Ward profiles 2021: Lockleaze – ‘The key strength in this area is the people’

The rolling green fields and woodlands of Stoke Park seem to stretch for miles below where small clusters of people amble across the Grade II-listed estate.

Stepping away from the everyday traffic and bustle of Romney Avenue, the 270-acre space is a haven for wildlife and residents from across Bristol.

Home to the distinctive yellow Dower House and Purdown Tower – a BT telecommunications post – the estate on the edge of Lockleaze is one of the first sights that greets people arriving into the city along the M32.

Recently, it was home to some new residents – a herd of goats given the very important task of grazing the scrub that has grown up around the Purdown gun battery – as part of ongoing conservation work on the land.

Stoke Park Estate is a wildlife haven on the doorstep for Lockleaze residents

Stoke Park is undoubtedly a gem on the edge of Lockleaze ward, which encompasses Gainsborough Square in the centre, Eastgate Retail Park and Muller Road in the south across to Filton Avenue, and up to the border with South Gloucestershire at Cheswick Village.

But it is the Lockleaze estate, developed in the years immediately after the Second World War, which lies at the heart of the ward, say current Labour councillors Estella Tincknell and Gill Kirk – who are both standing down in May.

“We are always struck by how successive generations describe how happy they were growing up on the estate,” the councillors recently wrote. “Many never moved away, and why would they?”

Continuing this theme, Emily Shimmel, a Lockleaze resident and Bristol24/7 community reporter, says: “The key strength in this area is the people. The community is connected, strong, protective of one another and very supportive. I feel safe and welcome here and feel that people have a passion for their neighbourhood.”

It is a neighbourhood that is currently undergoing a raft of changes, with new council homes and developments planned to meet housing need, as well as a new secondary school currently being built on Romney Avenue.

An active residents planning group sees people volunteer their time to get involved with the development of such projects.

There are plenty of changes afoot in Lockleaze

Back on Romney Avenue, one young teenager makes his way into the Vench adventure playground on Thursday afternoon while another trio ride bikes down towards Purdown Tower – distinctive on the horizon above the houses.

On Cameron Walk, younger children are heading into The Cameron Centre, where Aikado classes have started again in a welcome sign of things slowly returning to normal in the wake of the pandemic.

Purdown Tower is a distinctive landmark for the neighbourhood

In Gainsborough Square, families are making the most of the central play park, while two girls ride scooters around the outer track and a man plays basketball with a young boy in the late afternoon sun.

One glance in the window of The Hub community centre gives an indication of the level of community spirit, with everything from Food Club, to support services to cycling skills on offer. A new parent peer support group has recently launched for those who have become parents during the pandemic.

Look to one side of Gainsborough Square though and the sight of the derelict former pub is still a bone of contention for many residents.

The derelict pub remains an eyesore on the edge of Gainsborough Square

A petition from a residents’ group a few years ago described The Gainsborough as “an eyesore and a barrier to investment in the area”. The council is now in the process of forcibly buying the pub.

Although Emily is frustrated by the pace of progress, saying: “The pub on the square is an eyesore and brings the whole area down, and although we are told things are being done, this is now ten years with no visible action.”

There are high levels of deprivation within the ward and some residents feel they have been historically left behind – parents who have launched a campaign for a play park in their neighbourhood say they have been “neglected”.

Emily is among the residents who would like to see the play facilities improved and also more places to go to eat and drink.

Standing in the council elections on May 6 to represent Lockleaze are Aadayaamelika Adlam and Theresa Allain for Labour and Nigel Brown and George Maggs for the Conservatives.

They will be up against Lib Dems Maz Choudhury and Graham Donald, Heather Mack and David Wilcox for the Greens and Roger Thomas for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition.

The Vench has kept support for young people going throughout the pandemic

All photos by Ellie Pipe

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