BRISTOL - ENGLAND |
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Bristol is a city in south-western England, on
the River Avon. It borders on the Unitary Districts of Bath and North East
Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
The city extends to the coast of the Bristol Channel; the area of Bristol
near the coast is called Avonmouth. Suburbs of the city include Kingswood,
Filton, Patchway, Mangotsfield and Keynsham.
Bristol is England's eighth, and the United
Kingdom's eleventh most populous city. It had been, for half a century, the
second largest English city after London, until the rapid rise of Liverpool,
Manchester and Birmingham, in the 1780s.
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Local Government
The Avon traditionally marked the border between Gloucestershire and
Somerset. In 1373 Edward III of England proclaimed "that the said town of
Bristol withall be a County by itself and called the county of Bristol for
ever", but maps usually instead show it as part of Gloucestershire, and as
the city spilled south of the river, it took the county with it.
In 1974 it was made into a district of the newly formed County of Avon,
which was abolished on April 1, 1996. It has now returned to its former
status of a county in itself.
Aeronautics
In the 20th century, Bristol's manufacturing activities expanded to include
aircraft production at Filton, six miles (10 km) north of the city centre,
by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, including the key British role in the
Anglo-French Concorde supersonic airliner project.
Concorde components were manufactured in British and French factories and
shipped to the two final assembly plants by road, sea and air. The French
assembly lines were in Toulouse in southern France with the British lines in
Filton. Luckily the very large three-bayed hangar built for the Bristol
Brabazon was available.
The French manufactured the centre fuselage and centre wing and the British
the nose, rear fuselage, fin and wingtips. The largest proportion of the
British share of the work was the powerplant, the Rolls-Royce/Snecma 593.
The engine's manufacture was split between British Aircraft Corporation,
Rolls-Royce (Filton) and SNECMA at Villaroche near Paris.
The British Concorde prototype G-BSST made its 22 minute maiden flight from
Filton to RAF Fairford on 9 April 1969, the French prototype F-WTSS had
flown from Toulouse five weeks earlier. Most of the employees of BAC and
Rolls Royce, plus a huge crowd, watched from around the airfield. Fairford
was chosen as the test airfield for Concorde because the runway at Filton
was rejected for test flying, its length was inadequate and there were
problems with the slope, and the first 1000 feet (300 m) of the runway at
its eastern (A38) end could not be used. However, from the end of 1977, all
test flying on the second production aircraft G-BBDG was done from Filton,
following the closure of the BAC Fairford test base.
In 2003 the two airlines using Concorde (British Airways and Air France) and
the company supplying spares and support (Airbus) made the decision to cease
flying the aircraft and to retire them to locations (mostly museums) around
the world. For the precise location of all the aircraft see Concorde.
On 26 November 2003, Concorde 216 (G-BOAF) made the final ever Concorde
flight, returning to Filton airfield to be kept there permanently as the
centrepiece of a projected air museum. This museum will include the existing
Bristol Aero Collection which is currently kept in a hangar at Kemble
Airfield, forty miles (60 km) from Filton. This collection includes a
Bristol Britannia aircraft which would presumably also be brought to
Bristol.
Another major aeronautical company in the city is Cameron Balloons, the
worlds largest manufacturer of hot air balloons. Annually, in August, the
city is host to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, one of Europe's
largest hot air balloon events.
Arts and leisure
The city has two significant football clubs: Bristol City F.C. who play in
Football League One and Bristol Rovers F.C. who play in Football League Two.
The city is also home to a Rugby Union club currently known as Bristol
Shoguns and a first-class cricket side, Gloucestershire C.C.C.
Each summer the grounds of Ashton Court to the west of the city play host to
the Bristol Balloon Fiesta, a major event for followers of the sport of
hot-air ballooning in Britain. The "Fiesta" draws a substantial crowd even
for the early morning lift that typically begins at about 6.30 am and a
fairground atmosphere is sustained throughout the day. A second mass ascent
is normally scheduled for the early evening, again taking advantage of lower
wind speeds.
Ashton Court also plays host to the Ashton Court festival each summer, an
outdoors music festival which used to be known as the Bristol Community
Festival.
The city's principal theatre company, the Bristol Old Vic, was founded in
1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic company in London. It has premises on
King Street consisting of the 1766 Theatre Royal (400 seats), a modern
studio theatre called the New Vic (150 seats), and foyer and bar areas in
the adjacent Coopers' Hall (built 1743). The Theatre Royal is a grade I
listed building and the oldest continuously-operating theatre in England.
The Bristol Old Vic also runs a prominent Theatre School. The Bristol
Hippodrome is a larger theatre (1981 seats) which hosts national touring
productions, while the 2000-seat Colston Hall is the city's main concert
venue.
The music scene is thriving and significant. In particular, Bristol was the
birthplace of a kind of English hip-hop music often called trip hop or the
Bristol Sound, epitomised in the work of artists such as Tricky and Massive
Attack among many others.
The Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery houses a collection of natural
history, archaeology, local glassware, Chinese ceramics and art of a variety
of periods. The Bristol Industrial Museum, on the dockside, shows local
industrial heritage and operates a steam railway, boat trips, and working
dockside cranes. The City Museum also runs three preserved historic houses:
the Tudor Red Lodge, the Georgian House, and Blaise Castle House. The
Watershed media centre and Arnolfini gallery, both in disused dockside
warehouses, exhibit contemporary art, photography and cinema.
Stop frame animation films and commercials painstakingly produced by Aardman
Animations and high quality television series focusing on the natural world
have also brought fame and artistic credit to the city. It is where the
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has its regional headquarters, and
Natural History Unit. This was a key attraction to a number of independent
media companies who located in the city, and in recent times have grown into
a significant industry. Bristol is also the birthplace of the actor Cary
Grant.
Areas and towns
There are several areas and towns that make up Bristol.
Bristol city centre
Ashley Down
Ashton Vale
Avonmouth
Baptist Mills
Bedminster
Bishopston
Blaise Hamlet
Botany Bay
Brentry
Brislington
Broadmead
Broomhill
Burchells Green
Cabot
Canons Marsh
Catbrain
Chesterfield Park
Clay Hill
Clifton
Coombe Dingle
Cotham
Crofts End
Downend
Eastfield
Easton
Emersons Green
Filton
Filwood Park
Fishponds
Frenchay
Golden Hill
Hartcliffe
Henbury
Hengrove
Henleaze
Hillfields
Horfield
Hotwells
Kingsdown
Knowle
Lawrence Weston
Lockleaze
Mayfield Park
Montpelier
Newtown
Patchway
Redland
Ridgeway
Rose Green
Sea Mills
Shirehampton
Sneyd Park
Southmead
Southville
Speedwell
St Andrews
St Annes
St Georges
St Pauls
St Phillips Marsh
St Werburghs
Staple Hill
Stapleton
Stockwood
Stoke Bishop
Totterdown
Two Mile Hill
Victoria Park
Westbury on Trym
Whitehall
Whiteway
Windmill Hill
Tourist attractions and places of interest
@Bristol
Arno's Vale
Arnolfini
Ashton Court
Ashton Court Festival
Aviation Heritage Museum
Avon Gorge
Blaise Castle
Bristol Cathedral
Bristol Zoo
British Empire and Commonwealth Museum
Cabot Tower
City Museum and Art Gallery
Clifton Cathedral
Clifton Down
Clifton Suspension Bridge
Concorde 216
Create Centre
Durdham Down
Festival of Nature
Floating Harbour
Harbour Railway
Industrial Museum
International Baloon Fiesta
John Wesley's Chapel
Leigh Court
Leigh Woods
Old Vic Theatre
SS Great Britain
St Mary Redcliffe
Watershed Arts Centre |
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