Pucklechurch

HM Prison Ashfield (formerly Pucklechurch Remand Centre) is an adult male sex offenders prison located in the village of Pucklechurch (near Bristol), in South Gloucestershire, England. The prison is operated by Serco. Ashfield Prison was built on the site of the Pucklechurch Remand Centre, and opened in 1999. It was the first private prison in the United Kingdom to house young offenders. The prison was soon mired in controversy after repeated riots and reports of poor management. Conditions at the prison became so bad in 2003 that the Youth Justice Board withdrew prisoners from Ashfield, and threatened to recommend that the prison should be taken over by the public sector. Conditions improved however, and the prison (under new management) was given a good inspection report the following year.In May 2006, staff at Ashfield won a Health team award from the 'Public Servants of the Year Awards'. The award was in recognition of the staff's dedication to improving healthcare and personal health education for inmates held at Ashfield.In March 2008, a new wing for first-time offenders was opened at Ashfield. The wing is specifically designed to create a positive environment for new inmates, and also has amenities for prisoners aged 15 and 16.In 2013 an inspection report that concluded offenders were "exposed to unacceptable levels of violence", including bones broken after the use of force by staff. Ashfield was converted to an adult male prison for sex offenders since July 2013 and a Treatment site since 2014.

Parkfield Colliery, near Pucklechurch, South Gloucestershire, was sunk in 1851 under the ownership of Handel Cossham. Coal was reached in 1853. The shaft was 840 ft deep, but only the upper series of coal veins were worked. These were the Hard, the Top, the Hollybush and Great veins. The quality of the coal mined was extremely good, and was used for gas manufacture and house coal. Handel Cossham died in 1890 and the pit was put up for sale. (Along with other pits he owned at Deep Pit, South Pit and Speedwell.) It was purchased by Bristol United Collieries, owners of Dean Lane, Easton, Hanham, Pennywell Road and Whitehall collieries. They formed a new company to manage their assets called The Bedminster, Easton, Kingswood and Parkfield Collieries Ltd.A survey of Parkfield Colliery at the time of sale noted that it had two horizontal direct-acting steam winding engines each with 28in cylinders, a 4 ft stroke and a drum 15 ft in diameter. These had been made by Teague & Chew of Cinderford in the Forest of Dean. There were two 38 ft high headgears, each with 2 pulley wheels of 15 ft diameter. Steam was provided by four Lancashire boilers which measured 27 ft by 7 ft. A ventilating fan measured 18 ft by 7 ft and was driven by a pair of horizontal engines which had 14in cylinders and a 16in stroke. A Cornish pumping engine had a 54in cylinder and a 7 ft stroke and was powered by two Lancashire boilers. The pit had an endless haulage system comprising a beam engine and two galvanized ropes, each 990 ft in length. Underground there were 3 engines for haulage, 5250 ft of single T-headed rails, 4350 ft of bridge rails and 5400 ft of tram bridge rails. The 1896 'List of Mines worked under the Coal Mines Regulation Act', states that the colliery employed 292 people underground, and 49 on the surface. The manager was J.T. Onions and the under-manager was John Bullough. In 1914 Parkfield was bought by Sir Frank Beauchamp, owner of a number of collieries in the Radstock area, and another company, the East Bristol Collieries Ltd. was formed. By 1936 flooding was becoming problematic and, combined with increasing pumping costs and decreasing coal reserves, the pit became uneconomic. It closed on 15 August of that year.Brandy Bottom Colliery which used steam powered machinery in the 19th century has been scheduled as an ancient monument.

Abson is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, it forms part of the civil parish of Wick and Abson.

Siston (pronounced "sizeton") is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is 7 miles (11 km) east of Bristol at the confluence of the two sources of the Siston Brook, a tributary of the River Avon. The village consists of a number of cottages and farms centred on St Anne's Church, and the grand Tudor manor house of Siston Court. Anciently it was bordered to the west by the royal Hunting Forest of Kingswood, stretching westward most of the way to Bristol Castle, always a royal possession, caput of the Forest. The local part of the disafforested Kingswood became Siston Common but has recently been eroded by the construction of the Avon Ring Road and housing developments. In 1989 the village and environs were classed as a conservation area and thus have statutory protection from overdevelopment.

Westerleigh is a clustered village and civil parish (which includes Henfield) in South Gloucestershire, England, it contains sources of the Frome and has an endpoint of the Frome Valley Walkway. It is 0.8 miles (1.3 km) north of the M4, 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Yate and 10 miles (16 km) north-east of the city of Bristol. In the south it includes a steep hill of its own 5 miles (8.0 km) from the crest of the Cotswold hills which is designated an AONB.

Westerleigh Junction is a railway junction in Gloucestershire, England, where the Cross Country Route (XCR) from York to Bristol Temple Meads meets the South Wales Main Line (SWML) from London Paddington to Swansea, near the village of Westerleigh. The junction is located between the stations of Bristol Parkway, Swindon and Yate.

Henfield is a hamlet in South Gloucestershire, England between Coalpit Heath and Westerleigh, adjoining the hamlet of Ram Hill immediately to the north.

Bury Manor Castle is an early 19th-century house in the village of Wick, South Gloucestershire, England. It was built in Gothic Revival style.The three-storey stone building has a slate roof and embattled parapet.The site was an earlier manor house and the cellars date back to the 13th century. It has had a variety of uses: as a school, offices and health spa. Since 2006 it has been a private residence.

Wapley is a rural village in South Gloucestershire, England.

Wick is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is the main settlement in the civil parish of Wick and Abson. The population of this civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,989.

Doynton is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. The population of this village taken at the 2011 census was 320.

Ram Hill is a hamlet in South Gloucestershire, England. It is located between Coalpit Heath and Westerleigh and adjoins the hamlet of Henfield immediately to the south. In the Mudge Map 1815, Ram Hill was known as Nutridge Hill, and was linked to Westerleigh by Broad Lane and to Mays Hill by Frog Lane. Ram Hill is a small hamlet that has seen considerable land use change over the recent centuries moving from a traditional agricultural landscape to an active coal mining area by the beginning of the nineteenth century. The population would have increased at that time supported by the introduction of new miner's cottages by the Coalpit Heath Colliery Company. The closure of Ram Hill Colliery and Churchleaze Pits in the 1860s represented change but the new branch line to the Frog Lane Pit along with the movement of labour to the pit and the nearby Parkfield Colliery would have ensured that the industrial nature of the area was maintained to well into the twentieth century. In 1903 the new Great Western Railway direct route from Badminton to South Wales and the railway sidings at Coalpit Heath Railway Station would also have had an impact. The closure of the Frog Lane Pit at Coalpit Heath in 1949 represented a step change in the area and Ram Hill reverted to its agricultural roots, a dispersed linear settlement, adjoining the London to South Wales railway, surrounded by pastoral agricultural land. There were new additions at that time with further ribbon development consolidating the 1920s/30s "plotlands" developments along the convergent minor roads. Another addition was the introduction of a caravan site at Greenacres. Ram Hill was peaceful in the 1950s and early 1960s without extensive noise and light pollution. The construction of the M4 Motorway to the south of Henfield in the late 1960s began to change the character of the area and the increasing encroachment of night-time lights highlighted the continuing expansion of Bristol and Yate. In time Ram Hill has lost its rural tranquillity and adopted a new role as a commuter satellite to the main urban areas. At the same time the character of the landscape has changed with dairy farming being replaced by new uses in particular "horsiculture".