Three Portraits of The Plough Inn, Bristol
A 5pm departure. A midnight crossing. A convoy of vans full of volunteers and donations.
The Dunkirk refugee site is nothing but mud and flimsy tents. It is cold and wet and there are no adequate facilities. More than 2000 people live here with more arriving every day. This camp is significantly underfunded and mainly supported by voluntary associations; those such as large charities like Care4Calais, NGOs such as Médecins Sans Frontières, local and church groups, and a small Bristol charity made up of volunteers from a pub community.
“We arranged to get a load of vans to go out and deliver stuff from the pub. All this aid came in from everywhere and we were a van short. So we put a shout out and a woman was in the pub for Sunday lunch answered and said ‘Sure I’ll do it. I don’t even need to go home I’ve got my van here.’ So we went in convoy and that started off probably about 18 months. We were on the first site and we saw it burn down. Then we moved to the second site”
Aid Box Convoy was set up in 2015 by Imogen Macintosh with the help of Jobey, Sam and Rob. Following a conversation in the Plough Inn one day with co-owners Tom and Angelo, the community that exists in this little Bristol pub sprung into action to support them.
‘You’ve got all the alpha males who will be at the front of the queue. So a really well-meaning car would get rinsed and it would all be in the mud. So ABCs role is that they would take deliveries in. Take what people had donated to the stores and work out what was needed where. We would get stuff from the store to, I don’t know a pregnant woman half a mile away or something” Sat in the attic office of the Pub, Angelo tells me about the role the staff and regulars took on with ABC, couriering aid to and across the camp.
Walking into The Plough Inn, you are immediately confronted by a truly eccentric interior. A collage of political flyers, art works and old school DJ decks, every wall and corner you examine has something new to look at, a mosaic of skeleton eating a swastika, a stack of refurbished speakers, antifascist flags stapled to the ceiling. After being let in by Sheriff or Bearnie, one of the regular bouncers, you walk across a stereotypical sticky floor to a large wooden bar with one too many members of staff behind it. The music is loud. On any given night there can be a punk band tearing up the stage or a DJ collective made up exclusively of women and non binary people of colour playing afrohouse and dancehall. Its reputation as a grassroots music venue and it colourful, political atmosphere, has lead to The Plough becoming a cultural hub and a community asset.
Originally a classic neighbourhood boozer, The Plough was taken over by current owners Tom and Angelo in 2012 and has become an intersection of sports, politics and music. During the week it is a classic pub, playing host to a range of pop up kitchens and showing the football in the garden. On the weekends it transforms into a music venue with a bustling dance floor and an unbelievable range of genres. On top of this are regular politics events and benefits, such as the Bristol Anti-Fascict Residence or fundraisers for the SLEEC resilience fund.
Angelo one of the owners, explained to me that the plough has been involved in charity work since he took it over 11 years ago and having somewhere to base charity and community outreach was one of the deciding factors for choosing to run the pub. On top of their work with ABC, this charity work has continued over the years with multiple projects. They never charge for entrance to the pub or any gigs. Instead they ask for donations to various charities such as TEMWA and Project MAMA. They are currently raising funds to support a football team for refugees.
During the initial covid-19 lockdown, The Plough mobilised alongside a small group of other Bristol pubs and community groups to deliver fresh fruit and vegetables all across the city. Growing from providing 300 boxes a week to 750 in the space of a month, The Community Care Package project highlighted not only the need of the people of Bristol, but also the amount of work volunteers from sectors that were also deeply struggling were willing to put in to support others. This project restarted over Christmas 2022 following the cost of living crisis and delivered over 4000 veg boxes.
Many would say that if there was a time to be everyman for himself, it would be now; post pandemic and still in the midst of a cost of living crisis. Charity donations have fallen by 12% with over 4.9 million fewer people donating in 2022 compared to 2019. Despite this, we still see this small pub supporting so many people in their community as well as further afield. The Plough stands true to its strong Anti-fascist ideology and refuses to abandon its creed.
Sir Dixons Birthday Fundraiser for Freestyle Bristol