Nailsea

Nailsea
Population	18,000
OS grid reference	ST473703
Civil parish	Nailsea
Unitary authority	North Somerset
Ceremonial county	Somerset
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BRISTOL
Postcode district	BS48
Dialling code	01275
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Avon
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Woodspring

Nailsea is a town in North Somerset, England, about 7 miles (11 km) to the south west of Bristol and about 11 miles (18 km) to the north east of the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare. Nailsea is a commuter town with an approximate population of 18,000. The total population of Nailsea and the adjacent village of Backwell, if counted as one urban area is around 23,000.

History

The statue of a glassblower near the site of the glassworks.

Nailsea Court southwest of the town dates from the 15th century and is a Grade I listed building.

Nailsea's economy initially rested on coal mining, which began as early as the 16th century. By the late 1700s, the town had a large number of pits and was visited by the social reformer Hannah More who founded a Sunday school for the workers. The coal mines attracted John Robert Lucas, a glass manufacturer, in 1788, and the glass works he established would eventually become the fourth largest of their kind in the United Kingdom. Though the works closed down in 1873, "Nailsea" glass (mostly made by glass workers at the end of their shift in Nailsea and at other glass works) is still sought after by collectors around the world. The site of the glass works has been covered by a Tesco supermarket car park (leaving it relatively accessible for future archaeological digs). Other parts of the site are currently being cleared and filled with sand ensuring that the remains of the old glass works are preserved for the future. Remains of many of the old pits, most of which had closed down by the late nineteenth century as mining capital migrated to the richer seams of South Wales, are still visible around the town. It is now better known for its "Nailsea Carpentry".

Governance

Nailsea is within the North Somerset unitary authority, which covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters are in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare.

It is in the Woodspring constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election, currently this is Liam Fox of the Conservative Party. Following the review of parliamentary representation by the Boundary Commission for England in Somerset, this seat will be renamed North Somerset.

It is also part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament, which elects 7 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Geography

Nailsea and Greater Bristol

To the west of the town are the North Somerset Levels which have been drained and farmed by many generations of farmers.

Some nearby towns and villages are the adjacent villages of Backwell and Wraxall, also Portishead, Clevedon and Tickenham. It is located 8 miles from the centre of Bristol, as well as being located close to the tourist centres of Weston super Mare, and Bath. It is 8.5 miles (14 km) by road from the port and service area at Avonmouth.

Nailsea seen from Cadbury Camp

Economy

Primary income often comes from employment in the service sector including industries such as insurance and banking, defence related employment, retail and management. Employment within Nailsea includes work in shops, schools, estate agents and banks. Larger businesses in Nailsea include Vetco Gray, and Wessex Water Other businesses are situated at units in the town. Nailsea has two large industrial and business estates located at Southfield road, and Blackfriars road.

Coate's cider factory was bought by Showerings of Shepton Mallet in 1956, and the brand was later merged with Gaymers and absorbed by Matthew Clark Brands. Adge Cutler, whose backing band were the The Wurzels, used to work at the factory.

Retail and services

Nailsea High Street

Nailsea has a shopping area including Somerset Square, Crown Glass Place, Colliers Walk and a high street. There are three supermarket chains in the town (Tesco, Somerfield and Iceland) and some national banks and estate agents. Nailsea has a few high-street and local clothing retailers.

There are several charity shops in Nailsea. Furthermore there are pharmacies, health care shops, hairdressers, barbers, home improvement shops, pet shops and newsagents. Nailsea also has an office supplies shop, motor part shops, key/shoe repair shops, a music shop and a greengrocery.

On Tuesdays a market is held in a car park near the high street. Usually around 10–20 stalls are set up selling various items including meat and fish, dairy products, exotic foods, technology products, clothing and general household items. The market is busiest during the morning and is usually packed up by late afternoon.

Town Centre amenities include two doctors' surgeries, an independent optician's practice, several dental practices and two veterinary surgeries. Nailsea currently has two petrol stations, a Shell (formerly ESSO) on the B3130 toward Wraxall, which has recently been rebuilt and expanded and a Tesco filling station next to the Scotch Horn Centre. In nearby Backwell there is also a Texaco garage next to the railway station.

Transport

Nailsea and Backwell railway station

The principal road access to Nailsea is via the B3130 which runs through the town and also Station Road. The B3130 forms the main route to both Bristol, (via its junction with the A370 at Cambridge Batch,) and Clevedon where access can be gained to the M5 motorway at junction 20. Station Road is used both as an alternative route to Bristol via the A370 at Backwell and as a route for local traffic to Weston-super-Mare, other local towns and villages plus Bristol International Airport which is only 6 miles (10 km) drive from Nailsea. Journey times to Bristol vary with traffic levels, with off peak journeys taking around 25 minutes but morning peak journeys can take up to an hour or more.

Within Nailsea itself there is a small network of internal roads, including Queens Road, Trendlewood Way, Mizzymead Road and Silver Street. There are five car parks in the centre on the town, all of which are free but time limited to 3 hours.

Nailsea shares a railway station with Backwell. Nailsea and Backwell station, operated by First Great Western, is situated between Nailsea and Backwell on Station Road. The station is unmanned with two platforms. Unfortunately only Platform 2 (the Up or Bristol/London bound platform) is wheelchair accessible. The station has a free car park for around 100 cars. However, it is very popular and does tend to be completely full by around 8am on a typical weekday. While there is unrestricted parking available on nearby residential road, many local residents claim that commuters should not be parking there as it creates a hazard and inconvenience. This has led to some conflict between the residents and commuters with “threatening” notes being left on parked cars. Two possible solutions to the problem are currently being discussed; extending the current car park, introducing parking meters, or both. In addition to the car park, there are covered parking facilities for around 10 bicycles.

Nailsea and Backwell is serviced by both local and high speed express trains, all except one are operated by First Great Western. There are two local trains each way per hour Monday to Saturday, one each way per hour on Sundays. These train services run direct to a number of stations across the area, including Bristol Temple Meads, Bristol Parkway, Newport, Cardiff Central, Weston-super-Mare, Taunton and the various stations in-between.

The High Speed express service complements the local service by providing a number direct express services to and from London Paddington, Reading and other mainline stations on the Great Western Main Line. In addition, one CrossCountry service departs weekdays at 08:42 and runs to Birmingham New Street and onwards to Newcastle (although there is no direct return service.) Of the London services, there are six weekday services going to (four leaving before 08:15) and seven service returning from (departing Paddington hourly from 1430 until 1930 plus one at 2145.) A number of London services also run weekends.

First Bus run various bus services in Nailsea. The main services are the 354 Bristol—Nailsea that runs every half hour and the 364 Bristol—Nailsea—Clevedon which runs hourly, passing Nailsea and Backwell station. Services also run during evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays but with less frequency and follow slightly different routes. Furthermore there is a school-day once-a-day return service to Weston-Super-Mare via Clevedon.

Nailsea also has various bus routes, run by North somerset coaches. These include a Nailsea town centre service, Nailsea school, and Backwell school services, a Nailsea and Backwell railway station service, and a Nailsea and Backwell circular service.

Education

Nailsea Comprehensive School.

Secondary education in Nailsea is provided by Nailsea Comprehensive School, also known as Nailsea School, which has achieved Technology and Media Arts College specialist status. Nailsea also has several infants, junior and primary schools including Kings Hill C of E, Golden Valley, Hannah More Infants, St. Francis Catholic School and Grove School. Ravenswood School exists for children with special needs and learning difficulties. There are also several playgroups for children too young for infants school.

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Religious sites

Holy Trinity Church building and cemetery

In the 2001 census 78% of Nailsea's respondents claimed Christianity as their religious preference, with 16% of respondents claiming 'no religious preference', the second largest group.

All of the religious buildings are Christian in nature. Christ Church and the 14th-century Holy Trinity Church are Church of England parish churches, as is St Quiricus & St Julietta Church in nearby Tickenham. There is also Nailsea Baptist Church, Nailsea Methodist Church, the Catholic Church of St Francis of Assisi, Southfield Church and the Community Church.

Notable people

One of Nailsea's best known celebrities was Adge Cutler, the famous Somerset folk singer, whose backing band were The Wurzels. The Wurzels' album Live at the Royal Oak was recorded at The Royal Oak, a pub on the High Street. Cutler is buried in Christ Church graveyard.

Sport

Nailsea and Backwell RFC was established in 1972. The 1st XV currently play in Somerset 1 (level 9 of the RFU league system) and the 2nd XV compete in Somerset 3 North (level 11).

Entertainment

Nailsea has a variety of pubs and a small nightclub. For the younger generation there are several dedicated youth clubs and two Scouting divisions which organise the Nailsea Carnival and Mayfair respectively, it also has other youth groups including Girl Guiding and theatre/musical groups.

Nailsea has theatre, musical and orchestral groups. Most groups are open to all ages and meet and perform Regularly at different venues including The Scotch Horn Centre, Nailsea Methodist Church, The Mizzymead Centre, The Grove Recreation Centre, Nailsea Little Theatre, Nailsea Church Hall (town hall) and local churches.

Nailsea has several outdoor recreational areas including the playing fields by the Grove centre and the public park to the rear of the Scotch Horn Centre and Tesco. There are also three children's play parks and smaller areas of green land throughout the town's housing estates. The Scotch Horn park includes a skate park and children's play park, the skate park plays host to an annual regional skateboarding competition and the green area hosts the aforementioned Mayfair.

There are no cinemas in Nailsea but in nearby Clevedon there is The Curzon — the oldest purpose built and continuously running cinema in the world.. Nearby in Bristol there are several multi-screen cinemas, including Cineworld at Hengrove, Vue at Cribbs Causeway, Showcase Cinema at Avonmead, and The Odeon in Broadmead and Showcase Cinema Delux in Cabot Circus.

The adjacent village of Wraxall there are a couple of tourist attractions. Noah's Ark Zoo Farm has a variety of exotic, agricultural and domestic animals including Rhinoceros, camels, monkeys, reptiles and most recently a giraffe. It offers hands on-experience with animals and a chance to learn about conservation. Tyntesfield, a 19th-century Victorian country house and grounds was bought and opened up by the National Trust in 2002.

The Scotch Horn Centre provides both a Aerobic exercise and a free weights gym, as well as squash courts, and room for other indoor sports, but notably not a swimming pool. Nailsea does not have a public swimming pool despite a long running campaign by the Nailsea Swimming Pool Interest Group to build one. Currently, the nearest pool is at Backwell Leisure Centre. Nearby Clevedon and Portishead also have swimming pools.

See also

• Holy Trinity Church, Nailsea
• Nailsea and Backwell railway station
• Nailsea Methodist Church
• Nailsea School
• Noah's Ark Zoo Farm

External links

• Nailsea at Curlie
• Nailsea Churches FC
• History of Nailsea
• Holy Trinity Church of England, Nailsea
• Christchurch, Nailsea
• Youth at Christchurch, Nailsea
• Golden Valley School, Nailsea
• St. Francis Catholic School, Nailsea
• Nailsea Glassworks Report
• Nailsea Glass
• Nailsea and District Local History Society
• Nailsea Basketball
• Nailsea United Football Club
• Nailsea Tithe Barn Restoration Project