Is Turbo Island the last bastion of freedom? Stokes Croft, Bristol
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 เม.ย. 2023
- After a random chat with a girl working at a cafe in Bristol about a place called 'Turbo Island' I set off to find out what it was all about....
For some people Turbo Island is 'an iconic representation of counter-culture Bristol' and for others 'a lawless and dangerous focal point for anti-social behaviour'.
Is Turbo Island Stoke Croft's last bastion of Freedom? You decide....
APOLOGIES FOR SOME OF THE SOUND...TRAFFIC NOISE AND WIND!
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Had many an interesting nights at turbo island.
I’ve lived in stokes Croft as a student for the last 3 years so probably part of the problem but have loved the sense of freedom that turbo island can provide.
One night we saw a firework display being set off their, another saw a group of trumpet players, but the best was when we spilled out of the cafe nightclub across the street.
Their was crazy music playing and it was as the lady describes, a bunch of ravers and lost people just hanging out. Yeah their was drug users there, a lady who stole a handbag came and the police just walked past everyone and arrested her. Didn’t do anything about all the people drinking and doing drugs.
If you go to turbo island here’s some tips
• don’t go alone (it is dangerous, despite what locals say, some of the ppl their are drug dealers, violent criminals and desperate junkies) I actually had a friend who nearly got kidnapped there when she went alone, so go with a group.
• make sure you have a means of exit fast, voi pass is good so you can hop on a scooter and make a fast exit if things start getting hairy (group fights we’re not uncommon)
• don’t buy drugs at turbo island, take them by all means if that’s your thing but don’t by them their. Often the dealers will just steal your money and not give you drugs (I had a friend who attempted to buy laughing balloons their and got his wallet out, guy snatched his wallet and ran off into the council block)
Do go to turbo island, it can be a very interesting experience but please don’t be an idiot, respect the locals and try to protect yourself.
Remember turbo island isn’t an organised club event or a house party. You are on a street, a very dodgy one. Not everyone is there to have a good time.
You met the Guardians of the sacred fire but failed to answer their riddles correctly so were turned back .
Bless up brother good to meet you Nice Video I enjoyed your perspective ,
Cheers Brother
Turbo Island, named after a brand of local ultra cheap cider known as 'Turbo'.
Cheers Jeff, love that info
You would definitely had a different response from the people you wanted to interview if you would have approached them without the camera on. I reckon the majority of people are OK to be filmed if you have a chat before and tell them the intentions of filming them to have chat. I'd imagine if you went up to a family having a BBQ in the park on a summer day you would get a similar response. All the best
SLOAP is short for Space Left Over After Planning
Cheers Dan
Saw two dishevelled chaps going for it outside the cafe/community hub, one had a carving knife and the other a broken wine bottle! Anyone remember the junk shop about 15 yards away?
It's not the type of freedom that you'd take your kids with you to celebrate and although it is for everyone , many people don't like an environment where the safeguards are removed , where big Brother and Nanny don't manage the culture and where the wild things are allowed to growl and grow freely. Freedom isn't a middleclass picnic with guest speakers and a load of virtue signalling about inclusion, it's lawless , it's personalities that don't consider what's appropriate or how they are perceived and weighed by someone else's moral compass. I could see in moments during the film you were less comfortable when there was someone around you that might be described as unpredictable , someone acting freely without the social etiquette and consideration for others feelings that was far more interested and occupied in their own narrative than observing or contributing to yours. Stokes croft has a history of staging a culture of non conformity and has been a home to many people who either consider themselves or would wish to be outside of mainstream society . a place where Law and law makers are seen as the scum as opposed to the homeless, alcoholics, addicts and mentally ill that so many other Uk cultures give that label to . starting at the bear pit and going up to the arches it was for many years a sort of no mans land for businesses and commerce . For the larger part of the 80's through to the 2010's there as more unoccupied abandoned and derelict buildings and structures than there were businesses and homes. You could think of it as a long roofless , traffic bearing squat answerable only to itself culturally and basing itself on itself and not something else . The last 40 years which is what I know a little about started in the political era of thatcher and the mass unemployment of the mid to late eighties. People were skint , angry faced and with a culture that rewarded only the rich and championed capitalism . Back then people were much harder to keep indoors with no internet and multiple devices to glue them to their sofas , Life was lived a lot more outside and for city folk that meant on the streets . The bear pit became a kind of unemployed persons social hub where the politically minded anarchists and anti tory disempowered working class found community with the street drinkers , addicts those just wishing to get numb and then there was the activists and new age travellers who used it as a meeting point in-between sites and festivals. Those all in their own ways looking and fighting for a sense of freedom outside of the conservative governments expectations of what a citizen of England under it's control should be. As much as a place of freedom it was a continual gathering of opposition for those who felt their freedoms being regulated and stolen away . Freedom isn't a happy jamboree it's more often than not a fight and a right though inherently we are born with , one that most of have to tussle and grab to take and hold to be our own. Turbo Island or piss heads corner is/was as the lady said one of the last remaining piles of all the broken bits and scraps that once an entire district of Bristol City was made of . gentrification and a well meaning but often soppy labour council first diluted then moved people and things around carefully hedging off and revamping pieces bit by bit , so as when people returned what they had known was then gone . It now looks and pretty much feels the same as any other off centre independent shopping street anywhere in the UK . Sure there's still the tokens , the commissioned graffiti pieces , The ironic accents of disorder but the days of those who object and stand up for action and movements opposing government and the rules they enforce , having an open air forum in which to legally gather, drink , party and plan are unfortunately gone and gone forever. Anywhere with even the slightest of archaic, anarchistic free thinking community's taking hold and gaining ground here in the UK are stamped upon , wrapped in new overnight rules made in midnight courtrooms and shut to the public with fence and chain. Stokes Croft and the story of what is was is an echo many are familiar with in the Uk presently , that being one of a time where resistance, protesting and disagreeing with those in power and their actions was our right and part of British Culture . Now were reduced to griping in comment sections and on forums online and even that looks to have its end on the horizon. Anyway Nice one for walking the block and asking some questions it will soon be forgotten and your instincts weren't wrong just about a decade late . take care.
Wonderfully written and right on the money.
@@Reesycle Thanks for taking the time to read it .
God. Too much for me got about half way though so hats off to me
Really nicely filmed. But for the rest of the picture about Turbo Island you need to go back at night, about 5am/6am. The fires keep the community going then and it becomes a meld of the ravers and the homeless community.
It's a place that will always welcome you.
Thanks very much. I'll pop back there in the evening to check it out in the future
I really enjoyed watching this. Thankyou.
You’re welcome, thanks for the watch 🙌
Turbo is white cider its extremely cheap for the percentage of alcohol.
Love this. Respectful, honest and interesting.
I appreciate that mate!
“Free spirit” “bastion” “political groups” “don’t film me” isn’t that just posh words for “I’m rich and alcoholic please film me”
What happened to the Corsham visit you did..
That was posted onto my instagram account. Pop over and take a look
It's on my bucket list.
ahh yeah...it has to be seen, thats for sure...
It's were you go to get into a argument and catch hepititus
Free spirit - lots of FREE stuff - for FREE LOADERS
Best believe I got a good fire going there tonight
Some may laugh joke and look down on Turbo island/Stokes Croft/St Pauls and the freedom it has/had, but much like freedom you only miss it and appreciate it when it's gone......the Riot happend in 2011, and was actually started because of a "squat" being broken up across the road from Tesco, as the new Tesco was being opened it stood for the start of gentrification in the area. You got there too late.
So is freedom rioting if something happens you don't want?
OK if you like abuse and Insuits most of the time.
I was told turbo island was named after the gut rot white lighting drinkers hung out at. ? 🤷!!
Cheers Paul, Someone else mentioned it's named after turbo cider?