Bridport

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For other uses, see Bridport (disambiguation).
Bridport


South Street, Bridport
Bridport (Dorset)
Bridport

Bridport shown within Dorset
Population 12,977
OS grid reference SY464925
District West Dorset
Shire county Dorset
Region South West
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BRIDPORT
Postcode district DT6
Dialling code 01308
Police Dorset
Fire Dorset
Ambulance South Western
European Parliament South West England
UK Parliament West Dorset
Website: http://www.bridportandwestbay.co.uk
List of places: UK • England • Dorset

Coordinates: 50°43′44″N 2°45′29″W / 50.729, -2.758

Bridport is a town in Dorset, England. Located near the coast at the Western end of Chesil Beach at the confluence of the rivers Brit and Asker, it originally thrived as a fishing port and rope-making centre (the hangman’s rope being made at Bridport gave birth to the saying "stabbed with a Bridport dagger"). The Port is no longer in existence although the harbour at West Bay is a mile away.

It has recently become the subject of articles where it has been nicknamed 'Notting Hill on Sea'[1] and is attracting large numbers of second home owners with all the attendant social problems that this creates. In 2006 West Dorset was named 10th best place to live in the UK.[2] The town is twinned with Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, France.

According to the 2001 Census, the population of the Bridport parish stands at 12,977. One and a half miles from the town centre and within the town boundary lies West Bay, a small fishing harbour known as Bridport Harbour until the arrival of the railway. At that time it was "rebranded" to its current name to make it sound more attractive. West Bay was also the scene for the opening shot of "The Life and Times of Reginald Perrin" and the 1950's film of the "Navy Lark" was also shot there.

Contents

[edit] Geography

[edit] Suburbs

Bridport is composed of several small suburban districts, namely Allington, Skilling ,Coneygar, Bothenhampton, Bradpole, Court Orchard and St Andrews Well.

A number of these districts were formerly small surrounding villages which have gradually coalesced with Bridport's expanding urbanity over the years (see below). Bothenhampton in particular is still regarded by locals as a large separate village.

[edit] Surrounding Villages

Allington, Askerswell, Bothenhampton, Bradpole, Burton Bradstock, Chideock, Evershot, Eype, Loders, Powerstock, Pymore, Shipton Gorge, Skilling, Swyre, Symondsbury, Uploders, Walditch and West Bay

The Jurassic cliffs
The Jurassic cliffs

[edit] Landmarks

Bridport is situated on the world heritage Jurassic Coast and Chesil Beach. The loose clay cliffs in the area are abundant with fossils making the area popular with fossil hunters.

[edit] Industry and Commerce

It is home to some light industry prominently, Palmer's Brewery (JC & RH Palmer Ltd), a company which owns a percentage of the towns property under various alias, and which recently celebrated its bicentennial; AmSafe Bridport (American Safety), successors to the old established firm of Bridport-Gundry and Edwards Sports, the main survivors of the 750 year old rope and net making companies. Even to this day the goal nets of any major football championships are likely to be made in Bridport and also the tennis nets, wooden posts and umpire's chair at Wimbledon.

Bridport has a thriving commercial centre with twice-weekly street market and monthly farmers' market[3].

[edit] Culture

The town holds its annual carnival on the third saturday in August. The main feature is a carnival parade of floats, walking acts and majorettes. Other attractions on the day include carnival darts, carnival golf, a grand car boot sale, carnival fete and a fun fair. A torchlight procession takes place the following night where 1,500 torches are carried 2 miles from the town centre to a bonfire at West Bay. This is followed by live music and fireworks. The annual events raise money for local good causes and organisations.

On the Thursday before the August Bank Holiday weekend each year Bridport hosts the Melplash Show, one of Dorset's three biggest agricultural shows.

Bridport has an Arts Centre, Cinema, Library and Museum.

[edit] Transport

Award Winning X53 Bus Service
Award Winning X53 Bus Service

The main Honiton - Southampton road A35 passes around Bridport on a bypass, and the A3066 to Crewkerne, via Beaminster starts in Bridport. There is also a direct road to Weymouth, the B3157 also known as the coast road, this take you through the coastal villages of Burton Bradstock and Abbotsbury. The railway station in the town closed in 1975, and now the nearest stations are Maiden Newton, Crewkerne, Dorchester or Weymouth. There are regular buses to Weymouth and Axminster, and the X53 Exeter - Bournemouth coastal service stops at the main bus station. There are minor buses serving surrounding villages as well.

The nearest international airports are Exeter and Bournemouth.

[edit] Education

Primary schools:

  • Bridport Primary School
  • St Marys Primary School
  • St Catherines R C Primary School

Secondary Schools:

  • The Sir John Colfox School

The Sir John Colfox School has a combined sixth form with Beaminster School.

[edit] Sport

The town's footbal team is Bridport FC "The Bees". They currently play in the Western Football League division 1. The club was founded in 1885 and the home ground is St. Mary's Field.

The town's rugby union team is Bridport RFC.

Bridport & West Dorset Golf Club is situated atop of the east cliff at West Bay. The club has an 18 hole links course, driving range and pitch & putt course.

The area also hosts one of the last remaining real tennis courts that was recently renovated with the aid of a lottery grant.

[edit] Notable People

Local celebrities include singer PJ Harvey, actor Martin Clunes, Antiques Roadshow presenter Paul Atterbury and musician Billy Bragg. Bridport and the surrounding area was used to film Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Channel 4 television programme River Cottage and also a BBC drama Harbour Lights staring Nick Berry.

[edit] Media

Bridport has one main local newspaper, The Bridport News owned by Newsquest which is published weekly on a Thursday. There are also a number of free papers, one being A view from Bridport. The Dorset Echo also serves Bridport which is published daily from Monday to Saturday.

Local television is served by BBC Spotlight and ITV Westcountry which are both based in Plymouth. Terrestrial television is transmitted in both analogue and digital from the Stockland Hill Transmitter but the main town is served by an analogue only relay transmitter based at Highlands End.

BBC National Weather Map
BBC National Weather Map

Bridport is a Met Office coastal weather observation point and such it is often included as a place name on the BBC national weather map.

The town’s local commercial radio station is Wessex FM which broadcasts at 96.0FM. Owned by The Local Radio Company is also serves Weymouth and Dorchester. BBC local Radio includes both BBC Radio Devon and BBC Radio Solent.

Bridport lies between boundaries of broadcasters of the South and those of the South West. Viewers in Bridport are more likely to receive news about Devon and Cornwall than they are about East and North Dorset. To bridge the gap in the county the BBC proposed launching BBC Radio Dorset but this was soon dropped following BBC cut backs[4]. The Dorset Broadcasting Action Group campaigns for better coverage in the area.

[edit] See also

[edit] Gallery

South Street

West Street

Arts Centre

Palmers Brewery

Palmers Van

Town Hall

West Bay

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Why everyone flocks to Notting Hill on Sea The Observer, 18 February 2007
  2. ^ Best and Worst places to Live 2006
  3. ^ Farmers' Markets in Dorset BBC Dorset
  4. ^ County station proposal dropped BBC News, 18 October 2007
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