The Kingswood History Society

Chair opened the meeting at 7.30pm welcoming all attending members. Apologies from committee: Tony Redmore Chairs report was a summary of the main events in the year and thanks to the  volunteers. Minutes of the previous AGM were reviewed. Proposed & Seconded by Jim Gilmartin and Keith Nikless. Secretaries Report was read. Mainly following on from chairs report. Members and visitors up on last year. Web site used by about a third of membership. New WhatsApp group approved. Treasurers Report…

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Mike gave an enlightening chronological step through the history of the market from 1568, highlighted with many maps. Initially showing how the market was the main thoroughfare into Bristol Castle from Kingswood and further afield London. A map of 1673 shows Lawfords gate close to the junction with Midland Road, this was used to close the city each evening. By 1828 it had gone. Streets coming off Old Market had such names as Whipping Cat Hill (now Midland Road) and…

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Bristol has more than its fair share of these quirky buildings, some built of probably foolish purpose. The audience took great delight in knowing and not knowing where some of the places were in the Bristol area. Peter showed a variety of such buildings to identify. An easy one to start with, Blaise Castle. Built in 1766 for £3000. Do you know that it is mentioned in the Jane Austen novel Northanger Abbey? We then moved on to cover The…

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  47 members had a great day out at this Museum near Dudley. Fantastic range of different activities from coal mining, brick making to trip on the canal and into the caverns. A great array of different buildings and shops from various periods to rummage around in and bring back past memories. There was even a fairground and a trip on the ghost train was fun. We had a great chat with one of the staff who was a West…

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David started by outlining the sources of the River Avon, Tetbury (Tetbury Avon) and the Frome, Dodington Park (home off Mr Dyson). The Avon had a great tidal range of 12m, which was good for bringing ships into and out of Bristol. However, not so good when offloading. In 1804 William Jessop was asked to redesign the docks area and hence the New Cut and The Floating Harbour were created. The Underfall Yard was the Control Point for the new…

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Iain delivered a captivating talk, initially covering the life of IKB then linking the great innovations of his age to the major changes in the world. IKB was born in 1806 in Portsmouth and was 53 when he died in 1859. Educated in France. He is well known for his designs relating to the GWR, Clifton Suspension Bridge, SS Great Western and SS Great Britain in relation to Bristol. Do you know what the SS stands for? The SS Great…

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A well-attended event presented at length by our speaker. He started by explaining that in the early 20th century, there were no hospitals in the east of the city. Therefore Handel Cossham, a man with a good fortune, in his will bequeathed to pay for a hospital on Kingswood Hill. The hospital was built in 1907, 4 wards each with 80 beds. Resident Matron, Doctor and Gardener appointed. Honary (no pay) and Working Consultants were used. The matron had extensive…

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Black Country Living Museum (Dudley, West Midlands) Date – Friday 5th September Leave Kingswood Park at 08.00 Return 16.00 Journey time approx 2hrs Comfort break there & back Cost – Members £10 Non-members £25 includes entrance to Museum – both are subsided, so great value for money ! Payment in cash at either June or July KHS meeting. Further info: Canal and Caverns trip while at the museum can be purchased; You can book the standard trip online; we have…

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An intriguing view of Bristol, covering only bridges that can be walked across and spanning waterways. From the Avonmouth Bridge to St Annes at the end of the Feeder, if you are clever, you can cross each one only once, total distance ironically 45km. As you might expect Bristol Bridge is the oldest, starting as wooden bridge in 1000AD and remained the only bridge in this context until 19th century. Did you know that St Nicholas Church was moved to…

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