{"product_id":"bristol-by-heart","title":"Bristol By Heart: Harbour Secrets, Hill Runs \u0026 Honest Stories from a City That Argues With Itself","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBristol is the only city I know that spends this much time arguing about what it is.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot in a bad way. It's the sport here. Whether it's still affordable. Whether the harbour got ruined or saved. Whether Stokes Croft is brilliant or exhausting. Whether the Clean Air Zone was necessary or a stitch-up. Everyone has a position and everyone has a mate with the opposite one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a book by someone who lives in the middle of that and loves it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat it's not\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt isn't a list of things to do at the Suspension Bridge. You know about the bridge. You can see the bridge from most of the city, which is rather the point of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat you actually get\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe version people who live here would tell you over a pint, if you asked properly. Where to be during Fiesta week that isn't Ashton Court in a two-hour queue. Which harbourside places are for you and which are for stag parties. What the hills do to your legs and which routes avoid the worst of them. Where the good bit of St Nicholas Market actually is.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align:center;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/cart\/57937688953214:1\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:#6b2733;color:#ffffff;padding:16px 40px;border-radius:6px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:17px;\"\u003eGet Bristol By Heart, £9.97 (was £19.99)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align:center;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eInstant download. Read on phone, tablet or print it. Free updates for life.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0942\/8218\/7134\/files\/bristol-spread.jpg?v=1788024880\" alt=\"Two-page spread from the Fiesta chapter\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe August thing\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Balloon Fiesta ran 7 to 9 August this year, its 48th, free as ever, over a hundred balloons out of Ashton Court. It nearly didn't survive the last few years, and the Ashton Court agreement signed with the council in late 2025 is the reason it's still standing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere's a chapter on the mass ascents, and on the thing every Bristolian knows and no visitor does, which is that the best place to watch is nowhere near the site.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAnd the Clean Air Zone\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRunning twenty-four hours, every day, cameras at every entry point, no barriers and nothing to tell you you've crossed. People get charged without realising they were in it. There's a straight chapter on the boundary, who pays, who doesn't, and where the traps are for anyone driving in from out of town or moving here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eInside\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArea by area, without the estate agent voice.\u003c\/strong\u003e Clifton, Bedminster, Southville, Easton, Montpelier, St Pauls, Bishopston, Totterdown. What each is actually like to live in, and what you pay for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe harbour, properly.\u003c\/strong\u003e Working history, the walk that shows you the good half, and the bit almost everyone misses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe city's difficult history,\u003c\/strong\u003e handled seriously and without either flinching or performing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStreet art beyond the obvious.\u003c\/strong\u003e Upfest's legacy, and which walls are worth crossing town for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCider, and the argument about it.\u003c\/strong\u003e Where to drink it properly, and where you'll regret it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGreen spaces that aren't the Downs.\u003c\/strong\u003e With the routes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMoving here.\u003c\/strong\u003e Schools, parking permits, the hill problem nobody warns you about, and the honest version of what a house costs now.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe spot.\u003c\/strong\u003e One place, held back to the last chapter, with exact directions and the time of day it works.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFree updates for life\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eZone boundaries, festivals and openings all move. Buy once, get every revision free, permanently.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBristol won't try to impress you. It'll just quietly assume you'll work it out, and think slightly less of you if you don't.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align:center;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/cart\/57937688953214:1\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:#6b2733;color:#ffffff;padding:16px 40px;border-radius:6px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold;font-size:17px;\"\u003eGet Bristol By Heart, £9.97 (was £19.99)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align:center;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eInstant download. Read on phone, tablet or print it. Free updates for life.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Roots \u0026 Routes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57937688953214,"sku":null,"price":9.97,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0942\/8218\/7134\/files\/t-e-x-t_-t-o_-i-m-a-g-e-1b0b58d4-62e7-4cbb-ad66-4675045074de.png?v=1788024879","url":"https:\/\/rootsand-routes.com\/products\/bristol-by-heart","provider":"Roots \u0026 Routes","version":"1.0","type":"link"}