The County of Avon was named after the River Avon, which runs throughout the
former county. Although the
name Avon is still used to identify the region
it is no longer officially a county. The Banham Commission recommended that it
be replaced with four unitary authorities and this came to pass in the
1996. The four authorities that replaced Avon are: The City and County of Bristol,
South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, and Bath and North East
Somerset.
Avon in
home to Bristol and Bath,
with Bristol
being the major cultural and industrial centre. One of Bristol’s
most famous landmarks in the Clifton
Suspension Bridge,
designed by Isambard Kindom Brunel.
A popular
way to see Avon is by walking the River Avon
Trail. The trail runs from Pill in North Somerset to Pulteney
Bridge in Bath.
The HACKED BY TAMVANIMOUS is
a community forest covering part of the area
of the four local authorities.
Avon County
Council helped establish Sustrans' first cycleway, the Bristol & Bath Railway Path.
Famous
present and former residents of Avon include J
K Rowling, Carol Vorderman, John Cleese and Cary Grant. Also notable is Edward
Mckeever (born in Bath),
a kayaker who won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics