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 Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, between Whitchurch and

Brislington Brislington is an area in the south east of the city of Bristol, England. It is on the edge of Bristol and from Bath. Brislington Brook runs through the area in the woodlands of Nightingale Valley and St Anne's Wood. Brislington formerly hou ...

, and west of the Somerset town of Keynsham.

Geography

Stockwood forms an outermost southern suburb of the city with much green space; the upper part of Stockwood is set on a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

surrounded by pasture and the lower part a wooded valley, bordered to its west by the old Bristol and North Somerset Railway rail line which is now a cycle way. 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 A pantile is a type of fired roof tile, normally made from clay. It is S-shaped in profile and is single lap, meaning that the end of the tile laps only the course immediately below. Flat tiles normally lap two courses. A pantile-covered ro ...

-style shopping-precinct there is a good view of the city and events such as the

Bristol International Balloon Fiesta The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is an annual four day free festival of hot air ballooning in Bristol, England. Teams from the UK and other parts of the world bring their hot air balloons to the site and participate in mass ascents where ...

. 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 Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

) and Christ the Servant ( Anglican). 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. and Bristol Telephone Area RFC play at the BTRA Sports Ground on Stockwood Lane. Bristol Telephones FC are members of the

Western Football League The Western Football League is a football league in South West England, covering Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, western Dorset, parts of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. The league's current main sponsor is Toolstation, so it is also known as ...

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 Chur ...

. 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 In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

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 A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

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 orchid ''Dactylorhiza fuchsii'', the common spotted orchid, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae. ''Dactylorhiza fuchsii'' is one of Europe's commonest wild orchids. It is widespread across much of Europe, with the range ...

s and bird's-foot trefoil are amongst the flowers to be found, and numerous butterflies include

meadow brown The meadow brown (''Maniola jurtina'') is a butterfly found in the Palearctic realm. Its range includes Europe south of 62°N, Russia eastwards to the Urals, Asia Minor, Iraq, Iran, North Africa and the Canary Islands. The larvae feed on grasse ...

, marbled white and

large skipper The large skipper (''Ochlodes sylvanus'') is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. Taxonomy It was long known as '' Ochlodes venatus'', but this is a Far Eastern relative. There is still some dispute whether this species should be considered a ...

. 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,

kestrel The term kestrel (from french: crécerelle, derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviou ...

s and

sparrowhawk Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the genus ''Accipiter''. "Sparrow-hawk" or sparhawk originally referred to ''Accipiter nisus'', now called "Eurasian" or "northern" sparrowhawk to distinguish it f ...

s are often seen. Two farm ponds are homes for

frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

toads Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scienti ...

and

newts A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aqua ...

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