Tributes have been paid to a man who opened one of Bristol's most loved cafes more than 40 years ago. Colin Nutt, the proprietor of Brunel's Buttery set up alongside his wife, Joan, has passed away aged 86.
Colin and Joan opened the cafe after a stroll along the historic harbourside one cold and dreary day in 1980, the family remembered. Longing for a cup of tea, the couple saw the potential of a small takeaway outlet on the dockside long before the planners and developers moved in.
He had previously run the hugely successful Taxi Driver Canteen at Temple Meads for 28 years, and his tea bacon butties empire continued to grow throughout the 1980s with a cafe in Sandy Park and a floating restaurant called Nutts Landing.
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Brunel’s Buttery was the destination that truly endured the test of time. The open-air cafe quickly attained cult-like status among Bristolians and is often regarded as serving one of the best bacon sandwiches in the city, a place where anyone is welcome to enjoy a cup of tea.
In a statement, the family said: "Remembering opening day at Easter time we had 16 beautiful pottery mugs, these disappeared very quickly. The chipper blew up, not a good start but for 30 years it became a well-known meeting place for people from all walks of life.
"The open hatch at the front was Colin’s stage. All the regular customers were treated like family, there was always time for a chat or a bit of banter or quite often Colin breaking into song."
Colin - who passed away on October 20 after a long battle with dementia - is survived by his wife, Joan, his son, Stephen and his daughters, Samantha and Melanie. Joan and Melanie both worked in the shop along with the help of some of the grandchildren.
The family remembered how Colin would keep a box of Freddos under the counter to give out as a treat to children, and how in turn some of them returned with their own children a generation later not forgetting the kind gesture.
They said: "We as a family hope that everyone who met Colin will remember him with a smile for the lovely person he was. He was deeply loved by his wife Joan, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and will be greatly missed."
The success of Brunel's Buttery was not without some challenges. In 2010, the cafe was engulfed in a fireball, in what is thought to have been an act of arson when Colin had been released from Bristol Royal Infirmary after developing septicaemia. The family were without a cafe for seven weeks while it was rebuilt from scratch but they were able to set up in Queens Square temporarily to serve food during the World Cup.
Colin and Joan decided to hang up their aprons in August 2012 and pass the cafe onto a new family after more than 30 years, retiring aged 76 and 71 respectively. New owners Gary and Naomi Hands took over the famous harbourside spot and promised to carry on where the couple left off.
Four decades since it first opened and Kay and Raymond Leach are continuing Colin's legacy at Brunel's Buttery by serving high quality ingredients at low prices in a welcoming setting. The husband and wife team took over the cafe on September 3, 2016.
"We're grateful that Colin started such an iconic business and we will continue to offer the people of Bristol a place they love to come and eat," Mrs Leach said.
The funeral will take place at Haycombe Cemetery & Crematorium, Bath on November 7, 2022, at 10am. There is no strict dress code for the service.
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