The Downs (Bristol)
Encyclopedia
The Downs are an area of public open limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 downland
Downland
A downland is an area of open chalk hills. This term is especially used to describe the chalk countryside in southern England. Areas of downland are often referred to as Downs....

 in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. They consist of Durdham Down
Durdham Down
Durdham Down is an area of public open space in Bristol, England. With its neighbour Clifton Down to the southwest, it constitutes a area known as The Downs, much used for leisure including walking, jogging and team sports. Its exposed position makes it particularly suitable for kite flying...

 to the northeast, and the generally more picturesque and visited Clifton Down
Clifton Down
Clifton Down is an area of public open space in Bristol, England, north of the village of Clifton. With its neighbour Durdham Down to the northeast, it constitutes the large area known as The Downs, much used for leisure including walking and team sports...

 to the southwest.

Durdham Down

Durdham Down is the part of the Downs northeast of Stoke Road, extending to Westbury Park
Westbury Park, Bristol
Westbury Park is a suburb of the city of Bristol, United Kingdom. It lies to the east of Durdham Down between the districts of Redland and Henleaze...

 and Henleaze
Henleaze
Henleaze is a northern suburb of the city of Bristol in South West England.It is an almost entirely residential inter-war development, with Edwardian streets on its southern fringes. Its main neighbours are Westbury on Trym, Horfield, Bishopston and Redland...

. It is owned by Bristol City Council.

Clifton Down

Clifton Down is the part of the Downs southwest of Stoke Road, between Sneyd Park
Sneyd Park
Sneyd Park is a suburb of Bristol, England, lying on the western fringe of Clifton Down, adjacent to the Avon Gorge and the Sea Walls observation point. Home to many millionaires, Sneyd Park was originally developed in Victorian times. Many Victorian and Edwardian villas line the edge of the Downs...

 and Clifton
Clifton, Bristol
Clifton is a suburb of the City of Bristol in England, and the name of both one of the city's thirty-five council wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells...

 and extending to the edge of the Avon Gorge
Avon Gorge
The Avon Gorge is a 1.5-mile long gorge on the River Avon in Bristol, England. The gorge runs south to north through a limestone ridge west of Bristol city centre, and about 3 miles from the mouth of the river at Avonmouth. The gorge forms the boundary between the unitary authorities of...

. It is owned by the Society of Merchant Venturers
Society of Merchant Venturers
The Society of Merchant Venturers is a private entrepreneurial and charitable organisation in the English city of Bristol, which dates back to the 13th century...

.

Management

Since an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 in 1861, when Bristol Corporation acquired Durdham Down, the Downs have been managed as a single unit by the Downs Committee, a joint committee of the corporation and the Merchant Venturers.

They are used for leisure, walking, team sports and sightseeing (especially at the Avon Gorge cliff edge). There are permanent football pitches, used by the Bristol Downs Football League
Bristol Downs Football League
The Bristol Downs League is an English football league based in the city of Bristol. It is a completely standalone league system which does not feed into the English football league pyramid . The Downs League is unusual in that all matches are played on one site, namely the large open space known...

, the lowest tier any club has ever joined in order to be promoted to the Premier League. There are also temporary attractions on the Downs, such as circuses and the annual Bristol Flower Show.

A grey concrete water tower
Water tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....

 of 1954 stands on the Downs near the top of Blackboy Hill, with a long, low, covered reservoir alongside it.

In 1982, 6,000 people assembled on the Downs, in response of to a local newspaper advertisement placed by the makers of the new breakfast television show TV-am
TV-am
TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast to the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 to 31 December 1992. It made history by being the first national operator of a commercial television franchise at breakfast-time , and broadcast every day of the week for most or all of the period...

. The 6,000 people were used to make the words 'Good', 'Morning' and 'Britain', used for the opening titles of the TV-am
TV-am
TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast to the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 to 31 December 1992. It made history by being the first national operator of a commercial television franchise at breakfast-time , and broadcast every day of the week for most or all of the period...

show, of the same name. It took 2 hours to get the people into place, and another 2 hours to shoot.

External links

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