Yate
Encyclopedia
Yate is a town in South Gloucestershire
, England
, at the southwest extremity of the Cotswold Hills
, 12 miles (19 km) northeast of the city of Bristol
. At the 2001 census the population was 21,789. The town of Chipping Sodbury
(population 5,066) is continuous with Yate to the east. Yate developed from a village into a new town
in the 1960s, partly as an overspill or commuter town
for the city of Bristol.
by the constituency of Thornbury and Yate.
until 1974 when it became part of the newly-formed county of Avon. In 1996, Avon was abolished, and the area became part of the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire
. Yate remains part of Gloucestershire
only for traditional purposes
.
The first mention of Yate is the existence of a religious house in about AD 770; Yate is also mentioned in the Domesday Book
of 1086. The name is derived from the Old English
word giete or gete, meaning ‘a gateway into a forest area’.
During the Anglo-Saxon period
and well into medieval times
, most of this part of south Gloucestershire was covered with forest. Through the centuries the land was cleared for farming.
The town's parish church, St Mary's,
dates from Norman times. It was altered during the fifteenth century and was extensively restored in 1970. St Mary's Primary School, situated outside the churchyard walls, was built on the site of a former poor house.
It was the opening of the railway station in 1844, as part of Bristol and Gloucester Railway
, that established Yate, with Station Road becoming the central thoroughfare. The cattle and produce markets were held around this road, and businesses were established there. Yate railway station
was closed by the Beeching Axe
in January 1965, but was reopened in May 1989; the Brunel
-built engine shed is preserved nearby.
In the 1960s Yate was designated as a development area and the building boom began. The creation of a new town included a large retail shopping area, sports and leisure development together with public buildings.
When a secondary school was built in the late 1970s, it was supposed to be called Brinsham Green School, after Brinsham Lane at nearby Yate Rocks. Owing to a spelling error, however, it was in fact called Brimsham Green School
.
The town further expanded in the 1990s and 2000s with the construction of housing at North Yate. This housing estate continued to use the corrupted name of Brimsham. To locals the area is known as Brimsham Park.
, probably as part of Operation Bolero
to assist the build up of troops and stores before D-Day
. Two large storage sheds survived on the site until 2008.
At the end of World War II, the site was taken over by the Royal Navy
and became known as the Sea Transport Stores Depot. It was occupied by the Highways Agency
until the sheds were demolished for development.
Oxford Archaeology
has been commissioned to undertake an investigation as to the military significance of this site. The opinion of Bristol Industrial Archaeological Society has also been sought.
, and is operated by First Great Western
.
Regular bus services link Yate with Bristol City Centre. There are also buses from Yate running to Bath,Cribbs Causeway, Malmesbury, Tetbury and Westonbirt Arboretum. Additionally, buses link Yate to a number of other towns/villages within South Gloucestershire including Badminton, Charfield Chipping Sodbury, Downend, Emersons Green, Filton,Fishponds, Frenchay, Hanham, Kingswood, Pucklechurch, Mangotsfield, Old Sodbury, Staple Hill,Thornbury,Tormarton, Westerleigh, Wick, Winterbourne and Wotton Under Edge.
The majority of bus routes in the area operate Monday to Saturday only. On Sundays and bank holidays, the only bus routes serving Yate are the services to Bristol and Cribbs Causeway which operate to a reduced frequency with the first journeys being later and the final journeys being earlier than the rest of the week.
Buses in Yate pick up and set down at Yate Bus Station which is at Yate Shopping Centre. A number of bus services also pass Yate railway station.
aeroplane factory. In the 1950s the Ridge housing estate was developed. The area between these estates was still being mined for celestine
and therefore could not be built on until the mineral had been extracted.
In the 1960s the area around Stanshawes was exhausted of celestine and the housing boom started with the major construction taking place in the south. Much of this development was planned using the Radburn model, a design that created a vehicle-free environment by the use of green spaces and linking paths at the front of the houses. This model was used until the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the planners reverted back to traditional street design methods for the development of the remainder of North Yate, Brimsham Park and the Newmans factory site.
, Germany
Linked with
The GambiaGenieri
, Gambia
). During World War II, Parnall specialized in making gun turret
s. A number of people were killed in raids by the Luftwaffe
on the factory in February and March 1941.
Yate has had three natural products associated with it: limestone
to the east, celestine or spar near the centre of the town, and coal
to the west.
The need for limestone increased with the growth of roads, while the demand for coal grew with the diminishing supply of timber. Celestine, the major strontium
mineral, was first dug in the late 1880s and was initially used for the refining of sugar beet
. At one time Yate’s celestine accounted for over 70 per cent of the world's production. It colours flames red, and so was important for pyrotechnics such as fireworks, military and signal flares, and tracer bullets. The last commercial excavation of celestine from the Yate area was during the Vietnam War. The mining company, Bristol Mineral and Land Co, closed in 1994.
Construction of a pedestrianised shopping centre of around a hundred shops began in the early-to-mid-1960s. The shopping centre was opened by Patricia Phoenix, who played Elsie Tanner
in ITV
's Coronation Street
. As with the most British net towns, modern art was included in the design: in the case of Yate, this was in the form of the Four Seasons sculpture, and a graceful and dramatic spire-shaped sculpture, which could be seen for miles, mounted high above the centre on the roof of one of the shops. This sculpture existed until the early 1990s when it was removed during the revamping of the centre, which included the erection of glass roofs over the walkways. An extension to East Walk was constructed at the start of the 1980s, and this included the construction of a new Tesco store, with the old store in South Walk turned into a Tesco Home and Wear store. An extension to West Walk was constructed in the early 1990s.
In the past Yate shopping centre housed a single screen cinema until the early 1980s, it was closed and replaced with a nightclub named Spirals. The nightclub was closed in the 2000s and was replaced with a Rileys pool club. A youth centre called Armadillo opened in 2011.
Shops in the centre include Burtons (clothes retailer), Tesco
, Boots (chemist), Halfords
Metro, Iceland (supermarket)
, Argos, Superdrug
and The Entertainer. Eating places in the Centre include McDonald's
and Boswells.
During the 1980s and into the mid 1990s, the shopping centre hosted Yate’s annual festival. On opening day a celebrity launched the festival by releasing balloons and stayed to sign autographs. Celebrities have included Carole Lee Scott, in character as Grotbags
(from Rod Hull
and Emu
's enemy), Timmy Mallett
, Keith Chegwin
, Ross Kemp
(EastEnders
' Grant Mitchell
), Ken Morley (Coronation Street
' s Reg Holdsworth), David Neilson
(Coronation Street' s Roy Cropper
), Beverley Callard
(Coronation Street' s Liz McDonald
), Bob Carolgees
and Spit the Dog, and the Milky Bar Kid. The festival also brought along a number of news presenters from HTV West including Bruce Hockin, Richard Wyatt and Peter Rowell.
On 19 November 2009, a large crowd packed into the shopping centre to see Peter Andre
switch on the town's Christmas lights and sing his single "Unconditional".
In December 2006, the owners of the shopping centre (Dominion Corporate Trustees) announced plans to enlarge and modernise it. In Phase 1 one of the main changes has been the replacement of the existing small Tesco with a large Tesco Extra. To replace lost shopping centre parking following the enlargement, the store is on stilts, with parking beneath. It opened on 24th October 2011.
Located near the shopping centre are Lidl
, Morrisons
and B&Q
. There are two Tesco Express stores in Yate: one on Station Road and one in Brimsham Park. The B&Q was built in the mid-to-late 1980s, along with two small housing estates, on the site of the Newmans electric motor factory which had been demolished in the mid-1980s.
The shopping centre also has a Jobcentre Plus
, Citizens Advice Bureau
, library, leisure centre, over-50s café, and health centre.
In 2008, construction of a new health centre began on the site of the old one, costing around £12 million. The new West Gate Health Centre (formerly the West Walk Health Centre) was officially opened on 8 March 2010.
In August 2009, plans were agreed for Tesco
to pull down their store and replace it with a more modern store three times the size, known as a Tesco Extra. The plans include four more shop units, relocation of the bus station, and a revamped entrance to East Walk. The revamp of the town's bus station was officially opened in January 2010. A temporary Tesco store was opened on 28 February 2011 while the new Tesco Extra was under construction. The old Tesco
closed its doors on 27th February 2011 and the Tesco Extra store opened on 24th October 2011.
It was revealed in September 2011 that Marks and Spencer have submitted planning permission for a new store in two of the four units that will be built at the end of East walk opposite the new Tesco Extra. JD Wetherspoons have received permission to open a pub/restaurant complex in the shopping centre.
The town has a skatepark at Peghill. Yate Common on Westerleigh Road, also known the German Fields, is used for dog walking, nature watching, kite flying, circuses and fairs.
The common has a stretch of unused dual carriageway
(51.532282°N 2.433879°W), known as the "road to nowhere", which has been used for filming in TV programmes such as Casualty
. This was part a scheme to create a bypass from Rodford Way in South Yate to Nibley. The scheme was only partially completed in 1974, the year when Yate became a part of Avon. Completion of the road would have entailed building a bridge over the railway, but finance for this was never made available.
The town has several parks and areas of open space. The largest of these is Kingsgate Park, which has an adventure playground for children.
The town is served by a community radio station, GLOSS FM
which broadcasts 365 days a year on its webcasts and twice a year on 87.7 MHz FM.
plays in the Southern League South and West Division. There is also a ladies' football team, Yate Town Girls/Ladies FC, that plays in local leagues. A junior team, Yate United F.C., provides competitive youth football.
The largest youth club in Yate is St Nicholas Youth Football Club. They play their home matches at The Ridings playing fields in Chipping Sodbury.http://www.stnicksfc.co.uk/
There is another local team called Brimsham Athletic
, while Half Man Half Biscuit
's song ‘The Referee's Alphabet’ on their Cammell Laird Social Club
album informs the listener that ‘Y is for Yate, the kind of town that referees come from’.
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...
, England
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...
, at the southwest extremity of the Cotswold Hills
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, 12 miles (19 km) northeast of the city of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. At the 2001 census the population was 21,789. The town of Chipping Sodbury
Chipping Sodbury
Chipping Sodbury is a market town in the county of South Gloucestershire, south-west England, founded in the 12th century by William Crassus . The villages of Old Sodbury and Little Sodbury are nearby...
(population 5,066) is continuous with Yate to the east. Yate developed from a village into a new town
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
in the 1960s, partly as an overspill or commuter town
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...
for the city of Bristol.
Location
The town is surrounded by countryside and within reach of the city of Bristol by bicycle, car, bus or train.National
Yate is represented in the UK ParliamentParliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
by the constituency of Thornbury and Yate.
County
Yate was in GloucestershireGloucestershire
Gloucestershire 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....
until 1974 when it became part of the newly-formed county of Avon. In 1996, Avon was abolished, and the area became part of the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...
. Yate remains part of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire 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....
only for traditional purposes
Ceremonial counties of England
The ceremonial counties are areas of England to which are appointed a Lord Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as counties and areas for the purposes of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England and Lieutenancies Act 1997...
.
History
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086. The name is derived from the Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
word giete or gete, meaning ‘a gateway into a forest area’.
During the Anglo-Saxon period
History of Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...
and well into medieval times
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, most of this part of south Gloucestershire was covered with forest. Through the centuries the land was cleared for farming.
The town's parish church, St Mary's,
dates from Norman times. It was altered during the fifteenth century and was extensively restored in 1970. St Mary's Primary School, situated outside the churchyard walls, was built on the site of a former poor house.
It was the opening of the railway station in 1844, as part of Bristol and Gloucester Railway
Bristol and Gloucester Railway
The Bristol and Gloucester Railway opened in 1844 between Bristol and Gloucester, meeting the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. It is now part of the main line from the North-East of England through Derby and Birmingham to the South-West.-History:...
, that established Yate, with Station Road becoming the central thoroughfare. The cattle and produce markets were held around this road, and businesses were established there. Yate railway station
Yate railway station
Yate railway station serves the town of Yate in South Gloucestershire, in south west England. The station is located on the main Bristol to Birmingham line between Bristol Parkway and Cam & Dursley, and is operated by First Great Western....
was closed by the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
in January 1965, but was reopened in May 1989; the Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
-built engine shed is preserved nearby.
In the 1960s Yate was designated as a development area and the building boom began. The creation of a new town included a large retail shopping area, sports and leisure development together with public buildings.
When a secondary school was built in the late 1970s, it was supposed to be called Brinsham Green School, after Brinsham Lane at nearby Yate Rocks. Owing to a spelling error, however, it was in fact called Brimsham Green School
Brimsham Green School
Brimsham Green School is a comprehensive secondary school in Yate, South Gloucestershire, England. The school is a specialist Humanities College....
.
The town further expanded in the 1990s and 2000s with the construction of housing at North Yate. This housing estate continued to use the corrupted name of Brimsham. To locals the area is known as Brimsham Park.
Yate rail yard
During World War II, a rail transfer yard was constructed for the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, probably as part of Operation Bolero
Operation Bolero
Operation Bolero was the commonly used reference for the code name of the United States military troop buildup in Great Britain during World War II in preparation for the initial cross-channel invasion plan known as Operation Roundup...
to assist the build up of troops and stores before D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
. Two large storage sheds survived on the site until 2008.
At the end of World War II, the site was taken over by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and became known as the Sea Transport Stores Depot. It was occupied by the Highways Agency
Highways Agency
The Highways Agency is an executive agency, part of the Department for Transport in England. It has responsibility for managing the core road network in England...
until the sheds were demolished for development.
Oxford Archaeology
Oxford Archaeology
Oxford Archaeology is one of the largest non-governmental archaeological organisations in Europe....
has been commissioned to undertake an investigation as to the military significance of this site. The opinion of Bristol Industrial Archaeological Society has also been sought.
Railway
Yate railway station serves the town. The station is located on the main Bristol to Birmingham line between Bristol Parkway and Cam and DursleyCam and Dursley railway station
Cam and Dursley railway station is a railway station serving the towns of Cam and Dursley in Gloucestershire. It is located on the main Bristol-Birmingham line, between Yate and Gloucester, at a site close to where Coaley Junction railway station was situated from 1856 to 1965.-The new...
, and is operated by First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
.
Buses
Bus services within the Yate area are mainly provided by First Group and Wessex Connect. Other operators who provide bus services to/from Yate include Andybus, Severnside Transport and South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach Company.Regular bus services link Yate with Bristol City Centre. There are also buses from Yate running to Bath,Cribbs Causeway, Malmesbury, Tetbury and Westonbirt Arboretum. Additionally, buses link Yate to a number of other towns/villages within South Gloucestershire including Badminton, Charfield Chipping Sodbury, Downend, Emersons Green, Filton,Fishponds, Frenchay, Hanham, Kingswood, Pucklechurch, Mangotsfield, Old Sodbury, Staple Hill,Thornbury,Tormarton, Westerleigh, Wick, Winterbourne and Wotton Under Edge.
The majority of bus routes in the area operate Monday to Saturday only. On Sundays and bank holidays, the only bus routes serving Yate are the services to Bristol and Cribbs Causeway which operate to a reduced frequency with the first journeys being later and the final journeys being earlier than the rest of the week.
Buses in Yate pick up and set down at Yate Bus Station which is at Yate Shopping Centre. A number of bus services also pass Yate railway station.
Design
Major growth in Yate started in the early 1920s with the construction of the Moorlands Road estates behind Station Road, close to the ParnallParnall
Parnall was a British aircraft manufacturer, that evolved from a wood-working company before the First World War to a significant designer of military and civil aircraft into the 1940s. It was based in the west of England.-History:...
aeroplane factory. In the 1950s the Ridge housing estate was developed. The area between these estates was still being mined for celestine
Celestine
Celestine may refer to:Popes of the Roman Catholic Church:* Pope Celestine I * Pope Celestine II * Pope Celestine III * Pope Celestine IV * Pope Celestine V *Antipope Celestine II Other...
and therefore could not be built on until the mineral had been extracted.
In the 1960s the area around Stanshawes was exhausted of celestine and the housing boom started with the major construction taking place in the south. Much of this development was planned using the Radburn model, a design that created a vehicle-free environment by the use of green spaces and linking paths at the front of the houses. This model was used until the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the planners reverted back to traditional street design methods for the development of the remainder of North Yate, Brimsham Park and the Newmans factory site.
Twin town
Bad SalzdetfurthBad Salzdetfurth
is a town on the banks of the river Lamme in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was mentioned in Tom Clancy's bestseller Red Storm Rising.-Geography:...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Linked with
The GambiaGenieriGenieri
Genieri is a village in mid-central Gambia. It is located in Kiang East District in the Lower River Division. As of 2009, it has an estimated population of 694....
, Gambia
Industry
Before World War II, Yate had an aircraft manufacturing industry (ParnallParnall
Parnall was a British aircraft manufacturer, that evolved from a wood-working company before the First World War to a significant designer of military and civil aircraft into the 1940s. It was based in the west of England.-History:...
). During World War II, Parnall specialized in making gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s. A number of people were killed in raids by the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
on the factory in February and March 1941.
Yate has had three natural products associated with it: limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
to the east, celestine or spar near the centre of the town, and coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
to the west.
The need for limestone increased with the growth of roads, while the demand for coal grew with the diminishing supply of timber. Celestine, the major strontium
Strontium
Strontium is a chemical element with the symbol Sr and the atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element that is highly reactive chemically. The metal turns yellow when exposed to air. It occurs naturally in the minerals celestine and...
mineral, was first dug in the late 1880s and was initially used for the refining of sugar beet
Sugar beet
Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
. At one time Yate’s celestine accounted for over 70 per cent of the world's production. It colours flames red, and so was important for pyrotechnics such as fireworks, military and signal flares, and tracer bullets. The last commercial excavation of celestine from the Yate area was during the Vietnam War. The mining company, Bristol Mineral and Land Co, closed in 1994.
Shopping
Elsie Tanner
Elsie Tanner is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Patricia Phoenix from 1960 to 1973 and from 1976 until 1984. Elsie Tanner was one of the original core characters on Coronation Street and appeared in the very first episode...
in ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. As with the most British net towns, modern art was included in the design: in the case of Yate, this was in the form of the Four Seasons sculpture, and a graceful and dramatic spire-shaped sculpture, which could be seen for miles, mounted high above the centre on the roof of one of the shops. This sculpture existed until the early 1990s when it was removed during the revamping of the centre, which included the erection of glass roofs over the walkways. An extension to East Walk was constructed at the start of the 1980s, and this included the construction of a new Tesco store, with the old store in South Walk turned into a Tesco Home and Wear store. An extension to West Walk was constructed in the early 1990s.
In the past Yate shopping centre housed a single screen cinema until the early 1980s, it was closed and replaced with a nightclub named Spirals. The nightclub was closed in the 2000s and was replaced with a Rileys pool club. A youth centre called Armadillo opened in 2011.
Shops in the centre include Burtons (clothes retailer), Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
, Boots (chemist), Halfords
Halfords
Halfords Group plc is a leading retailer of car parts, car enhancements and bicycles operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Czech Republic and more recently in Poland, although it is currently pulling out of the latter two countries...
Metro, Iceland (supermarket)
Iceland (supermarket)
Iceland is a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Iceland's primary product lines include frozen foods, such as frozen prepared meals and frozen vegetables - hence the name of the company...
, Argos, Superdrug
Superdrug
Superdrug Stores PLC is Britain's second-largest beauty and health retailer behind Boots. Superdrug - part of the AS Watson Group which in turn is part of the Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa - is a UK based company with over 890 stores, which since 2006, includes the Republic of Ireland...
and The Entertainer. Eating places in the Centre include McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
and Boswells.
During the 1980s and into the mid 1990s, the shopping centre hosted Yate’s annual festival. On opening day a celebrity launched the festival by releasing balloons and stayed to sign autographs. Celebrities have included Carole Lee Scott, in character as Grotbags
Grotbags
Grotbags is the name of a fictional witch who was a popular fixture on British children's television during the 1980s and early 1990s. A character sculpted very much in the mould of the traditional pantomime villain, Grotbags has always been played by actress and singer Carol Lee Scott in a...
(from Rod Hull
Rod Hull
Rodney Stephen Hull , better known as Rod Hull, was a popular entertainer on British television in the 1970s and 1980s. He rarely appeared without Emu, a mute, highly aggressive arm-length puppet of the flightless emu bird...
and Emu
Emu (puppet)
Emu is a puppet emu given to Rod Hull in the 1960s while he was presenting a children's breakfast television programme in Australia. Hull adopted the mute puppet for his cabaret act, and took it with him to the United Kingdom when he returned in 1970...
's enemy), Timmy Mallett
Timmy Mallett
Timmy Mallett is a TV presenter and broadcaster in the UK. He achieved cult status on BBC Radio Oxford and Manchester's Piccadilly Radio and later on TV-am...
, Keith Chegwin
Keith Chegwin
Keith Chegwin is an English television presenter, former child actor and singer.-Early career:Chegwin's early roles were in works of the Children's Film Foundation, appearing as Egghead Wentworth in The Troublesome Double Egghead's Robot . He also appeared as a stowaway in Doomwatch episode...
, Ross Kemp
Ross Kemp
Ross James Kemp is a BAFTA award-winning British actor, author and journalist, who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...
(EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
Grant Mitchell (EastEnders)
Grant Anthony Mitchell is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by Ross Kemp. Grant first appeared in 1990, introduced by producer Michael Ferguson to revamp the show. Kemp remained until 1999 when he opted to leave...
), Ken Morley (Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
David Neilson
David Neilson is an English actor best known for portraying Roy Cropper in Coronation Street from 1995 onwards....
(Coronation Street
Roy Cropper
Royston "Roy" Cropper, is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actor David Neilson, the character was introduced during the episode airing on 19 July 1995. Originally a secondary character, he was given a more prominent role in 1997, by the...
), Beverley Callard
Beverley Callard
Beverley Jane McEwan is an English actress, best known for her role as Liz McDonald in ITV's Coronation Street, and Flo Henshaw in BBC Three's Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.-Early life:Beverley Jane Moxon was born in Leeds on 28 March 1957 to Clive and Mavis Moxon...
(Coronation Street
Liz McDonald
Elizabeth "Liz" Jayne McDonald is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Beverley Callard, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 27 October 1989 and remained on the series until Callard opted to leave in 1998...
), Bob Carolgees
Bob Carolgees
Bob Carolgees is a comedy entertainer who appeared on the Saturday morning TV series Tiswas and then later in its adult versions O.T.T. and Saturday Stayback. He is best-known for appearing with a puppet named Spit the Dog.-Career:In the early 1970s Carolgees ran a DJ and modelling school at 11A...
and Spit the Dog, and the Milky Bar Kid. The festival also brought along a number of news presenters from HTV West including Bruce Hockin, Richard Wyatt and Peter Rowell.
On 19 November 2009, a large crowd packed into the shopping centre to see Peter Andre
Peter André
Peter James Andrea , better known by the stage name as Peter Andre, is an English-born Australian musician, singer-songwriter, television personality and businessman. As a recording artist, he has achieving four top 10 UK albums and ten top 10 singles.-Early life:Andre was born at Northwick Park...
switch on the town's Christmas lights and sing his single "Unconditional".
In December 2006, the owners of the shopping centre (Dominion Corporate Trustees) announced plans to enlarge and modernise it. In Phase 1 one of the main changes has been the replacement of the existing small Tesco with a large Tesco Extra. To replace lost shopping centre parking following the enlargement, the store is on stilts, with parking beneath. It opened on 24th October 2011.
Located near the shopping centre are Lidl
Lidl
Lidl is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany that operates over 7,200 stores across Europe. The company's full name is Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG...
, Morrisons
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
and B&Q
B&Q
B&Q plc is a multinational DIY and home improvement retailer headquartered in Eastleigh, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1969 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kingfisher plc, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange....
. There are two Tesco Express stores in Yate: one on Station Road and one in Brimsham Park. The B&Q was built in the mid-to-late 1980s, along with two small housing estates, on the site of the Newmans electric motor factory which had been demolished in the mid-1980s.
The shopping centre also has a Jobcentre Plus
Jobcentre Plus
Jobcentre Plus was a government agency for working-age people in Great Britain. The agency was formed when the Employment Service, which operated Jobcentres, merged with the Benefits Agency, which ran social security offices, and was re-named Jobcentre Plus on 1 April 2002...
, Citizens Advice Bureau
Citizens Advice Bureau
A Citizens Advice Bureau is one of a network of independent charities throughout the UK that give free, confidential information and advice to help people with their money, legal, consumer and other problems....
, library, leisure centre, over-50s café, and health centre.
In 2008, construction of a new health centre began on the site of the old one, costing around £12 million. The new West Gate Health Centre (formerly the West Walk Health Centre) was officially opened on 8 March 2010.
In August 2009, plans were agreed for Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
to pull down their store and replace it with a more modern store three times the size, known as a Tesco Extra. The plans include four more shop units, relocation of the bus station, and a revamped entrance to East Walk. The revamp of the town's bus station was officially opened in January 2010. A temporary Tesco store was opened on 28 February 2011 while the new Tesco Extra was under construction. The old Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
closed its doors on 27th February 2011 and the Tesco Extra store opened on 24th October 2011.
It was revealed in September 2011 that Marks and Spencer have submitted planning permission for a new store in two of the four units that will be built at the end of East walk opposite the new Tesco Extra. JD Wetherspoons have received permission to open a pub/restaurant complex in the shopping centre.
Amenities
The common has a stretch of unused dual carriageway
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
(51.532282°N 2.433879°W), known as the "road to nowhere", which has been used for filming in TV programmes such as Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
. This was part a scheme to create a bypass from Rodford Way in South Yate to Nibley. The scheme was only partially completed in 1974, the year when Yate became a part of Avon. Completion of the road would have entailed building a bridge over the railway, but finance for this was never made available.
The town has several parks and areas of open space. The largest of these is Kingsgate Park, which has an adventure playground for children.
The town is served by a community radio station, GLOSS FM
GLOSS FM
GLOSS FM is a community radio station in the United Kingdom, which started broadcasting to the South Gloucestershire area on 19 April 2010.It is a member of the Community Radio Association....
which broadcasts 365 days a year on its webcasts and twice a year on 87.7 MHz FM.
Future plans
Yate and Chipping Sodbury have been earmarked for 5000 new homes to be built by 2026. While the location of the housing has yet to be decided, the expected areas are to the north of Yate, and towards Chipping Sodbury.Athletics
Yate and District Athletic Club is a track-and-field club based at Yate Outdoor Sports Centre.Cricket
Chipping Sodbury Cricket Club is Yate's nearest cricket club, providing cricket for men, women, boys and girls. They play their home matches on their two grounds at The Ridings playing fields in Chipping Sodbury.Football
Yate Town F.C.Yate Town F.C.
Yate Town F.C. is a football club based in Yate, South Gloucestershire, England. They were established in 1906 as Yate Rovers and changed their name to Yate YMCA in 1946, becoming Yate Town in 1969...
plays in the Southern League South and West Division. There is also a ladies' football team, Yate Town Girls/Ladies FC, that plays in local leagues. A junior team, Yate United F.C., provides competitive youth football.
The largest youth club in Yate is St Nicholas Youth Football Club. They play their home matches at The Ridings playing fields in Chipping Sodbury.http://www.stnicksfc.co.uk/
There is another local team called Brimsham Athletic
Notable people
- Josie GibsonJosie GibsonJosie Diane Shirley Gibson is a British media personality, and former financial sales rep from Bristol. She rose to prominence after winning Big Brother 2010, and entered Ultimate Big Brother...
, winner of Big Brother UK - Wayne HusseyWayne HusseyWayne Hussey is a British musician, best known as lead singer of The Mission and guitarist with The Sisters of Mercy....
, lead-singer of The MissionThe Mission (band)The Mission are a gothic rock band formed in 1986 from the splinters of the freshly dissolved rock band The Sisters of Mercy.The band was started by frontman Wayne Hussey and bassist Craig Adams , soon adding... - J. K. RowlingJ. K. RowlingJoanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE , better known as J. K. Rowling, is the British author of the Harry Potter fantasy series...
, author of the Harry PotterHarry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series of books, was born in nearby Chipping Sodbury and moved later to the village of WinterbourneWinterbourne, GloucestershireWinterbourne is a large village in South Gloucestershire, England. It had a population of 8,623 in the 2001 census. It sits as the centre of the Civil Parish of Winterbourne which encompasses the neighbouring communities of Winterbourne Down, Hambrook and Frenchay... - Cole SkuseCole SkuseCole Skuse is an English footballer who plays for Bristol City as a midfielder.-Bristol City:As an academy graduate, Skuse made his senior debut as a substitute away at Colchester United on 19 February 2005. He signed his first professional contract, a two-year deal, in April 2005...
, footballer, Bristol City F.C.Bristol City F.C.Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...
, grew up and resides in Yate, and attended Abbottswood School and King Edmund Community School - Geoff Twentyman, Jr.Geoff Twentyman, Jr.Geoff Twentyman is the sports editor of BBC Radio Bristol, and a former professional footballer.The son of former Liverpool player Geoff Twentyman, Geoff Jr. began his career as a trainee at his father's club, but after failing to make the grade there he moved on to Chorley, and from there to...
, sports editor of BBC Radio BristolBBC Radio BristolBBC Radio Bristol is the BBC Local Radio service for the English city of Bristol and the surrounding former Avon area. Launched in September 1970, it broadcasts from Broadcasting House in Bristol on FM frequencies 94.9 MHz , 104.6 MHz , 103.6 MHz , on AM 1548 kHz and on DAB.The...
, former footballer and honorary president of Brimsham Green Football Club
Abbotswood
Abbotswood has a small shopping centre, privately owned blocks of flats, a youth club and church.The Ridge
The Ridge is a large housing estate with two local schools, Broadway Infants School and The Ridge Junior School. There are shops in the centre of the estate including a convenience store and dentists.Literary references to Yate
Yate was awarded the tongue-in-cheek honour of being the 45th worst place to live in the UK, according to the Idler book of Crap TownsCrap Towns
Crap Towns: The 50 Worst Places To Live In The UK and Crap Towns II: The Nation Decides are a series of humorous books edited by Sam Jordison and Dan Kieran and published in association with UK Quarterly The Idler. Towns in the UK were nominated by visitors to The Idler Website for their...
, while Half Man Half Biscuit
Half Man Half Biscuit
Half Man Half Biscuit, often "HMHB", are an English rock band from Birkenhead, Merseyside, active since the mid-1980s, known for satirical, sardonic, and sometimes surreal songs. The group comprises Nigel Blackwell , Neil Crossley , Ken Hancock , and Carl Henry...
's song ‘The Referee's Alphabet’ on their Cammell Laird Social Club
Cammell Laird Social Club
Cammell Laird Social Club is the ninth album released by UK rock band Half Man Half Biscuit in 2002.Cammell Laird Social Club is a Working Men's Club in Rock Ferry, just outside the band's native Birkenhead. The title is a pun on the title of the film and album Buena Vista Social Club about various...
album informs the listener that ‘Y is for Yate, the kind of town that referees come from’.