People / My Bristol Favourites
My Bristol Favourites: Dan Ross
Dan Ross is the co-founder, along with his wife Emily, of the award-winning bookshop Storysmith on North Street.
Since opening in 2018, the shop has twice been named Independent Bookshop of the Year for the South West at the British Book Awards. As well as hosting events with authors like Colson Whitehead, Neneh Cherry, Percival Everett and Maggie O’Farrell, Dan and his fellow booksellers were part of the team behind Translated By, Bristol, the city’s first festival of translation and translated literature.
These are Dan’s top-five Bristol favourites:
Ashton Hill
Ashton Hill offers 148 acres of mixed woodland including a magnificent stand of Californian Redwoods – photo: Pedal Progression
“Before he started going to school this year, my son and I would come to Ashton Hill almost every Friday morning to walk the dog and eat a donut at Honey & Ginger in Failand. We’d see the same dogs every time and wave to the horses clopping past. One loop of the main track is the perfect duration for a willing toddler, and the rocky path through the giant redwoods has been the scene of many an imaginary adventure.”
Aerospace Bristol
“The smell of decades-old aeroplane furnishings, the oddly bleak playground, the incongruous sight of my incredibly modern-seeming son poking his head around the door of a Bristol Britannia fuselage: all these things have coalesced in my psyche and made Aerospace Bristol a weirdly special place to us (and your ticket is valid for 12 months of return visits, a true bargain). We’re not really into the combat/missile-y stuff, we’re all about the chintzy commercial flight interiors.”
Friendly Records
Crate digging at Friendly Records on North Street – photo: Ursula Billington
“The question I ask my son most frequently when we’re walking on North Street is, ‘do you want to go in the record shop?’ He always says no, which I understand completely, because I guess he doesn’t want to stand around while I flip through hundreds of cardboard squares looking for Goblin soundtracks I can’t really afford at this point in the month. It had been quite a while since I’d had a chance to pop in for a proper look but, finding myself at a rare loose end last week, I did manage to catch up with Tom (business owners on North Street do like to compare notes) and pick up some very reasonably priced Bill Evans. The selection at Friendly Records is a precisely calibrated mix of familiarity and discovery, and I will always find something unexpectedly delightful.”
Rowberrow Warren
Rowberrow Warren is part of the Mendip Woodlands – photo: Ride Mendips
“Rowberrow Warren is one of our dog Roy’s favourite walks: seemingly endless Endor-ian forests, adders if you’re lucky in the summer, farmhouses with sheep in the garden, and a pub at the end (the Swan). On days when Storysmith is closed and our son is at school, this is one of the places Emily and I can guarantee the dog a proper leg-stretch. We take a flask and some cake, it’s pretty civilised.”
Showcase Avonmeads
Showcase Avonmeads holds a special place in many cinephiles’ hearts, with a petition started to save its ‘iconic’ neon foyer – photo: Martin Booth
“I would like the world to know that I am a regular and grateful patron of Bristol’s very fine independent cinemas, especially the Cube and Watershed, but my corrupted heart tells me that in this case I have to acknowledge Showcase Avonmeads. A totally bizarre place, a neon-lit time capsule nuzzling the bend in the overpass, I have never seen more than 15 people there at one time. My idea of a perfect night out is to select a movie with an obscenely large budget, wait until the very last week it’s playing in cinemas, then head down to Showcase Avonmeads and watch it – as late as possible, hopefully alone – while eating a Boost.”
Main photo: Storysmith
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