THERE is a progressive series of events over the past 125 years that have had a major impact on Chipping Sodbury and residents of the town.

The street layout and many buildings have remained the same, but some features have changed beyond recognition, especially with 21st century prosperity and the age of the motorcar.

Until 1954, Chipping Sodbury was primarily a market town, serving the local and visiting farming community on market days and with its shops, public houses and coaching inns.

The Census of 1881 provides the best insight into life at that time. Chipping Sodbury then covered 108 acres, as it had since its planned creation in the 12th Century.

The population was 1,067 and most livelihoods were made by plumbing, stone masonry and quarrying. Blacksmiths, butchers, post messengers, milliners, agricultural workers and domestic servants were also popular occupations.

Numerous shops in the town were family-run and in the 1900s hardware shop-owner Murray Dowding provided a legacy of photographic evidence which details the town's history. In 1997, the Gazette, in conjunction with local historian, the late Percy Couzens, published a book of these fascinating pictures.

The town was then administered by the Bailiff and his but things changed with the creation of parish councils in 1895.

There was some reluctance to follow the edict of the day, but the Bailiff and his Burgesses' attempts to run affairs alongside the council did not last for long.

However, some of the Bailiff's duties were not transferred to the council but continued as charities, which exist to this day for the benefit of parishioners.

Chipping Sodbury Police Station was built in 1862 and by 1878 the simple structure of a clock tower was already a feature on the High Street, erected in memory of Lt Col George W Blathwayt of Dyrham.

Two Jubilee events in 1887 and 1897 marking Queen Victoria's reign added a few landmarks, most notably the memorial water fountain and church tower clock in Old Sodbury and the horse trough in Chipping Sodbury.

The year1897 also saw the creation of the Sodbury tunnel for the London to South Wales railway. Until then travellers had to be transported to Yate station, which dates back to the mid 1800s, by a horse drawn fly cab.

Water was an important resource not just for household use but also for powering the local mills, many of which used the River Frome right up to the beginning of the Second World War. Some houses still have underground tanks which were essential before the town's water supply was connected in 1897.

Main sewers did not come to the town until 1940s when dynamite had to be used to lay the pipes.

Telephone lines appeared in 1911 although there were only 11 subscribers and electricity came in the 1930s.

In 1902 there were great celebrations as the Prince and Princess of Wales passed through on their way from Badminton to Yate Station. The royal tour sent the whole area into party mood and 1,000 children sang for the guests with the help of Yate Town Band.

Chipping Sodbury became a staging post for thousands of men preparing to go to France in the First World War.

The war memorial was erected in their honour, inscribed with the dates 1914 to 1919 meaning they were possibly still fighting after the Armistice was signed in 1918.

After World War 2 the parishes of Old and Chipping Sodbury were redefined and Chipping Sodbury grew. Today the wards are combined into the town council.

As a market town and on a coaching route, Chipping Sodbury has always had strong links with the transport industry.

The growth of the quarrying operations from small individual units into one conglomerate has also created a demand for heavy transport.

However the one form of transport that has changed the face of Chipping Sodbury is the motor car. The growth of its use in the past 50 years has changed the town beyond all recognition.

Nowadays Chipping Sodbury does not just support the farming industry, it is also home to many businesses and commuters.

In the 1960s the new town of Yate was built up and a number of established businesses in Chipping Sodbury transferred there, including the Co-op, and International Stores.

For a while the High Street looked forlorn but it was not long before housing expansion encouraged new shops, businesses and eating places to open up, creating the thriving centre of today.