Southway
Encyclopedia
Southway is a large suburban housing estate
in north-west Plymouth
in the English
county of Devon
. The name is believed to have derived from the route into Plymouth often used by Buckland Abbey
monks, which was known as the "South Way".
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.
The 1960s phase also saw a large shopping centrehttp://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/srda/srda14c.htm added to the estate, complete with banks and a Public library http://www.mlasouthwest.org.uk/index.php?ID=360&UID=1448&GO=2, as well as two pubs The Falstaffhttp://www.lemonrock.com/falstaff, The Merry Monk (The Abbots Way (The Old Southway))http://www.pub-explorer.com/devon/pub/abbotswaysouthway.htm and The Clittaford Club http://www.clubsline.com/other/clt.html a Private members club. There are also Anglican http://www.plymouthdata.info/CH-Holy%20Spirit.htm and Roman Catholichttp://www.plymouthdata.info/CH-RC-StThomas.htm churches and a community centre http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/communitycentres#sletter. Although benefiting from the surrounding countryside the area suffers from poor public transport and being very isolated from the centre of the city.
Nearby is the Southway Industrial Estate,which provides a home to large companies such as BAE Systems
, Invensys
and the Paper Converting Machine Companyhttp://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-0000773989-page.html.
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
across the neighbourhood, the houses are constructed with a range of materials, mainly stucco
and brick
. 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.
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 (such as Alger Walk, after William Henry Alger), and British islands and headlands (such as Lundy Close or Flamborough Road
).
In June 2006, the British National Party
caused a wave of controversy by standing a candidate in the by-election called after the death of the Labour Party
councillor for the Southway area. Liam Birch, a 21-year-old student from the University of Plymouth
was the first candidate the party had ever stood in the area. Birch caused further controversy when it was reported in the local press that he had claimed that "... the Jews declared war on the Nazis, not the other way around...." The Plymouth branch of Unite Against Fascism
caused further controversy by delivering leaflets which it was alleged by the BNP, interfered with the electoral process. The dispute continues.
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.
(NHS) services including a diabetes clinic and a mother and baby clinic.
church within the Diocese of Exeter
, 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 church of St Thomas More, which was built between 1963 and 1964. Originally a separate parish, it joined with the Crownhill
church of St Peter at the beginning of 2006.
.
There are no designated cycle routes through the neighbourhood, largely because of the difficulties presented by the steep topography.
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
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.
Housing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
in north-west Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. The name is believed to have derived from the route into Plymouth often used by Buckland Abbey
Buckland Abbey
Buckland Abbey is a 700-year-old house in Buckland Monachorum, near Yelverton, Devon, England, noted for its connection with Sir Francis Drake and presently in the ownership of the National Trust.-History:...
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-warPost-war
A post-war period or postwar period is the interval immediately following the ending of a war and enduring as long as war does not resume. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum when a war between the same parties resumes at a later date...
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 blitzThe BlitzThe Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
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 opens.http://www.southway-pri.plymouth.sch.uk/
- 1962 - The secondary school http://web.ukonline.co.uk/stephen.johnson/air/ssch.jpg 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 centrehttp://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/srda/srda14c.htm added to the estate, complete with banks and a Public library http://www.mlasouthwest.org.uk/index.php?ID=360&UID=1448&GO=2, as well as two pubs The Falstaffhttp://www.lemonrock.com/falstaff, The Merry Monk (The Abbots Way (The Old Southway))http://www.pub-explorer.com/devon/pub/abbotswaysouthway.htm and The Clittaford Club http://www.clubsline.com/other/clt.html a Private members club. There are also Anglican http://www.plymouthdata.info/CH-Holy%20Spirit.htm and Roman Catholichttp://www.plymouthdata.info/CH-RC-StThomas.htm churches and a community centre http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/communitycentres#sletter. Although benefiting from the surrounding countryside the area suffers from poor public transport and being very isolated from the centre of the city.
Nearby is the Southway Industrial Estate,which provides a home to large companies such as BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
, Invensys
Invensys
Invensys plc is a global engineering and information technology company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It was formed in 1999 through the merger of BTR plc and Siebe plc. It has offices in more than 50 countries and its products are sold in around 180 countries.Invensys is organised into...
and the Paper Converting Machine Companyhttp://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-0000773989-page.html.
Housing
| Housing type | Southway (%) | Plymouth (%) | England & Wales (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | 4.0 | 10.7 | 22.8 |
| Semi-detached | 18.1 | 29.0 | 31.6 |
| Terraced | 65.5 | 34.5 | 26.0 |
| Flats | 12.4 | 25.4 | 19.2 |
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
Typology (urban planning and architecture)
Typology is the taxonomic classification of characteristics commonly found in buildings and urban places, according to their association with different categories, such as intensity of development , degrees of formality, and school of thought...
across the neighbourhood, the houses are constructed with a range of materials, mainly stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
and brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
. 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 FoliotTamerton Foliot
Tamerton Foliot was a village and is now a dense suburb in the north of Plymouth, England that also lends its name to the parish of the same name....
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 (such as Alger Walk, after William Henry Alger), and British islands and headlands (such as Lundy Close or Flamborough Road
Flamborough
Flamborough is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north east of Bridlington town centre on the prominent coastal feature of Flamborough Head. The most prominent man-made feature of the area is Flamborough lighthouse. The headland...
).
Government
Southway is within the Southway Ward of Plymouth City Council. It is part of the Plymouth, Moor View parliamentary constituency, having previously been part of the now-defunct constituency of Plymouth Devonport.In June 2006, the British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
caused a wave of controversy by standing a candidate in the by-election called after the death of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
councillor for the Southway area. Liam Birch, a 21-year-old student from the University of Plymouth
University of Plymouth
Plymouth University is the largest university in the South West of England, with over 30,000 students and is 9th largest in the United Kingdom by total number of students . It has almost 3,000 staff...
was the first candidate the party had ever stood in the area. Birch caused further controversy when it was reported in the local press that he had claimed that "... the Jews declared war on the Nazis, not the other way around...." The Plymouth branch of Unite Against Fascism
Unite Against Fascism
Unite Against Fascism is an anti-fascist pressure group in the United Kingdom, with support from politicians of all mainstream UK political parties...
caused further controversy by delivering leaflets which it was alleged by the BNP, interfered with the electoral process. The dispute continues.
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.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 ServiceNational Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
(NHS) services including a diabetes clinic and a mother and baby clinic.
Religion
Holy Spirit, Southway is a Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
church within the Diocese of Exeter
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 Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan bishop, the Right Reverend Michael Langrish, Bishop of Exeter. It is part of the Province of...
, 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 church of St Thomas More, which was built between 1963 and 1964. Originally a separate parish, it joined with the Crownhill
Crownhill
Crownhill is an area of northern Plymouth, in the English county of Devon.-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 west of the village, on the site of a building called Crown...
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 HospitalDerriford Hospital
Derriford Hospital, is a large teaching hospital situated in Plymouth, England. The hospital serves Plymouth and nearby areas in Devon and Cornwall. It also provides tertiary Cardiothoracic surgery, Neurosurgery and Renal Transplant surgery for the whole of the South West Peninsula...
.
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 behaviourAnti-social behaviour
Anti-social behaviour is behaviour that lacks consideration for others and that may cause damage to society, whether intentionally or through negligence, as opposed to pro-social behaviour, behaviour that helps or benefits society...
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
Anti-social behaviour
Anti-social behaviour is behaviour that lacks consideration for others and that may cause damage to society, whether intentionally or through negligence, as opposed to pro-social behaviour, behaviour that helps or benefits society...
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.