Beating the Bounds of Yate Common, Sunday 26 May

Beating the Bounds is an ancient custom that is practised on The Common in Yate. The Reverend, Town Mayor, Friends of the Common and local residents will walk the boundaries of The Common.
Traditionally, children are turned upside down at the corners to teach them the boundaries of their Common, which they should protect (nowadays sweets may be used as an incentive)
 
Beating the Bounds of Yate Common starts at 3pm from the St Briavels Drive entrance of Yate Common. The walk is suitable for pushchairs and takes about 60 - 90 minutes. 

If you would like to find out more about the custom, please follow this link

Casualty filming big bang now happening on Thursday evening

*** UPDATED 10TH MAY ***
As many people will know, BBC TV's Casualty programme has been filming on the Road to Nowhere. The storyline involves a motorway crash and a petrol tanker blaze.

The BBC has now told local residents that the big bang(s) will now happen by 10.30 pm today Thursday, May 10th (Not Saturday 5th or Wednesday 9th - they're running behind schedule)

More details and photos of the set are on the Gazette website

*** UPDATE AFTER THE EVENT ***
If you want to watch an impressive video of the explosion, it's on the Gazette news item about the final night's filming.

Casualty filming big bang now happening on Thursday evening (delayed again)

*** UPDATED 10TH MAY ***
As many people will know, BBC TV's Casualty programme has been filming on the Road to Nowhere. The storyline involves a motorway crash and a petrol tanker blaze.

The BBC has now told local residents that the big bang(s) will now happen by 10.30 pm today Thursday, May 10th (Not Saturday 5th or Wednesday 9th - they're running behind schedule)

More details and photos of the set are on the Gazette website

Beating the Bounds on 6th May

Yate Town Council's annual Beating the Bounds walk takes place on Sunday 6 May - an ancient tradition revived as a family walk to explore Yate Common. Meet at the kissing gate opposite St Briavel's Drive at 3 pm.

Beating the Bounds is a traditional local activity for Rogation Sunday, walking round the boundaries of the Common so that people know what they hold as a community asset. In some places they beat the bounds of an entire parish, or ride round the boundaries of larger parishes.

The Common was nearly sold off for housing some years ago, but a determined campaign by local people (many now in the Focus Team) kept it in public ownership. This gives beating the bounds of the Common a special meaning. Please bring your children to show them what a lovely area we have just on the edge of the town.

Please come and join the walk. Dogs are welcome, and if you can bring a small child even better.  As long as they are don’t mind (too much) they get turned upside down at each kissing gate/corner and then given sweets, which is the local take on the original practice of beating them with sticks and then giving them a coin.

Street Care using the Road to Nowhere

The South Glos Council's Street Care team are going to be using the end of the Road to Nowhere nearest the Badminton Road offices as a temporary storage and compound area to support the implementation of the new waste strategy. This is the bit north of the railway line, at the end of Culvert Avenue - it's NOT the part of the Road to Nowhere on the Yate Common side.

Initially the site will be used to store vehicles overnight while the existing yard at Dean Road is re-developed. The site will then be used to store the new recycling vehicles and finally will provide space to support the changeover of household bins. All the activity is temporary, they will be off the site by the end of 2017 and no waste will be stored on the site at any time.

This week they have cleared the overgrown vegetation and will be laying some additional gravel over the next few days before securing the front and back with a fence to link the existing side fences. The large rocks will stay in place at the entrance until the site is fully secured. Once in use there will be additional security.

Beating the Bounds of Yate Common - Sunday 1 May

Beating the Bounds is a traditional local activity for Rogation Sunday, walking round the boundaries of the Common so that people know what they hold as a community asset. In some places they beat the bounds of an entire parish, or ride round the boundaries of larger parishes.

The Common was nearly sold off for housing some years ago, but a determined campaign by local people (many now in the Focus Team) kept it in public ownership. This gives beating the bounds of the Common a special meaning. Please bring your children to show them what a lovely area we have just on the edge of the town.

Please come and join the walk, which starts from the kissing gate opposite St Briavel's Drive at 3pm on Sunday 1 May. Dogs are welcome, and if you can bring a small child even better.  As long as they are don’t mind (too much) they get turned upside down at each kissing gate/corner and then given sweets, which is our take on the original practice of beating them with sticks and then giving them a coin.

Tony Davis wins first stage in Common campaign

Tony Davis, a life long campaigner to protect the Common has managed to get agreement from the landowners (South Gloucestershire) to apply to make it a Diamond Jubilee Queen Elizabeth II Field in Trust. A bit of a mouthful - but what it means is that the Common and the Fox Covert will have extra protection from developers and others.

The Fox Covert, part of what we think of as the Common is not actually common land, so it has always been particularly vulnerable. This new label will make it as safe as we possibly can get it. Now the experts are filling in the paperwork - and Tony is trying to make sure they do it as quickly as possible, so before the year is out, so we can celebrate 25 years of saving the common AND its new protected status.


To give it even more protection, he has got the landowners to offer to lease the lot to the local community for 50 years - and is trying to get the owners to GIVE the entire common to the town.

Yate Common stream frothing at the mouth

Foaming at the mouth - photo by Pat Cotterell

The stream on Yate Common has been contaminated, it's become brown and frothy. This is quite sudden, as it was fine the previous day. The stream runs down to the River Frome.

Friends of Yate Common have informed Yate Town Council and South Glos, and asked them to investigate.

Road to Nowhere becomes a Casualty of mud

Photo by Pat Cotterell

As local people will know, the BBC TV series Casualty frequently film on the Road to Nowhere, the piece of dual carriageway that was half-built in the 1970s and then abandoned. In fact it's probably been the site of more "major accidents" than any other road in South Glos.

Casualty filmed there this winter, drove large waggons over the slope at the end of the Road to Nowhere, then complained about the muddy conditions. Not surprising! It's also made a mess of this popular walking and cycling route.

South Glos Council has however said that they will be putting down stone to stop it being so muddy - they get an income from the filming.

Consultation on Yate Common - more football pitches, car parking?

Yate Town Council is consulting about providing additional football and car parking facilities on Yate Common.  Please complete The Common Consultation on Additional Football Pitches and Car Parking questionnaire as your views are very important in deciding whether to go ahead with the proposals. The questionnaire has a detailed map of the areas involved.

Wildflower planting, Yate Common on Saturday - all welcome!

Please come and help the volunteers of the Friends of Yate Common doing some wildflower planting this Saturday (23 Oct) and help make this popular area ever better.

Meet at 10.30 am at the Reed Pond.