Bridgetown, County Wexford

Bridgetown Post Office

Bridgetown (Irish: Baile an Droichid) (Yola: Burstheoune) is a small rural village, located sixteen kilometres from Wexford town on the R736 regional road, it's close to Duncormick and only six kilometres from the picturesque fishing village of Kilmore Quay. The population of the village is 747.[1]

Education

The local co-ed secondary school, Bridgetown Vocational College draws students in from south east County Wexford. Currently helmed by principal Ms. Finnuala Green, the school has undergone major expansion since its original construction. Most notably the 1984 extension opened by the then Minister for Education Mary O'Rourke, and the highly modern new extension which was opened for the academic year 2007/2008.

Transport

Railway

Bridgetown railway station opened on 1 August 1906.[2] The rail service consisted of a solitary train each way between Rosslare Europort and Waterford (Plunkett) with no service on Sundays. This railway service ceased after the last train on 18 September 2010 (http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/general_news.asp?action=view&news_id=900) but the line remains maintained.

Road

The rail service was replaced by a revised Bus Éireann Route 370 service. Wexford Bus operate a shuttle bus service to Wexford town and Kilmore Quay. Other buslines are Bus Éireann Route 381 (Blackhall-Wexford) and 383 (Kilmore Quay-Wexford.

Nearby villages include:

Local industry and business

The village of Bridgetown is quite self-sufficient with local butcher shop, supermarket/filling station, garage, post office, take-away, pubs, hair salon, an interiors/soft furnishings store, a doctors' surgery, pharmacy and Ballycross Apple Farm all within easy walking distance. There are also two play school/creche facilities.

The Glebe Nursery

Owned and operated by Michael Paget, and his family, situated on land which surrounds the local Church of Ireland. This longstanding local business, which derives its name from the former residence of the Church of Ireland Rector, in which the Paget family now live, has acres of glass houses, growing seasonal flowers, and plants for many shops and supermarkets or the individual visitor to the nursery, as well as having several acres of blackcurrants, which are used by Beechams (now GSK) in the UK for the production of Ribena.

Ballycross Apple Farm

Established by Michella and Arnold Von Englebrechtan in the early 1960s, Ballycross now makes a range of apple juices from fruit grown on their farm, hand-picked and pressed using traditional methods. The enterprise now involves the second generation, Hanna, Christian and his wife Liz. The farm, just outside Bridgetown, has an Apple Fair on Saturdays and Sundays from July to February. Fresh Apple Juice from John O Gold, Cox's Pippins, Elstar and other apples grown in their orchards are on sale as well as delicious fresh apples. The juices contain no added sugar water or preservatives and as well as being great to drink are a wonderful ingredient in many recipes. Waffles with continental chocolate and cream, fresh coffee and a children's farm make it a wholly enjoyable visit for all the family.

AirTricity

An eighteen turbine windfarm capable of producing 27MW was commissioned in December 2006 for Richfield, near Bridgetown. The wind farm is expected to supply green energy to around 16,500 homes and could mitigate around 69,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.[3]

Recent Residential Developments

Until the late 1990s there was only one housing development in the village, called Lakelands, but owing to the proximity of Wexford town, the easy commute to Waterford, and the increasing adult population of the area owing to young local people reaching adulthood and choosing to stay in the area, developers tapped into the housing boom Ireland is currently undergoing, and has given rise to new private developments to accommodate to demand.

Hazelwood

Permission has been granted to developers Montfield Properties for a total of 118 houses in Bridgetown, of which Phase One will consist of 56 new homes. Phase 2 is currently under construction.

St Davids Well

A further development has recently completed phase one development of 2 storey teraced, and semi detached houses and bungalows. The second phase is currently underway and occupies the site of the former Drumgoold home and public house.

Bramble Park

Situated on the outskirts of the village, this charming 10 house development was the first to be built in many years near Bridgetown.

See also

References

  1. ↑ see the Preliminary Population Results (pdf) Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "Bridgetown station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  3. ↑ see AirTricity website

Coordinates: 52°14′44″N 6°32′56″W / 52.24556°N 6.54889°W / 52.24556; -6.54889

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