St Michael's Hill pub formerly known as the Colston Arms is finally renamed

A pub called the Colston Arms after its infamous slave trader has changed its name - to the Open Arms.

The Bristol pub was temporarily renamed ‘Ye olde Pubby McDrunkface’, but it’s now open for business complete with new signs.

It has had its new moniker since 2021 but the signs on the historic pub midway up St Michael’s Hill now make it official.

The owners renamed the pub following the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 which saw slave trader Edward Colston’s statue thrown into Bristol’s harbour.

It was one of many establishments across Bristol to be renamed to remove ‘Colston’.

During the Second World War, the Colston Arms played a pivotal role in the US civil rights movement.

American authorities attempted to introduce segregation between white and Black members of the military, but the Colston Arms refused to accept that Black and white soldiers should not be served together.

Presenting a BBC documentary in 2015, American-British writer Bonnie Greer said that “there should be a blue plaque outside the pub – it was remarkable what happened there”.