area for the cities of Bristol and Bath, although it has continued to be the commercial centre of the valley. Second World War During German bombing raids targeted on Bristol, many bombs fell in the parish: Ruen House on the road to Chew Hill was bombed. The nearly flat area just east of the Y-junction on Chew Hill was initially chosen as a Starfish site area to be lit by fires to simulate Bristol in flames. Later, about halfway between North Chew Farm and Manor Farm, North Wick was an area secured by Royal Air Force personnel, lit by fires, and with "automatic" guns to simulate anti-aircraft guns. There was also a genuine heavy anti aircraft battery at Chewhill farm. The area was guarded by pill boxes of which one remains on the west side of Blacklands (map reference ST579640). Chew Valley Lake Construction The construction of Chew Valley Lake in the 1950s brought opportunities for leisure and tourism. 1968 storm On 10–11 July 1968 a storm brought heavy rainfall to the Chew valley and Dundry, with falling in 18 hours on Chew Stoke, which is double the area's average rainfall for the whole of July. This caused flooding to 88 properties in Chew Magna with many being inundated with of water. The bridge on the road to Dundry was demolished. Telephone exchange The Chew Magna telephone exchange was manually operated until the 1950s. An important number Chew Magna 2 was that of Dr Terrell Hughes: the exchange operators could often locate him in an emergency even if he was away from his home and surgery. The manual exchange served most of the Chew valley and even East Dundry. Government and politics Chew Magna has its own parish council, which has some responsibility for local issues, and is part of the Chew Valley North Ward. This is represented by one councillor on the Bath and North East Somerset Unitary Authority, which has wider responsibilities for services such as education, refuse, tourism, etc. The village is a part of the North East Somerset constituency,. Prior to Brexit in 2020, it was part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament. Demographics According to the 2001 Census the Chew Valley North Ward (which includes Chew Magna and Chew Stoke), had 2,307 residents, living in 911 households, with an average age of 42.3 years. Of these, 77% of residents described their