Earlier this year, we were pleased to receive a large deposit of over 500 minute books, documenting the business of South Gloucestershire Council, mainly for the period 2005-2009. This was the latest addition to our existing holdings for South Gloucestershire Council, and all predecessor authorities for this region, dating from the 1890s up to 2009.
The town of Yate in South Gloucestershire has recently had its history published by Victoria County History books.
The name that Yate was given historically means Gateway, which is derived from the old English word giete or gete, which meant ‘gateway to a forest area’. During the Anglo-Saxon and into the medieval period much of the area now known as Yate was enveloped within Horwood Forest; this forest land was a place for the privileged and rich, along with medieval Lords and Bishops to visit. In later years farmers and peasants were also given the opportunity to visit the royal forest. Through the centuries the forest had been cleared for farming and for mining industries, such as coal, limestone and sandstone. In more recent years Yate’s industrial history has included aircraft production and it now boasts an innovative shopping centre. Continue reading
Here at Gloucestershire Archives we’re involved in lots of activities to gather, keep and share the documented heritage of Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire. We’re also leading joint activities to make sure this keeps on happening, like the £2.6M For the Record project we’re currently developing.
While some of our work is plain to see there’s a lot that goes on in the background, especially when it comes to dealing with collections. So we thought it’d be good to share more about what we’ve been up to. With this in mind a few folk from our Collections team spoke with Pete Wilson of Radio Gloucestershire. The interviews were broadcast throughout his shows on 18th and 25th January and you can listen to them via the links below. They’ll be available until 15th and 22nd February respectively. Amongst other things, the team mention the key role of volunteers and partner organisations. They highlight this in the round-up at the end of the second programme.
I hope you find their enthusiasm inspiring. I certainly did!
Gloucestershire Archives 