M Shed

Through the stories of Bristol people, this major exhibition will take you from the Bristol of the 1900s and its position in the British Empire, through the years of the ‘Great War’ and up to the present day impacts of global conflicts. It will explore the physical, social and personal changes brought about in the city on many levels.

The exhibition is part of ‘Bristol 2014’, a cultural programme marking the centenary of the start of World War 1. For more information on the programme visit www.bristol2014.com.

Presented in partnership with Bristol Cultural Development Partnership. Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England.

Suitable for

• Any age

Admission

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/moved-by-conflict/

Open for Business is the story of contemporary British manufacturing and industry told through the lens of nine internationally renowned documentary photographers.

In 2013, Jonas Bendiksen, Stuart Franklin, Bruce Gilden, David Hurn, Peter Marlow, Martin Parr, Mark Power, Chris Steele-Perkins and Alessandra Sanguinetti photographed over 100 workplaces across the UK, from one-man businesses to FTSE 100 companies.

Through eye-opening photography and film footage, Open for Business celebrates the resilience of British industry and reveals the daily struggle at a human level as businesses attempt to cut costs, streamline processes and level up to international competition. The project captures British manufacturing’s effect on regional culture and community life, and celebrates the work, activities and lives of its employees.

Bristol based photographer Martin Parr has captured the innovative industries in the city from Cameron Balloons’ 40 year history as the largest manufacture of hot air balloons in the world, to the cutting edge engineering at BAE Systems and the more painstaking meticulous work of Aardman Animations.

See a diverse collection of over 100 documentary photographs presented in this national touring exhibition.

Suitable for

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/open-for-business/

The deepest oceans, the coldest continents, the most fearsome animals – wildlife film-makers and photographers have faced it all in pursuit of the perfect shot. Explore the challenges they face and the amazing kit they use, in this exciting exhibition for the whole family.

‘Nature, Camera, Action!’ is our flagship exhibition in support of the Green Capital programme of events. It highlights Bristol as a global centre for wildlife filmmaking within the international framework of this exhibition, developed by the BBC and the National Media Museum, Bradford.

Suitable for

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/nature-camera-action/

Join a tour of M Shed’s collection stores and encounter treasures from the city’s industrial and maritime past. Tours take place every Tuesday-Saturday.

Tues ,Thur, Fri & Sat – 11.30am
Weds – 2.30pm

Book on the day. For advance bookings, call 0117 352 6600.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/behind-the-scenes-tours/

Venture on our guided walk into the once-autonomous township of Redcliffe, where you will find some of the most impressive remains of historical Bristol.

See landmarks, such as St. Mary Redcliffe church and Temple Meads railway station, to tucked-away gems, such as the Hermit’s Cave and the remains of the city’s Water Gate.

Our guides will reveal how this fascinating and often overlooked area played a vital role in establishing Bristol’s reputation as a world-class city.

The walk is at a gentle pace and suitable for participants at all levels of physical ability.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/historical-walk-redcliffe-2/

Join our expert guides as they take you on a trip into Bristol’s old docklands, pointing out its maritime heritage and supplementing the tour with a wealth of fascinating photographs and maps.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/historical-walk-floating-harbour-2/

A tour for the Deaf community, led by Jemima Buoy to find out more about the history of Bristol through objects not usually on show to the public.

Suitable for

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/behind-scenes-tour-deaf-visitors/

A day packed full of activities, workshops, speakers, music and performances to celebrate International Women’s Day.

Join a drama workshop with playback theatre group Breathing Fire
participate in a group weaving project to capture local women’s words and advice
join a puppet-making workshop
or participate in a sing-along with local voice coach Jules Olsen.

The day focuses on breaking barriers and building bridges, so there will be speed-friending – the opportunity to speed meet other like-minded women, Netwalking around the Docks plus the Breeze cycle ride – a cycle tour of Bristol women’s history.

There will also be the opportunity for men to get involved in some of the day’s events. Mayor George Ferguson will be supporting a city wide campaign to end gender-based violence, followed by a workshop by local charity Integrate Bristol, on spotting and dealing with FGM and gender-based violence.

Suitable for

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/international-womens-day/

Discover how Bedminster evolved from a rural Somerset parish to a bustling industrial town and the inevitable impact that this had on public health on this three mile walk.

Our expert guides will highlight some of the key features of the Victorian expansion of south Bristol, illustrating the walk with a wealth of historical photographs, drawings and maps.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/historical-walk-victoria-park/

Ever wanted your very own robot? Make it buzz, shine, move and more?

Learn how to build a robot using Raspberry Pi mini computers. These Bristol designed and built kit robots are a fun way to play with new technologies with the people from the Bristol Robotics Laboratory – you’re only limited by your imagination!

If you would like to take your robot home, you can buy a Build-a-Bot kit on the day for £38.

Suitable for ages 10+

Suitable for

Admission

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/build-bot/

Find out about the story of Thomas Perks, a gunsmith’s son from Mangotsfield, who was reported to have ‘conjured’ spirits in Kingswood in the early 1690s.

His story was first told in a letter by Arthur Bedford, vicar of Temple in Bristol, in 1704. His letter was reprinted in varying versions in both manuscript and print, and became a regular feature in anthologies of the supernatural.

Although subject to Enlightenment scepticism, the story also attracted belief from a surprising range of people
sometimes as a warning against the dangers of the devil, but for others as proof of the potential for communication with spirits.

Suitable for

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/tale-thomas-perks-mangotsfield/

Discover a millennium of history on this 1.8 mile walk around the heart of Bristol’s old city.

Our expert walk leaders will point out locations which saw the birth of the city, its growth and later decline as a major seaport and centre of commerce. Discover some of the events, people and places that earned the city a place in national history, culture and the arts.

The walk is at a gentle pace on level terrain and is suitable for participants at all levels of physical ability.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/historical-walk-old-city/

Explore the origins and development of the town house in Bristol from before the Norman Conquest to architectural masterpieces of the 1700s with Bristol Threatened History Society’s symposium.

To book onto Buildings of Bristol, please email mponsford@ipresent.co.uk or call 0117 985 8109.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/buildings-of-bristol/

Students and lectures from the BA Photography course at UWE Bristol lead an informal tour

Suitable for

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/open-business-lunchtime-tour/

Take a boat trip with a difference! Watch the powerful water cannon at work on Bristol’s former fire-boat, on a trip around the docks that she was built to protect.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/pyronaut-trips/

Take a train trip on the Bristol Harbour Railway and be transported back to the days of steam. Ride on Britain’s only dockside steam railway behind one of our Bristol-built locomotives.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/train-rides/

Take a trip on the harbour on the John King – a 1935 diesel tug built to tow cargo ships from Bristol City Docks to the mouth of the River Avon.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/john-king-trips/

John (1166 – 1216) first as prince and then as King, was a patron of Bristol. During his reign the city flourished – maybe ‘Bad King John’ as he’s now known, wasn’t so bad for Bristol after all. Find out on the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.

In November 1216 Magna Carta was reissued by the royal council meeting in Bristol. Peter Fleming puts this event in the context of the Bristol region’s history from 1154, to the middle of the thirteenth century.

Peter will focus on this dynamic period, beginning with the expansion of the Gascon wine trade, which had a very important impact on Bristol’s economy, and ending with the extensive civil engineering projects in Bristol in the 1240s: the creation of a new deep-water harbour, new bridges and town walls, and the reclamation of much of the marshland around Bristol’s original site.

Suitable for

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/what-did-king-john-do-for-us/

Join Senior Curator, Andy King, and discover the history the City Docks before their closure in 1 April 1975.

40 years since the docks ceased to operate as a commercial port, bringing to an end 1000 years of trading. This walk will look at some of the developments since and consider what the future might hold.

Suitable for

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/summer-walk-40-years-since-closure-city-docks/

A talk with Alex Craven looking at how suspected Royalists from the south west were treated after a failed uprising against the rule of Oliver Cromwell in 1655.

After the uprising, Cromwell as Lord Protector imposed a system of military government across England and Wales. The country was divided into several regions, each governed by a Major-General, who were commanded to take bonds for good behaviour from suspected Royalists.

In the south west, Major-General Desborough took bonds from over 5,000 men, many of them of very humble status. Alex Craven will explore who these south-west ‘suspected persons’ were, and examine what it meant to be included amongst their number.

Suitable for

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/the-cromwellian-south-west/

Historian Steve Poole looks at everyday life on the streets of Bristol in the eighteenth century and the comparisons with William Hogarth’s portrayal of London life at that time.

Hogarth’s depictions have heavily influenced the ways in which we imagine the urban scene in Georgian England. From riotous elections and gin-soaked rookeries to pox-marked prostitutes and bacchanalian behaviour at the gallows, Hogarthian London is a place marked by moral turpitude, disorder, corruption and squalor.

Nineteenth century chroniclers labelled Bristol’s mob as the most dangerous in England – social relations between the city’s poor and elite classes could be lively and often fraught. What provoked and motivated the Bristol crowd and by what rules, if any, was it governed?

Suitable for

Website

http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/hogarthian-second-city/