Venue Location:

BRISTOL 1904 ARTS

The Red Lodge (but adjacent to the right)

Park Row

Bristol

BS1  5LJ

Thursday 24th September, 2026   - LET's TALK

Our speaker at the September LET'S TALK is Gordon Young, who is Chairman of the Blue Plaques Panel of Bristol Civic Society and a volunteer tour-guide at the Clifton Suspension Bridge and Community Assessor for Bristol and region Civic Trust Architectural Awards. 

Bristol’s Blue Plaques are understated little discs on facades, but they are big on narrative, commemorating notable people and places where important events with enduring outcomes occurred. They endow a building with a biography and speak of a life lived behind that facade. Plaques recently installed include those for women’s suffrage, social reformers and progressive Quakers.

This promises to be another amazing presentation on a little-known subject and a worthy contribution to our on-going LET'S TALK series.

No bookings are required for this talk - just turn up and pay at the bar area on arrival. Guests and non-members are welcome!

A must-see!!  👍

Bristol 1904 Arts presents
Martin Kiszko: Bayeux Tapestry - The Epic Poem

About this event:

The worlds’ first epic poem about the Bayeux Tapestry.

To celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the birth of William the Conqueror and the arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in the UK, the ‘UK’s Green Poet’ Martin Kiszko performs his new poem Bayeux Tapestry – The Epic Poem, the world’s first epic poem about the tapestry. Martin will also give a talk on the tapestry’s history and the unanswered questions about some of its most mysterious scenes. 

‘History, just the way I like it.’ Sir Tony Robinson.

‘A skilful and enjoyable poetic representation of the world’s most famous tapestry.’ Professor Ronald Hutton.

Martin is a composer, eco-poet, and author of eight books. He is fondly known around the world as the ‘UK’s Green Poet’. His one man-show, based on his Green Poems for a Blue Planet and Verse for the Earth collections, illustrated by Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, has been performed from Los Angeles to China, Dubai to India, and from the Edinburgh Fringe to the Royal Albert Hall.

His book King Frank & the Knights of the Ecoquest was the world’s first epic eco-poem and was performed with a cast of sixteen in Dubai as well as being broadcast in the UK as a podcast and fifteen-part series on Fun Kids radio station. Starring Toyah Willcox, it won Bronze Award for Best Children/Young Adult Programme at the New York Radio Festival. His other books include his fun poetry primer Inversebrates, an autobiography Major and Minor Adventures in Lah Lah Land which was republished by Pegasus, his poetry collection Heartchery, and a novel The Great Riverbank Robbery. 

.Tickets are just £12 for members and £15 for guests.

Yes, this event is open to both club members and the public but we are a small intimate venue - just 140 seats, so tickets are on a first come, first served basis.

This event will take place in our iconic Performance Hall within the Red Lodge, Park Row BS1 5LJ.

Doors Open: Through the Knot Garden (in Lodge Street) from 7:00pm on Friday, 2nd October, 2026.

Performance starts: 7:30 pm

Dress code: Smart Casual

Bar: Serving beers, wines, spirits and non-alcoholic drinks

Tickets are available now from:

>> eventbrite <<

Members can also purchase directly from our Heming Bar! on
any Wed - Fri (10AM-4PM) ... check with Shane beforehand.



Check out this YouTube video clip below !! 💖💖💖

Bristol 1904 Arts presents
Kate McNab: Doris (The Girl Next Door)

About this event:

Doris (The Girl Next Door)

Everyone's heard of Doris Day and will probably know some of her hit songs. She was, after all, America's leading singer of the 1950s. But how many can say they know anything about her life story?

Returning to Bristol 1904 Arts, Kate McNab is accompanied by Mike Akers to perform Doris (The Girl Next Door), in which she looks back on her meteoric rise and extraordinary career in contrast with her somewhat chaotic personal life.

It’s 1975 and Doris has an hour before she gets ready to meet Barry. Barry, her new… beau? boyfriend?

"McNab's goosebump delivery of this singer's incredible back catalogue cements proceedings alongside Mike Akers, who delivers first-class, steadfast performances as her numerous husbands. An unmissable, sentimental journey indeed!"
-Online review from A Joyce

Tickets are just £16 for members and £20 for guests.

Yes, this event is open to both club members and the public but we are a small intimate venue - just 140 seats, so tickets are on a first come, first served basis.

This event will take place in our iconic Performance Hall within the Red Lodge, Park Row BS1 5LJ.

Doors Open: Through the Knot Garden (in Lodge Street) from 7:00pm on Friday, 23rd October, 2026.

Performance starts: 7:30 pm

Dress code: Smart Casual

Bar: Serving beers, wines, spirits and non-alcoholic drinks

Tickets are available now from:

>> eventbrite <<

Members can also purchase directly from our Heming Bar! on
any Wed - Fri (10AM-4PM) ... check with Shane beforehand.

Venue Location:

BRISTOL 1904 ARTS

The Red Lodge (but adjacent to the right)

Park Row

Bristol

BS1  5LJ

Thursday 29th October, 2026   - LET's TALK

Our speaker at the October LET'S TALK is Hamilton "Cass" Caswell, an inspiring local historian who has recently rejoined us as a Blue Feather. He previously delivered a LET'S TALK about the Christmas Steps area towards Park Street and will also be performing at 1904 on 13th November with the talented jazz ensemble Sinead McCabe & her Celebrity Sinnermen.

Hamilton Caswell has passionately gathered old maps, photographs and accounts to illustrate the history of this fascinating complex and its trams and routes. It is only 80 yards from the Red Lodge, was built in 1875 and was run by Bristol Tramways Company under Britain's transport pioneer, Sir George White. Hamilton will bring it all back to life with his lively slide show and narration.

This promises to be another superb presentation on a little-known local subject and a worthy contribution to our on-going LET'S TALK series.

No bookings are required for this talk - just turn up and pay at the bar area on arrival. Guests and non-members are welcome!

A must-see!!  👍

Bristol 1904 Arts presents Moscow Drug Club

About this event:

Moscow Drug Club - named after a BB Gabor song about an underground Jazz club during the cold war...

BRISTOL 1904 ARTS is delighted to welcome Moscow Drug Club - Transcendent Troubadours of World Jazz and Folk Music.

Performing jazz, French musette, Latin Grooves and New Orleans swing, Moscow Drug Club combine their original material with songs by the likes of Jacques Brel, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Eartha Kitt to deliver an intoxicating and intimate musical experience.

‘When they play for fun, they go for it full- heartedly, setting the pulse racing and the toes tapping; they deflate pomposity with a twinkle of the eye and when life is difficult, they tell the story exactly as it is’.

— The Jazzman 

For one night only, Moscow Drug Club come to Bristol 1904 Arts for what promises to be an evening full of original, evocative and inspiring music. A night truly not to be missed!

Tickets are just £18 for members and £22 for guests.

Yes, this event is open to both club members and the public but we are a small intimate venue - just 140 seats, so tickets are on a first come, first served basis.

This event will take place in our iconic Performance Hall within the Red Lodge, Park Row BS1 5LJ.

Doors Open: Through the Knot Garden (in Lodge Street) from 7:00pm on Thursday, 29th October, 2026.

Performance starts: 7:30 pm

Dress code: Smart Casual

Bar: Serving beers, wines, spirits and non-alcoholic drinks

Tickets are available now from:

>> eventbrite <<

Members can also purchase directly from our Heming Bar! on
any Wed - Fri (10AM-4PM) ... check with Shane beforehand.



Check out this YouTube video clip below !! 💖💖💖

Bristol 1904 Arts presents
Martin Kiszko: The 'UK's Green Poet'

About this event:

Martin Kiszko performs poems from his Green Poems for a Blue Planet and Heartchery collections, with a musical interlude performed by Colin Smith.

Green Poems for a Blue Planet and its sequel Verse for the Earth were the world’s first two collections of eco-poetry for a family readership. The poems, illustrated by Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, have helped a new generation (whilst elbow nudging the old one!) to understand and grasp the challenges ahead and encourage the search for solutions that can create a sustainable environment for all. 

Heartchery is a homophone for archery, a sport in which some arrows hit the target and others don’t. Martin fires off a quiver of verse exploring subjects that have hit his heart’s bullseye! The poems are based on the theme of love – in relationships, the family, community, or a love of places, pursuits, flora and fauna. They also cover the loss of love, mental health, and experiences of brokenness – something that can surprisingly transform us for the better. 

"A poet can also love a pithy narrative, an amusing anecdote, a social issue or situation that suddenly presents itself as ripe for verse, or simply have a love affair with words. Heartchery also gives a nod to my eco-poetry and my belief in the power of poetry to serve and save the planet."

– Martin Kiszko

Martin is a composer, eco-poet, and author of eight books. He is fondly known around the world as the ‘UK’s Green Poet’. His one-man show, based on his Green Poems for a Blue Planet and Verse for the Earth collections has been performed from Los Angeles to China, Dubai to India, and from the Edinburgh Fringe to the Royal Albert Hall. He has composed over 200 film scores, released nine albums with Europe’s finest orchestras, and was awarded a Composer of the Year Award by the Ivors Academy. His oeuvre includes well-known BBC TV themes such as Newsround, Wildlife on Two, The Natural World, Omnibus, Food and Drink, as well as over 160 natural history film scores, many of them working alongside Sir David Attenborough.

Colin Smith began his career as a professional musician at the age of sixteen, after attending the London College of Music. He has had TV appearances with Aled Jones and worked with the rock band Circus, recording 3 albums including the theme music for the ‘Big Breakfast’. He has also composed for the storyboard of the TV series Shaun the Sheep. Colin’s theatre work includes music composed for The Provoked Wife and Three Anti Brexit Shows. He currently plays for the improvised comedy show Instant Wit, a pop soul band The Regz and gives many solo performances in jazz, classical, and pop.

Tickets are just £12 for members and £15 for guests.

Yes, this event is open to both club members and the public but we are a small intimate venue - just 140 seats, so tickets are on a first come, first served basis.

This event will take place in our iconic Performance Hall within the Red Lodge, Park Row BS1 5LJ.

Doors Open: Through the Knot Garden (in Lodge Street) from 7:00pm on Friday, 6th November, 2026.

Performance starts: 7:30 pm

Dress code: Smart Casual

Bar: Serving beers, wines, spirits and non-alcoholic drinks

Tickets are available now from:

>> eventbrite <<

Members can also purchase directly from our Heming Bar! on
any Wed - Fri (10AM-4PM) ... check with Shane beforehand.



Check out this YouTube video clip below !! 💖💖💖

Bristol 1904 Arts presents
Sinead McCabe & her Celebrity Sinnermen

About this event:

For one night only, award-winning jazz vocalist Sinead McCabe joins an all-star band at BRISTOL 1904 ARTS for an unforgettable evening of classic jazz, swing and timeless songs.

Sinead wows audiences everywhere with the classic jazz songs of Bessie Smith, Peggy Lee, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald and many more. She's joined by Jo Fooks (tenor saxophonist of the late Humphrey Lyttleton's Jazz Band), Dave Newton (voted "U.K.'s Best Jazz Pianist" for 14 years running), Eddie John (drummer formerly with the great Jethro Tull and Stackridge bands) and Cass Caswell (double bassist, bandleader and Blue Feather, returning to Bristol 1904 Arts).

A superb line-up of musical talent makes this unmissable event a highlight of the Bristol 1904 Arts autumn performance season.

Tickets are just £16 for members and £20 for guests.

Yes, this event is open to both club members and the public but we are a small intimate venue - just 140 seats, so tickets are on a first come, first served basis.

This event will take place in our iconic Performance Hall within the Red Lodge, Park Row BS1 5LJ.

Doors Open: Through the Knot Garden (in Lodge Street) from 7:00pm on Friday, 13th November, 2026.

Performance starts: 7:30 pm

Dress code: Smart Casual

Bar: Serving beers, wines, spirits and non-alcoholic drinks

Tickets are available now from:

>> eventbrite <<

Members can also purchase directly from our Heming Bar! on
any Wed - Fri (10AM-4PM) ... check with Shane beforehand.



Check out this YouTube video clip below !! 💖💖💖

Venue Location:

BRISTOL 1904 ARTS

The Red Lodge (but adjacent to the right)

Park Row

Bristol

BS1  5LJ

Thursday 26th November, 2026   - LET's TALK

Our speaker at the November LET'S TALK is Green Feather Tony Blake.  At the moment, Tony is working hard trying to get his pilot's licence between sessions of unserviceability, both him and the aeroplane.

His working life was all about computer programming, design and project development. A career that really started here with the Imperial Group using first- and second-generation computers, which might not look like a computer today, but they set the fundamental rules of computing. Those rules and techniques, along with an MSc in Analysis, serve as useful tools for him to look at history, both ancient and modern. This is especially true of this lecture which is about events only 90 years ago, inspired by meeting the winning pilot's grandson, who had recently come into possession of his grandfather's archive.

The whole thing came about because it was coming up to 100 years since the Australian city of Melbourne and the State of Victoria were founded, when in 1835 John Batman declared this would be a great place for a village. So in 1932, the councillors of Melbourne decided to commemorate the event over two years with a series of celebrations through 1934 and 1935. You can only say that this was definitely some Aussie boldness in the face of the world’s biggest economic disaster, the Great Depression!

This promises to be another brilliant presentation on a little-known subject and a worthy contribution to our on-going LET'S TALK series.

No bookings are required for this talk - just turn up and pay at the bar area on arrival. Guests and non-members are welcome!

Another must-see!!  👍

Venue Location:

BRISTOL 1904 ARTS

The Red Lodge (but adjacent to the right)

Park Row

Bristol

BS1  5LJ

Thursday 17th December, 2026   - LET's TALK

Our speaker at the December LET'S TALK is David Innes-Wilkin, a retired architect-planner who early in his career opened an architectural practice in Bristol and still lives in the heart of the city. David likes to travel and brings this interest to his talks with us. You may remember that he gave a superb LET'S TALK in March about his experiences retracing Italian Renaissance tours of the 18th century.

This talk also builds on David's sea-going passion and love of history, with a look into the world of West Country Pirates, with its incredible adventures, twisting politics and vast fortunes made.

This promises to be another brilliant presentation on a little-known subject and a worthy contribution to our on-going LET'S TALK series.

No bookings are required for this talk - just turn up and pay at the bar area on arrival. Guests and non-members are welcome!

Another unmissable event!!  👍

Venue Location:

BRISTOL 1904 ARTS

The Red Lodge (but adjacent to the right)

Park Row

Bristol

BS1  5LJ

Thursday 28th January, 2027   - LET's TALK

Our speaker at the January 2027 LET'S TALK is Bob Foster, who is a private tutor specialising in Maths and Science for GCSE students. He's a keen photographer and science communicator, running Bristol Science Cafe, where scientists and the public meet to discuss research and ideas in plain English.

In this talk, Bob will explore Scientific misconduct at all stages of work across a broad spectrum of disciplines. He will look at real-life cases to illustrate how things go wrong and how they can be investigated and put right. There will be time at the end for questions and discussion.

This promises to be an illuminating presentation on a very pertinent subject and is a worthy addition to our on-going LET'S TALK series.

No bookings are required for this talk - just turn up and pay at the bar area on arrival. Guests and non-members are welcome!

Another unmissable event!!  👍

Venue Location:

BRISTOL 1904 ARTS

The Red Lodge (but adjacent to the right)

Park Row

Bristol

BS1  5LJ

Let's Talk ... is the program of monthly talks delivered by BRISTOL 1904 ARTS Members or invited guests that have something BIG to talk about! 

That might be subject matter expertise, travel experiences, an historical topic, a cultural theme, a life explored etc.  The Let's Talks  are always and most certainly worthy of attention and talking about and undoubtedly of interest to the curious, the explorer, the listener, the interested.

Will you join us at our amazing venue?  A venue full of history, artefacts, art and curiosities?  A venue our members congregate to be entertained and amazed.

Give it a go!  You will be happy that you did !!

Forward Schedule . . .