Mark has gone international with his Podcast …
http://www.underthecrossbones.com/utc-005-mark-steeds-of-the-long-john-silver-trust/
Sep
09
Sep
04
Treasure Island Trail Launch 19th Sept’ 2015
Grand Opening - You are invited to the launch of The Bristol Treasure Island Trail, part of the new European Cultural Route, ‘In the Footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson’ - September 19th 2015
The Trail will be opened by the Lord Mayor of Bristol, Cllr Clare Campion-Smith, at 1pm on Saturday, September 19th 2015, outside the Merchant Venturers Almshouses at the Broad Quay, end of King Street.
After the launch you will have the opportunity to enjoy a guided tour of the Trail.
At 3pm The Long John Silver Trust has organised a showing of the Aardman film The Pirates! at Arnolfini as part of the Talk Like a Pirate Day celebrations.
Tickets are available from Bristol Ticket Shop for just £5.
Book here:
http://www.bristolticketshop.co.uk/eventdetails.aspx?e=10206
To round off the day, book a trip on The Matthew which will be hosting two offerings from Captain Barnacle: -
5-6pm - Family Captain Barnacle’s Pirate Panto! - Family friendly 1 hour puppet trip around the harbour.
6-8pm - Adult Pirate trip - A one hour sail from 6-7pm then exclusively on board at the quayside with the pirates and bar open.
Book here:
http://www.matthew.co.uk/trips/
Please spread the word and make Talk like a Pirate Day the best that Bristol has ever seen!
Aug
04
Long Shaun Silver Celebration BBQ - 31st July 2015
Friday night at the Beaufort Arms in Hawkesbury Upton saw a special fundraiser c/o of Dilly’s all star Barbie team, in the presence of our Long Shaun (Shorn) Silver …
A massive £425 was raised to be shared equally between Bristol’s Grand Appeal and our Trust’s imminent RLS Treasure Island Trail.
Tons of thanks are deserved and here they are in Dilly’s words: -
“Thank you to everyone who came along and enjoyed our BBQ in the Beaufort garden. Special Thanks go to:
Genna and Karen who did a really good job selling raffle tickets. They raised a staggering £200 – so a great big well done.
To our very own Zebra legged cook Nathan who did a great job cooking the burgers & sausages.
To Hannah our veggie cook.
To Pete for coming to the rescue with the cooking (it got really busy).
We raised £225 on the food!
To Harry for giving us some excellent entertainment.
To Sam for doing anything I needed.
And to everyone else who helped to make such a Brilliant Day.
Thank you, Dilly x”
In addition to Dilly’s thanks I would like to give her a special huge thanks for organising it all, a thank you to Lin and Sarah for wrapping all of the raffle prizes, also the prize donors, Adrian for some nifty early entertainment and Kim and Karen for doing a deal on the luxury food.
Best wishes, Landlord and LJST Trustee, Mark
Jul
24
Long Shaun Silver Celebration BBQ - 31st July 2015
Come to the Beaufort Arms on Friday 31st July for a sumptuous BBQ celebrating our very own Long Shorn Silver. Start time 4pm.
After missing out on being in the Shaun in the City Trail in Bristol, 1st Hawkesbury Guides compensated the Beaufort Arms by kindly presenting their very own version as part of the Shaun the Sheep Challenge. The talent we have in this village…
Quality burgers and bangers from award winning local producers, complemented by some nifty entertainment, please come along and have a good time.
All proceeds to the Grand Appeal and Long John Silver Trust – Pirate dress optional.
Jun
05
New European Cultural Route “In the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson”
Great News! The Long John Silver Trust is proud to announce a new European Cultural Route “In the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson”
The European Network In the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson (author of works such as Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Travels with a Donkey, 1850-1894) has been accredited as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe. The Network, to which the Long John Silver Trust of Bristol belongs, connects places in Scotland, England, France and Belgium associated with the life and works of Stevenson.
The Cultural Routes programme was launched in 1987 by the Council of Europe. Its objective is to demonstrate, by means of a journey through space and time, how the heritage of the different countries and cultures of Europe contributes to a shared cultural heritage. Nowadays about 30 Cultural Routes link various parts of Europe, such as the Santiago de Compostela Pilgrim Routes, the Viking Routes, the Art Nouveau Network, the European Route of Jewish Heritage and the European Mozart Ways.
The European Network In the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson promotes knowledge of the author’s works and travels as well as the areas associated with him. Stevenson is fascinating both as a writer and as a person. He wrote in a variety of genres – novels, poems, travel writing and essays. He led a colourful life from a bohemian youth in Edinburgh through travels in Europe and the USA, finally settling in Samoa. The Cultural Route which bears his name is equally varied and offers activities for all ages of cultural events and exploration of townscapes, as well as the more active hiking, canoeing, rowing and even travels with a donkey, all of them interwoven with his works.
The Network is composed of organisations, both public and private sector, active in the fields of culture, the arts, tourism and sport. The areas associated with Stevenson benefit from the added value of belonging to a network. Members of the network inform visitors to their areas of the other places where they can follow in Stevenson’s footsteps. The network facilitates the exchange of knowledge and ideas. Its ethos of cross-border co-operation and friendship perpetuates Stevenson’s openness to people and places. The Network works to protect and promote the cultural and natural heritage of the member areas. It also assists economic development in those areas which require it, supporting cultural tourism as a means of sustainable development.
This new accreditation as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe raises the profile of the Network and its member areas helping it to promote the life and works of this fascinating author and to draw attention to the places associated with him. The Network plans to extend its membership further in the spirit of the objectives of the Cultural Route programme to include other areas associated with the author. This recognition by the Council of Europe is a new stage for the European Stevenson Network and all its member territories.
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
Robert Louis Stevenson
For more information about the European Network In the Footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson see www.rlstevenson-europe.org/en
or contact [email protected]
May
04
Join Mark Steeds at Bristol’s Walking Festival 2015
Calling all literary/history fans who like a bit of a walk. |
 Bristol Walk Fest 2015 | Bristol City Council |
Long John Silver Trust historian Mark Steeds is a signed up member of Bristol’s exciting Walking Festival and is conducting two tours around Bristol’s historic heart on Thursday 7th and Thursday 28th May.The walks are entitled “Bristol’s Treasure Island Influences” and are numbers 32 and 156 in the festival programme.Starting at Bristol’s bombed out Temple Church just off of Victoria Street, we’ll start off with brewer’s tales, from the Knights Templar to Sir John Hawkins, lead sponsor of Woodes Rogers’ great 1708 circumnavigation that rescued the prototype of Robinson Crusoe and originated a host of other key episodes of Britain’s history.We’ll wander past the Cornubia and Seven Stars (the pub that helped change the world), the Exploration statue, the former Talbot Hotel and Bristol Bridge, the site of St Peter’s Hospital to talk about Dr Thomas Dover, the ruins of the old castle keep where Defoe met maroon Alexander Selkirk, Southey’s birthplace in Wine Street and then the Rummer, home of Coleridge’s first publication.Back to Bristol Bridge and on to Welsh Back and the Llandoger Trow, talk about Smollett and Swift of Humphrey Clinker and Gulliver’s Travels fame respectively, and on up King Street to the Merchant Venturers Alsmhouses that gave birth to William Williams’ Journal of Llewellin Penrose – seaman, the origins of the pirate treasure map in literature, cross Queen’s Square, past Rogers’ house to the Hole-in-the-Wall to finish on Blackbeard and Robert Louis Stevenson’s immortal Treasure Island – phew!The walk starts at 11.30am on the 7th and 2.30pm on the 28th – duration 2 to 3 hours, cost free. Please email [email protected] to book a place, although it’s not essential |
Dec
02
Bristol Local History Bookfair 2014
Looking for a unique book to give this Christmas? Want some background on the books available? Then please come along to Bristol Record Office this Saturday – you won’t be disappointed ….
Bristol Local History Bookfair 2014
Saturday 6 December 2014 at Bristol Records Office.
‘B’ Bond Warehouse (via Create Centre)
Smeaton Road
Bristol
BS1 6XN
Free entry.
10am-1pm
Family history advice from the Bristol & Avon Family History Society
1.30pm – Bristol: the City at War, 1914-1918 (Eugene Byrne, co-author of ‘Bravo Bristol!’)
As a major British city and port, Bristol played a key role in the First World War. Join Eugene for stories of Bristolians on the battlefield, on the Home Front and in the war at sea.
2.30pm – Unmarked Graves: the Eastville Workhouse Project (Dr Di Parkin, Bristol Radical History Group)
Between 1855 and 1895, over 3,000 paupers were buried in unmarked graves near Eastville Workhouse on Fishponds Road. Di Parkin will present a project to uncover the names of the people buried there.
3.30pm – Bristol’s Treasure Island Influences (Mark Steeds, Long John Silver Trust)
Hear from Mark about the pirates and privateers that inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to set parts of his classic book in the city.
Dec
01
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Birthday Celebrations 2014
At lunch time on November 13th we had a birthday party for Louis with most of the staff and students from PROPS and a great turn out of four Long John Silver Trustees.
For the past three weeks the PROPS students have been busy painting, pasting and putting together pictures, montages, model parrots and even a complete Treasure Island!
It’s hard to think that it all originated with Bristol’s participation in the Great Reading Adventure of 2003…
Jamie Goodenough did the brilliant picture of RLS with both T.I., Jekyll and Hyde and one of Stevenson’s poems all computer painted and, despite me telling him I thought him very talented, he profoundly disagreed.
The model Treasure Island had everything; volcano, waterfall, compass rose, footsteps (a la Robinson Crusoe?), sparkly red ‘X’ marks the spot, palm trees, beach and even a shipwreck…
Three huge Cap’n Flint parrots were all different and all first rate and now decorate the Beaufort dining room.
Adam and Daniel drew pictures and then we had the piece de resistance – Long John Silver himself. Cabin boy Sam drew and painted him complete with bottle of rum, parrot and 24 buttons on his coat – imagine undoing them in a hurry. Stuart drew the shape of the island, Ryan sponge painted it, Azim found the images, cabin girl Sam drew and painted the treasure chest, cabin boy Sam sponge painted the sea (he was busy!) and Frannie helped paint the parrot.
What an effort by all the staff and students and I wonder what RLS himself would have thought of it; surely he would have been pleased.
Many thanks one and all for making it one of the most colourful birthday parties that I can ever remember going to.
Happy birthday Robert Louis Stevenson 2014.
Jul
25
LJST’s Presence At Bristol Harbour Festival 2014
Saturday 19th July 2014 saw two members of the LJS Trust, vice-chairman Bill and Secretary Mark, brave the vagaries of a British summer to help man our bookstall in Betty’s Boathouse (as we like to call it) during Bristol’s 45th annual Harbour Festival.
Situated on Redcliffe Wharf, it should be called the ‘Benjamin Perry Boathouse for Scouts and Guides’, but we always like to call it Betty’s because she has such a kindly presence. We were joined by old friends Roy of Fiducia Press and Rich of Tangent Books.
Anyhoo, stuffed with bargain bacon baps at just a £1 we got down to the serious task of raising funds for the Trust by selling our books and I’m pleased to say our Privateers book was the best seller out everyone’s wares.
If you missed us due to the heavy downpour, please look out for us again on ‘Open Doors Day’ on Saturday 13th September 2014 where we shall be hard at it once again in one of the last of Bristol’s original dock buildings.
Jul
20
PROPS Annual Adventure Around Bristol Harbour - Treasure Island Cruise 2014
Our Treasure Island Cruise 2014 was a huge success once again with our friends at special needs charity PROPS in their element roaring and harooing the visitors to Bristol’s 45th Harbour Festival.
The trip nearly didn’t happen after some scallywag blew up the engine of the Brigantia but the Bristol Ferryboat Company came up trumps with an able replacement in the venerable Matilda. Crew were driver Mike Fripp – a favourite of the LJST – and shipmate Gabriel who did a great job keeping us safe and sound and taking no prisoners.
Special thanks must go to John of Westward Travel for getting us there, Liam from the ss Great Britain for ‘doing a deal’ on our much needed ice creams (at cutlass point), the ss Great Britain cafe for the napkins for our messy PROPS pirates and all of the people we held up on Cumberland Road manoeuvring our land carriage for some of our less able seamen.
Many thanks to Brian Henley for the pic’s.
Seb and Cap’n Dumplin’ stealing the show once again, it turns out Seb’s a mate of Ferry Driver Mike from years back and this was the first time they’d seen each other in 35 years!
"Dumplin''"
First time on our Cruise, Howard ended up buying the ice creams, what a star!
Long John Steedsy with Rich and Mo awaiting latecomers (Billy Bones, Blind Pew, Jim Hawkins’ Nan and Uncle)
Rich and Mo studying their picture presentation from the LJST and PROPS and thinking ‘where the heck shall we put this’ – seriously, Mo said she had always admired the Shipsides Tribute picture and now she had one! Rich and Mo have sponsored several of our Treasure Island Cruise’s with PROPS and this was long overdue recognition of that
PROPS pirates in the front again, including Assam having a great time
PROPS pirates in the front including “Where’s the Matthew gone” Ross
PROPS pirates at the back of the boat – including ‘Flash’
SS Great Britain
The "Matthew" in all of her Tudor glory
Seb and Cap’n Dumplin’ stealing the show once again, it turns out Seb’s a mate of Ferry Driver Mike from years back and this was the first time they’d seen each other in 35 years!
"Dumplin''"
First time on our Cruise, Howard ended up buying the ice creams, what a star!
Long John Steedsy with Rich and Mo awaiting latecomers (Billy Bones, Blind Pew, Jim Hawkins’ Nan and Uncle)
Rich and Mo studying their picture presentation from the LJST and PROPS and thinking ‘where the heck shall we put this’ – seriously, Mo said she had always admired the Shipsides Tribute picture and now she had one! Rich and Mo have sponsored several of our Treasure Island Cruise’s with PROPS and this was long overdue recognition of that
PROPS pirates in the front again, including Assam having a great time
PROPS pirates in the front including “Where’s the Matthew gone” Ross
PROPS pirates at the back of the boat – including ‘Flash’
SS Great Britain
The "Matthew" in all of her Tudor glory