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Bradwick

Bradwick is the main town in Wootenshire. It's a sprawling seaside resort now fallen on hard times.

Bradwick has an extensive coastline, with a promenade and winter gardens on the sea front. Further out are the arcades and caravan parks that go with any resort.

Not much to say about politics.

History

Prehistory

Roman Period

Medieval Period

Victorian Period

A Victorian philanthropist who grew up in the area and got rich lobbied to have the county boundary of Wootenshire to include a decent stretch of coastline. He then, with his friends, paid for and owned the initial hotels, railway station, and other trappings to transform Bradwick from a small fishing village to a seaside retreat.

20th Century to Present Day

Bradwick enjoyed its heyday from the 30s through to the 50s, slipping slowly into decline after that. Now it enjoys a slight revival as an ironic, retro resort.

Demographics

Bradwick has many areas within it, each with their own distinct character.

Coopers End

This is definitely the rougher part of town. It's a sprawling council estate loosely grouped around four low rise blocks that are linked by concrete walkways. To the north, it borders onto the more desirable Seaview Estate.

Seaview Estate

Started in the 1920s as part of the Plotlands movement, but the end of the Second World War it was run down and the whole area was bought by the council. They built an estate featuring wide roads with many semi-detached houses and bungalows. Its residents are largely working class and retired but it has a better reputation than its neighbour, Coopers End.

Seafront

Once the thriving hub of the resort, this area is now run-down, although it still has cafes, amusement arcades and B&Bs. There is a promenade that runs between the road and the beach. The seafront area still has beach huts and its sandy beach is popular with holiday makers. Inland, behind the first row of shops are The Winter Gardens - a formal park of neat lawns, raised beds and benches, linked by paths and steps.

Spalley Road

The road itself runs parallel to the beach but is about a quarter of a mile inland. However, as it goes across a rise, all the houses here command good sea views. This is the most expensive area to buy houses in Bradwick, as all the houses were built as detached homes in the Victorian era for the wealthy classes of the town. In common usage, the phrase “Spalley Road” has come to encompass the surrounding streets which also feature well built, up market houses with good views.

High Street

Back from the seafront, but before you get to Spalley Road, there is the High Street, the main retail section of the town. It is linked to the train station by a main road that skirts around to the south of Spalley Road. This road, Station Road, has also become commercial with small businesses, petrol stations and newsagents along its length. In the High Street is the police station, home to Bradwick CID.

Topography

To the east of Bradwick, the M5 runs north-south, with a junction with the A361 that serves the town. Between the M5 and the town itself, runs the main railway line from Bristol to Exeter. This has a station at Bradwick, with a ticket hall and car-park. The location of the railway means that the town spreads out to the east to meet it.

To the north of the town are old docks and industrial estates. Once home to a thriving boat building and repair business, they fell out of use as the creeks were too small to handle modern boats, and most business went up the coast to Avonmouth and Portishead. The only survivor in this area is the Bradwick and District Yacht Club which sits just to the north of the town, with its clubhouse on the largest harbour. Barbara Weathers is the landlady.

Culture

Politics

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wiki/bradwick.txt · Last modified: 2021/02/27 11:26 by graham