day 0: the gloucester road blog series

Everyone who makes a personal blog succumbs to the problem of either having no ideas, or no time to actually post. I myself have had a previous iteration of this website fall into the neglected pit of blogs, and I'm determined for that to not happen again (don't look at when my last post was). Fortunately, I've been blessed with an idea for a Blog Series, that will keep me full of ideas, removing the biggest hurdle I have to posting.

This series, as you'll see, is very reliant on me being physically in Bristol, and ironically enough I am miles away right now. A writing retreat in Oxford with one of my good friends has given me magical writing powers, meaning I've finished my academic work much quicker than expected. I have no excuse to write this blog. So today, I'm going to set out what this flashy new series will entail!

I'm going to go to every single shop on Gloucester Road. Yes, all of them.

For those alien to Bristol, we have a rather long road called Gloucester Road. I'm serious when I call it long. I've never walked up (or down!) the entirety of it myself, though I suspect it would take a while. Anyways, most of Gloucester Road contains shops. All sorts. There's lots of really lovely independent places, but also some chains and the like. I've been to a lot of them, and now I'm going to go to all of them!

Before I embark on this, there's a few rules to set out. Firstly, I will only count until the bottom of Gloucester Road. I used to think that Gloucester Road extended until the bearpit, but that's not true. If this series is successful, I'll likely extend through Cheltenham Road and down to the bearpit, but I'll leave that off the table for now. Secondly, if I can enter an establishment and talk to someone about a substantial topic related to their business without the appointment, I must go. Annoyingly, this includes places like the various lettings agents. My current strategy is to just ask them to show me a random house, and I'll nod approvingly at it for a few minutes. I don't have to buy anything from places like this (otherwise this series would bankrupt me). Thirdly, if the establishment sells food, I must buy some. I'm not introducing rules about how much I must buy, just that I must buy some food. I'm not going reinvent the COVID-era 'substantial meal' rules. Fourthly, each establishment is equivalent to one blog post. I told you this will be a long series. I can go to two (or more) places during the same day, or within the same trip, but they must have separate blog posts. Apologies in advance for any boring posts. Finally, I've got to go to the shops in order. I'll start at the top (which means our first three are all corner shops).

Now that's all laid out, keep your eyes open for my first visit!