The Bradley Stoke Journal

A popular car boot sale that takes place near Bradley Stoke is to re-open for the 2009 season this weekend.

The Trench Lane Boot Sale, held on Sundays on a farmland site opposite the entrance to Woodlands Golf Club [map], will open for the first time this year on Sunday 3rd May.

The site opens to sellers and buyers at 7am and trading goes on until around 3pm. Sellers are charged £7 for a  car or £10 for a van.

On a smaller scale, Holy Family Church at Patchway Roundabout is holding a one-off boot sale on Monday (4th May) between 10am and 2pm. Sellers will be charged £5 for a car and £8 for a van.

Related Link: Markets in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)

The Journal can reveal that Bradley Stoke sex film producer James Edwards and his neighbours in The Coppice have met for talks at Filton Police Station in an attempt to resolve their differences.

Matters came to a head in February when residents of the cul-de-sac staged an anti-porn and prostitution demonstration outside Mr Edwards’ house. The stunt hit the national headlines but seemed to have achieved little after police refused to investigate the prostitution claims and insisted that the movie business was legal.

Bradley Stoke Town Councillor Ben Walker then stepped in to help the protesters enter a formal dialogue with Mr Edwards and form a residents’ association covering the wider area of the Lakeside parish ward that he represents.

Cllr Walker has now revealed that:

A meeting between a selected group representing residents and Mr. James Edwards, all of the Coppice, Bradley Stoke was held on 16th March to discuss current concern with the business operations of Mr. Edwards from his home address.

The meeting was held at Filton Police Station and facilitated by Inspector Bob Evely & Sgt Clive Johnson, supported by the Beat Manager, PC Steve Palmer and chaired by Cllr Ben Walker.

Points agreed at the meeting were as follows (verbatim from press release):

1. The residents of The Coppice, Bradley Stoke have agreed to not talk about or make Mr. Edwards feel that he is under 24 hour surveillance. This has been discussed with the remaining members of The Coppice residents and all agree to make a fresh start with Mr. Edwards from this point on.
2. Mr. Edwards agrees to remove any reference from relevant websites and any advertising relating to the locality, wherever possible. Whilst not solely responsible, Mr. Edwards also agrees that he will re-emphasise to callers at his property to park in a considerate manner and will try to improve this situation. Mr. Edwards also agrees to restrict the number of callers to his house and agrees to make a fresh start with the Coppice residents from this point on.
3. It is also agreed between The Coppice residents and Mr. Edwards that communication is vital to eliminate any further issues arising between the residents and Mr. Edwards.

The inaugural meeting of the Lakeside Residents’ Association was held on Monday 20th April, attended by Cllr Walker, Sgt Clive Johnson, PCSO Jason Green and 25 residents.

Read more about the meeting …

Bradley Stoke Town Council is holding a ‘Clean Sweep’ litter picking day between 2:30pm and 6:30pm this Thursday (30th April).

Residents are encouraged to “join in the fun” by forming litter picking groups for their local streets or helping out at organised clear ups around the Council’s activity centres at Brook Way, Baileys Court and the Jubilee Centre.

South Gloucestershire Council will provide skips at each of the activity centres as well as gloves and black bags for the volunteers.

Community and street groups looking to stage a clean up action are invited to contact the Council on 01454-868082. Bags will be provided free of charge and the Council says it can arrange for the gathered litter to be picked up at a “pre-arranged convenient time”.

A survey of the Council’s Jubilee Centre site at the weekend by the Journal’s reporter revealed plenty of tasks for the volunteers to tackle.

The pond in the corner of the Jubilee Green (pictured above), cleared in a youth-inspired community action less than a year ago, is once again full of junk, including three Tesco trolleys. A further trolley was seen lying in a ditch close to Little Stoke Primary School, while two large patio heaters had been dumped at the side of the upper football pitch.

Tesco Extra manager Oliver Hill is scheduled to address this week’s meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer & Stronger Community Group to be held at Baileys Court Activity Centre on Tuesday evening (7pm start).

Meeting chair Julie Snelling of Southern Brooks Community Partnership says Mr Hill, who has managed the store since it opened in October last year, will pick up any issues that the public bring up about Tesco’s.

Rachel Sharvell-Jones, the new full-time youth worker for Bradley Stoke, will also be present at the meeting, as will Steve Shields of South Gloucestershire Council, who will have some news about planned changes to the district’s Safer & Stronger Communities Partnership Strategy.

The February meeting of the SSCG was well attended and five priority topics were agreed for the police to address – these can be seen on the Bradley Stoke Beat page of the Avon & Somerset Police website.

One of the priority topics – anti-social behaviour in Saxon Way – is sure to figure again in discussions as that road subsequently became one of those affected by the suspected arson attacks of Friday 6th March in which three cars were destroyed during the early hours.

Police Inspector Bob Evely sparked controversy at the last meeting when he refused to discuss concerns raised by local residents about the activities of sex film producer James Edwards at his property in The Coppice. The row was later compounded when the published minutes of the meeting contained no mention of the topic being tabled. A subsequent re-issue of the minutes corrected the omission.

Bradley Stoke Town Footbal Club (BSTFC) have won promotion for the third consecutive season after a 3-0 victory over close rivals Shireway Sports at the Jubilee Centre on Saturday.

The local team needed to win the match as a draw would have left Shireway with a chance of clinching the title with victory in their final game next Saturday.

The result guarantees BSTFC a winning margin of three points in Division 4 of the Bristol & District Football League.

Team Manager Martin Lee praised the team for keeping 13 clean sheets and letting in just one goal at home during the whole season. He told his players:

“We have performed as a team this year, we defend from the front and we attack from all sides. Everyone in every match has tried their best for me and I really appreciate that. You have listened to me and have showed great respect for me which I thank you all for.”

Leading scorers for BSTFC this season were Adam Sykes (18 goals), Liam Dixon (13), Sam Chillcott (11) and Ashley Lloyd (10).

Players putting in the most appearances over the season were Liam Dixon & Ben Osborne (24 each) and Ashley Harrington & Ashley Lloyd (23 each).

Club Secretary and Assistant Manager Nick Potter told The journal:

“I never imagined that since starting the club with James Palmer (Chairman) in February 2005 our club would have come so far in such a short space of time This is the second Championship win in three years, gaining promotion in each of the last three seasons.”

“We are a young team with some very talented players. There is a belief that with this squad of players and with the management structure we have in place, this team could go a long way.”

Related Link:  Football in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)