A dialect of English is spoken by some Bristol inhabitants, known colloquially as Bristolian. Bristol is the only large English city with a rhotic accent, in which the r in words like car is pronounced. The unusual feature of this dialect, unique to Bristol, is the Bristol L (or terminal L), in which an L sound is appended to words that end in an 'a' or 'o'.^[39] Thus "area" becomes "areal", etc. This is believed to be how the city's name evolved from Brycgstow to have a final 'L' sound: Bristol. Further Bristolian linguistic features are the addition of a superfluous "to" in questions relating to direction or orientation (a feature also common to the coastal towns of South Wales), or using "to" instead of "at"; and using male pronouns "he", "him" instead of "it". For example, "Where's that?" would be phrased as "Where's he to?", a structure exported to Newfoundland English.^[40]

Stanley Ellis, a dialect researcher, found that many of the dialect words in the Filton area were linked to work in the aerospace industry. He described this as "a cranky, crazy, crab-apple tree of language and with the sharpest, juiciest flavour that I've heard for a long time".^[41]

A (slightly tongue in cheek) guide to Bristol's dialect is at http://www.thatbebristle.co.uk/

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Politics and government

Main article: Politics of Bristol

Bristol City Council consists of 70 councillors representing 35 wards. They are elected in thirds with two councillors per ward, each serving a four-year term. Wards never have both councillors up for election at the same time, so effectively two-thirds of the wards are up each election.^[42] The Council has long been dominated by the Labour Party, but recently the Liberal Democrats have grown strong in the city and as the largest party took minority control of the Council at the 2005 election. They are no longer in control following Labour and the Conservatives vetoing the Liberal Democrats' preferred candidate, Steve Comer, in 2007. As a result, Labour rule the council under a minority administration, and the council leader is Helen Holland.^[43] The Lord Mayor is Labour Councillor Royston Griffey.^[44]

Bristol's constituencies in the House of Commons cross the borders with neighbouring authorities, and the city is divided into Bristol West, East, South and North-west and Kingswood. Northavon also covers some of the suburbs, but none of the administrative county. At the next General Election, the boundaries will be changed to coincide with the county boundary. Kingswood will no longer cover any of the county, and a new Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency will include the suburbs in South Gloucestershire. There are four Labour and one Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament.^[45]

Bristol has a tradition of local political activism, and has been home to many important political figures. Tony Benn, a veteran left-wing politician, was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol South East from 1950 to 1983. Edmund Burke, MP for the Bristol constituency for six years from 1774, famously insisted that he was a Member of Parliament first, rather than a representative of his constituents' interests. In 1963, there was a boycott of the city's buses after the Bristol Omnibus Co. refused to employ black drivers and conductors. The boycott is known to have influenced the creation of the UK's Race Relations Act in 1965.^[46] The women's rights campaigner Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence (1867–1954) was born in Bristol. The city was the scene of the first of the 1980s riots or uprisings. In St. Paul's, a number of largely African-Caribbean people rose up against racism, police harassment and mounting disatifisfaction with their social and economic circumstances before similar disturbances followed across the UK. Local support of fair trade issues was recognised in 2005 when Bristol was granted Fairtrade City status.^[47]

Bristol is unusual in having been a city with county status since medieval times. The county was expanded to include suburbs such as Clifton in 1835, and it was named a county borough in 1889, when the term was first introduced.^[13] However, on 1 April 1974, it became a local government district of the short-lived county of Avon. On 1 April 1996, it once again regained its independence and county status, when the county of Avon was abolished and Bristol became a Unitary Authority.

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Demographics

In 2005 the Office for National Statistics estimated Bristol's population at 398,300, making it the 47th-largest ceremonial county in England.^[48] Using Census 2001 data the ONS estimated the population of the contiguous built-up area to be 441,556,^[49] and that of the metropolitan area to be 551,066.^[50] This makes the city England's sixth most populous city, and ninth most populous metropolitan area.^[50] At 3,599 inhabitants per square kilometre (9,321 /sq mi) it has the seventh-highest population density of any English district.^[51]

According to 2005 estimates, 89.3% of the population were described as white, 3.9% as Asian or Asian British, 2.8% as black or black British, 2.2% as mixed race, 1.2% as Chinese and 0.6% other. National averages for England were 89.1%, 5.3%, 2.7%, 1.6%, 0.7% and 0.6% for the same groups.^[52] 60% of Bristol's population registered their religion as Christianity, and 25% as not religious in the 2001 census, compared with 72% and 15% nationally. 2% of the population follow Islam (3% nationally), with no other religion above one percent.^[53] Bristol had the ninth highest proportion of people refer to their religion in the last census as 'Jedi'.^[54]

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Physical geography

Bristol is in a limestone area, which runs from the Mendip Hills to the south and the Cotswolds to the north east.^[55] The rivers Avon and Frome cut through this limestone to the underlying clays, creating Bristol's characteristic hilly landscape. The Avon flows from Bath in the east, through flood plains and areas which were marshy before the growth of the city. To the west the Avon has cut through the limestone to form the Avon Gorge, partly aided by glacial meltwater after the last ice age. The gorge aided in the protection of Bristol Harbour, and has been quarried for stone to build the city. The land surrounding the gorge has been protected from development, as The Downs and Leigh Woods. The gorge and estuary of the Avon form the county's boundary with North Somerset, and the river flows into the Bristol Channel at Avonmouth at the mouth of the River Severn. There is another gorge in the city, in the Blaise Castle estate to the north.

Situated in the south of the country, Bristol is one of the warmest cities in the UK, with a mean annual temperature of 10.2-12 °C (50-54°F).^[56] It is also amongst the sunniest, with 1541-1885 hours sunshine per year.^[57] The city is partially sheltered by Exmoor and the Mendip Hills, but exposed from the Bristol Channel, and annual rainfall is similar to the national average, at 741-1,060 mm (29.2–41.7 in).^[58]

Weather averages for Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	8 (46)	7 (45)	10 (50)	12 (54)	17 (62)	19 (66)	22 (71)	21 (69)	18 (65)	14 (57)	11 (51)	8 (47)	14 (57)
Average low °C (°F)	3 (38)	3 (37)	5 (41)	6 (42)	9 (48)	12 (54)	14 (58)	14 (57)	12 (53)	9 (48)	6 (43)	4 (40)	8 (47)
Precipitation mm (inches)	142.3 (5.6)	127.6 (5)	133.6 (5.3)	104.3 (4.1)	76.9 (3)	57.2 (2.3)	48.9 (1.9)	37.6 (1.5)	82.5 (3.2)	123.7 (4.9)	154.8 (6.1)	147.3 (5.8)	1,236.7 (48.7)
Source: Weatherbase [1] 2007-08-03
Source #2: Met Office- Yeovilton [59] 2007-08-03

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Education, science and technology

Main article: Education in Bristol

Bristol is home to two major institutions of higher education: the University of Bristol, a "redbrick" chartered in 1909, and the University of the West of England, formerly Bristol Polytechnic, which gained university status in 1992. The city also has two dedicated further education institutions, City of Bristol College and Filton College, and three theological colleges, Trinity College, Wesley College and Bristol Baptist College. The city has 129 infant, junior and primary schools,^[60] 17 secondary schools,^[61] and three city learning centres. It has the country's second highest concentration of independent school places, after an exclusive corner of north London.^[62] The independent schools in the city include Colston's School, Clifton College, Clifton High School, Badminton School, Bristol Cathedral School, Bristol Grammar School, Redland High School, Queen Elizabeth's Hospital (the only all-boys school) and Red Maids' School, which is the oldest girls' school in England and was founded in 1634 by John Whitson.

In 2005, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer recognised Bristol's ties to science and technology by naming it one of six "science cities", and promising funding for further development of science in the city,^[63] with a £300 million science park planned at Emerson's Green.^[64] As well as research at the two universities and Southmead Hospital, science education is important in the city, with At-Bristol, Bristol Zoo, Bristol Festival of Nature and the Create Centre being prominent local institutions involved in science communication. The city has a history of scientific luminaries, including the 19th century chemist Sir Humphry Davy, who worked in Hotwells. Bishopston has given the world two Nobel Prize winning physicists: Paul Dirac for crucial contributions to quantum mechanics in 1933, and Cecil Frank Powell, for a photographic method of studying nuclear processes and associated discoveries in 1950. The city was birth place of Colin Pillinger, planetary scientist behind the Beagle 2 Mars lander project, and is home to Adam Hart-Davis, presenter of various science related television programmes, and the psychologists Susan Blackmore and Richard Gregory.

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Transport

Main article: Transport in Bristol

There are two principal railway stations in Bristol. Bristol Parkway is located to the north of the city and Bristol Temple Meads located in the centre. Both stations offer direct services to many UK destinations. Principal operators are First Great Western and CrossCountry. There is also a limited service to London Waterloo from Bristol Temple Meads, operated by South West Trains. The main service to London is by First Great Western to Paddington station. There are also scheduled coach links to most major UK cities.

The city is connected by road on an east–west axis from London to Wales by the M4 motorway, and on a north–southwest axis from Birmingham to Exeter by the M5 motorway. Also within the county is the M49 motorway, a shortcut between the M5 in the south and M4 Severn Crossing in the west. The M32 motorway is a spur from the M4 to the city centre. The city is also served by its own airport, Bristol International (BRS), at Lulsgate, which has seen substantial investments in its runway, terminal and other facilities since 2001.

Public transport in the city consists largely of its bus network, provided by First Group, formerly the Bristol Omnibus Company. Buses in the city have been widely criticised for being unreliable and expensive, and in 2005 First was fined for delays and safety violations.^[65][66] Use of private cars in Bristol is high, and the city suffers from congestion, which costs an estimated £350 million per year.^[67] Bristol is a motorcycle friendly city. The city recognises that motorcycle use eases congestion and encourages this allow motorcycles to use most of the city's bus lanes, as well as providing secure free parking.^[68] Since 2000 the city council has included a light rail system in its Local Transport Plan, but has so far been unable to fund the project. The city was offered European Union funding for the system, but the Department for Transport did not provide the required additional funding.^[69] As well as support for public transport, there are several road building schemes supported by the local council, including re-routing and improving the South Bristol Ring Road.^[70] There are also three park and ride sites serving the city, supported by the local council.^[71] The central part of the city has water-based transport, operated as the Bristol Ferry Boat, which provides both leisure and commuter services on the harbour.

Bristol was never well served by suburban railways, though the Severn Beach Line to Avonmouth and Severn Beach survived the Beeching Axe and is still in operation. The Portishead Railway was closed to passengers under the Beeching Axe, but was relaid in 2000-2002 as far as the Royal Portbury Dock with a Strategic Rail Authority rail-freight grant. Plans to relay a further three miles of track to Portishead, a largely dormitory town with only one connecting road, have been discussed but there is insufficient funding to rebuild stations.^[72]

Despite being hilly, Bristol is one of the prominent cycling cities of England, and is home to the national cycle campaigning group Sustrans. It has a number of urban cycle routes, as well as links to National Cycle Network routes to Bath and London, to Gloucester and Wales, and to the south-western peninsula of England. Cycling has grown rapidly in the city, with a 21% increase in journeys between 2001 and 2005.^[67]

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Twin cities

Bristol was amongst the first cities to adopt the idea of town twinning. In 1947 it was twinned with Bordeaux and Hannover, the first post-war twinning of British and German cities. It is twinned with:^[73]

• Hannover, Germany, since 1947
• Bordeaux, France, since 1947
• Porto, Portugal, since 1984
• Tbilisi, Georgia, since 1988
• Puerto Morazan, Nicaragua, since 1989
• Beira, Mozambique, since 1990
• Guangzhou, China, since 2001

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See also

• List of places in Bristol
• List of people from Bristol
• W.D. & H.O. Wills
• Bristol Reservoirs
• Bristol's parks
• Buildings and architecture of Bristol
• Maltese cross (unofficial county flower)

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References

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External links

• Brycgstow: The Place at the Bridge vote, leave comments, read articles, view pictures and much more!
• Visit Bristol
• Bristol travel guide from Wikitravel
• About Bristol Pictorial tour of Bristol
• BBC Bristol; Local news, webcams
• Bristol City Council
• Dictionary of local dialect words
• Bristol Council information on Bristol Wards
• Bristol at the Open Directory Project
• Bristol's Theatres and their History
• Where in Bristol Website providing information about Bristol, What's on. Where to go etc.

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v • d • e Places with city status in the United Kingdom England Bath · Birmingham · Bradford · Brighton & Hove · Bristol · Cambridge · Canterbury · Carlisle · Chester · Chichester · Coventry · Derby · Durham · Ely · Exeter · Gloucester · Hereford · Kingston upon Hull · Lancaster · Leeds · Leicester · Lichfield · Lincoln · Liverpool · London (City of London and Westminster) · Manchester · Newcastle upon Tyne · Norwich · Nottingham · Oxford · Peterborough · Plymouth · Portsmouth · Preston · Ripon · St Albans · Salford · Salisbury · Sheffield · Southampton · Stoke-on-Trent · Sunderland · Truro · Wakefield · Wells · Winchester · Wolverhampton · Worcester · York Scotland Aberdeen · Dundee · Edinburgh · Glasgow · Inverness · Stirling Wales Bangor · Cardiff · Newport · St David's · Swansea Northern Ireland Belfast · Derry · Armagh · Newry · Lisburn

v • d • e 25 largest settlements in the UK by urban core population London · Birmingham · Glasgow · Liverpool · Leeds · Sheffield · Edinburgh · Bristol · Manchester · Leicester · Coventry · Kingston upon Hull · Bradford · Cardiff · Belfast · Stoke-on-Trent · Wolverhampton · Nottingham · Plymouth · Southampton · Reading · Derby · Dudley · Newcastle upon Tyne · Northampton

v • d • e Settlements on the River Severn between Gloucester and Bristol (heading downstream) Gloucester  · Minsterworth  · Newnham  · Frampton  · Sharpness  · Lydney  · Berkeley  · Shepperdine  · Oldbury  · Chepstow  · Beachley  · Aust  · Bristol

Coordinates: 51°27′N 2°35′W / 51.45, -2.583

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