It was a time of unemployment and nearly 28,000 people in the city were registered at the six Bristol labour exchanges – places to go to find work.
And on January 29, 1932 the Government dealt some of Bristol's most needy a devastating blow when the Public Assistance Committee, responsible for administering the unemployment relief, reduced unemployment benefit by 10 per cent.
The poorest in the city were some of the worst hit and so the National Unemployed Workers Union took action on Pancake Day of that year.
They took to the streets – in true Bristol fashion still prevalent today – in protest against the cuts.
The union members decided they would march to the Council House, at that time on the corner of Corn Street and Broad Street.
Unhappy with where the crowds were going, the police stopped the protesters heading to council headquarters and instead directed them towards Old Market.
The crowd had reached 4,000 to 5,000 strong and the police tried to direct them down Carey's Lane – a side road next to the Kings Cinema.
But the sheer numbers in the crowd meant the police couldn't gain control and after officers were jostled, the order from the Chief Constable Charles Maby, was to draw batons.
The protesters charged in retaliation and very soon, what has become known as the Old Market Riots began.
Inspector Dyke, the policeman in charge at the scene, said: "Sticks with nails protruding were being thrown at and used upon the police.
"I then gave instructions to the men who arrived with me to clear the street.
"The crowd was very hostile and it was impossible for any traffic to get away until the crowd was dispersed by the policemen using their sticks."
Bystanders were injured, along with one policeman and several protesters – some of whom were quite seriously injured.
One eye witness described the scenes, reported by local historian and author Mike Manson.
They said: "The police on mounted horses and other police with batons charged us and drove us back into Old Market Street.
"Oh yes, people got hurt, people who weren't even in the scuffle.
"I can remember … a little lady there, there were a man and a woman there, they were clubbed down. They said they had just come from the pictures. And they had nothing to do with it."
No arrests were made around Old Market, but the crowds began to re-group at the Horsefair and speeches were given.
Police, still concerned, called for help from the Bridewell station and the demonstrators were dispersed with two people arrested for disorderly conduct and assaulting police officers.
The police action caused major criticism and one Labour councillor demanded action against police violence.
Councillor H. E. Rogers (Bristol East Divisional Labour Party) wrote: "Surely your men have not been instructed to trample to death law-abiding citizens whose only object is to pursue the legitimate conduct of citizens!"
A review of the riots concluded police acted with "commendable restraint."
But the union was not going to let it lie and two weeks later – without permission – protesters were back on the streets, and again heading to Old Market Street.
And the second on February 24, 1932 ended more violently than the first as once again the parties clashed.
A baton charge took place when 3,000 unemployed were involved in a clash with the police, who tried to prevent them marching through the city.
More than thirty demonstrators were hurt and a number of policemen received lacerations of the face.
Demonstrators threw missiles of potatoes, cabbages and coal at the police after raiding market stalls.
Several women were said to be injured from flying stones, coke and bricks.
Meanwhile pictures show policemen with truncheons beating marchers to the ground and several bodies lie sprawled on the road, bicycles abandoned, placards discarded.
A press conference the following day was illustrated by the top police officer Maby, who later became a Sir, with jemmies, batons, metal railings - allegedly taken from the protesters.
He said around 50 police dispersed the protesters, but The Bristol Evening World reported that nearly 300 police took part.
Another review was launched – this time after the Home Office stepped in.
Maby's report, which oddly focused on traffic issues caused by the protests, said: "One procession proceeded through St Philips down Old Market Street, and another procession, at the same time, marched from the other end of Old Market Street causing serious congestion.
"A cordon of police was immediately lined up across Old Market Street and the marchers requested to stop. They refused and were told they would not be allowed to march any further and must disperse.
"The marchers then attacked the police with sticks and banners, pieces of iron, stones and other missiles and the inspector in charge gave orders for the police to draw their truncheons and disperse the crowd, and after a short time order was restored.
"The mounted police were called out, but did not draw their staves."
Throughout the spring the riots continued, but seemed to take a different stance – watching and monitoring rather than stepping in.
In a letter written by Maby to his counterpart in Manchester, where similar disturbances were taking place, in April of 1932 he said the "time had come to say 'stop' and start proceedings against the speakers he referred to as communists, but there is no record of any such action happening.
Gradually over the next five years, unemployment in Bristol reduced and by 1937 just 11,500 people were registered unemployed in the city.
It was boom time again, largely helped by the rise of the aeroplane manufacturing industry.
Research for this article was carried out by Mike Manson, the author of 'Riot!' (Bristol Books).
Mike is co-author with Dr Edson Burton of 'Vice and Virtue: Discovering the Story of Old Market, Bristol' published by Tangent Books.