The Bath Magazine May 2013 by MC Publishing Limited

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ISSUE 128 ★ MAY 2013 ★ £3.00 where sold ★

www.thebathmagazine.co.uk

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contents

May2013

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ZEITGEIST

Things to do and see in May

DUTCH MASTERS We chat to Alexander Sturgis, Holburne Museum director, ahead of the Rembrandt exhibition which opens later this month

THE CITYIST

Summer beauty products and reviews

FACE THE MUSIC Wedding dress designer Jessica Charleston chooses her favourite music

FANTASTIC FESTIVALS A comprehensive round-up of the great festivals in Bath this month so you don’t miss out on any of the action

SHOW ARCHIVE A look back at the Royal Bath & West Show and ahead to its offerings this year

This month’s portrait by Neill Menneer is of wine shop manager Alan Nordberg

FOOD & DRINK

RESTAURANT REVIEW

INTERIORS Marmalade House makeover a cottage

GARDENING Bath in Bloom and NGS open gardens

PROPERTY Find your next home in the city or country

@ thebathmagazine

One Beaufort

MOTORING We review the suave and luxurious Bentley Continental GT Speed

28 WHAT’S ON Your guide to Bath’s cultural highlights in May plus a Jools Holland competition

BATH AT WORK

Foodie news, chef profile and our wine list

THE WALK Follow the tracks as Andrew Swift leads you on a walk through two railway tunnels

My Bath, a top read and our Twitterati

FIT AND FAB

36 ARTS & EXHIBITIONS

ON THE COVER

BATH PEOPLE

Bath International Music Festival posters framed by The Framing Workshop

Championing the good work of local people and businesses in the city

Photo: Saskia Rumbelow

Bath open studios and shows in the city

CUTTING CREATIONS We meet paper artist Jessica Palmer

WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

FAMILY FUN Birds of prey to children’s theatre – we’ve got it covered in this month’s guide

www.thebathmagazine.co.uk MAY 2013

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EDITOR’Sletter

love the arrival of May, when the leaves are springing into life, the woods carpeted in bluebells and garlic and birds nesting. It’s the most optimistic month of the year, holding so much promise of a long, sunny summer ahead of us – when our hopes are yet to be dashed by rained-off picnics, cancelled fetes and soggy veg patches. May is also traditionally the time in Bath for festivals. Sadly the old flower show in Royal Victoria Park no longer takes place, but that stalwart of the Bath social scene, the Royal Bath & West Show is still going strong, providing a day out with entertainment and diversions to suit all ages. This month also sees the start of the Bath International Music Festival and the Bath Fringe, both of which continue to offer packed programmes catering for all musical tastes from pure classical, through jazz, folk, and world through to rich fusions of reggae, ska, funk and electronica. Both festivals offer plenty for locals as well as attracting music lovers from all over the country. We are proud and pleased to have been appointed magazine partners for the Bath International Music Festival. Congratulations too to Wendy Matthews and Steve Henwood, the joint directors of the Fringe, who were crowned best festival directors in the National Fringe Awards, which is a ringing endorsement to their ability, over many years, to pick acts that will win Bath audiences. We’ve included a few of the highlights from both festivals in our cultural round-up (from Page 19), which includes Iford’s annual season of opera and the Box Revels. There’s plenty more in our May magazine. Andrew Swift weaves his way through the cyclists to tackle a nine mile walk which takes in the two newly opened old railway tunnels in Bath. Artist Jessica Palmer attracted a lot of attention when her beautiful, delicate paper cut work adorned our front cover in February, and this month Rosie Parry visited her Widcombe studio to find out how she creates her intricate pieces. Writer Melissa Blease caught up with chef Richard Davies at the Manor House Hotel, Castle Combe, to talk about his recent appearance on the BBC’s Great British Menu, and I went to the Holburne Museum where director Alexander Sturgis showed me a preview of a collection of fine 17th century Dutch paintings – including a couple of Rembrandts – on loan from the Queen, which will be on display in Bath from later this month. We’ve got our usual comprehensive What’s On pages, a handy guide to the best art exhibitions in Bath and the surrounding area, along with suggestions for things to do with the children. I hope that wherever you pick up your copy of The Bath Magazine, that you’ll enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy making it. We’ve got some great writers who contribute intelligent, local features each month, and we’re very privileged that the organisers of some of the city’s biggest events open their doors and let us in early, so we can bring you, dear reader, news of what’s happening in this glorious city of ours, month by month.

Georgette McCready Editor

All paper used to make this magazine is taken from good sustainable sources and we encourage our suppliers to join an accredited green scheme. Magazines are now fully recyclable. By recycling magazines, you can help to reduce waste and contribute to the six million tonnes of paper already recycled by the UK paper industry each year. Please recycle this magazine, but if you are not able to participate in a recycling scheme, then why not pass your magazine on to a friend or colleague.

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ZEITGEIST

things to do in May

A tale of two festivals It’s May when Bath, city of festivals shows itself at its most diverse and diverting. We have not one but two major festivals, bursting into life with the traditional firework display over the city on the evening of Friday 24 May, marking the start of the Daddy

of all Bath festivals, the International Bath Music Festival, while its irreverent and curious younger sister, the Bath Fringe Festival also unfolds its programme. See from Page 19 for our round-up of this summer’s local festivals.

The Hoochie Coochie Kabaret is at the Spiegeltent as part of the Fringe on Saturday 25 May, with circus, comedy and the chance to dress up

Invest Award-winning artist David Cobley is hosting a once-in-a-lifetime sale of his art work at the Bath Artists’ Studios in Comfortable Place, Bath, selling more than 500 works from the last 40 years. David, who founded the studios, is raising money to try to keep the venue for future generations of artists. The main sale takes place at the studios from 21 – 23 June, but begins online this month, from 21 May. Pictured is an oil of Kingsmead Square, Bath, with a price tag of £240. David says of his varied and fascinating work: ‘Why not come to the studios and make me an offer?’

Walk Listen Bath’s adopted Scots musician Midge Ure – who won the nation’s affection during his Band Aid and Ultravox years – is currently on tour and plans to play a gig at Komedia this month. He and his band of musicians, recruited from the Bath area, are to play the Westgate Street venue on Friday 17 May as part of their Move Me tour, which recently visited Australia. The Bath gig should prove popular with a wide mix of ages. 8 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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The map for the Bath Skyline walk is one of the most popular downloaded guides in the UK. If you haven’t tried the six mile walk yet, May would be the ideal month to tackle it. Roughly, the route goes from Bathwick Hill, to Widcombe, Prior Park, Claverton, Sham Castle and back to Bathwick Hill. There are some steep bits, but the views and the wildflowers are well worth the effort. Download a PDF from: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1356405508935

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THE CITY

One city . . . one month

The buzz

y MBATH We ask Sam Wylde owner of Sam’s Kitchen in Walcot and the driving force behind the Bath Festival’s new club/café, what he’s doing this month What brought you to Bath? I moved here two years ago to open my shop in Walcot Street. I’ve been in Somerset for ten years, originally coming here after graduating from uni for a job at Babington House. What are you reading? My mother has been hassling me for months to take a box of books my grandad left me. I grabbed it last week and started reading a beautiful old copy of Robinson Crusoe. What is on your MP3 player? What isn’t! I’m listening to Bonobo and James Blake a lot at the moment but my taste is constantly evolving.

Admire

An eye-catching cut-off ball gown from the House of Dior has been chosen as the 50th Dress of the Year at the Fashion Museum in Bath. The outfit was selected by Vanessa Friedman, fashion editor of the Financial Times, who chose this colourful embroidered and appliquéd silk cut-off ball gown worn with black slim trousers, created by Dior’s new head designer Raf Simons. The dress is on show with fashion through the ages at the councilowned museum.

Which café or restaurant takes your fancy? If I’m not at my place then I will almost certainly be at Society Café on Kingsmead Square. It’s pretty much my office and I lock myself away with my laptop, my headphones and never ending pots of Lahloo Pu-Erh tea. I can’t get enough of the stuff. Which museum/gallery will you be visiting? My daughter Florence is eight and a bit of a London junky much to my dismay! We’ll go to the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, and then Hamleys followed by Brindisa for great tapas.

Your passions? Food, music and travel. I’ve already been to Morocco this year and I’m heading to Africa again in October. I might squeeze in a trip to Italy, but this summer is going to be crazy with various projects and events so I’m going to be working my socks off. What local outdoor activity or event will you be doing or visiting? Might head to Love Saves The Day. I try to get to any of the Love Food Festivals too. Great for local food and awesome people. Film or play? What will you be going to see this month? Florence will probably drag me to The Croods, she has been banging on about it for weeks. If not she’ll probably make me watch The Parent Trap for the millionth time. We’re setting up a Sam’s Kitchen at the Octagon in collaboration with Milsom Place and the Bath International Music Festival from 23 May. As well as a 70 seat restaurant I’ve organised live music every day. Expect Sam’s Kitchen on steroids with loads of noise, bustle and great food and drink. Visit: www.samskitchendeli.co.uk.

Shop The annual Friends of the Holburne Museum Plant Sale is being held on Sunday 12 May. Held in front of the museum, the sale will run from 11am-2pm and will include the friends’ own plant stall, and irresistible collections from eight specialist nurseries, including Beans and Herbs, Chase Plants, Eric Rambridge, Hilltop Nursery, Ivy Cottage Nursery, Necia West Plants, Special Plants, and The Mead Nursery. There will also be a second hand gardening and cookery book stall. Refreshments and home-made cakes will be on sale in the adjacent Gardener’s Lodge.

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The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer, published by HarperFiction, paperback £12.99 A debut novel by Bristol writer and poet Nathan Filer is already getting rave reviews, and having read it, I can see why. If you enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time you’ll be immediately gripped by the story of Matthew. He’s a brother in mourning, a friend who tries to be supportive, a loving grandson – but he’s also a troubled schizophrenic, struggling with his illness. The story is engaging, in turns

both sad and funny. It may also help that the author is a trained mental health nurse, giving the scenes in the pscychiatric ward an added realism. We see events unfolding through Matthew’s eyes, as he is overtaken at times by his condition. Nathan Filer will be talking about the book at Topping & Co on Monday 20 May. GMc

We’re following @scrapiana, dedicated to the re-discovered art of make-do-and-mend, the woman behind the Strictly Come Darning workshops. She has more than 3,300 followers, a pioneer of fabric magic, ahead of others like The Great British Sewing Bee

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NOTES ON A SMALL CITY By Bigwig

Hardly a sporting chance

went to a football match at Twerton Park the other weekend. I haven’t been to a game since I was 11 (I remember getting a detention for not doing my Latin homework). To tell the truth, this time I was mainly there for the generous buffet function in the VIP suite, but I did manage to witness some impressive goalkeeping and a successful penalty from our Bath City boys. It’s a very friendly ground and I thoroughly recommend a visit. My own football history is somewhat dismal. My tiny village school didn’t have enough pupils to muster up a team. Our school game was a weird version of touch chase which involved holding hands. Terrifying if you survived to be the final ‘it’, with the whole school encircling you, hand in hand like some avenging snake. There was one particularly tearful girl who always seemed to be last. An image that will never leave me is that of our formidable headmistress standing at the window, fag in hand (yes, teachers smoked in the classroom in those days) bellowing: “Run Gladys! For God’s sake, girl, run!” Consequently, I arrived at grammar school totally untutored in the rules of the great game. In my first match, I hopped around in a semblance of enthusiasm, not helped by the fact that I was sporting a pair of Stanley Matthews-stylee hand-me-down studded boots of such antiquity and stiffness they might have been medieval carved wooden clogs. I had no idea that the teams swapped ends in the break, so it wasn’t until sometime after the start of the second half that it dawned on me my compatriots were playing in the opposite direction at the other end of the pitch. At that point the ball came my way. And so folks, the one and only time I ever kicked a ball in a football match in my life was for the other side! Needless to say, I was vilified and never picked for a team again. Yours truly spent the next six years’ footie periods hiding behind the very large oak tree that stood next to the pitch. That tree and I became great friends.

I was sporting a pair of Stanley ❝ Matthews-stylee hand-me-down studded boots of such antiquity and stiffness they might have been medieval carved wooden clogs

❞

I was let off boxing due to nosebleeds. I could conjure up a gusher just by thinking about it (I got out of mental arithmetic by similar devious means). Thus boxing periods were spent ensconced with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the brittle-boned and other excused minorities. Our school also featured hockey on its sports itinerary. A group of us evolved an interesting variation in which one had to hit the despised games master, Mr Noggs, as hard as possible on the shins from behind and then turn away quickly with a butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-my-mouth expression. Needless to say, I was brilliant at this! Next came cross country running. Half the course went through town, so one could admire the shop window displays as one staggered by. The other half criss-crossed a bleak and muddy abandoned brickworks, more often than not blessed with a freezing drizzle-filled wind. We devised a way of making this ghastly activity more tolerable. It was the time of the notorious Lady Chatterley’s Lover court case, and a boy had got hold of a copy. Halfway round the course, we would retire to a copse, and sitting on a log he would read excerpts out loud to a circle of sniggering lads. So there we have it. Useless at football, some specialist skills in hockey, hopeless at running but pretty good on DH Lawrence. ■ 12 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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FACEtheMUSIC

Making dreams come true Wedding dress designer Jessica Charleston talks to father of the bride Mick Ringham about making brides’ dream dresses and which pieces of music move her to tears or make her get up and dance

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wedding in the family prompts all sorts of responses. Mums may have a little weep and dads will be beaming with pride. As a recent father of the bride I can testify that planning a wedding is a joyful and emotional time, albeit a bit stressful and expensive too. But, whatever sort of wedding your family has, the bride, looking suitably radiant, will be the centre of attention and it will be a day you’ll never forget. And you can be sure that one of the talking points will always be what the bride wore. . . Wedding dress designer, Jessica Charleston, is a Bristol girl who now runs her own design studio on the London Road in Bath, where she creates dream dresses for brides of all kinds. Jessica has a lifelong passion for fashion and costume, learning to sew by watching her mother, and then making dresses for herself. She studied at Leeds University and then taught English in France for two and a half years. It was a chance meeting with the director of a charity, linked to a similar charity which ran homes for street children in India, that led her to getting professionally involved with textiles and design. In India she started working as a volunteer, teaching local women to sew and produce clothes for the fashion shops of Mumbai. She said of this time: “It was a huge learning curve for me and made me determined to learn more about fabrics and design and hopefully obtain a master’s degree.” To achieve this ambition she returned home to the west

PASSION FOR FASHION: wedding dress designer Jessica Charleston at work in her studio PICTURE: Saskia Rumbelow Inset, Mick Ringham walking his daughter Gypsy Rose down the aisle in her Jessica Charleston wedding dress

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FACEtheMUSIC

JESSICA’S JUKEBOX: left to right, Elton John, Sixty Years On, Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation, and Roni Size, Brown Paper Bag

country and enrolled in a two year course at Bath Spa University. After leaving there four years ago, she set up her own business designing and making bespoke wedding dresses. But why choose bridal gowns to specialise in? She said: “I adore beautiful fabrics and love working with silk and I wanted to design detailed flamboyant work. To be absolutely honest it would be difficult for me to make clothes such as that for the high street, particularly in these days of austerity.” Jessica takes her inspiration from all kinds of sources, including historical costumes. Her latest collection Fleurs Sauvages is inspired by memories of time she spent abroad; the skirts of Sevillanas dancers, lace curtains blowing through doorways and the patterns of lavender fields. You can see some of her dresses at Carina Baverstock wedding boutique in Bradford-on-Avon. Jessica’s clients are as diverse as her designs and come to her with their own ideas for the dress for their big day. She usually requires six months notice to allow for fittings and any alterations. She is constantly looking out for gems of inspiration in antique markets and vintage boutiques throughout the country and when in London can often be seen whiling away an odd hour in the V&A, picking up ideas from the museum’s vast costume collection. Jessica lives with her boyfriend Stu on a customised narrow boat moored on the Kennet and Avon canal just outside Bath. Who would she most like to design a dress for, I wondered? “Audrey Hepburn.” Sadly, that’s not possible. But she can always look forward to the next blushing bride...

Jessica’s top ten: ● Duke Ellington – Satin Doll I love a bit of jazz. This is an instrumental version of the song but it’s also fun to sing along to. All seamed stockings, pencil skirts and pin curls whisk me off to a time when women (and men for that matter) paid a lot more attention to how they dressed. I went to a vintage festival last summer and people looked amazing. I’ve done quite a lot of work on vintage dresses including a few family heirlooms. It’s so lovely to see brides wanting to wear their grandmother’s wedding dress. ● Yann Tiersen– Sur le fil My boyfriend Stu is a brilliant pianist and accordion player. I’d choose one of his compositions but it wouldn’t mean much to most people, so the next best thing would have to be something by Yann Tiersen. This piece was used as the soundtrack in Amelie and it also takes me back to time, enjoying cafe culture when I lived in France. ● Puccini – O Mio Babbino Caro I used to do a bit of singing and I sang this aria at my sister’s wedding. I burst into tears before I reached the end. My uncle skilfully faded out the accompaniment in an attempt to rescue my dignity. I was mortified but when I looked up, I wasn’t the only one crying. WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

● Air – Alone in Kyoto The soundtrack from Lost in Translation, one of my favourite films. It reminds me of the sense of displacement I loved when travelling to new and strange places. In this scene the woman is wandering around a temple in the cherry blossom season. I’ve watched the film so many times now but I never get bored and always find it oddly comforting. ● Bonobo – Nightlite This is for summertime and festivals, freedom and the great outdoors. It also fills my head with tents, audacious fancy dress and glitter. This particular track featuring Bajka is like a meander around the world of music influences incorporating Asian strings and Brazilian percussion. ● Jesca Hoop – Murder of Birds A fairly recent discovery, but she has become a favourite quite quickly. I first heard this on Woman’s Hour but kept it a secret from friends as it’s a bit of ‘our song’ with my boyfriend. I saw her perform at a small gig in Bristol. Small venues are always the best for me; she was quirky and refreshingly playful. ● Nitin Sawhney – Immigrant I could choose so many of Sawhney tracks. This one is about the lure of faraway lands and also of remembering home. I worked for a women’s organisation in Mumbai designing textiles before coming back to the UK. I like to think this fusion of cultures has shaped my design ethos although I had a fascination for South Asian dance long before I when to India. ● Roni Size – Brown Paper Bag I don’t often listen to drum and bass at home any more, but if I hear it when I’m out I just can’t help but want to dance. It takes me back to being 16 again and I’m sure I’ll still feel that way when I’m 99. Occasionally, if I’m working very late in my studio I’ll put this on to keep me awake. Roni Size is an obvious choice for a Bristol lass. ● Elton John – Sixty Years On I thought that I would include an inheritance track. Elton John is what I call car music, as my parents would listen to this on car journeys when we were children. I love the epic intro. ‘Who’ll walk me down to church when I’m 60 years of age, When the ragged dog they gave me has been ten years in the grave. And señorita play guitar, play it just for you, My rosary has broken and my beads have all slipped through.’ It fills me with nostalgia and the curiosity of childhood. ● Cinematic Orchestra – To Build A Home Such a fabulous track. The lyrics ‘I’d love to build a new house – one with an old soul’ paint a picture of a young couple laying the foundations of a life together. It also reminds me of how fragile we are. Living on a boat I often feel close to the elements and nature, a theme which runs though this song. It’s simply beautiful. ■ MAY 2013

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IT’S PARTY TIME! CITYof`FESTIVALS

Summer’s coming and we’re looking forward to a cornucopia of cultural delights. Enjoy our round-up of some of the highlights from the Bath International Music Festival, opera at Iford Manor, the Bath Fringe Festival, Box Revels and the Bath & West Show WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

MAY 2013

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CITYofFESTIVALS

Join the club...

For the first time in its 65 year history the Bath International Music Festival is to have a dedicated watering hole and meeting place. Thanks to some team work from Bath and Somerset businesses and producers we’ll be able to enjoy food, drink and music at the Bath Music Festival Club in the Octagon chapel or the first time in its 65 year history, the Bath International Music Festival is to have a festival club feeding mind, body and soul with its mix of good food and drink, live music and chat, plus a dash of visual art. The Bath Music Festival Club is being set up in the historic former chapel, the Octagon, between Milsom Street and Milsom Place and represents a unique collaboration between the festival, local independent businesses and food producers and artists. One of the driving forces behind the Festival Club is Sam Wylde, of Sam’s Kitchen in Walcot Street, who has worked with the Bath International Music Festival and Milsom Place to bring this exciting project to life. Sam is planning to set up a full working kitchen in the club and has enlisted the help of a team of people to make this space a lively café-cum-restaurant-cumcabaret. Throughout the festival, from opening night on Friday 24 May, we’ll be able to drop into the Octagon for a cup of coffee, a light lunch, a beer after work or a full-blown evening meal by candlelight. The restaurant will be furnished by Fig, which until recently, occupied the shop in Milsom Place where the festival club bar will be. Eton Design of Walcot will be funking up the interior with fabrics bold and new, while Martin Tracy of The Framing Workshop is to hang a collection of framed posters from throughout the festival’s history. He has managed to find an almost complete set, barring the two years when there was no festival. It’s a fascinating look at changing styles in poster design over the past six decades.

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Sam’s Kitchen has been busy pickling and preserving ready for the club and preparing homegrown charcuterie. He says: “Somerset pork will feature quite highly on the menu. We’ll have some suckling pigs roasting and people will be able to come and enjoy some sharing boards. I want the whole experience to be fun, sociable and inclusive.” The Wild Beer Company and Westcombe Dairy, both from Somerset, will provide a beer and cheese tasting combination. There’ll be coffee from Clifton Coffee and produce from Ivy House Farm at Beckington. Putting the artistic crown on the club will be internationally renowned artist Bruce Munro, who created the bewitching light installation at the Holburne Museum two Christmases ago. He will be setting up an installation using fibre optic lighting to great effect inside the old chapel. Bath’s newest music shop, Music Dynamics, will be selling music, instruments and accessories on site too. Alasdair Nicolson, artistic director of the music festival, said: “For me, music is a social actvity and as well as the concerts, cabaret and opera I wanted to bring this new idea of a club to the festival in order to allow performers and audiences to have the opportunity to meet one another, to talk about what they’ve just heard and seen, to savour some acoustic music and to enjoy fine food and drink.” Sam’s Kitchen at The Octagon will be open daily from 10am until midnight. There will be live music from different genres – some of it planned and some, it is hoped, spontaneous. ■

COLLABORATOR S: left to right: George Weekes, The Framing Workshop; Nicholas Sheridan, Eton Design; Tom Calver, Westcombe Dairy; Sam Wylde, Sam’s Kitchen; Edmund Buston, Clifton Coffee; Ken Elliot, The Octagon, Milsom Place and Andrew Cooper, The Wild Beer Co

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CITYofFESTIVALS

Singing in Bath is like coming home

Jessica Walker

One of the great achievements of western civilisation has to be the sound of an orchestra in full swing. This year’s festival has several orchestral concerts to delight listeners. Bath’s own home-grown ensemble, the Bath Philharmonia, playing at the Forum on Friday 31 May. That programme, accompanied by mezzo soprano Anna Huntley, will include music by Ravel, Bizet and Mendelssohn. And, making a rare excursion south of the borders is the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, who are being directed in Bath by festival artist-in-residence Alexander Janiczek. The orchestra’s two Bath concerts will be magnificent affairs with the opening night having 25 players in Bath Abbey and on Thursday 30 May the full orchestra will fill the Forum with 40 players. WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

Jessica Walker has been attending concerts at the Bath International Music Festival since she was a girl, as her family has a flat in the city. And, as her career as a singer has taken her to sing on stages in America and across Europe she says she’s often said to her parents that it is odd that she has never before sung in the Bath International Music Festival. “It will be like coming home,” she says, ahead of her two concert dates as part of this year’s festival. “I know the venue well so it’s quite comforting.” The venue for both events is Komedia, which Jessica recalls visiting when it was a cinema. Jessica’s two performances for the Bath audiences could scarcely be more diverse. The first, on Monday 27 May and again on Tuesday 28 May, is a dark cabaret opera, written by Jessica and music director David Knotts, which sees its world premiere in Bath. An Eye for an Eye is based on the true story of the French Papin sisters who in the 1930s brutally murdered a woman and her daughter in the family home where they were employed as maids. Jessica says of this piece: “Yes it is dark and macabre but it’s also very funny too. It’s a bit riotous.” The Papin sisters had led a very harsh life, they were uneducated and no doubt, badly treated. But the gruesome way they killed the two women and didn’t try to run from the police – they were found in bed, still blood-stained – captured the French public’s imagination and this became a much talked about case. Staying the other side of the English Channel, Jessica will adopt the more sympathetic and soulful persona of the French chanteuse Barbara for an evening of 20th century songs at Komedia on Sunday 2 June. This will be a chance for Bath to see its new festival artistic director Alasdair Nicolson in action, as he is playing the piano for Jessica in a programme which will feature the songs of Barbara, Jacques Brel and Georges Brasson. Barbara was a much-loved French singer who sang passionately about love and loss. Her childhood under Nazi law scarred her, as did her relationship with her abusive father. Jessica and Alasdair will bring some of Barbara’s haunting songs to life, along with music by her musical friends Brel and Brasson. We may see Jessica in Bath in future years. Trained at the Guildhall School of Music she cut her teeth on operatic roles before branching out into concert and cabaret work. Her latest creation is The Girl I Left Behind Me, about a female Victorian crossdresser cabaret singer. She has toured successfully with this one-woman show and was most recently in New York starring at the Brits Off Broadway Festival before flying home to the UK and coming west to her second home, Bath.

Is Bath ready for the strange world of cabaret duo Bourgeois and Maurice, who will replace Meow Meow in a very alternative show at Komedia on Wednesday 29 May? Billed as being ‘darker and slicker than a BP oil spill’ this award winning act combines satire, humour, songs and – it says here – ‘a truly astonishing collection of outfits’. Bourgeois and Maurice have performed at some prestigious venues including the Royal Opera House, Southbank Centre, Wales Millennium Centre, Soho Theatre and Sadler’s Wells. They’re currently on a national tour with Sugart*ts, their current sketch and music cabaret show, and were recently featured on Radio4 Extra being interviewed by Arthur Smith.

PICTURE: Magnus Hastings

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Making music in paradise Anna White celebrates the 20th anniversary of the magical Iford Festival, where opera lovers enjoy the rare experience of hearing opera sung in English, in an Italianate garden under a Wiltshire sky

he Iford valley just a few miles south of Bath feels like one of those places time forgot, out of sight and at the meeting point of three barely passable roads, you could be forgiven for never having passed the beautiful Britannia on the Iford bridge or not having paused to take in the views over a picnic. But to discover Iford . . . to make your way tentatively, for the first time, down the steep hill or along the narrow lanes which approach it and to catch the first glimpse of what lies ahead is to never forget it. Nestled at the bottom of the valley is Iford Manor, once home to architect and garden designer Harold Peto. The star of the show at Iford is not however, the beautiful wisteria-covered façade of the manor house, but Peto’s Grade I-listed, awardwinning gardens and the internationally renowned Iford Arts music festival which the garden plays host to every summer. The brainchild of Iford Arts’ creative director Judy Eglington, the tiny festival started as an annual cloister concert by the Winsley Winos in the early 1980s and this summer celebrates 20 years of opera. On Saturday 19 June 1993 an evening of light-hearted chamber opera was performed in Peto’s cloister. For £7 a cloister ticket bought you an evening of Mozart’s Bastien and Bastienne, Ferrari’s Susanna’s Secret and Menotti’s The Telephone. Now, 20 years on, the annual three-month long Iford Arts music festival now stages three productions and 21 nights of opera (this year’s repertoire includes Verdi’s La Traviata, Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne and Handel’s Acis and Galatea.) Iford opera attracts a loyal following of visitors from all over the world. One Handel aficionado declaring “I drove 1,100 miles to see Handel at Iford and every mile was worth it!” at the end of Christian Curnyn and Pia Furtado’s production of Susanna in 2012. It is not unusual for performances to sell out within days of tickets going on sale. The critically acclaimed opera productions are the core

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element of the Iford Festival which, thanks in part to owner Elizabeth Cartwright-Hignett, is now firmly on the itinerary of opera lovers. Witnessing a piece of musical theatre at Iford is a unique opera experience which seems to become addictive. Many of the audience have been coming for 20 years and had their places among the audience of 90 for curtain up on all the Iford operas. The operas are always sung in English, so a rare depth and intimacy of communication can be achieved: whether tragic or comic the impact is ‘Not so much up your nose, as in your face’ as one of the singers once put it. As one loyal volunteer, a band of over 60 loyal supporters who act as stewards, cooks and ushers, said: “Before Iford I didn’t get what all the fuss was about opera. Now I think if you haven’t seen an opera at Iford you haven’t seen one at all.” In 1995 The Magic Flute, the first fully staged opera, sold out immediately, in 2005 Iford Arts produced its first own opera, Rusalka and in 1999 Iford Manor won Garden of the Year after years of loving restoration. In 2010 Iford Arts launched its Education Outreach programme, helping to share the great wealth of talent at Iford with the local community. A schools matinee of Will Tuckett’s and Iford Arts’ production of Hansel and Gretel in the Bath Pavilion was attended by 200 children and teachers. This summer the festival is working with 100 Bath and Trowbridge schoolchildren to help them produce and perform their own scrap rap opera at the opening night of the Bath International Music Festival. Developing long term relationships with emerging artists and performers has been crucial to the development of opera at Iford. In 1999 creative director Judy Eglington read about a young conductor called Christian Curnyn, saw him perform at St John’s Smith Square and “just knew he was the bees knees.” The following year Judy persuaded him to do Acis and Galatea at Iford, and Christian has been performing at Iford ever since.

THE STAGE IS SET: main picture, the cloisters at Iford are just large enough to take an audience of 90

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HIGH DRAMA: audiences in the cloisters are eyeball to eyeball with the performers – this is a scene from Don Giovanni

He is now recognised as one of the leading Baroque conductors, his recording of Alceste having won the BBC Music Magazine recording of the year. This summer he returns to Iford with his original Iford debut Handel’s Acis and Galatea. Judy is candid about some of the hairier moments over the 20 years and says: “Jeff Clarke’s La Belle Helene in 2003 aged me ten years. Paris entirely disrobed Helene in quite a seduction – all at a distance of about three feet from the great and the good of Bath. There was much debate during the interval as to who had the ‘breast seats in the house’. “The foot and mouth crisis in 2001 was the closest we’ve ever had to come to cancelling a performance or season. Performances go ahead in all weathers and bring out the very best of British in our opera goers who huddle in the tea room in

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what turns into something of an impromtu party as tables get shared and the trading on picnic goodies starts.” On a lighter note, it seems to be loose animals which have been the biggest threat to the smooth running of performances. There was the Longleat escapee monkey in the wisteria, the incident of The Big Cat, Wiltshire’s most famous feline who continued to elude the National Geographic team who’d set up camp in Peto’s bushes last season, and the stubborn wagtail who refused to leave her cloister nest, however loud the Figaro arias until the crucial moment and then decamped, chicks in tow, brushing the nose of the Countess and crash landing in the lap of a stunned audience member. The Polynesian Man Friday of Robinson Crusoe waiting at the bottom of the cloister steps, in the pouring rain, wearing just a loin cloth and a couple of well placed leaves proved a strong memory in the minds of many, as do the giant garden gnomes, volunteers placed at intervals to peep out from behind the bushes and wave before hiding from the audience again. Iford is something to everyone who has experienced it, to get a cheap laugh out of the wobbly on their feet patrons who’ve cooled off in the river (perhaps not intentionally) in the hot summers, or who’ve slept through numerous second acts, or to recount the tales of performers who’ve gone home with people they shouldn’t, to places they oughtn’t would be too easy . . . wouldn’t it? In the words of Elizabeth Cartwright-Hignett, who has lived at Iford with her husband, John since 1965. “It’s such a privilege to be here.” ■ Iford Arts Festival 2013 includes Verdi’s La Traviata (sold out), Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne in July and Handel’s Acis and Galatea, in July and August. A Champagne reception will be held during the interval of the first Saturday performance of each opera. The Iford Young Artists in concert Sat 9 June (£22). Box office, tel: 01225 44 88 44, or visit: www.ifordarts.org.uk.

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FESTIVALspirit

Spiegelicious fun

Revel with a cause This summer’s Bath Fringe Festival has around 200 events at venues throughout the city, including a visit from blues and jazz legend Georgie Fame, rising folk musician Sam Lee and contemporary jazz artists Get the Blessing

ne of the main purposes of a fringe festival is to offer audiences something off the beaten track, to attract a variety of artists to come and create something for audiences that they might not have known they’d enjoy. The Bath Fringe Festival, now into its 22nd year, is very adept at this, putting together a programme full of all kinds of acts. At its heart will be the Spiegeltent, the original pop-up theatre which toured towns and villages in the 1930s, and which comes to Bath’s Rec like an annual box of delights. The opening night party, on Friday 24 May, begins at 6pm with a free soul/shakedown party from Bristol-based Moonshot, followed by a £5-a-head gig from Afro-Cuban, Latin jazz and salsa band K’Chevre. Over the two-week festival there’ll be entertainment from the likes of veteran blues and jazz musician Georgie Fame and Bath’s own Bizarre Bath Noel Britten and party purveyors of jazz/funk/rock Smerrin’s Anti Social Club. There’ll be modern folk from the beautiful, barefoot Sam Lee, a Mercury prize nominee, and cutting edge jazz from the men with paper bags on their heads who everybody’s talking about, Get The Blessing.

Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory will also play an undefinable genre of music with Tony Orrell as Gas Giants. As always, there will be lots other events, on the fringe of the fringe, and even on the fringes of that fringe – some 200 happenings in all. The fringe is taking art and performance out of the concert halls and to the people. Developer Crest Nicholson is sponsoring an afternoon of fun at the newly 24 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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RISING STAR: the barefoot Sam Lee and friends and inset, Get the Blessing

built Riverside on 1 June. The Arts Council is backing new work and new shows, with a series of events including a new writing festival at the Masonic Hall in New Orchard Street. 20:20 Vision consists of five 20-minute plays which will take over the entire building, with the audience being led in different directions until they stumble upon an event unfolding before and around them. Bath Spa University students will be putting on a string of entertainments to mark their end of term at venues across the city too. There’ll be the Bedlam Fair, featuring a roving production of Spa, a new drama from a young cast featuring talent from the Natural Theatre Company’s youth group and Natural Diversions disabled theatre group. Plumber to the stars, Bill Smarme, will be serving up his unique brand of humour and song at The Raven, with Going for a Thong, also with a local feel, a coach trip is being organised to mark the anniversary of the Titchfield Thunderbolt film. ■ For more details pick up a programme or visit: www.bathfringe.co.uk

Community spirit and creative energy have been harnessed in Box to run a rural cinema which is fast becoming a role model to villages across Britain. It’s a big screen story with small grassroots support, begun last year and which this month will see a dramatic open air screening of the hit movie The Hunger Games. Box has long been legendary for its ability to host extraordinary events. It’s the place where musician Peter Gabriel opened his Real World recording studios, bringing music from all over the world to play in this little corner of Wiltshire. It’s also where the Rev Awdry wrote some of his Thomas the Tank Engine stories, in sight of Brunel’s Great Western Railway. And it’s the village which took the standard English summer fete and gave it a fresh lease of life as Box Revels, which every year on the last bank holiday Monday in May sees locals and visitors turn out for fun and games on the village Rec. This summer is no exception. Box Revels’ theme for 2013 is science fiction. The weekend will kick off in the Selwyn Hall on the morning of Saturday 25 May with a family-friendly screening of Back to the Future, the time travelling movie starring a young Michael J Fox. This will be followed by archive film and photos of Box in the Selwyn Hall. There will be a big bake-off on the Saturday and a vintage fair, before the main event of the day, the screening on the Rec of The Hunger Games. The premise behind the film is that somewhere in the future conquered people living in their villages have to send their finest teenagers to the capital city to take part in a public fight to the death. Jo Crow, the founder of Panache Picture House, is the woman behind Box’s newfound status as a pioneer of rural cinema. Jo has a long career as a film assistant director and moved from London to bring her two children up in the country. She set up the Panache Picture House last year with the backing of the British Film Institute and Bath Film Festival, and with a grant from Creative England. She shows popular films in the Selwyn Hall, giving the events a sense of occasion, with usherettes in Louise Brookes style bobbed wigs, cocktails and hot suppers. Jo said: “It’s been a fantastic community effort, with local people as usherettes, bar staff, caterers and projectionist. The children’s club on Saturday mornings is very popular as toddlers can roam about a bit while parents can enjoy a coffee and a read of the papers.” She’s been able to show her audiences blockbusters like Skyfall and The Hobbit within weeks of them being seen in the big cinema chains. Now representatives from other villages are coming to see how the simple screening of a film can grow to support local enterprise, encourage networking and entertain all the generations. Find out more at: www.panachepictures.co.uk or see Panache Picture House on Facebook.

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A nostalgic ride in time As farmers and food producers prepare for this month’s Royal Bath & West Show, the search is on for a couple called Victoria and Albert to assist in the celebrations of the 150th show that’s such a big part of the Bath social calendar

appy childhood memories or thoughts of a bygone, possibly better, age that makes us misty-eyed at the sight of a traditional fairground, one display at this year’s Royal Bath & West Show is sure to spark nostalgia in every visitor. Marking the fact the first show was held when Queen Victoria was on the throne will be the Fairground Heritage Trust with a colourful display that takes a nostalgic look at fairgrounds of the past. The exhibition is at the 150th Royal Bath & West Show, which opens on 29 May. It will include examples of carved roundabout horses from the 19th century and other artefacts from the glory days of steam powered rides. Outside the Trust’s tent will stand a Scammell Showtrac ballast tractor, a vehicle specifically designed for fairgrounds to generate power and to tow the fairs’ big rides. The vehicle was owned by Thomas Whitelegg, who founded the firm Thomas Whitelegg and Sons in the late 19th century in Plymouth, becoming a household name in the west country and providing fairs and amusements for decades. Just the sight of a gaily-painted galloper horse or a few bars of jaunty organ music can bring out the big kid in most of us. Speaking on the enduring appeal of the traditional fairground, Guy Belshaw of the Trust said: “It’s all about nostalgia and memories of a care-free time when we were youngsters with no worries. The fact that a fairground could be here today and gone tomorrow is also a big element. It would arrive, bright and colourful, one day and be gone the next.” The fact that it is a very British tradition built on British engineering and manufacturing also appeals, he added. “It was all British-made in those days, and that’s something we don’t really have any more. There was also a strong link between agriculture and the fairgrounds – many of the agricultural shows and harvest festivals had fairgrounds and the traditional fairs were linked to the seasons in spring and 26 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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STEAM DRIVEN THING: main picture, the old super chariot racer ride part of the Fairground Heritage Trust collection Inset, artwork from an old dodgems ride

autumn. The most famous roundabout engineer, Frederick Savage, was originally an agricultural engineer.” Savage, from Kings Lynn, pioneered the use of steam to propel rides, creating one of the first steam-powered galloper carousels with the horses moving up and down as the carousel rotated. One of the country’s most famous showmen, Charles Heal, was born in Glastonbury in 1879, establishing his fairground business in Bristol. He had one of the biggest sets of galloping horses in the country, which toured the shows until the 1940s. The funfair at the Royal Bath and West Show is on the Village Green site which showcases features of what is traditionally found in a west country village including a school, church, bakery and blacksmith. Victoriana is one of the themes of the 150th show with a highlight on the first day also taking place at the Village Green, as a giant Victoria sandwich cake will be cut and shared among visitors. A search is also underway to find a 21st century Victoria and Albert husband and wife team to enjoy a right Royal day out on the opening day of the show on 29 May. And on the Friday – 31 May – Ladies’ Day, women are encouraged to draw on Victorian fashion for inspiration. Early

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COUNTYarchive were pulled by horses in Victorian times to plough the fields, as well as 21st century huge machines which speed up the process for those working the land today. “I think our forefathers would be very proud that what they started in Bath so many decades ago is still going strong today and still features much of what they introduced such as judging livestock, innovation and refreshments,” he said. Attractions at this year’s show include the chance to try canoeing, cider tasting and to ride the Bath & West narrow gauge railway. There’ll be all sorts of agricultural diversions too, like terrier racing and the National Cheese awards. Children can follow the Family Trail round the ground and see piglets, alpacas, falcons and other animals. Gates open for the show at 9am on Wednesday 29 May. If you know a couple called Victoria and Albert contact Julie Kitching at the show: julie.kitching@bathandwest.com. ■

PLEASURE GROUND: the gallopers still have the magic to draw people to their flashing lights, music and the rise and fall of the horses

photographs from the show feature women in flounces and hoops. Alan Lyons, show manager, said: “The 1953 Coronation show saw a record 100,000 people through the gates and according to our archives the Bath Federation of Townswomen’s Guilds had a stand which consisted of My Lady’s Boudoir as it was in 1800 with period costumes and furnishings, contrasted with My Lady’s Boudoir in 1953. “The Mayor of Bath organised a stagecoach run from Bath to London to present loyal greetings to her Majesty the Queen from Bath, Chippenham, Calne, Marlborough and other towns. The coach with passengers in period costume paraded in the show ring before beginning its journey to London.” He added that the 2013 event will show visitors just how much has changed in the 163 years since the first show: “Our machinery section will be showing the type of equipment which

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Fact file ● Tickets: Advance Saver available until 27 May, adult £19, child £5 and family £55. Gate prices from 28 May, adult £22, child £7 and family £55 ● Parking: Free ● Camping and caravanning – new for 2013. Two nights and one day at the show £60 including a family ticket or three nights and two days £100 including a family ticket. ● Ladies Day: Tickets cost £30 and include exclusive access to the Ringside Members Bar plus afternoon tea.

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WHAT’Son THEATRE, COM EDY & OP ERA – listed by venue to commit a crime each day. His romance with the faultlessly virtuous Rose Maybud looks doomed, but his troubles really start when he proves incapable of fulfilling the curse, and his ancestors’ portraits begin to haunt him.

Whale Music at the The Rondo Theatre

P op- U p O pe r a Freshford Village Memorial Hall, Freshford, Bath. Bath Box Office tel: 01225 463362 www.popupopera.co.uk

Don Pasquale, Sunday 12 May, 4pm You can now book tickets for this annual opera from exciting young professional opera singers Pop-Up Opera, presented by Limpley Stoke Performing Arts. Continuing the ethos of LIPSA and Pop-Up Opera to make opera accessible for everyone, tickets are priced at £16 each with the audience invited to bring a pre-performance picnic (weather permitting) and a meet the cast session afterwards. Don Pasquale is one of Donizetti’s most popular and comic works, and Pop-Up Opera is highly-acclaimed by novice and seasoned opera-goers and critics alike.

COMING OF AGE B at h S p a Li ve The University Theatre, Bath Spa University, Bath and The Rondo Theatre, St Saviours Road, Bath. Box office tel: 01225 463362 www.universitytheatre.org

Boeing Boeing, Thursday 16 – Saturday 18 May, 7.30pm; matinee: Saturday, 2pm Enjoy a farce of mile-high proportions from Marc Camoletti at the University Theatre by Bath Spa Univeristy performing arts and theatre production students. Parisian playboy Bernard has not one, not two, but three glamorous fiancées jetting in and out of his life. All of the girls are air hostesses flying on different airlines and their schedules mean that they never meet. With pinpoint accuracy, Bernard manages to keep one up, one down and one pending, which suits him perfectly. And as he doesn’t intend to actually marry any of them, what could possibly go wrong?

Whale Music, Thursday 30 May – Saturday 1 June, 8pm; matinee: Saturday, 3pm This is the touching story of a student whose unplanned pregnancy raises all manner of difficult decisions, performed at The Rondo by Bath Spa University performing arts and theatre production students. Returning to her seaside hometown, she finds strength and humour in the colourful group of companions who surround her. Friends freely lend their opinions, advice and relaxing whale music records. This heart-warming depiction of the emotions and complexities of female friendship launched Anthony Mingella’s career. He went on to receive international acclaim for films including The English Patient.

The Wro ught on The atre King Edward’s School, North Road, Bath. Box office tel: 01225 400295 www.bathgands.co.uk

Ruddigore, Wednesday 29 May – Saturday 1 June, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm only The Bath Gilbert & Sullivan Society presents its production of Ruddigore, making merry at the expense of Victorian melodrama. Set in a Cornish fishing village, the modest, mild mannered Robin Oakapple is revealed as the villanous Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd – inheritor of the curse of Ruddigore whch compels him

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Don Pasquale

T h e U s t in o v Sawclose, Bath. Box office tel: 01225 448844. www.theatreroyal.org.uk The American Season

Fifty Words, Thursday 16 May – Saturday 15 June, please contact the theatre for times Adam is a successful New York architect. His wife, Jan is preparing to start an online company. Their beloved nine-year-old son Greg is away on his first sleepover and this will be the first evening they’ve had to themselves in years. Time to crack open the Champagne, devour a Chinese meal and get down to rekindling the fires of passion... But this is one extraordinary night which will change Adam and Jan’s marriage forever. This is the night when they say everything there is to say, reveal every dark secret which had been kept hidden and reach new heights of passion and intimacy. Filled with the humorous banter of a married couple who know exactly which buttons to press, Fifty Words portrays their relationship with searing honesty and in beautifully observed and amusing detail. The play orginally opened Off-Broadway in 2008 and was nominated for serveral Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Play. This will be its UK premiere.

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B a t h O p er a The Rondo Theatre, St Saviours Road, Bath and St Swithin’s Church, Bath. Bath Box Office tel: 01225 463362 www.bathopera.org

Don Giovanni, Friday 21 & Saturday 22 June, 7.30pm Booking is now open for Bath Opera’s summer shows. Ruthless and charming city trader Johnny slinks through London’s dark underbelly on the prowl for new experiences, leaving a trail of broken hearts and spilt blood. Sex, violence and beautiful music characterise this new English translation of one of Mozart’s best-loved operas by Olivier Award winner Robin Norton-Hale. Musical direction will be from Bath Opera’s Peter Blackwood, directed by Jane Clark and it will be performed at The Rondo.

The Great Britten Celebration, Wednesday 26 June, 7.30pm

Birdsong, Monday 20 – Saturday 25 May, 7.30pm; Thursday – Saturday, 8pm; matinees: Wednesday & Saturday, 2.30pm This is a mesmerising story of love, courage and sacrifice brought to the stage in a critically-acclaimed version of Sebastian Faulks’s best-selling novel. Birdsong is an epic tale of love and war set both before and during the Great War. In pre-war France, a young Englishman, Stephen Wraysford, embarks on a passionate and dangerous affair with the beautiful Isabelle Azaire that turns their worlds upside down. As the war breaks out over the idyll of his former life, Stephen must lead his men through the carnage of the Battle of the Somme and through the sprawling tunnels that lie deep underground. Faced with the unprecedented horror of the war, Stephen clings to the memory of Isabelle as his world explodes around him. Birdsong

Bath Opera celebrates the centenary of Benjamin Britten’s birth with a concert of songs and music at St Swithin’s Church. There will also be children from Curtain Up Theatre School and it will be in aid of the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases.

Eidolon

T h e R o n d o T h e a t re St Saviours Road, Bath. Box office tel: 01225 463362 www.rondotheatre.co.uk

T he atr e R oya l Sawclose, Bath. Box office tel: 01225 448844. www.theatreroyal.org.uk

Black River Falls, Wednesday 22 May, 8pm

Go Back For Murder, Tuesday 7 – Saturday 11 May, 7.30pm; Thursday – Saturday, 8pm; matinees: Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday, 2.30pm Carla Le Marchant learns a disturbing family secret: her mother, Caroline Crale, died in prison after being convicted of poisoning her father. Caroline leaves an intriguing legacy in the form of a letter professing her innocence and, believing this to be true, Carla is determined to clear her mother’s name. Suspects, secrets and red herrings abound in this thrilling new production which follows the Agatha Christie Theatre Company’s hugely successful presentations of And Then There Were None, Spider’s Web, Witness For The Prosecution and Murder on the Nile. Go Back For Murder

and natural cycles. The harmony of music and visual art is both seamless and fractured. Eidolon will mesmerise and enchant, transporting you to another world, out of space and out of time.

T h e M i s s io n T h e a t r e 32 Corn Street, Bath. Bath Box Office tel: 01225 463362 www.missiontheatre.co.uk

Top Girls, Tuesday 7 – Saturday 11 May, 7.30pm Next Stage Theatre Company presents Top Girls by Caryl Churchill. The play addresses the competing themes of ambition, feminism and solidarity to expose the selfishness of its vibrant characters. It is however, an ultimately redeeming portrayal of trust in humanity, of burdens and challenges shared, and of determination and loyalty in an unfair world.

In the 19th century the Wisconsin frontier town of Black River Falls went insane. Throughout the 70s, Bob’s family took an annual station wagon road trip there, visiting the town’s giant orange cast-iron moose. In the 21st century, Bob’s sister Jenny settled there, married the same Albanian man three times and became a Muslim. Survival, love, madness and history: true stories are told with live original music, songs, documentary film and puppets, and all the drama, surprise and humour of life.

Robin Ince: The Importance of Being Interested, Saturday 25 May, 8pm; Sunday 26 May, 3pm Award-winning comedian and science enthusiast Robin Ince follows up his Happiness Through Science show with a look at his favourite scientists – Charles Darwin and Richard Feynman.

Eidolon, Sunday 26 – Tuesday 28 May, 8.30pm This award-winning collaboration from Australia tells a beautiful tale, narrated though a haunting live cello performance and summoned to life with imaginatively projected film, animation and illustration. The fantastical and emotional show explores themes of time, freedom, memory and presence, fragility and strength, mechanical 30 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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WHAT’Son M USI C – listed by date Jazz Night, Wednesday 8 May, 7.30pm Burdall’s Yard, Bath. For more information visit: www.bathspalive.com Professional musicians and student performers from Bath Spa University collaborate for an evening of small band jazz. Burdall’s dusky vaults provides a perfect atmosphere and acoustic for enjoying live jazz.

Creative Music Technology Graduate Showcase, Wednesday 22 May, 6.30pm Burdall’s Yard, Bath. For more information visit: www.bathspalive.com View an interactive exhibition of highly original work by BSU’s final year creative music technology students. Featuring audio, multimedia and composition, this work blurs the boundaries of the discipline. Graduates from this course include internationallyrenowned DJs, producers and composers.

Commercial Music Graduate Showcase, Thursday 24 May, 8pm Burdall’s Yard, Bath. For more information visit: www.bathspalive.com Bath Spa University’s commercial music singers, instrumentalists and songwriters bring

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their original voice to you in their final showcase event. Former graduates include Kill It Kid and Avius. This event will feature performances by a number of artists who are already creating a buzz on the music scene, including Laura Wilkinson, Tom Watling, Emma Ronchetti and Owain Coleman.

Tim Kliphuis Trio: Grappelli Meets Vivaldi, Saturday 25 May, 7.30pm Pound Arts, Pound Pill, Corsham. Box office tel: 01249 701628 or visit: www.poundarts.org.uk Tim Kliphuis takes the popular gypsy jazz style several masterful leaps forward by blending it with classical, folk and world music. Tim Kliphuis: Grappelli Meets Vivaldi

Finery and Filth with Dante Ferrara, Sunday 26 May, 7.30pm Old Theatre Royal, 12 Old Orchard Street, Bath. Bath Box Office tel: 01225 463362 Renowned Elizabethan minstrel Dante Ferrara comes to Bath Fringe Festival to transport a captive audience into Restoration England, playing the cittern and hurdy gurdy and singing humorous songs from the 1650s to the 1700s. Noctis will also be teaming up with Dante for the odd madrigal. Be warned – this concert is not for those with a puritan disposition or for children.

Bath Community Gospel Choir, Saturday 1 June, 7.30pm Roper Theatre, Hayesfield Upper School, Bath. Tickets from: www.bathboxoffice.org.uk or for further information visit: www.bathcommunitygospelchoir.com Join the choir for an evening of entertainment featuring a fabulous array of songs from uplifting gospel numbers to atmospheric, moving pieces. Be prepared to accompany the 100-strong choir with hand clapping and foot tapping. The concert is part of the Bath Fringe Festival and is a rare chance to hear the choir sing their full and well-rehearsed repertoire for an enjoyable evening with friends and family.

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WHAT’Son OTH ER EVENTS – listed by date Plant Fair, Sunday 5 May, 10.30am – 4pm Great Chalfield Manor, Melksham. The Friends of Great Chalfield will host a plant fair at the beautiful Great Chalfield Manor to raise funds for Jamie’s Farm and the Friends group. There will be specialist nurseries and garden sundries, a hog roast, soup and refreshments and a giant cake stall.

Plant Fair at Great Chalfield Manor

Bath Croquet Club Open Day, Saturday 11 May, 10am – 5pm Bath Recreation Ground, Bath. Visit: www.bathcroquet.com Bath Croquet Club is holding a charity open day and all are welcome to try croquet in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. All equipment will be provided, but you are asked to wear flat-soled shoes. The open day will raise funds for Dorothy House.

Bath Artisan Market: Bath in Bloom, Sunday 12 May, 10am – 4pm Green Park Station, Bath. Free entry. Bath in Bloom will be running two gardening demos and offering gardening advice at the artisan market all day. To keep the little ones happy they are also running kids’ planting sessions and judging a kids garden-in-aseedtray competition – all children need to do is create a garden in a seedtray from plants or materials and bring it to the Bath in Bloom stand by 1pm for the results at 2pm. There is a gift voucher prize for the winner. Bath City Farm will also be bringing some of its animals to see between 11am and 1pm.

Museums at Night, Thursday 16 – Saturday 18 May Museums, galleries, libraries and archives across Bath. Visit: www.culture24.org.uk During Museums at Night hundreds of museums, galleries, libraries, and archives across the country unlock their doors for special evening events. There are plenty in Bath, but here are some of the highlights: Sally Lunn’s Kitchen by Candlelight on Thursday from 6pm – 9pm; Tours and Dancing at the Fashion Museum on Friday, 6pm – 8pm; Roman Baths by Torchlight on Saturday, 6pm

– 9pm; and Shakespeare’s Rude Mechanicals in the Steam Age at the Museum of Bath at Work on Saturday, 6pm – 9pm. For a full programme of events and details please visit the website.

Vintage Nostalgia Show, Friday 31 May – Sunday 2 June, 10am – midnight daily Stockton Park, Stockton, Wiltshire. Weekend tickets cost £20. For more information visit: www.vintagenostalgiashow.co.uk Step back in time, don your favourite vintage outfit and enjoy a weekend of pure nostalgia. There will be vintage cars, vintage fashion clothing, antiques and kitchenalia at more than 60 stalls, as well as an open-top bus serving cocktails and live bands such as The Roadhouse Roosters and Sticky Toffee Jazz.

Literary Event: Bosworth – The Birth of the Tudors, Thursday 6 June, 7pm Great Hall, Bristol Grammar School, Bristol. Visit: www.bristolgrammarschool.co.uk Bristol Grammar School and Weidenfeld and Nicholson invite you to the Bristol book launch of Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors by MP and Old Bristolian Chris Skidmore. There will be refreshments and live music.

COMPETITION

WIN TICKETS TO SEE JOOLS HOLLAND LIVE

orest Live takes place in June and July every summer where an eclectic mix of acts perform in seven woodland locations around the country as part of the annual concert series arranged by the Forestry Commission. Forest Live in the west country takes place at Westonbirt Arboretum, where this year’s headline acts are: Blondie, Paloma Faith, Olly Murs, Jessie J, Paul Weller and Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. We have a pair of tickets to give away for the final concert of the summer series: Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra on Sunday 21 July at 7.30pm. A talented pianist and respected musician, Jools Holland has had a prolific recording career which has run in tandem with successful roles in broadcasting. In the live music arena Jools continues to dazzle audiences with his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra and their exuberant performances. The 20-piece orchestra, famed for its unique interpretations of original works consists of pianist, organist, drummer, three female vocals, guitar, bass guitar, two tenor saxophones, two alto saxophones, baritone saxophone, three trumpets, and four trombones. Their popularity continues unabated, playing to audiences in excess of 300,000 every year. To enter this competition, just answer the following question:

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How many female vocals feature in the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra? Send your answer via email with Jools Holland Competition in the subject line to: competitions@thebathmagazine.co.uk, along with your full name, address and telephone number; or by post to The Bath Magazine, 2 Princes Buildings, George Street, Bath BA1 2ED. Closing date for entries: Friday 31 May. ■ For further information about the concerts, visit: www.forestry.gov.uk/music

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‘PHOTO NOIR’ COMPETITION BY STUDIO MARKO WIN A PORTRAIT SESSION WORTH £595

To win an incredible Photo Noir session worth £100 and receive a stunning £495 framed wall portrait of your favourite image, answer this simple question.

Why would you love to win a Studio Marko portrait? Closing date 21st May Please send your answers to mail@imagesbymarko.com To receive marketing info from Studio Marko Please specify your name, address and telephone number. Please rest assured your info will not be released to third parties for marketing purposes.

Studio Marko Photography 2 Dorset Close, Bath, BA2 3RF Tel: 01225 428881 mail@imagesbymarko.com www.studiomarko.com

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Lorraine Corrigan, Whippets at Play Widcombe Art Trail

WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS

BATH OPEN STUDIOS Open houses and studios across Bath www.openstudios.com www.larkhallopenstudios.com www.newbridgeartstrail.com www.widcombearttrail.com www.bearflatartists.com

Weekends in May This is your chance to explore an arts trail or open studio event every weekend this month. Larkhall welcomes visitors on the first weekend, followed by Newbridge on 11/12 and Widcombe on 18/19, with Bear Flat on the final bank holiday weekend. You can see work in artists’ own homes or studios from fine art and print, to sculpture, ceramics and textiles. Larkhall Open Studios boasts an eclectic and inspiring community of artists, designers and artisans who have national and international exhibiting careers. This year’s trail includes: ceramicist Peter Hayes; abstract painter Ione Parkin RWA; and Vicky Sander’s automata. Newbridge’s trail includes more than 30 artists and visitors can see their work, talk to the artists and have an insight into their creative processes. Much of the work, including jewellery and ceramics, will be for sale at a range of prices. This year’s Widcombe Art Trail will be the biggest yet with a wide range of work from 60 artists on sale and to view at 16 venues, including Widcombe Parade, Widcombe Crescent and Pulteney Gardens. The Bear Flat Open Studios will have an exciting mix of art and crafts including jewellery, textiles and ceramics. Please visit the websites for full programmes and maps.

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ARTSgardens &EXHIBITIONS CITY CONTEMPORARY CRAFT

Daphne Gradidge, extract from Long Way Round II

Rostra Gallery 5 George Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 448121 www.rostragallery.co.uk

7 May – 7 June Showcasing a range of ceramics, jewellery, sculpture, prints and paintings this exhibition will celebrate artisans of high quality, with elegant, handmade works. Highlights include captivating works from Lawson Rudge who uses raku firing methods, paintings from Serena Curmi, and Samantha Bryan’s Victorian inspired sculptures.

▲ DAPHNE GRADIDGE

THE WILDER SHORES OF LOVE

Anthony Hepworth Gallery 16 Margarets Buildings, Bath. Tel: 01225 310694 www.anthonyhepworth.com

Polly Wales, Gold and Gemstone Rings

JOAN MIRÓ

11 May – 1 June Daphne Gradidge presents her oil paintings and watercolours including works from her drawing with string series 2010-2013. Her paintings reflect two concurrent interests: the considered placement of related objects, and the depiction of found natural objects. The string provides her with a means of working on the boundary between concrete and abstract.

Adam Gallery 13 John Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 480406

5 – 25 May

SPRING SHOW Edgar Modern Bartlett Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 443746 www.edgarmodern.com

Michael Porter, Seashore Series

Until 11 May There will be new paintings from Paul Wright, Carl Melegari, Tyler Stone, Romy Wild, Harriet Wyatt, Mungo Powney, John Harland, Nick Carrick, Henrietta Dubrey, Jessica Cooper and David Martin in this vibrant spring exhibition.

Romy Wild, Love in the Shallows

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Hilton Fine Art 5 Margarets Buildings, Bath. Tel: 01225 311311 www.hiltonfineart.com

18 May – 15 June This show brings together four leading artists united by the Romantic tradition of painting. Taking their inspiration from landscape this exhibition shows the continuing vitality and relevance of artists engaging with nature. Gareth Edwards’ work can be placed in a line back via Caspar David Friedrich to perhaps the greatest Romantic painter of them all – Turner; Janette Kerr loves the elements and has an alla prima style; Kurt Jackson will show his trademark seascapes characterised by shifting textures in horizontal bands; and Michael Porter creates rock pools from mixed media.

Adam Gallery presents this exhibition of prints by Joan Miró (1893-1983) following the huge success of Tate Modern’s major retrospective entitled Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape in 2011. The prints in this exhibition will draw on the development that took place in his work as a whole, from the finely drawn, lyrical female figure to the gestural, simplified forms of the later works. It will focus on his breakthrough in his graphic work after being introduced to carborundum – Miró found that by combining this new technique of engraving with other etching methods he could invent ‘images to rival any painting’. Joan Miró, Plate XI (from Le Lézard aux plumes d’or)

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nick cudworth gallery

Lacock Ford Oil on canvas 14 x 10 inches

WATERWAYS Throughout May Nick Cudworth will be exhibiting a series of his paintings and prints of waterways in and around Bath

5 London Street (top end of Walcot Street), Bath BA1 5BU tel 01225 445221 / 07968 047639 gallery@nickcudworth.com www.nickcudworth.com

CREATIVE MUSIC DESERVES CREATIVE FRAMING “ Be Inspired – over sixty years of Bath Music Fes%val Art @ The Octagon from 22 May – Framed of course “

80 WALCOT STREET BATH BA1 5BD Tel 01225 482748 www.theframingworkshop.com Email: framing@theframingworkshop.com

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Nick Cudworth Gallery 5 London Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 445221 www.nickcudworth.com

ENDRÉ RODER

▲

WATERWAYS Endré Roder, Tin Whistle

Bath Contemporary 35 Gay Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 461230 www.bathcontemporary.com

3 May – 1 June Mapping an incredible career that has spanned cities, continents and decades, Bath Contemporary celebrates 80 years of artistic achievement by internationally acclaimed artist, Endré Roder. Both distinctive and instantly recognisable in style, Endré’s female form has both an innocence and a deep sensuality. Motifs such as a white horse or dove also characterise his work. Endré exhibits internationally and his work can be found in many art collections.

Nick Cudworth, Two Boats

1 – 31 May Throughout May Nick Cudworth will be showing a series of his oil paintings and prints of waterways in and around Bath. They include aspects of the river and canal and feature an oil painting of Lacock Ford.

SUSANNAH CRITCHLEY AND GILLIAN MCFARLAND Officer’s Club Stall Street, Bath. gillian@gillianadair.co.uk www.susannah-critchley-arts.co.uk

RICHARD BATTERHAM Gallery Nine 9b Margarets Buildings, Bath. Tel: 01225 319197 www.gallerynine.co.uk

24 May

Throughout May Richard Batterham served his apprenticeship under Bernard Leach at The Leach Pottery, St Ives, in the 1950s and has been bringing his distinctive style to Gallery Nine since 2005.

Susannah Critchley, Snow Tree

As part of Bath’s annual fringe arts festival, FAB (24 May – 9 June) – which involves a series of public artistic events in Bath, in shops, open spaces and galleries – this will be an exhibition by two artists, Susannah Critchley and Gillian McFarland. It is a series of subtle works on paper and photography exploring the surface of images and probing a deeper reflection on underlying themes. Both artists are based in Bath and work with the Holburne Lodge Art Group.

HENRY MOORE AND CHARLOTTE SORAPURE Victoria Art Gallery By Pulteney Bridge, Bath. Tel: 01225 477233 www.victoriagal.org.uk

Until 23 June

Richard Batterham, Large Platter

MASTER PRINTMAKERS: ETCHINGS The White Room Gallery 31 Brock Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 331500 www.thewhiteroomgallery.com

11 May – 11 June The first exhibition in The White Room’s Master Printmakers series focuses on etching, including portraiture by Lucian Freud.

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The Victoria Art Gallery is showcasing two exhibitions of work from modern artist Henry Moore (1898-1986) and figurative painter Charlotte Sorapure. Henry Moore was one of Britain’s most celebrated and pioneering modern artists. This show, from the Arts Council Collection, brings together sculptures and works on paper, providing a succinct history of his practice between 1927 and 1962. The exhibits range from life drawings to Surrealist pieces and abstracted forms. Prize-winning artist Charlotte Sorapure is a Bath figurative painter whose timeless compositions of buildings and formal gardens are delicately coloured yet full of mystery. Trained at the Royal Academy, she uncovers the otherworldly in the everyday and all of her works are for sale. There will also be a free art store tour of the vaults on Wednesday 25 May, book on tel: 01225 477232.

Charlotte Sorapure, Hide and Seek Henry Moore, Composition M

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Bathonian Natalie Bartlett, a trained dancer and aspiring novelist celebrates some of Bath’s heroes and heroines who have dared to break the mould

Bath mountaineer Stephen Venables

Local heroes H

eather Small famously sang: “What have you done today to make you feel proud?’ One of my worst fears is my thoughts and ideas dying unborn, unable to change anything. I want to change things. I think we all have this somewhere inside us. So who are those people who have been brave enough to do something different, whose ideas impact where we live – who are the modern day heroes and heroines of Bath? Two Bath girls who grew up to be nationally known are politician Ann Widdecombe and writer Jacqueline Wilson. Educated in Bath, Ann is perhaps best known for her uncompromising manner in politics. While her opinions may be somewhat controversial, and her dancing risible, her unyielding zeal for what she believes to be right does her credit. Heroism is about influence, right? Our ability to affect altruistic change, whether for one, or a thousand? Ann’s no nonsense contributions to parliament, along with her desire for change definitely qualifies. Jacqueline Wilson is another key player with Bath roots. She’s brought to life such characters as Tracy Beaker, Ruby and Garnet and many others. In a world where children are having to grow up faster, she broaches divorce, adoption and mental illness themes in a way that’s emotionally palatable. With friends brought to life through stories, children are offered a comforting way of understanding the difficulties around them. We can’t talk about heroes without revisiting the 2012 Olympics. We all basked in the glory, many of us thronging the streets of Bath to see the torch. We love our Olympians because we see in them a world of possibility. Our reaction is visceral, it ignites that part of human nature that recognises them as one of us, the innate belief that perhaps we can do something great. One Bath torch bearer, Talan Skeels-Piggins, is an inspiring example of this. A motorbike accident in 2003 left him paralysed from the waist down, but he’s since competed in the Winter Paralympics using a sit-ski and helped set up The Bike Experience at Castle Combe. He has overcome huge obstacles and imparted hope, helping disabled bikers to ride again. Bathonian Mary Berry, doyenne of cakes, judge in The Great British Bake Off and a national treasure battled polio at 13, leaving her with a twisted spine, and weakened hand. She was educated at Bath High School and Bath College of Home Economics and was recently awarded an honorary degree by Bath Spa University. However Mary also suffered the loss of her youngest son William, in a tragic car accident. Despite all this she’s become a very successful food writer, her perseverance making her who she is today. Based in Bath Stephen Venables was the first Briton to conquer Everest's summit without bottled oxygen, and he’s also scaled previously untried mountains in Peru, Bolivia, and South Georgia. However Venables also faced personal mountains on an entirely different scale when he became the only UK father of a child diagnosed with both autism and leukaemia. Sadly Ollie died suddenly aged 12 of a brain tumour. But many life affirming moments in that small boy’s story are recorded in his book Ollie. Despite terrible circumstances the book is a testimony to Ollie’s joyful nature and life. This is perhaps the greatest kind of heroism; we can’t always choose what happens to us, but we can dictate our response. So let’s throw away perfect ideals. Who wants a perfect hero anyway? In stories we don’t love heroes for their perfections, but because they triumph; triumph in their choices despite their imperfections, and become who they want to be. Let’s be the heroes of our own story and in the words of Yoda, choose our response: “Do or do not, there is no try.” ■

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ONE CITYto gardens WATCH

The paper parlour Rosie Parry meets paper artist Jessica Palmer whose mesmerising and unique creations adorn the walls of her home-cum-studio in Widcombe

y imagination was captured as soon as I walked in. As the door opened into Jessica Palmer’s studio, upstairs in her home in Widcombe, I was pleasantly surprised by a space I can only describe as a boudoir. It is a beautiful, softly lit room with a roaring woodburning stove and a deep sofa into which I duly sank and gazed at the bookshelves lining the walls, and, most captivating of all, her paper creations, hanging or elegantly placed across every spare inch – it is obvious that her passion for her art is the soul of this studio – or paper parlour, as she has affectionately named it. Jessica is modest, and reflects that perhaps artistry is in the air of this room as it used to be occupied by a hat maker, with ladies coming here to drink tea and try on sumptuous hats to take home. This year however, it is set to be transformed into a paper installation studio of her paper art work to delight visitors on the Widcombe Art Trail (18/19 May) and it will surely be one of the highlights on the route. Jessica moved to Bath from London a year ago, drawn here by the mix of city and country living, or “being able to go to places for good coffee but also walk in the countryside” as she puts it. Jessica also only launched her career as a paper artist when she moved here, beginning to show her work in displays and as part of exhibitions in Bath, Bristol and London. “I was a BBC producer in London until 2006 when I took redundancy,” she says. “My mother was a sculptor and gave me a passion for 3D work, but being an artist wasn’t seen as a proper job back then so that’s why it’s taken me such a long time to muster the determination to do it. I did an MA in illustration at Kingston University and got a distinction for my final show, but I had tried lots of different mediums and didn’t know which one I wanted to use. For me, getting an MA was useful but I didn’t become an artist, you have to find your individual way of expressing yourself. What you don’t want is for your work to remind somebody of anybody elses. 42 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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“It was then that I started to do life drawing classes and the models had props and costumes. I had a great teacher and one day he took my charcoal out of my hand, gave me a pair of scissors and said ‘cut it out’. I started to use a scalpel knife and experimented with 3D layering and realised I loved it. You don’t know how much time you have left so I thought ‘what do I want to do with the rest of it?’. I went from there, I used the nine Greek muses as a theme and turned it into birds and creatures.” Continuing with this fantastical theme, Jessica’s paper art has gone from strength to strength and her designs have become bolder and braver. She hand cuts collages, sculptures and book covers using just a scalpel knife and a cutting mat. “Cutting is drawing with a knife,” Jessica says, “it’s the closest thing to a pen or pencil that you can guide and it is as expressive a medium as oil or charcoal.” I am intrigued as to how the paper does not tear, after all it looks so delicate and ornate. “It’s like anything,” she says, “if you do it for 10,000 hours it becomes something you get to know very well.” Her detailed collages of flowers are mainly made from scrap paper and she takes her inspiration from Mary Delany, who lived in Bath in the 18th century, and was the first artist of her day to do collages of plants. Not only does she capture the intricate nature of plants and flowers, but she can also capture human emotion, and has illustrated book front covers and historical figures, one of these being an historically accurate Spartacus riding a horse and brandishing a sword, and another, a rather powerful looking Anne Boleyn portrait, complete with B necklace and piercing eyes. Her real genre however is her sculptures. “I love the idea of wearable paper art,” she says, “and what I love doing is images within other images – such as the necklace made up of paper cuttings of birds. I am trying to combine paper cutting and sculpture so the tutu for example is made of paper to create the shape but the cuttings are detailed on it.” She has just been commissioned to make an Elizabethan dress for the Tudor House Museum in Southampton. “I’d love to do a

A CUT ABOVE THE REST: left to right, Jessica Palmer working on a historical portrait; Gold Shoe; Bird of Paradise; and Golden Iris

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WEARABLE ART: left to right, Paper Bird Necklace; and Tutu

line of jewellery too” she says. The paper she uses for her designs varies, but she particularly likes using Japanese lace paper which has lots of different textures. Her Bird of Paradise is made of silk paper and Bible paper and she often uses leather paper which, when wet, can be moulded to the desired shape. A piece will typically take her only three days to make, and, depending on the size and complexity of the work, prices range between £50 and £350. Jessica has achieved great success already, having been a visiting artist at the Holburne Museum, the RWA in Bristol, the V&A, the National Portrait Gallery, the Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Arnolfini in Bristol, but she is still looking for a gallery to show her work and welcomes any interest. She also hosts

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workshops; the next one is a paper art workshop in her studio on 25 May, followed by a children’s vintage book workshop at Bath Library on 29 May – so we may all share in Jessica’s passion and talent. As Jessica says: “I love the feeling of getting so caught up in something that you don’t even notice the time. It’s a fantastic thing that.” It’s certainly a labour of love that shows in her exquisite paper art. ■ To contact Jessica, visit: www.jessicapalmerart.biz, tel: 07701 024 530, or email: jess@jessicapalmer.biz. If you would like to know more about her events and workshops, receive her newsletter or commission a piece of work, email: palmerk@outlook.com.

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The Queen’s Dutch diamonds The Holburne Museum is to host a unique exhibition of 17th century paintings, lent to the Bath collection by the Queen to mark the 60th anniversary of her coronation.Georgette McCready talked to museum director Alexander Sturgis about Rembrandt and his Contemporaries

hile the world has been talking about the re-opening after a ten-year renovation of the famous Rijksmuseum, home to Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, you don’t actually have to leave Bath this summer to come face-to-face with a masterpiece by Rembrandt. Thanks to the Holburne Museum and Her Majesty the Queen’s own art collection, a fascinating selection of Dutch 17th century paintings will be displayed in a unique exhibition. Rembrandt and his Contemporaries: Paintings from the Royal Collection, goes on show at the Holburne from 22 May to 29 September. It’s a collection of 23 pieces which demonstrate why this period in European art was so revolutionary. Holburne director Alexander Sturgis has written a companion booklet to the pictures, which takes us on a trip through the portraits, landscapes, interiors and Biblical themed pieces. He clearly has great affection for this era of flourishing art. “This was a time of extraordinary energy in Holland,” he said, “with the birth of the Dutch Republic, a time of great economic power and that can be seen in some of these pictures.” In the illustrated guide he writes about Rembrandt’s famous portait of an old woman, probably his mother. ‘Eyes lowered and lips pursed this is a depiction of pensive old age probably painted when Rembrandt was only 23. It is possible (even probable) that the painting shows Rembrandt’s mother but even if it does it is not a conventional portrait. Rather it is a type of painting (popular at the time) known as a ‘tronie’ or ‘face’: a characterful or exotic head intended to convey a mood or emotion. Here the fur mantle and heavy purple and gold hood are hardly everyday dress and perhaps suggest an Old Testament prophetess. ‘Painted on the eve of Rembrandt’s departure from his native Leiden for Amsterdam this was the first painting by the artist to enter England, when it was presented to Charles I together with a self-portrait of the artist by the diplomat Sir Robert Kerr (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool).’ One of Rembrandt’s strongest talents was his ability to capture an emotion as it fleetingly falls across a face, showing great empathy with his subjects. Rembrandt van Rijn, was the ninth child born into a reasonably well-off family in Leiden. He was well educated and his artistic talents soon saw him declared a genius while he was still in his 20s. He married Saskia and the pair set up home in prosperous Amsterdam, but despite his success, the couple saw three of their children die in infancy. Only a fourth, Titus, survived, his mother died soon after his birth. Her grieving husband producing some moving drawings of her on her deathbed. He then took his son’s nurse, Geertse, as a lover, but this relationship ended bitterly as he treated her badly. He finally settled with a much younger woman, Hendrickje, who bore him a daughter, but the pair were never legally married. Although Charles I may have begun this royal collection of Dutch and Flemish work, it was George IV who amassed the most pieces. As Alexander Sturgis says: “It’s very appropriate that the Holburne should have these pictures on loan here as they sit very comfortably alongside William Holburne’s own collection and taste in 17th century Dutch work.” 44 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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EARLY TALENT: Rembrandt van Rijn was just 23 when he painted this portrait of an old woman, believed to be his mother Left, A Girl Chopping Onions by Gerrit Dou All pictures on loan from the Royal Collection Trust

The Holburne has also commissioned an audio guide to the exhibition, which adds another dimension to our viewing and encourages us to think about how we see paintings and what they invoke in us. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall talks about A Girl Chopping Onions (which is full of sexual imagery) while a farmer examines the painting of a bull by Paulus Potter and the Rev Nick Holtam, Bishop of Salisbury will muse on Rembrandt’s image of Christ appearing to Mary Magdalen.

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PLEASING TO THE EYE: above, Still Life on a Table by Willem Claesz Heda, right, Cardplayers in a Sunlit Room by Pieter de Hooch

I am drawn to the gentle interior, right, about which the Holburne director writes: ‘Sunlight bleaches the floor as it crosses the threshold; it passes through windowpanes, diaphanous curtain and raised glass and catches the edges of sleeves, hats and the top of the chair-back. Space and light envelop the group of figures and render them almost incidental.’ This show is not on tour to other galleries, so Bathonians have the privilege of the Queen’s generous gesture. ■ Admission to the Roper Gallery to view Rembrandt and his Contemporaries: Paintings from the Royal Collection, is £8, to include the audio guide. Join Alexander Sturgis, Holburne Museum director for a free tour of the exhibition on Monday 3 June at 3pm and Monday 2 September, also at 3pm. He will also be giving a talk on Rembrandt’s Mother on Monday 15 July at 3.30pm. Tickets are £5. To book tel: 01225 388569.

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Bath@Work Our series of photographic portraits by Neill Menneer shows Bath people at work

Alan Nordberg Wine shop manager didn’t set out to work in the wine trade, having studied typography at the London College of Printing. But I found myself, like most students, wanting to travel, so I got a Christmas job at Oddbins in Richmond to save up some money. I was soon hooked on the trade and after that most of my travelling has tended to be to vineyards – hard work! I came to Bath in 1985 to work in the food hall at Jolly’s. I don’t know if you remember it, but it was like a mini-Harrods food hall. What a great experience that was. I joined Great Western Wine in Bath in 1990 and after 30odd years I still have the passion. I see myself as an oldfashioned shopkeeper giving personal service and creating a cave-like shop for customers to enjoy. When I started those many years ago we didn’t drink much wine as a nation and I remember selling such products as magnums of Martini dry or Cinzano Bianco, litres of Bristol Cream Sherry and two-litre bottles of Soave, with a screw cap, so nothing’s new. Now it’s very different and we have access to wines from all over the world, some good some not, but it is fantastic to have such a choice. One of the first wines I tasted of any note which impressed me was a white burgundy, and the term used to describe it was ‘peaches and cream’. It was fantastic and still is. Wine terminology is a personal reference to try and describe what you are tasting, but remember everyone’s palate is different. My philosophy is if you like it that’s fine – you don’t really need all this nonsense spoken by certain wine persons. I’ve picked up a lot of knowledge over the years, visiting different places. A lot of our customers enjoy the chance to come in and talk about wine and which wines go with which kinds of food. Because I spend all day talking to people, I quite like some quiet time on my allotment. I’ve been divorced for many years but I am very proud of my two sons. Charlie is doing history at York University and Ben is a professional skateboarder living the dream in Hollywood. He grew up in the skateboard park at Victoria Park and will be a familiar name to anyone into the sport in Bath. We host regular wine tasting evenings at Great Western Wine which people are welcome to book into. There’s a Ruggeri Prosecco tasting on Wednesday 15 May from 7.30pm and a Peller Niagara session on 22 May, which should be fun. There’s an old saying in the wine trade that I like: “If it rains get a Macon.”

London Road Bath ba1 6qb, tel 01225 334050 Onebeaufort.com follow us on twitter

New two course dinner menu £12 Monday to Wednesday Free kids pizza before 7pm when grownups eat, ask at bar for details Thursday Steak Night £10 Friday Fish Deals 2 main courses and Bottle of House Wine £29 Daily Specials Board Backgammon Night on Monday

PORTRAIT: Neill Menneer at Spirit Photographic www.capturethespirit.co.uk Tel: 01225 483151 WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

MAY 2013

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FOOD&DRINK

With the woodburner burning and boat gently swaying on the water, The Bath Butty holds a relaxed and warm welcome in its moorings on the Avon, just below Pulteney Weir, writes Saskia Rumbelow. It may be only 70 feet long and just seven feet wide, but the floating café provides seating for up to 22 people. Owner Matt Windsor, shows us around and you cannot help but feel at home in the canal boat café. With the cosy furnishings and view across the water, it is a refreshing way to enjoy lunch or afternoon tea. All of the cakes served are homemade by Matt’s mother Jan Windsor, along with jars of chutney that can be purchased by the counter. With all the produce being locally sourced, hot savoury pancakes with a variety of toppings are The Butty’s signature dish. Also served are hot Bath’s award-winning, delicious Lovett pies. The Bath Butty has been an instant hit with locals and is bringing a new, innovative dining experience to Bath. With takeaways also available for passing walkers this is sure to be a ‘go to spot’ for summer.

Tasty bites ■ The Bath Good Food awards – under new ownership – will be launched later this month, as the search will begin to find the city’s best places to eat, as nominated by the public. Judges include chef Martin Blunos, Telegraph food writer Xanthe Clay, Lucknam Park chef Hrishikesh Desai and wine critic Angela Mount. The awards ceremony will be held in the autumn. ■ An American cut of beef which is fast becoming popular in London, can now be enjoyed in Bath. Hudson Steakhouse has added the flat iron steak to its menu. Taken from the shoulder it is full of flavour and if cooked properly is very tender with a delicious old-school steak taste. Early bird diners can try the flat iron with Béarnaise sauce salt, fries and a glass of wine for £15.95 Monday to Friday, 5 – 7pm.

PICTURES: Saskia Rumbelow

Welcome on board

COSY SPOT: locals have welcomed The Bath Butty to its new mooring on the River Avon opposite Parade Gardens

Horse meat scandal prompts race for veg fest The horse meat scandal has seen a massive surge in interest in VegfestUK Bristol, the world’s biggest veggie event, which is being staged in the city over bank holiday weekend, 24 – 26 May. Visits to the VegFestUK website have tripled in the past three months and stalls spaces have virtually sold out. VegFestUK Bristol, now in its tenth year, drew over 20,000 visitors to the harbourside last year. Around 25,000 visitors are expected at this year’s festival, which will feature 125 stalls, talks, cookery demonstrations and music from a lineup which

includes Happy Mondays, Caravan Palace, The Farm, 808 State, The Abyssinians, Macka B, The Boxettes, Kitten and the Hip, and a DJ set from Peter Hook (New Order/Joy Division). Tim Barford of VegfestUK, said: “You know there’s no horsemeat or nasty hidden extras in veggie food, including the processed products like veggie burgers, sausages and pies. “You don’t have to go veggie, or vegan, to get the benefits of a plant based diet. If you reduce your meat and dairy intake

Expert speakers for themed events

■ Two newcomers have joined the King William on London Road – one in the kitchen and one to welcome diners. Head chef Scott Galloway worked with Michael Caines at the Art House hotel, Glasgow before joining Bath’s Royal Crescent hotel as sous chef, while front of house manager Greg comes from the Michelin starred Ockenden Manor in Sussex, where he was assistant restaurant manager. ■ As we go to press the White Hart at Ford in Wiltshire is about to re-open after extensive refurbishment. Readers who try it before us are welcome to tweet their thoughts to us @thebathmagazine. LIGHT FANTASTIC: Bruce Munro’s installation at the Holburne

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significantly you’ll notice a big difference in your health, which is what a lot of people are doing right now. In other words, keep the treats – the beloved Sunday roast for example – but ditch the rest and introduce some veggie options.” Entry is £2, 11am – 6pm Saturday 25 May and £2 on Sunday, 11am – 10pm (£1 children under 16 and OAPs) – pay on gate. Admission to the evening events on Friday and Saturday is by advance tickets only, visit: www.bristol.vegfest.co.uk. Contact: 0117 30799872 or email: info@vegfest.co.uk.

Lighting guru Bruce Munro is one of the guest speakers at a series of themed dinners and lunches at the Allium Brasserie at the Abbey Hotel, Bath. The man behind the garden installation at the Holburne Museum and lighting schemes at Salisbury Cathedral and the Eden Project, will be at the Allium on 9 May to talk over supper about his work, and about lighting. On 15 May Master of Wine John Atkinson will be taking guests through a sparkling evening of Billecart-Salmon Champagne to accompany chef Chris Staines’ food (as praised by Jay Rayner in the Observer recently). There’s another chance to enjoy expert pairing, with a Croatian wine dinner on 20 June, while on 7 June, over lunch, pastry chef Claire Clark MBE will be passing on some top tips.

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CHEFprofile

The unstarry Michelin chef Melissa Blease talks to Michelin starred chef Richard Davies about his recent stint on national TV, and finds him remarkably down-to-earth

t’s week eight, series eight of the BBC’s Great British Menu and those irascible judges are giving the competing chefs a very hard time. Richard Davies, who has returned to the competition for the third time, temporarily vacating his nest at the highly acclaimed Manor House Hotel in Castle Combe to represent his native Wales – is once more back in the firing line – and it’s harsh out there. The judges aren’t holding anything back. Their biting comments include these harsh criticisms: “I don’t see the humour,” “feels a bit clumsy,” “I’m a bit muddled by it.” We may be celebrating 25 years of the Comic Relief Red Nose Day Appeal, but at this point, Richard has little to smile about. Until, the judges perk up:“This is more like it!” “The perfect note of sweetness and light,” “I think we’ve found our banquet finale.” At the final furlong, a dish simply called Strawberries and Cream (actually an elaborate melange of pannacotta, fresh strawberries, strawberry jelly, meringue, ricotta dumplings and, yes, candy floss) eventually secures his participation in the GBM/Comic Relief banquet at the Royal Albert Hall. Ta-da! He made it. A handful of weeks on from that prestigious event and Richard is back in his own kitchen in Wiltshire, from where he describes his Great British Menu television experience as “absolutely exhausting, but worth every moment” – and that’s that. It seems that the low-key title that Richard chose to give his flamboyant winning dish typifies the refreshingly fuss/gush-free attitude of a chef who, since long before the recent national media attention, is no stranger to acclaim from food guides, fellow chefs and national food critics alike for menus that one reviewer recently described as “a stunning, exquisite experience; an impeccable feast.” But despite it all, Richard’s journey from teenage washer-up to A-list hob god remains to be the element that grounds every dish he creates. Richard worked in his first pro-kitchen as a pocket money hungry pot-washer at the age of 14. He says: “It may sound corny, but I actually fell into cooking almost by accident. I fell in love with the whole environment almost immediately - the pressure, the banter, the team work; I knew straight away that was how I wanted to live my life. But I’ve worked hard to get where I am today, and paid quite a lot in terms of blood, sweat and tears, the latter mostly in private. Both my parents worked hard, and that rubbed off on me too. But there’s simply no better payback for hard work than knowing I’m constantly creating ‘wow!’ factor experiences for other people – how rewarding is that?”

Richard’s journey from teenage ❝ washer-up to A-list hob god remains to be the element that grounds every dish he creates

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Reward has rolled in from more formal sources, too. Richard was awarded his first Michelin star for the Sawyards Restaurant in Storrington, West Sussex, within five months of being at the helm there. His impressive CV also includes a 3-year stint at triple Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and a year at the double-starred Vineyard at Stockcross in Newbury. At Castle Combe, he really came into his own, earning a 50 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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INSPIRED COOKING: main picture, Richard Davies at the Manor House Hotel, Castle Combe Above, Richard’s version of sea bass, served wih spiced aubergine, celeriac fondant and a crab beignet, and cooked rump of beef with red wine and rosemary mashed potato

Michelin star for the Manor House kitchen in January 2009 and retaining it each year since. But on broaching the subject of the unique talent that attracted such acclaim, we meet once again with Richard’s other skill: the art of the understatement. When asked to summarise his style to somebody who has yet to taste his menus, he simply states that he likes to showcase the very best ingredients possible, and says he couldn’t achieve anything he does without his fantastic suppliers, who he owes so much too. Richard is, it seems, a ‘right here, right now’ man, he may be no stranger to stars, but his feet are firmly planted on the ground. “My journey from being kicked out of school to running the kitchen at the Manor is by far my biggest achievement to date,” he says. “Will I one day open my own restaurant, or put a cookery book together? Maybe both, or perhaps not either – who knows what the future holds?” He’s excited about spring though, and the new crops that are arriving. “Working with English asparagus is every chef’s dream – it’s starting to come through around now, after what’s been a long, hard winter. Better still, we’ve got peas and courgettes coming up in the hotel gardens – that’s the kind of news that I get really excited about.” For aspiring chefs who want to follow in Richard’s footsteps, his advice is simple: “Work hard, be prepared to make difficult sacrifices, but give it your all – you’ll eventually get much more back than you have to put in at the start.” For those who prefer to take an easier route to exciting dining experiences, my advice is equally straightforward: go and eat at the Manor House at your earliest opportunity – Richard Davies is a very special Great British chef indeed. ■ Bybrook Restaurant at the Manor House Hotel, Castle Combe, Wiltshire, SN14 7HR. Tel: 01249 782206, or visit: www.manorhouse.co.uk

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THE WINE COLUMN Angela Mount, wine and food critic, chooses wines for inside or out over the bank holiday weekends

have struggled to even consider the words ‘barbecue’ and ‘salads’ until now, but hope hope that we may yet be enjoying warmth and outdoor eating for the May bank holidays. The wines I’ve chosen this month, are simply some great favourites which will work equally well indoors. The first glimpse of sunshine and a brush of warmth on the skin seems to create an almost Pavlovian reaction in many of us, as we leap to organise impromptu weekend lunches and evening get togethers. The rule of thumb is go for styles that are approachable, versatile enough to cope with lots of different flavours and spicings, and most of all, great value. And those lovely chaps at Great Western Wine are making things even simpler, with at least 10% off the prices of all the wines listed below. Ruggeri Argeo Prosecco Valdobiadenne £12.95 GWW A proper Prosecco from one of the best areas in the region, and better quality than many of the nasty, acidic, cut-price champagnes that you’ll find on supermarket shelves. With a gentle mousse, and ripe pear and baked apple flavours, it’s a delicious glass of refreshing fizz, with a zesty, lemon peel tang, and gentle, floral aromas – fresh, crisp, and the perfect way to welcome guests. Even better is the extra 10% discount in May.

Cruz de Piedra Garnacha Rose 2011, Spain £7.50 GWW This wine is going to be one of the ones in my fridge this summer – I hadn’t tasted it before, but I’m smitten with this gorgeous, vibrant pink, dry rosé, produced in north eastern Spain – it’s quite bold, with juicy, intense, freshly crushed raspberry aromas and flavours; it’s a real, taste-bud tingling, refreshing wine with a zesty, lime-fresh, citrussy finish. A perfect match for freshly seared tuna or chargrilled prawns, or with tandoori spiced chicken, and chilli and coriander marinaded meat. Fantastic value at the May offer price of £6.50.

Yealands Black Label Pinot Gris 2011, Marlborough, NZ £11.95 GWW I’m forever encouraging people to try new wines, so if you love the New Zealand style of freshness and pure fruit, but are just a little tired of Sauvignon blanc, give this a try. From a winery, which was only set up in 2008, but has won awards, for its wines, and its carbon neutral status, this is sublimely fresh and elegant, yet packed with intriguing aromas and flavours. A perfect white to cope with some of the powerful flavours of the barbecue.

MAY’S CHOICE Wines to go with a barbecue: Where better for a flavourpacked, sunshine red, than the home of the ‘barbie’, Australia? Go for a rich, supple red with bags of ripe, velvety fruit, where the tannins are soft. Heartland Stickleback red 2009, (£8.50 in May) is a quirky mix of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz grapes, blended with Dolcetto and Lagrein, Italian grapes. It dances across the palate with ripe, juicy, squishy black fruit, a hint of licorice and a fragrant waft of violet and black cherries. Great Western Wine is at Wells Road, Bath BA2 3AP, tel: 01225 322810. Visit: www.greatwesternwine.co.uk. WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

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One Beaufort

London Road, Bath BA1 6QB. Tel: 01225 334050

REVIEW

Entente cordiale in action

t’s early on a Saturday evening. A middle aged couple are perched on bar stools, him with a pint of Amstel and her with a decent glass of wine, while over at one of the dining tables parents are supervising their children over freshly made pizza, presented on a wooden board that’s ideal for sharing. Another couple is reading the menu, the man saying he’s going to try the duck confit ‘as that’s always a good test of a restaurant.’ It’s good to see an independent restaurant bar doing so well, and in the case of One Beaufort, that’s largely due to restaurateur Kevin Walters who is ticking all the right boxes to appeal to a wide customer base. He offers a traditional Sunday lunch, a backgammon night on a Monday, steak deals on a Thursday and, on a Friday two main fish courses and a bottle of house wine for £29. The interior is just the right mix of formal – with its white tablecloths and candles, the waitresses in long black aprons – and relaxed, the menu is simply printed on a sheet and children are welcome. Nice touches include a sign which reads: “Work hard and be nice to people” and some good looking contemporary art, which is for sale, on the walls. The talk at the bar is of rugby, which is fine in my book. It’s appropriate that what’s very much a local, for people who happen to like calamari and rosé rather than peanuts and a pint. Once settled at our table, we pick from a sensibly brief menu devised by new head chef, Frenchman Andy Lamb. He and Kevin have gone for an Anglo-French mix of cuisine which turns out to be a happier meeting than on the rugby field. Soup of the day is parsnip, honey and thyme and it looks good, served in a big, wide bowl. John opts for the special starter of the day, garlic bread bruschetta, a generous, thick flatbread doused in garlic butter and served warm with tomato rocket and pesto. It’s pretty hearty stuff. My calamari is also a man-sized portion, yet the batter is light as a feather and the squid rings themselves plump and tender. An innocent looking disc of dark amber jelly turns out to have a hefty kick of chilli, which comes as a surprise, albeit a pleasant one. Starters are priced from £5.90 to £12, for a sharing Land and Sea platter. By now the place is busy, the atmosphere set to civilised party mode. The service is very professional – I didn’t see anyone having to wait long for their food or drinks. 52 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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My main course was beautifully prepared sea bass fillet, meltin-the-mouth, served with a classic French buerre blanc, mangetout and crushed new potatoes with garlic and rosemary. It looked good and tasted great. One to the French there, but the rallying cry of good old-fashioned English fish and chips was also scoring highly across the table. John’s separate servings of tartare sauce and mushy, minty peas also pleased him and the waitress brought him ketchup as requested too. I noticed the duck man – if that’s not a personal remark – was nodding his head enthusiastically as he tucked in. Main courses are priced between £12.90 and £17.50 (for a rib eye steak), or you could opt for an in-house pizza from £7.50. A bottle of house wine is £16, ours was the white, Macabeo con Vinai from Spain, light and crisp.

STYLISH: the contemporary interior of One Beaufort, at the Balustrade, London Road

new head chef, Frenchman Andy Lamb . . . he ❝ and Kevin have gone for an Anglo-French mix of cuisine which turns out to be a happier meeting than on the rugby field

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We had a bit of a breather between courses. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to opt for the French custom of taking it easy rather than racing through dinner at a canter. So, after a reasonable rest, we finished with the waitress’s recommended mixed berry cheesecake (also made in-house) accompanied by a little tart rhubarb and a blob of thick cream, and a generous cheeseboard of three well kept cheeses, with oatcakes, grapes and chutney. It’s really handy for those of us who live on the eastern side of Bath – Fairfield Park, Larkhall, Grosvenor and Camden – to have such a good quality restaurant on our doorstep. Once inside, you’re oblivious to the hideous traffic on London Road, and after dinner it’s a reasonable stroll home. We heard that there was to be a christening lunch for 60 the next day, which must be testament in itself to the friendly and local nature of what Kevin and his team are achieving at One Beaufort. ■ GMc

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THE BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT SPEED Capable of travelling at well over three miles a minute, the GT Speed is the fastest ever four seater production car. Dara Foley enjoys a taste of the high life and finds out that this supercar is just as good in the city centre as it is on the Autobahn

Picture by TBM/ Saskia Rumbelow

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MOTORINGcity

fter 67 years of producing pretty much the same cars but with different badges, Rolls Royce and Bentley were finally divorced from their hapless marriage in late 2002. BMW took over Rolls while Volkswagen acquired the Bentley marque and the famous Crewe motorworks. Volkswagen lost no time (and spent around $1 billion) in reviving Bentley and quickly deployed an established team to restyle the line-up. There was an eye for tradition as well as a desire to find a more fitting role for Bentley on the global stage. Dirk van Braeckel, a young and talented Belgian designer who was head of design at VW Skoda in the late 90s, was given the enviable job of restyling the Continental R, and in 2003 a new, sleek and very attractive Continental GT was born. This two door, four seat luxury grand tourer, dubbed the Baby Bentley, was produced as a coupe to start with, and then as a saloon version (the Flying Spur) and lastly as a convertible (the GTC) completing the range. The world was changing for Bentley, and more interestingly, after decades of being a chauffered passenger, the typical Bentley owner was now exploring life in the driving seat. Still with every conceivable luxury to hand, the new Bentley Continental GT owner was finding far more pleasure underfoot. The first generation Continental GT was equipped with a 6.0 litre twinturbocharged W12 engine, which produced a whacking 552bhp and blistering acceleration propelling it to nearly 200mph. Although technically classed as a gran tourismo there was no doubt that with its speed, style and great agility for its size, it was a very serious sports car, albeit a heavyweight contender. Someone once said: “There’s money, and then there’s class, and the two are often separated,” but the early Conti GTs received the full endorsement of millionaires, well-heeled style gurus and the coolest celebrities on the planet, and the GT became very popular as the everyday car for the rich and famous. Okay, David Beckham was one of the first to pick one up (back of the neck ‘tat’ – optional) and every Saturday afternoon since has been sharing his love of the Bentley with other like-minded individuals.

From a standing start, it will reach ❝ 60mph in four seconds and you’ll be touching just over 100mph in another three seconds

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Rooney, Gerrard, Ferdinand and Terry, and countless other premier leaguers, including Super Mario Ballotelli have been well documented by the nation’s tabloids for their GT antics. But when you live in the spotlight, who wants to be seen driving a Rosso Ferrari, or lemon Lambo? We may curse them for their failings on and off the pitch – but it would be very wrong to question their choice of motor. With a Conti GT, their credibility is restored, it is effortlessly classy, understated and remains quintessentially English. Bentley unveiled its latest version of the Continental GT at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed, and if you are going to name a car Speed then you had better deliver just that. It does. The Continental GT Speed (identified from the range mainly by a gunmetal grille and rifled exhausts) top trumps everything before, it’s the fastest ever four seat production car in the world, which at 206mph will cover three miles in well under a minute – if only we had such a road. With 50bhp more than the standard GT models, and a 10mm lowering of the ride height, as well as engineering refinements all round, it really is very fast and has enormous torque that delivers a ripping acceleration. From a standing start it will reach

WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

60mph in four seconds, and you’ll be touching just over 100mph in another three seconds. Bearing in mind the two and half tonnes it weighs then you get a pretty good idea of the incredible feat of engineering that has taken place to achieve this. One highly advanced feature is the clever automatic eight-speed gearbox which will select whatever gear is right, for example it it will leap from second straight into seventh and back down again as needed, these ‘any gear’ changes are fast and super smooth. The result is a thrilling yet completely controlled drive. And if you fancy a race-car ride you can opt out of auto and use the paddles behind the steering wheel to shift up and down. When selected, you can hear the W12 engine popping and crackling as it clears its throat, ready for action. However in a city where 20mph is plenty, (and to be honest; to get to 15mph would be fantastic), the GT Speed does slow beautifully, with grace and style. Bath’s deepening potholes are smoothly traversed by the 21inch wheels, but there is nothing quite as glorious to the senses as the ultra plush interior, created by Bentley’s specialist coachbuilder, Mulliner. This is the best in the world. Every inch is sumptuous, with quilted, hand stitched leather, luxurious fittings and devilish detail throughout. The padding is deep and deluxe and any outside noise or vibration seems far distant. The simplest things are a real joy too; robust trumpet style valves control the air vents, while knobs – that require turning – have precision milled edges, and buttons (heck the buttons!) – that require pushing – give a deep, affirmative click that lets you know if they’re on or off. There’s a monster eight inch touch screen at the centre of everything, that offers a full menu: reversing camera and parking proximity alerts all round as well as a high spec’ sat nav, there’s telephone comms and audio options, and you can also make performance adjustments such as suspension damping, ride height, car tyre pressure etc. All just a touch on screen. It’s very complex but simple to use – often the hallmark of great design. The doors have vacuum self close, so no need to slam, and when you first get in the car, a little robotic arm extends forward to politely present your seatbelt. The two front seats are super plush, and are multi-adjustable, heated or cooled if needed, and a back massage makes a long journey a spalike experience. The boot is expansive and will take plenty of Globetrotter luggage. Above all, a small analogue clock sits quietly in the centre of the dash – bearing the name Breitling, chosen perhaps because the Breitling winged emblem is similar to Bentley’s Flying B – just another one of the well considered touches that makes the GT exceptional. The running costs and fuel consumption will be high, at an average 19.5 mpg, but not many Bentley customers will worry about that, as it will still be cheaper for four adults to enjoy a return trip to London by Bentley in ultimate style (on one full tank) than a single first class return by train. For the GT Speed, prices start at around £150k, but our test car (shown here), with some added extras came in at £165,000. For that money you get the ultimate in handcrafted luxury and a truly splendid car. The Bentley GT Speed is the epitome of luxury, elegance and quality. It’s quite simply a wonderful car to travel in and oozes class. And should you be fortunate with your investments, win the lottery, or merely do rather well in life, then this has to be one of the finest purchases you might make. Come on ERNIE . . . . I’ve had those Premium Bonds for years. ■ The Bath Magazine’s test car courtesy of HR Owen Bentley Motors. For more information on the Bentley Continental GT Speed contact: H.R. Owen, Bentley Motors, Rutherford Way, Cheltenham. GL51 9TU. Tel: 0333 240 3659. http://www.cheltenham.bentleymotors.com.

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CITYpeople

A spring boost

News in brief

■ The council-run Roman Baths is competing against Blenheim Palace, The Cutty Sark and the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire in the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year category of the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2013. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Manchester on 20 May. ■ Four cyclists from law firm Withy King and estate agents Carter Jonas are in training to join former Bath Rugby players as part of a charity bike ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End. Paul Daniels and Mark Hambleton, from Withy King, will be joining the 963miles challenge, which takes place in June, while new father Patrick Brady and his colleague Colin Scragg, from Carter Jonas, will be tackling the 226mile route from Bath to Land’s End. You can sponsor any of the four for this local good cause, the Bath Rugby Foundation, which works with young people to enhance their lives through sport, via their justgiving pages. ■ Hundreds of families in the Bath area will be given access to food as a result of a £12,000 donation from Sirona Care and Health. It decided to help the Bath Foodbank and the Somer Valley Foodbank in Radstock with the donation. Simon Knighton, Sirona’s chairman said: “This year we have chosen the Foodbank initiative as we recognise so many families are struggling to make ends meet.” Chris Jensen of Bath Foodbank said: “We are using around two tonnes of food a month and in the 18 months since we started we have fed just over 3,000 people – between 600 and 700 of these were children.” The Foodbank helps those identified as being in immediate need of three days emergency food supply. Donations of food can be made at Manvers Street Baptist Church.

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STUDENT CHALLENGE: Eton Design of Walcot ran a competition as part of Bath in Fashion to design an outfit using furnishing fabrics. The overall winner was Gracie Payne, centre, seen with fellow finalists Francesca Butt and Amelia Matcham and their creations. All three students are from the Royal High School, Bath

BEST DRESSED WINDOW: passers-by in Walcot Street have been breaking into smiles at the sight of Coopers Electrical Stores’ fun window display. Thanks to boss Paul Cooper’s daughter-inlaw to be, Cara Holt who is a freelance designer and prop maker, there’s a fridge bursting with homemade fruit, veg and sausages, while on a nearby range a woolly load of pasta is boiling over.

The annual celebration of hemlines and heels, Bath in Fashion, held in April, has been deemed a success by the 150 businesses involved, who reported an increase in trade, and which saw Bath in national and international press. Andrew Cooper, Bath Business Improvement District manager, said: “Retailers have already reported an uplift in sales by participating in the street events and instore promotions. What Bath BID has demonstrated through Bath in Fashion is the strength of working collectively as a city for mutual benefit.”

PICTURE: Saskia Rumbelow

■ In a feat of ingenuity, Bath Abbey in partnership with Bath & North East Somerset Council, are planning to use the naturally hot 40C water in the Great Roman Drain, which currently flows into the nearby River Avon to heat the Abbey and a number of other buildings. This clever use of the ancient resources of Bath to resolve a very modern problem is part of a bigger plan to renovate and expand the Abbey facilities. The Abbey is an internationally significant listed building at the heart of the only World Heritage City in Britain (the only other one in the world is Venice). This sustainable solution will, for the first time, link the medieval building with the adjacent Roman Baths.

City shoppers welcome double opening There’s good news for Bath shoppers this month as bargain store TK Maxx opens in the former JJB Sports shop and Joules, which sells clothes for men, women and children, relocates to the shop formerly occupied by Duck, Son and Pinker in Northgate Street. Tom Joule, owner of Joules said: “We really are so excited about this store, it’s our largest yet. We have always had such wonderful support from the Bath area and after years of attending the Bath and West Show and previously having such a small store, it felt about time to open a new bigger and much better store here in Bath.” To celebrate the new store, Joules is offering 20% off everything during launch weekend. The first shopper through the door on the first day will be given a £100 voucher,

POPULAR BRAND: Joules

while there are £50 vouchers for the next ten people in line. Murray Hockridge, from BBC’s The Voice will be singing in store on Friday and Saturday. TK Maxx will open in the High Street on Thursday 2 May creating 30 new jobs. The first 500 shoppers through the door at 9am will receive a £10 gift card.

TK Maxx sells designer and well known brands at a fraction of normal retail prices in a nofrills store. A typical TK Maxx store stocks an average 50,000 items with deliveries bringing up to 10,000 new items to store every week, with up to 60% off the recommended retail price on clothes and homeware.

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TACKLING TROUBLESOME EXECUTORS When someone dies there is often an assumption that their next of kin will deal with the deceased person’s affairs. However, this is not always the case and it will need to be established who will deal with the deceased’s property and finances (known as administering an estate). The estate will need to be administered by the deceased’s personal representatives. Where there is a will appointing an individual, they will be an executor. Where there is no will or where there is a will but no willing executor the individual appointed will be known as an administrator, who is normally a close relative of the deceased. The executor or administrator will need to collect in all of the assets, pay off the debts and liabilities and distribute the estate according to the will or the intestacy rules (the rules which govern which of the deceased’s relatives inherit where there is no valid will). Usually, everything runs smoothly. However, on occasion, disputes may arise between joint personal representatives or between personal representatives and the beneficiaries (those persons who inherit under a will or the intestacy rules). Emotions often run high following a person’s death and apparently minor issues are frequently blown out of proportion. Whilst it is always better to resolve any disputes or concerns amicably, it may sometimes be necessary to seek specialist advice. Many of the issues that are raised below will also apply to administrators.

Unwilling executors If you are appointed as an executor in a will but do not wish to act, what can you do? Provided that you have not become involved in administering the estate (known as intermeddling) you can renounce probate, which will end any obligation or power to administer the estate.

Unsuitable executors If you are a beneficiary and are concerned that an executor or administrator who intends to apply for a grant of probate is unsuitable it may be possible to prevent such a grant being taken out (by way of a caveat) or ask the court to pass over that executor. Legal advice should always be obtained in such circumstances. An application to the court for an executor to be passed over is useful where there is a conflict of interest or WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

where an executor is of bad character.

Delaying executors If you are a beneficiary and are concerned that an executor is stalling and valuable time is being lost, what can you do? There is a way of forcing the executor’s hand – you may be able to issue a citation. There are two types in this instance. First a citation to accept or refuse a grant of probate may be applied for where the executor has not intermeddled which seeks to force the executor to make up his mind. Secondly a citation to take a grant can be applied for where an executor has intermeddled but six months has passed by without a grant being obtained.

As can be seen, there are many options that are available to concerned beneficiaries or personal representatives and it is very important that specialist legal advice is taken as soon as possible so as to prevent a difficult situation becoming worse. As well as providing support on inheritance disputes, we are also able to provide advice for executors when administering an estate. For further information please contact Luke Watson, Head of Dispute Resolution at Mowbray Woodwards Solicitors and member of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists, on 01225 485700 or via email at law@mowbraywoodwards.co.uk

All of the above steps may be taken before a grant of probate has been obtained. What happens if there is already a grant of probate? A number of options may be available depending on the circumstances.

Inventory and account If you are a beneficiary and have concerns that an executor is not doing his or her job properly you can apply to the Probate Registry asking for an inventory and account regarding financial dealings in relation to the deceased’s estate.

Removal of executors Either a beneficiary or a co-executor may apply to the court under section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 for an executor to be removed and replaced. This could, unusually and only in particularly complex cases, involve the appointment of a judicial trustee who will act under the close supervision of the court.

Court led administration of the estate In very exceptional circumstances it may be possible for an application to made for a general administration order. This means that the court takes over the administration of the estate and the executors are left unable to take any steps without the approval of the court. Such orders are very rare and will seldom be appropriate except in highly complex estates where relations between the executors and beneficiaries have completely broken down.

Luke Watson, Head of Dispute Resolution at Mowbray Woodwards Solicitors

Mowbray Woodwards Solicitors, 3 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HG www.mowbraywoodwards.co.uk MAY 2013

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ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

ARE YOU ON TOP OF THE TAX CHANGES? There was a time when most changes in tax were announced in one Budget speech and that was it. However, in more recent years the Chancellor has delivered an Autumn Statement and a Budget each year, often announcing changes well in advance of implementation. When you add to this the finer details announced after the main Budget Day headlines, the ongoing consultations, and some legislation which is introduced quickly, it can feel as if tax law is constantly changing. In this article we have sifted through the various changes announced over the past few months and selected some which may be relevant to you. Share options for employees

Employment Allowance

In certain situations it can be appropriate for companies to incentivise key staff through offering share options. The Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme is well established, and can potentially provide a commercial solution whilst resulting in tax benefits for both company and employee. Following changes in the rules, it may be possible for the employee to achieve low capital gains tax rates.

While we only currently have an outline of how this allowance might work, we understand that UK businesses and charities will be able to apply for up to £2,000 per year off their employers’ National Insurance bill in April 2014. This may help them take on new staff and unlike the National Insurance holiday which was regional, this should apply to all businesses.

Annual Investment Allowance We mentioned in our December 2012 article that from 1 January 2013, businesses can potentially invest up to £250,000 in plant and machinery and claim a full deduction against its business profits. If your business has incurred capital expenditure in 2013, you may benefit from shortening the financial year end to 31.12.12 or before.

Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) Relief If you made capital gains on any assets in the year ended 5 April 2013, the original rules allowed these gains to be relieved by reinvesting into a qualifying SEIS investment. This relief has now been extended, enabling you to also relieve capital gains made in the current tax year ended 5 April 2014.

Patent Box The Patent Box will allow certain companies to elect for a 10% rate of corporation tax from 1 April 2013 on all profits attributable to patent related income whether paid separately as royalties or embedded in the sales price of products. Existing patents, as well as new ones can qualify and to obtain these benefits you will need to be able to identify the patent related income and associated trade profits. When added to the potential Research and Development tax credits that may also be available the company, the combined benefits could be very attractive. WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

The £2,000 will be deducted from the employer’s National Insurance liability, starting with the first payroll after April 2014 and we have the expertise to assist you with claiming this allowance whilst also taking care of your payroll function.

Collection of the High Income Child Benefit Charge This charge affects child benefit paid from 7 January 2013 onwards and will therefore first apply for the tax year 2012/13. As originally introduced, the charge was to be declared and taxed through the self assessment tax system. The new regulations enable HMRC to collect the charge via a PAYE coding adjustment, unless the taxpayer objects. This means that a 2013/14 PAYE code adjustment could be made to collect the charge due for 2012/13 as well as the 2013/14 charge.

Partnerships and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP’s) HMRC has changed its view such that from 6 April 2013 sleeping or inactive limited partners will need to pay Class 4 and Class 2 National Insurance. Also, as part of a drive towards clamping down on the use of partnerships and LLP’s for tax mitigation, the Government is to consult on removing the presumption that all partners are self employed.

IR35 for office holders IR35 legislation can result in a personal service company having to account for PAYE and NIC on certain payments to its owner. This is being extended to “office-holders” for the 2013-14 tax year onwards. Current HMRC guidance states that this will apply when a worker’s personal services are supplied via an intermediary to perform the duties of an office, but this guidance is subject to legislation and so we await further clarification. However, it appears that if you can demonstrate you only provide consultancy services which would not result in you being employed if you provided them direct, and you do not provide duties arising from an office or employment, then you may fall outside the rules. We are keeping a close eye on this area.

Jon Miles

Please contact Jon Miles on jm@richardsonswift.co.uk if any of the above matters are of interest to you

www.richardsonswift.co.uk 11 Laura Place, Bath BA2 4BL 01225 325 580 MAY 2013

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How to split your salary & dividends for 2013/14 to minimise tax With an increased personal allowance and a lower point at which 40% tax is payable, it’s time to review the most tax effective split between salary and dividends for owner managed companies. This optimum split comes when neither you nor the company pay any NI and yet you earn enough for a credit to be made against your National Insurance record for the purposes of the state pension. Working on the assumption you have no other income, the answer is an annual salary of £7,696 and dividends of £30,379 (value drawn from the company). Where you have other income, you can simply change the dividend payable (rather than the salary). If your spouse (or partner) also works in the business and holds shares, then they would be able to take the same as you, providing a joint income with no further tax to pay of £76,150! At OCL we have been looking afterSMEs (start ups to turnovers of £3 million) for more than twenty years; we would be pleased to meet you to discuss any tax, financial and accounting matters that would help you, including how we can help you save money. See our website for more – and download our FREE guides

“OCL Accountancy always provide an excellent level of support in an extremely straightforward and user friendly fashion.Advice is sensible and constructive. It is much more of a partnership than a traditional client relationship which is particularly helpful." Call Marie Maggs or Mike Wilcox on 01225 445507 to arrange a no-obligation meeting 141 Englishcombe Lane, Bath BA2 2EL

www.oclaccountancy.com

Speaking with Distinction Every pupil at Calder House passes EBS exams! Pupils from Calder House have done exceptionally well in this year’s English Speaking Board exams. Every single child at the school, which specialises in helping dyslexic children successfully return to mainstream education, took the exam... and every single one passed! What’s more 94% of pupils achieved either a Merit Plus or a Distinction, the two highest grades awarded by examiners. The ESB exam is an external examination designed to test reading and public speaking skills. Each child has to recite a poem, read aloud from a favourite book, give a talk on a subject of their choice and answer questions on it. “This is a fantastic result!” says Mrs Devereux, Head of English. “Many pupils arrive at Calder House with real reading difficulties and very low self-esteem. Within a short space of time – as these results show – we give them their confidence back and teach them the skills they need to become enthusiastic readers.”

Calder House’s pupils made a big impression on Bryony Huntley from the English Speaking Board.

Last year Calder House was inspected by Ofsted and was judged to be Outstanding in all seven assessment criteria. Children typically spend just over two years at the school before returning to mainstream education, armed with the strategies and selfbelief they need in order to thrive.

For more information please contact the school on 01225 742329 or visit our website www.CalderHouseSchool.co.uk

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FIXED FEES – A FAIR DEAL FROM BATH’S INDEPENDENT FAMILY LAWYER Crallan Family and Divorce Solicitors are an independent firm of specialists whose benchmark is to give clients a fair deal. Divorce and separation are not just about the financial implications but the emotional toll it takes on couples and their children. Richard Crallan and his team recognise that fairness, efficiency and integrity are vital factors in supporting their clients and creating long term stability. When families break down the individuals involved are in no position to make clear decisions about the future. This is where Richard Crallan and his associates can help by giving sound, practical advice to clients at a reasonable price. Crallans was the first law firm in the UK to offer fixed fees that cover the whole of a divorce case from start to finish. With the abolition of Legal Aid they can guarantee you the best deal on the market. With fixed fees starting from under £3,000 why sign a blank cheque? Crallan Solicitors is just a call away. Not only will you get the fairest price but your initial (one hour) consultation is free.

CRALLAN FAMILY AND DIVORCE SOLICITORS Certainty in uncertain times

WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

01225 471094 www.crallans.co.uk reception@crallans.co.uk 1 Manvers Street, Bath BA1 1JZ

MAY 2013

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‘PHOTO NOIR ’

ST UD IO M AR K O

arko Dutka’s portraiture is conducted in his fabulous studio. Exquiste lighting and a black background are all that is needed to produce these striking, timeless, works of art. The images speak about emotion, depth and absolute simplicity. Smiles are not the order of the day, serious studies work best in this style of portraiture.

Now you can picture your own child in a stuuning Marko Dutka ‘Photo Noir’ original NO SESSION FEE SAVE £100 Simply phone 01225 428881 and mention that you saw this feature in The Bath Magazine to receive your free ‘Photo Noir’ session

Marko is one of the very few portrait photographers practicing today that can supply you with more than just a family portrait. He can offer you a unique opportunity to possess your very own personal work of art.

Once your session has been shot, a special preview show will take place where you can purchase your beautiful images from our exclusive product range

The 'Photo Noir' session is always planned with complete simplicity in mind. Clothing is kept dark to maximise the impact of the image. The idea is for the faces to be the main feature of the portrait so a low key effect is employed. This is the most emotional style of portraiture and as such is always presented in Fine Art Black and White.

Framed ‘Photo Noir’ portraits start from only £75 A £50 refundable booking fee is required at time of booking.

Marko holds many distinctions which include Fellowships of three major photographic organisations and he is commissioned to travel internationally on portrait and fashion shoots. Since opening his 1st studio in 1999 a Marko original has become widely regarded as a must have home accessory. Since then he has captured for posterity 1,000’s of family portraits. These portraits have now become treasured family heirlooms and are regarded by his many satisfied clients as unique and personal works of art.

LIMITED SESSIONS AVAILABLE - CALL TODAY

Studio Marko Photography 2 Dorset Close Bath BA2 3RF Tel: 01225 428881

mail@imagesbymarko.com

www.studiomarko.com

CLASSIC • TIMELESS

• SIMPLY BEAUTIF UL

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Tudor Falconry at Lacock Abbey

Something Very Far Away at the egg

Tractor Ted’s Farm Show

MAKE THE MOST OF MAY There are plenty of events and activities on offer for all the family to enjoy this month; from arts and crafts to farmyard fun. Use our guide to help plan quality time with your children

Fun at the farm Bowood House, near Chippenham, Wiltshire. To book tickets, visit: www.tractorted.co.uk

Tractor Ted’s Farm Show 2013, Sunday 9 June, 10am – 5pm Tickets are now on sale for this farm show to coincide with the Bowood charity dog show and summer fair. Tractor Ted’s Little Farm will have cows being hand-milked, sheep shearing, hens, donkeys, ponies and goats. There will be a ‘look and learn’ tent with experts demonstrating how to keep bees and rear hens, as well as pony rides, pig racing, and country stalls selling crafts and farm produce. Digger Dave and friends will be driving their big JCB diggers in two special shows in the main ring, and tractor driver, star of the Tractor Ted films, Les, will be at the farm throughout the day. Don’t miss the parrot display, sheep grand national, cookery stage, tractor and trailer rides, and fairground. This is sure to be a brilliant day out for all the family.

looks to the stars for answers and journeys deep into space to keep the thing most precious to him alive. For ages 8+.

Swallows and Amazons, Thursday 23 – Saturday 25 May, 7pm; matinee: Saturday, 2pm Bath Spa University’s graduating performing arts and theatre production students present Arthur Ransome’s classic tale of camping, sailing and dastardly piracy. Cast your imagination adrift and join the Walker and Blackett children on their glorious summer holiday adventure. This is an action-packed play with music. For ages 5+.

Half term in the city Victoria Art Gallery, tel: 01225 477233; the Roman Baths, tel: 01225 477785; and the Fashion Museum, tel: 01225 477789

Brilliant Beasts, Monday 27 May – Friday 31 May, 10am – 1pm & 2pm – 4pm

Family theatre

Use animals found in the Roman Baths collection to make a beastly fridge magnet.

The egg theatre, Theatre Royal Bath. Box office tel: 01225 448844 www.theatreroyal.org.uk

Dance the Night Away, Tuesday 28 May, 10.30am – 12.30pm & 1.30pm – 3.30pm

Something Very Far Away, Friday 17 & Saturday 18 May; Friday, 10.30am & 1pm; Saturday, 11.30am & 3pm Kepler is an ordinary man who loves two things beyond all others: the cosmos and his wife Tomasina. After a sudden and tragic loss, he 64 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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Get into fashion and create designs to dazzle at the Fashion Museum.

Less is Moore, Friday 31 May, 10.30am – noon & 1.30pm – 3pm Get to know the work of Henry Moore at the Victoria Art Gallery and create a piece of art to take home. For ages 3-11 years.

Magnificent birds Lacock Abbey, Lacock, Wiltshire. Tel: 01249 730459 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock

Tudor Falconry, Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 May, 10.30am – 4pm See magnificent birds of prey soaring above the River Avon and chat to falconer Jonathon Marshall as he shows off his birds in the beautiful setting of the medieval cloisters. The flying displays will take place at 11.30am and 3pm. There will also be a parade of hawks at 1pm where you can join in (or watch) a medieval style procession and hear about the birds.

Talking history The Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 388588 www.holburne.org

Museums at Night: Ghosts in the Garden, Saturday 18 May – Saturday 29 June The opening night will begin at 6pm and finish at 10pm, with your chance to explore the Holburne out-of-hours with an evening of spinetingling ghost stories and encounters with extraordinary characters from the garden’s past. From then on until the end of June you can experience Sydney Gardens in its Georgian heyday. Interact with real people from the 1820s including inventor JJ Merlin and waistcoat thief James Wiltshire.

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Book a creative experience & give back to the community Here at Creativity Works we believe that the journey or process of creativity really can change lives for the better and inspire and empower people to explore, develop and grow. We are pleased to now be launching a very exciting new range of ‘creative indulgences’ and affordable courses to the general public. From creative spa days to creation of a beautiful willow woven sculpture or inspirational children’s party celebrations. We will work with you and your ideas to tailor-make these activities to your wishes. Our bank of professional artists can provide all art forms from pottery to silk painting to help you explore your inner creative. Profits generated from these activities will be invested back into our valuable work with those living with mental health challenges or facing difficulties in their lives. Get in touch to discuss possibilities and treat yourself: 01761 438852 / info@creativityworks.org.uk or visit our website: www.creativityworks.org.uk/creativewell

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FIT&FABULOUS Holiday essentials ❶

To be a beautiful bronze goddess on the beach, all you need is Guerlain’s Sunless Tinted Selftanning Gel from the Terracotta collection. One hour after application you’ll have an instant tan (without an oily residue) and a gorgeous natural glow that will last for up to four days. Available from Jolly’s, £35.

❷

For instant skin hydration on long-haul flights or hot and humid days, carry Aromatherapy Associates Rose Hydrating Mist (£20) in your handbag. This rose water face spritz instantly cools, as well as tones and evens any complexion. It’s ideal for combating dry skin and doesn’t ruin makeup. Visit: www.aromatherapyassociates.com

❸

❹

To help prepare skin for sun exposure, before you go on holiday, apply Decleor’s Aromessence Solaire Body Tan Activator Serum daily all over your body. It is a natural serum containing a blend of camomile and geranium essential oil designed to help boost the skin’s natural defences before sun exposure while carrot oil promotes an even and long-lasting tan. Available from www.decleor.co.uk and spas, £44. Sun exposure can leave skin dry and dehydrated, so make sure you pack evolve’s Skin Cocoon Body Cream and use it as an after-sun treatment. This ultra-rich, deeply moisturising cream contains Sacha Inchi oil from Peru which has been valued for centuries for its nutrient-rich properties, which help restore depleted moisture levels and promote skin regeneration and elasticity. It’s easily absorbed and lightly scented too. Available from www.evolvebeauty.co.uk, £14.99.

NEWS IN BRIEF • If you’re interested in learning meditation, you can now book on to a free beginners course in passage meditation in Larkhall. Held on four Tuesdays in June, 7-9pm in New Oriel Hall, the course will teach how to discover your unique contribution to life, develop insight and understanding, release deep reserves of energy, sharpen concentration, shed unwanted habits and deal with stress. For further information or to book, contact Lin Patterson on tel: 01225 311163, or email: lin@phonecoop.coop

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SKIN DEEP The latest health and beauty news and product reviews from Samantha Coleman

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• You can now book your place in this year’s women-only Bath Midnight Walk for Dorothy House Hospice, which takes place on Saturday 14 September. This year you are encouraged to complete the 8km circular walk around the city in your pyjamas to reflect this year’s fundraising focus: raising money for services including Hospice at Home, which provides night-time care for patients in their own homes. The event will start from SouthGate at the stroke of midnight. An early bird registration fee of £10 will be available until 30 June, when it goes up to £15. To sign up visit: www.bathmidnightwalk.co.uk or tel: 01225 721480.

• A new fitness concept has been launched in the city – personal trainer Jennie Antell, of EcoFitness, has teamed up with the National Trust to offer an outdoor gym on Bath’s Skyline to people of all fitness levels. Skyline workouts take place three times a week, allowing participants to benefit from fresh air as they exercise. Unlimited outdoor workouts for six weeks costs £50. The meeting point for the 45 minute sessions is Smallcombe Vale on Tuesday and Sunday mornings and Thursday evening. There’s also an additional walking group that takes place on Tuesdays at 11am at an extra cost of £6 per week. For further information visit: www.ecofitness.co.uk

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WALK THE WALK NIGHT MOVES: flashing bunny ears and PJs were popular walking gear at last year’s Bath Midnight Walk – this year, it’s hoped that a majority of the walkers will turn up in their night attire

Why would hundreds of women tog themselves up in pyjamas, walking boots and quite possibly a pair of flashing bunny ears and walk the streets of Bath after dark? Here’s why ...

here can’t be many people in Bath who haven’t heard of Dorothy House. Since it was set up 37 years ago in Bloomfield Road, the hospice has cared for tens of thousands of local people. Now based in Winsley, near Bradford on Avon, and serving a 700-square-mile area of Wiltshire and Somerset, as well as Bath itself, Dorothy House continues to look after around 700 patients and their families every day. Providing its services – all free of charge – is a costly business and, like most hospices, Dorothy House receives only about 30 per cent of its funding from the NHS and none from Macmillan Cancer Support or other national charities. This year, after NHS funding, more than £3 million – or £7,000 a day – must be raised to continue to provide services at the current level. And it’s to support these essential services that up to 1,000 women will be pounding the streets of the city later this year – dressed in their nightwear. Dorothy House events organiser Phillippa Watson said: “The Bath Midnight Walk has become our biggest single fundraiser. Since 2007, when we held the first Midnight Walk at Winsley, the event has gained hugely in popularity and raised the amazing total of nearly £650,000. “The money has been used to support a whole range of services, both in the hospice itself and out in the community, which is where the majority of our care is provided. Each year, we focus on a particular service to highlight during the build-up to the walk itself. For 2013, we’re looking at Hospice at Home – which is why we’re inviting ladies to take to the streets in their pyjamas, nighties and onesies. It’ll be the biggest pyjama party the city has ever seen.” Bath businesswoman Annette Dolan knows just how important Hospice at Home is to local families, as the service helped her to care for her mother, Dorothy Adlington, who died in 2011. Annette, founder of Bath Aqua Glass, said: “Without

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Left, Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies popped on her dotty dressing gown to help launch the 2013 walk

the support of Dorothy House I would have found it very difficult to nurse my mother in her own home. I called our Hospice at Home carers ‘angels’, as that is what they were. For the last month of Mum’s life I was supported by these wonderful ladies and they were so lovely to my mother. They made her feel safe. My mother died in mine and my daughter’s arms, assisted by a Dorothy House angel, in the comfort of her own surroundings – exactly where she wanted to be.” Phillippa added: “We’d like to make this year’s event a recordbreaker, so do help us to carry on providing support for people like Dorothy, Annette and their families. “If you register now, it’s just £10 – that goes up to £15 from 1 July. The registration fee covers costs only – the success of the event relies on everyone raising as much sponsorship as possible. We do know how hard it is to ask for money from friends and family – but we’re relying on you to ask, because our patients can’t.” To sign up online or to find out more, go to www.bathmidnightwalk.co.uk or call the Dorothy House fundraising team on 01225 721480.

MAY 2013

Photo: Glenn Phillips/Wiltshire Times

The Bath Midnight Walk is open to women and girls aged 16 and over. It will start from SouthGate at the stroke of midnight on Saturday 14 September. The 8km circular route is fully marshalled and takes walkers around the city, via the Royal Crescent and Royal Victoria Park

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B A T H

Summer Treats SPRAY TAN - £25 MINI MANICURE & PEDICURE - £35 BRAZILIAN WAXING - £25 Available May - August

green street house, 14 green street, bath BA1 2JZ Tel: 01225 426000 Email: info@greenstreethouse.com www.greenstreethouse.com * No two offers can be used together. Quote this ad when booking

10 years younger Known as the “London Lip Queen”, Dr Rita Rakus has made her name as a leading cosmetic doctor through her sensitive approach to aesthetics and her patients Many signs of ageing on the face can be lessoned by the use of “fillers” to restore natural fullness and volume to multiple areas. These products can smooth away the lines and folds that occur. Treatment can usually be performed depending on the filler, with minimal discomfort and downtime. We use various products including Juvederm™ and Restylane™. There is no “one size fits all” and so we invite you in for a free consultation to discuss which of these products would benefit you most as well as fit your budget

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Tel: 01225 466851 No.2 Kingsmead St. Bath.

www.theorangerylaserandbeautybath.co.uk

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One of Dr Rakus’s associate doctors visits The Orangery Laser and Beauty Clinic, to perform dermal fillers, facial volumisation, hand improvements, muscle inhibitors plus consultations for all our other major treatments. Please visit her website on www.drritarakus.com for information, or telephone The Orangery to make an appointment for your free consultation.

Treat yourself

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Another spectacular offer! IPL Permanent Hair Reduction Treatments

The latest technology in teeth whitening used in America 30 minute treatment, perfect in your lunch break DENTIST APPROVED BB COOL TECHNOLOGY

Zero Sensitivity, Zero Pain, Zero Peroxide

£79 normally £199 This offer is valid until the 31st May 2013

£479 the orangery

£279 This offer is valid until the 31st May 2013

l a s e r

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No.2 Kingsmead St. Bath.

Tel: 01225 466851 www.theorangerylaserandbeautybath.co.uk

Win a fabulous watch* of your choice!

fabulous is a designer jewellery shop in SouthGate, stocking leading interna"onal brands like Pandora, Thomas Sabo, Swarovski, Nomina"on and John Rocha. With a dedicated watch area, fabulous now stocks over 20 must-have watch brands such as Lulu Guinness, IceWatch and Radley

To win a watch of your choice simply visit us in-store or online and tell us which other colour the Lulu Guinness ‘Don’t forget your Lips"ck’ Watch (pictured) is available in.

Name: Contact Number: Colour available in: Address:

Tick here to be added to the fabulous mailing list to receive news of designers and events

*Two lucky winners will each win a watch up to the value of £150, competition closes May 31st. No cash alternative

Drop your entry into the store, or post to: fabulous, 17 St Lawrence Street, SouthGate, Bath, BA1 1AN T: 01225 330333 www.fabulouscollec"ons.co.uk

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MAY 2013

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OUT&ABOUT

Explore two tunnels on foot The newly restored tunnels on the old Somerset and Dorset Railway have opened up new links for walkers and cyclists. Andrew Swift explores part of the route on foot

month ago a £4m walking and cycle path, including a 1,672-metre-long former railway tunnel, opened south of Bath. To mark the occasion, this month’s walk heads along it to visit a hidden valley and an abandoned flight of locks, before returning along old footpaths and green lanes. To get to the starting point, we will, for ease of reference, start at Oldfield Park station. After heading up the ramp from the platform, cross the road and carry on along a footpath beside the line. When you come to a road, cross and continue along a footpath. Carry on alongside the cemetery wall, and, after going over a railway bridge, cross the road and bear right up the Two Tunnels Greenway (ST733645). You are now following the course of the old Somerset & Dorset Railway, closed in 1966 and brought back to life as a shared path. The path leads over a new bridge, replacing one demolished after the line closed. After going under a road bridge, the path crosses another new bridge, with public toilets down to the right. You soon come to the first of the path’s two tunnels. Although only 409 metres long, Devonshire Tunnel had a punishing gradient of 1 in 50. Today the tunnel is well-lit and the air is clear; in the days of steam, it was pitch black and filled with clouds of smoke. It leads into Lyncombe Vale, a sylvan interlude before the 1672-metre Combe Down Tunnel. Its falling gradient of 1 in 100 provided a respite for engine drivers and stokers heading out of Bath but posed a formidable challenge for those coming the other way. It was not unknown for train crews to be overcome by fumes; on one occasion in 1929 they failed to come round and the train ran away downhill, killing the driver and two others. Once through the tunnel, the line runs through a cutting with arches shoring up the unstable ground, before crossing Tucking Mill viaduct, high above a lake. Look out for the distinctive Midford Castle to the right, built in 1775 in the shape of the ace of spades and once owned by actor Nicholas Cage. Carry on through a short tunnel, beyond which is Midford 76 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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TRANSPORT LINKS: main picture, inside the Combe Down Tunnel, one the newly opened former railway tunnels south of Bath Inset, a steam train on the Somerset & Dorset Railway, Lyncombe Vale in c1936

It was not unknown for train ❝ crews to be overcome by fumes; on one occasion in 1929 they failed to come round and the train ran away downhill

❞

station, where the path cuts through the car park of the Hope & Anchor. Walk down to the road, turn left under the viaduct, and cross by the inn to go down steps and follow a footpath under the viaduct (ST760606). The bog garden on your left is on the bed of the Somersetshire Coal Canal, the route of which you will be following for the next mile and a half. As you go through a kissing gate (KG) and carry on along the towpath, look to the left to see an aqueduct which carried an arm of the canal across Midford Brook (ST757605). Carry on along the towpath, crossing a stile. After passing an old bridge, the path goes through a KG and veers left to avoid a railway embankment built across the canal. This had no connection with the line you walked along earlier. It closed in the 1950s after being used to film The Titfield Thunderbolt. Go under the railway and follow the path as it bears right. Look out for an old conduit on your left, before going through a

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OUT&ABOUT

REMNANTS OF THE PAST: an old bridge over the canal

KG to rejoin the towpath. After another KG, you pass the remains of three locks. Go up the steps ahead and through a KG (ST748602). Turn right and then left through a gate, heading down steps to the towpath. On your right are the remains of a platform used to tranship Fuller’s Earth into canal boats. Carry on alongside a meadow on the course of the canal. At the road, cross and go under a railway bridge. After crossing a stile, carry on past a flight of abandoned locks and through another KG. Here the canal doubles back on itself to continue up another flight of locks, but the path heads straight on. Don’t cross the stream, but carry on and take the footpath bearing right uphill. Cross a stile to the left of a house (ST743608), carry on uphill and, after crossing another stile, bear left up a field. Cross a stile in the top corner and continue along a lane, ignoring a turning to the left. Head through a gate into Southstoke, where ‘Save the Packhorse’ signs demonstrate villagers’ opposition to the recent closure of their pub. Bear left by the telephone box and left uphill by the old brewery. Cross the road at the top by the Cross Keys, carry on along Southstoke Road for 100 metres and turn right into

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Shepherds Walk (ST748619). When you come to a lane, cross and carry on along the footpath. At the next lane, carry on and bear left along a path between chicanes. After another 400 metres, go through more chicanes and continue along a road. At the end, turn left uphill. Past the school is a row of quarrymen’s cottages. Turn right along a stone-walled path between the cottages, climb the steps and turn left along the road. Turn right down Rock Lane into another old quarry (ST758623). Carry on along a gravel drive and up steps to the left of No 6. At the top, fork right, go between the buildings, cross the road and go through a gate along to the right. Head across the field to the left of the war memorial, passing over 70 metres above Combe Down Tunnel. Cross at the zebra crossing and carry on along the main road. When you reach a large gatepost, turn left along a footpath between stone walls. This is the original road down to Bath. Although uninspiring at first, after going through a grotto-like arch, its old character reasserts itself as it heads downhill. After passing the Catholic Cemetery, turn right through a KG into the Abbey Cemetery. Follow a path down to the main entrance and continue down the road. At the bottom, turn left by the White Hart. Head through Widcombe and along the main road before following the signs to Bath Spa station – from where you can catch a train back to Oldfield Park if you wish. ■

FURTHER INFORMATION Length of walk: 9 miles Approx time: four hours ■ Map: OS Explorer 155 ■ Refreshment stops: The Hope & Anchor, Midford; Cross Guns, Combe Down or the White Hart at Widcombe ■ ■

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INTERIORstyle

A tasteful palette Lansdown design and paint studio and shop, The Marmalade House carried out a gentle makeover on a Georgian cottage in Bath using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

loral designer Helen Mulloy Reid of Wild Thyme Flower Design is creative by nature and works as a freelance and as a mobile beauty and body therapist covering the Bath area, the emphasis on all her work being natural, earthy and organic. So when she decided to revamp the furniture in her Georgian cottage in Bath, the challenge was on to find something that would make the changes she was after, suit her colour palette, be affordable and above all be a little bit different. She said: “I felt that my much-loved pieces of furniture were in 78 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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need of a facelift. Each chair, sofa and cupboard I had collected over time had a shabby look and was painted, but some of them had a rather chipped and dated look about them and they needed a new lease of life. I had read about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and wanted to find out more, so I contacted Vanessa Sayce from The Marmalade House, our local stockist in Bath, and arranged for a free consultation.” Having previously worked from her barn studio in Kelston, Vanessa opened her new shop and studio on the Lansdown Road in Bath just before Christmas to showcase her passion for colour,

FRESH LOOK: a fresh lick of paint gave Helen’s furniture a cohesive but far from uniform look

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INTERIORstyle

A HOUSE FOR ALL SEASONS: Vanessa Sayce of The Marmalade House used chalk paint by Annie Sloan to transform furniture with sophisticated, muted colours – splashes of colour can then be added throughout the year by home owner Helen Mulloy Reid, a floral designer

paint and interior styling. As the enthusiastic and exclusive Bath stockist of Annie Sloan chalk paint, she offers a personal, friendly service in which she encourages customers to call in and chat about their projects and plans to up-cycle. Vanessa said: “We like to bring out the artist in everyone who comes into our studio, whether it’s to learn how to use the paint themselves, or by being involved with us on a one-to-one basis discussing and planning their ideas. “When Helen came to see us, we were able to help her choose from a palette of colours that are specially selected to work together – which are great for blending pieces of furniture, or adding colours in to one piece. The paint itself has a high natural chalk content, pure pigment and a little oil binder and goes back to the days of lime-wash and distemper. When used, they give a beautiful flat chalky finish, which was perfect for what she had in mind for her cottage.” Helen was delighted: “The gorgeous matt and muted tones suited my home entirely and Vanessa offered endless patient advice over colour selection for my chosen pieces of furniture about to be handed over for a makeover. I am a creative creature myself, being extremely particular over just about every aspect of the interiors in my home, and Vanessa coped with this admirably and with skill and professionalism. “Together we chose a largely monochrome palate of greys, whites, a little graphite and a hint of Versailles green. Vanessa then set about transforming 42 pieces of furniture in my home, from dressers, to kitchen cupboards, beds to baths and a range of smaller items – chairs, laundry racks, and even a loo seat!” Vanessa said: “The beauty of the paint is that it there is no

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preparation required – the paint will adhere to any surface so the days of stripping paint and varnish off, and rubbing down are over, and you end up with a very popular and beautiful Frenchstyle finish. It was clear from the outset that Helen wanted to create a calm, sophisticated look to her home and by simply changing the colour and finish on her furniture, we were able to achieve that for her. Helen was a lovely client to work with and her pieces were carefully blended together room, by room to give a whole new look. Larger pieces were then re-upholstered in beautiful pure linens and the finish was very pleasing.” The project took four weeks, working on site and in Vanessa’s studio. Helen said: “When the finished pieces returned to me not only did I have a new look to my home, but each piece had under taken a complete transformation that made me fall back in love with my bits of scuffed furniture once again. I am absolutely thrilled, delighted, impressed and amazed at the transformation of my wooden furniture and the stylish new look I now have.” Paint over gilt and shiny finishes to change your look and have a go at blending one or more colours together to make your furniture work together. The Marmalade House offers one-day courses on how to use chalk paint, with a range of decorative finishes included, and provides a commission service for those who’d rather not have a go themselves. The paint costs £17.95 a litre, sample pots are £6. ■ The Marmalade House, Lansdown Hill, Bath, tel: 01225 445855 or visit: www.themarmaladehouse.co.uk. See more of Helen’s work, visit: www.wildthymeflowerdesign.co.uk and www.barebeautytherapy.co.uk.

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INTERIORstyle

Picture perfect kitchens Sometimes everything in a photo shoot just goes right. A converted barn was the ideal setting for a spacious designer kitchen created by Bath Kitchen Company

his is a converted barn, just outside Bath, where our clients required a kitchen that would be the centre of operations for a busy family. Fortunately, there was plenty of space for a living room, encompassing cooking, entertaining and informal family life. There is a timeless quality about the tones and shapes that we all agreed on. Walls were removed to achieve the space, management of natural light became central to the design, and choosing a paint colour that would reflect the warmth was the final piece of the jigsaw. And 80 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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technology. We do want it, we need its convenience – but how to hide its dominant voice and lose it among the cabinetry in the room? Yes, we were able to do that too, with design assisting the transition and smoothing out any anomalies. It’s a beautiful and practical place to live. The clients were delighted, and we were to . ■ Bath Kitchen Company, 22 Henley Road, Bath Tel: 01225 312003 www.bathkitchencompany.co.uk

AT THE HEART OF THE HOME: a well designed and thoughtfully planned kitchen should be at the centre of every well run home

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Nigel Lucas Professional Painter and Decorator

Email: Nigel.lucas24@gmail.com Mob: 07970 464670 Landline: 01761 233963 Web: www.nigellucas.org.uk

The latest Everhot electric range cooker, the 110 induc on. Exclusive to Boni in the Bristol and Bath area. Come and see why these highly eďŹ&#x192;cient cookers are receiving excep onal reviews across the board. Visit our showroom today to see our working Everhot model, our extensive collec on of natural stone and mber ďŹ&#x201A;ooring and our range of garden furniture. A short drive from Bath and just two minutes from junc on 18 of the M4 on the A46. For more informa on call 01225 892 200 or visit boni .com.

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Heat Resistant

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We go over the top to transform your kitchen! Our beautiful Granite finish surfaces are only 7mm thick and are expertly laid over and around your existing worktops transforming Your kitchen In just one day...and we dont stop there. For complete peace of mind we offer a full range of sinks, taps and appliances to complete your transformation. For your free home survey and no-obligation quotation call us today

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AMAZING WORKTOP TRANSFORMATIONS

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Boni specialises in the supply and fi ng of natural stone and mber flooring. Visit our showroom today to see our extensive collec on, alongside our working Everhot range cooker and our range of furniture for the garden. A short drive from Bath and just two minutes from junc on 18 of the M4 on the A46. For more informa on call 01225 892 200 or visit boni .com.

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MAY 2013

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SUMMERgardening

It’s show time for gardens Savour the balmy May days by getting out into your own garden, or by venturing forth to enjoy the efforts of other gardeners, says Jane Moore

t was a dreary and dispiriting start to the year – I have never been as cold for so long as I was in March and spent the latter part of the month contemplating career changes and possible emigration to balmier shores. But the milder weather of April has shelved those schemes and instead reminded me just how much I love a British spring. Hopefully May should firmly put paid to my treacherous thoughts and make me truly glad to be a gardener once more. In fact it should see us all getting out and about in our gardens enjoying the late spring colour, especially with a couple of bank holidays offering a bit more time for both gardening at home and some invigorating garden visiting.

Home… Although the temperatures are decidedly more pleasant and my thoughts are turning towards planting out the summer bedding this month, time has taught me not to take too many liberties in May as we can still get some short, sharp, fatal frosts. Leave planting that bedding until the end of the month and instead use this time to get things hardened off and ready for planting out. Keep on top of any weeds too and you’ll save yourself ongoing problems later on in the summer, and cut the lawn every week while it’s growing so strongly. While you’re out there soaking up the sun and tinkering about weeding, watering and generally nurturing, spare a thought for taking part in our brilliant Bath in Bloom competition. There are oodles of categories – literally something to suit everyone – from the tallest sunflower to the best school or youth group garden, the best hanging basket to large garden not visible form the road. It’s one of those competitions that really are the more the merrier and the stiffer the competition. Those of us who take part regularly enjoy the discipline of getting the garden looking its best for mid July when the judges come around. Having judged a couple of times I can tell you that the judges are a cheery bunch, keen to compliment rather than pick holes in planting schemes

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and we love to see a wide range of gardens. Don’t be afraid to take part; please don’t think “Oh my garden’s not the sort of thing they’re looking for.” It is. Whether your thing is the gaudiest, most flamboyant baskets and containers you can devise or the subtlest scheme of soft pastels, pinks and greens we want to see them all, whether it’s bedding or a permanently planted arboretum, please enter. It all helps to make our city one of the prettiest in the land.

.... and away We gardeners do rather thrive on inspiration and there are a whole host of gardens open in May. Pinching other people’s ideas to incorporate into our own gardens has been a long held British tradition, especially if you make them your own by adapting them to suit your garden. Other people’s gardens also offer excellent planting ideas, showing you what will grow well in your particular soil or situation or offering an inspired plant to disguise a shed/tree stump/general garden horror that you cannot remove. I’m a huge fan of the Yellow Book or the National Garden Scheme which gathers together gardens of all shapes and sizes throughout the country, often those in the same area or village conveniently opening on the same day such as the excellent Marshfield gardens at the end of the month. Have a Day Out: NGS Gardens Sunday 12 May, 2-5pm: Biddestone Manor, Chippenham Lane, Biddestone, Wiltshire, SN14 7DJ Eight peaceful acres of lawns, lake and ponds, arboretum and roses. Kitchen, cutting gardens and orchard. Teas in the formal front garden. 17th century Manor House (not open). Sunday 19 May, 2-5pm: Milton Lodge, Old Bristol Road, Wells, Somerset, Bristol & South Gloucestershire, BA5 3AQ Mature Grade II, terraced garden conceived c1900. Terraces with profusion of plants, some thriving today, with views of Wells Cathedral and Vale of Avalon. 1960, garden lovingly restored to

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SUMMERgardening Have a Go: Bath in Bloom

CAREFULLY CULTIVATED: there will be 11 gardens open in the Cotswold village of Marshfield

former glory, orchard replaced with raised collection of ornamental trees. Cross Old Bristol Rd to 7-acre woodland garden, the Combe, natural peaceful contrast to formal garden at Milton Lodge. Saturday 25 & Sunday 26 May 1-5pm: Marshfield Gardens, Marshfield, SN14 8LR There will be 11 gardens open in the village. Late spring gardens with vegetable plots; 5 new gardens. 111 High St open for lunches and teas from noon (proceeds to Marshfield Almshouses). â&#x2013; Jane Moore is the head gardener at the award-winning gardens of the Bath Priory Hotel. Follow her on Twitter @janethegardener.

Pick up an entry form at any of the Bath & North East Somerset Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s One Stop Shops at 3-4 Manvers Street; Riverside, Keynsham, or The Hollies, Radstock. Or print off a form from the website: www.bathnes.gov.uk /services/sport-leisure-and-parks/parks-informationand-maintenance/bath-bloom The closing date is Monday 10 June. Judging of school entries will take place between 2 and 5 July. All other categories will be judged between 6 and 14 July, with the exception of the Tallest Sunflower competition which will be judged in the final week of August. The judges assess entries on the following criteria: â&#x20AC;˘ Impact â&#x20AC;˘ Variety and the use of a range of plants â&#x20AC;˘ Colour combinations â&#x20AC;˘ Originality and design â&#x20AC;˘ Condition, care and sustainability For further details call Barry Cruse, tel: 01225 310095 or Leila Wishart tel: 01225 837885.

Introducing the new outdoor furniture range, now available at Boni . Visit our showroom today to see our furniture sets for the garden, our extensive collec on of natural stone and mber flooring and our working Everhot range cooker. A short drive from Bath and just two minutes from junc on 18 of the M4 on the A46. For more informa on call 01225 892 200 or visit boni .com.

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PETcorner

It’s a Microbial War out there

ne of the important, if not the most important, breakthroughs in modern medicine was the discovery of antibiotics. For those of you less scientifically inclined, antibiotics are a class of drugs used to halt the progression of bacterial infections. They work in various ways to either attenuate or kill the microorganisms. Unfortunately after the initiation of the first group of antibiotics in the 1940s, we are today witnessing signs of microbial resistance to them. This worrying trend has been present for the last forty years with MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus) and VRE (vancomycin resistant Enterococcus) becoming common buzz words in the medical profession. It cannot be overstated how serious a problem this antibiotic resistance is for both humans and animals alike. By addressing a few of the issues stated below we have a slight chance of slowing down the onset of antibiotic resistance. Vaccinations – vaccines provide immunity by increasing the body’s own immune system to fight microbes at a cellular level. For example in dogs, a vaccine has been developed to fight Bordetella, a common bacterial cause of kennel cough. Improved Standards of Hygiene – As pet owners you can help to limit antibiotic usage by keeping wounds clean. Ensure that areas of trauma are cleaned immediately and copiously with water. After any operation ensure that your pet does not tamper with the incision by licking as this seeds bacteria from the tongue and surrounding skin onto the wound site. As vets we ensure aseptic surgical techniques when operating, using sterile instruments and drapes only and making sure that pets are kept in a clean environment post operatively. Appropriate use of antibiotics in veterinary and human medicine Antibiotics must be used appropriately, and only when necessary. This is why your GP will not prescribe you antibiotics when you have a common cold, or even uncomplicated flu: these are viral infections and do not respond to antibiotic therapy. Similarly, your vet will not give our pet antibiotics unless they are necessary. Less Invasive surgery – As a rule of thumb, the smaller the incision the less likely bacteria can invade and grow at the site. We now have techniques and equipment in the operating theatre which allow us to use laparoscopes (key hole surgery), and biopsies using very small incisions with specialized surgical instruments. Improved diagnostics – Bacteria may only be a small part of a larger disease picture so improving diagnostics with blood tests, imaging such as x-rays, ultrasound, MRI, or CT scans can enable the clinician to make a more accurate diagnosis, thereby perhaps eliminating the use for antibiotics in the treatment plan. Antibiotics in the Food Chain – This is a controversial area around the world but since 2006 the EU has banned the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in the meat industry. Prior to this date antibiotics were used at low levels to increase growth in young animals without having to increase the amount of expensive feed. Antibiotics are still required today for therapeutic uses only and under veterinary supervision to ensure that adequate withdrawal periods are practiced in the meat and milk industries. Usage of antibiotics at home – Please read the prescription carefully. Finish the entire course and do not stop treatment prematurely. See your vet if the infection as not completely cleared up after the last tablet is used. There are reams of information regarding the emergence of antibiotic resistance in modern medicine but sadly there is not enough ways of preventing the ultimate problem of resistance. Current scientific studies are being done on modulating our immune system to more effectively fight disease. With the help of new vaccines, genetics, bacteriology and immunological studies, we may be able to decrease our need for antibiotics. Hopefully these ideas will be effective but as with any medical innovation they take time and money. In the meantime we must be vigilant to the current concerns with antibiotics and try to make the adjustments when dealing with potential bacterial infections. If you have any questions, local vet Jenny Keen will be pleased to help and can be contacted on 01225 428921. All Bath Vet Group surgery contact details and further information are available at www.bathvetgroup.co.uk. 86 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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the directory

to advertise in this section call 01225 424 499 Baby Equipment

Health, Beauty & Wellbeing

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Baby Equipment Hire in and around Bath ENJOY A GREAT MAGAZINE WITH GREAT COFFEE

www.babyquip-bath.co.uk 07528 074960

House & Home

Electricians

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Acupuncture for Fertility, support alongside IVF, Pregnancy and Womens Health. Holly Woodward (MBAcC, Reg Nurse) is an experienced fertility acupuncturist, having worked for leading fertility expert Zita West. Call Holly on 07759 684552 Address: The Practice Rooms, 26 Upper Borough Walls. Situated above ‘Lush’. E: holly.woodward@yahoo.co.uk W: www.hollywoodward.co.uk

WANTED FOR RENT High quality, large house in the Bath area. We are a quiet, friendly and considerate professional couple and are looking for a property for long-term rent. If you would like to be given peace of mind that your property will be cared for, please contact us:

07583 260439 The Furniture Care People. Furniture, door, wood and metal stripping. Restoration techniques, unique non-toxic, non caustic System 2000. Suitable for both hard and soft wood. Non harmful.

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MAY 2013

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to advertise in this section call 01225 424 499 Holiday Rental Advertise your Business in this space for as little as £55 per month and get 2 FREE.

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Advertising that keeps working

Plumbing

Shop Fitting Services Need your shop refitted or refurbished? We can restyle your Cafe, Boutique, Hotel, Office or Retail Space to optimise your selling potential. Complete fit out, shelving, display cases, desks, lighting, bespoke joinery. In house design service. Contact us at spen retail interiors 01793 647744 • enquiries@aspenconcepts.co.uk

www.aspenconcepts.co.uk Specialist Vehicle Services

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PROPERTYin FOCUS

iles’s Buildings was designed by John Wood The Younger and all the original property deeds, which date from 1766 are still to hand for number seven. The property is an elegant, Grade II listed townhouse with all of the hallmark features of the period, including working shutters, dado rails and fireplaces. There are four floors of very versatile space and the east/west position of the house means that natural light floods in throughout the day. The accommodation briefly comprises: Lower ground floor: Dining room, kitchen, walk in larder, bathroom, vaults, boiler house/garden store. Ground floor: Drawing room and study. First floor: Bedroom one with en suite bathroom, bedroom three. Second floor: Bedrooms two and four, bathroom. There is a charming and surprisingly large walled garden at the rear, with a paved patio area, level lawns and small trees. This is a lovely, centrally located slice of Georgian Bath and viewing is recommended by agents Pritchards.

MILES’S BUILDINGS BATH • City centre Grade II listed townhouse • Period features • Fine proportions • Four bedrooms • Three bathrooms • Four floors of versatile accomodation • Large and pretty walled garden

Price: £925,000 Pritchards, 11 Quiet Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 466225

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pritchard-partners.co.uk

St Saviours Road, Larkhall

Park Street

A most impressive semi-detached period family home, conveniently located East of the city in the popular area of Larkhall village with an excellent range of local amenities & individual shops. Total approx floor area: 1682 sq ft/156.2 sq m. Kitchen/breakfast room, drawing room, dining room, family/garden room with additional dining area. Master bedroom with en suite, 3 further bedrooms & family bathroom. Mature gardens. Double garage & off road parking for two vehicles.

A spacious and well presented garden apartment in a quiet and desirable road, just a few minutes walk from amenities in St James’s Square. Private and communal entrances, elegant drawing room, well fitted and recently installed kitchen, principal bedroom with large en suite bathroom, dining room/bedroom two, shower room. Two vaulted rooms, one with en suite cloakroom. Gas fired heating. Delightful walled private garden. Residents’ parking permit available. Approx gross int. Area: 1915 sq ft/177.90 sq m.

Guide Price: £750,000

Price: £545,000

Ashley, Box, Nr Bath

Marshfield

A detached house on the market for the first time in 30 years offering tremendous scope for extension (subject to the nec consents) in a quiet sought after area, just over 5m from Bath. Total int. area approx: 1638 sq ft/152.2 sq m

A charming period house in the heart of this desirable village 8 miles north of Bath. Arranged on two floors with well presented accommodation retaining a wealth of character

3 bedrooms, bathroom, sitting room, dining room, kitchen & cloakroom. Conservatory, Oil fired heating. Good sized attractive gardens backing onto fields. 2 garages. Garden store & wood store. Driveway parking for several vehicles.

3 bedrooms, bathroom and en suite shower room. Sitting room within inglenook fireplace, kitchen/dining room, utility room and cloakroom. Tanked cellar. Gas fired heating. Delightful paved courtyard garden. Gross int area: 1340 sq ft/124.49 sq m.

Guide Price: £450,000

Guide Price: £425,000

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pritchard-partners.co.uk

Camden Row, Lansdown

Marshfield

A spacious, attached, period two storey property set conveniently within a short walk of the city centre with the particular advantage of off road parking.

A modern four bedroom family home, enjoying countryside views and offering flexible accommodation which is well presented throughout.

Open plan living area with kitchen/breakfast room, dining room and living room on the ground floor. On the first floor are a master bedroom with en suite, a second double bedroom, bathroom and study area. Long courtyard garden. Int area: 1239 sq ft/115 sq m.

The property benefits from a contemporary kitchen with integrated appliances, stylish bathrooms, double glazing, gas central heating, allocated parking for two vehicles and a private south facing garden backing onto 1½ acres of communal gardens. Total approx floor area: 1179 sq ft/109.5 sq m.

Price: £375,000

Price: £369,500

Ashley, Nr Box

Pennsylvania, Nr Marshfield

An attractive period property set in an idyllic, quiet location near this active village with good amenities. Total approx floor area: 1209 sq ft/112.3 sq m.

A spacious double fronted period cottage, circa 1800, enjoying fine open country views, in a convenient location just 6 miles from the centre of Bath. Charming, well presented accommodation Four double bedrooms, large bathroom, sitting room with working fireplace, dining room with woodburner, kitchen/breakfast room, utility and cloakroom. Double glazing. Oil fired heating. Good sized level gardens to the front and rear. Detached double garage. Additional parking for two cars. Approx int area: 1316 sq ft/122.2 sq m.

Living room, kitchen/diner, WC, master with en suite and dressing room, second double bedroom, study/occasional bedroom three, bathroom. Patio garden. Garage.

Price: £365,000 Scan to access our Website Homepage

PRITCHARDS MAY.indd 2

Guide Price: £350,000 11 Quiet Street, Bath BA1 2LB

Tel: 01225 466 225

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W E N Conkwell, Winsley. £625,000 Nightingale Cottage combines three cottages to form one five bedroom home in this rural hillside hamlet above the Avon valley between Bath & Bradford-on-Avon near Winsley. There is plenty of flexible living space and bags of character. Over the lane we find a very large terraced garden – lovingly landscaped. There is also a large vegetable garden & garaging plus two driveways. Lots to see and lots take in. Essential viewing.

LD O S SOLD in Winsley. £675,000 Similar Required. Period home secretly hidden away in the old part of the village far from the hustle and hassle of modern life. As well as the main house there was also a cottage and interlinking “cloister”. Large south facing gardens to the front and another to the rear. Garage a short walk away. Naturally there was a lot of interest in this house. If you’re thinking of selling something similar call me for a confidential chat.

☎ 01225 866747 27 Market Street, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, BA15 1LL email: info@jeremyjenkins.co.uk • website: www.jeremyjenkins.co.uk

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PROPERTYin FOCUS

eorgian builder of Camden Crescent, John Eveleigh, would scarcely believe his eyes if he could see the marvels that the 21st century has wrought on one of the lower ground floors of his magnificent crescent. Just a short, steep, and therefore healthy walk from the city centre, the two bedroom apartment at No 11 is perfectly placed for anyone working, or playing in Bath, with all its shops, restaurants and theatres. The flat has its own private front door and this opens into a lobby and in turn to the drawing room. This light and airy room has polished blond wood flooring, two big windows and is a good size, at 23ft 1ins by 18ft 8ins. It leads through to a long hall, with the kitchen/breakfast room at the far end. On the way we pass a hall cupboard which is large enough to store the washing machine, tumble dryer and linen shelves. The kitchen has a central island, a breakfast area, five-ring gas hob and Smeg range. The main bedroom and the bathroom are both reached via the hall, although the bathroom is also accessible from the bedroom. It’s a modern, well equipped bathroom with a rain shower, bath, basin, bidet and loo. The second bedroom is reached via the kitchen and it, and the main bedroom overlook a private courtyard. Retrace your steps back to by the front door and another door leads into three vaults, the third one some 30 feet long. This is currently used as a gym but would be handy for all sorts of storage or different uses. Cobb Farr, 35 Brock Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 333332

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COURTYARD APARTMENT CAMDEN CRESCENT BATH • Immaculate two bedroom apartment • Easy walking distance of Bath city centre • Private entrance and private courtyard • Building recently re-roofed • Three vaults currently used as a gym

Price: £425,000

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Let

Riverside Development, 1 bedroom apartment - ÂŁ825PCM

Hayes Mount, Upper East Hayes, 2 bedroom apartment - ÂŁ895PCM

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Norfolk Court A stylish and contemporary one bedroom apartment, beautifully finished throughout, situated on the first floor of a new and exclusive development on the fringes of the city centre. Gated off street parking, a private roof terrace and solar panels make this the penthouse apartment in the building. Located behind a private and secured entrance, the apartment is within a short walk of The Odeon Cinema, Fitness First Gym, Bath Spa Train Station and a host of fantastic restaurants in Bath city centre.

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Fidelis

Wells Road

ÂŁ264,950

Lower Oldfield Park

ÂŁ174,950

A Chic and Smartly Presented 1 Bedroom Garden Flat Just a Short Distance from the City Centre Entrance/Lean-to | Living Room with Doors opening onto the Garden | Bedroom with Door opening onto the Garden | Modern Kitchen with Dining Bar | Bathroom | Lovely Rear Garden Predominantly Laid to Lawn | EPC Rating D

www.fidelisproperties.co.uk

01225 421000

134 Wells Road, Bear Flat, Bath BA2 3AH Fidelis May.indd 1

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Fidelis

Norton St Philip

ÂŁ289,950

Prior Park Road

ÂŁ525,000

A Substantial 4 Storey Town House in a Prime Location Close to the City Centre and Bath Spa Station Comprising a 1 Bedroom Garden Flat and 4 Bedroom Maisonette Currently a Student Let | Garden Flat comprising Living Room, Double Bedroom, Kitchen, Bathroom and Garden | Separate 4 Bedroom Maisonette comprising Communal Room, Kitchen, 2 Bathrooms, 4 Double Bedrooms | EPC Rating D

www.fidelisproperties.co.uk

01225 421000

134 Wells Road, Bear Flat, Bath BA2 3AH Fidelis May.indd 2

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Tel: 01225 904 904

The Estate Agents People Recommend 1 Harrington Place, Bath BA1 1HF

www.wentworthestateagents.com

r de er n U ff O

Midford Road, Bath

Offers In Excess £595,000

Richmond Place. Lansdown

Guide Price £565,000

A very desirable four double bedroom detached residence being one of three built in Bath in the 1930's and now affords spacious and well proportioned living accommodation with charming gardens, driveway parking and garage

A rare opportunity to acquire a picture perfect three bedroom Grade II listed Georgian artisan- style terrace in the highly desirable address of Richmond Place, situated on the northern slopes of Bath

• Detached Residence • Unique Build • Two Large Receptions • 2028 Sq Ft of Accommodation • Four Double Bedrooms • Spacious Conservatory • Utility Room • Driveway Parking • Detached Garage • Large Mature Gardens • No Onward Chain • EPC Rating: E

• Georgian Terrace Cottage • Grade II Listed • Three Reception Rooms • Large kitchen • Period Features Throughout • Sought After Location • Front & Rear Gardens • Stunning Views to Rear • No Onward Chain

n w ctio e N ru t ns

Englishcombe Lane, Bath

Guide Price £750,000

Catharine Place, Bath

Offers In Excess £385,000

A beautifully presented, handsome five bedroom semi detached Edwardian residence affording spacious and well proportioned accommodation with large mature gardens, double garage and stunning far reaching views across the City

A charming, centrally located Georgian one bedroom garden apartment situated within a prime residential location, a stones throw from The Royal Crescent and The Circus

• Exceptional Accommodation • 2269 Sq Ft of Accommodation • Five Bedrooms • Beautifully Presented • Period Detailing • Stunning Views • Popular Location • Large Gardens • Double Garage • Driveway Parking • EPC Rating: E

• Georgian Garden Apartment • Modern Kitchen/Breakfast • Large Reception • Period Detailing • Central Location • Residents Parking Available • Private Courtyard Garden • Stylish Interior • EPC Rating: D

01225 904 904 •-www.wentworthestateagents.com WENTWORTH The Estate Agents People Recommend rightmove

.co.uk

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Beyond your expectations www.hamptons.co.uk

Corston, Bath

Guide Price £1.35m

A charming Grade II Listed family home dating back to the 17th Century. This prestigious village home is beautifully presented with many fine period details. The gardens are of particular note and enjoy views across All Saints Church and the rolling countryside beyond. The house benefits from a superb bespoke kitchen with an Aga, an elegant drawing room plus three further reception rooms, six well proportioned bedrooms and with the addition of a substantial coach house. Approximate gross sq.ft. 6,478.

• 6 Bedrooms • 4 Receptions • 17th Century Rectory • Grade II Listed • Beautiful Gardens • Popular Village

Bath Office

Sales. 01225 459817 | Lettings 01225 458546

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Beyond your expectations www.hamptons.co.uk

Upper Camden Place, Bath

Guide Price £715,000

A fine Grade II Listed four bedroom Georgian townhouse beautifully presented and retaining period features. This stunning home is situated in an elevated position in this popular neighbourhood, close to the city centre. In addition to a south facing garden to the front, there is also a further decked garden to the rear with steps leading to a walled garden facing north west. The property further benefits from wonderful far reaching views across Bath to the countryside beyond. Approximate gross sq.ft. 2,045.

• 4 Bedrooms • 2 Receptions • 3 Bathrooms • Period Features • Beautifully Presented • Wonderful Views

Bath Office

Sales. 01225 459817 | Lettings 01225 458546

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MILTON AVENUE

ÂŁ515,000

Extremely generous, fantastic family home with 3 floors of accommodation. A particular benefit is a rarely available end terrace position, with several windows enjoying a gorgeous western aspect. Ever winning Poet's Corner location, just a stroll from Bath Spa Station and New Southgate. Vestibule, hallway, sitting room, snug room, four double bedrooms, study/bedroom five, bathroom and WC. Lower ground floor comprising: dining room, kitchen, bathroom and store room. Front and rear gardens, gas central heating and double glazing. Approximate gross internal floor area: 2,385 square feet / 221 square metres.

1 Hayes Place, Bear Flat, Bath BA2 4QW

01225 422 224

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HANSFORD SQUARE

ÂŁ425,000

This great, mature, semi-detached house has huge level gardens which are a real bonus! Good family home in excellent family location. Viewing recommended. Hallway, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, shower room, 3 bedrooms and bathroom with separate WC. Large, level gardens and garage. Approximate gross internal floor area: 1,135 square feet / 105 square metres.

HINTON CHARTERHOUSE

ÂŁ485,000

This large, individual, detached house has versatile accommodation, with the potential of having its own annexe. The home is situated in a great plot with huge gardens & loads of off-street parking, in this popular village, just South of Bath. Hall, sitting room, kitchen/breakfast room, study, dining room, downstairs shower room, utility room, 3 bedrooms and bathroom. Double garage and huge gardens. Approximate gross internal floor area: 1,400 square feet / 130 square metres. shower room.

www.mark-naylor.com

email: homes@mark-naylor.com

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Bathwick Hill ÂŁ1,150,000

Kingsdown ÂŁ775,000

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Priory Cottage Standing in six and a half glorious acres of verdant land, this beautiful stone cottage was originally built in 1934 as staff quarters for the Priory at Hinton Charterhouse. Over the years the property has been updated and extended to create a simply stunning family home. Set back from a pretty country lane, the cottage sits in a designated area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Somerset countryside. Martin says "The modernisation has been done in an incredibly sympathetic way.” “The house retains the beauty of the original architecture,” adds Jackie,“but benefits from all modern conveniences. From the front of the property, it is hard to tell the newer extension from the original structure and at the back of the house the extension has been carried out using carefully matched materials and has created a wonderfully large, comfortable modern home.”

“We have a great sized kitchen and dining area,” continues Martin,“which leads through a stone arch into a large family/living room filled with light. It’s a wonderful space."

"Priory Cottage couldn’t be in a better location, the surrounding area is extremely beautiful, with superb access to many villages and towns. Freshford is a short walk with an award-winning local shop and cafe and fabulous village pub."

HINTON CHARTERHOUSE 4 double bedrooms (3 en-suites • 3 receptions • Double garage • 5.5 acre paddock • Well presented throughout • Prime location • EPC Rating = F

Contact: 01225 320032

£895,000

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Pulteney Road

Enter this fine house and immediately one is struck by its genteel opulence. Originally built in the 1870s the house retains all that is unique and exciting. Behind its beautiful Bath Stone exterior we find elegantly proportioned rooms, original mouldings and plasterwork; a house filled with character and charm befitting its era. The house has been passionately maintained and enhanced and its modern luxurious touches meld perfectly with the overall period grandeur. Here is a house that could easily nurture a single family home, capable of providing all that is required for today’s modern lifestyle, or continue its present journey as highly successful and much sought-after boutique self-catering holiday apartments. Alternatively, the stunning garden apartment could be retained as the main residence

whilst allowing the other apartments to realise their potential. Free from listing restrictions, the possibilities for an imaginative entrepreneurial mind are almost endless.

Enjoying elevated views over croquet lawns, Bath recreation grounds, Rugby stadium, and the city of Bath itself, the house sits in an enviable position right at the city’s heart.

BATH Substantial Victorian semi-detached property • Flexible accommodation • Currently arranged to offer holiday apartments • Off street parking • EPC Rating = D

Contact: 01225 320032

£1,550,000

The Property People Offices throughout the UK including 5 in London

BATH

Midford Lane

Guide Price ÂŁ750,000

A beautifully presented detached four bedroom family house set at the end of a cul de sac, backing onto open fields with lovely views. It has off street parking, a garage and a lovely level garden. Energy efficiency Band E. (Approximately 2,157.20 sq ft / 200.40 sq m)

Bath 01225 747250 bath@carterjonas.co.uk

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The Property People Offices throughout the UK including 5 in London

BATH

Bathwick Hill

Guide Price ÂŁ900,000

A detached property built in 1958 and on the market for the first time since construction. It sits in an elevated position in the middle of its grounds of approx 0.55 acres with stunning westerly views across Bath and Smallcombe Wood. (Approximately 1,905 sq ft / 177 sq m)

Bath 01225 747250 david.mackenzie@carterjonas.co.uk

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Cambridge House

OIEO ÂŁ1,000,000

Georgian townhouse | Grade II listed | Prime location | Newly renovated | Beautifully presented | Mark Wilkinson kitchen | Luxury bathrooms Cambridge House is situated in the very heart of Bath. The house is rich in period detail, and was occupied by the former owner for more than sixty years, and since 2010, has undergone a comprehensive renovation program over a two year period, bringing it into the 21st century, for luxurious City Centre living.

Lansdown Crescent

OIEO ÂŁ380,000

Georgian apartment | Historic crescent | Second floor | Well presented | Two bedrooms | Fabulous views We are delighted to offer this fabulous second floor Georgian apartment located in the highly desirable Lansdown Crescent. The apartment offers well balanced accommodation that comprises: sitting room with fantastic views, stylish fitted kitchen/breakfast room, two double bedrooms and bathroom - all of which is presented in excellent decorative order and has fantastic light throughout.

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Victoria Bridge Court

OIEO £380,000

Cavendish Place

OIEO £320,000

The Old Walcot School

OIEO £310,000

Allocated parking | Two double bedrooms | Modern

Georgian apartment | Period features | Immaculately presented | One bedroom | Centrally located

Period apartment | Private entrance | Two bedrooms | Stylish kitchen | Luxury bath and shower room

Portland Place

Walcot Street

Manvers Street

Gated development | Balcony | Spacious living |

OIEO £295,000

OIEO £270,000

OIEO £250,000

Grade I Listed | Courtyard apartment | Beautifully

Georgian | Grade II listed | Spacious living | Second

Period apartment | Newly refurbished | Two double

presented | Two double bedrooms | Spacious

floor | Two double bedrooms | Highly recommended

bedrooms | High ceilings | Spacious | Central location

Lansdown Mansions

OIEO £250,000

Connaught Mansions

OIEO £250,000

Modern maisonette | Spacious living | Stylish kitchen |

Georgian apartment | Grade I listed | One bedroom |

Luxury bathroom | Communal garden | Garage

Level walk to City Centre | Secure parking space

The Apartment Company MAY.indd 2

Queens Parade

OIEO £250,000

Georgian apartment | Beautifully presented | Prime central location | Fabulous views | Modern kitchen

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Crisp Cowley Ralph Allenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Town House York Street Bath BA1 1NQ 01225 789333

www.crispcowley.co.uk

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Crisp Cowley Ralph Allenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Town House York Street Bath BA1 1NQ 01225 789333

www.crispcowley.co.uk

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