1 April: Bristol

On this date in 1996 Avon was abolished and Bristol became a unitary authority. Here are ten things you might not know about Bristol.

1. The first recorded name for the settlement which would become Bristol was Caer Odor, which is Old Welsh for “fort on the chasm”. Translate that into Saxon and you get “Bric Stowe”.
2. Some well known people from Bristol include the pirate Blackbeard, JK Rowling, Allen Lane Williams who founded Penguin paperbacks, street artist Banksy (probably), Cary Grant and David Prowse, who played both the Green Cross Code Man and Darth Vader. Nipper the HMV dog was also from here. Wallace and Gromit were created in Bristol.
3. Things invented or built in Bristol include Ribena, Bungee jumping (the first jump was from the  Clifton Suspension Bridge in 1979), Lead shot, Chocolate bars, chocolate Easter Eggs, Concorde, the Internet Movie Database and blankets – they were invented by a Bristol wool merchant called Edward Blanket.
4. Bristol has often been used as a filming location. Nelson Mandela House from Only Fools and Horses isn't in Peckham at all – it's in Bristol. The house The Young Ones lived in is also here. Episodes of Doctor Who and Sherlock also feature parts of Bristol masquerading as places in London. 25% of the world's nature documentaries are produced here. Not every filming project in Bristol is as successful as the aforementioned shows. The Truth About Love was a film starring Jennifer Love Hewitt which managed to score 0% on the ratings site Rotten Tomatoes.
5. At one time Bristol had its own time zone – ten minutes behind London. That changed, however, when times across the country had to be brought into line so that railway timetables would work. An extra minute hand was added to the clock on the Exchange Building to help people get used to the new times – and it's still there.
6. There is a plant in the Onion family known as the Bristol Onion, because the only place in the UK where it can be found growing wild is in the Avon Gorge. There are also trees not found anywhere else in the world – the Bristol Whitebeam.
7. Bristol is the world's largest manufacturer of Hot air balloons. In August every year the city hosts the International Balloon Fiesta, Europe's largest gathering of hot air balloons.
8. After Bristol was bombed in the second world war, the rubble was exported to America and used to build the Waterside Plaza in New York City.
9. The phrase “Ship shape and Bristol fashion” came about because the tidal range in the Bristol Channel is one of the highest in the world. Ships docked in Bristol were likely to be aground at low tide and to fall to one side, so if Bristol was the destination, everything had to be properly stowed to avoid a terrible mess when the tide went out.
10. There is a book in a Bristol museum which is bound with human skin. The skin belonged to John Horton, who was hanged for murder in 1821. The doctor who testified against him claimed his body for “medical purposes” which included tanning some of his skin and turning it into a book. It's also said that a pub in Bristol which dates back to 1602 has a front door made from human skin (more executed criminals) under the layers of tar and paint.

My Books 

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The Ultraheroes series

Several new groups of superheroes, mostly British, living and working (mostly) in British cities like London and Birmingham. People discovering they have, and learning to live with, superpowers. Each book is complete in itself although there is some overlap of characters.

The Raiders series

A tale of two dimensions, and worm hole travel between the two. People displaced in both time and space, learning to get along and work together to find a way home while getting used to the superpowers wormhole travel gave them. A trilogy.

Golden Thread

A superhero tale with a difference. Five heroes from another dimension keep returning - whenever they return, they have a job to do and are a well-meshed team in order to do it. Until one time, something goes wrong...

Tabitha Drake series

A different kind of power - the ability to talk to dead people. Tabitha has it, and murder victims seek her out to make sure justice is done. Tabitha has this and a disastrous love life to cope with.

Short story collections

Some feature characters from the above novels, others don't. They're not all about superheroes. Some are creepy, romantic, funny.