Bristol is a city in south west England. Its economy has long connections with the sea and its ports. In the 20th century aeronautics played an important role in the economy, and the city still plays a role in the manufacture of aircraft. Bristol is also a tourist destination, and has important media, information technology and financial services sectors.^[1] Bristol (IPA: ) is a city, unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, 115 miles (185 km) west of London and between the cities of Bath, Gloucester and the borough of Swindon. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Six F-16 Fighting Falcons with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team fly in delta formation in front of the Empire State Building. ...

Statistics

In 1998 Bristol's GDP was £6.224 billion GBP, and the combined GDP of South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and B&NES was £6.98 billion. The GDP per head was £15,472, making the city more affluent than the UK as a whole, at 123% of the national average.^[2] ISO 4217 Code GBP User(s) United Kingdom Inflation 2. ...

Note 1: includes hunting and forestry

Note 2: includes energy and construction

Note 3: includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

Note 4: Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

Employment trends

In 2000 Bristol's unemployment rate was 5.9%, compared to 4.8% for the south west, 5.8% for England, and 6.0% for the United Kingdom.^[2] In 2005 this was down to 5.2%, compared to 3.6% for the south west and 4.8% for the United Kingdom.^[3] An 1837 political cartoon about unemployment in the United States. ...

In 2000, employment in the former County of Avon area was categorised into the following sectors:^[4] The County of Avon was a short-lived non-metropolitan county and ceremonial county in the west of England, named after the River Avon which ran through it. ...

Aeronautics

In the 20th century, Bristol's manufacturing activities expanded to include aircraft production at Filton, six miles (10 km) north of the city centre, by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and aero-engine manufacture by Bristol Aero Engines (later Rolls-Royce) at Patchway. The aeroplane company became famous for the World War I Bristol Fighter, and Second World War Blenheim and Beaufighter aircraft. In the 1950s it became one of the country's major manufacturers of civil aircraft, with the Bristol Freighter and Britannia and the huge Brabazon airliner. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, on the northern outskirts of Bristol. ... Bristol Aeroplane Company logo The Bristol Aeroplane Company (formerly British and Colonial Aeroplane Company) was a major British aircraft company which, in 1959, merged with several major British aircraft companies, to become the British Aircraft Corporation and later still part of British Aerospace, now BAE Systems. ... The Bristol Aeroplane Company (formerly British and Colonial Aeroplane Company) began building primitive Bristol Boxkites in a former tram shed and became famous for the production of the war-time Blenheim and Beaufighter, the Brabazon airliner prototype, the Britannia and Freighter and the Belvedere and Sycamore helicopters. ... Rolls-Royce plc is a British aircraft engine maker; the second-largest in the world, behind General Electric Aviation. ... The Mall, an out-of-town shopping centre at Patchway. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz... The Shuttleworth Collections Bristol F.2B Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter was a two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War flown by the Royal Flying Corps. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000,000 Civilian dead: 4,000,000 Total dead 12,000,000 World War II (abbreviated WWII), or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict... Blenheim may refer to a number of towns and cities in different countries: Blenheim, a city in New Zealand. ... The Beaufighter was a long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Companys earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design. ... // Recovering from World War II and its aftermath, the economic miracle emerged in West Germany and Italy. ...

In the 1960s Filton played a key role in the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic airliner project. Concorde components were manufactured in British and French factories and shipped to the two final assembly plants by road, sea and air. The French assembly lines were in Toulouse in southern France with the British lines in Filton. Luckily the very large three-bay hangar built for the Bristol Brabazon was available for Concorde production. British Airways Concorde G-BOAB. Concorde G-BOAD on a barge beneath Verrazano Narrows Bridge in New York City in November 2003, bound for the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. ... New city flag (Occitan cross) Traditional coat of arms Motto: (Occitan: For Toulouse, always more) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Region Midi-Pyrénées Department Haute-Garonne (31) Intercommunality Community of Agglomeration of Greater Toulouse Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc  (UMP) (since 2004) City Statistics... Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, on the northern outskirts of Bristol. ... The Bristol Type 167 Brabazon was a huge airliner designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company to fly transatlantic routes from the UK to the United States. ...

The last ever flight of any Concorde, 26 November 2003. The aircraft is seen a few minutes before landing on the Filton runway from which she first flew in 1969

The French manufactured the centre fuselage and centre wing and the British the nose, rear fuselage, fin and wingtips. The largest proportion of the British share of the work was the powerplant, the Rolls-Royce/Snecma 593. The engine's manufacture was split between British Aircraft Corporation, Rolls-Royce (Filton) and SNECMA at Villaroche near Paris. Image File history File links Concorde_on_Bristol. ... Image File history File links Concorde_on_Bristol. ... British Airways Concorde G-BOAB. Concorde G-BOAD on a barge beneath Verrazano Narrows Bridge in New York City in November 2003, bound for the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. ... November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, on the northern outskirts of Bristol. ... Year 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... The British Aircraft Corporation, or BAC, was a British aircraft manufacturer, formed from the forced merger of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, English Electric, Vickers-Armstrong and Hunting Aircraft Company in 1959. ... Société Nationale dÉtude et de Construction de Moteurs dAviation or SNÉCMA is one of the worlds leading aerospace corporations, specialized in propulsion, equipment and associated services. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ...

The British Concorde prototype G-BSST made its 22 minute maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford on 9 April 1969, the French prototype F-WTSS had flown from Toulouse five weeks earlier. Most of the employees of BAC and Rolls Royce, plus a huge crowd, watched from around the airfield. Fairford was chosen as the test airfield for Concorde because the runway at Filton was rejected for test flying, its length was inadequate and there were problems with the slope, and the first 1000 feet (300 m) of the runway at its eastern (A38) end could not be used. However, from the end of 1977, all test flying on the second production aircraft G-BBDG was done from Filton, following the closure of the BAC Fairford test base. April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... Year 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

In 2003 the two airlines using Concorde (British Airways and Air France) and the company supplying spares and support (Airbus) made the decision to cease flying the aircraft and to retire them to locations (mostly museums) around the world. For the location of all the aircraft see Concorde. For the 1930s airline of similar name, see British Airways Ltd. ... Air France (Compagnie Nationale Air France) is a subsidiary of Air France-KLM. Before its merger with KLM, it was the national airline of France, employing 71,654 people (as of January 2005). ... This article is about the airliner manufacturer. ... British Airways Concorde G-BOAB. Concorde G-BOAD on a barge beneath Verrazano Narrows Bridge in New York City in November 2003, bound for the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. ...

On 26 November 2003, Concorde 216 (G-BOAF) made the final ever Concorde flight, returning to Filton airfield to be kept there permanently as the centrepiece of a projected air museum. This museum will include the existing Bristol Aero Collection which is currently kept in a hangar at Kemble Airfield, forty miles (60 km) from Filton. This collection includes a Bristol Britannia aircraft. November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Royal Air Force Bristol Britannia Spica in 1964 The Bristol Type 175 Britannia was a medium/long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly a number of air routes across the British Empire. ...

The major aeronautical companies in Bristol now are BAE Systems, Airbus and Rolls-Royce, both based at Filton. Rolls-Royce plc is a British aircraft engine maker; the second-largest in the world, behind General Electric Aviation. ...

Another important aeronautical company in the city is Cameron Balloons, the world's largest manufacturer of hot air balloons. Annually, in August, the city is host to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, one of Europe's largest hot air balloon events. A Cameron Z105 balloon. ... Hot air balloon in flight Hot air balloons are the oldest successful human flight technology, dating back to the Montgolfier brothers invention in Annonay, France in 1783. ... Early morning mass ascent The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is held during August in Bristol, United Kingdom. ...

Bristol Cars

The Bristol Aeroplane Company diversified into car manufacturing in the 1940s, building luxury hand-built cars at their factory in Filton, under the name Bristol Cars. The car manufacturer became independent from the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1960. The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ... Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, on the northern outskirts of Bristol. ... Bristol Cars is a manufacturer of hand-built luxury cars, based at Filton, near Bristol, England. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ...

Coal mining

During the 19th century coal mining was important in parts of Bristol providing the energy for manufacturing industry. The coal field is part of a large area which stretched from the Somerset coalfield into Gloucestershire. All pits have now closed. The old coal mining wheel, now featured in the centre of Radstock, in front of the Radstock museum The Somerset coalfield included pits in the north Somerset area where coal was mined from the 15th century until 1973. ...

References