Nailsea
. It is located conveniently close to major business districts such as
Bristol,
Bath and
Weston-super-Mare. Furthermore it is only 12 km from the port and service area at
Avonmouth.
Nailsea's economy initially rested on coal mining, which began as early as the sixteenth century. By the late 1700s, the town had a large number of pits and was visited by the social reformer Hannah More who founded a sunday school for the workers. The coal mines attracted
John Robert Lucas, a glass manufacturer, in
1788, and the glassworks he established would eventually become the fourth largest of their kind in the United Kingdom. Though the works closed down in 1873, "Nailsea" glass (mostly made by glassworkers at the end of their shift in Nailsea and at other glassworks) is still sought after by collectors around the world. The site of the glassworks has been covered by a
Tesco supermarket car park (leaving it relatively accessible for future
archaeological digs). Other parts of the site are currently being cleared and filled with sand ensuring that the remains of the old glassworks are preserved for the future. Remains of many of the old pits, most of which had closed down by the late nineteenth century as mining capital migrated to the richer seams of South Wales, are still visible around the town.
To the west of the town are the Nailsea moors which have been drained and farmed by many generations of farmers.
One of Nailsea's best known celebrities was
Adge Cutler, who was once lead singer of
The Wurzels. The Wurzels' album
Live at the Royal Oak was recorded at The Royal Oak, a pub on the High Street in Nailsea. Cutler is buried in Christ Church graveyard.
Today Nailsea is home to nuclear families as well as an older generation of people. Primary income often comes from employment in the
service sector including industries such as insurance and banking, defence related employment, retail and management. Employment within Nailsea includes work in the many shops, schools, estate agents and banks. Nailsea is home to the Vetco Gray engineering company and the billing office of Wessex Water as well as businesses at small business estates around the town.
Gfk NOP also has a telemarket reseach centre located in Court House.
Nailsea has a small developed shopping area including Somerset Square, Colliers Walk and a
high street. There are three supermarket chains in the town and some national banks and estate agents. Nailsea has a few high-street clothes shops as well as local clothing retailers.
There are several
charity shops in Nailsea. Furthermore there are a selection of pharmacies, health care shops, hairdressers, barbers, home improvement shops, pet shops and newsagents. Finally Nailsea has stationers, motor part, computer shops and key/shoe repair shops. There is a lack of shops for the younger generation; Nailsea currently has no dedicated music or computer games shops.
On a Tuesday, a market is held in the Clevedon Road car park. Usually around 10-20 stores are set up selling various items including meat & fish, dairy products, exotic foods, technology products, clothing and general household items. The market is busiest during the morning and is usually packed up by late afternoon, on a Tuesday parking can be harder but all of the town centre car parks are within walking distance to the market.
Usual amenities include two doctor's surgeries, several dental practices as well as two veterinary surgeries. Nailsea currently has two
petrol stations, there used to be more, but some have closed leaving an ESSO (formerly Shell) on the B3130 towards Wraxall and a
Tesco filling station next to the Scotch Horn Centre. In nearby
Backwell there is also a
Texaco garage next to the
railway station.
Nailsea has a variety of pubs and a small nightclub. For the younger generation, apart from two small youth clubs, activities are limited. Nailsea does however have two Scouting divisions which organise the Nailsea Carnival and Mayfair respectively, it also has other youth clubs including girl guiding and theatre/musical groups.
Nailsea has theatre, musical and ochestral groups. Most groups are open to all ages and meet and perform regularly at different venues including
The Scotch Horn Centre, Nailsea Methodist Church, The Mizzymead Centre, The Grove Recreation Centre, Nailsea Church Hall (town hall) and local churches.
There are no purpose built cinemas in Nailsea but in nearby
Clevedon there is The Curzon - Britain's oldest purpose built cinema; The Curzon shows blockbuster and other movies. The Curzon may be restored to its original two screen capacity in the future. Nearby in Bristol there are multi-screen cinemas, the nearest being
Cineworld at Hengrove or
Vue at
Cribbs Causeway.
In the nearby village of Wraxall there is a Zoo (
Noah's Ark Zoo Farm) which has a variety of exotic, argicultural and domestic animals including rhinos, camels, monkeys, reptiles and most recently a giraffe. It offers hands on experience with animals and a chance to learn about conservation.
Finally there is a gym at The Scotch Horn Centre but Nailsea does not have public swimming pool despite a long running campaign to build one in Nailsea. Currently, the nearest pool is at Backwell Leisure Centre around 4 km from Nailsea.
The B3130 runs through Nailsea. One can join the nearby A370 (including the Long Aston Bypass) to travel directly into Bristol or Weston-Super-Mare. From Nailsea to Bristol; traffic being well, the journey takes around 20 minutes by car. One can also travel to Clevedon and join the
M5 motorway at junction 20.
Within Nailsea there are a small network of main and country roads. There is ample parking in Nailsea for free (with some restrictions) in one of its five town centre car parks.
Nailsea shares a railway station with Backwell.
Nailsea & Backwell station, operated by
First Great Western, is situated between Nailsea and Backwell on Station Road. The station is unmanned except during the morning rush hour. Two platforms run regular services including travel to
Bristol Temple Meads, Weston-Super-Mare and villages in between. One intercity service to
London Paddington also stops at the station during the morning rush hour. Unfortunately neither station platform is currently wheelchair accessible. The station has a well used car park and covered cycle parking facilities.
Finally
First Badgerline runs two services to central Bristol during the week with buses as regular as every half an hour. There are services on weekends and bank holidays as well. Furthermore there is a semi-regular service to Weston-Super-Mare; both direct and via local villages.
Nailsea has a secondary (comprehensive) school:
Nailsea Comprehensive School, which recently achieved Technology and Media Arts College specialist status. Nailsea also has several infants, junior and primary schools including Kings Hill C of E, Golden Valley, Hannah More Infants, St. Francis Catholic School and Grove School. There are also several playgroups as well as a special needs school; Ravenswood.
Some nearby towns are
Portishead,
Wraxall,
Clevedon,
Backwell, and
Tickenham.
*
History of Nailsea*
Holy Trinity Church of England Nailsea*
Nailsea Comprehensive School Web*
Nailsea School Main Website*
Nailsea Glassworks Report*
Nailsea Glass*
Nailsea and District Local History Society*
Noah's Ark Zoo Farm
