Slimbridge is a village and civil parish near

Dursley Dursley is a market town and civil parish in southern Gloucestershire, England, almost equidistant from the cities of Bristol and Gloucester. It is under the northeast flank of Stinchcombe Hill, and about southeast of the River Severn. The ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Glo ...

, England. It is best known as the home of the

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is an international wildfowl and wetland conservation charity in the United Kingdom. Its patron is Charles III, and its president is Kate Humble. History The WWT was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist ...

's Slimbridge Reserve which was started by

Sir Peter Scott Sir Peter Markham Scott, (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, he took an interest in ...

Canal and Patch Bridge

The

Gloucester and Sharpness Canal The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal (also known as the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal) is a ship canal in the west of England, between Gloucester and Sharpness; for much of its length it runs close to the tidal River Severn, but cuts off a signi ...

runs through the village, and under Patch Bridge which must be crossed to reach the Wildfowl Trust. Damage to the decking of Patch Bridge in October 2007 resulted in a temporary repair being made using steel plates. This had the effect of unbalancing the bridge, which warped and jammed on 23 October 2007. The swing bridge was replaced in early 2009. Nearby there is a caravan park and pub. The name of the bridge is echoed by the locals abandoning the "Tudor Arms" name and merely referring to the pub as "The Patch." https://www.thetudorarms.co.uk . On the canal towpath, next the bridge, is the Slimbridge Boat Station, which is a cafe, general store and boating resource centre.

Church

The village church of

St John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given t ...

dates from the early 13th century and is a grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

School and playing field

Slimbridge is home to one primary school that takes pupils from Slimbridge and the surrounding village of

Cambridge, Gloucestershire Cambridge ( ) is a hamlet in the district of Stroud, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the A38 road The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road ...

. The school is fairly small consisting of only 4 classes and around 100 pupils. There is also a recreational field in Slimbridge that the Playing Field Committee raised money through the aid of National Lottery funding to build a brand new pavilion.

Slimbridge estate

The Slimbridge Estate is owned by the

Ernest Cook Trust The Ernest Cook Trust is a large educational charity in England. It was founded in 1952 by the philanthropist Ernest Cook, the grandson of Thomas Cook. Each year the Trustees distribute more than £1.25m in educational grants to benefit children an ...

based on an original purchase in 1945 by

Ernest Cook Ernest Edward Cook (4 September 1865 – 14 March 1955) was an English philanthropist and businessman. He was a grandson of Thomas Cook, the travel entrepreneur. Cook was born in Camberwell, London and educated at Mill Hill School, as were hi ...

of in the parishes of Slimbridge and Gossington out of the sale of outlying portions of the

Berkeley Castle Berkeley Castle ( ; historically sometimes spelled as ''Berkley Castle'' or ''Barkley Castle'') is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. The castle's origins date back to the 11th century, and it has been desi ...

Estate. The Berkeley Estate had for years been a famous sporting estate although the last Earl of Berkeley, who died young, was more interested in the sciences. Ernest Cook extended the estate further by purchasing Breadstone Farm and Wanswell Court from the Berkeley family.

Sport and leisure

The village's football club, Slimbridge Football Club play in the Southern Football League South & West Division as well as competing in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

and

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

. "The Swans" or "The Bridge" play their home matches at their ground located in Wisloe Road, Cambridge, just across the A38 from Slimbridge village. In the Summer of 2016, the club's Wisloe Road Ground was renamed 'Thornhill Park' in memory of former Chairman Evi Thornhill, who donated the field that the club has built on in his will when he died in 1960. The village also has a cricket club which operates in the Stroud District Cricket League. Slimbridge Local History Society holds regular meetings featuring presentations of local history and maintains online archives for members' use.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Slimbridge is twinned with the 14 communes of the former canton of Saint-Georges-du-Vièvre (Normandy, France), the most populated of which is

Lieurey Lieurey () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France. Population International relations The 14 communes of the former canton of Saint-Georges-du-Vièvre (Normandy, France), including Lieurey, are twinned with Sli ...

References

External links

* * * * {{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire Stroud District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire