This Nelson Street piece is by Aryz. This is just a taster of an impressive range of art on Nelson Street. The street art was explained extremely well on the Blackbeard to Banksy walking tour - and over a 1,000 5* TripAdvisor reviews are certainly telling it as it is. You can book the tour on the website here….. More Street Art on our way to St Nicholas Market When you move on- if you go in the right direction, you hit a whole lot more street art. You also see plenty of historical architecture stuff in between like the Corn Exchange nails. Moving on we come to something pretty impressive. On the edge of Castle Park is the former Norwich Union and Bank of England building. Here is a major work by Hazard One.

Every Women (Hazard One, 2022)

This piece reflects on the statistic that 97% of women say that they have experienced sexual harassment at some time.

Vibrant street art and more

The amazing thing about our walking tour was it was not just about street art. Indeed it offered those who wanted it a great general introduction to Bristol and it’s history. However the 28+ people on our walking tour were clearly all pretty keen to hear about the street art. Our guide had huge knowledge and spoke with both humour and authority, that only someone who knew his city, both ancient and modern could. If you are visiting Bristol then this tour is certainly well worth doing. Blackbeard to Banksy walking tour: Details here…. Public art of Bristol blog here……

A two hour walking tour experience

As we run a walking tour business in Birmingham it was fun to book on a tour of Bristol city centre. The ‘Blackbeard to Banksy’ Bristol tour starts at College Green in front of the Cathedral. Our guide was Luke, and he had his hands full when we arrived with a full tour and people trying to turn up ‘on the door’. He was clearly used to all that hit him, and entertained us while we waited for the last few people to join. College Green itself has some interesting public art including stone carvings on ancient doorways and more recent additions on the Council House completed after the Second World War. Soon we were heading for Banksy’s Well-Hung Lover (2006), on the side of the sexual health clinic at the bottom of Park Street. Luke told us how Banksy had scaffolding erected to undertake the piece covertly. Moving on we came to Spartacus by street artist JPS. It remembers the actor Andy Whitfield, who died aged 39 in 2011. This is located in Frogmore Street and if you move the wheelie bins around a bit you will find a JPS cat as well.

Colston Plinth

The missing statue of Edward Colston was a time to reflect on the history of Bristol. A poignant part of the tour, and handled extremely well by the guide. Visitors may not appreciate just how much feeling had been building about the statue over the years, and this was presented in a way that no matter your political background you are not going to be affronted. Luke also brought closure on this part of a tour - sort of making it clear we were not lingering on the darker side of Bristol’s past for too long.

Nelson Street Art

The ‘See No Evil’ festival of 2011 was the predessor of Upfest.

Triangle - Upmarket Street Art

We also saw the celebration of 650 years of independence of Bristol, with shopfronts around the Triangle and Queens Road painted in July 2023. The artists painted in a Renaissance style.

Street Art of Bristol

By Jonathan Berg Jonathan experiences a walking tour of Bristol city centre. It becomes a fantastic voyage of discovery of the public art all around the city centre.