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31-454: Dowty Propellers is a British engineering company based in Brockworth, Gloucestershire that specialises in the manufacture, repair and overhaul of propellers and propeller components for customers around the world. It is owned by GE Aerospace . The company was formed as Rotol Airscrews in 1937 by Rolls-Royce and Bristol Engines to take over both companies' propeller development,

62-551: A flight test airfield. The Gloster Aircraft Company was first formed at Hucclecote, Gloucestershire in 1915, as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company. In 1926 the name of the company was abbreviated to Gloster Aircraft Company because customers outside of the United Kingdom found the original name too difficult to pronounce. In May 1934 the company was purchased by Hawker Aircraft but

93-559: A municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Tewkesbury", but generally known as the corporation or town council. The modern district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , covering the whole area of two former districts and part of a third, which were all abolished at

124-603: A larger mid-summer festival with other activities and competitions, but the event is now confined to the cheese-rolling and is held in May during the Spring Bank-holiday Monday. It is usually said to have originated as a pagan festival celebrating the arrival of summer, fertility, or both. The contest was the subject of the BBC One programme The Great Cheese Chase broadcast in 2018. The Witcombe Festival

155-687: A parish council. The name Brockworth is derived from the Saxon name Brocwurthin, combining "broc" for brook and "wurthin" for enclosure. Settlement is believed to have occurred around 600 AD, after the defeat of the Gloucester-based Romano British at the Battle of Dyrham in 577 AD. Older, Roman remains have been found locally but they indicate an estate rather than a village. Also, the Saxon-derived name suggests that

186-455: Is 200 yards (180 m) long, and with a slope of around 50 per cent (26.6 degrees). It is known in Britain and beyond for its annual cheese rolling contest . A large round cheese is rolled down the steep slope of the hill and chased by a group of "runners", who in fact spend most of their brief descent to the bottom of the hill falling and tumbling. Two hundred years ago this was part of

217-648: Is also served by Ashchurch for Tewkesbury railway station on the mainline. Heritage railway the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway also has a number of stations in the borough. The area is served by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central with television signals received from either the Ridge Hill or Sutton Coldfield TV transmitters. However, BBC West and ITV West Country are also received through cable and satellite television such as Freesat and Sky . Radio stations for

248-499: Is where the council is based. The district also includes the town of Winchcombe and numerous villages including Bishops Cleeve , Ashchurch , Churchdown , Innsworth and Brockworth as well as other hamlets and surrounding rural areas. Parts of the district lie within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . In September 2024 the council voted to formally change the borough's name to North Gloucestershire , with

279-479: The C-130J and Alenia C-27J . Dowty propellers can also be found on LCACs used by the militaries of several countries. The US National Air and Space Museum 's Udvar Hazy Center, Virginia , has a Dowty propeller on display. Brockworth, Gloucestershire Since the mid-20th century, Brockworth has been known locally for the annual rolling of Double Gloucester cheese down Cooper's Hill. During World War II

310-469: The leader of the council . The leaders since 2007 have been: Following the 2023 election , the composition of the council was: Of the independent councillors, two sit together as the "Isbourne and Winchcombe Independents", and the other five sit with local party the Tewkesbury and Twyning Independents as a group called "The Independents". The next election is due in 2027. The council is based at

341-502: The Council Offices on Gloucester Road in Tewkesbury. The building was purpose-built for the council, being completed in 1976. The whole district is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Tewkesbury and Winchcombe take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council. Gloucestershire Airport is in the borough, near to Gloucester and Cheltenham. The borough

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372-476: The Gloster Aircraft Company closed down and its once famous runway fell victim of redistricting and it is now within the boundary of Hucclecote . The airfield has now been redeveloped as the modern Gloucester Business Park, with additional housing developments continuing to grow around it. Cooper's Hill ( grid reference SO892146 ) is a local landmark within the parish of Brockworth, which

403-474: The Liberal Democrats, Greens and independent councillors. The first election to the modern council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: The role of mayor is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is provided instead by

434-481: The area many years to revive; but after the mid-1950s, renewed housing growth, the development of motorways and redistricting eventually changed the entire look of Brockworth and what were once adjoining villages. In 1952 the Brockworth factory produced the two seat, delta-winged Gloster Javelin which was developed as an all weather fighter that could fly above 50,000 feet at almost the speed of sound. In 1962

465-554: The company built 1,000 Hawker Hurricanes in the first 12 months of World War II and it delivered the last of 2,750 Hurricanes in 1942. Production was then switched to building 3,330 Hawker Typhoons for the Royal Air Force . On 8 April 1941 the first test flight of the Gloster E28/39 with a single turbo-jet engine (invented by Sir Frank Whittle ) took off from the company's flight test airfield at Brockworth. This

496-501: The company changed its name from Rotol Airscrews Limited to Rotol Limited , and in 1952 it acquired British Messier Limited, a specialist in landing gear and hydraulics. In 1958, Bristol Aeroplane and Rolls-Royce agreed to sell Rotol and British Messier to the Dowty Group . By 1959 Rotol and British Messier along with Dowty Equipment and Dowty Fuel Systems became part of the new Dowty Aviation Division based at Cheltenham. In 1968,

527-516: The company introduced the first fibreglass propellers, which went on to see widespread use. Since then it has migrated to carbon fibre , and remains a leader in propeller design. Following a series of changes of ownership, the original Dowty Rotol facility at Staverton is now owned by the Safran Group, operating as part of its Messier-Bugatti-Dowty landing gear subsidiary (now known as Safran Landing Systems). Propeller design and manufacture

558-473: The company name was unchanged. From 1921 the company produced the following aircraft types: Sparrowhawk, Nighthawk, Nightjar, Grouse, Grebe, Gamecock, Gorcock, Guan, Gambit, Gnatsnapper, Gauntlet, Gladiator, Hawker Hurricane ; Hawker Typhoon ; Gloster Meteor and Gloster Javelin and its runway became famous for the first flight of Sir Frank Whittle 's turbo-jet aircraft. The Gloster Aircraft Company (known locally as GAC) drew upon an employment pool from

589-541: The first settlers were Saxons. The oldest surviving building in the village is the Grade I listed building St George's Church, which dates back to 1142. The present structure has elements from then until the nineteenth century. Adjacent to this is the Tudor manor house Brockworth Court , a Grade II* listed building , that was built between 1534 and 1539 for Richard Hart, the last prior of Llanthony Priory . Brockworth

620-490: The market being too small to support more than one company. The name is a contraction of "Rolls-Royce" and "Bristol". Rotol's propellers were always considered leading edge, its models equipping the Hawker Hurricane , Supermarine Spitfire , and many other Second World War -era aircraft. By the end of the war it had introduced the first five-bladed propeller to see widespread use, used on late-model Spitfires. In 1943

651-456: The name Tewkesbury Town Council . In 1991, the parishes of Leckhampton , Prestbury , Swindon and Up Hatherley were transferred to the neighbouring borough of Cheltenham . In 2024, the council consulted its residents on whether the borough's name should be changed to "North Gloucestershire". The council voted to make the change at a meeting on 3 September 2024. The change means the council becomes "North Gloucestershire Borough Council";

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682-650: The nearby village of Hucclecote at the Gloster Aircraft Company produced the famous Hawker Hurricane fighter, and following the war it gained renewed fame for producing several notable aircraft, including Britain's first jet aircraft , which was test flown here. Brockworth is also the birthplace of actor, comedian and writer Simon Pegg . An electoral ward of the same name exists in Tewkesbury Borough . The population and area of this ward are identical to that shown above. Brockworth has

713-423: The new branding is due to be brought into use from December 2024. Tewkesbury Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Gloucestershire County Council . The whole district is also covered by civil parishes , which form a third tier of local government. The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election , with leadership roles shared between

744-413: The new name due to be brought into use from December 2024. The neighbouring districts are Cotswold , Cheltenham , Stroud , Gloucester , Forest of Dean , Malvern Hills and Wychavon . Prior to 1974 the borough of Tewkesbury only covered the town itself. The town was an ancient borough , having been granted a charter of incorporation by Elizabeth I in 1575. The town was reformed in 1836 to become

775-414: The same time: The new district was named Tewkesbury after its main town. The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the council to take the name Tewkesbury Borough Council and letting the chair of the council take the title of mayor. A successor parish was created at the same time covering the area of the former municipal borough of Tewkesbury, with the parish council taking

806-508: The surrounding area and it was responsible for much of the growth in the development of housing estates which was halted by the outbreak of World War II . During the war Brockworth and the surrounding area were bombed by the Luftwaffe in an attempt to halt the production of aircraft. As the pre-war biplane Gladiator was rapidly rendered obsolete by faster monoplanes the Brockworth factory was available to manufacture Hawker aircraft. In 1939

837-549: Was followed by the twin-engined Gloster Meteor , the only jet to be used by the Allied Forces during World War II. The speed of the Meteor enabled it to fly alongside V1 flying bombs, tip them off course, to crash before they could arrive at their London target. In 1945 the Meteor gained a world speed record of 606 mph (975 km/h) and it was eventually put into service by 12 nations. Following World War II it took

868-557: Was moved a few hundred metres down the road when the company was split into business units under its Dowty ownership in the early 1990s. On 16 January 2007, Dowty Propellers became part of GE Aviation Systems through GE buying Smiths Group ’s aerospace division. On 5 February 2015, a fire at Dowty's Staverton facility caused severe damage to 80% of the factory building, destroying the main production line. A facility at Vantage Point Business Village in Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire,

899-534: Was originally held at the bottom of Coopers Hill but since 2018 has been in Brockworth Road. 51°51′N 2°9′W  /  51.850°N 2.150°W  / 51.850; -2.150 Tewkesbury Borough The Borough of Tewkesbury is a local government district with borough status in Gloucestershire , England. The borough is named after its largest town, Tewkesbury , which

930-544: Was selected for the company's interim propeller blade manufacturing. In late 2019, the company began moving its operations to an all-new purpose-built facility at Gloucester Business Park in Brockworth, on part of the site of the former aerodrome used by the Gloster Aircraft Company. Dowty propellers are used on many turboprop feederliners , including the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, Saab 340 and Saab 2000 , and on turboprop transport aircraft such as later models of

961-479: Was the third in a series of rural villages located along an old Roman road following a more-or-less straight line to the inland port city of Gloucester . Its original semi-remote location made it ideal for the location of an aircraft factory (now the Gloucester Business Park ) where aeroplanes could be built and tested without worries about noise. Also, land availability made the area ideal for

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