St Mary's Church, Yate

Once upon a time, Yate was a smallish village, and Chipping Sodbury a pleasant market town situated to north-east of Bristol.

Today in their place stands the sprawling dormitory town of Yate, named in the top twenty ugliest towns in Britain, which has all but embraced its once larger and more important neighbour, often called ‘Sodding Yatesbury’ by Bristolians. The seemingly one town preserves vigorously its boundaries, but you can only tell when you pass a road sign!

Yate is a typical 1960s town, housing estates of concrete and glass boxes, wide dual carriageways, and a purpose built shopping centre which is showing its age today. Somewhere on the estates is the new multipurpose parish centre of St Nicholas, which seems to have taken over from the medieval parish church of St Mary which alone seems to preserve a feeling of countryside in amongst all the tarmac and concrete.

St Mary has a stunning tower, and the picture shows the building seemingly basking in sunshine, unlike me who was being assaulted by a bitterly cold wind!

(Information provided by Phil Draper)