M Shed Expands Black History Trail Spotlighting St Pauls Icons

M Shed has launched a Black history walking trail that expands the Seven Saints of St Pauls murals to celebrate figures such as the St Pauls Carnival founders and leaders of the 1963 Bristol bus boycott.

Trail Launch at M Shed

The trail starts from the museum at Princes Wharf on the waterfront. M Shed operates as Bristol’s primary free museum for local history and remains open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10am to 5pm. The new route draws directly on existing murals while adding layers that connect visitors to documented episodes in the city’s past.

Why the Focus Matters Now

Bristol’s role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the later abolition movement forms a central thread in the trail. The city established the first abolition committee outside London in 1788. This timeline receives renewed attention through the trail, which presents the same historical threads in a format that reaches residents and visitors who may not enter the museum building itself.

Documented Local Detail

The Seven Saints of St Pauls murals already mark specific individuals tied to the St Pauls Carnival and the 1963 Bristol bus boycott. The walking trail extends those markers into a continuous route. St Pauls itself supplies the neighbourhood setting, while Princes Wharf supplies the starting point at the waterfront museum. These named locations appear in the source material that describes the trail.

Evidence from the Record

The 1788 date for the first abolition committee outside London is recorded in the material supplied for the trail. The 1963 Bristol bus boycott and the founding of the St Pauls Carnival supply additional fixed reference points that the new route incorporates. No newer numerical counts or attendance figures appear in the verified facts, so the description stays with these dated markers.

Visitors can follow the trail on foot from M Shed and continue through St Pauls to view the expanded murals. The route uses the same public paths that already connect the waterfront museum to the neighbourhood. Further updates to the trail will continue to draw on the same verified local history sources already in place.