BLM protesters cleared over toppling of Edward Colston statue

Colston Hall

Quite so Sparklefizz. Dh is a Bristolian and he was certainly taught about Bristol’s role in the slave trade. I do wonder how many in Bristol did know who Colston was before all of this? The Coleston Hall ( now renamed the Beacon) has always been called the Coalsnall in Bristolian accent or Bristle, so the association may not have been immediately obvious.

The Colston windows were removed from the Cathedral and St Mary Redcliffe Church in June 2020.

bristol-cathedral.co.uk/news/a-statement-on-colston-windows

I walked past the Colston statue many times when I was working in that part of Bristol and I never even glanced at it.

I am not a Bristolian so maybe that's the reason why..... or maybe I was just busy with my own thoughts and my own life.

Someone may smash a stained glass window dedicated to Lord
Robens

Anniebach

Can we expect the window to be smashed

I doubt it, Annie; I don't suppose many Bristolians visit the cathedral on a regular basis; unlike the many who had the Colston statue constantly in their faces.

If the cathedral authorities have any sense they could at least consider putting an explanatory plaque very near to the window.

Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned it

In mitigation, I can't say I noticed it particularly when I was last there.

There's a stained glass window in the Cathedral dedicated to Colston too!
Couldn't help it- "I love the sound of breaking glass" www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDbUEydkuR8

Can we expect the window to be smashed

Perhaps we should just reframe the removal of the Colston statue as 'progress'?

With regard to the value of the statue, To the best of my knowledge I understand that nobody even knows who owns it. Bristol council have tried for some time to establish who owns it as they have been paying to maintain it, but nobody claims ownership.

I think that when it was first proposed nearly 2 centuries after his death, there was a struggle to find the funding for it. It doesn't belong to the Council so perhaps that is why they felt they couldn't remove it.
There's a stained glass window in the Cathedral dedicated to Colston too!

trisher

Calistemon

The statue should not be destroyed as it is relevant to a period of our history.

Should we destroy Roman remains or Norman castles because they killed and subjugated the Britons?

The Victorians (sometimes held up as the most law abiding people) didn't mind destroying Norman castles. They put a railway right through the middle of the castle in Newcastle. Mind you the Normans had built it on top of the Roman fort so I'm not sure who you woud find guilty of criminal damage.

Monasteries destroyed by Henry VIII, castles destroyed during the Civil War and by Cromwell or stones just carried away to build homes.

Vandalism is not just confined to "yobs".

25Avalon

Probably. He is also against the rise in NI. The knight for the poor.

How extraordinary. He voted for it.

Do you think he's got an eye on the tory leader job?

Probably. He is also against the rise in NI. The knight for the poor.

25Avalon

Well, well! Guess who is backing the jury system? None other than the man a lot on here love to hate - Jacob Rees Mogg!

He was born when the concept was conceived wasn’t he?

1215 I think.

Anyone who reads the guardian? Good article by David Olusoga. And I do recommend it to anyone who thinks that the 4 should have been found guilty.

It helps to explain the reason behind the verdict. Although of course we will never know what deliberations decided the jury’s verdict.

Well, well! Guess who is backing the jury system? None other than the man a lot on here love to hate - Jacob Rees Mogg!

lemongrove

trisher females are sadly under represented in the statue dept.Hopefully that will no longer be the case as we go forward.
Who would you like to nominate ( for a statue?)

Sorry lemon just found this.
I'd like one of Josephine Butler.
I'm pleased the statue of Mary Anning is going ahead thanks to crowd funding.
There are lots of others i'dlike to see as well.

How far back do you wish to go and seek revenge.?

I don't believe it is about seeking revenge, it's about learning from the past, realising that some of it was really not good and trying to make small changes now that will do no harm but will acknowledge that we are trying to go forward in a better, kinder way for those living today.

A lot of housing in Bristol was built on the profits of the slave trade. To tear that down would be of detriment to the people of the city who need housing now. But to remove a statue, which is slap bang in the middle of a modern, multicultural city harms nobody and is a clear sign that we are learning and trying.

I don't think one person on here is actually saying Colston was good and his statue should stay. It's a sorry state of affairs that the in the face of huge public agreement the damned thing remained and was the subject of such conflict.

With regard to the value of the statue, To the best of my knowledge I understand that nobody even knows who owns it. Bristol council have tried for some time to establish who owns it as they have been paying to maintain it, but nobody claims ownership.

Calistemon

The statue should not be destroyed as it is relevant to a period of our history.

Should we destroy Roman remains or Norman castles because they killed and subjugated the Britons?

The Victorians (sometimes held up as the most law abiding people) didn't mind destroying Norman castles. They put a railway right through the middle of the castle in Newcastle. Mind you the Normans had built it on top of the Roman fort so I'm not sure who you woud find guilty of criminal damage.

Calistemon

Not falling out, Coastpath, just different opinions.

The offending statue has gone now and I'm surprised Marvin hadn't listened and had it removed before then.

Marvin Rees, Bristol's mayor, and his council did listen and tried to get the wording on the statue changed to reflect Colston's history as a slave trader.

They were repeatedly thwarted by the city's Merchant Venturers (a society which has a tight hold on the politics of Bristol and so reveres Colston that they retain his hair and fingernails!) and the Tory Councillor Richard Eddy, who refers to Colston as 'a hero'.

The wording was eventually so watered down as to be meaningless.

They should not have been found not guilty, it was an act of pure vandalism. History is in the past, we should learn lessons from it, we cannot destroy it.

A great read. Thanks Maizie.

Allsorts

Maisie, I believe in law and order, not mob rule therefore I must want to hang everyone because I don’t think as you do. !!! So much for democracy. No I want them to pay for what they did, to set an example, you don’t go round baying like wolves and deciding what stays and what goes, causing criminal damage. I do not think like you.
No one thinks slavery was right, it’s horrific, it was a different time, like sending children up chimneys, working in mills at 6.That was slavery too.
How far back do you wish to go and seek revenge.?
We might have to look at who goes on jury’s in future, as it wasn’t justice.

I'm afraid that you're the one that looks like a baying wolf here, Allsorts

I suggest you read the blog post I've just linked to.

'The Secret Barrister', who is a criminal lawyer, has bogged on this case. It is a long, but interesting, read.

'The Law' is never as straightforward as people would like it to be.

thesecretbarrister.com/2022/01/06/do-the-verdicts-in-the-trial-of-the-colston-4-signal-something-wrong-with-our-jury-system-10-things-you-should-know/