SINCE the Gazette was first published in 1878, the town of Yate has developed from a farming and mining community to an urban town with factory production still at the centre.

In the year of 1878 much of the industry in the town was still based around mining. There were two collieries in Yate and one in Coalpit Heath but as the years passed, the mining industry slowed, following the national trend.

Railways had played an important part in this industry, linking Yate to the Bristol main line and the Old Dramway to the Kennet and Avon Canal, which today can still be enjoyed by walkers.

Yate was unique from other industrial towns as it was the only place that had an industry surrounding cellestine, the refining of sugar beet.

With the on-set of Second World War, industry turned to supplying the parts for planes. For much of the war, army personnel were camped in Yate. Many people did not think that Yate would be bombed, but in 1941 a factory was hit and for nearly a year after, townspeople were waiting for it to happen again.

People recall the times that the sky was black with planes, wondering if the bombs were for them. But by 1942 people knew they were heading for Bristol and wouldn't attack the town.

During war time people did not need to depend on rationing as farmers would get food from the land they worked on.

By 1960, most people living in the town worked on the manufacture of airplanes at Newmans, Parnells and at factories in Filton. Less people chose to work the land as their fathers had done.

The shopping centre was built and became the new town centre. People who had lived in the town for many years still chose to shop along the main street in Station Road, thinking that the new centre would never catch on. But for newcomers to the town it was a revelation.

Slowly the older shops closed as more and more people were able to drive and found it was convenient to go to the Shopping Centre.

Until this time there had only been two schools for all of the children in the town - St Mary's and North Road Primary School. Memories of 50 to 60 children in a class were not uncommon. A new school at St Mary's was built in 1960 with other schools being built on the new estates.

Population growth has varied. In the early years housing estates were built in the south. Today they have been built to the north of the town.

Today industry in the town is based around manufacture but not on the same scale as yesteryear.

Now the main employers in the town are Merloni Elletrodomesti Uk (which employs over 700 staff at its Station Road factory) and South Gloucestershire Council.

Much of Yate was well established before 1978 and some prominent places still remain today.

But the town has lost some of its most prominent houses including Ridge House, The Lawns and the Swan pub.

Many changes have taken place in the time that the Gazette has been associated with the town but these changes have shaped the way that Yate is today.