Yate is a reasonably quiet and unassuming town in South Gloucestershire (about 12 miles to the east and up a bit from Bristol), that gets the raw end of the deal in that it is considered a little less interesting than its neighbour Chipping Sodbury¹. A wide range of people find it to their taste, however.

The Yate Shopping Centre

The Shopping Centre is the hub of the town, and claims to hold over 100 businesses. Most of these tend to be mobile phone or card shops, but it also contains fast food restaurants, clothing retailers, charity shops, all-purpose shops, toy stores, a perfume store, bakers, banks, a library, a pub (the White Lion), a large leisure centre - you get the idea.

There was once a bookshop, but there are no longer any bookshops within the area since rental prices shot up. Yate has also been added to the official list of Fairtrade towns in the UK though², and some of the bananas and chocolate stamped with the Fairtrade Mark can be found scattered about the many, many shops.

Niceties and not so Niceties

In the centre of Yate is a large café which was built over a once nice large covered platform (or bandstand) where children's entertainers would perform on weekends, or a large tree would be placed during the festive season. There are also a number of parks dotted around, some of which contain duckponds and waterways, and all are pleasant to walk through - with a dog too if you like - unless there is a loud annoying group of teens playing football or skateboarding.

Yate often holds many festivals too, but the one that may attract most is the South Cotswold Beer Festival. Running since 1995, the main part of the event is held in nearby Chipping Sodbury, but Yate caters for revellers (and actually the residents of Yate tend to do much of the organisation) by offering tickets and nearby accommodation for those who don't fancy camping.

People of Yate

Yate folks are generally your average English-types, stiff upper lips and an intriguing accent. Most, if not all, are pretty friendly, although there are the usual number of teenagers that may appear a little disagreeable. There are quite a few students about the place too, due to the closeness of Bristol University, and these are best avoided, especially when they're jostling in the kebab van queue after they've had a few drinks.

There are also some famous people who have lived in Yate, the most well known perhaps being JK Rowling (author of the Harry Potter books), who was born there. The Graffiti artist Bansky and actor Alan Medcroft also hail from the town - while many a famous face has graced the Shopping Centre over the years for various community celebrations.

Worth A Visit?

Despite all of the previous wonders mentioned, Yate doesn't appear to have any strong tourist attractions, but the Yate Heritage Centre can prove otherwise. Opened in 1995 this small building looks into the history of Yate and its links with Parnall's Aircraft Factory that built machines and components in the area during the First and Second World Wars, and the Stanshawe family whose Manor House dominated the town until 1871 when it was knocked down and a rather imposing Victorian building built in its place - now the Stanshawes Court Hotel.

The town also seems to have had a small claim to fame in being mentioned in Douglas Adams & John Lloyd's farcical place-name book The Meaning Of Liff, a Yate explained as:

'Dishearteningly white piece of bread which sits limply in a pop-up toaster during a protracted throcking³ session.'