52-636: The Wrington Vale Light Railway was a railway from Congresbury on the Cheddar Valley line to Blagdon , and serving villages in the Yeo Valley located in North Somerset , England. Construction of the line started in 1897 and it opened in 1901. Never more than a purely local line, it closed to passengers in 1931, and completely in 1963. The first attempt to build a railway line in this part of North Somerset took place in 1882 when an Act
104-496: A colour bar , denying employment to non-white bus crews resulted in a 60-day boycott , led by youth worker Paul Stephenson . After a bitter campaign the company finally climbed down and started to employ black and Asian crews in September of that year. The 1960s and 1970s were years of declining bus usage, and the company struggled to make profits in the face of rising costs and falling revenues. Successive governments changed
156-484: A Grade I listed building. There is a Methodist chapel on Brinsea Road ( B3133 ) which was constructed in 1878 to seat 150 people. Congresbury has a King George's Field in memorial to King George V . Sporting facilities for the football club, tennis club, and cricket club (formed in 1844), are provided by the umbrella organisation, the Congresbury Recreation Club. The Recreation Club
208-480: A common series. In 1941, Bristol was heavily bombed in the blitz. Losses included the main power station resulting in the last of Bristol's trams ceasing operation, and from then on the company only operated buses and coaches – although it kept the Bristol Tramways name for some years. After World War II , the new Attlee government took steps to nationalise much of the country's transport industry. As
260-440: A day each way between Blagdon and Yatton; one trip each way was a mixed passenger and goods service. The first train out of Blagdon in the morning went only as far as Congresbury, and returned to Blagdon from there. Other trains ran through from or to Yatton. In 1910, there were five trains a day in each direction on weekdays only. Until 1915, there was a late trip on Saturdays from Blagdon to Yatton and return. With light loadings,
312-404: A joint undertaking between the company and the corporation which controlled Bristol's city buses (and initially also its trams) until 1978. The difference between the two operations was not generally apparent to the public as the same livery was used, differing only in the fleetname detail. Furthermore, there were regular loans of vehicles between the two organisations, and the fleet was numbered in
364-522: A line from Blagdon to Congresbury was promoted. At this time the Bristol Waterworks Company were building a reservoir at Blagdon, and they supported the scheme. The Great Western Railway (GWR) agreed to finance the scheme and manage the actual construction. In 1896, an application was made for a Light Railway Order ; there was to be a short branch to Blagdon Waterworks. A statutory enquiry was held on 20 May 1897. A public inquiry
416-578: A quiet sanctuary, the Millennium Green has also played host to a village music festival. Near to the Millennium Green there is a basketball court . The village has many recreational groups, including Cubs , Scouts and Brownies , a bell-ringing club, a youth club and the Congresbury Youth Partnership. In the heart of the village there is also a bowls club, which has an annual competition open to all. There
468-696: A report outlining the possibility of using the old trackbed of the railway for the proposed Bristol Airport Rail Link . Congresbury Congresbury is a village and civil parish on the northwestern slopes of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset , England, which in 2011 had a population of 3,497. It lies on the A370 between Junction 21 of the M5 and Bristol Airport , 13 miles (21 km) south of Bristol city centre, and 7 miles (11 km) east of Weston-super-Mare . The Congresbury Yeo river flows through
520-617: A result, in 1948 the Tilling Group sold its bus interests to the government, and Bristol Tramways became a state-owned company, under the control of the British Transport Commission . Its chassis-building operation proved especially useful and, with the nationalisation of Eastern Coach Works of Lowestoft , enabled complete buses, coaches (and even some lorry tractor-units for British Road Services and two railbuses for British Railways ) to be built solely for
572-448: A school founded in the 1870s that was split into separate infant and junior schools in the early 1970s. In September 2009, the two schools were re-joined as one primary school. The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council’s operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with
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#1732772894352624-399: A trailer coach, enabling the locomotive to propel its train, eliminating the need for the engine to run round at the end of a run, and so cutting costs. The motor trolley system of maintenance was also adopted. The GWR 101 Class experimental oil-fired locomotive of 1901 was also designed for use on this line, but issues with the technology prevented it from coming into service. Milk traffic
676-489: Is North Somerset Council. Congresbury has a pre-school and St Andrews Primary School. Secondary education is not available in the village and so many of Congresbury's children commute daily to the nearby village of Churchill to attend Churchill Academy and Sixth Form . The Anglican Church of St Andrew in Congresbury dates from the 13th century but was extensively altered in the 15th century and has been designated as
728-437: Is a Grade II* listed building , part of which was built around 1620 with additions being made in the 17th century. The house and surrounding estate has been bought and sold many times over the centuries with the estate now being used as an equestrian centre. The Vicarage includes an early 19th-century vicarage and former Priest's House from around 1446. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building . The village had
780-709: Is a large village and has several public houses with a wide variety of shops and other businesses. Opposite the village cross in the High Street is Broad Street, an unusually wide street suggesting it was a planned arrangement for the weekly market and annual fair. Congresbury also has a medical practice, library and War Memorial Hall constructed in 1920. Congresbury community cafe opened at Bridge House in February 2019. Managed entirely by volunteers, it raises funds to support village activities / organisations and local charities, The local council responsible for education
832-619: Is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county . Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare . Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was the Woodspring district of the county of Avon . Before 1974 that the parish was part of the Axbridge Rural District . An electoral ward exists in Congresbury. The area and population are the same as shown above. The parish
884-571: Is also home to several skittles teams and darts teams. The village also offers fishing in purpose built lakes and the River Yeo itself. The hamlet of Brinsea is home to the Mendip Spring Country Club and Golf Course. In the beginning of the 21st century, Congresbury opened a Millennium Green situated next to the River Yeo and a Millennium Bridge spanning the river to join north and south Congresbury. As well as being
936-441: Is also responsible for education , social services , libraries , main roads, public transport, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through Avon Fire and Rescue Service , Avon and Somerset Constabulary and South Western Ambulance Service . North Somerset's area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it
988-630: Is an annual village fete held at the primary school. Congresbury lies next to the Strawberry Line , an old railway line now converted to a pathway for walkers and cyclists to enjoy the countryside with views over the North Somerset Levels and reserves on the Congresbury Moors, which is maintained by the local conservation group, YACWAG. Since late 2011, plans have been publicised for a skatepark to be built in
1040-618: Is believed to have come from St Andrew's Church , and which is now in the Museum of Somerset in Taunton . The parish was part of the Winterstoke Hundred . The village cross dates from the 15th century and is a Grade II* listed building and Scheduled monument . A 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) high 15th century cross on an octagonal plinth. The head of the cross was replaced in the early 19th century. Urchinwood Manor
1092-958: Is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of the Wells and Mendip Hills . It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It was also part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament prior to Britain leaving the European Union in January 2020, which elected seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation . Congresbury
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#17327728943521144-436: Is said to have performed three miracles in the area. The second part of the name is thought to come from burh meaning fortified place. The remains of an Iron Age hill fort at Cadbury Hill have been discovered, as well as a Roman villa , temple and hoard of coins. Christian burial grounds have also been discovered on Cadbury Hill. The archaeologist Mick Aston identified an Anglo-Saxon sculpture of St Congar which
1196-732: The Bristol Tramways Company and began a horse drawn service in Bristol from Upper Maudlin Street to Blackboy Hill . In 1887 the Bristol Tramways Company merged with the Bristol Cab Company to form the Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company. In 1887, the company began a horse-bus service to Clifton , and later started several more horse-bus services to complement the tramways. In 1892,
1248-787: The City Line brand from 1985. In September 1987, the company was sold to Midland Red West , another privatised bus company which had been bought by its management the year before. In April 1988, Midland Red West was itself sold to Badgerline, returning the two parts of the former company to common ownership. Bristol Omnibus was included in the June 1995 merger of Badgerline with GRT Group to form FirstBus . The Bristol Omnibus name had fallen out of operational use for some time, as FirstBus rolled out its corporate identity to its subsidiaries. Bristol Omnibus Company eventually changed its legal name to First Bristol Buses Limited in 1999. The company
1300-659: The Forest of Dean . The 1950s were the peak years of the company's operations. It ran over 1,200 buses in an area stretching from Hereford to Salisbury and from Oxford to Bridgwater . From 1950 (when the company acquired the independent Dundry Pioneer), until 1966 (when the Severn Bridge opened and Red & White started routes to Bristol), the company had a total monopoly of bus operations in Bristol, Bath, North Somerset and much of Gloucestershire. On 1 January 1955,
1352-543: The Imperial Tramways Company moved its headquarters from London to Bristol. White and the senior management team of Bristol Tramways also ran Imperial Tramways, though they remained separate companies. In 1895, the company began to operate electric trams, and in 1906 introduced motor buses on the route between the Centre and Clifton. Rapid expansion of its bus services followed, in both Bristol and
1404-465: The Strawberry Line railway walk at Congresbury and a future route to Clevedon at Yatton station . Much of the planned route between Blagdon and Wrington is in private ownership which presents an obstacle for the route as, apart from the technical issue of who owns which bit of land, there’s a shortage of public money to buy real estate. In 2016, the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership produced
1456-663: The National Bus Company split the operation in two, with the Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Company taking the services in Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud and Swindon. The remainder stayed with the existing Bristol Omnibus Company divided into two business units: Citybus services for services within Bristol, and Bristol Country Bus for services in Bath, Somerset and Wiltshire. In April 1985, Bristol Country Bus
1508-626: The State sector. The new regime resulted in some rationalisation of the company's area of operations. Two other companies, Red & White and Western National , both also now state-owned, ran buses in the Stroud area of Gloucestershire, and those operations were transferred to Bristol Tramways in 1950. The company was also given control of Cheltenham District Traction, originally a Red & White operation, which ran local bus services in Cheltenham. In return, Bristol Tramways gave up its bus operations in
1560-686: The Tramways Brislington Works during World War I. In 1928, the company acquired control of another Bristol company, Greyhound Motors , which had started the first long-distance coach service between Bristol and London in 1925. The company continued to operate its coach services under the Greyhound name until 1972. In 1929, the White family sold its controlling interest to the Great Western Railway , but by 1932
1612-569: The Yeo Pumping Station. The railway's primary purpose was to bring construction materials for the building of the Blagdon Lake reservoir. Construction of the line overran cost and time forecasts. It was constructed and owned by the Great Western Railway . The GWR used it to trial various innovative schemes to reduce the cost of lightly used passenger services, such as the push-pull system, where driver's controls are provided in
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1664-652: The bus manufacturing operation was separated into another company, Bristol Commercial Vehicles Limited. In 1957, Bristol Tramways finally recognised reality and changed its name to the Bristol Omnibus Company Limited. The company opened Bristol bus station in Marlborough Street in 1958, and Bath bus station in Manvers Street in the same year. In 1963, the company attracted national attention when its operation of
1716-494: The company had operated a mostly rural bus network, but in 1936 the company took over the city bus services in Gloucester and later that year took over the two companies operating trams and buses in the city of Bath, including Bath Electric Tramways Company . In Bristol, the corporation had the power to purchase the Bristol tramways. The option was never exercised, but led in 1937 to the formation of Bristol Joint Services,
1768-586: The council. The parish falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992 . It provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area including local planning and building control , local roads, council housing , environmental health , markets and fairs, refuse collection , recycling , cemeteries , crematoria , leisure services, parks, and tourism. It
1820-500: The first buses it bought, and in 1908 began the manufacture of its own buses. The company soon began to sell its buses to other operators. For 75 years, Bristol buses were widely used in the United Kingdom, and were also exported to many countries. The Bristol scroll logo was adopted from the Bristol Aeroplane Company (a company that had been set up by White) to commemorate the building of Bristol Fighters at
1872-524: The length of the line until 1 November 1950, when the section between Wrington and Blagdon was closed fully. Coal traffic continued to Wrington until 6 June 1963, and the line closed completely on 10 June 1963; Congresbury itself retained passenger services until later in 1963, when it closed with the rest of the Yatton to Witham line. After trains were withdrawn the track was lifted and station buildings either demolished or left unoccupied. The only buildings on
1924-402: The line fell at 1 in 75 and then rose at the same gradient, followed by a further downward gradient of 1 in 75. There was then a local summit at Burrington, falling from Langford at 1 in 50. From Wrington to Congresbury the line was broadly level, although with short sections rising at 1 in 70 and falling at 1 in 60. At Blagdon there was a spur siding diverging to the right on the approach, serving
1976-432: The line to have survived until the present day are at Blagdon station, which is now part of a private residence, and the stationmaster's house at Burrington, although it has been much extended. The Strawberry Line Association and Sustrans have aspirations for a cycle route on the trackbed. North Somerset council has marked the former railway as a future key cycle route in the local plan. The cycle route would connect with
2028-503: The local community and authorities to benefit local conservation initiatives, conservation-based education and the local economy. Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company The Bristol Omnibus Company was a dominant bus operator in Bristol , and was one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. It ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire , Somerset , Wiltshire and neighbouring counties. The Bristol Omnibus Company traces its origins to 1875, when George White formed
2080-594: The local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the village hall or community centre , playing fields and playgrounds , as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to
2132-695: The railway sold its interest to the Western National Omnibus Company , half owned by the GWR and half by the Tilling Group . In 1932, the railway transferred some of its bus services to the company, in the Swindon and Weston-super-Mare areas and the service between Cheltenham and Oxford . In 1930, the company sold its taxicab operations, which it had run since 1887, first with horses and from 1910 with motors. Outside Bristol
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2184-524: The service was reduced to three trains a day each way in 1919, but the fourth trip was re-instated in 1921. Railmotors were considered at this time in an effort to match operating costs to income, but the gradients on the line prevented them from operating successfully so they were not used. In 1926, the service was increased again to five trips a day, to respond to competition from the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company 's buses. However, this
2236-575: The structure of the state-owned bus sector. On 1 January 1963, Bristol Omnibus Company was included in the transfer of the British Transport Commission's transport assets to the state-owned Transport Holding Company , which in turn passed to the state-owned National Bus Company on 1 January 1969. In 1970, the operations of Western National in the Trowbridge area were transferred to Bristol Omnibus. On 11 September 1983,
2288-580: The surrounding country areas. The company opened branches in Bath in 1909, Weston-super-Mare in 1910, Cheltenham in 1912 and Gloucester in 1913. In 1912 the company also bought the Clifton Rocks Railway , which closed in 1934. After World War I more branches were opened in Swindon (1921), Wells (1922) and Coleford (1924). The company was not satisfied with the performance of
2340-480: The village. Potential sites have been identified including the King George IV playing fields, Glebelands and the Millennium Green. By December 2012 campaigners had raised £15,000 of the estimate £100,000 cost, and in 2013 a further donation of £5,000 was made from a police fund. In 2013 Congresbury became the site for The North Somerset Butterfly House, a tropical butterfly house with a remit to work with
2392-568: The village. The parish includes the hamlet of Brinsea . The nearest railway station is Yatton , with trains provided by Great Western Railway , but Congresbury once had its own railway station on the Cheddar Valley Line from Yatton to Wells . It was also the starting point for the Wrington Vale Light Railway , which went to nearby Wrington and Blagdon . Congresbury is named after St Congar , who
2444-443: Was a considerable source of business on the line. Initially passenger trains generally ran from Yatton , the junction for the main line between Bristol and Exeter, and traversed 1.8 miles of the Cheddar Valley Line , that had opened in 1869. The junction for the light railway was at Congresbury , where a second platform and much extended track and signalling were provided. When the line first opened in 1901, there were four trips
2496-571: Was held on 20 May 1897; the line was supported by Bristol Waterworks Company. The Order was confirmed on 18 March 1898, and the Great Western Railway was authorised to finance, construct and work the line. Lt Col Yorke inspected the line on 28 November 1901, and as he found it satisfactory, the line opened to traffic on 4 December 1901. It was 6 miles 41 chains (10.5 km) long and there were stations at Wrington, Langford, Burrington and Blagdon. Gradients were severe: leaving Blagdon
2548-468: Was not successful, and the service returned to the original four trips a day in 1927, until closure to passenger traffic from 14 September 1931. In 1926 also the General Strike took place. Nestlé were managing milk flows from the area at the time, and arranged road lorry collections for the milk traffic. When the strike ended, much of this business stayed on road. Freight service continued along
2600-482: Was obtained (on 18 August) incorporating the Radstock, Wrington & Congresbury Junction Railway, which was to run from Farrington Gurney on the Bristol and North Somerset Railway to Congresbury through Wrington. However sufficient capital could not be raised, and the company was dissolved in 1886. The Light Railways Act 1896 ( 59 & 60 Vict. c. 48) was passed to enable low-cost local railways to be built, and
2652-417: Was rebranded as Badgerline and in 1986 its assets were transferred to a separate legal entity and privatised in September 1986 in a management buyout . Also in 1986, the Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Company was sold to its management, trading as Western Travel, who, in 1993, sold it to Stagecoach . The stub of the original company, now confined to city services in and around Bristol, traded under
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#17327728943522704-484: Was renamed again to First Somerset & Avon Limited in 2003, and to First West of England Limited in 2017. Under that name it is now the First company operating in Bristol, Bath, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and West Wiltshire, but it remains the same legal entity incorporated on 1 October 1887. The records of Bristol Omnibus Company are held by Bristol Archives (Ref. 39735) ( online catalogue ), along with
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