Our manager of Stanfords in Bristol appeared on TV to defend the city’s river following a gaffe made by Strictly Come Dancing judge, Len Goodman.
Goodman has become well-known on the BBC TV series for always giving every competitor 7 out of 10 for their efforts, which led to presenter Bruce Forsyth sending him up on a recent show. Forsythe grilled Goodman with questions related to the number 7, such as, “How many dwarves did Snow White have?” However, one of the questions was, “Which river runs through the centre of Bristol?” And to the horror of the West Country, Goodman answered “Severn”. As we all know, it’s in fact the Avon.
The BBC filmed a spoof for the end of regional news programme BBC Points West, educating Goodman on the whereabouts of the river Avon. The programme showed interviews with a group of local school children who informed Goodman of the river’s location; a specialist on the river Severn who told him where the Severn was, and Caroline Bowler, our Bristol store manager, who also told him where the Avon was. Caroline says, “Poor old Len, I felt quite sorry for him at the end of the day!”
The BBC came to Stanfords in Bristol to film Caroline on the stairs by our wonderful map (scale 1:5,000) as she traced the Avon running through Bath to Bristol and then out to the Bristol Channel, just in case Goodman was still unclear. Caroline adds, “It was all good fun really. Bet he knows the difference between the river Severn and Avon now…”
