Christina Hollis: Happy Valentine's Day!

You can find out more here

This is an extra-special Valentine’s Day for me, as my lovely husband is taking me out to dinner this evening. The most romantic night of the year is going to be combined with an early celebration, as  my non-fiction book about women’s lives between 1850 and 1950, Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol, is going to be published by Pen and Sword Books on the 28^th February.  You can find out more about it here, but to whet your appetite here’s the story of a woman from Bristol who really knew the meaning of love…

The happy couple, Clara and Kennerley.
(Pic via Wikimedia commons)

Dame Clara Butt (1872–1936) was an international singing sensation. Her early life was full of romance. Her father was a sea captain, and her parents had eloped. They moved to Bristol in 1880, when Clara was 8 years old and settled at 3, Sydney Terrace, Totterdown. Clara was educated at South Bristol High School where her singing ability was soon noticed. She took lessons with local teacher Daniel Rootham, who told her: ‘you have gold in your throat, my child’. Clara left Bristol in 1890 to take up a scholarship at the Royal College of Music in London. Her powerful contralto voice was outstanding, and during her time at the college she spent some months studying in Italy, sponsored by Queen Victoria. Clara soon became a popular recitalist and concert singer. The Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra) would ask Clara to sing whenever they met – even on one occasion in a shop in Baker Street, London! 

Clara persuaded Edward Elgar to transpose his Sea Pictures song cycle into a key suitable for her contralto range. The premier was on 5 October 1899 at the Norfolk and Norwich festival, with Elgar conducting and Clara, who was 6 ft 2 in tall, dressed as a mermaid. 

Bristol Cathedral (Pic via Pixabay)

Despite her huge fame, Clara never forgot her roots in Bristol. She returned to visit her parents often, and to perform in the city. One of her fellow artistes, bass baritone Robert Kennerley Rumford, would write little love notes on her musical score. While they were performing a piece called The Keys of Heaven, Clara turned a page to find Robert’s marriage proposal written on her sheet music. She accepted. As such a well-loved national celebrity, Clara was offered the chance to marry in St Paul’s Cathedral. She chose Bristol Cathedral instead. It was the first wedding to be held there in a century, so 26 June 1900 was very special for Bristol. Everyone was given the day off, and all the national newspapers covered the event. The city presented Clara with a diamond brooch including the initials CB for both Clara Butt and City of Bristol, and Ivor Novello (later a famous composer and actor) was a little page boy. In 1920, Clara became the first British female musician to become

Pic via Pixabay

an honorary dame. 

As well as many other world-famous performers, Bristol was home to women who became important reformers, intellectuals, activists, and politicians.  Between them, they improved life and the conditions in which everyone lived and worked—not only in their own city, but across the world.  Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol tells their story.

As well as non-fiction, Christina Hollis writes contemporary fiction starring complex men and independent women. She has written more than twenty novels, sold nearly three million books, and her work has been translated into twenty different languages. When she isn’t writing, Christina is cooking, walking her dog, or gardening.

You can catch up with her at https://christinahollisbooks.online, on Twitter, Facebook, and see a full list of her published books at christinahollis.com

Christina Hollis: A Wartime Miracle

Yer tis, as we say in Bristol.

I’m on the final draft of my major non-fiction project, Struggle and Suffrage: Women’s Lives in Bristol, 1850-1950. Last month I stayed in Bristol for a week on a research retreat. Much as I love my family (and the pets), this was a chance to do nothing but think about my work-in-progress from first thing in the morning to last thing at night. I spent days without needing to worry about getting the washing or housework done. I didn't have to do any cooking, and there were no last-minute games of hunt the missing item of school uniform/gym kit/keys, etc. etc. etc.  For someone who loves their job as much as I do, that week was the ultimate in “me” time.

The first thing on my "to-do" list was something I hadn't quite managed on my previous research trips to Bristol. It meant crossing the city to St Mary Redcliffe church in search of a modern legend. St Mary Redcliffe is the building Elizabeth the First called "the fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England". At 292 feet (89 metres) high, its spire is a landmark that can be seen for miles. 

I tried visiting on the last day of my trip during the summer, but the day was hot and sunny. By the time I reached the monument I was looking for it was surrounded by church staff, local people and tourists, all enjoying picnic lunches in the sun. 

Thank Goodness For Low-Rise Living...

What a difference a few weeks made. This time, autumn leaves were falling. I arrived in a light drizzle. The place was deserted. As I walked across the grass to Bristol’s Miraculous Tram Rail, the rain stopped and I was able to take these photographs.

During the Second World War, Bristol was bombed heavily by the Nazis. Not only were the city’s docks a major target, Spitfire engines were manufactured in the Filton factories of Rolls-Royce. These were only a few miles from the city centre. Bombers carried out raid after raid to try and put both Bristol and its aero engine works out of action forever. 

On Good Friday, 1941, one bomb exploded in Redcliffe Street, which runs directly behind the ancient church of St Mary Redcliffe. In those days trams were the city’s major form of public transport. They ran on iron rails, one of which was thrown high into the air. As luck would have it, the airborne tram rail somersaulted over the lowest roof in Redcliffe Street. It missed the house completely before embedding itself to half its length where it landed in the church grounds.

The Dedication

Had the house that rail hurdled been the same height as its neighbours, it would have carved off the top storey. If the eight-foot-long piece of solid metal had flown only a few yards further, it would have smashed into the church. Either way, many people would have been killed by flying debris. 

It was such a miraculous escape, the tram rail was left where it fell as a permanent memorial to a very close shave. In the week when all our town and village memorials are covered in poppies in remembrance of the fallen, it makes you think of the dangers suffered by civilians on the Home Front, as it was called.

Does your town have any stories of a lucky escape?

In addition to local history, Christina Hollis writes contemporary fiction starring complex men and independent women. She has written six historical novels, eighteen contemporary novels, sold nearly three million books, and her work has been translated into twenty different languages. When she isn’t writing, Christina is cooking, gardening, walking her dog, or beekeeping.

Catch up with her at http://www.christinahollis.blogspot.com, on Twitter, Facebook, and see a full list of her published books at christinahollis.com

Her current fiction release, Heart Of A Hostage, is published by The Wild Rose Press and available at myBook.to/HeartOfAHostage  worldwide.

Christina Hollis—Research: It's A Tough Job...

Bristol Docks, via Pixabay

...but somebody has to do it.

I spent last week in Bristol, laying the groundwork for my next book, Women’s Lives In Bristol, 1850-1950. I was born six miles outside the city, and worked at its financial heart for fifteen years. It’s changed so much since I moved across the Severn to live in rural Gloucestershire, I hardly recognised the place. 

Once I’d checked into my hotel and got out onto the streets, I had a bit of a wobble. What on earth had I done? Everywhere looked so different, and I no longer had any contacts in the area. Luckily, some things don’t change. Bristolians are as friendly now as they always were. The first person I asked told me to follow the Blue-Signed Path (as opposed to the Yellow Brick Road) to the old bond warehouse which now houses the Bristol archives. That made me nervous for a different reason. The places around what’s known in the local lingo as the Float Narbour (Floating Harbour) used to be avoided by lone women, unless they were on “business”. 

I was in for another surprise—the whole dockland area has been transformed. It now has sunny plazas, and the water is hemmed with smart apartments. Little front gardens spill flowers onto a wide, level walkway. 

Designed by Brunel (with a little help from Sarah Guppy)
via Pixabay

The Bristol archive was exactly two miles from my hotel room, door-to-door. The weather was glorious, so the walk was easy. It was also safe, although I had to keep an eye out for cyclists and skateboarders. 

I set out on that first morning with only one problem left to solve. As I love food so much, it was a biggie. In the whole of my walk I’d only seen one place serving food of a kind I fancied eating for the whole week. Yes, there were plenty of KFC’s, Macdonalds, Pizza Expresses and the rest, but I only eat that kind of thing once or twice a year, as a treat. The rest of the time, we live on local, seasonal, home-cooked food. Eating out usually means the one or two local places that serve food of the sort I’d cook for myself and my family, if only I had the time. I’m funny that way!

Find out more at http://www.cafecreate.uk.com

It looked like I’d be existing on supermarket snacks, and visits to a teeny-tiny vegan pop-up, next to an enormous and very busy shisha lounge. That didn’t appeal at all, but I needn’t have worried.  When I pushed open the door of the B Bond warehouse, it opened into a small café serving fresh, local vegetarian food. I’m a carnivore, but as the daughter of a market gardener I was brought up to love vegetables and fruit in all their variety. A place where I could work and eat home-cooked food without doing the washing up, all under the same roof? I was in heaven.

Above, you can see a picture posted on social media by the chef. I wasn’t entirely sure about her green-pea-and-vanilla sponge cake (centre back of the pic), though. Peas in cake? That took some thinking about. I mean, beneath its frosting, that cake was green. Green cake? 

The other customers weren’t so squeamish. By the time I’d plucked up the courage to try some, the whole cake had been eaten. They said it was delicious. More fool me, for dithering!

When she isn't cooking, gardening or beekeeping, Christina Hollis writes contemporary fiction starring complex men and independent women.  Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and she’s sold nearly three million books worldwide. Catch up with her at http://www.christinahollis.blogspot.com, on Twitter, Facebook, and see a full list of her published books at christinahollis.com

Her current release, Heart Of A Hostage, is published by The Wild Rose Press and available at myBook.to/HeartOfAHostage  worldwide.