Bristol

Bristol is a,  and  in  , 105 miles (169 km) west of , and 44 mi east of.

With an approximate population of 410,900, and of 550,200, it is England's sixth, and the 's ninth most populous city, one of England's  and the most populous city in South West England. It received a royal charter in 1155 and was granted county status in 1373. For half a millennium it was the second or third largest English city, until the rapid rise of, and  in the  in the later part of the. It borders on the of  (BANES),  and, between the cities of ,  and , and has a short coastline on the estuary of the , which flows into the.

Bristol is one of the centres of culture, employment and education in the region. From its earliest days, its prosperity has been linked to that of the, the commercial , which was in the city centre but has now moved to the Severn estuary coast at and. In more recent years the economy has been built on the industry, and the city centre docks have been regenerated as a centre of heritage and culture.

Boundaries
There are a number of different ways in which Bristol's boundaries are defined, depending on whether the boundaries attempt to define the city, the built-up area, or the wider "". The narrowest definition of the city is the boundary; although this definition does include a large portion of the, west as far as the islands of  and. A slightly less narrow definition is used by the ; this includes built-up areas which adjoin Bristol but are not within the city council boundary, such as village,, , , and excludes non-built-up areas within the city council boundary. The ONS has also defined an area which it calls the "Bristol Urban Area" which includes, , , , , and. The term "Greater Bristol" (used for example by the Government Office of the South West is most usually used to refer to the area covered by the city and its three neighbouring local authorities.

History
There is evidence of settlement in the Bristol area from the era, with 60,000-year-old archaeological finds at  and. There are s near the city, at  and  on the side of the, and on , near. . During the there was a settlement, Abona, at what is now, connected to  by , and another settlement at what is now. There were also isolated Roman villas and small Roman settlements throughout the area.

The town of Brycgstow (, "the place at the bridge" ) was in existence by the beginning of the, and under rule acquired one of the strongest  in southern England. The in the  has evolved into, and since the  the harbour has been an important port, handling much of England's trade with. In 1247 a new bridge was built, which was replaced by the current in the 1760s, and the town was extended to incorporate neighbouring suburbs, becoming in 1373 a in its own right. During this period Bristol also became a centre of shipbuilding and manufacturing. Bristol was the starting point for many important voyages, notably 's 1497 voyage of exploration to North America. By the Bristol was England's third-largest town (after London and ), with perhaps 15–20,000 inhabitants on the eve of the  of 1348–49. The Plague inflicted a prolonged pause in the growth of Bristol's population, with numbers remaining at 10–12,000 through most of the and. The was founded in 1542, with the former of St Augustine becoming. Traditionally this is equivalent to the town being granted. During the the city was occupied by Royalist military, after they overran, the last Parliamentarian stronghold in the city.

Renewed growth came with the rise of England's American colonies and the rapid  expansion of England's part in the  in Africans taken for  in the. Bristol, along with, became a centre for the slave trade although few slaves were brought to Britain. During the height of the slave trade, from 1700 to 1807, more than 2,000 slaving ships were fitted out at Bristol, carrying a (conservatively) estimated half a million people from to the Americas and slavery. Still standing in Bristol is the Seven Stars pub, where  collected information regarding the slave trade. Fishermen who left Bristol were long part of the migratory fishery to the of  and began settling that island permanently in larger numbers around this time. Bristol's strong nautical ties meant that maritime safety was an important issue in the city, In the 19th century, "the sailor's friend", campaigned to make the seas safer. He was shocked by the overloaded cargoes and successfully fought for a compulsory on ships.

Competition from Liverpool from c. 1760, the disruption of maritime commerce through war with (1793) and the abolition of the slave trade (1807) contributed to the city's failure to keep pace with the newer manufacturing centres of the North and Midlands. The passage up the heavily tidal Avon Gorge, which had made the port highly secure during the Middle Ages, had become a liability which the construction of a new "" (designed by ) in 1804–9 failed to overcome. Nevertheless, Bristol's population (66,000 in 1801) quintupled during the 19th century, supported by new industries and growing commerce. It was particularly associated with the Victorian engineer, who designed the between Bristol and London, two pioneering Bristol-built steamships, the  and , and the. founded the very first Chapel, called the, in Bristol in 1739. occurred in 1793 and 1831, the first beginning as a protest at renewal of an act levying tolls on Bristol Bridge, and the latter after the rejection of the second.

Bristol's city centre suffered severe damage from bombing during the of. The original central shopping area, near the bridge and castle, is now a park containing two bombed out churches and some tiny fragments of the castle. A third bombed church nearby,, has been restored and has been made into a museum which houses a by , painted for the high altar of  in 1756. The museum also contains statues moved from, of and  taken from Lawfords' Gate of the city walls when they were demolished around 1760 and 13th century figures from Bristol's Newgate representing Robert, the builder of , and , builder of the fortified walls of the city.

The rebuilding of was characterised by large, cheap s,  and expansion of roads. Since the 1980s another trend has emerged with the closure of some main roads, the restoration of the Georgian period and, the demolition and rebuilding of the Broadmead shopping centre (at 2007 in progress) and the demolition of the city centre's tallest post-war blocks. The removal of the docks to, 7 miles (11 km) downstream from the city centre has also allowed redevelopment of the old central dock area (the "") in recent decades, although at one time the continued existence of the docks was in jeopardy as it was viewed as a derelict industrial site rather than an asset. However the holding, in 1996, of the first  in and around the docks, affirmed the dockside area in its new leisure role as a key feature of the city.

Economy and industry
As well as Bristol's nautical connections, the city's economy is reliant on the industry, the media, information technology and financial services sectors and tourism. In 2004 Bristol's was £9.439 billion, and the combined GDP of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and North Somerset was £44.098 billion. The GDP per head was £23,962 (US$47,738, €35,124) making the city more affluent than the UK as a whole, at 40% above the national average. This makes it the third-highest per-capita GDP of any English city, after and, and the fifth highest GDP per capita of any city in the United Kingdom, behind , ,  and. In December 2005, Bristol's rate was 5.2%, compared to 3.6% for the south west and 4.8% for the United Kingdom.

While Bristol's economy is no longer reliant upon its port, the city is the largest importer of cars to the UK. Since the port was leased in 1991, £330 million has been invested and the annual tonnage throughput has increased from 4 million tonnes to 12 million tonnes. The financial services sector employs 40,000 in the city, and the hi-tech sector is important, with 400 micro-electronics and silicon design companies, as well as the national research laboratories. Bristol is the UK's seventh most popular destination for foreign tourists, and the city receives nine million visitors each year.

In the 20th century, Bristol's manufacturing activities expanded to include aircraft production at, by the , and aero-engine manufacture by (later ) at. The aeroplane company became famous for the, and   and  aircraft. In the 1950s it became one of the country's major manufacturers of civil aircraft, with the and  and the huge  airliner. The diversified into car manufacturing in the 1940s, producing hand-built s at their factory in, under the name , which became independent from the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1960.

In the 1960s Filton played a key role in the Anglo-French  supersonic airliner project. Concorde components were manufactured in British and French factories and shipped to the two final assembly plants, in and Filton. The French manufactured the centre fuselage and centre wing and the British the nose, rear fuselage, fin and wingtips, while the engine's manufacture was split between  (Filton) and. The British Concorde prototype made its maiden flight from Filton to on , five weeks after the French test flight. In 2003 and  decided to cease flying the aircraft and to retire them to locations (mostly museums) around the world. On  Concorde 216 made the final 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 includes a aircraft.

The aerospace industry remains a major segment of the local economy. The major aerospace companies in Bristol now are, and Rolls-Royce, all based at Filton, and aerospace engineering is a prominent research area at nearby. Another important company in the city is, a manufacturer of s. Each August the city is host to the , one of Europe's largest hot air balloon events.

Arts
The city is famous for its music and film industries, and was a finalist for the 2008.

The city's principal theatre company, the, was founded in 1946 as an offshoot of the company in London. Its premises on consist 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  (built 1743). The Theatre Royal is a grade I and the oldest continuously-operating theatre in England. The, which had originated in King street is now a separate company. The is a larger theatre (1981 seats) which hosts national touring productions, while the 2000-seat, named after , is the city's main concert venue. Other theatres include the, and Redgrave Theatre (at ). Bristol is home to many live music venues, including Fiddlers,, St George's and a range of pubs from the jazz orientated to rock at the Fleece and Firkin and indie bands at the Louisiana.

Since the late 1970s, the city has been home to a crop of bands combining punk, funk, dub and political consciousness, the most celebrated being. Ten years later, Bristol was the birthplace of a type of English music called  or the "Bristol Sound", from artists such as, ,  and. It is also a stronghold of with notable artists such as the  winning / as well as the pioneering  and. This music is part of the wider Bristol urban culture scene which received international media attention in the 1990s.

The houses a collection of, , local glassware, Chinese ceramics and art. The, featuring preserved dock machinery, closed in October 2006 for complete renovation and plans to reopen in 2009 as the Museum of Bristol. The City Museum also runs three preserved historic houses: the, the , and House. The and, both in disused dockside warehouses, exhibit contemporary art, photography and cinema, while the city's oldest gallery is at the  in Clifton.

Stop frame animation films and commercials produced by and television series focusing on the natural world have also brought fame and artistic credit to the city. The city is home to the regional headquarters of, and the. Locations in and around Bristol often feature in the BBC's natural history programmes, including the children's television programme , filmed at.

In literature Bristol is noted as the birth place of the 18th century poet, and the poets , who was born in Wine Street, Bristol in 1774, and married the Bristol Fricker sisters; and  spent time in the city where  first published  in 1798.

The 18th and 19th century portrait painter Sir and 19th century architect, designer of many of 's first buildings, came from the city, and more recently the  artist. Some famous comedians are locals, including, , and writer/comedian.

graduates include the satirist, and  of ' and ' and  and  of  fame. Hollywood actor was born in the city,, , , , , , ,  and  are amongst the many actors who learnt their craft at the , opened by  in 1946 and  (, ) studied at  School.

Sport & leisure
The city has two  clubs:  and, as well as a  clubs, most notably. Bristol City are the most successful football team in the city; their honours including finishing runners-up in 1907 and ists in 1909. In the last 25 years they have won promotion from the league's fourth tier once, the third tier on three occasions, and in 2007 won promotion to the second tier of English football, but they have not played in the top division since 1980.

The city is also home to  club, a   side,  and a  side, the. The city also stages an annual, and in 2001 played host to the.

In summer the grounds of to the west of the city play host to the, a major event for  in the UK. The Fiesta draws a substantial crowd even for the early morning lift that typically begins at about 6.30am. Events and a fairground entertain the crowds during the day. A second mass ascent is then made in the early evening, again taking advantage of lower wind speeds. Ashton Court also plays host to the each summer, an outdoors music festival which used to be known as the Bristol Community Festival.

Speedway racing was staged, with breaks, at the Knowle Stadium from 1928 to 1960 when it was closed and the site redeveloped. The sport briefly returned to the City in the 1970s when the Bulldogs raced at. The Bulldogs of 1949 whitewashed Glasgow (White City) Tigers 70 - 14.

Media
Bristol has a daily morning, the '; an evening paper, the ; a weekly free newspaper, the '; and a Bristol edition of the free newspaper. The local weekly listings magazine, , covers the city's music, theatre and arts scenes. All of these papers are owned by the. The city has several local radio stations, including, (previously known as Radio West), , , , BCfm (a community radio station launched March 2007),  (starting summer 2007) and The Hub (a student radio station).



Dialect
A dialect of is spoken by some Bristol inhabitants, known colloquially as Bristolian. Bristol is the only large English city with a, in which the r in words like car is pronounced. The unusual feature of this dialect, unique to Bristol, is the Bristol L (or terminal L), in which an L sound is appended to words that end in an 'a' or 'o'. Thus "area" becomes "areal", etc. This is believed to be how the city's name evolved from Brycgstow to have a final 'L' sound: Bristol. Further Bristolian linguistic features are the addition of a superfluous "to" in questions relating to direction or orientation, or using "to" instead of "at"; and using male "he", "him" instead of "it". For example, "Where's that?" would be phrased as "Where's he to?", a feature exported to.

Stanley Ellis, a dialect researcher, found that many of the dialect words in the Filton area were linked to work in the aerospace industry. He described this as "a cranky, crazy, crab-apple tree of language and with the sharpest, juiciest flavour that I've heard for a long time".

A guide to Bristol's dialect is at

Politics and government
Bristol City Council consists of 70 councillors representing 35 wards. They are elected in thirds with two councillors per ward, each serving a four-year term. Wards never have both councillors up for election at the same time, so effectively two-thirds of the wards are up each election. The Council has long been dominated by the, but recently the have grown strong in the city and as the largest party took minority control of the Council at the  election. They are no longer in control following Labour and the Conservatives vetoing the Liberal Democrats' preferred candidate, Steve Comer, in 2007. As a result, Labour rule the council under a minority administration, and the council leader is Helen Holland. The Lord Mayor is Labour Councillor Royston Griffey.

Bristol's constituencies in the cross the borders with neighbouring authorities, and the city is divided into Bristol, ,  and  and. also covers some of the suburbs, but none of the administrative county. At the next General Election, the boundaries will be changed to coincide with the county boundary. Kingswood will no longer cover any of the county, and a new constituency will include the suburbs in South Gloucestershire. There are four and one Liberal Democrat.

Bristol has a tradition of local political activism, and has been home to many important political figures. , a veteran left-wing politician, was Member of Parliament (MP) for from 1950 to 1983. , MP for the for six years from 1774, famously insisted that he was a Member of Parliament first, rather than a representative of his constituents' interests. In 1963, there was a boycott of the city's buses after the Bristol Omnibus Co. refused to employ black drivers and conductors. The boycott is known to have influenced the creation of the UK's in 1965. The women's rights campaigner (1867–1954) was born in Bristol. The city was the scene of the first of the 1980s riots or uprisings. In St. Paul's, a number of largely African-Caribbean people rose up against racism, police harassment and mounting disatifisfaction with their social and economic circumstances before similar disturbances followed across the UK. Local support of issues was recognised in 2005 when Bristol was granted  status.

Bristol is unusual in having been a city with county status since medieval times. The county was expanded to include suburbs such as in 1835, and it was named a  in 1889, when the term was first introduced. However, on, it became a local government district of the short-lived county of. On, it once again regained its independence and county status, when the county of Avon was abolished and Bristol became a.

Demographics


In 2005 the estimated Bristol's population at 398,300, making it the 47th-largest ceremonial county in England. See also. Using data the ONS estimated the population of the contiguous built-up area to be 441,556, and that of the to be 551,066. This makes the city England's sixth most populous city, and ninth most populous metropolitan area. At 3,599 people per it has the seventh-highest population density of any English district.

In the 2001 census 91.83% of the population described themselves as white, 2.85% as South Asian, 2.32% as black, 2.08% as mixed race, 0.56% as Chinese and 0.34% other. National averages were 90.92%, 4.58%, 2.3%, 1.31%, 0.45% and 0.44% for the same groups. 60% of Bristol's population registered their religion as, and 25% as not religious in the 2001 census, compared to 72% and 15% nationally. 2% of the population follow (3% nationally), with no other religion above one percent. Bristol had the ninth highest proportion of people refer to their religion in the last census as ''.

Physical geography


Bristol is in a area, which runs from the  to the south and the  to the north east. The rivers and  cut through this limestone to the underlying clays, creating Bristol's characteristic hilly landscape. The Avon flows from Bath in the east, through s and areas which were marshy before the growth of the city. To the west the Avon has cut through the limestone to form the, partly aided by glacial meltwater after the last. The gorge aided in the protection of Bristol Harbour, and has been quarried for stone to build the city. The land surrounding the gorge has been protected from development, as and. The gorge and of the Avon form the county's boundary with North Somerset, and the river flows into the  at  at the mouth of the. There is another gorge in the city, in the estate to the north.

Situated in the south of the country, Bristol is one of the warmest cities in the UK, with a mean annual temperature of 10.2-12 ° (50-54°F). It is also amongst the sunniest, with 1541-1885 hours sunshine per year. The city is partially sheltered by and the, but exposed from the , and annual rainfall is similar to the national average, at 741-1,060  (29.2–41.7 in).

Education, science and technology
Bristol is home to two major institutions of higher education: the, a "" chartered in 1909, and the , formerly Bristol Polytechnic, which gained university status in 1992. The city also has two dedicated institutions,  and, and three  colleges, ,  &. The city has 129 infant, junior and primary schools, 17 secondary schools, and three city learning centres. There are also independent schools in the city, including, , , , , , , (an all-boys school) and , the oldest girls' school in England, founded in 1634 by John Whitson.

In 2005 the recognised Bristol's ties to science and technology by naming it one of three "science cities", and promising funding for further development of science in the city, with a £300 million "Science Park" planned at. As well as research at the two universities and, science education is important in the city, with , , and the  being prominent local institutions involved in science communication. The city has a history of scientific achievement, including Sir, the 19th century scientist who worked in and discovered. has given the world two winning physicists:  for crucial contributions to  in 1933, and, for a photographic method of studying nuclear processes and associated discoveries in 1950. The city was birth place of, planetary scientist behind the  lander project, and is home to , presenter of various science related television programmes, the famed graffati artist , and the psychologists  and.

Transport


There are two principal s in Bristol. is located to the north of the city and located in the centre. There are scheduled coach links to most major UK cities. The city is connected by road on an east-west axis from to  by the, and on a north-southwest axis from  to  by the. Also within the county is the, a shortcut between the M5 in the south and M4 in the west. The is a spur from the M4 to the city centre. The city is also served by its own airport, (BRS), at, which has seen substantial investments in its runway, terminal and other facilities since 2001.

Public transport in the city consists largely of its bus network, provided by. Buses in the city have been widely criticised for being unreliable and expensive, and in 2005 First was fined for delays and safety violations. Use of private cars in Bristol is high, and the city suffers from congestion, which costs an estimated £350 million per year. Bristol is a friendly city. The city recognises that motorcycle use eases congestion and encourages this allow motorcycles to use most of the city's bus lanes, as well as providing secure free parking. Since 2000 the city council has included a system in its, but has so far been unable to fund the project. The city was offered funding for the system, but the  did not provide the required additional funding. As well as support for public transport, there are several road building schemes supported by the local council, including re-routing and improving the. There are also three sites serving the city, supported by the local council. The central part of the city has water-based transport, operated as the, which provides both leisure and commuter services on the harbour.

Bristol was never well served by suburban railways, though the to Avonmouth and  survived the  and is still in operation. The was closed to passengers under the Beeching Axe, but was relaid in 2000-2002 as far as the  with a  rail-freight grant. Plans to relay a further three miles of track to, a largely with only one connecting road, have been discussed but there is insufficient funding to rebuild stations.

Despite being hilly, Bristol is one of the prominent cycling cities of England, and is home to the national cycle campaigning group. It has a number of urban cycle routes, as well as links to routes to Bath and London, to Gloucester and Wales, and to the south-western peninsula of England. Cycling has grown rapidly in the city, with a 21% increase in journeys between 2001 and 2005.

Twin cities
Bristol was amongst the first cities to adopt the idea of. In 1947 it was twinned with and, the first post-war twinning of British and German cities. It is twinned with:
 * 🇩🇪, , since 1947
 * 🇫🇷, , since 1947
 * 🇵🇹, , since 1984
 * ,, since 1988
 * 🇳🇮, , since 1989
 * 🇲🇿, , since 1990
 * ,, since 2001
 * 🇪🇸, , since 2005
 * 🇪🇸, , since 2007