West Harptree, Chew Valley, Somerset - multiview - postcard c.1970s

• • Postcard

     

  • Picture / Image:  West Harptree, Chew Valley [Somerset] - multiview
  • Publisher: Post Office Stores, West Harptree
  • Postally used: yes
  • Stamp:  Beatrix Potter commem. 9p
  • Postmark(s): Bristol 1979
  • Sent to:  Kettering
  • Notes / condition: 

Between 1154 and 1172 an estate at West Harptree was granted by William FitzJohn to the Knights Templar.^[4]

The shape of some of the existing fields with cross-slope and down-slope field banks and cultivated ridges forming an interleaving irregular mosaic suggest they are of medieval origin.^[5]

The parish was part of the hundred of Chewton.^[6]

The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the village hall or community centre, playing fields and playgrounds, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to the council.

Along with East Harptree and Hinton Blewett, West Harptree is part of the Mendip Ward which is represented by one councillor on the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992. It provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area including local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection, recycling, cemeteries, crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. They are also responsible for education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, Trading Standards, waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the Great Western Ambulance Service.

Bath and North East Somerset's area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in Bath. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was the Wansdyke district and the City of Bath of the county of Avon.^[7] Before 1974 that the parish was part of the Clutton Rural District.^[8]

The parish is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of North East Somerset. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP)by the first past the post system of election. It is also part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament which elects six MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Please ask if you need any other information and I will do the best I can to answer.

Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one. No cards have been trimmed (unless stated).

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NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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West Harptree is a small village and civil parish in the Chew Valley, Somerset within the unitary district of Bath and North East Somerset. The parish has a population of 439.^[1]

The village is 8 miles (12.9 km) south of Bristol and 10 miles (16.1 km) from Bath. It is just south of Chew Valley Lakeon the A368. The village has a pub and several shops including a post office. With its close neighbour East Harptreethe villages are collectively known as the Harptrees.

According to Stephen Robinson it is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as Herpetreu meaning 'The military road by the wood' from the Old English herepoep and treow.^[3]