Kate Pollard and 'Totterdown Rising'
Kate Pollard, was one of the founder members of TRESA, and sadly passed away on 2nd January 2009 after a long battle with cancer. Kate was a leading figure in our community and was still involved in campaigns for TRESAcic three weeks before she died. She was and continues to be inspiration to us all.
Kate Pollard was always a passionate campaigner for the area and wrote 'Totterdown Rising', a book charting the history of Totterdown through the 60's and 70's when bad road planning decisions caused such damage to the area. It emerged from her formidable research that the council never voted on the plans and went ahead with forced evictions and demolitions. 2000 homes and businesses were demolished before there was central Government approval. The proposed road was never built and is a history lesson that still resonates and teaches us today.
The book charts the history of Totterdown from its pre-bulldozed days through to the regeneration efforts of the 1980s. Employing reminisances of residents as well as painstakingly researched archive material Kate paints an effective picture of life in the neighbourhood before the act of 'civic vandalism' that was perpetrated on the area by the city planners.
Avoiding the cliches of portraying planners and developers as wholly evil or misguided Kate none-the-less brings a sense of the emotional loss and damage that was caused at a time when consultation with local people was largely unheard of. It stands as a reminder of the need today to be alert as a citizen to the grand schemes of those in power.
There is also Kate's unpublished 'prequel' material collected together by Nick Barnes at his website: 'Totterdown History'.
Kate's Tree
A tree memorial planting was held for Kate in Victoria Park on the 1st February 2009. Marie Walker, a personal friend of Kate for more than 30 years and paid tribute: "Kate had such a big personality, she was very strong, a fighter. Even when she was in agony you never knew she was ill. Kate was always very caring and was popular with people across the age range. She was just a tremendous person."
Kate's Bash
Family, friends and colleagues of Kate Pollard celebrated her life at a memorial party at Hope Chapel, in Granby Hill on 6 June. Entertainment included puppetry from Green Ginger and live music from Furlined and Los Bambinos. The hall was beautifully decorated in her honour, including exhibitions of her life and work, while everyone brought food and drink to share. Kate was well known throughout Bristol for her work with community groups, local history societies, and arts projects. She also raised funds for the ‘Totterdown in Print’ project which included the release of the popular 'Taste of Totterdown' cookery book.
Thank you Kate, we'll miss you.