The Bath Magazine August 2021

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ISSUE 222 | AUGUST 2021 | thebathmag.co.uk | £3.95 where sold

CREATING THE CREATURE SPECIAL EFFECTS AND ANIMATRONICS AT BATH’S NEWEST ATTRACTION

A FORTE FROM TOWN LOUD McFLY'S AND CLARY WONDERLAND FOR PIANO TO SPA Julian Clary talks serious acting and why he likes danger

Tom Fletcher explains the McFly journey and why it’s been awesome

Jon Kelly on making spectacular instruments for world-class acts

18th-century Bath, fashionable visitors and the growth of the assembly

THE CIT Y ’ S B I G G E S T M O N T H LY G U I D E T O L I F E A N D L I V I N G IN BATH

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Contents 5 THINGS

August 2021

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Great things to look forward to this month

THE CITYIST

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This month we chat to Sarah McCluskey ............................................

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That’s Julian Clary. His words. Soon starring at Theatre Royal Bath in The Dresser, he takes time to chat to Melissa Blease

KIDS LIT LOOK-OUT

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FOOD AND CONVERSATION

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A review of the Green Park Brasserie, plus a chat with owner Alex Peters about the year that was

Richard Wyatt remembers Great British holidaying of old

CALM, FICKLE, AMUSING

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Emily Barker combs beaches to create fun, but thought-provoking art

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NOTES ON A SMALL CITY

ART RECYCLED

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TIMELY PERSPECTIVES

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Alice Small assesses the links between, and the value of, four artefacts from BRLSI’s collection

HISTORY: THE BATH ASSEMBLY 22

A preview of this year’s line-up coming to Bath in September

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Ahead of the Assembly Rooms’ 250th celebrations we look at how and where the Georgian crowds gathered in Bath before 1771

WALKING WITH ANDREW SWIFT

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HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Wend your way through four villages with distinctive churches

Bath’s newest attraction features special effects and animatronics.

We find out who put Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the house

KEYS TO STARDOM

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Works of art for the biggest stars by the Piano Shop of Bath

WHAT IS GOING ON! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 INTERIORS: SPATHROOMS

...A bit more than last month. Bath continues to shine with an ever-growing selection of great things to see and do

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Advice on creating a watery oasis of pleasure at home

COME MCFLY WITH ME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

GARDENING

Emma Clegg meets singer and guitarist Tom Fletcher who talks about McFly’s success ahead of their performance at the Finale Weekend

A back garden staycation... why not?

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RODE TO LAUGHTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Comedian and organiser Jarred Christmas talks to Millie Bruce-Watt about the talented acts soon to descend on the picturesque village of Rode

ON THE COVER

ARTS AND EXHIBITIONS

Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein in Gay Street has opened its doors. Our pop-art cover pays tribute to the popular classic novel that has never been out of print.

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Our monthly guide to the visual delights on show across the city

More content and updates discover: thebathmag.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter @thebathmagazine

Follow us on Instagram @thebathmagazine

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FROM THE EDITOR

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Editor photograph by TBM

L

ook at the stars! Look, look up at the skies!” said Gerald Manley Hopkins in his poem The Starlight Night. He described therein fire-folk, circle citadels, bright boroughs and diamond delves. We are also starry–eyed this month – although in a different sort of way – and, quite frankly, that’s how we like it.

Cue Julian Clary, who is playing Norman to Matthew Kelly’s ‘Sir’ in The Dresser at Theatre Royal Bath in September. He tells Melissa Blease about the dogs in his life, how he finds it hard not to improvise, why he loves an element of danger and how he deals with a serious acting role where improv is a no-go. See page 18.

McFly offers more stars in the form of Tom, Harry, Dougie and Danny, who are playing at Bath Festivals’ Finale Weekend on 7 August – and Tom spared time to talk to me about the McFly journey and how there’s a new album in the pipeline, following hot on the heels of the last one (see page 30).

Comedian Jarred Christmas also chats to Millie Bruce-Watt on page 34 about the Rode Comedy Festival which runs from 9–12 September – the festival, launched last September in response to the effects of the pandemic on the comedy industry, made up for months of restrictions on performances. The programme this year includes names such as Joel Dommett, Mike Wozniak and Stephen K. Amos, and the award-winning improvised production of Showstopper! The Musical.

We’re not flagging on the diamond delves either because Millie Bruce-Watt’s interview with Jon Kelly of the Piano Shop in London Road on page 66 reveals that they were the very first to funk up the image of the piano and that some of their recent piano commissions include a selection for Coldplay for their appearance at Glastonbury this year, and another for actor and film star Idris Elba.

We’re also telling the story behind Frankenstein’s monster at the newly opened House of Frankenstein on page 24, as created by prosthetics and animatronics company Millennium FX. Then I go back in time on page 58 to uncover the transformation of Bath from walled city to fashionable spa. It all started with Queen Anne, who visited to take the waters and made it popular at a time when the streets were unpaved, dark and dangerous – she was followed closely by our favourite social maestro Beau Nash.

Interiors on page 68 brings the cult of the ‘spathroom’ – it might not be in the dictionary yet but it’s definitely in vogue and we provide some inspiration from our local experts. Then we have a piece about Emily Barker, who creates artwork from her plastic finds on Cornish beaches on page 40, and a contribution from Alice Small – a student at Kingswood School with a real way with words – on page 52, who has taken four objects from the BRLSI collection and debated what links them and why they matter.

Let’s light up all our stars this month!

Emma Clegg Editor

Think of summer days in this evocative photograph of Lansdown (shown just past Bath Racecourse) taken by 23-yearold filmmaker and photographer Toby Osborn

Mosaic artist Candace Bahouth’s gardens and studios are open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout August. Her home in Pilton, surrounded by trees, a small stream and a mill run, is a modern paradise garden.

Visit Candace’s garden studios, enjoy coffee and her famous homemade brownies or a delicious cream tea with freshy prepared scones.

To book a space, email her on candacebahouth@googlemail.com; candacebahouth.com

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 this

Drink

Soul Strutters

Listen Throughout August, Chapel Arts is welcoming a whole host of musical talent to its stage.

From Soul Strutters – a Bristol band who love nothing more than performing specially handpicked songs from the golden era of Funk, Soul, Disco and Rare Groove – to The Dung Beatles, who have earned high praise for their authentic musical renditions and closeharmony vocals.

To ensure guests feel safe and comfortable, all events will remain as Covid compliant with one-metre social distancing and masks worn while moving around the venue. For more information and to book tickets, visit the website. chapelarts.org

The Trowbridge Craft Beer and Cider Festival will be held at Innox Mills from 27–30 August, featuring up to 60 regional beers and ciders, plus street food and live music.

DeCanter Mobile bar will be providing a range of different alcoholic drinks including gins and wines, plus a selection of soft drinks to make sure no one is left thirsty.

Set against the backdrop of the historic buildings at Innox Mills, the festival will be hosted within the courtyard, which is set to become the Innox Quarter once development has been completed. There will be eight sessions across four days over the bank holiday weekend. The earlier sessions will run each day from 11.30am – 4pm, with the later sessions running from 6pm – 10.30pm. Tickets cost £12.50, including two beer tokens. trowbridgebeerfest.co.uk

Eat After much anticipation, Bath’s newest Japaneseinspired restaurant has officially opened its doors.

Paying tribute to the Japanese author, Kanagaki Robun, and his 1872 book Seiyo Ryoritsu, which introduced Western barbecue to Japan, Robun specialises in sharing plates of beautiful robata grilled meats, seafood and vegetables fused with elements from across Asia.

Nestled in one of the city’s most inviting and sociable of settings, sit back, relax and browse the cocktail menu, wine list or extensive Japanese whiskey collection. We can’t wait to see what they have in store!

4 Princes Buildings, George Street, Bath BA1 2ED; robun.co.uk

Look ahead

Enjoy Wiltshire Game and Country Fair is returning to Bowood on 14–15 August with a redesigned show layout to cater for any remaining Covid restrictions, all designed to bring back the good times. Organisers are welcoming back Jousting to the arena entertainment – so you can go and watch the perennial evil Black Knight meet his come-uppance.

Also new this year is a Lumberjack sport competition organised by the BLSA – a fastmoving competition that is complemented by the ever popular Chainsaw Carving Competitions.

Visit the website for more details and book your tickets in advance. livingheritagecountryshows.com

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Bosco Pizzeria – a firm favourite amongst Bristolians – is set to swing open its doors in Bath on 19 August. Inspired by the pizzerias of Naples, New York and San Francisco, with a focus on and a passion for the finest Italian produce, the team have created a menu of small plates, deli meats and cheeses, salads, pasta and, of course, Neopolitan style wood fired pizza.

The focus in the restaurant is on service with personality and classic Italian cookery in a vibrant atmosphere created by an open kitchen and a mixture of table and counter seating. This new kid on the block is not one to miss – visit the website to book a table. 1–2 Milsom Place, Bath BA1 1BZ; boscopizzeria.co.uk/bath ■

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The city

ist

THE BUZZ

THE BUZZ

HERSCHEL PRIZE A new prize named in tribute to Bath astronomer Caroline Herschel will celebrate outstanding research by women astrophysicists in the UK and Germany.

The Caroline Herschel Medal will be administered by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) in collaboration with the German Astronomical Society. The medal will be given in alternate years with an accompanying prize fund of £10,000.

From its foundation in 1820, the RAS included astronomers from Germany, including Caroline Herschel and her brother William, who moved to Bath in the second half of the 18th-century.

Caroline was the first British woman to receive a royal pension for astronomy, and in 1828 became the first woman to win the RAS Gold Medal, awarded in recognition of her discovery of eight comets and her work refining and updating star catalogues.

The museum is open from Wednesday– Sunday. herschelmuseum.org.uk

IT’S TIME FOR BATH

My BATH

Sarah McCluskey likes to change things up – she works as a community officer for B&NES Children’s Services and in her spare time is a burlesque compere and a street theatre performer

Where do you live in Bath?

We moved to Bath in 1991 and lived in a swanky garden flat in Marlborough Buildings, but common sense prevailed and in 1995 we moved to Odd Down, which is a great community. I love it because there’s access to glorious countryside and it’s an easy 10 mins bus ride into town.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in unleafy Willesden Green, London. On a Sunday morning my Dad would occasionally take my brother and I to Tower Hill to watch live theatre escapologists, tap dancers and performing monkeys. That was the 60’s for me!

Why is Bath special to you?

It’s a very creative place, I’m on the Bath Fringe Committee and the Fringe and FAB arts transform the city. The way the light catches the Bath stone on a late summer evening and gives it the hue of rich clotted cream – that’s special.

Where do you like to have coffee in Bath?

It’s a plug for Society Café – they love dogs and I’ve got two lurchers Lil and Ava, dogs with palindrome names – how Bath is that?

TIME has revealed the third annual list of the World’s Greatest Places, which highlights 100 travel destinations around the world. Bath and the Design District, London are the only locations in England named. TIME solicited nominations of places from its international network of correspondents and contributors, looking for those offering new and exciting experiences. Kathryn Davis, Director of Tourism, Visit West says: “We are thrilled to see Bath named as one of TIME’s World’s Greatest Places. To see Bath’s new experience Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein and the Bridgerton inspired tours highlighted ... among such esteemed worldwide destinations is an incredible achievement.”

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What is your favourite time of year?

I love autumn, early September through to the start of November. The transformation of nature, the slight nip in the air, and beautiful salmon pink sunsets. Also, as a Virgo, September is just the best!

What is your training?

I studied Fine Art in Norwich in the 1980s, a very traditional training. Lots of life-drawing and art student angst. I’ve also trained in clowning and undertaken workshops with the Natural Theatre Company.

Where do you work?

I work as a commissioning officer in B&NES Children’s Services and oversee a commission with Off the Record, Bath, who do a fantastic job working with some of our children and young people in care. They encourage them to get their voices heard and make positive changes through participation.

Tell us about the workshops you are running at the Fashion Museum in August.

We are linking our shoe-themed family workshops to the Shoephoria exhibition. We provide all the resources, encouraging cutting, glueing and sticking, but we find that whatever we offer children always come up with their own great adaptations. All the generations join in!

Have you run these workshops in the past?

I’ve been running workshops since 2014 and we get really positive feedback. It will be amazing to offer them again – the team has missed working with children and families. We like to keep the ideas simple and accessible. I love the Fashion Museum – I think of it as a Georgian Disco in its heyday!

How was Bath for you in lockdown?

I was working from home and trying to keep positive. I missed my connections with friends, but I think that’s a universal thing. Strange times we’ve all lived through.

What do you do to relax?

I have been a burlesque compère and a street theatre performer. My character is Queenie, Cleaner to the Stars – she’s been to Glastonbury where she is Michael Eavis’s personal cleaner! (He doesn’t realise how much I do for him.) It might not sound relaxing, but I love it.

Tell us an example of useful advice you’d had.

I was on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2009, as part of Antony Gormley’s One and Other project. But I get vertigo! Being taken up to plinth height in a cherry picker, the steward I was with just said “stay on the middle and you’ll be fine”, and I was!

Do you have a dream to go somewhere special?

Iceland – if it’s good enough for Bjork it’s good enough for me – and I’d love to sit in a hot, bubbling, muddy geyser. ■ Family activities at the Fashion Museum include Beaded flip flops (3 August), Flip Book (10 August) Shoe Silhouettes (17 August) and Stand Up Shoes (24 August); fashionmuseum.co.uk/events

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CITY | NOTEBOOK

Richard Wyatt: Notes on a small city Columnist Richard Wyatt remembers the holidays of his childhood and plans a series of August breaks firmly in the British Isles

T

Oh the excitement of holding my father’s hand as we rushed down the wooden plank covered jetty, high above the incoming coffeecoloured tide that swirled around the rocks below, at the same time as the stately Bristol Queen pulled alongside – the pride of the White Funnel Fleet. We were going down the coast to Ilfracombe, a seaside resort with a lovely little harbour, in North Devon.

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There was the promise of dandelion and burdock lemonade and towering knickerbocker glory ice-creams

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he Roman Emperor Augustus chose this month to bear his name because it was the time of the year he had enjoyed several of his greatest military triumphs, including conquering Egypt. I have enjoyed visiting Egypt in slightly more peaceful times and have fond memories of cruising the Nile and exploring its temple-crowded banks.

This year the pandemic has literally clipped all our wings.

Holidaying at home is back in fashion. Hopefully it will give an added boost to many of our seaside towns that have taken a back seat while our affections for resorts with cheap flights opened up many a farflung beach and guaranteed sunshine instead.

I will be based in Brighton for a few days, but have planned visits to places like Charleston Farmhouse in Lewes, home to Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, and the country retreat of the Bloomsbury Group. The house not only provided inspiration for many literary works but became a hub for art and decoration – where walls were painted, wallpaper was stencilled and curtains, fabrics and rugs were crafted.

I am also planning to go to the Kent coast to visit the shingle shore home of the late Derek Jarman, an English film director who made a famous garden among the pebbles that surrounded his wooden cottage near Dungeness Nuclear Power Station. Later in the month – travelling from one side of the country to another – I will enjoy a short stay in a converted railway carriage overlooking Cardigan Bay in West Wales.

In the past 18 months we have all grown used to pushing back our overseas holidays and it sounds as if foreign travel is now more viable for the future. However, I welcome the chance to tick off some items on my bucket list and visit parts of these islands I have not set foot in before.

We never had family holidays when my eldest sister and I were young. There wasn’t the money and my father was often absent on long trips in the Merchant Navy. At least on his homecoming I got to experience things like chewing gum, a Mickey Mouse car and instant coffee long before any of my friends who didn’t have a dad returning from transatlantic passages on the SS (steamship) Bristol City.

I do, though, have a special family day trip that I remember well, involving another sea-going vessel bearing a local name. Birnbeck Pier – or the Old Pier as we Weston super Mare locals called it – was where you boarded the paddle steamers that P and A Campbell operated in the Bristol Channel.

There was the promise of dandelion and burdock lemonade and towering knickerbocker glory ice-creams to tempt Ann and I once reaching dry land, but for me the biggest thrill was dad taking me down to the engine room as we were ploughing our way down the Somerset coastline. Through glass windows you could watch those shiny steel pistons (even the name evokes the hiss of steam) turning a shaft that rotated the paddles I could watch – half submerged – through a nearby porthole. Thud, thud and splash, splash – such mechanical power in action.

Needless to say I didn’t become an engineer, the Bristol Queen went to the scrap yard and Weston’s old pier is a sad and derelict place.

There are hopes for its revival – a come-back from the maritime grave like Clivedon Pier just up the coast. That was restored and re-opened in 1998 following the dedicated efforts of many. I remember stepping ashore upon it from The Waverley – the last seagoing passenger carrying paddle steamer in the world – to officially switch the pier head lights on.

Living now in Bath – as we have for the last 11 years – l still have the raucous sound of the gulls to remind me of my seaside past.

I have a picture from 1959, taken with my Kodak Brownie 127, of Mr Mayo and his teacher colleagues from Uphill Primary School dipping their toes in the briny on a day’s outing to Weymouth. If only we’d had social media back then! n Richard Wyatt runs the Bath Newseum: bathnewseum.com

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THEATRE | INTERVIEW

Not playing safe

Julian Clary doesn’t like to take things too seriously, and we love him for it. Melissa Blease chats to him ahead of his appearance in The Dresser at Theatre Royal Bath and asks him how he’s coped with such a grown-up acting role t was the 1980s!” says Julian Clary, looking back to the days before he became a household name synonymous with the words ‘outrageous’, ‘hilarious’ and ‘high, high camp’; “anything could happen!” And at the end of one of his 1980s-era cabaret tour dates in Liverpool (The Joan Collins Fan Club: think, excessive glitter, tawdry glamour and lashings of wily wit and wicked innuendo), almost anything did.

“You tried to steal my Fanny?!” Yes, Julian, I’m afraid I did. When dearest Fanny the Wonder Dog – Julian’s faithful furry co-star: an elegant whippet stoically accepting of wearing a wig and being coaxed into doing ‘impressions’ – came to literally lap up her applause at the end of the show, I attempted to kidnap her. “Oh, I’m so glad your attempt was unsuccessful!” says Julian; “but if I’d have known what you tried to do, I could have put your story in my new memoir!”

The memoir of which Julian talks is The Lick of Love, written by Julian during lockdown and published in October. “It’s a sort of autobiography, but actually all about the dogs in my life,” he says.

“Since Fanny, I’ve always had a dog by my side, so it’s in four parts: Fanny, Valerie, Albert and Gigi. The current two are 13-year-old Albert, who is probably a sort of Jack Russell/Staffie cross, and Gigi, who we got at the beginning of lockdown. She was rescued from a graveyard in Serbia, so she’s very feisty and a little bit damaged – still feral underneath it all really (like most of us), but great fun. Oh of course there’s lots of showbiz stuff in the book too, but the emphasis isn’t on all that; it’s all about the therapeutic value of having a dog beside you as you move on through your life.”

Writing books is just one aspect of this multi-faceted, multitalented renaissance man’s career that we could easily focus a whole feature on. Julian has written several books to date, including his

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early autobiography A Young Man's Passage and six of his ongoing series The Bolds, for children. Other fascinating CV strands include multiple TV appearances including his own 1990s quiz show Sticky Moments, his regular inclusion on the BBC Radio 4 Just a Minute panel, and the ongoing international tours of various one-man shows.

But we’re putting all of that to one side today to focus on Julian’s recent penchant for treading the boards in some very ‘serious’ theatrical roles.

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I like an element of danger; I like to ... push... myself to the point where I think failure could be just a blink away

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Next month, Julian will visit Theatre Royal Bath to appear in Ronald Harwood’s beautifully-observed 1980s play The Dresser (rescheduled from September 2020), stepping into the role of Norman, the patient, devoted but outspoken dresser of an emotionally and physically fragile, ageing actor.

“Norman is a very clever, complex character,” says Julian. “But his delivery and his way of expressing himself is subtly funny – it’s possible, I believe, to do both humour and pathos at once.” So can we expect to see a more serious side of Julian Clary, in Bath? “I don’t think I’m very good at being serious at all!” he laughs. “The Dresser, though, does feel like a very proper, grown-up thing to do. I’ve done a few big acting roles now, and I’m learning that there’s a big difference between being an actor and being a ‘turn’ – and I’m generally known as a ‘turn’, aren’t I? But I think I’m doing okay; I played Leigh Bowery in the Boy George play Taboo, and the MC in Cabaret – as long as you keep your mind open to opportunities, you’d be surprised what comes your way. And I really took a shine to The Dresser; I can see enough of me in Norman to make it work and it’s so beautifully written. My challenge is to say it exactly as it’s written because I can’t improvise, which will be my temptation.”

Improvise? In traditional theatre?? “I learnt not to do that the hard way,” says Julian. “A couple of years ago I did a play called Le Grand Mort at the Trafalgar Studios, which Stephen Clark wrote for me. I was fine in rehearsal, but on the first night my cabaret/comedy instinct to talk to the audience directly kicked in. I was ever so pleased with myself; I thought I’d really bought the play to life. But when I came off stage, the director said ‘Julian, this is not about you, it’s about the playwright’s intention’. And of course, the director was right. But I find it very difficult to ignore an audience; if someone coughs, I want to remark upon it, and if someone in the front row is wearing funny shoes I want to improvise around that. But I won’t do that in Bath!

The texture of The Dresser is so wonderful, and I’m working with a lot of other actors, and it’s definitely not All About Me! That’s what I’ve learnt to tell myself hundreds of times: it’s not all about me.”

But given that The Dresser is a two-hander, it sort of is all about Julian – and, of course, well-seasoned stage superstar Matthew Kelly, who appears alongside him as the actor that Norman supports so sensitively, known to his loyal acting company as Sir. “I haven’t worked with Matthew before but I know him quite well now; throughout lockdown, we spent at least six hours a week on Zoom

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ARTS | INTERVIEW

Julian Clary stars as Norman and Matthew Kelly stars as ‘Sir’ in The Dresser

calls learning the script together, and we developed one of those strange Covid friendships. But I’ve had enough of Zoom calls now! I’m champing at the bit to just stand up and do the play.”

Ah, lockdown; how was it for Julian? “I’m of an age where I didn't mind it so much,” he says. “I got into a routine of walking the dogs, cooking my husband’s dinner and going to bed early, and I did a lot of writing which gave me some form of creative purpose. Starting to work again and not getting home until gone 11 at night has been quite a shock to the system. But I was ready for it; I was getting a bit fidgety, really. And my husband is definitely relieved because I only had him to pick on for all those months, so he’s off the hook now!”

I can only imagine how easy it would be to put ‘on the hook’ by this super-astute, intelligent man with a voice that’s the aural equivalent of a large Bailey’s, and a quicksilver wit. Did Julian Clary know, back in his Joan Collins Fan Club days, what an eclectic, hugely successful career lay before him?

“When I started out I thought, I’ll just do this for a year or two,” he recalls. “I liked the self-sufficiency of doing my own act and arranging my own bookings; it was a kind of lightweight life which I enjoyed. So no, I didn’t think for one minute that I’d still be doing it now. But if you hang around for long enough and you’re happy to diversify, other avenues open up for you. But I’ve kind of made myself into a commodity – I write about myself in books, or talk about myself on stage, or recall my childhood, sort of, in the children’s books. It’s all related, really, and it’s interesting to do the same thing in many different ways.” But how on earth does Julian keep his apparently inexhaustible inspiration levels up?

“Because so much of what I do is improvised, it feels kind of new to me, so hopefully new to you too,” he says. “And I like an element of

danger; I like to frighten myself into doing something, pushing myself to the point where I think failure could be just a blink away. The worst thing that could happen is that I get booed off stage – and if that happened, I’d just go home and still be me, so it wouldn’t matter, it wouldn’t be such a big deal compared to many other people’s ways of earning a living, which generally has far greater consequences and more responsibility than my way of life does. I always wanted to be lighthearted about everything; that’s still my mission.”

So, other than lighthearted, I ask Julian to describe himself, in his own three words. After much deliberation whereupon both ‘good company’ and ‘shallow’ end up being kicked to the kerb, he eventually comes up with his self-definitive trio: “I’m calm, fickle and amusing,” he says. “People say that an aura of calm sort of radiates around me; if I’m amongst excitable people, they quickly calm themselves down.

Fickle because I’m determined to be fickle, and I think that’s the right attitude towards my life anyway. And amusing, one would hope, because that’s what people pay to see me be. Amusing covers lots of things, doesn’t it? A mindset, an attitude. If you allow yourself to forget to be amusing, then the joy very easily disappears from your life.

Nothing is worth getting too upset about, I find.”

Not even when a young, mouthy Scouse journalist tries to kidnap your beloved Fanny? “I’m definitely not going to let you near Albert or Gigi when I'm in Bath!” he says. But with Julian, as the last 18 months have proved – let alone the last four decades – anything could happen...

The Dresser with Julian Clary and Matthew Kelly is at Theatre Royal Bath from 9–18 September; theatreroyal.org.uk THEBATHMAG.CO.UK

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ARTS | LITERATURE

The nation’s favourite fitness expert Joe Wicks

Motivational speaker Stuart Lawrence

Environmentalist and race activist Mya-Rose Craig

Bath Festival’s Children’s Literature Festival this autumn welcomes stars and creatives including Cressida Cowell, Sophie Dahl, Chris Smith and Greg James, Liz Pichon, Jasbinder Bilan, Stephen Mangan, Rob Biddulph and Joe Wicks

T

here’s something for everyone at this autumn’s Bath Children’s Literature Festival, which brings a host of writers and illustrators to the city for live, interactive events for young people of all ages.

Europe’s largest stand-alone children’s book festival returns with stars including Waterstones Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell, creator of the How to Train Your Dragon and Wizards of Once series, who will be spellbinding audiences on the magic of wizards and dragons.

Other figures include Irish comedian David O’Doherty who returns to the festival with his new novel, The Summer I Robbed a Bank. Actor Stephen Mangan has teamed up with his illustrator sister Anita Mangan to create a fast-paced action novel Escape the Rooms for nine to 12-year-old readers, described as ‘where The Crystal Maze meets Alice in Wonderland.’

Illustrators Steven Lenton (Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam series) and Dapo Adeola (Look Up! and Clean Up!) bring their new characters and drawings to Bath (Dapo has illustrated a new picture book by Malorie Blackman), while #DrawWithRob internet sensation Rob Biddulph will lead a drawalong event for all the family inspired by his Monster Madness book and new middle grade adventure Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City.

And joining the festival for the first time are sporting stars from Bath Rugby, bringing their energy and know-how to a fact-packed, fast-paced sporty event based on the book Rampaging Rugby. Also coming is the nation’s favourite PE teacher and global fitness phenomenon Joe Wicks whose 22 TheBATHMagazine

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creations The Burpee Bears will spring to life through Joe’s own go-getting attitude.

Silliness and fun abound with the latest adventures of Supertato – Supertato: Night of the Living Veg, brought to us by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet, while Kristina Stephenson’s The Museum of Marvellous Things is an interactive theatrical show.

The festival reflects the interests and concerns of young people. Rashmi Sirdeshpande is a lawyer turned children’s writer who addresses the anxieties that children may have about the world in Good News: Why the World is Not as Bad as You Think, giving tips and advice on how to seek out positive facts and how to spot fake news.

Naturalist, environmentalist and race activist Dr Mya-Rose Craig aka Birdgirl will be talking about Dream to Reality: Protecting the Planet, exploring how we can support the young people of colour demanding change to protect the world for the future.

Stuart Lawrence is the younger brother of Stephen Lawrence who was murdered in an unprovoked racist attack at the age of 18 in 1993. Now an educator and motivational speaker, Stuart aims to help young people harness the good in themselves and in the world around them, using the fire of positivity to create change.

Superstar author-illustrator Liz Pichon is also returning to the festival to celebrate the tenth anniversary of her character Tom Gates and the hilarious duo Chris Smith and Greg James will return to share their new adventure The Great Dream Robbery.

Parents introducing children to live book events will be delighted to see The Very Hungry Caterpillar story time and craft, while older children and young adults can

Images: Joe Wicks by Conor McDonnell, Rob Biddulph by Kitty Biddulph

Children’s literature festival

Newton Farm’s 42oz côte de boeuf (for 2)

listen to a playlist with a twist, exploring the History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs with teacher and music enthusiast Jeffrey Boakye.

This year the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute in Queen Square, Bath, is playing a part in the festival, opening its doors to families for a day-long series of drop-in sessions on Saturday 2 October, giving young paleontologists an opportunity to explore items from the institute’s globally renowned collections. And their Digital Discovery Trail will be running all week.

There will also be a special book corner in The Forum Coffee House to drop into between events for book-themed pop-up sessions. n bathfestivals.org.uk

Rob Biddulph from the #DrawWithRob series, with his dog Ringo

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The making of a monster

Images by Millennium FX

Within the walls of House of Frankenstein in Gay Street is a laboratory; inside is an animatronic creation of the creature that Mary Shelley described in her book. Emma Clegg admires the finished model and discovers how it came about His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.

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his excerpt from Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein is the only description of the creature created by scientist Victor Frankenstein. For those familiar with the cult image of the monster in Boris Karloff’s 1931 film Frankenstein and its 1935 and 1939 sequels, this is a surprise as Karloff established the creature as a towering, green, halfalive figure with a flat-topped angular head and bolts on his neck.

❝ There is an eyeball turning, but the brow

and the cheeks also move to give expression

❝

The new House of Frankenstein attraction in Gay Street has stripped these entrenched visual associations away and has created, in its laboratory room, a creature in sync with Shelley’s description.

Co-founder Chris Harris explains, “What we’ve tried to do with Bafta Award-winning animatronic company Millennium FX is to create what we see using the words from the novel, how Mary herself saw the monster. Nobody has done that ever.”

I spoke to Chris Goodman at Millennium FX, who goes by the cool job title of ‘creature concept artist’, about the project. “We started with Mary Shelley’s description of Frankenstein, along with a document detailing various references and influences. The brief was to have a fairly subtle movement in the eyes and chest. Chris was very specific about details, especially around the face: the stretched skin, the watery eyes, the black lips. He was also keen to show that Frankenstein wanted to create something beautiful, almost like a Grecian statue. That was his dream. So we were aiming for a juxtaposition between the strong form and the grotesque.

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“The movement in the eyes was important in the physical creature as well as in making the figure eerie – a lot of animatronics have that kind of Uncanny Valley effect.” This is a term used in the film industry in relation to special effects and prosthetics. “It means something that is real, but not quite right. It’s the seemingly small gap between real and just off that you can get with special effects”, says Chris.

“It’s not only the eye movement, but also the brow, which is what makes an eye expressive. There is an eyeball turning, but the brow and the cheeks also move to give expression.”

Chris designed the creature using a digital sculpting programme called ZBrush. “I did the design in three-dimensions, showed Chris [Harris] and the team renders of it and made changes based on their notes. Once we had a broad concept, I refined that and made it as minutely detailed as I could. At this point I sent the design off to be printed big scale and sent a digital version to Adam Keenan who built the mechanical element of the creature digitally.”

Chris explained that the 3D model is made in the computer programme and the model is then sliced into thousands of layers and the 3D printer builds the model one layer at a time. “It feels like it is growing out of the resin, whereas it’s just being layered,” says Chris.

“Once we had the three dimensional parts, we had to build the form, instal the mechanism and paint the parts visible to the eye. In the case of the head we had to remould the resin parts and cast it out in silicone that we could then paint and punch his black hair into.”

It seems to me that designing and creating a large monster from Mary Shelley’s short paragraph must have been a challenge: does the technology help with this? Chris tells me that in his view the key is not to get caught up in the technology. “Once you have a concept to work with and you know a software programme well enough, the programme becomes second nature so your mind can focus on the creative elements.”

Check out the Uncanny Valley effect of Mary Shelley’s creature at the House of Frankenstein, along with the other aspects of her story. n houseoffrankenstein.com; millenniumfx.co.uk

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LOCAL | EVENTS

What’s on in August The Play That Goes Wrong at the Theatre Royal Bath

Billy Ocean will perform at The Bath Festival Finale Weeked

ARTISTS’ SHOWCASE Throughout July n Out of the Blue Gallery, 6 Upper Borough Walls, Bath A beautiful new gallery right in the heart of Bath is showcasing some of the best British artists and ceramicists. Set across two floors, the gallery is packed with great pieces. Look out for must-see exhibitions arriving at the gallery soon. outofthebluegallery.com BRLSI: JURASSIC ARK Throughout August n 16 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN BRLSI is bringing a unique collection of 19th-century Somerset fossils right up to date with new discoveries from their recent excavation at the site, which lies beneath the hills near Ilminster, Somerset. Here a beautifully preserved Jurassic ecosystem was discovered, 183 million years old. First displayed in 2014, Jurassic Ark is an exhibition that brings this hidden treasure trove to life, illustrating how these ancient creatures lived and interacted, how they died and were preserved, and what they can tell us of the history of life. brlsi.org SUMMER SUNDAYS Throughout August n Various venues and locations in Bath Bath is open and ready to welcome you 26 TheBATHMagazine

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back this summer. Head into the city this month for Summer Sundays – a programme of entertainment, events and activities for all the family. Discover a plethora of pop-up entertainment around the city centre including performances from Jane Austen dancers and samba bands; free face painting; arts and crafts workshops and plenty more. welcometobath.co.uk/summer-sundays

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG 3–7 August n Saw Close, Bath BA1 1ET The Cornley Drama Society are putting on a 1920s murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong… does! As the accident-prone thesps battle on against all the odds to reach their final curtain call, hilarious results ensue. theatreroyal.org.uk

YOGA & WELLBEING PROGRAMME Every Thursday throughout August n American Museum & Gardens Join the American Museum & Gardens’ yoga experts from the YMCA as they take you through a themed yoga class each week. A typical class will include standing and seated yoga postures designed to ease, stretch and relax you. americanmuseum.org

THE LEGEND OF THE WHITE MOUSE 5 August, on Zoom n Online by U3A U3A in Bath is an organisation for retired people who want to find purposeful activity, enjoyment and companionship.

It is an organisation fully driven by its members who for a nominal fee are able to participate in a range of activities from the purely educational to the recreational. The only criterion for joining is that of being retired. This month, Paul Barwick is set to speak at the lecture entitled The Legend of the White Mouse, the Nancy Wake story.

Visit the website for times and updates. u3ainbath.org.uk

CHILDREN’S YOGA Every Friday during school holidays n American Museum & Gardens In partnership with Bath YMCA yoga experts, the museum is offering two wellbeing sessions – one for 4–7-year-olds and one for 8–11-year-olds. The classes are designed to allow children to explore yoga and mindfulness around a story or a theme that changes each week, ending with relaxation. americanmuseum.org

BATH FESTIVAL FINALE WEEKEND 7 August n Bath Recreation Ground The two-day live music spectacular will be taking place at Bath Recreation Ground,

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ANTIQUE JEWELLERY REPAIRS AND REMODELLING AUTUMN SEASON: SEPT - DEC ‘21 BOOKING NOW OPEN

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LOCAL | EVENTS

Yoga at the American Museum & Gardens

in the heart of the city. The first day will see the likes of McFly, Scouting For Girls, Gabrielle, Orla Gartland, Lauran Hibberd, Josh Gray, Novacub, George Pelham, Dessie Magee, Luna Lake and more grace the stage. Buckle in for a weekend of non-stop entertainment. bathfestivals.org.uk BATH FESTIVAL FINALE WEEKEND 8 August n Bath Recreation Ground On the second day of the festival, expect to see musical legends. Enjoy absolute classics from the likes of UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro, Billy Ocean, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Seth Lakeman, Twinnie, Bloco B, Hannah Grace, Casey Lowry, Life in Mono and loads more. A festival not to be missed! bathfestivals.org.uk ROMEO & JULIET 10 August, 5.30pm – 10.30pm n The Holburne Museum The Fools are dusting off their instruments and stepping back into the great outdoors, with a brand new production of Romeo & Juliet. Prepare for a carnival of passion and imagination, as The Fools present the world’s bestknown love story. calf2cow.co.uk/garden-theatre-festival

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Picnic Prom with Classico Latino will be performing at Iford Festival on 21 August

GARDEN GROOVES 13 August n American Museum & Gardens Enjoy a glass or two of American-inspired drinks while taking in the museum’s lovely gardens and the stunning views across the Limpley Stoke valley, all the while listening to live music, brought to you by the best in the local music scene. americanmuseum.org IFORD FESTIVAL 21 August – 18 September n Belcombe Court, Bradford-on-Avon The Iford Festival is returning to the stunning 18th-century grounds of Belcombe Court on 21 August. Rarely open to the public, the Grade I listed house is set in 60 acres of glorious formal gardens, parkland and woodland, and the organisers are taking full advantage of the outdoors for this exciting series of events in a spectacular saddlespan structure.

Picnic Prom with Classico Latino will be going ahead on 21 August and actor David Threlfall will be narrating Peter & the Wolf on 22 August. ifordarts.org.uk LAWRENCES AUCTIONEERS 27 August n Throughout Bath and Bristol Lawrences Auctioneers are running free home visits on 27 August from 9am –

5pm. Valuer Andy Sagar will be available to value your objects and antiques throughout Bath and Bristol. lawrences.co.uk n

LOOKING AHEAD GREAT BATH FEAST 24–26 September n Around the city centre The Great Bath Feast’s festival weekend is set to take place from 24–26 September, followed by fringe events throughout October. The festival line-up features many of Bath’s renowned and much-loved culinary stars, including Ping Coombes, 2014 MasterChef winner; Chris Cleghorn from The Olive Tree; Richard Buckley from OAK; Gavin Edney from The Elder and more.

Starting at Milsom Street and leading to New Bond Street, the streets will be lined with an array of market stalls that offer the best local and international food and drink. For three full days, food and drink enthusiasts can enjoy a buzzing market atmosphere. greatbathfeast.co.uk

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ARTS | MUSIC

Come McFly with me

McFly will be performing at the finale weekend of The Bath Festival on Saturday 7 August – booked to appear last year, they are Obviously determined to bring their own brand of Happiness to Bath’s favourite festival musical weekend. The band are not planning to be Too Close For Comfort or to Touch the Rain, but they might sing ’em. Emma Clegg speaks to singer and guitarist Tom Fletcher

Dougie, Danny, Tom and Harry

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ARTS | MUSIC

T

ake a phenomenally successful pop band of four who have sold more than 10-million records worldwide.

A group who were the youngest band ever to have an album debut at number one, a credential stolen from The Beatles. A group who won the Brit Award for Best British Pop Act in 1994, a year after their launch. A group who later joined forces with another acclaimed group to form a supergroup. A group who have had 18 consecutive UK top 20 singles. A group who – much to their fans’ chagrin – then took an extended break and focused on their own solo projects.

This is McFly’s story, but it’s a familiar one; four young men who grew up together in the bright lights of the stage, the adoration of fans and the glare of the media. It’s a pressurised place at a time when you’re getting to know who you are, and it’s not surprising that it doesn’t last forever. Love is Easy, they sang, but keeping it going was not so easy.

McFly guitarist and singer Tom Fletcher says, “We had always been really good friends, but we spent so much time together that it was hard to get a sense of perspective and the emotions took over. At the end it did almost feel like a troubled marriage. Only there were four of us! It was like a marriage, only more intense – one that was observed by the world and the pressure was hard to handle.”

❝

We have been incredibly lucky as musicians.

Our music struck a chord and people got behind us

❝

Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd first got together as McFly – named after Marty McFly in Back to the Future – in 2003 when Tom was just 18 and they reached number one with songs like 5 Colours In Her Hair and Obviously. They rose to fame after fellow band Busted helped launch them by inviting them to tour in 2004. Tom admits that the thrill of achieving such a high profile so early was offset by having to grow up in the public gaze and cope with all the insecurities that beset you: “Like anything in life, there are good times and bad, but when you’re so young and in the public eye, as we were, everything becomes exaggerated, with all the high emotion and anxiety that you get in your teens.”

After their double platinum first album, Room on the 3rd Floor – named after the hotel room where most of the songs were written – McFly went on to release four more albums between 2005 and 2010, and the 2005 Comic Relief single It’s All About You. Leading up to 2016, as well as being McFly they were all collaborating on other projects, including in Tom’s case a series of The Dinosaur that Pooped children’s books with McFly bandmate Dougie Poynter.

The parting of ways in 2017 – never an official breakup – saw each of them following their own path, focusing on family, trying out new things, and finding some private space, too. For Tom, whose first big role came at the age of nine as the lead in Oliver! in the West End and who started writing music for boy band Busted at the age of 16 before then setting up McFly, this was a big change in pace, but a welcome one. “After McBusted [the supergroup McFly formed with Busted] things got difficult and it felt like we were totally out of sync.

I suppose there were more of us involved and the bonds we’d had as a group of four seemed to lose their glue. And our personal lives were suffering.”

Tom is married to his childhood sweetheart Giovanna and they have three young children, who dominate proceedings, but it’s clear that Tom loves every moment, although there are snags. “I’ve forgotten what it’s like to sleep,” he says, “but I’ve got used to catching up at odd times, and just managing with less.” Tom’s YouTube channel has 635,000 subscribers, and his eldest son Buzz who is seven has a starring role, and a heart-melting affinity for

performance and singing. Tom tells me that Buzz is fascinated by music and wants to be involved at every stage whereas Buddy, his second son is really not interested – he thinks superheroes are better.

Watch Buzz’s performance of Shotgun on Tom’s YouTube channel and you’ll see a star in the making.

Tom’s first solo book, The Christmasaurus, published in 2016, was nominated for the Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and follows the life of young boy in a wheelchair as he embarks on adventures across the North Pole. It was performed in the West End at the end of 2017 with Tom starring alongside his sister Carrie Hope Fletcher, his actress wife Giovanna, McFly drummer Harry Judd, and Busted’s Matt Willis – and there is a Hollywood animated feature film in the making, directed by Michael Gracey and starring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron. Tom says: “The book all began with a song called The Christmasaurus! That song inspired the whole story and as I began writing the book I wrote more songs that helped me tell the story and bring the characters to life.”

After a three-year break, the band performed at London’s O2 in late 2019, releasing a song every week from what was planned as their new album Lost Songs in the build up to the show. “Three years was a long time to be apart,” says Tom, “and it created a huge void.

The show at the O2 was amazing, it was so good to be back with my friends. None of us knew how it would go, but it just worked, and people seemed to love it.” The ‘Lost Songs’, a collection of demo recordings, were recorded in 2011 for an album that was put on hold when they formed McBusted, and it was the band’s first new album material in nine years. “We all felt that those songs needed to be heard if we were going to get to the next part in the McFly journey,” says Tom. The Young Dumb Thrills album, released in November last year, is the band’s sixth studio album – featuring Happiness as its lead single, it debuted at number 2 in the UK. McFly were back. We’ve renewed our vows as a band, and we can’t wait to get touring again,” explains Tom. The band’s appearance at the Bath Festival Finale Weekend on 7 August is just the second venue in their official comeback tour, put off for obvious reasons since 2020.

Now 36, Tom is modest about McFly and its success and touchingly appreciative of the opportunities they have had: “We have been incredibly lucky as musicians. Our music struck a chord and people got behind us, but there are so many talented musicians out there who have not had the chances we had and who have never had a platform to show themselves off.”

Tom doesn’t have the urge to go it alone. It seems that the togetherness of the group in the early years was genuinely based on very close friendships and musical alliances: “In terms of the music, it was always about the band, not about any of us as individuals. It has always felt like a collaboration and that made us feel stronger.”

Tom’s YouTube channel describes him as a “Mediocre guitarist in McFly. Generally lame, occasionally awesome.” Don’t believe it.

McFly are McFlying again and awesome is the name of the game.

Their UK tour will continue to see them McSoar. n McFly will perform on the main stage for Bath Festival Finale Weekend on Saturday 7 August; bathfestivals.org.uk

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ARTS | MUSIC

Bath Festival’s Bath Introduces competition this year is giving four bands the chance to perform at the Finale Weekend. Emma Clegg talks to one of the judges, drummer Marc McNabb-Jack

M

arc McNabb-Jack is a good role model for ambitious young musicians because he has the experience of being a young unknown and working his way up through the industry. He did it in style by winning a local battle of the bands competition. “I went to Sion Hill to do an art degree when I ws 18 and then I met a guy called Chris Turpin and we started a band called Kill It Kid, and within a few months we played battle of the bands at Moles nightclub and it led to us getting a record deal. From that point we ditched our degrees, recorded three records, toured all over the world, and played with Motorhead and Bob Dylan.”

Marc – who now runs a music studio, Mitzpah Studios, in the centre of Bath as well as touring as a session drummer – was one of the judges in this year’s Bath Festivals’ Bath Introduces competition where the prize for two artists is to play the main stage of the Finale Weekend on 7–8 August on Bath Recreation Ground. The two winners will play the main stage and one will then head to Real World Studios to work with Tim Oliver while the other winning act will work with Marc at Mizpah Studios to produce a single. This year two runners-up are also being given the chance to perform on the city stage during the festival weekend.

The music contest saw nearly 100 acts from all over the UK submit entries – these were honed down to 20 in partnership with music students from Bath Spa University. Marc and his fellow judges – Dave T and Beckie Parsons from Judgeday Productions and Pablo Janczur from Orchard Live – took over from there, and had the job of coming up with the two winners and two runners-up.

Talking just before the winners were announced, Marc said, “There are a couple of acts in there that I’m like ‘yeah, you’re not done yet but there is something really great about what you are doing’. It’s fun to draw that out and see where they could end up, help them find their voice. Music is all about development, about the journey you are on and capturing the moment that you’re in. What I love about some of these guys is that they are at the beginning of their journey and I love to be part of helping them form their sound.”

Marc explains why these chances can be so groundbreaking for unestablished musicians: “These local battle of the band competitions have been so pivotal in the music scene throughout the world and throughout musical history. And galvanising the local talent is really important for grass roots music. Not just for Bath and Bristol but for what it leads on to and what it can achieve long-term.”

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❝

These competitions bring out of the woodwork all these great sounds that we didn’t know existed...

❝

Music maestro

them the opportunity to work in a space with someone who can take them further in their journey musically. The approach will be to follow the song and how it sounds sonically – it may be a live thing or we could multi-track and record each instrument.”

I ask Marc about his view on televised talent contests like The X Factor. Marc is sceptical. “The X Factor and the larger shows have created manufactured pop and rock artists. But essentially they highlighted what was going on in the background and just made a TV show about it.. Labels haver been putting bands together and manufacturing them for years!

“I’ve worked with James Arthur who won The X Factor and his win was detrimental to him long-term. Although it gave him exposure, he’s been battling the X Factor tag ever since, even though he is now credible and successful in his own right. The problem is that the process doesn’t feel organic or true, but it can be a really good launch pad for careers.”

The other issue with the TV shows, Marc tells me, is that they expect an instant polished performance from musicians who might not have found their voice yet. “You might have a final product at 19, but actually music is a craft you work on your whole life and you are never the finished product.

“At the age of 18 I signed a record deal with Warner Brothers and toured the world playing for big artists and I’ve worked in the industry ever since. You can’t buy that expeience, you have to go and do it.”

Marc has a busy life on tour. As well as working with James Arthur, he has been drumming for Band of Sculls, an international rock band drawing crowds of 10,000 a night. He has also drummed for a Glastonbury band called Reef and indie pop band London Grammar and will soon be on tour with indie rock band Bombay Bicycle Club. As well as juggling these commitments, Marc feels strongly about investing in the music of the future: “I want to be in a position to help serve the guys coming up now and see them achieve.

These competitions bring out of the woodwork all these great sounds that we didn’t know existed in our small city.”

The winners of Bath Introduces have now been announced as Ben Hutcheson and GeeJay who will perform on the Main Stage; the decision about who they will work with in the music studio will be made when they perform. And the runners-up are Split the Dealer and Enter Red who will perform on the City Stage. n bathfestivals.org.uk

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West End meets west country From 9–12 September Rode Comedy Festival is returning, after its launch last year, to the picturesque Somerset venue where it all started, welcoming a host of rather funny guests.

Millie Bruce-Watt chats to award-winning comedian and festival organiser Jarred Christmas

T

he Rode Comedy Festival is returning for its second year with an incredible line-up of big-name acts, Olivier Award-winning West End shows and a whole host of comedy legends. Taking place in the picturesque Somerset village of Rode, audiences can enjoy four days and nights of performances beneath a stretch tent in the open autumn air.

Kicking the festival off on 9 September will be the awardwinning improvised production Showstopper! The Musical, with an intimate performance of their West End show. The Showstoppers will create a brand-new musical comedy from scratch as audience suggestions are transformed on the spot into all-singing, all-dancing productions with hilarious results. With 12 years as an Edinburgh Fringe must-see phenomenon, a BBC Radio 4 series, a critically acclaimed West End run, and an accolade of awards to their name, these musical masters are guaranteed to impress on the opening night.

Friday night will see the return of the hilarious Scummy Mummies with their brand-new riotous, warts-and-all show. In support is Daisy Earl, one of the fastest rising stars in comedy today. In 2015, Daisy was crowned Scottish Comedian of the Year, making her the first-ever female winner.

On Saturday night, the festival will present TV superstar presenter, comedian and best-selling author Joel Dommett, who will bring you bang up-to-date on his life since his last live show.

To close the festival on Sunday night, the likes of Stephen K Amos (BBC’s Live at the Apollo, The Royal Variety Performance), Mike Wozniak (Taskmaster and Man Down) and BAFTA-nominated

Jarred Christmas

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comic Spencer Jones will grace the stage.

The brains behind the stellar line-up are Kiwi Somerset-local, multi-award-winning comedian, actor and writer Jarred Christmas and his wife Amelia, a creative arts PR who has worked at London’s Design Museum and for several major book publishers.

Together they run Pop-Up Comedy, organising shows in unique venues across the south west. This month, we caught up with Jarred to chat about all things comedy and what exactly we can expect from the four-day extravaganza.

“This year’s festival really has something for everyone,” Jarred tells me. “The reason we went for Showstoppers, other than it being such an incredible show, is that we wanted it to be the full spectrum of comedy. We loved this whole idea of bringing the West End to the west country, bringing a show that has been on incredible stages around the world and chucking it in a field in Somerset. If you like musicals and you like comedy, then this is ticking all the boxes.”

The festival is not only offering the chance to see an array of famous faces in a beautiful corner of Somerset, but the rare opportunity to see some of the nation’s most-loved comedy geniuses, many of whom are no longer doing live intimate shows.

“Joel Dommett from The Masked Singer has always been a brilliant stand-up comedian. We’ve been trying to get him to perform for us for a long time so to finally get him for this festival is very exciting,” says Jarred. “Mike Wozniak is doing a real live performance – he doesn’t do a huge amount of that anymore so it’s quite special that we’ve got him. Spencer Jones is pure silliness. I always watch him thinking ‘an act like this can only be created in

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the UK’. He embraces all that Vic and Bob craziness with Tommy Cooper with Bill Bailey-level music – it’s clowning, it’s proper stand-up, it’s music, it’s brilliant. And then to finish everything we’ve got an absolute legend of Stephen K. Amos – it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The festival first launched last September in response to the catastrophic effects the pandemic had on the comedy industry. After Pop-Up Comedy’s run of successful outdoor shows over the summer of 2020, the local team were inspired to work more creatively, delivering comedy in new ways. Headliners for 2020 included stadium-level comedians whose national tours had been postponed including Russell Kane and Russell Howard. “People still wanted entertainment and comedians still wanted to work,” says Jarred. “It was electric to get back up on stage last year. For us as performers there was an excitement to it which was really reciprocated from the audience. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Certainly the last year and a half has made me creatively start figuring out other ways to deliver comedy, be it online or in these incredible outdoor scenarios.”

Modestly, Jarred credits the effort of local suppliers for last year’s sell-out success. Working with friends Emma and James Burton at Pitch Perfect Camping, where the festival will take place once again, the team at The Cross Keys Rode, who will supply the food, and Butcombe, who will provide the drinks, the event is very much a local setup.

“Pitch Perfect Campsite is in such a lovely setting,” he says. “As a comedian I’ve been doing stand-up for the last 22 years and the silver lining of the last year or so is realising that you can do comedy in beautiful surroundings instead of dingy bars. It’s a new experience for me, being on stage and getting heckled by birds.

There are stables next to the campsite so every now and then through the night you hear horses whinnying so it really added to the atmosphere. To be honest, we couldn’t have done it without the support from The Cross Keys, Pitch Perfect, Butcombe and a bit of a community vibe.”

Jarred, who will be joining forces with international beatboxer

Mike Wozniak

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We loved this whole idea of bringing the West End to the west country, bringing a show that has been on incredible stages around the world and chucking it in a field in Somerset

❝

Joel Dommett

and loop-station champion Hobbit to welcome the line-up on Sunday night, has appeared on some of Channel 4 and the BBC’s most popular comedy panel shows, including 8 out of 10 Cats, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Mock the Week. In 2010, he won the Chortle Comedy Award for Best Compere before going on to set up Pop-Up Comedy in 2015. He has appeared on radio, film, television and stage around the world and has been a favourite headliner on the UK comedy circuit for decades.

Highly praised for last year’s success, this year is set to hit the same heights. With big names continuing to support the festival, there are high hopes for the future of Rode Comedy. “There’s nothing like it in this immediate area,” adds Jarred. “Bristol has the Comedy Garden Festival and that is ginormous, but we want this boutique, family-friendly event in a beautiful scenario serving this local area. All we’re trying to do is get back on stage, but also provide a brilliant evening of entertainment.” And no doubt brilliant it will be.

Rode Comedy Festival runs from 9–12 September 2021; Pitch Perfect Camping, Woolverton BA2 7QU. Tickets are available for £25 from popupcomedy.org/shows THEBATHMAG.CO.UK THEBATHMAG.CO.UK 2020 2010 THEBATHMAG.CO.UK AUGUST 2021 | nOVeMber || jAnUAry

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ARTS & EXHIBITIONS Widcombe Arts Trail, at the Widcombe Social Club, St Matthews Church and the Natural Theatre Company, 28 and 29 August

Image: Broken Carnival by Beth Carter

North, South, East, West, Beaux Arts Bath, 12-13 York Street, Bath BA1 1NG, Until 28 August Beaux Arts are showing the bronze sculptures of Beth Carter, who is well known for her minotaurs and mythologically inspired shape-shifters. An impressive collection of Beth’s bronzes will share the gallery with paintings celebrating the British landscape. North South East West will include work from around Britain, from Cornwall to Shetland and Norfolk to Pembrokeshire, featuring David Atkins, Andrew Crocker, Gill Rocca, Ruth Brownlee, Philip Braham and David Tress, among others. The exhibition will also feature ceramics by Albert Montserrat. beauxartsbath.co.uk Freud, Minton, Ryan: unholy trinity Victoria Art Gallery, Bath BA2 4AT, until 19 September Unholy Trinity is the first exhibition to focus on the passionate intimacy that existed between Lucian Freud, John Minton and Adrian Ryan – three gifted figurative painters striving and succeeding to build careers in a war-torn Britain when the art world functioned remarkably well.

The exhibition, a collaboration between Victoria Art Gallery and Falmouth Art Gallery, is accompanied by a film

by Italian film-maker Isaac Biglioli. victoriagal.org.uk Image: Mountains behind Toulon by Adrian Ryan

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Artists showing work at the Widcombe Arts Trail are exhibiting at three venues in Widcombe. Exhibitors include artist and illustrator Jessica Palmer, artist David Lawrence, printmaker Polly Gough, Bridget Baker and her handmade wire animals, painter Max Aiken, artist Pat Betts, freehand embroiderer Shuya Cheng, acrylic painter Ruth Davies, mosaicist Lorelei Hunt, and artists Emma Rose and Catherine Beale. widcombearttrail.com

Image by Jessica Palmer

July Fair, Bath Contemporary Artists’ Fair, Green Park Station, 8 August Bath Contemporary Artists’ Fair is delighted to welcome everyone back to its August fair. The fair is committed to bringing the best of contemporary art from the city and beyond right to the heart of Bath.

Following on from the successful and popular fairs last year, the next event is on 8 August, where visitors can browse the brilliant works of local artists and admire fine art, photography, sculpture and textiles, all under the vaulted glass roof of Green Park Station. For updates and exhibiting artists visit the website. bcaf.co.uk Image by Carol West

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The Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney Street, throughout August Canaletto: Painting Venice This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition will enable art lovers to enjoy and study up-close 23 beautiful paintings, in a fascinating exhibition that also explores Canaletto’s life and work, alongside themes of 18th-century Venice and the Grand Tour.

Precious and Rare: Islamic Metalwork from the Courtauld Ten remarkable highlights from The Courtauld’s world-class collection of Islamic metalwork. Dating from the 13th to 16th centuries, these are some of the finest examples from modernday Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Turkey.

Shooting Stars: Carinthia West, Britain and America in the 1970s, American Museum & Gardens, Bath BA2 7BD, until 31 October Carinthia West’s intimate photographs of rock and film stars of the 1970s in America – and in particular on the glorious beaches of Malibu in California – present an upbeat and buoyant view of the decade that should remind us of the outstanding music and the great design of this much-maligned period. Carinthia West’s fascinating photographs demonstrate that the 1970s was a decade of bright colours, fun, and self-expression. americanmuseum.org

Nicholas Pope: Portraits of a Marriage The museum presents, for the first time, ten sculptures which depict Nicholas Pope and his wife at different stages of their life together, during more than 40 years of marriage. The exhibition encapsulates Pope’s personal development over five decades and the nature of his relationship with Janet.

Thomas Lawrence Coming of Age This exhibition, the museum’s first virtual show, gives fresh insight into the first 25 years of one of Britain’s greatest portrait painters.

Image: Mick Jagger at Cedars Sinai Hospital, LA, 1976

holburne.org

Metalwork bag from Precious and Rare exhibition

Somerset Rural Life Museum, Chilkwell Street, Glastonbury BA6 8DB, until 4 September

Flights of Fancy: a printmaking exhibition at the RUH, Central Gallery, Royal United Hospitals, Combe Park, Bath BA1 3NG. Until 7 October

As part of a summer of events and activities, for all the family, visitors can enjoy an exhibition of specially commissioned contemporary photography by Bristol-based photographer Peter Hall. The exhibition also features a short documentary film by film maker Reuben Gaines in collaboration with Peter Hall.

The photographs were taken in 2019, months before our world was changed by Covid-19. They provide a vivid record of a much-loved highlight in Somerset’s farming calendar. The Royal Bath and West Show has been at the heart of the West Country’s rural life since the first show was held in 1852. This year the usual show is replaced by the Bath & West Country Festival from 27–29 August.

An exhibition by six local printmakers, many of whom met while printing at Marshfield Screen Print, a creative printmaking workshop near Bath. All work in the exhibition is available to buy at affordable prices with a commission paid to the RUH.

swheritage.org.uk/somerset-rural-life-museum

artatruh.org

Image: Milkers Taking a Break by Peter Hall

Image: Finch and Thistle by Sarah Targett

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ART | EXHIBITIONS

Summer Exhibition, Woolverton Gallery, Bath BA2 7RH, throughout August The Woolverton Gallery’s first exhibition features the work of wellknown Bath artists such as David Wilkey, David Ringsell and Brian Elwell, as well as many other contributors from further afield.

There are exhibits from the majority of its resident artists, with over 60 paintings on view in its five display areas. The emphasis is on colourful, contemporary artwork in a variety of styles. Ray Jones, the owner of the gallery, will be present to show guests around and to answer questions about all the wonderful exhibits. bathartsales.com

Image: Light on their Feet by David Moss

David Ringsell: Pandemic City Bath Painter David Ringsell's most recent work has been inspired by the pandemic, with his latest series entitled Pandemic City Bath. David’s work is currently being exhibited at The Woolverton Gallery and The Artery Art Cafe.

David loves to share his artistic impressions of Bath, his home city.

His unique and contemporary art prints of Bath show a different and sometimes darker side of the city and his paintings of Bath architecture don’t shy away from the stained stonework and peeling paint that are part of many buildings. Custom prints are also available in a range of sizes – visit the wesbite for more details.

Image: Emerging Light

by David Ringsell

real-images.com

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The art of beach-combing

Plastic may be cheap, strong, light and versatile, but it leaves a permanent mark. Emma Clegg talks to Emily Barker whose art – fed by plastic beach finds in Cornwall – powerfully highlights the plight of our oceans and wildlife

A

container filled with 4.8 million pieces of Lego fell into the sea off Lands End in 1997. And the pieces are still being washed up on the beaches today. Emily Barker – artist and collector of plastic on Cornish beaches – tells me that there is even a person called Lego Lost At Sea who devotes themselves to collecting this washed-up Lego.

“Finding a piece of Lego is a whoop whoop moment,” Emily explains. “I’ve found Lego flippers, Lego seaweed, a Lego octopus and a little Lego scuba man. [The marine link is not accidental as many of the Lego items in the container were nautical-themed.] They are all part of this cargo and they are still arriving on our beaches now.”

While finding a piece of Lego is a euphoric moment for beach plastic browsers such as Emily, it tells a shocking story of the state of our waters, which are overloaded with discarded plastic that is harming animal and human health. “Seabirds pick up small pieces of Lego or plastic, eat it and give it to their chicks. Their instinct is to do that. The chicks can’t break down food so they just starve to death,” says Emily.

Blue Planet II in 2017 raised awareness of the fact that birds and sea creatures ingest plastic from the ocean, and this includes tiny pieces called microplastics which can derive from plastic shopping bags, clothing and household and cosmetic products. Emily explains, “Microplastics mean that plastic is in the food chain. And when plastic is in water the plastic seeps chemicals into the water, so that’s going into the system as well.”

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Gradually the driftwood filtered away and the plastic grew...

trapped in nets. Emily is full of admiration for their work, but reflects, “For every one they rescue you wonder how many they didn’t save.”

The Cornish beach finds come from all over. Emily’s husband once found a plastic Bath Rugby sign: “Penzance seems a long way from Bath but there is a continuity between them and it’s plastic waste. My husband found a plastic board with holes on a beach on the Lizard Peninsular and it said ‘Bath Rugby’ – it was one of those arrow signs and there it was on the southernmost point of Britain.”

Emily’s work has different strands, much of it humorous, some figurative, like the gangster and the blue whale shown below, some simply groups of similar objects, like plastic spades or battered and fragmented fishermens’ gloves. She also uses the plastics to form letters, such as the ‘Here today here tomorrow’ shown opposite.

“My best friend is my glue gun,” she says. “Some pieces are very disposable – I create something and then I’ll take it apart. Or it gets used for something else. Or it gets recycled. Others are more permanent.”

There is a certain irony in the fact that Emily loves scouring the beach for finds. “It’s a magpie instinct that makes me do it. I go to a beach, look at the nice view and then go straight to find the strandline.

If it’s a windy night, I work out the wind direction, and what will be the best beach to go to the next day when the tide comes in. Which is awful really, planning which beach is going to have the best rubbish.”

But if the plastic is left, it stays in the marine chain: “If it’s not picked up it will get washed out again. The beach and the shoreline is intertidal, so what comes in will go out.” So Emily’s scouring is helping to clear the beach – and other groups including the National Trust regularly do this – and her artwork highlights, in all its bright plastic colour, a crucial message about the threat these disposable items pose and the importance of protecting our waters and our wildlife from them. n instagram.com/emilybeachplastic; emilybeachplastic.co.uk

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Emily – who lives in Bath but regularly spends time in Penzance – used to wander the Cornish beaches collecting driftwood for her artwork. “I used to love collecting driftwood to use for sculptures.

But as time went on I started to see plastic, and gradually the driftwood filtered away and the plastic grew. Now you don’t see much driftwood at all.”

So the emphasis of Emily’s work changed, initially to incorporate beach plastic and eventually to use it exclusively. She doesn’t see herself as a commercial artist, although she does sell some pieces, but rather as a creative and environmental awareness raiser, highlighting the plight of the oceans and the pollution and suffering caused by plastics.

“I saw a dead ganet on a beach a few years ago with a fishing net around its neck. The net had trapped him. Everything I do in my work is about making people aware of what’s happening.”

It’s clear that the beach-combing is her favourite part but this is just the beginning of the process, as Emily’s finds form a vocabulary of materials for collaged artworks, then posted on her Instagram account.

She also collaborates with various environmental groups, such as the Cornwall Research Trust, British Divers Marine Life Rescue, and a Cornish seal charity who go out and rescue seals and other animals PREVIOUS PAGE, clockwise from top left: Do you believe in a glove resurrection?; Mermaid “The sea once it’s cast its spell, holds one in its wonder forever” (Jacques Cousteau); Beach Guardian; The Undersea World of Jack Clueso; An Exotic Specimen, New to Cornish Waters. (The flip fish, Latin name flopus flopus, common during the summer months, often washed ashore.

Appearance due to human global influence); The Never-ending Story RIGHT: Clean up the Planet, or the Whale Gets It! THEBATHMAG.CO.UK

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Travelling Hopefully DUNCAN CAMPBELL HAS BEEN DEALING IN ANTIQUE SILVER SINCE 1986

Even better than sleeping

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aving been denied the opportunity to go out into the world looking for silver, I find I miss that essential aspect of shopkeeping enormously, much more than I’d have guessed.

There are times, I will not pretend, when getting out of bed at 3am facing the prospect of a long lonely drive to an antiques fair, is horrific.

Despite the horror, I do still get up and very rarely miss a decent buying opportunity. I had previously assumed that this was down to some deep seated work ethic but I now realise that I am in fact a hopeless addict.

Purveyors of fine and rare antique silver are really no different to the old Klondike gold prospectors with their rusty pans and picks. The only goal is to find buried treasure. Of course I am always delighted to make £100 by selling an expensive piece of silver, but the intense thrill of buying something from a dealer for £5 that is worth £50 is infinitely more satisfying.

There is certainly a minor ego boost to be gained from knowing more than the dealer, but the thrill of the hunt is the real payoff.

Moving optimistically from stall to stall, not knowing what treasure might turn up is completely absorbing.

In my former life in the City of London, we joked that the worst thing an oil exploration company could do was to find oil because the hope value was then converted into calculable, boring reality. Who wants to replace hope with certainty? Clearly not I. I think this magpie instinct is what drives us to the dark, dusty corners of antique shops, passing by the dealer’s best items to find the undiscovered gem. The Del Boy dream that ‘this time next year we’ll be millionaires’ is no joke to me, it quite literally gets me out of bed in the morning. n beaunashbath.com; 01225 334234

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BIDDERS GET CRACKING IN SUMMER AUCTION… Lawrences in Crewkerne kicked off their week of Summer Fine Art sales with a huge variety of lots to include a finely-judged private collection of studio pottery and contemporary glass, collected by a couple in South Somerset, assembled over many years.

It included two pottery vessels by world renowned potter Dame Magdalene Odundo, one of the world’s most valuable living ceramic artists.

An early highlight from this sale was a large coil-built terracotta vessel, with an oval shaped neck inspired by exaggerated African angular coiffeur, with a globular body and 34cms high, that saw eager bidding to £117,500 and a consecutive lot, also by Magdalene Odundo made £26,250 making a combined total of £143,750 (inc BP).

Dame Magdalene Odundo, b.1950 Terracotta Vessel, 1985 Bought for £117,500 inc BP

Burnished Terracotta Vessel, 1984 Bought for £26,250 in BP

With over 2200 lots on offer across five long days of auctioneering, careful to observe social distancing, they were happy to be able to welcome in-room bidding once again as well as absentee bids, telephone bidding and live online bidding.

Lawrences are now consigning for the Autumn sales so if you want to find out about the value of an item in your home, feel free to contact them and a specialist will guide you through their valuation process.

FREE VALUATIONS AVAILABLE: In Person | Online | Email | Phone | WhatsApp

ENGAGEMENT AND WEDDING RINGS HANDMADE BESPOKE JEWELLERY REPAIRS AND REMODELLING

Home visits available on request.

T: 01460 73041 E: enquiries@lawrences.co.uk

Lawrences AUCTIONEERS The Linen Yard, South Street, Crewkerne, Somerset TA18 8AB. T 01460 73041

lawrences.co.uk

9 Abbey Churchyard, Bath BA1 1LY 01225 460072 NEW ONLINE SHOP

jody@jodycory.co.uk | www.jodycory.co.uk

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RESTAURANT | REVIEW

Green Park Brasserie 6 Green Park Road, Bath BA1 1JB; Tel: 01225 338565; greenparkbrasserie.com

Review

Newton Farm’s 42oz côte de boeuf (for 2)

Melissa Blease devours the croquettes, gets her skate on the plate and manages to fit in the best crème brûlée ever consumed. She also chats to Alex Peters about the last year at Green Park Brasserie and is blown away by positivity.

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s we all know too well, times are hard for the hospitality industry at the moment. At the tail end of a 18-month-long crisis that resulted in an imperfect storm in eating out world, it would be easy to forgive restaurant owners, when asked how they’re coping, for allowing a mindset revolving around optimism and gratitude to slip down the menu a bit. But ask Alex Peters – director of marketing and strategy for long-standing Bath institution the Green Park Brasserie – where he’s at right now, and the only storm you can expect to have to weather is a great big wave of positivity.

“Getting our team back together and doing what we love doing again was a big moment for us, and hugely exciting. To welcome both locals and those visiting the city back to the Braz has been an absolute pleasure.” And that’s it; no ‘poor us’ moans, no self-pity, no blame – just gratitude for where he’s at this summer.

Even when lockdown was at its most severe, Alex kept calm and carried on, keeping GPB life as ‘new’ normal as possible. “We’re lucky to be a versatile business, which helped us remain optimistic for the future while we tried to make the most of such challenging times,” he says.

“While the Brasserie was forced to close completely, we took the opportunity to give the building some love and get on with less sexy but essential jobs like flooring, plumbing and ventilation. It gave us time to focus, too, on re-evaluating our commercial offering and positioning to make sure that, when re reopened, we’d be an even better business than we were pre-pandemic.

“Meanwhile, we opened our little sister operation the Bath Pizza Co as a takeaway for six of the eight months of lockdown. I was totally overwhelmed with the fantastic support our local community offered us throughout the pandemic, particularly in the cold depths of winter; even then, we still saw our regulars picking up a takeaway.

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our customers and our team.”

The team of which Alex talks so fondly (“led by our outstanding general manager Alex Pitts”) has a huge part to play in the uplifting vibe that suffuses the whole GPB experience now the doors to the business are open again, from warm welcome to nightcap by way of menus that offer fully flexible food for thought (à la carte on a modern bistro theme, or perfect pizzas firing up more casual tastes).

And if you visit on any evening between Wednesday to Saturday, live jazz, funk, swing and/or soul adds a subtle beat to the eats.

I ask Alex what aspect of this buoyant, multi-faceted operation, opened by his father Andrew back in 1992, he’s most proud of today.

“Broadly speaking, the atmosphere! And simply seeing how much guests enjoy being here when the terraces are buzzing, the cocktails are flowing and there’s live music inside the restaurant,” he says. “I honestly don’t think there are many other places in the country that have the unique environment that we offer.”

Indeed, our most recent visit to GPB reminded me of visits to London’s Shoreditch, or New York’s Union Square – there’s something unselfconsciously, comfortably cool about the whole affair; it’s a ‘welcome to the neighbourhood’ party to which everybody’s invited.

After pre-dinner drinks on the lively terrace on the Green Park Road/James Street West intersection to the front of the building, we took to a cosy little corner table in what was, between 1870–1966, the Green Park Railway Station booking hall and is today the dining room at the heart of GPB, as suitable for families and party groups as it is for a smoochy supper for two.

While local swing/jazz supremo Gavin Lazarus crooned dreamily on the little stage, we dived into starters of exceedingly moreish crispy/creamy smoked west country pancetta and leek croquettes and divine Monkfish scampi; one course in, and the going was very good indeed.

From the main course selection, Alex cites the steaks (“sourced from our producers Hugh and Celia at Newton Farm, who are just

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RESTAURANT | REVIEW

up the road with their herd of North Devon Reds; the fillet cut is incredibly tender and flavoursome, and our head chef Steve Derry produces a world-class peppercorn sauce that’s very popular and goes with it incredibly well!”) and Bath Pizza Co head chef Jonah Pole’s goat’s cheese, mushroom and truffle oil pizza as his personal current fave raves.

Alex’s tried-and-trusted recommendations will have to wait until our next visit to be sampled though, because on this occasion there was the irresistible offer of skate wing on the specials board (huge, creamy, delicate but not fragile, and sweetly meaty) and a tantalising dish of chargrilled, lemon and herb-marinated Castlemead Farm chicken breast served with chilli-roasted cauliflower and cumin and turmeric crème fraîche on the à la carte, which turned out to be even more fascinatingly foodie-complex than the description suggested.

❝ We dived into starters of exceedingly

moreish crispy/creamy smoked west country pancetta and leek croquettes

❝

But if those dishes tempt you into playing copycat, move fast and be warned: GPB menus are strictly seasonal and always wrought from locally sourced ingredients, including as much produce from the thriving Green Park Station Farmers’ Market as possible. As a result, a dish that’s trending today might well be consigned to the files marked ‘last season’ by the time you read these words. When it comes to puddings, however, GPB’s legendarily good signature dessert crème brûlée is always in vogue, so make like us and try one; I guarantee it’s the best crème brûlée you’ve ever tasted.

Even before the enormous challenges and devastating restrictions that the pandemic era threw at the hospitality domain, questions around how restaurants survive in such a competitive market subject to the whims and vagaries of fashionability, fads and an insecure financial climate have always loomed large over the most successful business plans. But for over almost three decades now, GPB has

Dishes with duck and hake

skilfully moved with the times while still retaining all the original charms that made it so popular from the get-go; in so many wonderful ways, Bath’s beloved brasserie is still very young for its age. Is this youthful outlook the secret of its success... or are dedication, adaptation and diversification the key factors in play here? As in all the best recipes, it’s clear that all these ingredients go into the pot.

“Aside from the pandemic, we’ve been able to grow the business over the years while building on the strong foundations that my dad Andrew laid in 1992 – and I’m really, really proud of that,” says Alex, who stepped into his directorship role in 2018. “I feel a strong responsibility to Bath to ensure that this magnificent building is a place that people can love coming back to time and time again. I want our future to hold and offer yet more of the best things in life: great food and drink in a wonderful setting to enjoy with the people you care about. We’re committed to doing what we do; next year, we’ll have been doing it for 30 years... and we’re hoping we have at least another 30 to look forward to!”

If you too fancy accentuating the positive, the good times at the glorious Green Park Brasserie offer multiple reasons to be cheerful. n The Green Park Brasserie menu offers starters from £7.50, mains from £14.95, steak from £19.95, desserts from £6.50

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FOOD | & | DRINK

Fesenjan

By A:ROAM:A

Earthy, rich and tangy, this luscious duck stew, called fesenjan, is bursting with Middle Eastern flavour

Bath’s culinary stars come together for the Great Bath Feast’s festival weekend

Ingredients Fesenjan 2 duck legs, 1 large onion, 150g walnuts, 5 tbsp pomegranate molasses, 2 garlic cloves, ½ pint chicken stock, ½ cinnamon stick 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, ¼ tsp salt, or more to taste, ¼ tsp cracked black pepper, or more to taste

Tahini dressing 130g tahini sesame seed paste, 100ml lukewarm water, 3 cloves garlic, 1 large lemon, juiced, ¼ tsp salt

Method • Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Roughly slice the onion. Sauté slowly in the vegetable oil, on a low heat, until soft and brown (they should be roughly the same colour as the walnuts).

• Finely grate the garlic and add to the onions, along with the cinnamon stick and cumin powder. Stir and keep on the lowest heat for 10 minutes.

• Spread the walnuts on a baking tray and roast for 5 minutes or until golden brown.

• Add the roasted walnuts and pomegranate molasses to the sautéed onion and garlic. Keep on a low simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

• Add the chicken stock and slowly simmer for a further 20 minutes.

• Meanwhile, place the duck legs in dry pan on a medium heat.

Season with salt and pepper and render the fat off for seven minutes each side, or until golden brown.

• Put the duck legs in an ovenproof saucepan and pour over the pomegranate sauce. Cover with foil and braise in the oven at 180°C for 1½ hours or until tender and falling off the bone.

Season to taste.

For the tahini dressing • Grind the tahini paste, lukewarm water, garlic, lemon juice and salt together in a food processor until the sauce is creamy and ivory-coloured. Scrape the sides of the processor during processing.

• After a few minutes of blending, the sauce will turn into a rich, smooth paste. If the mixture is too thick, slowly add more water until it reaches the preferred consistency.

• To serve, drizzle the tahini dressing over the duck legs. Delicious with roast potatoes tossed in cumin and turmeric or a herb rice. aroama.co.uk 48 TheBATHMagazine

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T

he line-up for the Great Bath Feast’s festival weekend has just been announced! Taking place on 24th to 26th September in the city centre, the festival line-up features many of Bath’s renowned and much-loved culinary stars, including:

Ping Coombes, MasterChef winner in 2014, owner of Ping’s Makan Supper Club and Ping’s Masak Cookery School; Chris Cleghorn from The Olive Tree; Richard Buckley from OAK; Gavin Edney from The Elder; Noya Pawlyn from Noya’s Kitchen; Charlie Hopkins and Dylan Ambasna-Jones from Walcot House; Garry Rosser and Dan Rosser from Scallop Shell; Dan Moon, formerly from The Gainsborough; Marty Grant and Richard Knighting from Corkage; Pravin Nayar from Castle Farm in Midford; James Golding from The Pig Near Bath.

Plus, Nathan Outlaw from Fish Kitchen, Restaurant at The Capitol and Siren at The Goring; and TV personality and Celebrity MasterChef winner in 2018, Ulrika Jonsson.

The line-up has been curated by Richard Bertinet, who will also be doing a chef demo. Festival sponsors include The Bertinet Kitchen Cookery School, Visit Bath and Bath BID. Starting at Milsom Street and leading to New Bond Street in Bath, the streets will be lined with an array of market stalls that offer the best local and international food and drink. The chef demo area is not to be missed, with a jam-packed programme of events - positioned at the bottom of Milsom Street. For three full days, food and drink enthusiasts can enjoy a buzzing market atmosphere and tantalising food and drinks option, for free.

As part of Bath’s collective plans to reignite its local hospitality scene, the festival organisers would like to encourage food and drink retailers and producers to get involved in a number of ways: by booking a stall at the festival weekend, taking part in the Bath Bites Trail and/or hosting a fringe event in October. Find out more about these initiatives via the Great Bath Feast’s Get Involved page and sign up to their newsletter for competitions and future announcements: www.greatbathfeast.co.uk.

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EXTRA DELICIOUS

THE DELICIOUS GUIDE TO BATH 2021

New additions and featured favourites from our 2021 guide to all the best places to eat, drink and enjoy in Bath. See our website or search ‘Delicious Guide to Bath’ EXCELLENT CHOICE

BOHO MARCHÉ The Francis Hotel, 6 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HH Tel: 01225 473351 Web: bohomarche.com Boho Marché offers a touch of eclectic dining in Bath’s restaurant scene, celebrating the culinary cultures along the hippy trail to Marrakech – followed by rock stars, filmmakers, fashion designers, artists and writers in the Sixties and Seventies. It’s wildly Bohemian, playfully creative, quirky, indulgent – a feast for all the senses.

The city’s hottest venue offers a menu that celebrates modern, playful Mediterranean and Moroccan dishes that are bursting with colour and flavours. With an interior that feels like a never-ending summer, Boho Marché fuses Parisian café culture with lush tropical greenery, Andalusian floral walkways and punctuated with cues from the infinitely stylish era of the 1970s in Marrakech.

FAB WORKING CAFÉ

CASSIA BATH Sovereign Point, Midland Road, Bath BA2 3GJ Tel: 01225 685825 Web: cassiacommunity.co.uk Cassia takes the best elements of a café and a co-working space and combines them in a fantastic location on Bath Riverside. Guests are welcome to drop by for breakfast or lunch, book a desk in The Study to work at for the day, or come for a post-work drink.

Cassia’s menu is plant-focused with a wide range of vegan options available. Room hire is also available for meetings and workshops, and from September 2021 there will also be a wide-ranging events programme under the company’s C-Here banner.

C’EST FORMIDABLE!

BAR BRETON 28 Barton Street, Bath BA1 1HH Tel: 01225 446903 Web: barbretonbath.co.uk Bar Breton is a small but perfectly formed French bar in the heart of Bath’s theatre district on Barton Street. Offering Breton-inspired drinks and small plates, the concept was inspired by trips to Brittany and France with family and friends. You’ll find delicious artisan ciders and beer from Northern France and the wine comes from all over the country (as it does in Brittany) and focuses on smaller family producers rather than big ‘names’ so you can enjoy tastier wines at much better value. The vol au vent is trending again here, as well as other French small plates to go with your drinks. There’s no need to make a reservation – just rock up and staff will try to seat you straightaway.

Email any enquiries to bonjour@barbretonbath.co.uk.

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MUSEUM | COLLECTIONS

Young writers: evaluating the past

Seventeen year old Alice Small, who is studying A Levels at Kingswood School, has taken four objects being used as the focus of BRLSI’s recently published Discovery Trail apps and asks the question, what are the links between them?

A

meteorite, the skull of a dinosaur, a book and a crucifix – what could be the potential links between these divided fragments of history? These four objects are currently on display at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, to celebrate the launch of BRLSI’s new Bath Discovery Trails app, offering four free trails around the city.

The trails, entitled The First Meteorite, The Railway Leviathan, On the Origin of Species and The War Crosses each take roughly an hour and a half to walk and provide the opportunity to immerse yourself in Bath’s historical scenery, while learning about multiple aspects of the authenticity of the city on your way.

The four objects The First Meteorite in question is a part of the Krasnojark Pallasite, discovered in central Siberia in 1779. Being 4.2 billion years old, the extraordinary age of this extra-terrestrial object is almost incomprehensible. It sits unassumingly in its display case, gently sparkling under the lights, but otherwise looks fairly ordinary. It is therefore difficult to grasp the fact that this object has cycled back round to our modern-day world, while carrying with it the history of a practically unknown era of existence.

The Railway Leviathan is actually the skull of a yet unnamed species of Steneosaurus, a marine crocodile with a similar appearance to the perhaps more familiar Indian gharial. This fossil is estimated at 160 million years old, yet it is still over 26 times younger than the meteorite! It’s impressive in its size, being around one metre long and showing us the enormity and physical strength of this creature, but I am also struck by its significance within the vast chasm of time; it is both unworldly and alarmingly familiar.

Reverend Leonard Jenyns received his copy of On the Origin of Species as a gift from Darwin himself, just a few months after its publication in 1859. Jenyns was actually one of the founders of BRLSI and had a lifelong friendship with Darwin. This is shown by the letter

The first meteorite and the handwritten page from Darwin’s 1859 Origin of Species

displayed in the front of the book – Darwin revealed that he knew not everyone would accept his revolutionary ideas: “Of course it is open to everyone to believe that man appeared by separate miracle, though I do not myself see the necessity or probability.” Darwin knew from his study of fossils that his ideas provided links with a world far older than the accepted 4,000 years of the Bible. Could people accept that human existence is just a tiny part of the immense cycle of the earth’s reinvention?

❝

The dulled metal relics and glass beads embody the hundreds of thousands of lights which go out in people’s lives...

❝

Fittingly, The War Crosses are a sombre reminder of the very short existence of individuals who have lost their lives in the tragedy of conflict. Rosaries and crucifixes were gathered from the bodies of Russian soldiers, taken from where they lay on the battlefields of the Crimean War, by Dr Thomas Egerton Hale (the first field medic to be awarded the Victoria Cross). The dulled metal relics and glass beads embody the hundreds of thousands of lights which go out in peoples’ lives when they lose their loved ones. These tiny mementoes are a stern reminder of how devastating the effects of human conflict can be and how quickly life can be taken away.

What can these museum objects teach us?

At first glance, it would appear that these four items hold little relationship or meaning to each other. They belong to different eras or people and have lived separate lives. However, the objects seen together do challenge our concepts of modernity and human significance.

For example, the crosses and the book in isolation seem old to us; they are in a museum, which gives them historic and cultural value, and the ideas and meanings they convey are discussed by historians.

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MUSEUM | COLLECTIONS

❝

Human life is seen as the most important and sacred thing... but in the vastness of time we paradoxically feel hugely insignificant

❝

However the presence of the skull and the meteorite counter this, so that the other objects can actually be considered quite modern. Societal views on what is considered modern life are constantly changing. What may seem crucial and significant now, may well be neglected soon but then emerge as important and with a higher level of meaning in the future.

The earth, too, is continuously recycling material, to provide new ways in which we can view the past, as well as to produce futuristic things. The meteorite, an object which was ‘living’ billions of years ago, was cycled back to the ‘modern’ world of the 18th century and was studied as something new, despite its age and history. Fossils at millions of years old were studied by Darwin to aid his thoughts on what was then a revolutionary idea of evolution. Human life is seen as the most important and sacred thing; when people are killed needlessly in wars, we keep and display items to remember them by – but in the vastness of time we paradoxically feel hugely insignificant.

These wonderful objects, each remarkable in their own right, have no literal links to each other, but to me they all, as a whole, contribute to our understanding of significance and meaning in the modern world. n

BRLSI’s Bath Discovery Trails app is available to download for free.

BRLSI (16 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN) is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, free entry but donations encouraged; brlsi.org

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EDUCATION

EDUCATION NEWS INCREDIBLE IB RESULTS The Year 13 International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) students at Royal High School Bath GDST have achieved a set of excellent results. The school’s IB students achieved an impressive average point score of 40 out of a possible 45. Four students excelled, achieving top marks with 45 points, and four others achieved a score of 44. According to UNIS, “less than 1% of students receiving the IB diploma obtain a score of 45 points” and “only 7% receive the top grade of a 7” so all students have done phenomenally well.

Another two students who are doing A Levels with one IB course as a standalone subject have received IB certificates in Computer Science and Mandarin, achieving top marks with 7 points each. This year’s scores were based on externally marked assessments and predicted grades submitted by the school and based on evidence from throughout the course. Mrs Jude Taylor, IB coordinator, said, “These students have dealt with more uncertainty than most young people of their age, and have become remarkably resilient as a result.” royalhighbath.gdst.net

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MILLFIELD AT TOKYO The Olympics is approaching fast and Millfield School is delighted that multiple of their alumni have been selected to compete in their sports at the Euan Dale games. The school currently has four swimmers who have been selected for their respective countries which is the largest number of swimmers they have had at any games since 1988. In addition Millfield has alumni competing in Triathlon, athletics and Rowing. The swimmers are coached by Old Millfieldian, former Olympian, and the school’s current Director of Swimming, Euan Dale. Euan is in Tokyo as part of Team GB’s coaching team and will assist Millfield’s group of selected swimmers in their quest for Olympic success. millfieldschool.com

KINGSWOOD DRAMA A small number of guests were recently treated to Kingswood School’s summer production of A Walk in the Wood. The promenade performance took place through the idyllic school grounds and there was plenty of energy, enthusiasm and talent on display along with some brilliant costumes.

It was a final production for the school’s departing head of drama, Mrs Catherine Nash, who has taught at Kingswood for the past 16 years. Mrs Nash said: “I’d like to thank all the 60 strong cast, crew and teachers who helped to bring this project to fruition. The grounds made a wonderful background to my last show at Kingswood.

I have loved working in this very special place and wish everyone the very best for the future.” kingswood.bath.sch.uk

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CITY | NEWS

CITYNEWS KATY DID WELL This year, one of Thatcher’s ciders, Katy, has scooped a string of top awards. The cider produced by the Somerset cider-maker has been awarded the best-in-class trophy for new world style ciders at the 2021 International Cider Challenge, a competition judged by some of the country’s most respected drinks experts. This follows hot on the heels of a gold medal from the Taste of the West awards.

Katy Cider – made with the stunning rosy red apples that are always first to be harvested at Myrtle Farm – is a fine, fresh and fruity bottled cider that has been crafted for over two decades. This 7.4% cider has a subtle sweetness, a refreshing sparkle and crisp, tangy finish. Katy was not the only Thatcher’s cider to be recognised in the competition. Two of its speciality Cider Barn ciders, Cox’s and Grenadier, and its first alcohol-free cider, Zero, were all awarded medals.

The complete range of Thatcher’s ciders is available online from thatcherscider.co.uk

FRINGE BENEFITS With a grant from Arts Council England and assistance from B&NES council, Bath Fringe will be running a month and maybe more of arts and happenings: exhibitions, performances, and installations, in the city centre shop at 5 Broad Street (BA1 5LJ). The idea is to make something that showcases local and locally linked contemporary professional artists, and is both accessible and innovative. From midweek to weekend, daytimes and some evenings, there will be something different in the shop or on display in the windows.

The programme is being assembled by Bath Fringe & Fringe Arts Bath (FaB) with local arts charity Streats Ltd. and is managed by FaB associate Priscila Buschinelli. See the website for details as they are confirmed.

FaB runs a programme of arts in empty shops every year in May/June, and Bath Fringe is interested in putting performances and events into places where you wouldn’t expect to come across them. fringeartsbath.co.uk

STONE KING NEW APPOINTMENTS

Melenie Mayall

Stone King LLP has further strengthened its team with the arrival of five new appointments at the national law firm’s Bath office. Solicitor Melenie Mayall joins the Private Client Property team along with Gregory Mason and Maesie Woods who take up paralegal roles. Also joining the Queen Square office are paralegals Conor McDonald in Business Property and Leanne Shears in Trust and Estates.

Stone King managing partner Steven Greenwood said; “We are delighted to welcome all five new members. Their arrival, particularly during this busy time, builds and strengthens the help we offer our clients across a diverse range of needs.”

The five new appointees join the 236-year-old law firm which has offices located in Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds and London. stoneking.co.uk 56 TheBATHMagazine

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SWIM TRAINING AID Torpo®, the revolutionary new replacement for the kickboard, has been launched online by Wiltshire entrepreneur, airline pilot and swim instructor Martin Cook. Torpo® has been designed to not only replace a traditional flat kickboard for all swimmers, but also as a training aid for professional swimmers at the highest level. It has been trialled by senior coaches and swimmers, including Paralympic swimmer Stephanie Millward.

The Torpo® float is designed to be perfectly unstable in roll, and the swimmer has to use core strength and coordination while kick training, which ultimately benefits the full front crawl stroke. It is also excellent for kick training in breast, fly and back strokes. Sustainably manufactured, 5% of Torpo profits will go to charities reducing the impact of plastics and pollution in rivers and oceans and to charities teaching swimming in under-privileged parts of the world. torpo.co.uk

HOLIDAY HUNGER PROGRAMME Bath Rugby Foundation has been asked to scale up its holiday hunger programme ‘Breakout’ to help battle child food poverty in B&NES. The charity is working across B&NES with Bath Area Play Project, Youth Connect South West, and other partners to deliver summer holiday activities and nutritious food for those most in need.

A total of 12,000 fun and powerful ‘Breakout’ sessions will run, reaching the 4,000+ children in B&NES who currently receive free school meals.

BreakOut sessions will run until 27 August in Keynsham, Larkhall, Midsomer Norton, Odd Down, Paulton, Peasedown, Radstock, and Twerton for children, families, and teenagers.

Professional footballer Marcus Rashford’s recent campaign to end child food poverty, unlocked a £220 million Government support package for children on free school meals over the school holidays. Bath Rugby Foundation, Bath Area Play Project and Youth Connect South have been awarded the full allocation of this funding

by Bath and North East Somerset Council, which is available as a direct result of Rashford’s campaign. bathrugbyfoundation/breakout

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ocl A C C O U N TA N C Y

141 Englishcombe Lane, Bath BA2 2EL Tel: 01225 445507

www.oclaccountancy.com

Did you claim the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme Grant and have you received a letter from HMRC that you are unsure how to address? Are you aware that the amount received is taxable as income?

HMRC has recently published guidance suggesting that those who made a claim under the SEISS scheme need to check that they have recorded the income in their 2020/21 tax return correctly.

The notice forms part of HMRC’s clampdown on incorrect and false claims. HMRC have advised that they are currently investigating around 12,000 such cases.

Up to date guidance has been issued by HMRC following their discovery that many of the self-assessment tax returns already submitted for 2020/21 include entries that don’t match the figures they have on record.

To refresh your memory, all self-employed payments from the first, second and third grants should be included on your 2020/21 tax return in the ‘’Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant’’ box because the grants are assessable as income. For those of you who intend to file your tax return yourself by paper (i.e., before the 31st of October) this is box 70.1 of the self-employment pages should you use the full self-employment pages or box 27.1 should you use the short self-employment pages.

If you have already submitted your tax return and discover that you have recorded the payments in the wrong place, it is recommended that you submit an amendment to your tax return to HMRC. If you don’t, HMRC will assume that you have not reported the payments and will automatically amend your tax return. If you have included the figure but in the wrong box you may be taxed twice on the same income.

HMRC are also automatically amending tax returns where the amount of SEISS payments reported do not match the payments recorded on their computer system. In this instance HMRC will issue a revised tax calculation which you should review.

Should you receive an amendment from HMRC (or any other letter) do not ignore it! We are here to help if you need it.

For tax saving tips contact us – call Marie Sheldrake, Tom Hulett or Mike Wilcox on 01225 445507

What happens if parents disagree over vaccination of their children?

With the UK’s medicine regulator approving the Pfizer vaccine for children aged between 12 and 15 last month; the Government has indicated that it will roll vaccines out if the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommends it.

If this happens, then it is likely that some children who are offered the vaccine may be faced with parental opposition from parents who do not wish their children to be vaccinated.

So, what happens when there is a disagreement on whether a child should be vaccinated? Family Lawyer, Elizabeth Dowler, discusses the options for parents.

This is a minefield for most parents but for those who have separated and have a duty to consult with one another in relation to any major decisions in a child’s life, both points of view are equally important. What happens when they cannot agree?

Allowing a court to decide whether to vaccinate a child If parents disagree on whether to vaccinate their child, and their child is unable to provide their own consent, an application can be made to the court to allow the vaccination to proceed.

Such cases are likely to be tense, adding an additional pressure on family life and by bringing this before a court it places a life changing decision in the hands of the judge to make a medical decision for a child despite having no medical qualifications.

By the very nature of medical intervention cases, only one party can “succeed” and the effect of having a decision imposed on a child against one parent's wishes may fracture family relationships.

Mediation One alternative to Court is for parties to try and resolve the issue through Mediation.

Mediation is a form of dispute resolution which is focused on finding a solution to problems in an amicable way. It provides a neutral forum for parents to sit down and discuss the issue constructively with a view to reaching a positive solution that works best for the child and family.

For more information on how to reach a solution to a disagreement about your child’s medical treatment, whether you and your partner are separated or not, please get in touch with our family team for advice and support on how to reach a solution that works best for all involved. Please contact Elizabeth Dowler on 01225 750 000 or elizabeth.dowler@mogersdrewett.co.uk.

Call Marie Sheldrake, Tom Hulett or Mike Wilcox on 01225 445507 to arrange a no-obligation meeting

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CITY | HISTORY

From medieval city to resort

Bath’s famous Assembly Rooms in Bennett Street are celebrating their 250th anniversary this year. Emma Clegg looks back at the period before they were built and tracks the city’s swift transformation into a destination spa resort

B

ath has always drawn the crowds, its allure linked to the mineral-rich hot spa waters, and this goes right back to the Celtic Britons who used it as a sacred shrine.

However the city has had two grand periods of note, firstly at the time of the great Roman town of Aquae Sulis, founded in the first century AD, which was built and orientated around its spa, which included a temple and bathing complex. We have few clues about what ailments were treated there, but it’s possible that the mineral-rich mud from the springs was used to treat eye conditions and skin complaints. The city’s second heyday in the Georgian era saw the arrival of visitors from smart society with financial resources seeking the waters for health cures. This saw the civilisation and dramatic architectural development of the city, which still make it distinctive today.

People came to Bath in the 17th century to visit the Cross Bath and the Kings Bath, the latter built above the Roman reservoir, but the city struggled to cope with the numbers, and the baths themselves were often crowded. From 1688 Queen Anne (then Princess Anne) visited the city regularly to take the thermal waters for minor health complaints. She visited Bath again in 1702 and 1703 as Queen, seeking relief from her gout.

Bath at this time was little more than a medieval walled city: timber-framed properties clustered around the abbey, the streets were unpaved, not lit at night, and muggings were common, so there was not the infrastructure or resources to support high numbers of visitors. In the words of architect John Wood the Elder, describing his home town, “Soil of all sorts, and even carrion, were cast and laid in the streets, and the pigs turned out by day to feed and rout among it.” So when news of the Queen’s visits and the healing effects of the waters spread, resulting in large numbers of new visitors and pleasure seekers, Bath realised that in order to keep its visitors it had to change. It was time to create a city to house, feed and entertain them.

Public Bathing at Bath, or Stewing Alive, engraving by Isaac Robert Cruikshank, 1825

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The arrival of Beau Nash This course of action hailed the beginning of Beau Nash’s time in the city and a sustained period of structural development. When professional gambler and social magnet Nash visited Bath in the early years of the century shortly after Queen Anne’s visits he would have seen bathers soaking in the mineral waters from the early morning, for the rest of the day free to relax, walk in the parks or visit taverns and coffee houses. He would have noted this carefully.

When Nash moved to Bath in 1704, he and his associates were determined to remodel the city – with all its crowd-drawing potential – into a fashionable town with attractions beyond the use of the waters. Initially Nash was the aide-de-camp to the Master of Ceremonies Captain Webster, whose role was to manage the social gatherings in the city. When Webster was killed in a sword duel, caused by an argument over a card game, Nash was his natural successor as Master of Ceremonies.

The first Pump Room was built in 1704–6, initiated by Nash and designed by John Harvey, located on the site of the current Pump Rooms. This quickly became the centre of social activity, headed by Nash, a flamboyant and enterprising character who lived for socialising and gambling. While the basement of the Pump Rooms was in the early years used as a changing area for people going swimming in the waters, before too long – driven by how dirty the water often became – drinking water from the Pump Room itself became the preferred and more accessible way of taking the water. In this way the Pump Room was effectively the first (unchristened) assembly room.

The Lower Assembly Rooms To cater for the growing number of visitors to the city, two other sets of rooms were built. The first was Harrison’s Rooms in 1709, located on the east side of Terrace Walk and overlooking Harrison’s Walks – a formal garden bordering the river known as St James Triangle –

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CITY | HISTORY

British Museum Collection

Lady Catherine Hyde, Duchess of Queensberry, dressed as a milkmaid, circa 1725–30, by Charles Jervas

A crowd of invalids and loungers on the North Parade in Bath, etching 1780–90

National Trust Collection

allowing people to gather to see and be seen, with admission only by subscription, thereby assuring a higher calibre of person. A large ballroom was added to this Assembly House in 1720. Lindsey’s, later called Wiltshire’s Rooms, followed, built by John Wood the Elder in 1730, and a formal grove was also laid out as a public garden with gravel walks immediately east of Bath Abbey, named Orange Grove in 1734 after William IV, Prince of Orange had visited the city.

This notable garden could also be appreciated within the Assembly Rooms themselves. Constance Hill, Jane Austen’s 19th-century biographer, refers to the view from what became known as the Lower Assembly Rooms. “The ball-room was used during the daytime as a promenade, for which it was well suited from its size and pleasant situation; its windows commanding extensive views of the Avon winding amidst green meadows and flanked by wooded hills.”

Assembly rooms – popular in the 18th and 19th centuries – were designed as gathering places for members of the higher social classes and played a crucial part in the marriage market of the time, given that opportunities for women to meet or gather in public places were extremely limited before this. This was a public place of entertainment where both sexes could meet, or ‘assemble’. Purposebuilt assembly rooms had three key elements: the ballroom, the card room and the tearoom, and visitors were encouraged to move from one area to another and to circulate rather than to congregate in small groups.

“That ladies who dance minuets be dressed in a suit of clothes, or a full-trimmed sack, with lappets and dressed hoops, such as are usually worn at St James’s.”

And that… “Gentlemen crowding before Ladies at the Ball, shew ill Manners, and that none do so for the future…”.

Beau Nash – who dressed with exaggerated elegance, in a black wig (unusual for the time) and a bejewelled cream, beaver-trimmed hat – had immense charisma and a powerful character, so that all visitors followed his regulations. On one occasion Kitty, Duchess of Queensberry, a fashionable figure of the era, appeared at the Assembly Rooms with a delicate white apron over her skirt. Beau Nash snatched it from her and threw it onto the back benches (where the ladies’ attendants sat), remarking that ‘none but Abigails [ladies’ maids] appeared in white aprons!’ Kitty had the good humour to laugh this off.

❝

The ball-room was used during the daytime as a promenade, for which it was well suited ... its windows commanding extensive views of the Avon

➲

❝

Victoria Art Gallery, Bath and North East Somerset Council

When the first Assembly Rooms were built, Beau Nash drew up and oversaw the rules of polite society that operated within them. He disallowed all private parties – an excellent way of drumming up custom – and invited all visitors to the Assembly Rooms for dinners, teas, breakfast concerts and balls. The regulations were extensive and strict: all balls began at 6pm and finished at 11, even if this happened to be mid-dance – the justified reason being that many at Bath were invalids and needed their rest. Swords were not allowed in the city – a result of Nash’s experience of Webster’s death by duel – and more unusually he specified that the high-born should mix with the less socially advantaged. Nash was also aware of the toll that the highstake losses had on those who played at his tables, occasionally giving losers some of his own money, or offering words of advice to novices.

The published rules drawn up for the 1771 opening of the Upper Assembly Rooms were based on Nash’s guidelines for the Lower Assembly Rooms. Instructions included…

Robert Woodroffe, Bath Abbey and Lower Assembly Rooms, circa 1830

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CITY | HISTORY

Portrait of Richard (Beau) Nash

Wellcome Library, London

Dancers bowing before the minuet

The building of the city As the city’s entertainments flourished under Nash, its structural development was also underway. The first architectural set piece outside the town walls was Queen Square, built by John Wood the Elder between 1716 and 1725, formed from the garden of the house of a baronet and named after Queen Caroline, wife of George II. This marks the beginning of Wood the Elder’s development of the upper town, following his dream to build a superior city with the visual splendour of ancient Rome. The North and South Parades followed around 1738 to the south of St James’ Gardens, both locations that became strongly associated with the fashionable elite. Gay Street, George Street, and the Circus followed in the 1750s (started by Wood the Elder and completed by Wood the Younger), and the Royal Crescent (by Wood the Younger) between 1767 and 1774.

Significant investment allowed the architectural growth of the city, and much of it was funded by the profits of slavery. The city was frequented by absentee plantation owners from Jamaica and Barbados, who indulged their profits there and John Wood the Elder’s first patron was The Duke of Chandos, who was heavily involved in the Royal Africa Company which transported slaves to the Caribbean.

We have to recognise this heritage, and understanding these links is as important to the history of the city as its celebrated architecture.

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in many ways, it did mean that those privileged visitors who were staying there were the furthest away from the central action and entertainment. Gravel Walk (the setting for a love scene between Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth in Austen’s 1816 novel Persuasion) was laid in 1771, offering a fast track bypass to take residents from the Crescent by Sedan chair down to where the action was in the city centre. Initially the walk was only for residents of the Crescent, but over time those living in Brock Street and Gay Street could buy in to the privilege of using it.

❝ Gravel Walk was laid in 1771, offering a

fast track bypass to take residents from the Crescent by Sedan chair down to where the action was in the city centre

❝

Assembly Room dancing The dancing followed different styles over the week, including Masquerades, which were balls or ball-assembles with guests wearing masks; Ridottos, which featured both dances and concerts; and Routs and Drums, which were large assemblies. All balls offered supper or tea halfway through the evening, when couples would proceed to the tearoom to enjoy hot food, wine, tea and sweets.

The dances themselves would have varied according to the fashions, but before 1800 they typically started with the minuet, a dance for two people, which would have been nerve-racking for those taking part as dancers would be surrounded by 500 or more critical spectators. Because ladies usually outnumbered gentlemen, it was customary for gentlemen to ‘walk’ the minuet with first one lady, then a second. Ladies wore the enormous hoops that were the standard court dress and gentlemen wore full-bottomed coats, vests, and knee-breeches. Both sexes wore high-heeled pumps.

Minuets over, the ladies retired to remove their hoops before returning for the country dances. These were reminiscent of modern Scottish country dancing, performed in groups of three couples, with the top couple naming the dance and the tune before setting the figures and working their way down the line.

By the mid-18th century Bath was the most fashionable spa in England and therefore the city’s growth continued organically. Beau Nash’s plan had worked brilliantly, although his own fortunes gradually declined, driven by the tightening in 1745 of the antigambling law that Nash had previously sidestepped by the introduction of new games and other evasive methods. This enforcement impacted on Nash significantly, not only because he was a successful gambler himself, but because he received a percentage of all winnings.

Meanwhile Bath’s social scene was still flourishing and the city’s key figures knew that it needed continued investment, in particular to develop larger and grander entertainment facilities higher up the hill where the new elite population was based. So the Lower Assembly Rooms, which had been such an important part of the city’s growth, could soon be in danger of becoming marginalised by a proposed new spectactular purpose-built building. John Wood the Younger and Robert Adam both proposed rival designs for the new assembly rooms building; but who would secure the contract? n Read about the construction and development of the Upper Assembly Rooms, as it celebrates its 250th anniversary, in our September magazine

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HEALTH | & | BEAUTY

Are you at risk of professional burnout?

By Viv Kenchington, hypnotherapist

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e have all felt the stress of balancing workhome life. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the workload, and therefore our time for self-care is limited. Usually this feeling of overwhelm passes as you accomplish a certain task that was giving you particular grief, but what if it doesn’t pass? You could be suffering from burnout.

Professional Burnout, also known as Occupational Burnout, is a unique form of stress related specifically to work. It often presents itself as a state of total emotional and/or physical exhaustion, with tertiary symptoms such as reduced workflow, goal attainment, and motivation. While it isn’t classed as a medical condition, there could be related conditions that act as contributory factors, such as depression or anxiety.

Am I at risk?

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• Do you feel constantly tired, lacking the energy required to be productive consistently?

• Do you feel disconnected from your job?

• Are you relying on vices to relieve stress/feel happy, such as food, drugs or alcohol?

• Have you noticed a change in your sleeping schedule?

• Do you have trouble focusing? Or lack concentration?

• Do you suffer from unexplained physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach pains, or nausea?

• Do you struggle to bring yourself to work?

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If you answered ‘yes’ to multiple questions, you may be suffering from professional burnout. Do consult your doctor as these could also be symptoms of other health issues, such as depression.

What increases my risk?

• Lack of communication and support – often difficult when you’re in a position of seniority as there may not be anyone to supervise and support you, and you also have your employees relying on you.

• Excessive workload – it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed if you have a workload that feels unmanageable and this can turn into a feeling of hopelessness and burnout.

• Time constraints – if experienced in conjunction with excessive workload, or even on its own, tight schedules and ‘crunches’ can have an effect.

• Work-life imbalance – if you don’t have time to unwind and practice self-care.

How can I overcome burnout?

• Seek support – contact the HR department of your company to discuss the issues and voice your concerns.

• Take up a relaxing activity – practise mindfulness orientated activities such as meditation or yoga to help you destress.

• Maintain a good sleep pattern – follow a set schedule to make sure you’re getting good quality sleep. This will also help regulate your energy levels.

• Exercise – is proven to relieve stress and releases endorphins.

• Hypnotherapy – can help you break habits and address the root causes of your burnout. It can help you to set new routines, and reset your mindset.

Take some time to evaluate yourself every now and see if you’re at risk of burnout. It’s easier to prevent, than it is to fix it. If you think you might already be suffering, send me an email or give me a call for a chat. n • hypnotherapyandhealth.co.uk 62 TheBATHMagazine

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ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Switching to a plant-based diet cleared up all my health issues Mays Al Ali, CNM Nutritional Therapy Graduate

I

worked as an advertising producer for 18 years but I became unhappy and dissatisfied with my very stressful corporate career that negatively impacted my health. I was teaching yoga on the side for many years but it wasn’t enough and I knew it was my calling to be in service.

During my yoga teacher training in India, I was introduced to raw vegan food and the concept of conscious clean eating which changed my life. Before that I ate a standard western diet, drank alcohol and had lots of late nights living the typical London party lifestyle; and as a result, I suffered with serious gut health, skin and mood issues.

Eating a natural, plant-based diet while doing my yoga training for a month increased my energy levels and I felt amazing. So, I naturally transitioned to a plant-based diet and all my health issues slowly cleared up.

A friend recommended the College of Naturopathic Medicine (CNM) and told me their Naturopathic Nutrition course was excellent. I enrolled on the course and never looked back. What I loved about CNM’s course was the naturopathic element. I’m a big believer in the healing powers of nature and having looked at other courses, none of them had this important holistic element.

The lecturers were amazing and so inspiring.

Initially, I signed up to the course for my own interests; I never thought I would quit my advertising job and become a nutritionist. However, by the start of the third year, I knew there was no turning back and that I’d found my calling. I left my job in advertising and launched my clinic as soon as I qualified.

I can honestly say I’ve never been happier.

Being able to help people every day and change their lives for the better is so rewarding and brings me so much joy on a daily basis.

Attend CNM’s Online Open Day Saturday 4th September 2021 Claim your free ticket – Scan the QR code or visit www.naturopathy-uk.com/bbmod or call 01342 777 747

My clinic is in London but I mostly work virtually now. Many of my clients suffer with burn-out, stress, insomnia and anxiety, often linking to gut problems, so I help them overcome these issues. I host webinars, group weight loss programmes, including one for the NHS, and transformational wellness retreats.

I love helping people transform their lives and feel great inside and out. I work holistically and look at the overall mind body soul connection; their diet, lifestyle, connection to others, spiritual connection and purpose.

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CNM has an exceptional 22-year track record training successful natural health practitioners online and in class.

Over 80% of graduates are practising.

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THE | WALK

Bailbrook Church in 2001

St Marys Swainswick c.1910

Four churches walk

Andrew Swift follows an eight-mile walk starting from the city centre and visits four villages – Bailbrook, Swainswick, Woolley and Charlcombe – each with very distinctive country churches

A

s well as the four churches, this walk gives you much else to see, ranging from ancient manors, cottages and farms to Bath’s newest standing stone. Best of all, it features a succession of spectacular views, from which you may deduce that it involves stiff climbs and steep downhill sections – and, as these may be slippery, stout footwear is essential. It’s also a good idea, as there are no facilities en route, to carry water with you. But, if you’re well prepared, few walks will give a better sense of how inspiring, surprising and deeply rural the countryside around Bath can be.

Head north from the city centre along Walcot Street and continue along the right-hand side of the London Road. Shortly after crossing the entrance to Morrison’s car park, bear right along Kensington and take first right down Meadows Lane.

Go past the bollards at the bottom and bear left to head diagonally across Kensington Meadows towards a gate in the far corner, passing Bath’s newest-standing stone en route.

Once through the gate, carry straight on for 100m before turning left along Grosvenor Bridge Road. At the end, turn right along the London Road, and after 325m, fork right by Lambridge Stables along a shady path (ST765665). Follow the tarmac path as it goes under the bypass and curves left.

At the road, carry straight ahead across two sets of lights and turn right. Take the first left up Eveleigh Avenue. Turn left again after 225m and, at the end of the avenue, go through a gap in the fence and head up to Bailbrook’s tin church. Opened in 1892, this fell into disuse in the 1960s but in the 1970s was bought by Graham Boys, who converted it to a home. For many years it was the focal point of the annual Bailbrook Fete, with hundreds of balloons being released from its tower.

Turn left through the village for 175m, and, just past the former Sunday School, turn right up a lane. After 50m, turn first left along an unmarked track (ST765671). Follow it as it curves right alongside the bypass before climbing through woodland to emerge on a path 64 THeBATHMagazine

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between barbed wire fences with views over the Lambrook Valley.

At the end, continue along a lane between houses, and at the road cross and turn right uphill. Carry on past a turning under the bypass, but after another 250m turn left into Swainswick. Follow the lane as it curves left and carry on past the village green before turning downhill by Hill House.

As you head down, you pass a turning on the right to Tadwick (ST757684). Before heading along it, continue down to the 12thcentury church of St Mary’s, where both John Wood the Elder and John Wood the Younger lie buried.

After taking the Tadwick turn, you pass the 17th-century manor house and barn. Some 450m further on, look for a public footpath sign on the left, go through a gate and follow a field track towards a group of buildings. At the end of the field, go through a gate and turn left over the Lam Brook. Beside it lies Woolley Mill, where gunpowder works were established by Bristol merchants in 1722. Some of the gunpowder was used in local quarries but most went to Bristol from where it was shipped to Africa to be bartered for enslaved people bound for plantations in the West Indies.

After climbing past Manor Farm, follow the lane as it bears left through the village of Woolley. A left turn down Church Street leads to All Saints Church, designed by John Wood the Younger in 1761, with a glorious view across to Swainswick.

Head back up Church Street and turn left. After 30m, turn right to follow a footpath sign uphill (ST748684). Cross a stile beside a gate and carry on up a drive. Go through a kissing gate (KG) on the left and carry on uphill. Follow a well-trodden path into a copse running along the top of the field, continue through two KGs and carry on in the direction indicated by a waymark. At the top of the field, follow a track up rough steps before turning left through a gate. As you carry on alongside a wall, the views eastward are stunning, and, as you are 30m higher than Little Solsbury, you have the curious pleasure of being able to look down on it.

Go through another gate, carry straight on and, at the end of a

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THE | WALK

path (ST747670). Before long, houses appear on the right and the path widens to a lane. When you come to a road, carry on in the same direction for another 350m. After passing Ragland Lane, when the road curves down Marshfield Way, branch right to carry straight on along Summerfield Terrace.

After 180m, when the road curves uphill, carry on down the steps ahead and bear right to head down a steep path. At the bottom, turn right along a footpath for 125m, before bearing left down a narrower path. At the road, cross and head down Gay’s Hill. At the bottom, turn right past Hedgemead Park, cross at the zebra crossing, head down steps and turn right to walk back along Walcot Street to the city centre.

John Wood the Elder’s burial slab at St Mary’s Swainswick

drive, go through a gateway (ST742679). As you continue, you will see the new Ensleigh housing development, on a former MOD site, ahead. When you come to a lane, bear left, and after 100m bear right along a footpath. The view from here encompasses much of Bath’s southern escarpment as well as the Mendips and the northern flank of Salisbury Plain, with the Westbury White Horse visible on a clear day.

After 120m, turn left across a slab stile and head downhill. After going through a KG, bear left over a stile to follow a permissive path along the bottom of a field (ST745674). The track may be slippery at the far end, and, as you go through a KG and turn down a steep path, you also need to watch your step.

At the bottom, a KG leads to the church of St Mary’s, Charlcombe.

Parts of it are Norman, but according to legend it is much older, having been founded by the Abbess Bertana in 675 AD. Steps opposite the porch lead down to a quiet garden, with a holy well in the bottom left-hand corner.

A gate in the bottom right-hand corner leads down to a lane. Turn right along it and, after 400m, just past the gates to Charlcombe Manor, bear left along a rough lane which soon becomes a tree-lined

THE

KI TC HEN PAR TNER S DESIGN STUDIO

Fact file

n Distance: 8 miles n Approx tme: 4 hours n No facilities on route

n Level of challenge: Largely straightforward, although with a stiff climb and steep downhill sections which may be slippery.

Stout footwear essential. Livestock may be encountered on the climb from Woolley to Lansdown. There are also narrow lanes where you need to watch out for traffic. n Map: OS Explorer 155 More on the details of this and many more walks can be found in Andrew Swift’s Country Walks from Bath, published by Akeman Press; akemanpress.com.

www.thekitchenpartners.co.uk 102 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 2QY 01179 466433

Founders and Lead Designers - Fiona & Clinton

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BEST OF BATH | MUSIC

Beyond the limits

From Coldplay to Peter Gabriel, The Piano Shop Bath has been offering its services to some of the world’s most iconic musicians for almost 40 years. Millie Bruce-Watt catches up with owner Jon Kelly, whose creativity knows no bounds

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ushing the boundaries in design and innovation, The Piano Shop Bath has been one of the city’s most-treasured independents for almost four decades. Its striking window display, vast showroom space, and desire to be brave and bold has not only caught the eye of local admirers but some of the world’s highly regarded creatives, including former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel, and internationally renowned production designer, Misty Buckley.

This month, we caught up with owner Jon Kelly, who told us all about the joy of working with artistic geniuses helping to change the outdated perceptions of a remarkable instrument.

“We want people to engage with the piano, we want to inspire the next generation,” says Jon. “There are a lot of older perceptions of pianos – they’re awkward to play, they’re heavy to move, they’re brown, they’re black and they are very dominant in space and we’re proving that that’s not the case now.”

Jon took over the shop from his father 10 years ago, who had moved the business from Widcombe to the busy London Road. Jon has poured an immense amount of time and effort into the workshop, converting part of the showroom into a space to rebuild, repair and restore pianos of all shapes and sizes to fit a multitude of special requests. From piano hire for concerts to tuning and storage, no brief is too ambitious for the team.

Over the years, The Piano Shop has continued to attract big name talent, building quite the reputation within the industry. Most notably, the shop looks after the pianos for Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio, based in Box, which has seen the likes of Amy Winehouse, Beyoncé, Harry Styles, Paul Simon, Tom Jones and Van Morrison walk through its doors. The team also offer their piano tuning services to WOMAD festival and to local venues hosting world-class acts.

Ambitious projects To date, Jon tells me that their most ambitious projects have been for rock band, Coldplay. After being approached in 2019 by Misty Buckley – whose work includes designs for the 2016 Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show and the 2012 Paralympics’ Closing Ceremony – the team were commissioned to build a number of pianos for the band’s album, Everyday Life. Two years later, and delighted with their first creation, Chris Martin asked if the team, with Misty’s design, would build pianos for some of their latest performance projects, including this year’s virtual Glastonbury Festival and their new album, Music

of the Spheres, arriving on 15 October.

“Our aim was to achieve a stripped-back look from recycled pianos, incorporating lighting effects with the band’s latest symbols, embodied within the case and when the keys were played. The project gave us a unique opportunity to collaborate with an inspiring group of artists and creatives. The instruments took circa a month to build – with a lot of late nights – but it was really rewarding to see it on stage. It’s a relief and it’s a celebration to see the end results in context. It was a real credit to the business to be approached by Misty – she is at the top of her game and such an inspiration.”

The Coldplay project accentuated The Piano Shop’s desire to be creative with the instrument’s traditional look. The team actively and regularly seek out local artists who are eager to push the boundaries in design. “What we do, what sets us apart, is that we work a lot with the aesthetics. Pianos are always perceived to look a certain way but now – and we were the first to do this in the UK – we can tailor them to the customer’s interior space. We’ve worked with Bristol graffiti artist, Andy Council, and textile designer, Sue Bradley, who helped us cover a piano in jungle material – the collaboration element is really energising.”

A rabbit warren of show space Separate to the workshop is the showroom, where Steinways, Yamahas and Kawai grand pianos sit in wait. From digital to acoustic and everything in between, The Piano Shop offers the very best in the business. Upholding the integrity of the instrument is of utmost importance and Jon has recently welcomed Bath-based concert pianist Nurry Lee to the team. “We profile a lot of our pianos with Nurry – she is just an incredible pianist, she really is going places. We’re hoping to do a concert and Q&A with her later this year at a local venue to really show off her talents.”

Giving back locally Over the years, Jon and the team have made it their mission to give LEFT: Piano created by textile designer Sue Bradley. Large pieces of machine knitted lambswool were washed to give a soft felted effect before being applied to the surface of this piano ABOVE: Piano created by illustrator and graffiti artist Andy Council; Yamaha U1; £5,795

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“We want people to engage with the piano... we want to inspire the next generation” Piano created for Coldplay’s performance at Glastonbury Festival 2021, commissioned by Misty Buckley

back to the community, nurturing young and emerging talent. From donating a piano to a local primary school, sponsoring a young pianist or helping a student’s studies, The Piano Shop are committed to giving back locally. “I think it’s the way forward – the businesses that are putting back into the community are really thriving.”

From a local commitment to a global commitment, Jon is soon introducing initiatives to help reduce waste and better the business’s impact on the environment. Chris Martin’s piano was made entirely from sustainable products including recycled plexiglass, which acted as a waterproof sealant. “We recycle a lot of pianos and 95% of the material is reused, but now we are looking to use the material to create more interesting things – watch this space,” he hints.

As the business continues to go from strength to strength, Jon alludes to the team’s latest project of which the client’s name is very

much under wraps. “He doesn’t want the standard so we have had to source an Abbey Road piano for him – a very distinctive piano that The Beatles worked with. It’s an upright, it’s quite a retrolooking piano but the client wants a yellow submarine design all over it. We will collaborate with artists and our design team to create something really special. It’s these kinds of projects that just inspire us as a team to keep doing creative things.”

Open six days a week, The Piano Shop is currently operating on an appointment basis but will welcome drop-ins. Once fully reopened, they will continue to run piano lessons for all ages and abilities, encouraging people to expand their musical horizons and discover the wonderful and extraordinary world of music. n 1&2 Canton Place, Bath BA1 6AA; thepianoshopbath.co.uk THEBATHMAG.CO.UK

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CITY | INTERIORS

Spathroom visions

So what is a‘spathroom’ then? Why, it’s a spot for mindfulness, meditation or just more high-quality me-time. If you’re no longer keen on sharing steam with others while mingling at hotels, health clubs and retreats, upgrading to one of these could be a decent investment...

N

ow, more than ever, we want a bathroom that can be our own personal sanctuary, agree the folks at Mandarin Stone. “If luxury hotel bathrooms and spas are but a distant memory, now’s the time to create your very own. From impressive large-format marble effects to retro-style terrazzo, allow yourself to indulge with no limitations. Using tiles like this will create the perfect ambience to the bathroom. The bathroom is also the perfect place to experiment with colour, pattern and texture. It’s all about creating a space with personality and individuality.”

Ursell Pools & Wellness have created one and two-person saunas and steam rooms that have fitted into some tight spaces to wonderful effect. The seasoned spathroom experts take projects from design to completion with their in-house designers, makers and builders, and fully equipped workshop where they build spa products such as small plunge pools and ‘experience’ showers. “Currently many people are focusing on developing and improving their homes as well as focusing on their health and wellbeing,” they say. “Creating the perfect home spa is a wise investment for both your health and wellness.”

Long gone are the days when a bathroom was simply a utilitarian space, one of function rather than enjoyment, says interior designer John Law. “Today the bathroom offers, in its place, more of a space for self-care and relaxation. During and following lockdown, as we navigate such uncertain times, this value of such a retreat has undoubtedly gained greater appreciation.

“In creating such a sanctuary within our own home, cues and inspiration might very well be taken from luxury spas, perhaps of Bristol’s best-known retreats, or indeed from spas further afield. Key elements such as materials, soothing colour tones and finishes for instance. A spa doesn’t necessarily have to look zen however, unless you want it to, of course.”

Whatever you are drawn to – and there’s a look for every taste, ranging from the rustic to the uber-glam – a spa environment is almost universally restful and calm.

“It’s all about choosing the right sanitary ware, carefully planned multi-functional lighting, using natural materials and adding relaxing aromas and luxurious accessories,” says west country interior designer Clair Strong. “To give your bathroom a unique spa-like feel, choose one feature that gives it a standout designer look; a rolltop bath, marble tiles, designer mirrors and his-and-her sinks will create a glamorous look. If you have space, start with a freestanding rolltop bath with double ends so you can really lie back and relax. Splash out and choose one with an in-built jacuzzi for the total spa experience. If you have the space, think about a sauna. Installing a prefabricated indoor sauna is pretty straightforward and it can be completed in a day. In smaller bathrooms, a walk-in shower or wetroom with an oversized rainfall showerhead is a stylish alternative. Look for a shower head that has multiple settings, including a massage head.

“Natural materials and earthy tones are essential to create a zen-like feeling in your bathroom. Choose white sanitary ware and muted PREVIOUS PAGE, from top left: Pigment Mocha Gloss Ceramic tiles combined with Cosmic Ivory Porcelain tiles from Mandarin Stone give a real sense of escape; A sauna from Ursell Pools & Wellnesss, which can be fitted in small spaces like an understair cupboard; This steam room from Ursell Pools & Wellness is the ultimate in indulgence; An experience shower from Ursell Pools & Wellnesss; Paradise Green Gloss Porcelain tiles from Mandarin Stone, with brass basin fittings reinvents the utilitarian white bathroom ABOVE RIGHT: Marble effect Polar Taupe Gloss Porcelain tiles with Piazza Nero Matt Porcelain herringbone tiles from Mandarin Stone and a bath painted terracotta create warmth and refuge

shades of green, grey and brown and then add tiles. These bring colour, pattern, texture, a natural look or even a bit of glamour.

Natural stone has character, marble looks opulent, and ceramic and porcelain tiles give a minimalist contemporary look.

“Your choice of lighting is very important. Think about how you will use the bathroom at different times of day. You want it bright and functional in the morning but you want to be able to relax in the evenings. The trick is to use multiple layers of light from a variety of sources. Direct lights above the key areas, layered with task lighting around bathroom mirrors for close-up activities, like putting on makeup or shaving, will give you options. Install a dimmer switch for mood lighting. You’ll instantly create the perfect ambience for late-night pamper sessions.

“It’s all about the right accessories, too. Think designer mirrors, greenery and immaculate white towels resting on a wooden stool.

Mirrors come in so many different shapes and sizes and make a real statement. Round mirrors are very on trend, rectangular mirrors are timeless and oval mirrors elegant. For a really cool designer look, go for two round mirrors hanging by a chain or strap, over a pair of hisand-hers sinks. Think of mirrors in bathrooms as design elements that expand the room visually and add light to the room.

“Clever storage solutions are key to a tidy, uncluttered, spa-like bathroom. Keep your essentials at hand and everything else neatly tucked away. Give everything – makeup, cleaning products, bath linens – a home. Try using clear glass jars, wicker baskets and designer soaps and lotion in chic glass pumps.

“Look for natural wood cabinets, towel ladders and stools. Fluffy THEBATHMAG.CO.UK

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CITY | INTERIORS

WOODHOUSE AND LAW’S GUIDE TO SPATHROOMS

Woodhouse and Law’s bathroom scheme combines marble effect floor tiles with a herringbone tile shower room – the occasional table allows the display of calming and selfindulgent elements

1. Keep calm and carry on Introduce calm, relaxing colours and materials. Spas often incorporate natural materials such as timber, stone and marble, reconnecting with the natural and creating a sense of calm.

2. Just add large plants The addition of large plants to a bathroom scheme or several smaller plants in wall-mounted containers or on shelves can instantly make a space feel more relaxing.

3. Reduce the clutter Revel in self-care treatments but keep the space clutter-free.

Invest in clever storage – a bespoke vanity that can be adapted or use a shallow drawer for cosmetics. Refillable dispensers make the bathroom look stylish and reduce waste.

4. Scale up When selecting a shower head, scale up so your day-to-day experience feels more decadent. If a rain shower isn’t an option, add a wider fixed shower head.

5. Focus on comfort Consider incorporating de-misters on mirrors and underfloor heating to keep the room warm and cosy, even on the coldest nights. Dual fuel radiators allow you to dry towels in summer.

6. Take it easy with the tiles Don’t tile every surface. Paint walls and introduce wallpaper to individualise the space and add artwork to create interest and make the space more atmospheric.

white towels are often associated with spas or boutique hotels and work with any scheme. They are classic, timeless and easy to replace.

If you want to add colour, soft blues and greens are calming and dark grey towels look sophisticated and chic. A towel-warmer is essential for the luxury of toasty towels to wrap up in anytime.

“House plants create a healthy, tranquil environment and one big designer plant by the bath or a group of hanging plants will add an exotic touch. Finally, aromatherapy. Essential oils, scented soap and candles set the mood: choose scents like lavender, lemon or jasmine to create a calm, relaxing atmosphere.” n

Form Russet Wall Decor Porcelain tiles from Mandarin Stone create a sultry space for a bathing experience

7. Avoid the conventional Set out to design a room you wish to spend time in. For example, in place of standard bathroom furniture, you could use an antique chest to adapt for a washbasin, or a stool that could sit by the bath for your reading book or glass of wine?

If you have space, consider adding a chair, chaise or sofa to the room; somewhere you can relax while you draw a bath.

8. All the feels Introduce texture to help the space feel tactile, more relaxed and decadent. Perhaps the fronds of a fern, a rug or fluffy towels. A spa is all about being pampered, which involves a sensory experience. Light a candle infused with relaxing scents and include space for bath oils, loofahs and a bath pillow.

9. Let’s get lit Invest in good lighting, key to creating a spa environment; add, for instance, additional circuits on dimmers so you can control the level of light. Always introduce lighting within niches and at low level so that you can quickly create a softer ambience.

10. Hybrid theory If you have space, incorporate your bathroom into the bedroom to create a suite. The WC can be separated off, while the bathtub and shower become decorative features. We have recently designed two spa bathrooms with a wet and dry space, separated by a large glass wall. The shower and bathtub sit side by side in a wet room environment, making the bathroom warm, inviting and easy to maintain. It also adds a sense of decadence as you step into a glass enclosure to bathe.

Woodhouse & Law: woodhouseandlaw.co.uk Other companies featured: Ursell Pools & Wellness (ursell.com); Mandarin Stone (mandarinstone.com) and Clair Strong (clairstrong.co.uk)

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Image shows Westex Westend Velvet

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GARDENING

Summer sanctuary

If we can’t go away on holiday, we can, at least, look to our gardens to bring us pleasure. But if yours is more Bognor than Bahamas, it could be time to think about ways to make your garden work for a staycation, says Elly West

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A simple pergola with a covered roof or sail strung between the posts is an effective way to define a seating area

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taying at home this summer? You’re certainly not alone, and many of us have been looking to our gardens to provide that holiday vibe. The landscaping industry is one of the more fortunate ones that saw a boom as the pandemic went on.

Materials and plant shortages aside, many landscapers and designers have never been so busy. I saw enquiries for garden design services rocket at the start of the year and levels stayed high, as everyone spent more time at home and in the garden, and we faced another staycation summer with limited travel.

My clients’ wish lists have mostly been very similar – somewhere to entertain, socialise, relax, cook and eat – an outdoor room that can be enjoyed as an extension of the home, while still providing the visual attraction of year-round colour and soothing greenery. Hot tubs, outdoor kitchens and garden buildings are in demand, along with furniture, barbecues, garden bars and many other outdoor-living products.

If we can’t go away on holiday, then at least we can look to our gardens to bring us pleasure, and stepping out of the back door into our own summer sanctuary can be the next best thing. But if your garden is currently more Bognor than Bahamas, it could be time to think about ways to add some zing.

A good starting point is the seating area. All gardens need somewhere to sit and relax, so take a look at where the sun rises and sets, and consider what time of day you’re most likely to be outside.

Do you prefer to sit in the sun or shade? Are you looking for a spot for a morning coffee, evening sundowner, or do you have room for more than one seating area? South-facing will get the most direct

sunshine during the day, or west-facing for the evening, and you can always add a sail shade, screening or large parasol for days when the sun is strong.

Summer houses often turn into glorified sheds in my experience, but a simple pergola with a covered roof or sail strung between the posts is an effective way to define a seating area, provide shelter and a sense of enclosure, and also provides the opportunity to grow climbers such as clematis or roses. A pergola makes a good focal point and gives instant structure and height.

Somewhere sunny for loungers and comfy sofas, combined with a shadier spot for outdoor dining, is a good idea if you have the space.

Surround your seating with fragrant plants such as herbs, jasmine, lilies and lavender, and hang some bunting, and you'll soon feel in holiday mood. If you’re lucky enough to have well-positioned trees, string up a hammock for the ultimate in holiday relaxation!

Alfresco dining is also synonymous with summer holidays, so a

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GARDENING

place to cook outside could be a good investment, whether it’s a small barbecue or full-on kitchen with worktops, a sink and places to grill, bake and fry. Pizza ovens and Japanese-style ceramic kamado grills have soared in popularity and make stylish garden features that create a focal point in your cooking space. A brick-built barbecue is another option if you want to keep things simple. Again, think carefully about where you want the kitchen area to be. Unless it’s deluxe enough to have everything you need, then a spot close to the house (and the actual kitchen) makes sense, as well as not too far away from where you’ll be eating the food.

Long evenings spent outdoors will always be enhanced with garden lighting, and switching on lights immediately invokes a holiday-party vibe, especially if you go for fun colour-changing bulbs controllable from an app on your phone. There are also lots of hanging pendant lights that give that indoor-outdoor look, or you might want a festival feel with festoon or fairy lights. String them along fences, through trees and shrubs or over an arch or pergola. Solar lights are a good option if you don’t have an outdoor electricity supply, although they won’t be as bright or reliable, or even a collection of tealights in jam jars will provide evening atmosphere for very little cost.

Lots of accessories on the market have the indoor-outdoor look in mind, and a cosy space filled with blankets and cushions, plus an outdoor patterned rug, will entice you and your family and friends to spend longer outdoors. And when the temperature drops, a free-standing fire pit makes another good addition to keep you warm, while creating an attractive centrepiece. Some even come with a cooking grill. Go for one with a gas tank for instant, reliable heat, Love Island style! n • ellyswellies.co.uk; Instagram: @ellyswellies1

Plant of the month: Hollyhock Hollyhocks are reminiscent of holidays in France – their stately flowers towering against the rough stone walls of a rustic gîte – but they’re favourites in English country cottage gardens as well and it’s easy to see why. They’re easy to grow from seed and appear later in the summer after many other perennials and annuals have burnt out, their statuesque blooms ideal for the back of a border or against a house wall. I’d always thought of these as biennials, according to the books, meaning that they flower in their second year and then die. However, I moved to my current house more than seven years ago and I inherited a near-black variety that’s sprouted reliably right at the base of a cherry tree every year, proving that plants don’t follow the rules! They’re loved by bees and butterflies, and come in a range of jewel-like colours, from soft pinks through to yellows and creams, red, white, blue and black. The petals can be added to salads or crystallised for cake decorations. Hollyhocks are easy to grow from seed either indoors or out, and appreciate well-drained soil in full sun, where they will reward you with a plethora of flowers that can tower at over 2m tall. The stems may need staking in a windy spot.

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the directory Electricians

GCS

to advertise in this section call 01225 424 499 House & Home

Graham’s Cleaning Services Ltd

WINDOW CLEANING IN BATH AND THE SURROUNDING AREA

Specialist in commercial & retail and large domestic properties Traditional and Reach & Wash window cleaning services

Trusted, professional and fully insured.

Tel: Office: 01761 433123 or Moble: 07989 302299 grahams.wcsltd@gmail.com grahamscleaningservices.co.uk

Health, Beauty & Wellbeing

Mobility

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MOBILITY

We Sell All The Top Brands New and Reconditioned Scooters Great Prices!

We Supply Stairlifts To Buy Or Rent Free Delivery And Home Visits Telephone: 07758 720059 www.topsteermobility.com (Mention this ad for £100 off any new scooter bought from us) Your Local Friendly Mobility Team!

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Nigel Dando 11 Pulteney Bridge, Bath BA2 4AY Tel/Fax: 01225 464013 www.nigeldando.co.uk

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PROPERTY | HOMEPAGE

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superbly appointed modern 3 bedroom detached house with well-proportioned accommodation, an attractive garden and set on the eastern outskirts of Bath.

1 Evelyn Close is one of 4 superb appointed detached properties built by Ashford Homes some 4 years ago. The accommodation has a light and airy feel to it and is very well proportioned throughout with good sized hallways and landings, 3 double bedrooms, together with wellappointed bathroom and shower rooms with Villeroy & Boch and Hansgrohe fitments.

Similarly, the kitchen/breakfast room has a high-quality kitchen with granite worktops fully fitted throughout and the property benefits from fully gas fired underfloor heating, fully wired with CAT 6 to provide the infrastructure for wifi and internet connection throughout the house. It should also be noted that the property is fully wired for sound system.

The property also the benefit of an attractive well enclosed garden to the rear which comprises a large, paved terrace with upper lawn and a recently erected home office/gym which is fitted with electricity and lighting. The property also has the benefit of 3 parking spaces to the front. This is quite a superb property, and a viewing is highly recommended by the sole agents Cobb Farr.

Box Road, Bathford • Detached house • Sought after location • Garden with home office • 3 double bedrooms • Well-proportioned rooms • 3 parking spaces • Light and airy feel

£675,000 Cobb Farr, 35 Brock Street, The Circus, Bath. Tel: 01225 333332

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Orchard House, Winsley £875,000

An attractive and spacious 5 bedroom detached house situated in the heart of the village with level garden, ample parking and double garage.

• 5 bedrooms, 2 en suites • Family bathroom

• 3 reception rooms, Kitchen/breakfast room • Double garage and ample parking • Level front and rear gardens

01225 333332 | 01225 866111

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Lansdown, Bath - £1,350,000

LD

SO

Walcot, Bath - £580,000

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Camden, Bath - £700,000

01225 333332 | 01225 866111

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Englishcombe Village - £900,000

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Lansdown, Bath - £350,000

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Bennett Street, Bath - £350,000

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“Founded in 2011 by Marcus Spanswick, who already had 20 years’ experience in the industry, Mardan Removals and Storage Ltd is a, family run, professional full service removals and storage company based in Bath. Marcus wanted to build a company that he and his team would be proud of. The key to the company’s success is providing a personalised service, treating each customer as an individual to ensure they get an excellent removal service. Mardan have a fleet of vehicles allowing them to offer; commercial moving, local to international moves and storage”.

DOMESTIC & COMMERCIAL MOVERS • PACKERS • STORERS • SHIPPERS

Bailbrook Lane, Bath A stunning development of two individual, contemporary, luxury homes in a secluded setting with magnificent views.

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winkworth.co.uk/bath for every step...

SALES

BATHAMPTON - £480,000

3 reception rooms | kitchen | 3 bedrooms | 1 bathroom

GREAT PULTENEY STREET - £240,000

1 reception room | kitchen | 1 bedroom | 1 bathroom

3 g ly On ainin rem

BATH RIVERSIDE - Prices from £275,000

1 reception room | kitchen | 1 bedroom | 1 bathroom

MARGARET’S BUILDINGS - £175,000

1 reception room / bedroom | kitchen | 1 bathroom

FOUNTAIN BUILDINGS - £240,000

1 reception room | 1 bedroom | 1 bathroom

DUKE STREET - £350,000

1 reception room / kitchen | 2 bedrooms | 1 bathroom

For Sales or Letting Properties contact us on 01225 829000 bath@winkworth.co.uk WINKWORTH BATH bath@winkworth.co.uk 13 Argyle Street, Bath, Somerset BA2 4BQ Follow us on

Matthew Leonard

Lucy McIlroy

Denise Latham

Director

Director

Lettings Manager

Central

Andrewsonline.co.uk

Fountain House Bath, BA1 OIEO £300,000

01225 809 571

This well-presented city centre apartment can be accessed via a private lift or externally from two separate entrances.The grand lounge/dining room is light and airy and extends to an open plan well-fitted kitchen with integrated appliances.The spacious double bedroom is complete with a unique wet room and WC. There is also a separate office space and utility room. This incredible apartment is offered with vacant possession. Energy Efficiency Rating: TBC

central@andrewsonline.co.uk

To view more properties and other services available visit Andrewsonline.co.uk

Camden

Andrewsonline.co.uk

Marshfield Way, Bath, BA1 OIEO £380,000

This is a well presented three bedroom, mid terraced townhouse with wonderful views, located in a popular location between Fairfield Park and Landsdown. In brief the property consists of: Internal garage on ground floor.

On the first floor is a spacious lounge, kitchen/dining area with access to the rear garden. On the second floor are three bedrooms and a modern fitted bathroom. The front garden offers off-street parking and access to the garage.

Energy Efficiency Rating: D

01225 809 868 camden@andrewsonline.co.uk

Andrews August Updated.indd 1

To view more properties and other services available visit Andrewsonline.co.uk

23/07/2021 10:15

Newbridge Andrewsonline.co.uk SOLD STC

Weston, Bath, BA1 £799,995

Originally built in the 17th century, this detached property in Weston village was altered in the Georgian period, it still has many original Georgian features throughout creating a charming and characterful farm house. Set on a quiet lane in a secluded location, the property sits in the centre of it’s grounds with garden wrapping around the front and sides.

Energy Efficiency Rating: TBC

01225 809 685 newbridge@andrewsonline.co.uk

To view more properties and other services available visit Andrewsonline.co.uk

Bear Flat

Andrewsonline.co.uk

Flatwoods Road, Bath, BA2 Guide price £740,000

Situated on the upper Southern slopes of Bath and close to Combe Down village, this four bedroom corner-plot, detatched property is in pristine condition. In brief there’s a bright and spacious living room, a modern fitted kitchen and dining room - both overlooking the rear garden, four bedrooms and family bathroom on the first floor. Outside the garden wraps around the property and there’s a garage with two storage rooms.

Energy Efficiency Rating: TBC

01225 805 680 bearflat@andrewsonline.co.uk

To view more properties and other services available visit Andrewsonline.co.uk

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