UK: Bristol’s backyard vineyards: foot-stomping grapes in the garden
A small group of Bristol winemakers are harvesting vines from their allotments and garden terraces, part of a growing global movement of passionate urban vintners
By Tom Wall
The Guardian
18 Oct 2025
Excerpt:
This is perhaps the last place you expect to find a perfectly formed vineyard. But James Bayliss-Smith has managed to cultivate 40 mature vines sagging with plump mauve grapes on a rambling allotment sandwiched between a row of 1930s houses and a local rail line just north of Bristol town centre.
“I’ve seen people hiding heroin or whatever in those bushes,” says Bayliss-Smith. “But you just get on with it … and keep tending to your vines.”
Bayliss-Smith, 46, a documentary cameraman who also has a kombucha drinks business, is not the only local vintner. He has pulled together a loose collective of growers who make wine from four hidden urban vineyards tucked away in back gardens and allotments across Bristol. It is too clandestine to have an official name yet, but the collective’s WhatsApp group is called Grape Expectations.
So far, Bayliss-Smith’s allotment is the only one listed in the Urban Vineyards Association’s forthcoming world atlas, which includes more famous city vineyards such as the 1,800 vines on the slopes of Paris’s historic Montmartre neighbourhood and more than 3,000 vines overlooking and within Turin. The Italian-based non-profit association is at the forefront of a movement re-establishing city vineyards in traditional winemaking countries, but has discovered them all over the world, including cities in Japan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan.
Read the complete article here.
Source: https://cityfarmer.info/uk-bristols-backyard-vineyards-foot-stomping-grapes-in-the-garden/
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world. Anyone can join. Anyone can contribute. Anyone can become informed about their world. "United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
LION'S MANE PRODUCT
Try Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend 60 Capsules
Mushrooms are having a moment. One fabulous fungus in particular, lion’s mane, may help improve memory, depression and anxiety symptoms. They are also an excellent source of nutrients that show promise as a therapy for dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases. If you’re living with anxiety or depression, you may be curious about all the therapy options out there — including the natural ones.Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend has been formulated to utilize the potency of Lion’s mane but also include the benefits of four other Highly Beneficial Mushrooms. Synergistically, they work together to Build your health through improving cognitive function and immunity regardless of your age. Our Nootropic not only improves your Cognitive Function and Activates your Immune System, but it benefits growth of Essential Gut Flora, further enhancing your Vitality.
Our Formula includes: Lion’s Mane Mushrooms which Increase Brain Power through nerve growth, lessen anxiety, reduce depression, and improve concentration. Its an excellent adaptogen, promotes sleep and improves immunity. Shiitake Mushrooms which Fight cancer cells and infectious disease, boost the immune system, promotes brain function, and serves as a source of B vitamins. Maitake Mushrooms which regulate blood sugar levels of diabetics, reduce hypertension and boosts the immune system. Reishi Mushrooms which Fight inflammation, liver disease, fatigue, tumor growth and cancer. They Improve skin disorders and soothes digestive problems, stomach ulcers and leaky gut syndrome. Chaga Mushrooms which have anti-aging effects, boost immune function, improve stamina and athletic performance, even act as a natural aphrodisiac, fighting diabetes and improving liver function. Try Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend 60 Capsules Today. Be 100% Satisfied or Receive a Full Money Back Guarantee. Order Yours Today by Following This Link.
| Visits: | 1,741,309,092 |
| Stories: | 8,518,786 |
Whistler Blowers, Insiders
