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Talbot Road, BRISTOL, BS4 2NW

The allotments off Talbot Road, and a nice sign to show number 24 b. This site in its heyday had about 600 plots, although a large slice of land has since been sold. The allotments are surrounded by the green fence. The houses rising up the hill are on Talbot Road.

Viewed from the corner of Kensington Park Road looking towards Talbot Road.

Viewed across Talbot Road from the corner of Queens Road.

Viewed across Talbot Road. The presbytery (priests' house) adjoins the church. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3774453

Viewed across Talbot Road. The Roman Catholic church is in the Diocese of Clifton. The foundation stone of the church was laid in 1909. Gerard Majella (1726–1755) was an Italian lay brother of the Congregation of the Redeemer. He was canonised by Pope Pius X in December 1904.

As the area of Knowle grew in the nineteenth century Bishop Burton started efforts to create a new church for the parishioners. He first invited the Redemptorists from Kingswood and they suggested this spot at the top of a steep hill. This order dedicated the church to the eighteenth century Redemptorist lay brother Gerard Majella, canonised by Pope Pius X in 1904. However, the gatherings soon declined so the Benedictines of Douai were brought in to help. Father Horrigan took up the first position and rented a shop in a nearby road. Services conducted there were, unsurprisingly, cramped and eventually confessions were held when Fr. Horrigan removed three bricks from his study whilst supplicants went into the store cupboard! By 1909 the foundations stones of this impressive Roman Catholic church had been laid and Fr. Horrigan stayed at his post until 1922. By 1935 the Benedictines handed the church over to the parish. In 1937 a hall was added and in 1953-4 a presbytery was finally built to a simplified design of the original. The church was designed by Pugin and Pugin and is a good example of an early twentieth century Gothic Revival style. Grade II listed.

Viewed from near the corner of Hampstead Road looking towards Lodway Road.

Viewed across Leighton Road. See http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3774453 for another view and some details.

The pool is right beside the old reservoir at the top of Talbot Hill. It has been open since 1937 but the pool is, once more, being lined up for closure. The city council have allowed a private leisure firm to run it but the pool faces stern competition from other sites. Hence, the decision to close it has surfaced again. Local efforts are being made to raise the money for a Community Asset Transfer and buy it outright.

The old water tower occupies the highest ground.