“The smell of tar and salt was something new and delightful. I saw the great ships lying in the docks, and the sailors singing at their work, and I thought I had never seen anything so beautiful.”
About
The Long John Silver Trust [LJST] is a registered charity that was formed in 2005 to help celebrate Bristol’s literary and maritime past through the city’s role in Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, Treasure Island.
To this end, the LJST has forged strong links with the European Cultural Route (ECR) In the Footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson, local educational needs charity PROPS, Bristol Radical History Group and M Shed – a former dockside cargo shed telling the story of Bristol from prehistoric times to the present day.
We have developed a Treasure Island Trail of eight locations around the ancient port telling the story of both the city and Treasure Island. Bristol has been a major inland seafaring port for over 1000 years, and is famous (or infamous) for pirates and privateers, slavers and smugglers, writers and radicals, explorers and innovators.
Through walks and talks such as Pirates And Prejudice and Abolition, we give a thought-provoking narrative of the city seldom explored by others. Tackling themes raised by Treasure Island such as piracy and disability, and those of Bristol’s past such as slavery and colonialism. We also explore the city’s connections with other classic works such as Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travel’s and The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner.
To arrange a guided Trail Walk please contact us here info@longjohnsilvertrust.org
Gallery
Our Wicker Long John being affixed to the canopy of Bristol’s celebrated 1912 Hippodrome Theatre, in advance of a Birmingham production of Treasure Island
LJS Patron, the late Sebastian Peake - son of renowned Treasure Island illustrator Mervyn Peake – at the launch of a new edition of his father’s epic version of T.I. at Borders bookshop
We created a Jolly Green Roger to help celebrate Bristol winning European Green Capital status in 2014. It’s shown here with Trustee and former BCC councillor Tess Green, original LJST chair Gerry Brooke, and former Bristol Lord Mayor, LJST Patron and chair of the Matthew of Bristol Trust, Royston Griffey.
Friends and helpers at the launch of our Treasure Island Trail in 2016. Here we are at our Black Spot ‘B’ barrel outside of the Llandoger Trow in King Street
Pupils from Hannah More School at Waterstones book shop for International Book Day, with our Wicker Long John and then Bristol Lord Mayor, Royston Griffey
Atmospheric nighttime shot of our Wicker Long John aboard the Matthew
Our Wicker Long John on tour at the Writers Museum in Edinburgh – the museum celebrates Robert Louis Stevenson, Walter Scott and Rabbie Burns in particular
Mass gathering of Props Trainees and LJS Trustees to celebrate the handover of our Jolly Green Roger to the Matthew
The start of it all, Britain’s first Great Reading Adventure featuring Treasure Island, ably supported by Wallace & Gromit and Robert Newton as Long John (Newton starred in Disney’s 1950 version of Treasure Island)
Renowned Bristol maritime artist Frank Shipsides – our first Patron – handing over his image of what a statue of Long John might look like outside the Hole-in-the-Wall in 2005
LJST montage of Blackbeard overseeing Bristol’s Festival of the Sea in 1996, celebrating the end of the County of Avon
Our Wicker Long John once again, supporting Bristol Old Vic and their innovative outdoor production of Treasure Island which was held in King Street
View of our Wicker Long John on top of the Hippodrome canopy from across Bristol’s city centre
2009 Literary Dinner at Clifton Hill House with guest speaker Nicholas Newton, son of the immortal actor Robert Newton whose portrayal of Long John gave us Talk like a Pirate Day (19th September each year)
ECR ‘In the Footsteps of RLS’ 2015 Bristol AGM, where our ECR was officially accredited as a full-blown Cultural Route – a huge honour, with LJST chair Professor Bill Fairney and RLS ECR chair Michel Legros and dignitaries in Bristol Archives
Props trainees installing Black Spot ‘D’ barrel outside the Hole-in-the- Wall
Freshly decorated Black Spot ‘H’ barrel and trainees at Props HQ
Props trainees again installing Black Spot ‘F’ barrel outside Redcliffe Caves
Black Spot ‘E’ barrel and crew after installation on Redcliffe Wharf
Genuine oak Bordeaux wine barrel after decoration at Props HQ in Fishponds
Our Treasure Island Trail was assembled around Bristol’s docks with the kind help and assistance of Johhny Walker’s ‘Garden Solutions’
Ray Penny of Wickwar Brewery (along with assorted scallywags) handing over booty from the proceeds of Long John Silver beer – huge thanks to Ray for his generous faith in us
Johnny and the motley Props crew outside the Ostrich with Black Spot ‘G’ barrel