Southway is a large suburban
housing estate
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
Popular throughout the United States a ...
in north-west
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
in the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
county of
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
. The name is believed to have derived from the route into Plymouth often used by
Buckland Abbey
Buckland Abbey is a Grade I listed 700-year-old house in Buckland Monachorum, near Yelverton, Devon, England, noted for its connection with Sir Richard Grenville the Younger and Sir Francis Drake. It is owned by the National Trust.
Monastic ...
monks, which was known as the "South Way".
Geography
The neighbourhood is spread across an often steep topography, which provides good views to the open areas of woodland to the north and south. Southway lies to the north of the
Southway Valley Local Nature Reserve, an area of woodland and grassland with extensive footpaths accessible from the housing estate.
History
Part of the city's extensive
post-war
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
housing programme, the land upon which Southway is built was previously occupied by three farms, Southway, Langley and Birdcage, as well as parts of four other farms, Clittaford, Heathfield, Hendwell and Wyvell (now Widewell). Some of these are commemorated in street names, and much of the original woodland and greenery remains in large pockets around the estate.
Timeline
* 1943 - the decision was made to build the estate, as extensive plans for the rebuilding of the
blitz
Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to:
Military uses
*Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign
*The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War
*, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...
ed city and its decimated housing stock were being made.
* 1954 - Building work begins in September.
* 1955 - The first residents take up occupancy.
* 1958 - Southway Primary School open
* 1962 - The secondary schoo
opens, followed by the estate's two other primary schools (Langley and Tamerton Vale) in the late 1960s.
* 1968 - The second phase of construction is mostly completed.
The 1960s phase also saw a large shopping centr
added to the estate, complete with banks and a Public librar
as well as two pubs The Falstaf
The Merry Monk (The Abbots Way (The Old Southway
and The Clittaford Clu
a Private members club. There are also Anglican
[ and Roman Catholic churches and a community centr]
Nearby is the Southway Industrial Estate, which provides a home to large companies such as BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...
and Invensys
2009 - Southway Primary School changes its name to Beechwood Primary School, following its incorporation into the Southernway Federation along with Langley Primary School (now Oakwood Primary School).
2010 - Beechwood Primary School is relocated to a new building on the site of the former Southway Community College in Rockfield Avenue.
Housing
There are 2855 households in Southway, with an average household size of 2.4. The majority (roughly 66%) of houses in Southway are terraced, with comparatively fewer detached or semi-detached properties.[ Flats comprise approximately 12% of dwellings.][ There is a lower than average rate of owner occupancy (54% compared with 68.9% nationally).][
Although there is a uniform post-war typology (urban planning and architecture), typology across the neighbourhood, the houses are constructed with a range of materials, mainly ]stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
and brick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
.[ The residential density is fairly low, at 27 dwellings per hectare.][
A new residential development, of 490 dwellings, is currently being constructed in the north-east of Southway.] Other potential residential developments have also been proposed in Southway, including on the sites of two former primary schools.[
]
Residential street names
Some of the street names in Southway are named after families who had historically owned land in the Tamerton Foliot
Tamerton Foliot is a village situated in the north of Plymouth, England, that also lends its name to the ecclesiastical parish of the same name.
Situated near the confluence of the rivers Tamar and Tavy, the village is situated in a valley ...
area - these include Bonville Road and Bampfylde Way. Other themes for street names include Victorian Plymouthians (such as Burnard Close, after Robert Burnard), Mayors of Plymouth
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...
(such as Alger Walk, after William Henry Alger), and British islands and headlands (such as Lundy Close or Flamborough Road).
Government
Southway is within the Southway Ward of Plymouth City Council
Plymouth City Council is the unitary authority for Plymouth, Devon. It has traditionally been controlled by Labour or the Conservatives. The council is currently in a state of no overall control, with the Conservatives governing as a minority ad ...
. It is part of the Plymouth, Moor View parliamentary constituency, having previously been part of the now-defunct constituency of Plymouth Devonport.
Local amenities
Southway has a lack of facilities for a neighbourhood of its size.[ The neighbourhood's one local centre is located on Flamborough Road. Other local facilities, such as primary schools, are located apart from this centre.
In 2017, supermarket Aldi opened a store on Flamborough Road. ]
Education
There are two primary schools in Southway, which together comprise the Southernway Federation, with a single executive head and federation governing body. Oakwood Primary School opened in September 2009, after a refurbishment of the site occupied by Langley Infants and Junior Schools. Beechwood Primary is an amalgamation of the former Southway and Tamerton Vale primaries. It opened in September 2008 on the site of the former Southway Primary School, before moving to a new location, on the site of the former Southway Community College, in June 2010.[ Tamerton Vale Primary had previously been situated on the western edge of the neighbourhood.
Southway Community College, which closed in July 2002 due to a lack of pupils, had been founded by Peter Bindschedler in 1962 as Southway Comprehensive School.] Its name later changed to Southway School before becoming Southway Community College in 1994.
There is a public library in Southway shopping centre, which is open six days a week with a range of information services.
Health care
Southway Surgery, located on Rockfield Avenue, has three GPs and offers a range of National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
(NHS) services including a diabetes clinic and a mother and baby clinic.
Religion
Holy Spirit, Southway is a Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
church within the Diocese of Exeter
The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Exeter Cathedral, Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is pa ...
, located on Clittaford Road. The church building was built in 1960, largely funded by the trustees of the recently closed Kelly College Mission and constructed according to a design of local architect Mr D. McDonald. The building was later extended in 1985, and now has a capacity of 250 people.[ Formerly part of the parish of Tamerton Foliot, it became a parish church in its own right in 1971.][
Nearby is the ]Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
church of St Thomas More, which was built between 1963 and 1964. Originally a separate parish, it joined with the Crownhill
Crownhill is an area of northern Plymouth, in the county of Devon, England.
Overview
It was originally known as Knackersknowle, meaning "the hill of the knacker's yard". In 1860 a fort was built on a high piece of land, just to the north wes ...
church of St Peter at the beginning of 2006.[
]
Clubs
Plymouth Miniature Steam is a club for model railway engineers, based at Goodwin Park. The club has been running since the 1960s, and based in Southway since 1990. The miniature railway is open to the public on the first and third Sundays of each month.
Transport
Southway is well-served with bus routes. The whole neighbourhood is within a 5-minute walk of a bus stop, and there are frequent services to Plymouth City Centre and Derriford Hospital
Derriford Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Plymouth, England. The hospital serves Plymouth and nearby areas of Devon and Cornwall. It also provides tertiary cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery and renal transplant surgery for the whol ...
.[
There are no designated cycle routes through the neighbourhood, largely because of the difficulties presented by the steep topography.][
]
Demography
The population of Southway has a higher proportion of over-60s than the city of Plymouth as a whole. Life expectancy is higher in Southway than for Plymouth as a whole, although 24.2% of residents have had a long-term illness and only 61.2% of people consider their health as 'good'.[
]
Economy
There are limited employment opportunities for Southway residents within the neighbourhood, with 2008 figures showing a job ratio of 0.55 per person.[
]
Crime
Police statistics show that the level of crime and anti-social behaviour
Antisocial behavior is a behavior that is defined as the violation of the rights of others by committing crime, such as stealing and physical attack in addition to other behaviors such as lying and manipulation. It is considered to be disrupti ...
in Southway is average, with a rate of 11.18 per 1000 people in April 2011. However, in 2010 there was a 29.3% increase in crime compared with 2009, with particular rises in the rate of domestic burglaries (from 6 incidents to 27) and criminal damage (from 80 incidents to 102). According to surveys conducted by PACT and Plymouth City Council, the rate of anti-social behaviour
Antisocial behavior is a behavior that is defined as the violation of the rights of others by committing crime, such as stealing and physical attack in addition to other behaviors such as lying and manipulation. It is considered to be disrupti ...
in the community, and the visible lack of police patrolling, is a source of concern to many Southway residents.[ In 2008, it was ranked the 28th worst neighbourhood in Plymouth in terms of crime.][
]
References
{{reflist
"Nazi BNP member sacked in Plymouth"
at indymedia.org
Suburbs of Plymouth, Devon