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 © Ling
 by Abi Stubbs

---- Local and City Based Groups and Information ----

The following are links to further information about organisations that have been involved with Friends of Troopers Hill.

For details of other Local Nature Reserves and wildlife sites in and around Bristol please visit our Nature in the City page.

Local Interest | History Groups | Green Space | Nature | General |

Local Interest

St George Neighbourhood Partnership


The St George Neighbourhood Partnership aims to improve the quality of life for residents in our neighbourhood. The Partnership has influence over the delivery of some Council services in the area and can also allocate money through the Neighbourhood Committee.

The website has lots of information, including news and events in St George plus links to their facebook and twitter pages.

You can also read about the grants that Friends of Troopers Hill has received from the Partnership here.

St George in Bloom


Launched in 2014, St George in Bloom aims to showcase community achievements in St George & promote Horticultural excellence.

They run a St George in Bloom competition with an opportunity for residents, community groups and businesses in St George to enter in several categories.

The group will also be entering St George in ‘Pennant’ category of the RHS South West in Bloom Competition.

St George Community Centre

St George Community Centre is situated right at the heart of St. George, just off Church Road, and on the edge of St. George Park. It is a well established Community Centre, with lots of activities available to the local community. The centre is available for private hire, and is actively involved in local community projects.

Their 'Community Information' page has links to other community groups in the St George area.

Beese's Riverside Bar & Tea Gardens

Discover Bristol’s best kept secret, excellent real ale; great food.

Next to Eastwood Farm LNR, Beese's Bar and Tea Gardens was founded in 1846 by Mrs Bees, who provided refreshments to the many travellers using the Conham Ferry (the oldest river ferry crossing on the River Avon) the captain of which was Mr Bees.

If you are visiting Troopers Hill at a weekend then why not walk along the river to Conham and catch the ferry to Beese's for lunch or afternoon tea? Our Explore the Avon Valley page will help you find your way.

For several years Beese's have very generously donated a share of the proceeds from their Beer Festival to the Friends of Eastwood Farm and Friends of Troopers Hill. Many thanks to Ma & Pa Beese's.

Lipsmackin­thirst­quenchin­ale­pourin­burger­flippin­good
­vibin­hard­rockin­scone­splittin­jam­spreadin­salad­tossin­party­lovin
...Beeses!

Victorian House Garden

This little known gem must rank alongside Troopers Hill as one of the jewels in the crown of St George.

It is an award-winning garden that is open for private viewings during the summer months and as part of the National Gardens Scheme. Their website includes lots of wonderful photographs of the garden both as it is now, and showing how it was created.

Summerhill Academy

Friends of Troopers Hill regularly give talks to year-3 at the school about Troopers Hill. The school have also been very actively involved in our Stepping Forward Project.

Air Balloon Hill Primary School

This is our nearest primary school.
In 2012 the whole school visited Troopers Hill to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee.

Bristol East Allotment Association (BEAA)

The Association currently has eight allotment sites in St. George,
including The Farm which adjoins Troopers Hill LNR.
Visit the shop at the Pavillion, Nicholas Lane on Saturday or Sunday mornings and find out more about the benefits of renting an allotment.
Next Year 2014 the Association is 100 Years old please note 17th August 2014 in your Calendar!

Local Interest | History Groups | Green Space | Nature | General |

History Groups

St George History Group

This is a relatively new group that meets on the fourth Thursday of every month (except December). The group covers all of St George as defined by the 1845 Tithe map and therefore includes Troopers Hill and Crews Hole. Meetings take the form of talks or discussions on a range of subjects. There are plans for exhibitions in the future. If you would like to get involved please Contact Us and we will pass on your details to the organisers.

Barton Hill History Group

The Barton Hill History Group was formed in September 1983 with the aim of learning about Barton Hill's past. Since then it has extended its area of interest to the areas of East Bristol surrounding Barton Hill. Through many displays, meetings, presentations, publications and exhibitions, the BHHG has matured into Bristol's most active, consistent and imaginative local history group.

The Saltford Brass Mill Project

Saltford Brassmill is situated on the banks of the River Avon about 7 miles upstream of Troopers Hill.
The Brassmill is the only surviving building still with a furnace and working water wheel remaining from a group of eighteenth century mills making brass and copper goods in the Avon Valley. It is to here that some of the copper produced in Crews Hole would have been sent. In another link with our area the disused mill was at one time owned by the Butler Family.

Bristol Industrial Archaeological Society (BIAS)

Troopers Hill has obvious links to our industrial past and many of the talks and events organised by BIAS will be of interest to those would would like to know more about the industrial history of Bristol and the surrounding area.

South Gloucestershire Mines Research Group

The chimney at the corner of Troopers Hill Road and Crews Hole Rd is the remains of Troopers Hill colliery and dates from the early 1800s. There was also a fireclay mine under Troopers Hill that closed in 1908. Members of SGMRG have helped us find out more about these mines. The group was set up by local people to understand, record and where appropriate preserve the remains, of what was once an extensive industry, for the present community and future generations.

Local Interest | History Groups | Green Space | Nature | General |

Green Spaces in Bristol

Bristol Parks Forum

The Friends of Troopers Hill are members of the Parks Forum along with many other community groups throughout the City who have an interest in parks and green spaces.

The Forum meets on Saturday mornings four times a year, if you would be willing to attend these meetings on behalf of the Friends of Troopers Hill please contact us.

Bristol Parks

 
Bristol Parks are responsible for the management of all natural green spaces in the City of Bristol.

Bristol in Bloom

Bristol's entries in the It's Your Neighbourhood Scheme (including that from Friends of Troopers Hill) are co-ordinated by the Bristol in Bloom Community Association and Bristol City Council.

The Bristol in Bloom website has details of Bristol's other sucesses in both the regional South-West in Bloom and the National Britain in Bloom competitions.

Read about Friends of Troopers Hill's It's Your Neighbourhood entries here. There is also a South West In Bloom website.

Avon Gardens Trust

Friends of Troopers Hill are pleased to be members of the Avon Gardens Trust. The Trust was formed in 1986, one of the earliest County Gardens Trusts in the country. It is an educational charity that aims ‘to preserve, enhance and re-create for the enjoyment and education of the public’ parks and gardens in the former county of Avon.

Avon Wildlife Trust

The Avon Wildlife Trust help manage a number of Nature Reserves in Bristol and the surrounding area, including Coombe Brook Valley and the Local Nature Reserves at Royate Hill, Stockwood Open Space and Lawrence Western Moor.

Avon Frome Partnership

The Avon Valley Partnership and the Friends of the River Frome have joined forces to form the wider Avon Frome Partnership.

The River Avon Trail

The River Avon Trail Interpretation Project
A path along the river through Bristol and Bath...
This project has included the instalation of a new interpretation board at Netham Lock that features Troopers Hill. They have also produced an excellent guide book.

Local Interest | History Groups | Green Space | Nature | General |

Nature & Conservation

Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre

BRERC collects and manages ecological data for Bristol and the surrounding area. They would be pleased to receive any records you might have of wildlife seen on Troopers Hill.

BRERC are going to be running flora and fauna identification workshops for us on Troopers Hill in summer 2007 as part of our Breathing Places Big Lottery Fund Project.

Butterfly Conservation

The alarming decline of many beautiful butterflies after the last war led a small group of dedicated naturalists, headed by Sir Peter Scott, to form Butterfly Conservation in 1968 as the British Butterfly Conservation Society. Since that time Butterfly Conservation has grown steadily to become the largest insect conservation organisation in Europe and possibly even the world. Weekly records of butterfly sightings on Troopers Hill were made in 2004 and we hope to continue this in 2005.

The Badger Consultancy

THE BADGER CONSULTANCYThe Badger Consultancy will be carrying out a survey on Troopers Hill as part of our Breathing Places Big Lottery Fund Project.

Bristol Naturalists' Society

The Bristol Naturalists’ Society exists to stimulate a greater awareness of natural history and geology in the Bristol area.
Their website is details the many talks and walks that they organise and gives lots of other information. They are very friendly and anyone with an interest in wildlife in Bristol will be made very welcome - and yes they do keep their clothes on!

UK Biodiversity Action Plan

The UK BAP

  • is the UK Government's response to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) signed in 1992
  • describes the UK's biological resources
  • commits a detailed plan for the protection of these resources
  • has 391 Species Action Plans, 45 Habitat Action Plans and 162 Local Biodiversity Action Plans with targeted actions.

The Habitiat Action Plans include a plan for Lowland dry acid grassland like that found on Trooprs Hill.

Natural England

Natural EnglandSince the beginning of October 2006 English Nature; the environment activities of the Rural Development Service and the Countryside Agency’s Landscape, Access and Recreation division have been united in a single body called Natural England.

Natural England are interested in greenspaces within towns and cities as well as the countryside. Their Urban Greenspace Standards set out recomendations for access to natural green spaces. One of the standards is that there should be 1 hectare of Local Nature Rerserves per 1000 of population, the figure for Bristol in 2005 was 0.23.

Local Interest | History Groups | Green Space | Nature | General |

General Interest

Inkwood Design

InkwoodClare Challice of Inkwood Design (formerly dandi) designed our Site Information Leaflets and Interpretation Board.

Bristol Video Solutions

Bristol Video SolutionsBristol Video Solutions are working with the Friends of Troopers Hill on our Video Project.

We have been very lucky to benefit from over 35 years of experience in the television business including with the BBC and all the major US TV networks. I'm sure you will agree that the resulting videos are very professional and a great feature of this website.

VOSCUR

Voscur - The voice of Bristol's community and voluntary sector.
Voscur's diary contains details of loads of events organised by Bristol's community and voluntry groups. Friends of Troopers Hill are featured in Voscur's Nov/Dec 2007 Newsletter.

Awards for All

Awards for All is a Lottery grants scheme aimed at local communities. The Friends of Troopers Hill were awarded over £3,000 in May 2004 and a further £5,000 in September 2007.

Wards of Bristol

Wards supplied and helped design the signs we bought with the Awards for All Lottery Grant.

TCV Online Shop

Many of our tools were purchased through this very efficient online shop. TCV is the new name for BTCV.

Local Interest | History Groups | Green Space | Nature | General |

Friends of Troopers Hill
Website produced by the Friends of Troopers Hill

www.troopers-hill.org.uk