Bristol Flyers

Bristol Flyers are a basketball team from the city of Bristol, England. They play their home games at the WISE Arena on the campus of South Gloucestershire and Stroud College and compete in the British Basketball League, after stepping up from the lower English Basketball League in 2014.

Part of the Bristol Academy of Sport, the Flyers are one of the largest basketball clubs in the United Kingdom and are a four star Accredited England Basketball and Sport England Clubmark Club. In 2013, the club was acquired by millionaire businessman Stephen Lansdown and became a part of the 'Bristol Sport Ltd' group, alongside Bristol City F.C. and Bristol Rugby, amongst others.

History

Formation and early years

The club was established in 2006 through a merger between two Bristol-based teams, the Filton Flyers and Bristol Academy (who were formerly known as the Bristol Bombers). Both teams competed in English Basketball League Division 3 (South West), and were based at the WISE Basketball Arena at Filton College. Filton Flyers finished the 2005–06 season as Division 3 (South West) Champions and earned a promotion to Division 2 for the following season, whilst Bristol Academy had finished third in the league.

Bristol (1866)

Bristol was a large sidewheel steamer launched in 1866 by William H. Webb of New York for the Merchants Steamship Company. One of Narragansett Bay's so-called "floating palaces", the luxuriously outfitted Bristol and her sister ship Providence, each of which could carry up to 1,200 passengers, were installed with the largest engines then built in the United States, and were considered to be amongst the finest American-built vessels of their era.

Both ships would spend their entire careers steaming between New York and various destinations in and around Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Bristol was eventually destroyed by a fire while in port in 1888.

Development

Bristol and Providence owed their existence to a short-lived company known as the Merchants Steamship Company, which placed the initial order for the vessels with the Webb shipyard in about 1865. Merchants Steamship was an amalgamation of three existing Narragansett Bay shipping lines, the Commercial Line, Neptune Line and Stonington Line. The Company intended to run the two steamers between New York and Bristol, Rhode Island in competition with the Fall River Line, which ran a similar service from New York to Fall River, Massachusetts (both Lines then linking up to railway lines that continued on to Boston).

Bristol, Virginia

Bristol is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,835. It is the twin city of Bristol, Tennessee, just across the state line, which runs down the middle of its main street, State Street. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Bristol, Virginia, with neighboring Washington County, Virginia, for statistical purposes. Bristol is a principal city of the Kingsport–Bristol–Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region.

History

Originally named "Goodson", it was renamed "Bristol" (after Bristol, England) in 1890.

The Grove, Solar Hill Historic District, and Walnut Grove are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

Bristol is located in southwestern Virginia at 36°36′N 82°11′W / 36.600°N 82.183°W / 36.600; -82.183 (36.6111, -82.1762). It is bordered to the west, north, and east by Washington County, Virginia, and to the south by the city of Bristol in Sullivan County, Tennessee.

Bristol, Pennsylvania

Bristol is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 23 miles (37 km) northeast of Center City Philadelphia, opposite Burlington, New Jersey on the Delaware River. Bristol was first incorporated in 1720. Although its charter was revised in 1905, the original charter remains in effect, making Bristol one of the older boroughs in Pennsylvania. 7,104 people lived in Bristol in 1900; 9,256 in 1910; 10,273 in 1920; and 11,895 in 1940. The population was 9,726 at the 2010 census. The current Mayor is Patrick Sabatini Sr. The first female Mayor was Margaret Stakenas, elected in 1979.

History

Bristol was first settled in 1681 as Buckingham (for Buckingham, England). It was originally used as a port and dock. Bristol is rich in history, boasting many historic and restored houses that line the streets of Radcliffe and Mill.

Until 1725 Bristol served as county seat of Bucks County.

From its earliest days Bristol was a center of milling. With the building of the Delaware Canal and the Pennsylvania Railroad it became a center of transportation and an attractive location for industry.