Stockwood is a residential area and

council ward A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

in south Bristol, between Whitchurch and Brislington, and west of the Somerset town of

Keynsham Keynsham ( ) is a town and civil parish located between Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. It has a population of 16,000. It was listed in the Domesday Book as ''Cainesham'' (as it is pronounced), which is believed to mean the home of Sai ...

Geography

Stockwood forms an outermost southern suburb of the city with much green space; the upper part of Stockwood is set on a plateau surrounded by pasture and the lower part a wooded valley, bordered to its west by the old

Bristol and North Somerset Railway The Bristol and North Somerset Railway was a railway line in the West of England that connected Bristol with Radstock, through Pensford and further into northern Somerset, to allow access to the Somerset Coalfield. The line ran almost due so ...

rail line which is now a

cycle way Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except w ...

. The upper estate was built in the 1960s as private housing, together with sheltered elderly accommodation. On a green-space ridge in front of the pantile-style shopping-precinct there is a good view of the city and events such as the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. Below this green space, the rest of Stockwood consists of an earlier estate of previous council housing set on the sides of a steep valley.

Community

Population of about 11,800. There are two public houses located in Stockwood: The Concorde on Stockwood Lane and The Harvesters on Harrington Road. The uniquely named 'Man in Space' pub was redeveloped to make way for more residential houses and The Antelope was redeveloped to make way for flats. There are two churches on this upper area: Stockwood Free Church ( Baptist) and Christ the Servant (

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

). There is also a public library, clinic, dentistry practice, vet, optician and pharmacies at the upper shops, together with several different fast-food outlets. There is a Stockwood Community Facebook Page, where members of the Stockwood community can connect with one another, local businesses and events.

Sport

Bristol Telephones F.C. Bristol Telephones Football Club is a football club based in Stockwood, Bristol, England. They are currently members of the and play at Stockwood Lane. History The club was established in 1948 as Bristol Post Office Telephones and joined the ...

and Bristol Telephone Area RFC play at the BTRA Sports Ground on Stockwood Lane. Bristol Telephones FC are members of the Western Football League Division One. The Phones Rugby Team play in Somerset RFU Division II North. The Club is open to non-members and holds regular events such as Stockfest a yearly Music festival and an annual Firework Night. There are stables and horse riding as well as the nearby Horseworld. There is indoor bowls and other social activities at the Anglican Church. There are two Community Centres

Youth

There are local Scout and Guides and a

Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade The Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade is an Anglican youth organisation with branches in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bermuda, Kenya, South Africa, Barbados, Newfoundland and St Helena. Its origins lie in the formation in 1891 of the Church ...

. There are two primary schools serving the area as well as nurseries.

Stockwood Open Space

Stockwood Open Space is a local nature reserve. It is an expanse of old farmland and ancient woodland providing a blend of old meadows, thick hedges and woodlands on lime-rich clay soils. It is owned by Bristol City Council and managed as a nature reserve in partnership with the

Avon Wildlife Trust The Avon Wildlife Trust aims to protect and promote wildlife in the area of the former county of Avon — now Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, in England. It has its headquarters in Bristol and run ...

. cowslip,

Dyer's greenweed ''Genista tinctoria'', the dyer's greenweed or dyer's broom, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. Its other common names include dyer's whin, waxen woad and waxen wood. The Latin specific epithet ''tinctoria'' means "used as a ...

, common spotted orchids and

bird's-foot trefoil ''Lotus corniculatus'' is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae, native to grasslands in temperate Eurasia and North Africa. Common names include common bird's-foot trefoil, eggs and bacon, birdsfoot deervetch, and just bird's-foot trefo ...

are amongst the flowers to be found, and numerous

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

include meadow brown, marbled white and large skipper. The wood known as Ilsyngrove is very old and the home of bluebell,

yellow archangel ''Lamium galeobdolon'', commonly known as yellow archangel, artillery plant, aluminium plant, or yellow weasel-snout, is a widespread wildflower in Europe, and has been introduced elsewhere as a garden plant. It displays the zygomorphic flower mo ...

and the rare Bath asparagus. Birds including whitethroats, kestrels and sparrowhawks are often seen. Two farm ponds are homes for frogs, toads and newts.

References

External links

Stockwood Ward Profile 2005
{{Districts of Bristol Areas of Bristol Wards of Bristol Local nature reserves in Avon Places formerly in Somerset