This afternoon, GlosGeog, Gloucestershire’s local Geographical Association (GA) branch, welcomed 17 schools, largely from the south west of England, to hear Dr Billy Clayton (a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for Human Geography at the University of the West of England [UWE]) talk about ‘Changing places – Banksy and BLM: Cultural change in Bristol‘. Bristol is a case study referenced in many schools at both GCSE and A level. Making sure teachers and students are up-to-date with their place and locational knowledge, as well as encouraging them to consider places from different perspectives are vital.
After the formal welcome, introductions and usual housekeeping, I handed over to Billy. He began by outlining today’s key themes and learning outcomes. Billy explained that place and culture are actually quite intangible concepts and he would attempt to link these to real world places to help us make better sense of them.
He also highlighted the links between GCSE, A level and university, which clearly demonstrated progression.
Next, Billy looked at the city of Bristol through time, before focusing on its contemporary context and issues. There has certainly been plenty of change; from its colonial past to a multi-cultural future.
He then explored culture and place meaning in Bristol from two perspectives, namely the BLM and Colston statue and Banksy, street art and Bristol sound system culture.
Individuals were invited to scan a QR code and add their answers to the questions, ‘What does culture mean?‘ and ‘What culture(s) do you identify with?‘, which they did very willingly.
After commenting on their contributions (which Billy was very impressed by), he provided a number of formal definitions of culture. Billy then talked about place and place meaning in some depth (a key geographical concept), mentioning culture, society, power and intersectionality in the process.
Billy moved on to consider culture and place meaning in Bristol from the first perspective, which covered Bristol as a merchant port, its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, post-war migration, conflict and change: Windrush and St. Paul’s and modern memory, conflict and the Colston debate. To inject an element of interactivity into the session, Billy paused and posed the below questions to the audience.
Afterwards, Billy showcased images and footage relating to the renaming of Colston Hall to the Bristol Beacon, as well as news headlines and articles in conjunction with recent protests within the city.
Billy then explored culture and place meaning in Bristol from the second perspective. This referenced cultures of freedom and resistance in Bristol, the St. Paul’s uprising in 1980, the St. Paul’s Carnival: celebration as resistance, street art, Banksy and protest walls, street art in Bristol – from subculture to city branding, including a couple of poignant short movie clips. Billy paused to gather teachers and students’ thoughts.
Finally, Billy revisited his first slide displaying the key themes and learning outcomes. His slide with the key takeaways clearly visible was particularly valuable to the audience.
His concluding slide shared details about geography courses on offer at the University of the West of England (UWE) and forthcoming open days via a series of QR codes. Details can also be found on Instagram (@environmentgeoguwe). Did you know that the University of the West of England (UWE) is ranked the fifth university in the UK for geography according to The Guardian University Guide 2026?
Attendees had the opportunity to add any questions to the chat feed that they wished Billy to respond to. There were several, suggesting that his talk had stimulated deeper thinking. Billy answered these in turn, both comprehensively and confidently.
Some of their questions can be viewed below:
Why do you think that the BLM movement was the critical moment in Bristol for things like the Colston statue? Why did it not occur previously when the multi-cultural society had been established for a long time?
Do you think the expansion of ‘underground’ culture has been beneficial or detrimental to the city?
How different would Bristol function without the slave trade?
How important do you think that the culture of areas/wards (e.g. St Paul’s) is in comparison to the ‘culture’ of Bristol as a larger area?
How aware do you think the student population of Bristol are of the changing place meanings? How do they interact with it?
Their ‘concluding comments‘ can be read below:
Good insight into Bristol as a Changing Places case study.
Helpful for introducing Bristol context.
Informative, in-depth, comprehensive.
Great insight into Bristol, nice key facts, good use of vocabulary.
Fantastic information, very informative for both GCSE and A level.
Excellent case study detail linked to changing place meanings.
This was a fantastic, inspiring talk about the changing place identity of Bristol. The sections on BLM and intersectionality were particularly interesting.
Thank you, very interesting and making geography real.
This was a fantastic talk. I will show the recording to our Year 12 geography students before our field trip to Bristol in May. Thank you!
Excellent session … some resources – Bristol in 1480 | Map | Historic Town’s Trust – see historic layers in this Bristol map by the Historic Towns Trust; base map on a 1:2500 OS map (1918). Also see detailed 1:10,560 land use maps from 1960s – Second Land Utilisation Survey maps – https://maps.nls.uk/series/second-land-utilisation-survey/ good link to sense of place issues for all our villages, towns and cities.
Thank you very much – an excellent talk and my Year 12 and Year 13 loved it.
This has been very enjoyable and informative. Thank you.
Thank you very much!
Thank you again for today – it was fascinating and hugely valuable.
If you found this speaker session enjoyable, then why not try and zoom into the next one? Information will be distributed and posted on social media feeds shortly.
In the interim, good luck to all those with mock exams looming.