Patchway

Patchway is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, situated north-northwest of central Bristol. The town has become an overflow settlement for Bristol and is contiguous with Bristol's urban area, along with the nearby towns of Filton and Bradley Stoke. Patchway is twinned with Clermont l'Herault, France, and Gauting, Germany. It was established as a civil parish in 1953¹, becoming separate from the parish of nearby Almondsbury.

Patchway is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, situated north-northwest of central Bristol. The town has become an overflow settlement for Bristol and is contiguous with Bristol's urban area, along with the nearby towns of Filton and Bradley Stoke. Patchway is twinned with Clermont l'Herault, France, and Gauting, Germany. It was established as a civil parish in 1953, becoming separate from the parish of nearby Almondsbury. ==Governance== An electoral ward with the same name exists. This ward has a population taken at the 2011 census was 9,071. The town council is made up of 15 councillors and is elected every 4 years. The head of the council holds the title of town Mayor. The mayor, who is a councillor, is elected each year by the sitting councillors. The current mayor is Councillor Dayley Lawrence (Labour Party) and His deputy is Councillor Angela Morey (Labour Party). As of the local elections held on 4 May 2023 the political parties and number of councillors are as follows Labour Party. 10 (+4) Independent. 4 (No change) Conservative. 1 (-4) ==Recent history== At the start of the 20th century, Patchway was a small village centred on Patchway Green, now known as Patchway Common. Part of the village straddled Gloucester Road, south of the bridge which passed over the Great Western Railway line from Bristol to South Wales. Patchway Tunnel was nearby. Industrialization started when a flying school at Filton Aerodrome was converted into an aeroengine factory, when the Bristol Aeroplane Company (BAC) acquired Cosmos Engineering in 1920. During the 1930s, new housing was built on Patchway Estate, just north of Filton Aerodrome, and bungalows were built on Stoke Lane. BAC started the development of East Works on Gypsy Patch Lane during the re-armament programme of the 1930s. Engine component testing facilities were built alongside the main railway line during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. A dual carriageway, known as the Filton Bypass, was constructed through Patchway Estate in the late 1930s, to divert A38 road traffic away from Filton. During World War II, the US Army had a tented encampment along the wide verges of the bypass. In the late 1940s the bypass was severed by the extension of the main runway at Filton aerodrome to accommodate the Bristol Brabazon airliner. This project also required the demolition of the nearby hamlet of Charlton, many of whose residents were rehoused on Patchway Estate. In the 1950s and early 1960s a large bungalow estate was built at Stoke Lodge, adjacent to Patchway Common. A huge overspill estate was built at the back of Patchway Estate in the mid-1960s. Also in the mid-1960s, the New Filton Bypass (now part of the M5 motorway) was constructed, on the north-west fringe of Patchway Estate, along the upper edge of the Severn Escarpment. This road forms the boundary between the town of Patchway and the adjacent Green Belt. Patchway was the site of the 1987 spree killings carried out by 24-year-old Kevin Weaver, who entered the Alexandra Workwear factory on Britannia Road armed with three shotguns. He fatally shot computer manager David Pursall and accountant John Peterson after bludgeoning his mother and sister in Redfield earlier in the day. Rolls-Royce have built new production facilities on the Gypsy Patch test site, close to the A38 and have completely demolished the old East Works, for redevelopment. All the Rolls-Royce Bristol facilities are now north of Gypsy Patch Lane, the former West Works site on the airfield having been redeveloped by the Post Office in the late 1980s. ==Charlton Hayes== Charlton Hayes is a new extension to Patchway to the south, named after the demolished village of Charlton. Construction started in late 2009 and includes a new bypass road from the A38 to the bottom of the Cribbs Causeway Mall. Approximately 6000 new homes will be in the final development. The new link road – Hayes Way − opened just before Christmas 2010, just in time to assist in relieving Highwood Lane of some of the serious road traffic pressure which have previously been experienced on Highwood Lane. The road provides a direct link from The Mall (Cribbs Causeway) to the main A38 heading north out of Bristol towards the M5/M4 junction at Almondsbury and, prior to the construction of the Aerospace Bristol museum, granted users a chance to glimpse the Concorde 216 that was stored at the airfield. In May 2023 it became its own parish council and is no longer part of Patchway Town Council. ==Media== Local television news programmes are BBC Points West and ITV News West Country both broadcast from Bristol. The town is served by the local radio stations, BBC Radio Bristol, Heart West, Greatest Hits Radio Bristol & The South West, Hits Radio Bristol, BCfm, Kiss and Bradley Stoke Radio, a community based station which is fully operated by volunteers. Local newspapers are the Bristol Post and Patchway Journal which is an online newspaper. ==Sport== The town has its own non league football club, Patchway Town F.C. who currently play in the at the Scott Park ground. ==See also== Aztec West Cribbs Causeway ==References== ==External links== Patchway Town Council Patchway Community College

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365615362 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.