey Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media
Alex Turner, George Colwey and Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media

Music

Blazing the fire: Sound system culture through the generations

Sound system culture arrived with the Windrush Generation and took root in St Paul's and Easton, where speaker stacks became monuments to belonging, resistance, and Black identity.

Adam Quarshie
Adam Quarshie

People Just Do Something

Two individuals smiling at the camera, standing close together. One is wearing a 'Bristol Cable' branded T-shirt and the other a plain green T-shirt. The text 'PEOPLE JUST DO SOMETHING' is displayed across the front. In the background is a grainy image of high-rise buildings.

Listen: People Just Do Something Live – nightlife campaigner Annie McGann urges you to get out more

Tireless advocate for Bristol’s nightlife Annie McGann on formative experiences, the thrill of discovering your tribe in the small hours, and finding activism in the council’s planning portal.

George Colwey Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins Priyanka Raval
George Colwey, Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins and Priyanka Raval

People's History

19th century photograph of Bristol Harbour, with large boats on the River Frome in the foreground.

Blockade runners: The grim history of the Bristol ships that helped US slave states

The American Civil War ended 160 years ago with the victory of the Union and the abolition of slavery. But many Bristolians supported the losing side and indirectly profited from enslaved labour.

Eugene Byrne
Eugene Byrne

Callouts

Callouts: Join our first Newspaper Club

As part of the 2025 Indie News Week’s “No News is Bad News” initiative, The Bristol Cable is opening its newsroom doors exclusively to its...

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Siddhartha Kurapati
Siddhartha Kurapati

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Neil Maggs

Listen: Bristol Unpacked – high sheriff Kalpna Woolf on connecting people through food and battling for boardroom diversity

Neil chats to Kalpna Woolf on her journey from west London migrant kid to BBC head of production, cookbook author and boardroom diversity advocate – as well asking what exactly a high sheriff gets up to.

Alex Turner George Colwey Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media
Alex Turner, George Colwey and Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media

Photography

A football fan wearing a flat cap and holding a pint glass cheers, surrounded by other fans.

Photo essay: Down on the Farm

Non-league football club Manor Farm FC provides an antidote to the corporate experience of the top tier.

Francis Peppett

Investigations

Illustration of rows of orange and green houses plus cards from the game Monopoly.

Bristol council paying huge sums of money to rent homes from banned landlord

Back in 2022, Bristol City Council obtained a five-year court order barring landlord Naomi Knapp from renting out her homes. Now, it’s spending hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money to use her properties as emergency accommodation.

Alex Turner Daisy Steinhardt
Alex Turner and Daisy Steinhardt

People Just Do Something

Two individuals smiling at the camera, standing close together. One is wearing a 'Bristol Cable' branded T-shirt and the other a plain green T-shirt. The text 'PEOPLE JUST DO SOMETHING' is displayed across the front. In the background is a grainy image of high-rise buildings.

Listen: People Just Do Something Live, with ex-Tribune editor Taj Ali on class, left politics and finding hope in the heart of Luton

Former Tribune editor Taj Ali chats to Priyanka and Isaac on the disconnect between working-class voters and the left, joining the dots between people and communities, and lessons from his hometown.

George Colwey Priyanka Raval Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins
George Colwey, Priyanka Raval and Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins

Area in Focus

Two women standing in a park next to a fence on a sunny day, with three children riding bikes in the background.

‘We’ve got a fighting chance’: How Hillfields is reviving a vital community hub

After a year of hard graft, Hillfields is on the brink of reopening its community centre — and locals can’t wait. At the heart of it all is Sarah, a grassroots leader with a big vision for what shared space can be.

Priyanka Raval Begonya Miranda
Priyanka Raval and Begonya Miranda

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Neil Maggs

Listen: Bristol Unpacked – council leader Tony Dyer on a year of Green power in Bristol

Neil asks Bristol City Council leader Tony Dyer about his year at the helm in the city and the challenges of being in power, how the Green Party can widen its appeal, and the threat from Reform.

Alex Turner George Colwey Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media
Alex Turner, George Colwey and Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media

Opinion

East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood: Good intentions aren’t enough

Real climate justice isn’t about green mobility zones or bike lanes—it’s about dignity, equity, and solidarity.

Sara Melasecchi
Sara Melasecchi
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