VI.

Economy

Historically, sheep farming was the mainstay of the county, but the modern agricultural trend is towards dairy and arable farming; the main crops are wheat and barley. The aircraft construction industry at Filton, near Bristol, built the Bristol Boxkite (1910) and the Anglo-French Concorde (1969). Other industries, chiefly engineering and timber production, are centred around Gloucester and Stroud. Tourism is today an important source of revenue. Gloucestershire enjoys a strategically advantageous position within easy reach of many metropolitan centres; London to the east, Birmingham to the north, Bristol to the south, and south Wales to the west. With the benefits of good road and rail connections, the county has a well-balanced and broad agricultural, industrial, and commercial base. This mixture of activities has enabled Gloucestershire to develop a healthy economy that has been strengthened by significant growth in the service sector.