The Bradley Stoke Journal

The third running of Bradley Stoke’s Festival Run, organised by Sole Sisters Running Club, took place today (Sunday 8th June) in warm and sunny conditions over a 10km course around the town’s roads and conservation area trails.

Bradley Stoke Mayor Robert Jones got the race under way at 10am from a point on Bradley Stoke Way south of the Leisure Centre. The race route first took the runners in a loop towards the south of the town before returning to the start point, from where a second loop saw the runners heading north, crossing Primrose Bridge before heading back down Bradley Stoke Way to cross the start line for a third time. The final 2km of the race then followed the Three Brooks Nature Trail, crossing Brook Way before arriving at the Jubilee Centre, where a lap of the football pitch had to be completed before crossing the finish line.

Winner of the men’s race was Brian Penny of Team Bath AC, who completed the course in 35:20, a time more than two minutes faster than the winning time of last year’s race (when the course was slightly different).

The women’s race was won by Trinity Booth of Chipping Sodbury club Hogweed Trotters in a time of 44:09. Full results are scheduled to appear on the Sole Sisters website tomorrow (Monday).

The Journal’s photographer was on hand to record the race and we have over 200 photos in our PicasaWeb Gallery [album; slideshow].

Please contact us if you would like a free full-size copy of any of our photos. In due course, we will add captions to our photos (e.g. race number), which should make it easier to find the photos you are interested in.

If you have photos of the race and have uploaded them to the web, please let us know and we will publish your link. Alternatively, we would be happy to publish your photos in The Journal’s PicasaWeb Gallery.

Warm and sunny weather saw crowds flock to the Jubilee Centre in Savages Wood Road for the main day of Bradley Stoke’s Community Festival 2008.

The day got underway at 11am with a demonstration of gamegoers’ dogs, falcons and ferrets and continued throughout the afternoon with events alternating between arena and stage. Highlights of the day included performances by Queen tribute band Monarchy and James Dylan Stuntworld (motorcyle riders). The day was rounded off by musicians and dancers from the South Gloucestershire Asian Project at around 5:50pm.

Over on Jubilee Green, the annual Community Fair took place between 1:30pm and 5:30pm, featuring stalls from local charities, community groups and businesses.

The Leisure Centre in Fiddlers Wood Lane was the venue for a skate park competition organised by Southern Brooks Community Partnership.

Fine weather is also forecast for tomorrow (Sunday 8th), when the main Festival event is the Bradley Stoke Festival Fun Run at 10am. The Journal’s interactive map of the race route shows you where (and when) you can see the runners go by.

The National Association for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease (NACC), Mayor Robert Jones’s nominated charity for his year in office, will benefit from the proceeds of the weekend’s events.

There are more than 140 photos of the day’s events in The Journal’s PicasaWeb Gallery:

• Jubilee Centre [album; slideshow]
• Skate Park Competition [album; slideshow]

Please contact us if you would like a free full-size copy of any of our photos. In due course, we plan to add captions to our photos, so please also let us know if you have any information (e.g. website address of your charity/group) that you would like us to include.

Youngsters in Bradley Stoke are eagerly looking forward to this coming Saturday’s (7th June) Skate Park Competition organised by Southern Brooks Community Partnership. The event, which gets underway at 2pm in the skate park by the Leisure Centre, Fiddlers Wood Lane [map], forms part of the Bradley Stoke Community Festival.

Separate contests will be held for BMX bikes, skateboards, in-line skates (blades) and scooters, with prizes awarded in two age categories: under-14 and 14-plus. Each rider will have just one minute to show his/her skills in a maximum of three runs over the ramps.

An entry fee of £2 will be charged and all contestants are required to wear a helmet and give emergency contact details.

Flynn Trotmann of the Fifty Fifty Skateboard Supplies store in Park Row, Bristol, has the unenviable task of choosing the winners. Shopping vouchers to the value of £20, £10 and £5 (redeemable at The Mall, Cribbs Causeway) will be awarded to the first three in each category.

A total of three DJs will be on hand to create a party atmosphere and refreshments will be on sale.

More photos of youngsters warming up for the weekend’s Skate Park Competition can be seen in The Journal’s PicasaWeb Gallery: [album, slideshow].

Bradley Stoke’s annual Community Festival gets underway on Friday (6th June 2008) with a coffee morning and flower arranging competition, a four mile walk around Bradley Stoke and a “picnic in the park”.

The main events take place on Saturday in and around the Jubilee Centre [map], Savages Wood Road. Stage and arena acts are scheduled from 11am to 6pm, while a Community Fair, with stalls from local charities, community groups and businesses, takes place between 1:30pm and 5:30pm.

Sunday sees the third running of the Bradley Stoke Festival Fun Run, a 10km multi-terrain race, which starts near the Leisure Centre at 10am. Race HQ and finish is at the Jubilee Centre. Residents are urged to turn out and support the competitors along the course - see The Journal’s interactive map of the race route to see where (and when) you can see the runners go by.

The third running of the Bradley Stoke Festival Fun Run, on Sunday 8th June 2008, looks set to be the biggest yet. This year the race route has been accurately measured and has achieved the status of a certified multi-terrain 10km race with a UK Athletics permit.

The race starts close to the Leisure Centre and finishes at the Jubilee Centre, Savages Wood Road, which also acts as the Race HQ.

The race route consists of two loops, the first to the south of the town, the second to the north (on each occasion returning to the start point near the Leisure Centre), followed by a finishing stretch along the Three Brooks Nature Trail to the Jubilee Centre.

There is an entry limit of 300 runners and places are said to be going fast. Postal entries may be made using the application form on the Sole Sisters website. Entries will also be taken at the Community Fair on Saturday 7th June and at Race HQ on the day of the race, both subject to the availability of places. A £1 surcharge applies to “on the day” entries.

Karen Walsh of Sole Sisters told The Journal that there will be a total of 70 marshals along the race route, to ensure the runners a safe passage. Drinks stations will be provided where the course enters the Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve below the Bradley Stoke Way bridge and on the Patchway Common side of Primrose Bridge.

The scheduled start time is 10:00 and the winner is expected to arrive at the Jubilee Centre at around 10:37 (based on last year’s race).

The Bradley Stoke Journal has produced an interactive map showing the route of the race together with recommended viewing points for spectators. The estimated time of arrival of the lead runners at each point is also shown.

Bradley Stoke Town Council (BSTC) and Southern Brooks Community Partnership (SBCP) are urging local community groups to showcase their activities at the town’s Community Fair that takes place between 1:30pm and 5:30pm on Saturday 7th June 2008.

Registered charities and community groups will be charged £10 per table, while the charge for commercial outfits will be £30.

A stallholder’s application form may be downloaded from the SBCP website.

The Community Fair is part of the town’s Community Festival that runs from 6th - 8th June. More information can be found on the Festival page of the BSTC website, including photos from Festivals in previous years.

Further details of the 2008 Bradley Stoke Community Festival have appeared on the Town Council website. The festival, organised by the Council in co-operation with Southern Brooks Community Development Partnership, takes place over the weekend of 6th-8th June.

Saturday 7th June is the main Festival day, when there will be a host of events at the Jubilee Centre in Savages Wood Road. Last year’s innovation of a central arena will be repeated, but with a different range of acts. There will be fairground rides for young children and community groups will be hosting stalls.

Visitors are advised that there will be no car parking available at the Jubilee centre, so they should “make alternative arrangements”. In the past, the car park of the nearby Tesco store has been made available to festival visitors, but the current redevelopment of the Tesco site means that this is not a realistic option for this year’s event.