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Broad Weir Bristol - Before the Blitz - 1937

Broad Weir Summary

Broad Weir ran from the junction of Merchant Street and Castle Mill Street with a very gentle rise to the junction of Philadelphia Street and Lower Castle Street. It took its name from a weir on the River Frome, this being near the site of a ducking stool which was on the north bank of the river. Today the river flows under the roadway of Broad Weir.

The street numbers of the buildings ran consecutively along the north side (Nos 1-20). On the south side the buildings were not numbered and much of this side was the old castle wall covered by advertising hoardings. Double tramlines ran along Broad Weir, going into Merchant Street and Lower Castle Street at either end. At the junction with Lower Castle Street, on the south side was a crude, narrow, whitewashed men's urinal, open to the elements.

The site of the Gem Cinema at 6-7 Broad Weir was badly damaged in December 1940 and Nos 19 and 20 were destroyed on 28 August 1942 — all other buildings in Broad Weir survived the Second World War.

Broad Weir still exists today, but all the buildings which survived have been demolished - the north side was rebuilt as shops in 1957 and still exist today (this is when Philadelphia Street disappeared, Penn Street widened and Lower Castle Street straightened). The south side is now a high wall forming the edge of Castle Park.

1-2 A.E. Chinnock Ltd - Furniture Retailers

This company also had premises at 4—5 Broad Weir.

3 Samuel John Money Restaurant

4-5 A.E. Chinnock Ltd - Furniture Retailers

This company also had premises at 1-2 Broad Weir.

6-7 Vacant (Gem Cinema)

This building was the site of the Gem Cinema. It was originally called Broad Weir Hall (which in 1908 was used for religious services and had a billiard room and soup kitchen) and in 1909 it was refurbished and renamed Gem Cinema, the proprietors being The Gem Electric Theatre. - The cinema had 1,200 seats, the main entrance being on Broad Weir. There was a side entrance to the gallery in Merchant Street —along an alley next to a newsagents shop and up a flight of external iron steps. It was one of several 'flea pits' in Bristol - you came out with more than you went in! Young ladies played the piano and violin between films and young boys dropped apple cores from the gallery, aiming at the heads of patrons below!

The cinema closed in 1932 and the building was used for boxing. In the 1930s unlicensed boxing shows were frequently held in Bristol and many mismatches occurred. One such bout held at the Gem will be long remembered — on 12 February 1934 a scheduled six-round fight for a purse often shillings (50p) involved fourteen-year-old Jimmy Cooper whose opponent was eight years his senior. In the second round Jimmy threw a punch and, as his foot slipped, he fell and caught his chin on the canvas. The impact broke his neck and he probably died before being moved from the ring. His funeral brought Bristol to a standstill - the service was at the Dockland Settlement and the procession led to Avonview Cemetery at St George.

The premises closed for public use in 1936 and was intermittently used as a store until it was blitzed on 6/7 December 1940. The remaining shell of the building was demolished in 1957.

8 F. Brown & Sons - Cabinetmakers

This building was used as a store - F. Brown & Sons had their main premises at 12 Narrow Wine Street.

9-12 W.H. Vowles & Sons Ltd (Eagle Brush Works) Brushmakers

This building survived the war and Vowles occupied it until its demolition for redevelopment of the area.

13 Percy Daniell - Baker

These premises had a bakery on site and supplied many local shops. Ashes from the fires which heated the ovens were constantly disposed of by dropping them through a manhole to the river below, despite several warnings from the local authority not to do so!

Between Nos 13 and 14 Broad Weir was an archway and passage to the Friends Meeting House in Quakers Friars.

14 John Caines & Son Basketmakers

15 Broad Weir Metal & Wool Co. - Metal Merchants

16 Broad Weir Fish Restaurant

Fried Fish Dealer (Proprietor: R. Gooding)

17 G.P. Elliott (Bristol) Ltd - Timber Merchants

This company was established in 1911

18 The Old Crown - Public House

Landlord: Frank Summerall - Brewery: Simmonds - The original building on this site was built in the seventeenth century and rebuilt in 1906.

19 Taylor Brothers (Bristol) Ltd - Printers and lithographers

This building was built in 1624 and Taylor Bros moved here in 1879 (this company was established in 1866 at premises in Baldwin Street). It was destroyed following an air raid on 28 August 1942, when Taylor Bros temporarily moved to 17 Philadelphia Street. In 1955 they moved to premises in Wilder Street; the company is still trading from this site today.

20 Mrs E.L. Herring - Greengrocers

Merchant Venturers Technical College This four-storey building was built in 1896 and was initially u

Work on the Derwent Valley Railway started in 1865 and the line was opened on 2nd December 1867 Four viaducts were constructed and a deep, 800 metres long cutting was dug near Rowlands Gill. The Nine Arches Viaduct was one of the major engineering feats of the railway; it is five hundred feet long and was built because the Earl of Strathmore would not allow the railway to pass through the Gibside Estate.

Stations were built at Blackhill, Shotley Bridge, Ebchester, Lintz Green, Rowlands Gill and Swalwell with High Westwood added in 1909. The line was single track between Blackhill and Lintz Green and double track between Lintz Green and the junction at Derwenthaugh. At its peak in 1914 the railway was carrying over half a million passengers a year with a regular goods traffic of timber, bricks and coal to Newcastle and iron ore to Consett.

The line also has a gruesome claim to fame in 1911 Lintz Green station was the scene of the inexplicable murder of the stationmaster by an unknown gunman the crime never solved.

By the 1920's, buses started to take the passengers. Freight fared better, continuing to deliver to collieries, coke-ovens, brickworks, paper-mills, dairy farms and the livestock mart at Blackhill, but even the freight traffic declined after W.W.II. High Westwood Station was closed in 1942 while the remaining stations survived into the 1950's but passenger numbers failed to recover after the war and one by one the stations closed. Shotley Bridge and Ebchester closed in September 1953, Swalwell and Lintz Green followed in December 1953. Rowlands Gill closed in February 1954 and Blackhill survived until May 1955. As road traffic became more efficient the freight service continued to decline until the line finally closed completely on 11th November 1963

The track was lifted in 1964 and for many years little was done to the line until Durham County Council developed it as a country park. The viaducts and bridges were repaired and the trackbed has now become an excellent cycle route and country path.

At Lydgetts Junction near Consett, the Derwent Valley route links with the Lanchester Valley Railway Path, Waskerley Way, and the Sustrans Consett-Sunderland cycle path, the latter two form part of the C2C (Sea to Sea) Cycle Route.