What is it with Bristol and rioting?

‘Bristol riots’ has a lengthy section of its own on Wikipedia. In the wake of the ugly scenes that erupted in the city at the weekend, the list of disturbances is now even longer.

Police were injured, a few badly. Vans were set alight and the mindless joy of all that breaking glass became infectious — one young woman found time to skateboard during the mayhem as tires burnt, fireworks flew and bobbies bled. The riot is now being described romantically as the ‘the Battle of Bridewell Street’ after the street where the police station sits now daubed in graffiti. But in reality it was vicious.

Despite Bristol’s well-heeled student population (said to have the highest ownership of new cars of any British university) the city’s middle-class image hides a long history of irruptions. Keith Waterhouse famously said of Brighton that it’s ‘a town that always looks as if it is helping police with their inquiries’.