Writhlington

Writhlington School is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–18 in Writhlington, Bath and North East Somerset, England. It is the main secondary school in the Radstock area, providing further education to local children and some pupils who live outside the catchment area. The school became an academy in October 2011. Around 70% of year 11 pupils apply to attend sixth form. The school is notable for its orchid project, which has won numerous awards including a gold medal at the 2009 Chelsea Flower Show. The school has also won awards in business with their enterprise companies. It is one of the few state schools to have its own non-compulsory Combined Cadet Force (CCF) with over 150 pupils involved from years 9 to 13. In March 2017, the school received a "requires improvement" critical status rating from Ofsted. This is currently still in place. A turf-cutting ceremony was held at the start of a major rebuilding programme funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme. It is designed to increase the capacity of the school to 1,300+ pupils and was due for completion in January 2010. The school moved into the new building in April 2010. The British Council for School Environments, an education charity which pioneers and supports the creation of effective and efficient learning environments, declared the Writhlington School project as Winner of the Excellence in Design for Teaching and Learning: Secondary New Build and Winner of the Badge in Excellence in Design for Virtual Learning.

Huish Colliery Quarry (grid reference ST695542) is a 0.8 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the town of Radstock, Bath and North East Somerset, notified in 1985. This site includes rocks from the Lower Jurassic period many of which were removed by erosion leading to discontinuations in the Lias. The whole of the Sinemurian Stage and virtually all of the Hettangian Stage is absent. Also notable is the fact that the Jamesoni Zone limestones, which occur here, are much thicker and better developed than at any other comparable sites in the Mendip Hills.

Radstock Town Football Club is a football club based in Radstock, Somerset, England. It is a member of the Western League Division One and plays at the Southfields Recreation Ground. The club is affiliated to the Somerset County FA.

Writhlington SSSI (grid reference ST703553) is a 0.5 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the town of Radstock, Bath and North East Somerset, notified in 1992. This is the site of old mine workings on the Somerset coalfield, including 3,000 tons of Upper Carboniferous spoil from which more than 1,400 insect fossil specimens have been recovered, including the world's earliest known Damselfly. It is a Geological Conservation Review Site, because it has yielded the largest ever collection of Carboniferous insects in Britain. The commonest forms belong to the order Blattodea (cockroaches) and include the extinct families Archimylacris and Mymarommatidae. Protorthoptera and Palaeodictyoptera also occur. Frequent chelicerates (arthropods) include trace and body fossils of xiphosurid merostomes and arachnids, including Phalangiotarbida and Trigonotarbida and also true spiders (Araneida). Rare myriapods (millipedes) and occasional conchostracan crustaceans (clam-shrimps) also occur.

Norton Radstock is the name of a former parish council that covered the conurbation of Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Westfield, in the English ceremonial county of Somerset. Created in 1974 as a large civil parish, it was abolished in 2011 and replaced by three smaller parishes.The conurbation is within the area of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset – 8 miles (13 km) south west of Bath, and the same distance north west of Frome. It had a population of 21,325 at the 2001 census. The term Norton Radstock is not recognised by local residents, nor does it appear on any road map. Besides the towns of Midsomer Norton and Radstock, and the parish of Westfield, the parish encompassed the smaller settlements of Clandown, Haydon, Welton and Writhlington. Norton Radstock was twinned with Ambarès-et-Lagrave in France from September 1982.

Radstock North railway station was a station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway in the county of Somerset in England.

The River Somer is a small river in Somerset, England.

Kilmersdon Road Quarry (grid reference ST689542) is a 0.43 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest between the village of Haydon and the town of Radstock, Bath and North East Somerset, notified in 1954. This is a key Lias locality spanning much of the Hettangian, Sinemurian and Pliensbachian stages.

Radstock West railway station was a station on the Bristol and North Somerset Railway which served the town of Radstock in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area of Somerset, England.

Westfield is a settlement lying on the Fosse Way between Radstock and Midsomer Norton in Somerset, England. In 2011 it was raised to the status of a civil parish. It is 10.5 miles (16.9 km) south-west of Bath, 12 miles (19 km) north-east of Wells, 12 miles (19 km) west of Trowbridge, 9 miles (14 km) north-west of Frome, and 17 miles (27 km) south-east of Bristol. Its geographical location on the A367 south of Bath has resulted in it being an important base for services for the population centres of the old Somerset Coalfield area, for which it hosts the police and fire stations and the local further education college. For many years it hosted the annual winter carnival, until in 2014 the carnival route was changed.

Radstock is a town and civil parish on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England, about 9 miles (14 km) south-west of Bath and 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Frome. It is within the area of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset. The Radstock built-up area had a population of 9,419 at the 2011 Census. Radstock has been settled since the Iron Age, and its importance grew after the construction of the Fosse Way, a Roman road. The town grew after 1763, when coal was discovered in the area. Large numbers of mines opened during the 19th century, including several owned by the Waldegrave family, who had been Lords of the Manor since the Civil War. Admiral Lord Radstock, brother of George, fourth Earl Waldegrave, took the town's name as his title when created a Baron. The spoil heap of Writhlington colliery is now the Writhlington Site of Special Scientific Interest, which includes 3,000 tons of Upper Carboniferous spoil from which more than 1,400 insect fossil specimens have been recovered. The complex geology and narrow seams made coal extraction difficult. Tonnage increased throughout the 19th century, reaching a peak around 1901, when there were 79 separate collieries and annual production was 1,250,000 tons per annum. However, due to local geological difficulties and manpower shortages, output declined and the number of pits reduced from 30 at the beginning of the 20th century to 14 by the mid-thirties; the last two pits, Kilmersdon and Writhlington, closed in September 1973. Manufacturing industries such as printing, binding and packaging provide some local employment. In recent years, Radstock has increasingly become a commuter town for the cities of Bath and Bristol. Radstock is home to the Radstock Museum which is housed in a former market hall, and has a range of exhibits which offer an insight into north-east Somerset life since the 19th century. Many of the exhibits relate to local geology and the now disused Somerset coalfield. The town is also home to Writhlington School, famous for its Orchid collection, and a range of educational, religious and cultural buildings and sporting clubs.

Radstock Museum in Radstock, Somerset, England has a range of exhibits which offer an insight into North Somerset life since the nineteenth century.