Gloucester Road: Bristol project captures 40 years of street life

Bristol’s first micropub - The Drapers Arms on Gloucester Road

A student has captured a street's "vibrant" history in an online photography project.

In 2021, Rea Sachdeva's friend discovered photos of independent businesses on Bristol's Gloucester Road from the 1970s.

The images inspired Ms Sachdeva to create a photo project titled Stories of Gloucester Road.

"Everyday the road was brimming with colour and I wanted to capture that," Ms Sachdeva said.

Over two days, she captured 45 shops to recreate the photographs from the 1970s that her friend Lucas Arthur found.

She said it showed Gloucester Road was "40 years different, but still as vibrant".

This Gloucester Road grocery store was photographed in the 1970s

An Art Shop on Gloucester Road amongst the shots from the 1970s

"Living so close to Gloucester Road has been so magical for me, every day I'm in awe of how much life and character it contains," she said.

"The diversity on this road is like no other and it truly is Bristol's gem."

Darren is the owner of Grape and Grind and has been on Gloucester Road for 12 years

Patricia who co-owns La Ruca with her husband for 25 years, is originally from Chile and started the shop to bring organic and fresh food to Bristol

Rea Sachdeva moved from West London to Bristol, and loved the city so much she left with a Bristol postcode tattoo

Gloucester Road is often referred to as Europe's longest independent high street, and is known for its "quirky" shops, cafes and galleries.

"I have developed local relationships and seeing the effort and passion behind the multiple shops and restaurants motivates me to buy independently as much as I can.

"The business owners have a passion for what they do and you can see that, I hope community members and alike can continue to keep Gloucester Road's independent spirit alive.

"The theme of the pictures I took are timelessness to replicate the vibrant spirit of 40 years ago," she added.

Father and son duo Paul and Adam own the Express Shoe Repairs shop

Owner Sam said the fruit and veg shop The Full Basket, has been around for two years

Brian owns Bishopston Hardware and has worked on Gloucester Road for 51 years

The Chocolatier is run by one of two good friends who originally jointly owned the chocolatier and an art shop together

The Art Shop is next to the Chocolatier

Zahid works in Area 51 and is known by customers as having the best knowledge on all sci-fi related games

Chris works in The Fish Shop and has been working there for four months