Coombe Dingle | |
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![]() The Dingle, Coombe Dingle | |
Location within Bristol | |
OS grid reference | ST552775 |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BRISTOL |
Postcode district | BS |
Dialling code | 0117 |
Police | Avon and Somerset |
Fire | Avon |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
Coombe Dingle is a suburb of Bristol, England, centred near where the Hazel Brook tributary of the River Trym emerges from a limestone gorge bisecting the Blaise Castle Estate to join the main course of the Trym. Historically this area formed part of the parish of Westbury on Trym, Gloucestershire, and it is now part of Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston ward of the city of Bristol. South of Coombe Dingle is Sea Mills; to the north is Kings Weston Hill; to the west are Kings Weston House and Shirehampton Park; and to the east, Henbury Golf Club and Westbury on Trym proper.
The inhabited place appears simply as Combe, Coomb or Coombe, meaning 'short bowl-shaped valley', in documents from the 13th century onwards and on early maps. The name applied to Coombe Farm and Coombe House on the eastern side of the confluence of the Hazel Brook and the Trym, not where the modern suburb lies. This area later became noted for its cherry orchards, commemorated in a modern house-name, and a nursery. Strictly speaking, Coombe Dingle was the wooded narrow valley through which the Trym passes south-west of the farm and house to flow southwards through Sea Mills to the River Avon. The name of the narrow valley was borrowed for the new development consisting mostly of private housing built to the west of the Trym in the 1920s and 1930s on an area called Boulton's (or Bowden's) Fields. It was and remains a desirable area to live. Near the western edge is Haig Close, a small development of houses originally built for ex-servicemen in 1929 on land donated from the Kingsweston Estate by Philip Napier Miles, though this is generally said to be in Sea Mills.
Coombe Dingle was once a popular destination for outings from Bristol, and there was a well-known tea-room and tea garden in the wooded Dingle itself, now a private house (just West of Grove Road on The Dingle).[ citation needed ] It was there by 1888 and used to be known as Appletree Cottage. [1] The original winding road passing it, called The Dingle, has been bypassed by the modern A4162, which is carried across the river on its own bridge with a classical-style balustrade. Sylvan Way and the bridge were built in about 1920. [2] The bridge is made of in situ cast concrete. It is quite an early example showing the arch design of brick and stone bridges, but built of a material for which an arch is unnecessary. [3] [ failed verification ] In the Dingle itself, the river drove a flour mill called Coombe Mill.[ citation needed ]
Below Coombe House, just above the confluence of the Trym and Hazel Brook, was a sluice where the footbridge now is. This diverted the water through a mill stream to Hazel Brook. Another sluice there diverted the water into a millstream which ran approximately below where the main path now runs down to the site of the mill. This clever arrangement meant that when the flow in Hazel Brook was low the miller could use the water of the River Trym as well as that of Hazel Brook. [4]
Coombe House which stood to the South of the confluence of Hazel Brook and the Trym, backing on to Canford Lane, was the home of John Graves Livingston (born J.G. Thompson) who was a long time director and chairman of the Ffestiniog Railway Company. [5]
There is a parade of shops on Westbury Lane. There used to be, close to the road bridge and near the northern end of Coombe Lane, a "tin tabernacle" Methodist chapel. [6] [ failed verification ] It was a small building with plain Gothic-style windows dating from the 1890s, demolished in the mid-1990s and replaced by a house. There are no other places of worship in Coombe Dingle.
Coombe Lane is the home of Bristol University sports complex, which is commonly referred to as Coombe Dingle, though it is really in Stoke Bishop.[ citation needed ]
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732. An unusual clause in the enabling Act of Parliament stipulated that profits should be given to the County of Cheshire for the improvement of roads and bridges, but the navigation was not initially profitable, and it was 1775 before the first payments were made. Trade continued to rise, and by 1845, over £500,000 had been given to the county.
The River Cole is a 25 miles (40 km) river in the English Midlands. It rises on the lower slopes of Forhill, one of the south-western ramparts of the Birmingham Plateau, at Red Hill and flows south before flowing largely north-east across the plateau to enter the River Blythe below Coleshill, near Ladywalk, shortly before the Blythe meets the Tame. This then joins the Trent, whose waters reach the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. Its source is very near the main watershed of Midland England: tributaries are few and very short except in the lower reaches, so the Cole is only a small stream.
Malin Bridge is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, England. It is located at grid reference SK325893 and stands 2+1⁄2 miles north-west of the city centre where the rivers Loxley and Rivelin meet. Malin Bridge is only a small district centred on the road bridge over the River Loxley which carries the B6076 road to Stannington ; it is surrounded by the suburbs of Hillsborough, Wisewood, Walkley and Stannington.
The Frome, historically the Froom, is a river that rises in Dodington Park, South Gloucestershire and flows southwesterly through Bristol to join the river Avon. It is approximately 20 miles (32 km) long, and the mean flow at Frenchay is 60 cubic feet per second (1.7 m3/s). The name Frome is shared with several other rivers in South West England and means 'fair, fine, brisk'. The river is known locally in east Bristol as the Danny.
Henbury is a suburb of Bristol, England, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) north west of the city centre. It was formerly a village in Gloucestershire and is now bordered by Westbury-on-Trym to the south; Brentry to the east and the Blaise Castle Estate, Blaise Hamlet and Lawrence Weston to the west. To the north lie the South Gloucestershire village of Hallen and the entertainment/retail park Cribbs Causeway.
Blaise Castle is a folly built in 1766 near Henbury in Bristol, England. The castle sits within the Blaise Castle Estate, which also includes Blaise Castle House, a Grade II* listed 18th-century mansion house. The folly castle is also Grade II* listed and ancillary buildings including the orangery and dairy also have listings. Along with Blaise Hamlet, a group of nine small cottages around a green built in 1811 for retired employees, and various subsidiary buildings, the parkland is listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.
Southmead is a northern suburb and council ward of Bristol, in the south west of England, bordered by Filton in South Gloucestershire and Monks Park, Horfield, Henleaze and Westbury on Trym.
Westbury on Trym is a suburb and council ward in the north of the City of Bristol, near the suburbs of Stoke Bishop, Westbury Park, Henleaze, Southmead and Henbury, in the southwest of England.
The River Trym is a short river, some 4.5 miles (7.2 km) in length, which rises in Filton, South Gloucestershire, England. The upper reaches are culverted, some underground, through mostly urban landscapes, but once it emerges into the open it flows through a nature reserve and city parks before joining the tidal River Avon at Sea Mills. A medieval water mill near its mouth gave the area its name. Abona was a Roman port at the mouth of the Trym which provided an embarkation point for journeys across the River Severn to south Wales. In the 18th century there were short lived attempts at creating a port and a whale fishery here. The name Trym appears to have Anglo-Saxon roots. In recent years silting problems, caused by urban development, have caused some difficulties, but alleviation works have helped reduce the problem.
Stoke Bishop is an outer suburban neighbourhood and an electoral ward in the north-west of Bristol, England. Bordered by The Downs and the River Trym, it is located between Westbury-on-Trym, Sneyd Park and Sea Mills. Although relatively low, Stoke Bishop's population has significantly increased in recent years due to the infilling of former school and company playing fields. Moreover, the population of Stoke Bishop varies throughout the year because of the influx of students during term time to the large campus of Bristol University halls of residence situated on the edge of The Downs.
Sea Mills is a suburb of Bristol, England, 3.5 miles (6 km) north-west of the city centre, between the former villages of Shirehampton, Westbury-on-Trym and Stoke Bishop, by the mouth of the River Trym where it joins the River Avon.
The River Spodden is a watercourse in North West England, one of two major tributaries of the River Roch. It rises in the Lancashire South Pennine hills north of Whitworth and flows south through what is now known as the Whitworth Valley to Rochdale, Greater Manchester, where the river merges with the River Roch. Nestled within the picturesque wooded valley is Healey Dell Nature Reserve.
The city of Bristol, England, is divided into many areas, which often overlap or have non-fixed borders. These include Parliamentary constituencies, council wards and unofficial neighbourhoods. There are no civil parishes in Bristol.
The River Roddlesworth is a river in Lancashire, England, a tributary of the River Darwen.
Kingsweston or Kings Weston is a suburban neighbourhood in the city of Bristol, England. It is located in the northwest of the city, in the Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston electoral ward and the Bristol North West parliamentary constituency. The neighbourhood consists of a cluster of estate buildings and other houses on Kingsweston Hill, adjacent to Kings Weston House. The neighbourhood has a small village character, being separated from the surrounding built-up area by parkland remnants of the Kings Weston House estate.
The Bybrook, also known as the By Brook, is a small river in England. It is a tributary of the Bristol Avon and is some 12 miles (19 km) long. Its sources are the Burton Brook and the Broadmead Brook, which rise in South Gloucestershire at Tormarton and Cold Ashton respectively, and join just north of Castle Combe in Wiltshire. The river has a mean flow rate of 57.25 cubic feet per second (1.621 m3/s) as recorded at Middlehill near Box. A variety of flora and fauna is supported by the river including the endangered white-clawed crayfish. Twenty watermill sites have been identified on the river but none now remain in use.
The Hazel Brook, also known as the Hen, is a tributary of the River Trym in Bristol, England. It rises at Cribbs Causeway in South Gloucestershire. From there, its course takes it south, passing the western end of Filton Aerodrome on its left bank, through Brentry and Henbury before dropping through a steep limestone gorge in the Blaise Castle estate. It continues south through two lakes before joining the Trym at Coombe Dingle.
Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze is an electoral ward in Bristol, England, covering the neighbourhoods of Henleaze and Westbury-on-Trym in the north-western suburbs of the city. It is represented by three members of Bristol City Council, which as of 2024 are Nicholas Coombes, Caroline Gooch and former government minister Stephen Williams, all Liberal Democrats.