Filter by tag: CultureDestinationsInclusionWeston-super-Mare

Ep.35 Fiona Matthews, Super Culture Weston-super-Mare

row of olive green chevrons
6 Feb, 2024

Super Culture not only creates large-scale events such as the annual light festival GLOW and Whirligig but also works on initiatives that involve the entire community.

We often travel to experience a different ‘culture’. That culture is not just about buildings and things. It’s about the people, the vibe, the experiences.

Have you really thought about the role of culture in the place where you live, visit and work?

I’m a little bit obsessed with it. I’ve led lots of branding projects and it always comes down to the culture of a place.

Today, I’m joined by Fiona Matthews, Creative Director of Super Culture, an organisation that putting creative culture front and centre of Weston-super-Mare’s regeneration.

This episode will be helpful for anyone interested in the arts, placemaking and destination marketing. It will also be useful to those at the top of the organisation responsible for setting the culture.

“Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come” Morag Myrescough

Join me as I talk to Fiona about the work they are doing to put creativity and culture at the heart of Weston’s community and why culture is so important in uniting people and creating distinctiveness.

We chat about:

>How creative arts bring communities together, change lives, and contribute to the distinct local culture of Weston.

> The transformation of Weston from the perception of being a bit rundown in the ’80s to a town embracing creativity.

> Super Culture, an organisation in North Somerset, at the heart of this cultural evolution and their diverse program, including festivals, events, public art, live performances, and creative talent development.

> Fiona shared examples of their various projects, from youth theatres and creative writing groups to collaborations with libraries, refugee communities, and even a food-related project with Love’s Cafe.

> They explored the organisation’s role in fostering a creative and vibrant environment, from supporting emerging producers to collaborating with local colleges for creative development programs.

> Fiona highlighted their commitment to excellence and accessibility, sharing experiences from her years in arts management which included leading the Sainsbury’s £1 million annual grant funding programme for the Arts before moving back to the West.

Full Transcription
SPEAKERS
Fiona Matthews, Kelly Ballard

Kelly Ballard
I would like to welcome to the podcast today Fiona Matthews from Super Culture. Nice to see you Fiona.

Fiona Matthews 04:51
Nice to be here.

Kelly Ballard 04:53
Thank you. Well, Fiona, I’ve been working with you in Weston for the past year as I’m working on the Super Weston project, which is all about the regeneration of Weston. But the bigger picture idea of the regeneration of Weston is not only around the kind of buildings and the capital investment in the town; it’s also around culture leading the way for regeneration.

I’m really interested to talk to you today about what super culture is doing. And what that what you feel that means, actually in the town. So just give people for those of you people who don’t know who are listening today, what is Super Culture, and what’s your role there?

Fiona Matthews 05:48
So Super Culture is an organisation in North Somerset, and we’re about growing and ambitious, playful and inclusive, creating a culture for the area that’s genuinely accessible to anyone and everyone. So whether you’re an artist or a maker, an audience member or participant, and our programme is very diverse. It includes festivals, events, we make public arts, we put on live performance. And that’s alongside ongoing creative talent development programmes that are really nurturing the creative economy locally. And at the bedrock of what we do is a participation programme. That’s everyone, every week, throughout the year.

Kelly Ballard 06:30
Wow. Well, there’s a lot going on there, Fiona. So can you just break that down a little bit in terms of those two elements, you said about that creative development of talent? What does that look like?

Fiona Matthews 06:46
So we work with? Well, within our own team, for example, we have emerging producer roles, and we work with Weston College. To fill those, we offer work experience, opportunities, we offer skills, development programmes, across, many different aspects of working and culture. We’ve grown our own team through that programme. For one, we’re about supporting artists in the area to help them realise their ambitions through supporting on planning and funding and joining the dots bringing people together. So a whole raft of things really, but just kind of responding to need, putting on courses, but also a bespoke kind of one to one. Mentoring service.

Kelly Ballard 07:35
Great. And n terms of your participatory aspects, can you describe those?

Fiona Matthews 07:43
Yeah,so we have a youth theatre that runs where we’ve got 90 young people coming to that it’s free of charge, or, you know, pay what you want. And that goes from tinies, up to kind of 18. We have provision for young disabled adults around performing arts. We have an adults drama group that meets up every week. And a lot of what they do is exploring the kind of social issues that affect them through performance. So it’s a kind of way for those people to have a voice. We run a creative writing group, which is largely for older people regularly. And then we have a number of rolling programmes really. So at the moment, we’re working with pupil referral units. We’re beginning to work with gypsy and Romany traveller community with the libraries. On Weston South ward. We’ve got projects with young people in sheltered accommodation, we’re working on youth volunteering programmes. We’re working with the town’s refugee community on a kind of food related project with Loves cafe, around bringing people together and cooking and creating and socialising. So yeah, all sorts to be honest.

Kelly Ballard 08:57
Wow. And aside from that, you put on some pretty spectacular events in Weston don’t you, some really creative events. Can you tell me about some of those?

Fiona Matthews 09:11
Yeah, we’ve definitely tried to so Whirlygig is one that’s very well known. That’s an outdoor arts festival that won a national award for being the Best Small Event a few years ago. And that platforms international outdoor artists who are jaw dropping in their skill levels, alongside the national companies and regional companies, and that takes them to the Italian gardens in the town centre in early September. That’s all free. You know, you might stumble across it and it’s also quite a big draw for people coming from out of the area.

We have an Arts and Health festival and that’s a collaboration with University Hospitals, Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, a bit of a mouthful, and that’s all about really shining a light on all these opportunities in Weston that exist all year round for helping you to feel good through creativity. So we kind of, you know, show groups that are available, we put on activities that bring people together we work with the hospital staff, it’s very much about connecting the town centre and the hospital. And last year’s festival was a celebration of 75 years of the NHS and the centrepiece of that was a big synchronised swimming performance with Weston’s, amazing Super Synchro group, and diversity. And it was about enabling performers in and out of the water, whether you’re able bodied, or not, to come together in a shared celebration of the NHS, there’s a whole host of things go into that festival.

We had a Literature Festival. For the first time last year Weston Literature Festival, we had local authors and you know, really well known authors like Raynor Winn whose book The Salt Path sold millions, I think. And last year, for the first time, we put on a festival called Good Grief Weston, and that was with the University of Bristol. It was about enabling people to talk about grief and bereavement, and support each other and know what services are out there and using creativity as a tool to do that. So those are some examples.

And coming up next month, we have GLOW light festival. And that is the brainchild of amazing Paul Birtwhistle who is an incredible Weston based light artist. And we support her on that Festival. It’s five days this year. It’s in Grove Park in the middle of Weston turns into a complete Wonderland. And then there’s various artworks that take you on to the town centre as well.

Kelly Ballard 11:48
That is a great event. And I’ll be definitely going to that in the next couple of weeks. And just to clarify when what the dates of that as this will go out around that time.

Fiona Matthews 11:59
Yeah, it’s half term. It’s Tuesday till Saturday at half term. is February I should have this ingrained in my head 13 until 17 That’s right.

Kelly Ballard 12:15
Because the 17th is the fireworks on the Pier, isn’t it?

Fiona Matthews 12:21
yeah, yeah, it’s gonna be great. I mean, the town centre is going to be buzzing and there’s various in Grove village which is turning into Glow village for that festival, that’s the kind of independent area just beside Grove Park there going to be various offers around food and drink so you can come to us and enjoy the festival. Gets some food, you know, feel part of a real illuminated community for that evening.

Kelly Ballard 12:47
I’d like to take a moment to thank and highlight our podcast sponsor, the outstanding digital marketing specialists Noble Performs. In the visitor economy. Digital marketing is absolutely crucial. However, mastering so many elements and staying abreast of best practice can be quite challenging. If you’re lucky, you’ve probably got a digital marketer, but their time and expertise is probably spent updating the website and creating organic content for social media like videos and photos. This leaves a big hole in your digital marketing strategy potentially, and you may be missing out on key initiatives that are really critical to driving sales and footfall in your business. This is where noble can help.
They specialise in SEO, Pay Per Click, Display Advertising, paid social media content and email marketing and website creation. They work closely with you to ensure that your digital marketing efforts translate into tangible improvements to your bottom line. From understanding your customers interests and capturing their attention to helping identify issues that stand in the way of bookings on your website. They’ve got an abundance of knowledge in the visitor economy and not only bring their expertise to the table, they’re also genuinely fantastic people. They’re really passionate about what they do. To discover more about Noble and how they can help your business. Click on the link in the show notes or head to Nobleperforms.co.uk and tell them I sent you.

Kelly Ballard
I’ve been working in Weston for the past year and I’ve been staggered at the quality of the events that you put on and there’s a new theatre that’s a new fringe theatre, the Front Room that I know that you’re heavily involved in

Fiona Matthews 14:36
Yes, The Front Room is Adam and Emma. They live in Weston and they’re amazing. And we’ve really just enabled them to take that space on they’ve done everything else with loads of support from local people and they’ve got a you know, really buzzing programme with performance happening in the front room space every week and it’s a it’s a former Pizza Express so yeah, serving up this deliciousness of a live variety these days, but really worth checking out. Like everything that we do, it’s really accessible price wise, I think it’s the minimum of three pounds per show. So it genuinely does make this something that you can do as part of your week.

Kelly Ballard 15:18
That’s it, I guess, moving on from that point, or using that point, as an example of things that happened in Weston that are different to what I’ve seen elsewhere. This pay what you can afford approach is, is something I’ve not experienced elsewhere. It’s amazing because it’s very accessible, but is that because the way that it’s funded – because I know that you’ve got quite significant Arts Council funding? Is that right?

Fiona Matthews 15:47
Yeah,well, we had a big uplift in the last national portfolio round. But that accounts for 40% of our income, the Arts Council, so we still have 60% defined. But we are we’ve always been, you know, since we began, they’ve been really committed to making sure that we are offering a cultural programme that is genuinely for everybody, because I think so much of it isn’t, you know, I, I struggled to get to the theatre in Bristol, to be honest. And so we work, you know, really hard to make that happen. We get a lot of support from trusts and foundations, you know, we’ve had a very kind philanthropist. We just make every penny really count and work very hard to kind of ensure that, you know, we’re as light touch as possible on our overheads and everything goes into the art and to the into the people.

Kelly Ballard 16:38
Am I right in thinking that your contribution from the Arts Council was about a million pounds over three years?

Fiona Matthews 16:44
Yeah, it’s about a million over three years. The largest percentage uplift in the UK, which we’re very grateful and fortunate to receive. Yeah. And I think perhaps that’s, you know, a testament to all those years of building relationships and kind of having a, you know, a creative programme that is built on a genuine sense of ownership in the community. Sure,

Kelly Ballard 17:18
Am I right in saying that, prior to Super Culture being developed, nothing like this really existed in in Weston. So maybe talk to me about that a little bit about kind of how culture was managed previously to Super Culture being developed. And why was Super Culture developed?

Fiona Matthews 17:45
Well, Super culture grew out of, the original name was Theatre Orchard. And that was set up in 2007. You know, we’ve been going a long time in different guises. And I was the Arts Officer for North Somerset Council for a few years, and then they cut arts provision at the Council in 2007. And one of the projects that was happening when I was the artist officer was an Arts Council funded initiative called theatre locality planning, which was about enabling communities to have a creative voice, I suppose, with theatre as a prism through which that happened. So we wanted that to, you know, we didn’t want to lose that. So we carried it on as a charity and Theatre Orchard became a charity and became about giving people you know, orient people through involvement in the arts.

So yeah, and I guess out of realising the kind of value that that had, we just kept it going. So we kind of kept going for a long time for we got caught funding, and worked with a lot of community organisations to keep the offer rolling. So it’s enabled us to kind of build up really solid foundations, with housing associations, with libraries, with schools with, you know, further education with social services. So all those groups are kind of who we worked with when culture wasn’t the thing and its own right. And I think it’s, you know, those difficult beginnings have become a bit of a strength really, I think, you know, how we operate. And then Culture Weston was set up as, an independent programme in 2020. And it was run through Theatre Orchard and I think that was it was funded by Arts Council and or some set council as a kind of time limit, limited investment programme. And it was really about trying to kind of supercharge the impact of culture in Weston as you know, a force for economic renewal and Regeneration, and as it happened, we ended up being COVID.

You want to know that when it’s done Artists also became a real tool through which people were able to be supported and connected and you know, feel a part of something. So then culture Western and theatre orchard came together in name. Last year, a super culture, which has made life much simpler. And I think it’s just, you know, the kind of the, the, we’ve grown at a huge rate in the last few years. And that’s been enabled by a kind of shift in mindset, I think, within the council and through counsellors and a kind of recognition about what culture can do, how it can really provide an identity for people and a sense of solidarity within the community. And how cultural events genuinely bring footfall to an area as well. I mean, last year, the highest football for September coincided a really good weekend. And the highest footfall for October coincided with the launch of Literature Festival, and that was a Thursday, you know, which is not necessarily when it expects the highest footfall to fall. So there’s some real tangible evidence as well about how it’s bringing people into the town. And creating a sense of, you know, energy about where they live.

Kelly Ballard 21:22
That’s, yeah, gosh, thank you for sharing that history. Because I think it’s really important. I think, for anybody listening, especially those organisations or people who are involved in kind of destination marketing, anyone that’s involved in like, Town Centre, regeneration. You know, it just everybody is a pretty, you know, a lot of people appreciate the value of culture, but I think you, your kind of tentacles for want of a better word, reach so many places? I don’t know, is this something that is normal for other destinations? Because I’ve not seen it in places that I’ve worked, where an organisation like Super Culture does so much from putting on events at that big scale to drive footfall to the community support. Like you say, going, you know, supporting refugees supporting integration with health. Does that exist elsewhere? Is this a model that’s been seen elsewhere?

Fiona Matthews 22:24
Good question. I think there’s a lot of amazing organisations doing great things, I think we certainly stretch ourselves in terms of the scope of our work. Yeah, and it’s a difficult balance, isn’t it between, between kind of knowing the potential something burning out, but we’re, you know, we do feel like we’re, I feel like you have to have all those connections really, to make impact.

At the moment we’ve got an exhibition in the town centre and the Sovereign Centre, which pulls together a four year programme that we’re just coming to the end of called 21st century Super Shrines. And that’s funded by Historic England. And it’s been about bringing together communities, amazing kind of international artists, amazing national artists and regional artists, to make artworks and experiences on the high street that represent their values there so that the high street becomes something that people you know, recognise and feel an affinity with. And I was just really struck by so two of the artists who we work with Morag Myrescough, who is amazing, she works all over the world, her mantra is ‘’we make belonging and ‘make happy those who are near and those who are far will come’ which exactly ties to kind of how we how we work, really. And she said of her involvement with us that this was one of the most beautiful community projects I’ve ever worked on Weston has such a strong, creative and very active community and I’ve loved being involved the last 18 months.

And then Chyla Kumari Singh Berman, who made Illuminated Pigeon as part of the 21st century super Shrines, she’s another incredible artist, she found kind of renowned over locked down when she lit up the front of Tate Britain. And she said, it’s just amazing what you can do with the small production budget. I’ve been around the world with high end budgets, and you come here and it’s so moving and touching, how the local community are involved. Art should not be an elitist practice the whole thing I’m blown away with it and so chuffed to be part of this. So I do think that artists are coming in and have noticed something special about Western. And the just the kind of sense of the sense of candidness really from the local community and me through that 21st century super shines. I’ve met so many incredible artists in western who might not have thought about themselves as artists before and now you know, finding more work that’s creative and it’s I could kind of domino effect really? Yeah. It’s really inspiring thing to be part of. Yeah. And we’re very lucky

Kelly Ballard 25:09
Going back to what you were saying about that whole sense of belonging and that culture brings a sense of identity and solidarity, I think. I think I’m not sure whether you mentioned it then. But you definitely mentioned it bit to me before this conversation around, you know, if you if you make the people happy, where they live, the creativity around where they live, then the people will come. What did you say it was much more eloquent than that?

Fiona Matthews 25:36
I can’t take credit for this. This is Morag Myrescough. She says, ‘make happy those who are near and those who are far will come.’ Yes, lovely. And if you come down to Weston High Street, and you see Super Wonder Shrine, which is the structure that she made with the community is a contemporary bandstand. At the end of the High Street, and it just shines out to me with people, I’ve really grown to love it. It’s a very vibrant structure, and it’s covered with the community’s words. It’s got things like laughing and cheering. We are here to gather, you know, chips and ice cream, but all sorts of things that the community wanted to wanted to kind of get forth to the structure. And the inside of the roof is covered in dogs names, pet names from local people.

Yeah, and we had I think over 100 people helped to create that structure in some shape or form. It began in lockdown with online workshops to think, Okay, what do we want? I think if we hadn’t had locked down, maybe we wouldn’t have ended up with a band style, but people wanted something outdoors where they could get there, you know, and that was that was it. I mean, it just has so many colours in it, that it’s buoyant and life affirming at a time when you know, life was very uncertain. And then the Weston College students helped paint it it was made by an incredible local Carpenter, and local people and we got so many artists involved in helping to put the thing together.
And then subsequently to that we’ve had kind of a rolling programme performances throughout the year from local creatives, from visiting artists from buskers, you know, it’s a place where people meet and play so it has multiple, you know, many multiple functions, many multiple that’s a double, ha ha. And we were told kind of when to in that last a week, you know, it’s gonna get vandalised. And you just have to have hope. Don’t you just have to kind of go for it and think, Well, if you don’t try, you don’t know. And it was graffitied, but it took a year. And it and the local community took it upon themselves to clean the graffiti off, which was amazing. And I was doubly feedback on social media saying, you know, this, this structure is incredible. You know, why are people debasing it? So it has kind of galvanised this kind of level local support, which just shows you got to try these things every year and not kind of be a naysayer.

Kelly Ballard 28:12
No, it’s so true. Well, the work that you’re doing is fantastic on every level. So I’m, I can’t wait to come down to this year’s Glow. And experience it again, because there’s a lot of light festivals out there. But this was fantastic. And what I loved about it was it’s it’s a ticketed event. So there’s a lot more interaction with small numbers of people because you time ticket it. And so there’s lots of things for families to do, where they can interact. I mean, last year, there was two swings in trees. The queues were small so people could get into it. There were puppets behind lit, so you get that silhouette effect behind that kind of lit award, and my kids just went round and played with that. And there were performances from the local college that were like, what do they call them? Like not popups there’s a word flashmob. They’re kind of like all of a sudden just appeared and started playing this music and dance and it was fantastic. And there’s great food there. You know, there were like homemade pizzas being made from from Sprout Social, the vegan cafe. And there was a great bar there. So the atmosphere there really is good. It’s it’s definitely worth travelling down for

Fiona Matthews 29:29
Yes I mean, that’s Paula’s vision. It’s a very interactive festival that you can touch a lot of like festivals, you walk around, and you look this is one way you can look but you can also touch and feel and be part of it and make things happen and it’s very interactive. Definitely. artworks that you play with an amazing one this year. Huge, huge piece that’s been made with young people from Weston South Ward and it’s It premiered in Manchester and now it’s coming to Weston and it’s called In the Balance and local young people were getting involved in welding. And it’s a great big fire artwork. So I want to keep you warm, hopefully.

Kelly Ballard 30:12
So is that in Grove Park because I know that you’ve got installations and light projections and things around the town at the same time.

Fiona Matthews 30:21
The Grove Park is ticketed, there are still tickets left. It just helps us to manage numbers in that smaller space. And then there’s going to be some artworks in the Italian gardens, including an artwork funded by Bristol Water, about the importance of water in our lives that then builds on a project we did with hospital last October and then into Princess Royal Gardens where there’s a lot of kind of playable artworks, and then on the grand pier as well, who were a big supporter of ours, which we did a lot with the Grand Pier they are a wonderful organisation. So yeah, you can have a have a walk. You can see fireworks on the Grand Pier fireworks night. You know, grab some refreshments in Glow village. Yeah, it’s a great evening out.

Kelly Ballard 31:10
Definitely can’t wait. Well, I just want to ask you briefly about how you got where you are today in your career. And any advice that you’ve got for anyone that would be you know, there’s a lot of people out there really interested in the creative arts and how to get ahead and actually get jobs paid jobs. So tell me a little bit about you and what you’d suggest for others.

Fiona Matthews 31:32
Well, I started off in publishing. And then I moved I’ve kind of realised that publishing was a bit too linear for me, I wanted something that was more about you know, people and connection. So I got a job at Sainsbury’s supermarket on that art sponsorship programme, which has now sadly closed this was many years ago. But they, you know, they were in, they put a million pounds a year into the arts, amazing investment really? Yeah, so I worked on that for a number of years and ended up becoming a manager of that programme. You know, hugely, hugely lucky role really and at but the principles of that role are exactly what we do now. It was about kind of excellence which came from the kind of Lord Sainsbury, you know, kind of incredible artists kind of aspects, but then also realising this is something I was very keen on pushing that it had to be accessible because you know, that supermarkets are about people and serving people. So it was again about finding lots of opportunities for local Sainsbury’s stores to put out we had opera going on in Sainsbury’s for years, for example, that the saints, we start on building competency, drama skill. So again, it was all very much hands on, as well as sponsoring really high profile exhibitions, and events and, and all sorts really. So that was, that was an incredible job. And I worked right, right across the country and rights across different art forms.
So it kind of laid the foundations really for the kind of expansive way in which we’re kind of working still. And then I moved down to the southwest, having had children and became the Arts Officer of North Somerset Council. And then Theatre Orchard grew out of that, as I mentioned, and rolled into Super Culture. So yeah, I’ve worked in the arts for a good 30 years now. Very fortunate to have done so.

Top Tips, I think just, you know, it’s, it’s hard. It’s hard work, isn’t it, it’s we’re there now, but for many years, building up Theatre Orchard I worked round the clock, you know, on a kind of, like voluntary basis for a lot of that time. So you just have to have faith in what you’re trying to do, really, if that’s what you want to do, and keep at it, don’t be deterred.

Kelly Ballard 33:53
And link into organisations like yourself, I think, you know, if you’re somebody who’s a young person, or somebody who’s kind of disillusioned with the job, or feeling isolated and have a creative talent and feel that they want to do something with it, it’s Yeah, linking into your organisation and actually trying to do something with it. Yeah,

Fiona Matthews 34:15
absolutely get involved in things and we have an amazing culture maker body who are all volunteers, and they get involved in everything that we do, and we couldn’t do it without them. And they bring just as much to us as we bring to them. And a number of our core team started as volunteers. So that is also a way you know, I think to gain experience and be known and realise what you want to do. Just grab whatever opportunities you can, and don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and ask

Kelly Ballard 34:49
does this I mean, is there a similar organisation to yours in Bristol, and maybe Gloucestershire that you know of?

Fiona Matthews 34:55
Strike a Light in Gloucester who are amazing organisation they have a very strong social focus and programme incredible artists as well. So yeah, when your question about who is similar to us, I would say Strike a Light probably within the region, the ones that perhaps we have most parallels with. I think in Bristol, I mean, it’s incredible organisations aren’t there, but it’s got a very long established cultural history in Bristol. So you’re, you know, you’ve got a lot of building based organisations and kind of people they’ve been around for a long time. So it’s quite a different kind of cultural ecology here. But I mean, we work we work a lot in partnership with an organization’s we’ve done a lot of Bristol Old Vic, we began actually life bring in Bristol Old Vic, shows out to communities, and we still work closely with them on participation and engagement work. We’ve worked with a number of visual arts organisations, we’re involved in a kind of Southwest visual arts programme again, which is about skilling up artists across the southwest region. So yeah, there’s lots of connections if that’s the lovely thing about working in arts, I think there’s a big sense of mutual support, and encourage,

Kelly Ballard 36:06
definitely. I’ve got some questions, just general questions for you that I asked everyone now, Fiona. So what’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Fiona Matthews 36:15
Oh, that’s a good one. My dad always used to say to me, why not? You know, we’d say what should we do suddenly say, why not? And I quite like that, because it’s, it’s about the art of the possible, isn’t it? And I think you’ve got to hang on to that in life, and not be deterred. When something comes to you, I say, why not? And go for it.

Kelly Ballard 36:37
Brilliant. And what do you like to do when you’re not working?

Fiona Matthews 36:44
Well, I love the fact that the Southwest has culture, countryside and coast just sandwiched next to each other. That’s what I really missed when I lived in London. So I love walking. I love getting in the sea when it’s not too cold. I’m not one of the real heart. There are some amazing hardcore swimmers in Weston. I’m not one of them. I’ve managed to over but I do love swimming when I can. I do quite a lot of yoga, to relax from all the many projects that we do, and I do have a bit of the dance. Opportunities to dance get fewer don’t they as you get older.

Kelly Ballard 37:25
Totally. And where is your favourite place to eat and drink in the West? Well,

Fiona Matthews 37:34
in Wesont I’m particularly fond of the Fork and Ale which is one of the pubs that if you come to the exhibition altogether now and it’s up in centre you can see it’s before and after images in done up through the house Jackson’s own work and yes, it’s a really nice pub. It’s a great macaroni cheese and vegetarian chilli and they have a good selection of local beers. So I’d recommend that and Loves cafe and Weston to pay for it as a vegan pace. Anna who runs Loves is amazing. She runs Loves and she runs Sprout in the park in Weston and puts on loads of incredible music events and cultural events, which you can enjoy alongside eating really delicious foods. In Weston they’re my top tips alongside alongside many others you can’t beat the chips shops in Weston, bit of a cliche but they are good. We’ve done a bit chip shops through a chip chat podcast programme about talking to artists and chip shops and it was very hard to separate the quality of the various institutions so I won’t I won’t

Kelly Ballard 38:38
I won’t favour one over another just Weston chips doesn’t matter where you get them from they’re all good. Yeah. Brilliant. And how about your favourite place to visit in the West? Outside of Weston.

Fiona Matthews 38:52
Oh favourite place to visit let me have a thing Wow with my daughters we do love a daytrips to Bath I’d say we like to shop, a bit of a walk along the river really nice pubs to finish the day. That’s not a very original answer.

Kelly Ballard 39:18
no it is honestly you’d be surprised the number of people that don’t say it it but it is. Yeah, it’s like having Venice on our doorstep and it also in some way for ease internationally spectacular.

Fiona Matthews 39:28
Yeah. And it just kind of in the park. I love walking through that park. You know

Kelly Ballard 39:35
the Royal Victoria Park. Yes, yes, yes. And

Fiona Matthews 39:38
the dogs bounding around it feels like something out of 101 Dalmatians I was thinking I was it so I did quite like a day and but it’s still gonna look good.

Kelly Ballard 39:51
Well thank you so much for your time Fiona. It’s been really nice to hear from you. All the best with Super Culture and I’ll see you again soon.

Fiona Matthews 39:59
Thanks a lot. Nice to see you.

Ep.53 Clare Reddington CEO at Watershed Bristol

Ep.53 Clare Reddington CEO at Watershed Bristol

Clare Reddington on skipping school, creativity and financial resilience at Bristol's Watershed.  On today’s podcast, I spoke to Clare Reddington, CEO of the Watershed in Bristol. The Watershed: A Beacon of Cultural InnovationWith over half a million visitors last...

Ep.51 Gloucester Food Dock with owner Sarah Mansfield

Ep.51 Gloucester Food Dock with owner Sarah Mansfield

From Forgotten to Fabulous: The Gloucester Food Dock Story with Sarah Mansfield.  This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in urban regeneration, food tourism, or the transformative power of visionary development. Join us as we uncover the recipe for...

Bristol Zoological Society Logo
Forest Live Logo
Bristol Zoological Society Logo
Visit Cheltenham Logo
Forest of Dean & Wye Valley logo
Westonbirt logo

Subscribe to our Insights

To receive our latest news, updates and podcasts please add your information below. You can unsubscribe at any time.