Sunday 26 November 2017

More of Reece Winstone-Bristol and Somerset-Vanishing Lives

Recent mention of Reece Winstone on this Blog has reminded me that a further book of his work is readily available-quite apart from his many compilations of historical work regarding the Bristol scene.

The new acquisition is titled  Bristol & Somerset- Vanishing Lives, compiled by John Winstone, which covers the 'lost' trades and scenes of the area during and after the last war. To me this book is a nostalgic revelation of the Bristol I recall when Naval vessels and Cargo ships were able to access the then City Centre and submarines were moored alongside the shops and churches. Sadly, this was made possible by combinations of bridge opening, traffic hold ups, and lock gates-all anathema to 'planners' and no longer physically possible. In the General Hospital boatloads of sand were moored under the windows, which certainly took one's mind off the loss of tonsils also involved, and dock trains ran below the wards.

The pictures cover the years between 1930's and the 1960's with lost scenes of town and country taken in the Reece Winstone style which always involved exceptional use of natural lighting. Comprehensive notes are included both on the pictures and the photographer but the emphasis is more on the historic scenes recorded than on West of England photography which was dealt with so well in the last of his books noted in this Blog.

The book is published by  Reece Winstone Archive under ISBN 978-0-900814-77-8 in horizontal format size 270mm x 210mm and is available by contacting  www.reecewinstonearchive