Memorial to commemorate Long Ashton's war dead

The memorial will be located opposite the former Northleaze Primary School at the junction of Long Ashton Road and Theynes Croft

A memorial is to be built to remember 97 villagers killed in conflict during the two world wars.

The idea came about in 2018 when it was pointed out Long Ashton did not have a war memorial.

It will be centred around three granite stones which will have the names of the men, women and children who died.

The first sod was cut on Battle of Britain Day, at 10:55 BST on Tuesday, by Sqn Ldr Taylor, as part of a short ceremony ahead of the work starting.

The average age of the 63 who died in World War One was 26, which also included some teenagers.

The memorial is to be build on a corner of land at the junction of Long Ashton Road and Theynes Croft

David Addis, who is behind the project, said the location, opposite the former Northleaze School building on Long Ashton Road, had a particular significance as some 80% of the fallen attended the Church of England primary school.

He added the memorial would be dedicated on Monday, 12 April 2021, 80 years to the day since the only civilians were killed in the parish due to enemy action, when Mill Cottages were bombed on Good Friday in 1941.

Also to be named on the memorial are seven Polish airmen who died in a field near the nearby All Saints Church, in 1944..

Instead of bailing out over south Bristol it is believed they flew on to avoid the populated areas and crashed into a field near the village's church.