The Bath Magazine January 2017

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£3.95 where sold

ISSUE 172 | JANUARY 2017 thebathmag.co.uk

LISTING BATH’S HISTORIC BUILDINGS WHICH HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED FOR TOO LONG THE CITY’S BIGGEST MONTHLY GUIDE TO LIFE AND LIVING IN BATH

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01373 764345 L11 Commerce Park Frome BA11 2FB www.shakerandmay.co.uk

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Contents January 2017 REGULARS 5 THINGS

THEY CAME TO BATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

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CULTURE

Your essential events in the city this month

MY BATH

A look at some of the luminaries who visited the city

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WHAT’S ON

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Elly Summers, curator of a new lace exhibition at The Fashion Museum

Dates for your diary

FACE THE MUSIC

EXHIBITIONS

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Nick Steel, director of Bath Comedy Festival picks his top ten

THE WALK

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See what’s showing at the city’s galleries

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Andrew Swift takes us on a historic stroll around Bathwick

FESTIVALS

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Early bookings for The Bath Festival

BATH@WORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Neill Menneer’s portrait of the month: auctioneer Ivan Street

GUEST COLUMN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

THE YEAR AHEAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Anniversaries to be marked: the building of the Royal Crescent and the death of Bath’s favourite writer

Businessman Trevor Osborne on why companies are joining the Bath PerCent Club to put something back into the community

FAMILY TIME

FEATURES

A GOOD READ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

RESTORATION PROJECT

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Activities to do with your children in January

Six of the best books about Bath

Six Bath buildings we’d like to see renovated or more appreciated

BATH ABBEY: THE BIG APPEAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

AUTHOR PROFILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Learn more about the multi-million pound Footprint Appeal that’s fundraising to preserve the historic Lantern of the West for future generations

Sophie Hannah on carrying Agatha Christie’s literary legacy

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More contents January 2017 FOOD & DRINK FOOD HEROES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Meet the Gay family who farm at Newton St Loe

NEWS

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The latest from the city’s dining scene

EATING OUT

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We enjoy the fresh flavours of the Middle East at the newly opened Comptoir Libanais

BEHIND THE MENU

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Goodbye pulled pork and hello tabbouleh and baba ganoush

FINE WINE

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Angela Mount leads us on a vinous adventure for the new year

HEALTH & BEAUTY HEALTH & BEAUTY NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Pick-me-ups for the new year

READER OFFER

90

THE BATH PRIORY SPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Enjoy an exclusive Champagne experience

PEOPLE AND PLACES TRAVEL

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For the best snow and runs visit Chamonix

CHARITY VOLUNTEERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Meet the people who were moved to make a difference

TREASURE HUNT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 How well do you know Bath? Plus the answers to our quiz

HOME INTERIORS

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Interior designer Clair Strong revamps a city centre workplace

GARDENING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

ON THE COVER

Award-winning garden columnist Jane Moore on what’s hot and what’s not in the flower beds of 2017

PROPERTY

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In our beautiful city we highlight some of the neglected treasures which deserve our attention

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Cover Image © Shahid Khan / Shutterstock

We take a look at the exciting developments at Holburne Park, the new homes on Bath’s Warminster Road

Even more great content online: thebathmag.co.uk

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EDITOR’S PICKS SUPERTREES: we were very excited to see these giant artificial trees on the BBC’s hit wildlife series Planet Earth 2. There are 18 of them in Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay, standing between 25 and 50 metres tall, with an aerial walkway stretching between two of them. They were designed here in Bath by Grant Associates. On hearing that the Supertrees had been singled out for praise by conservationist David Attenborough, Andrew Grant, founder of the company, said: “We’re hugely excited to see the Supertree Grove and Bay South feature in such a high profile and prestigious series as Planet Earth 2, and proud that landscape design is providing positive examples of people and nature co-existing in harmony.”

from the

EDITOR

W

e burst into 2017 full of enthusiasm and excitement for the year ahead and have filled these pages accordingly with things to make you feel optimistic about the future.

There’s our always popular and reliable What’s On (from Page 28), used by many to plan their leisure time, our digest of five essential things you’ll want to do in January (Page 12) plus the early highlights of The Bath Festival (Page 26) in May, for which you can already buy tickets. Jessica Hope has also researched some of the major anniversaries and events to look out for in Bath this year (Page 20).

We wouldn’t be able to call ourselves The Bath Magazine, with a capital T, if we didn’t consider the city’s magnificent architectural heritage. So, we invited historian Catherine Pitt to cast her eye over some of Bath’s overlooked buildings and to highlight those she’d like to see either renovated or more highly regarded in the city. See if you agree with her half dozen choices on Page 42. We’ve also focussed on six of the best books about Bath – not that this a definitive list by any means – on Page 22.

If you know and love Bath you may have entered our Christmas treasure hunt, How Well Do You Know Bath? There’s a quick reminder of the secret spots we featured and all the answers for you on Page 70.

We’re pleased to be able to bring you an exclusive reader offer, courtesy of The Bath Priory Hotel, giving you the chance to book a pampering treatment, a session in its L’Occitane spa – the first in the country – afternoon tea and a glass of Champagne, all for £95 per person. Dip a toe in to The Garden Spa, see Page 76.

Of course what really makes a city is its people, and we’ve got plenty of characters in this issue. We salute Nick Steel, the tour de force behind Bath Comedy Festival (Page 24) and the Gay family, who run the award-winning Newton Farm (Page 56) and our Bath at Work portrait by Bath photograper Neill Menneer is city auctioneer Ivan Street of Aldridges (Page 48). We also meet the people who were moved to do more than drop a few coins into a collecting tin, and actually physically do something to help charity (Page 62) and hear from the business people who launched the Bath Percent Club to actively give something back to the community with a share of their profits (Page 18).

We’ll be back in February with more to entertain, engage and inspire you.

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

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FAREWELL: we bid a sad goodbye to one of Bath’s great institutions at Christmas as Rajpoot closed after 36 years cooking up delicious curries to generations of Bathonians – and celebrities including Jonathan Ross, Des O’Connor, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. No more will diners be greeted by the splendidly turbanned doorman and Argyle Street will be a little greyer for his absence HELLO: I intend to ignore the call for caution when it comes to colour. Not for me the greige and the neutral. I’m planning to go for bursts, pops and explosions of all hues of the rainbow. These cushions by designer Louise Rutherford of Lux and Bloom are just the pep we need in mid-winter. Found in Savannah Home and Verve Living

❝

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

NEIL GAIMAN

❞

Contemporary English writer

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SAY GOODBYE TO WINTER BLUES WITH UP TO

3O OFF KITCHENS & APPLIANCES’

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ZEITGEIST

5

things to do in

January

Anticipate

ON RECORD: one of the many Victorian family portraits in the Bath Record Office collection

Delve Bath Record Office is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017 by running a series of free events to give people the chance to find out more about the city archives and the history of Bath. The first event in the Guildhall is on Wednesday 18 January from 1.10pm, at which principal archivist Colin Johnston will speak about the Record Office’s first 50 years. On Wednesday 25 January, from 1.10pm, Dr Amy Frost of Bath Preservation Trust will be talking about the archives from a researcher’s point of view. Talks are free, there’s no need to book.

Book Actor Simon Callow is one of the first names to be booked for The Bath Festival – expect more names to be revealed this month. Turn to Page 26 for who’s already signed up.

Simon Callow, coming to Bath to share his love of Schumann

There’s plenty to look forward to in 2017 in Bath, not least the celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the building of the Royal Crescent, that much photographed famously curved street.

Expect celebrations throughout the year as the city looks back to the early days of the first of Bath’s famous honey-coloured stone crescents to be built, with the culmination of activities surrounding the Royal Crescent taking place in May. Tourist organisation VisitBath has commissioned illustrator Dave Thompson to design the brochure front cover of Bath’s official visitor guide to commemorate the anniversary, pictured. For more information go to: visitbath.co.uk/whats-on. And for more events in 2017 see Page 20.

Visit Bath’s own modern British Impressionist Peter Brown has a major exhibition of new work at the publicly owned Victoria Art Gallery, which is open daily. Along with dozens of paintings of familiar sights around Bath, painted in situ, Peter has included landscapes from other parts of the world. In his travels he’s taken his easel to

London, to the Loire in France, to India and to Dublin. His distinctive style perfectly captures the different light in various countries. The exhibition runs until 19 February and although admission to the rest of the Victoria Art Gallery collection is free, admission to this show is £4, free to under 21s and holders of the Discovery Card.

THAMESIDE: Blues and Twos Richmond Bridge, misty morning 2016

Witness Between the months of November and February each year is the time to see one of the wonders of the natural world, the mass flights – known as murmurations – of wild starlings wheeling across the big open skies over the Somerset Levels. You don’t have to be an expert bird watcher to find yourself in awe of this spectacle,

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as flocks rise and fall, creating fabulous sweeping patterns against the landscape.

To find out when the starlings are doing their thing, call the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) starling hotline: 07866 554 142 to hear live updates on where to watch them.

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Follow us on Twitter @thebathmagazine

See more online thebathmag.co.uk

Contact us: Publisher Email:

Steve Miklos steve@thebathmagazine.co.uk

Editor Tel: Email:

Georgette McCready 01225 424592 georgette@thebathmagazine.co.uk

Financial Director Email:

Jane Miklos jane@thebathmagazine.co.uk

Production Manager Email:

Jeff Osborne production@thebathmagazine.co.uk

Web Editor Email:

Jessica Hope jessica@thebathmagazine.co.uk

Contact the Advertising Sales team tel: 01225 424499 Advertising Sales Email:

Liz Grey liz@thebathmagazine.co.uk

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The Bath Magazine and The Bristol Magazine are published by MC Publishing Ltd. An independent publisher.

The Bath Magazine is distributed free every month to more than 20,000 homes and businesses throughout Bath and the surrounding area. We also have special distribution units in the following city centre stores and coffee shops

2 Princes Buildings, George Street, Bath BA1 2ED Telephone: 01225 424499. Fax: 01225 426677 thebathmag.co.uk Š MC Publishing Ltd 2017 Disclaimer: Whilst every reasonable care is taken with all material submitted to The Bath Magazine, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to such material. Opinions expressed in articles are strictly those of the authors. This publication is copyright and may not be reproduced in any form either in part or whole without written permission from the publishers.

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Handmade in the heart of Bath Explore our handcrafted jewellery with

selected items like these ‘Sonwdrop’ brooches with up to 50% off this January

Engagement and Wedding Rings | Bespoke Jewellery | Designer Collections

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ist

THE CITY THE BUZZ

My BATH

We ask Elly Summers, curator at the Fashion Museum, what she’s doing this month What brought you to Bath?

I always wanted to live in Bath. It seemed like a fairytale city. My husband Adam was training to be a teacher in Bath and it was the perfect place for me to start a career in museums. It was, and still is, just full of museums and galleries and I got a job at the Fashion Museum, working with one of the world’s top collections of historical and contemporary dress. We moved here in 2001 and I can’t imagine a better place to be.

Photo: vikmartin.co.uk

Dare

Are you brave enough to walk over broken glass followed by the hot feeling of embers smouldering at 800 degrees under your feet? The Fire and Ice Walk challenge takes place on Sunday 5 March at 6pm on Bath Recreation Ground. This year The Forever Friends Appeal will include glass walking as well as traditional fire walking for an extra thrill. Registration is £30, with a minimum sponsorship pledge of £100 for the RUH Cancer Care Campaign, which is raising £8.5 million towards a new cancer centre at the RUH. Participants can also choose another department in the hospital close to their hearts. Visit: foreverfriendsappeal.co.uk to sign up.

Explore Just as challenging, but in a different way, the Forever Friends Appeal is looking for adventurers to join a trek to Peru in November to take on the Inca Trail. Explore rivers, pass ancient tunnels and ruins, walk through lush cloud-forest and sub-tropical jungle and across high mountain passes to the ancient city of Machu Picchu. This will be the trip of a lifetime, while also raising funds for a great cause. Trek to raise funds for the RUH Cancer Care Campaign. There will be an information evening at the RUH on Thursday 26 January, from 6.30pm, which includes a talk and Q&A with the trek leader. Visit: foreverfriendsappeal. co.uk, email: laurapearce1@nhs.net, tel: 01225 821535. The deadline to book for the trek is 3 April.

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What are you reading?

It might sound a little predictable but I’m actually reading Jane Austen at the moment. I hadn’t read any for years and set myself the challenge of reading every book in order. I have just finished Persuasion and enjoyed all the references to fashionable dress and society events at The Assembly Rooms.

What music are you listening to?

We recently had a new kitchen put in at home, principally designed to accommodate my husband’s record collection. So, you’ll now find me pottering in my kitchen most weekends listening to old records such as George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, or some Nanci Griffiths.

Which café or restaurant takes your fancy?

Same Same But Different or The Boston Tea Party – I love their menus and they’re both just a stone’s throw away from the Fashion Museum. I keep hearing great things about Chai Walla – the Indian street food café in Kingsmead Square, so that’s definitely on my list to ‘must try’ this month.

Which museum or gallery will you be visiting?

I think in January it’s got to be a winter visit to the Roman Baths – just after 4pm when it’s getting dark. There’s nothing quite like seeing all that steam rising from the Great Bath by torchlight.

Your passions? What hobbies or interests will you be pursuing?

I’m very lucky to be able to combine my passion with my work. I’ve always loved dress history, textiles and art. I’m fascinated by the complex and intricate craft of lace making, so

Jon Craig Photography

having an opportunity to curate an exhibition on lace in fashionable dress couldn’t be better.

I love anything creative and I do have my eye on a fantastic looking workshop at the end of this month making lace and pearl cupcakes with the Bath Cake Company, where you get to learn how to make edible lace. That way I really could say that I sleep, breath and eat lace!

What local event will you be visiting?

I’m pretty snowed under working on our exhibition Lace in Fashion, so I think I might have to save myself for February once the exhibition has opened. I’m hoping to make it to some of the amazing concerts at the Bach Fest.

Film or play? What will you be going to see this month?

I have two young sons, so a trip to the cinema to see the new Star Wars film Rogue One, is a must. If I can fit in anything for my own indulgence though, I’ll be heading to the Theatre Royal to see The St Petersburg Classic Ballet production of The Nutcracker.

What’s your latest project?

The Lace in Fashion exhibition is the culmination of a two year project to catalogue the museum’s extensive archives of lace dating from the 1500s to the present day. The oldest object will be a smock dating from around 1580 with Flemish bobbin lace, it’s one of the earliest pieces in the museum collection.

Another of the museum’s rarest treasures is the silver tissue dress which dates from the 1660s and is trimmed with parchment lace, a rare and delicate fabric made using tiny strips of parchment or paper wrapped in silk. Other highlights include a dress worn by Lea Seydoux in the James Bond film Spectre, loaned to the museum by Australian design duo Lover, as well as evening gowns by top fashion names Balmain, Balenciaga and Molyneux. Lace in Fashion opens on 4 February. Visit: fashionmuseum.co.uk, or turn to Page 20 for more information. n

We’re following @dryjanuary, an annual month-long project to encourage people to save money, lose weight and feel better by giving up alcohol for January. Last year one in six Brits attempted a dry month and this year more than 12,000 charities signed up to get their supporters sponsored.

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GUEST | COLUMNIST

GRASSROOTS PHILANTHROPY TREVOR OSBORNE OF THE TREVOR OSBORNE PROPERTY GROUP ON WHY BATH BUSINESSES HAVE PLEDGED TO SHARE PROFITS WITH CHARITY

T

he idea for the Bath Percent Club was inspired by Brian Roper. Brian and his wife, Margaret, created Roper Rhodes, a very successful Bath-based specialist bathroom furniture company, still flourishing under the stewardship of their sons Mark and Paul today.

Brian and Margaret believed passionately in the importance and power of philanthropy.

From day one Roper Rhodes committed to giving 3% of its profits – even in the early days when these were modest and hardearned – to charity.

Today, you don’t have to look very far in our city to see the fruits of the generosity of the Roper family’s charitable giving: the Roper Building at Bath College, at the Royal United Hospital, the Holburne Museum and on the list of major donors of virtually every arts organisation. There have been many unsung donations too, which have changed lives. It is estimated that the Roper family has donated more than £7m to the community over more than two decades – a truly outstanding and remarkable contribution.

Brian died, too early, aged 76 a couple of years ago. I respected and admired him very much, both professionally and personally, and felt his loss keenly as did many others. He was a man who had given consistently to Bath and the local area, both financially and of himself. I, along with many others in the local business community, wanted to pay tribute to his and Margaret’s generosity and to do this in a practical way, of which he would have approved.

Once this idea had taken root, the way to progress it seemed clear. Not long before he died, Brian was honoured with the Freedom of the City of Bath. At this ceremony in Bath’s Guildhall, Margaret had read his impassioned speech appealing for others in the business community to continue their philanthropic work: this is what we do in his memory.

So, the Bath Percent Club came into being.

This club has a single, simple aim: to encourage charitable giving. Membership of the club is a tangible badge of commitment, membership and goodwill for firms and businesses which give a percentage of their profits to charity. This contribution can also be in kind or in time, allowing even the smallest business to play its part. The percentage is not fixed and may vary from company to company, it could be just 1%.

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ENHANCING LIVES: members of the Food for Thought group, which is supported by the Bath Percent Club The Bath Percent Club does not handle funds, or advise, on who or what to give to.

Instead it enables local charities without large advertising budgets to present themselves and their needs directly to local business members.

Member companies take responsibility for distributing and managing their own funds, and close relationships between businesses and the charities they support are encouraged.

Partnerships with organisations such as the Quartet Community Foundation and Localgiving have been forged, this allows donations to flow easily, with minimal administrative cost or time implications, and encourages matched funding to maximise the money available for good causes.

This concept of the Percent Club instantly met with the approval of the local business community, and we had more than 50 founding members at our inaugural event last year. It was hugely encouraging to see businesses of all sizes and types eager to become involved, from the big local employers like Wessex Water, to professional firms such as Handelsbanken, longestablished locally-based but internationally operating companies like Zenith International, and smaller retailers, too, like the Framing Workshop in Walcot Street. And my own company, The Trevor Osborne Property Group, plays its part of course.

Brian’s plea for more people to commit to giving, and to continue giving, rather than a specific figure, was gaining traction. And gratifyingly fast.

There is no membership fee of any kind and existing charitable arrangements or a history of giving make businesses members by default – this is not a badge for new initiatives, any organisation which already gives can sign up immediately as a member and so be recognised as a socially contributing business.

Another ambition for the Percent Club is that it mustn’t be in any way worthy, but a

life-enhancing organisation for those making the contribution as well as those benefitting.

With this in mind we have regular networking events, often related to projects but always with a strong element of fun, and ready to welcome any staff members of supporting businesses – the more people who get behind the Percent Club concept, the more people will feel the benefit.

I feel very fortunate to have made my home in this great city, and it is certainly beautiful and culturally rich and diverse. But behind the facade of wealth and privilege there are pockets of real deprivation, and many who need our help. I hope that the Percent Club is making it much easier for those who can help to do so.

If we work together to build a philanthropic culture and embed this in all we do, as Brian Roper did and his family trust continues to do, together we can effect real change and enrich lives.

We have well over 120 local businesses signed up, which is amazing, but I would like to see its philosophy so deeply instilled in our culture that every business, whatever its size, is a member, with percentage-giving the norm, not the exception. This seems an appropriate homage to Brian Roper, who gave so much.

Find out more visit: thepercentclub.com. n Trevor Osborne is a Bath-based property developer, with current projects in Bath, Buxton, Shrewsbury and Porthleven in Cornwall. In Bath his public service includes being a member of Bath Abbey’s Footprint project appeal group, a governor and trustee of Bath Spa University and on the board of the Mozart and Bach festivals. He is also a member of the Bath Initiative.

The Bath Percent Club is hosting an event at the newly refurbished Cleveland House, Sydney Road, Bath on 12 January. If you would like to attend please email: louise.mccarthy@topgroup.co.uk.

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LOOKING | AHEAD

LOOK OUT 2017

From crescents to fashion, Jane Austen to dragons, Jessica Hope highlights some local events and exhibitions coming up this year LACE IN FASHION EXHIBITION

n From 4 February, The Fashion Museum Drawing on the museum’s magnificent archives, along with a selection of loans from designers, The Fashion Museum will be showcasing around 50 exquisite pieces of fashion adorned in lace for its annual temporary exhibition, showing how this delicate material has been used in fashion from the 16th century up to the present day. Supported by a grant from the Arts Council England and assisted by expert volunteers from the Lace Guild, curator Elly Summers has painstakingly catalogued the museum’s impressive lace collection, which even includes what may be the only surviving dress worn by Queen Charlotte, dating from 1805.

The oldest object in the exhibition will be a smock dating from 1580 – 1600 with Flemish bobbin lace on the sleeves and collar, while more modern pieces by Burberry also feature. Lace In Fashion complements The Fashion Museum’s major exhibition, A History of Fashion in 100 Objects, which runs until 1 January 2019.

Admission to both exhibitions is included in admission to the museum.

Visit: fashionmuseum.co.uk.

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HISTORY THROUGH A LENS: ICONIC PHOTOGRAPHS

n 25 February – 10 May, Victoria Art Gallery This show features over 60 photographs that have challenged and changed public opinion of world events throughout modern history.

You may recognise some of these images from newspaper reports, but this exhibition will show the photographs on their own as pieces of art. The exhibition includes photojournalism from some of the most significant moments in 20th century history, including the assassination of JFK, a rare shot of the Normandy D-Day landings, and a depiction of Nelson Mandela in his cell on Robben Island. Thirty per cent of the exhibition will include 21st century prints, with many focusing on political and social concerns that feature in present day society. The collection is curated by Tristan Lund, formerly of the Michael Hoppen Gallery. Visit: victoriagal.org.uk.

THE BATH FESTIVAL

n 19 – 28 May, various locations The new combined arts festival, celebrating all types of music and literature, has already secured names such as internationally celebrated

cellist Steven Isserlis, Schumann enthusiast Simon Callow, Philharmonia Orchestra and Brooklyn author Colm Tóibín. Read our interview with crime writer Sophie Hannah, who will be at the festival on Sunday 28 May, on page 26. General booking is now open. Visit: bathfestivals.org.uk.

BRUEGEL: DEFINING A DYNASTY EXHIBITION

n 11 February – 4 June, The Holburne Museum The Holburne Museum will be holding the UK’s first exhibition dedicated to the work of the Bruegel dynasty, which will include Wedding Dance in the Open Air – an oil painting in the musuem’s own collection which, after extensive conservation and technical examination, was recently confirmed as being by Pieter Brueghel the Younger. Having previously been thought to be the work of a copyist, this painting has now been confirmed as the only version of this scene in a UK public museum.

The exhibition will explore the complex Bruegel family tree through 35 works of art, including pieces from the National Gallery, Royal Collection Trust and Barber Institute of Fine

FORWARD THINKING: Three lace dresses dating from the early 20th century on show at The Fashion Museum, and Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s Wedding Dance in the Open Air, on display at The Holburne Museum Opposite, left, a photograph of a Qaddafi supporter holding a portrait of the Libyan leader during a celebration, by Moises Saman, Libya, Zawiyah 2011, part of Victoria Art Gallery’s History Through a Lens exhibition, and right, there will be plenty of events this year to mark 200 years since Jane Austen’s death

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Arts. Tickets: £10 adult, £9 concessions.

Visit: holburne.org or call: 01225 388569.

250 YEARS OF THE ROYAL CRESCENT

n Throughout 2017, various locations 19 May 2017 marks the 250th anniversary of the first stones of the world famous Royal Crescent being laid. To commemorate this masterpiece of Georgian architecture by John Wood The Younger there will be a jam-packed schedule of more than 70 events to get involved with across the city. No. 1 Royal Crescent will be holding three exhibitions throughout the year, including an exhibition of detailed models by Modern Souvenir’s Timothy Richards titled From Rome to Royal Crescent from February to June. Visit: no1royalcrescent.org.uk.

The Museum of Bath Architecture will explore how the Royal Crescent inspired some of England’s most prolific post-war architects at its Past, Present, Future: Bath, Modernism and the Smithsons exhibition from June to November. Visit: museumofbatharchitecture.org.uk. We will be bringing you further information about the celebratory schedule of events over the coming months, so keep your eyes peeled.

200TH ANNIVERSARY OF JANE AUSTEN’S DEATH

n Throughout 2017, various locations On 18 July 1817 Jane Austen died in Winchester, aged 41. This summer there will be a whole host of events to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the death of one of England’s most renowned novelists. Grab your ballgown or breeches and prepare to dance the evening away, just as Austen and her contemporaries would have done, at the Costumed Summer Ball on 1 July in the 18th century banqueting room of The Guildhall. Tickets will go on sale in February. The annual Jane Austen Festival will take place from 8 – 17 September, with

the world record breaking Regency Costumed Promenade taking place on Saturday 9 September. There will be more than 80 events taking place, including readings, workshops, theatre and concerts, with more than 4,000 people expected to attend. The festival’s chosen charity will be the Royal United Hospital Cancer Care Campaign which will help raise funds for a pioneering new cancer centre. Visit: janeaustenfestivalbath.co.uk.

best children’s illustrators and writers, such as EH Shepard and Quentin Blake, will be on display – and some of the artwork will be up for sale. Visitors will come face to face with a dragon’s den – in two and three dimensions – filled with creatures that have leapt out of their favourite books. The exhibition will be curated by John and Gill McLay, founders of Bath Children’s Literature Festival. Visit: victoriagal.org.uk.

IFORD ARTS FESTIVAL JAZZ AGE FASHION AND BREAKING THE PATTERN EXHIBITIONS

n 18 March – 29 October, The American Museum in Britain, Claverton Manor, Bath The American Museum in Britain is hosting two exciting exhibitions this year, with both running at the same time so you won’t miss out. 1920s Jazz Age Fashion and Photographs includes a glittering display of 100 haute couture and ready-to-wear garments from 1919 – 1929, including fashion pieces, flapper dresses and elegant evening capes. There will also be photographs by James Abbe (1883 – 1973) and film excerpts.

Alongside this, American-born Joyce Petschek will be hosting her first UK exhibition – Breaking The Pattern – which includes colourful needlework and breaks away from formal Bargello work, showing a new side of this genre. Visit: americanmuseum.org or call: 01225 460503.

HERE BE DRAGONS

n 22 July – 8 October, Victoria Art Gallery The fire-breathing creature that is the dragon continues to fascinate us, featuring frequently in literature, on screen and in art.

With this in mind, Victoria Art Gallery’s family oriented summer show will see this magical beast at its centre. Some of the UK’s

n 27 May – 5 August, Iford Manor, Iford, Bradford on Avon, BA15 2BA The new season includes three spectacular opera productions – La bohème, Barber of Seville and Jephtha, and the popular Picnic Promenades include performances from Clare Teal, Pee Wee Ellis and Hailey Tuck.

The festival takes place in the beautiful grade one listed Peto Garden of Iford Manor. General booking opens on 25 February, visit: ifordarts.org.uk or call the Theatre Royal Box Office: 01225 448844.

BATH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE FESTIVAL

n Friday 29 September – Sunday 8 October, various locations September may seem like a world away, but we all know how quickly it will creep up on us. And with this in mind, we already have the dates set for Europe’s largest dedicated children’s literature festival which will be returning in 2017 for its 11th festival. And if the 2016 event is anything to go by, this year’s festival will be bigger and better than ever. While the programme hasn’t been released yet, we can expect some great names from the children’s literature world – the 2016 line-up included David Walliams, Michael Morpurgo and Horrible Histories illustrator Martin Brown. We’ll let you know more about the line-up and how to book tickets over the coming months. Visit: bathfestivals.org.uk/childrens-literature.

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IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK We pick six books about Bath – a tough choice given that there are many – covering aspects from the history of the Roman Baths to the Bath Blitz and the famous people who lived in the city Ghost Signs of Bath by Andrew Swift and Kirsten Elliott, published in paperback by Akeman Press, £16.99

Bath – Colouring History by Lynne Bridge, paperback, published by Charta Colouring, £12.99 We’ve singled this out simply because we’ve never seen anything like this book before. It consists of five beautifully hand-drawn maps of Bath, showing the city at different stages in its history, from 1694 to the damage done by the Bath Blitz of 1942. For all those fascinated by typography and in the changing landscape of the city, this is a unique adult colouring book for you to create your own version of Bath.

The Sack of Bath by Adam Fergusson, reissued with a new foreword, published in paperback by Persephone Books, £15 Inside the unprepossessing plain grey cover lies a classic work on what happened in the city during the late 1960s and early 1970s, when swathes of Georgian and Victorian buildings were destroyed in the name of progress. When Fergusson wrote the book in 1973, he stated that he came to Bath from London as a journalist but after what he saw, he became a crusader. He’s unafraid to use direct language, describing the wholescale demolition of much of artisan Bath as the act of Philistines. The book is illustrated with grainy black and white photographs which allow us to peer into the city’s past and see what we have lost. Much of what Fergusson wrote 40 years ago still resonates today.

The faded signs on the city’s old shop walls have long been a source of fascination for visitors and locals alike. This very thorough examination of more than 160 ghost signs not only shows us where to find them (who knew, for instance about the faint sign marking Gratious (sic) Street, off Broad Street, which marks the entrance to a long-demolished alley of slum dwellings?) but also the history behind them, including telling the story of the tradesmen and women and the families who once plied their trade on these streets. The guide works either as a basis for meandering walks around the city or as an armchair guide and there are chapters too on Box, Corsham, Freshford, Bradford on Avon and Willsbridge.

Pevsner Architectural Guide: Bath by Michael Forsyth, published in paperback by Yale University Press, £14.99 Michael Forsyth is an architect and an authority on historic buildings and this is reflected in his thorough and authorative approach to the architecture of Bath. He covers all the set pieces, such as the Circus and the Royal Crescent, presenting their history and the finer points of their architecture, but also covers many more lesser known buildings. In this very dense but comprehensive architectural guide we can learn much about all kinds of buildings, including churches and some of the more unusual places, such as the distinctly quirky nonconformist Kilowatt House (now known as Woodside House) built in the 1930s as the city’s only Modern Movement house.

There is much to learn about Bath’s archiecture and this volume is a great foundation stone for that knowledge.

The Story of Bath by Dr Cathryn Spence, published in paperback by The History Press, £18.99 An intelligently written comprehensive history of Bath which puts events into a timeline and helps the reader to get key events in context. The historian takes us from the Bath of Roman times, through its medieval Christian flourishing and on to the Georgian heyday as a spa resort. From there the story takes us into the city’s 19th century industrial era and includes the re-discovery of the Roman Baths and subsequent excavation. Dr Spence, who has written much about the city in the past, then brings the story up to date, covering the socalled Sack of Bath and the continuing debate about planning new buildings while preserving the past.

Literary Walks in Bath: 11 Excursions in the Company of Eminent Authors, by Andrew Swift and Kirsten Elliott, published by Akeman Press, paperback, £15 We make no apology for picking a second title by Bath’s duo of historians, who know more about the city’s past and its inhabitants than, arguably, any other living soul.

You can use this book as a guide to actual walks, reading extracts as you go and seeing the past unfold in stories and events, or you can stay at home and enjoy them vicariously. Step out in the company of Coleridge and the Shelleys, or of Charles Dickens or Georgette Heyer. You are

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certain to learn something about Bath that you didn’t already know, for example that there were Gordon Riots in the city in 1780, part of a nationwide anti-Catholic movement. Or that poet John Betjeman was one of the fire wardens who spent their nights on the roof of Bath Abbey in the Second World War on watch for stray bombs and sparks that might otherwise have burnt the great church to the ground. The book is well illustrated with photographs and pictures and, as always, meticulously researched with the occasional waspish note of disapproval about certain events and organisations, which will either raise a smile or a mild tut.

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THE MAN WITH A MUSICAL PRAM Melissa Blease talks to Nick Steel, director of Bath Comedy Festival, as he picks this top ten tunes

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o many he’s one of the most active members of the recently-revamped Widcombe Social Club committee. To others, he’s known as The Wind-Up Merchant: possibly the UK’s most unique mobile DJ, using his beloved twin 1930s HMV gramophones to provide a blast-from-the-past soundtrack to any occasion, with the option of his mobile Pramophone adding offbeat character to any party.

He also runs Xerophon, his web and systems company, plays vintage keyboards in a prog rock band and ensures that Widcombe’s Christmas trees are all present and correct, every year. To call Nick Steel a Renaissance man would be an understatement. But we still haven’t even mentioned his other – and perhaps, biggest – love of his working life. Since he undertook the role of director for the Bath Comedy Festival in 2010, he’s taken the city's annual chuckle-fest from fringe to full-on, internationallyrenowned festival fabulosity. And he’s not even from Bath!

Nick says: “I originally hail from Ilkley, of Ilkley Moor Baht ’At fame, in West Yorkshire. I came to Bath to take a job as an IT boffin for one of my brothers, but within a few weeks I got involved in all sorts of goings on.”

Looking back to where his keenness to involve himself in all manner of community-related hi-jinks began, Nick cites his mother and grandad as role models and says he was inspired by scouting activities as a boy, one or two teachers at school, and either John Pertwee or Tom Baker as Doctor Who. It’s not hard to see how his personal cast list have played their part in making him who he is today.

There’s an almost childlike energy and enthusiasm about Nick and an infectious, youthful lust for life. Nick is very much a modern day Beau Nash at the heart of the city’s arts and culture scene, balancing his ‘serious’ day job with all manner of lively activities, from producing one-off cabaret shows to the annual Widcombe Rising street party.

“Consolidating all my pies into one big Comedy Festival feast was a natural shoe-in for me,” he says.

“And it’s a banquet that gets bigger and bigger. The festival runs events all year round now. We’re expanding to outlying areas such as Bradford on Avon and Frome, we’ve added the 24 TheBATHMagazine

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Kids’ Comedy Festival, and the New Act Competition now has a national profile, having launched the careers of a several successful new comedy stars.

We’ve discovered a plethora of new and hitherto unused venues, and we’re proud that our continued support of female comics has allowed us to become the first ever F-rated comedy festival.

“Our new partnership with VisitBath will ensure a wider audience, and helped us secure £15,000 from Arts Council England for marketing and audience development.”

Although it’s not unusual to bump into Nick out and about in Bath whenever and there’s something fun going on, Widcombe is his main stomping ground. “It’s hard to escape

what we call the Widcombe Triangle,” he says. “Many merry gangs of explorers have been trapped (wrecked?) in its trio of great pubs.

There’s always something going on in the Widcombe Social Club, there are cafés, restaurants, takeaways and independent shops. We’ve even got the long fought-for bypass flowing – Widcombers enjoy life in the perfect urban village!”

But when he does venture across the bridge into town, Nick cites Woods, The Mint Room and The Scallop Shell as particular restaurant favourites, and Corkage, the Barton Street Wine Bar, The Bell and The Star as his top watering holes, making the most of his long-standing membership at The Harington Club whenever he craves “a bolthole in the centre of

PARTY ANIMAL: main picture, Nick Steel PHOTOGRAPH: Neill Menneer, Spirit Photography Bath Opposite, musical favourites include, left to right, Pink Floyd, Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds and The Police Walking on the Moon Inset, band leader Glenn Miller

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town in which to escape the hoards.”

But there are ongoing challenges associated with his various activities, of which Nick freely admits that delegating, for him, is the most difficult task. “I never put on an act at the Comedy Festival that I haven’t seen and enjoyed myself. That means I have to see about 60 shows or more at Edinburgh and elsewhere. The festival has an army of brilliant volunteers, but some things you just have to do yourself, especially if you’re an obsessed perfectionist like me. The Arts Council grant is supposed to enable us to farm out certain tasks, such as putting the print programme together, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep my hands off.”

Nick is reluctant to nominate a favourite Comedy Festival comedian (“As I see and personally choose every act in the core programme, you could say they’re all my favourites”) and he won’t give away details of any of his plans for this year’s line-up: “It’s all a tightly guarded secret, but tickets will be like gold dust when they become available (soon, soon!). We have some big names under negotiation and fingers are crossed for the recipient of the Bath Plug Award, presented every year for outstanding contribution to British comedy. Previous winners include Terry Monty Python Jones and Peter The Comic Strip Richardson, and with luck we have another biggie lined up for 2017. Arthur Smith declared Bath Comedy Festival to be the best comedy festival in England, and we reckon it is!”

Is comedy a serious business? “No, it’s a laugh: otherwise I wouldn’t bother to work so hard at it!” he says.

“But all joking aside, I think comedy can have a very serious aspect, especially in today’s political climate. Comedy could well be the last bastion of the truth.” The truth is, Mr Steel, that Bath wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun without you leading the way.

NICK’S TOP TEN TRACKS Glenn Miller – Sunrise Serenade Probably the first record I ever put on a turntable by myself was a compilation of Glenn Miller tunes which was part of my Dad’s collection, stored in the old Decca cabinet in the sitting room. This tune conjures a nostalgic feeling of wartime swing and big bands with huge saxophone sections.

Listening to this, and seeing a live big band at Leeds Grand with my aunt, kicked off a love of jazz which later expanded from Miller and Benny Goodman through Miles Davis and John Coltrane to many others.

The Carpenters – Close To You Also in that old vinyl collection, this was the first pop record I can remember. The Carpenters always had amazing production values, and I still love their albums – and Karen Carpenter’s voice.

Abba – SOS I hereby publicly admit that I was a member of the Abba fan club when I was nine. This song and other early 70s Abba tunes remind me of putting up the Christmas decorations at home when I was young.

The Police – Walking on the Moon The youngest of my three elder brothers would listen to The Police, Kate Bush and others before going out of an evening. I would listen in, aged ten or so, imaging that in a few years’ time I too would be old enough to go out on the town, visit pubs and have unimagined fun meeting girls. The imagined excitement might never quite have been fully realised, but listening to bands like this remind me that every day is a new adventure.

Jeff Wayne – War of the Worlds I was part of the first year of pupils to attend a brand new middle school, whose music teacher was a very cool bloke. He would bring in vinyl records to play to us, and he fired our imaginations and kindled an appreciation of music which has stayed with me. Sadly, Mr Kewley died in the first year we were at the school, but I’m very proud that I was given the first ever Bob Kewley Music Award, which was set up in his memory. I went on to learn various instruments and won the Wharfedale Music Festival playing Scarlatti compositions on treble and sopranino recorders in a sextet.

Yes – The Revealing Of The Science Of God

This was the first thing to really excite my interest in prog rock and make me want to play Hammond organ, Mellotron and Mini Moog, all of which I’ve had the pleasure of owning later in life. This led to a love of various other bands like King Crimson, The Nice and ELP, plus on learning of those prog musicians’ own influences I discovered Crosby Stills & Nash, Hendrix and all sorts of other great stuff.

Bob Dylan – It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) I had few friends at school, but I’m grateful to one boy who introduced me to Dylan. I’d never really paid much attention to lyrics before, and even though I didn’t really understand what Bob was on about, I was fascinated by his poetry.

Bert Jansch – Needle of Death A rather depressing subject but a lovely song.

While at university in Newcastle I met a Geordie musician who became a pal and taught me how to play a simplified version of this song on guitar, which I still do when nobody’s listening. My discovery of much folk and blues followed. I once sat so close to Bert when he played the 12 Bar in Denmark Street, London, that our pints got mixed up. He obligingly played my request and made my day.

Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb Possibly the best live gig I ever saw was an outdoor Floyd concert in Chantilly, France in the 90s. This, Ravi Shankar live in Nottingham, and Bath Camerata singing Schnittke Psalms in Prior Park Chapel are some of the most transporting live musical experiences I’ve ever experienced.

Al Bowlly – The Very Thought Of You I couldn’t put a chart together without a mention of my 2,000 strong 78rpm collection, with which I DJ using gramophones under my pseudonym The Wind-up Merchant. There’s something very special about listening to a 78 which cannot be reproduced digitally. I always keep to hand Belle Marguerite, which I use when summoned by that doyenne of Bath culture, Lady Margaret, to act as her old-school portable sound system during her public appearances. n Bath Comedy Festival 2017 runs from Saturday 1 to Monday 17 April. Visit: bathcomedy.com.

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CARRYING CHRISTIE’S LEGACY

Georgette McCready talks to best-selling crime writer Sophie Hannah about what it’s like to take on Agatha Christie’s Poirot, the rules of mystery writing and why you shouldn’t make the reader throw a book across a room

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sually when you ask an actor or writer if they know Bath they offer some tale of a shopping trip or admiring the city’s architecture, but for best-selling crime writer Sophie Hannah Bath brings back memories of the happiest moments of her writing career.

“I was on the way to do some writing workshops,” she recalls, “when the call came that my first novel, Little Face, had finally been accepted for publication. I’d been down a long path of suffering to get to this stage. I’d spent two or three years re-writing, it turned out my agent didn’t like the book, so I had to find a new agent. So when they rang to say Hodder & Stoughton were taking the book and offering me a two book deal I can honestly say it was the happiest day of my entire literary career.

“I spent my time in Bath swanning round tea rooms in a delightful mood.”

Let’s hope she will feel equally happy on her return to Bath as a guest of The Bath Festival in May, when she’s coming to talk about her successful writing career, which began as a poet and has taken her to the top of The Sunday Times bestselling charts.

Her first published novel Little Face saw the start in a series of contemporary crime thrillers featuring the detectives Simon Waterhouse and his partner Charlie Zailer. They have featured in ten of the Culver Valley series since.

Is Sophie, in the tradition of other women crime writers (Dorothy L Sayers with her creation Lord Peter Wimsey springs to mind), a little bit in love with her fictional detective Simon, I ask?

“Well he’s been with me since 2006 so I don’t know that I am in love with him, but I certainly love him. I have a great fondness for him and Charlie, and indeed all my main characters. I even have affection for the ghastly Detective Inspector Proust.”

We turn to talk about another fictional detective, Agatha Christie’s great Belgian master of mystery solving, Hercule Poirot. Sophie was 26 TheBATHMagazine

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approached by the Agatha Christie estate, which includes Christie family members, and invited to write what is known as a continuation novel in the Christie tradition.

How did she win this prestigious role? “It was a weird coincidence. The Agatha Christie estate decided it wanted a writer to create a new Poirot or Miss Marple story. A literary agent was having a meeting with Harper Collins and it came out that I was a huge Christie fan. So a meeting was arranged, we all got on very well, but I said to them, just because we have got on so well doesn’t mean you have to pick me. You could go for someone more eminent, like PD James?

“But Matthew Pritchard said that his grandmother, Agatha was a great believer in fate and so it came about. I then came up with an idea for a plot and it seemed quite showy, so I

thought Hercule Poirot is quite a show-off so it would suit him better.”

And so The Monogram Murders was published. And that was so well received that Sophie plotted a second tale for Poirot, set in 1929. Close Casket sets up a cracking premise for a murder. A remote country house, with an enigmatic powerful hostess who’s just cut her children out of her will, a cast of assorted eccentric guests and, of course, the presence of the fastidious and acutely observational detective Poirot.

The reader is taken on a satisfyingly twisting turning journey. Is writing in the Christie style so very different from her own contemporary thrillers?

Sophie doesn’t think so. Having been a Christie fan since she was a young teenager she says her method of setting up an intriguing, baffling, almost surreal mystery at the start of

CAREFUL PLOTTING: main picture, British crime writer Sophie Hannah, author of Poirot novels The Monogram Murders and Close Casket

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ALIENS, A CAPELLA AND BRAHMS IN THE LINE-UP

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he Bath Festival – combining the best of music and literature – runs from Friday 19 to 28 May. The fun will kick off with the free Party in the City evening, featuring live music in Queen Square, up to the Circus and at the Assembly Rooms. Tickets for the first ten events went on sale before Christmas, with, at the time of writing, US vocal group Naturally 7 heading the race at the box office. l Wednesday 24 May ,4.30pm: Jim Al-Khalili Can we really be alone in the universe? And if not, what are our cosmic companions like?

In the book Aliens physicist Jim Al-Khalili marshals some of science’s finest minds, including Martin Rees, Ian Stewart and Adam Rutherford, to take us on a tour to the edges of our knowledge. Tickets: £10 (£9 concessions). l Thursday 25 May, 6pm: Steven Isserlis and Simon Callow Cellist Steven Isserlis discusses his new commentary on Robert Schumann’s Advice to Young Musicians with actor and Schumann superfan Simon Callow. Tickets: £10 (£9). l Friday 26 May, 7pm: The Good Immigrant In this anthology, hailed as important and timely by JK Rowling and just crowned Britain’s favourite book of 2016, 21 writers of colour explore life in today’s Britain. Join the debate with readings and discussion from Coco Khan, Chimene Suleyman and Darren Chetty, and music from DJ Tone. Tickets: £12 (£10). l Friday 26 May, 7.30pm: Philharmonia Orchestra Brahms Piano Concerto No 1 in D Minor and Beethoven Symphony No 7 in A Conductor Herbert Blomstedt is one of the

POPULAR: New York singing stars Naturally 7

great musicians of our age. With the Philharmonia Orchestra and brilliant pianist Martin Helmchen this concert offers great performances of two timeless masterpieces.

Tickets: £12 to £36. l Saturday 27 May, 7.30pm: Madeleine Peyroux and support American jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux’s latest album Secular Hymns brings emotional depth to lyrics ranging from Tom Waits to Jacques Brel and Allen Toussaint to Jobim. Tickets: £10 to £45. l Saturday 27 May, 4pm: Colm Toibin Award-winning author of Brooklyn talks to artistic director Alex Clark about his new novel. House of Names recreates the story of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra – a tale of violence, betrayal and revenge. Tickets: £10 (£9). l Sunday 28 May, 8pm: Naturally 7 New York a cappella band Naturally 7 (who’ve opened for Diana Ross and Michael Bublé, among others) build on their gospel

EMOTIONAL DEPTH: American singer Madeleine Peyroux

roots with scratching, drums, guitar and more produced with the human voice. Brian Eno has hailed them as ‘one of the must-see performances of all time’. Tickets: £20.

The programme of more than 140 events will be announced and go on sale shortly.

How to book: in person at Bath Box Office, 10.30am to 5pm, by phone on 01225 463362 or at: thebathfestival.org.uk. n

‘Bath brings back happiest memories of my writing career’ the book, which has the reader wondering how this might have come about, is directly informed by Christie and runs through the Culver Valley books. The classic premise is that of the body found in a locked room – the reader is immediately curious about how and why this scenario might have come about.

“There are rules to mystery writing,” Sophie says, having admitted to throwing a book across a room recently after the author ‘practically introduced aliens to solve the mystery’. “You have to play fair with the reader. If the detective can solve the mystery, and he or she will by the end, then it mustn’t be beyond the bounds for the readers to solve it too. But if the reader fails to solve it the detective is there to explain how it all works out.”

What advice does Sophie have for emerging writers? She says it helps to be determined and to be able to weed out what’s helpful advice and what’s not. “If someone says you need to re-write, you may well need to re-write. Be prepared, but also try and develop an inner editor. I tend to know my strengths and weaknesses now, but I didn’t at the start.”

She is currently working on a stand alone thriller set in Arizona, but with a British female lead. “I wanted it to be a Simon and Charlie story but it was going to be too convoluted to get them out there. They’d have had to have gone there on holiday, and Simon’s too much of a homebody and he’s scared of flying, so that wasn’t going to work.”

That Arizona story Did You See Melody? is due out this year and Sophie is now planning her writing projects for 2018, which include writing more crime novels.

After being a poet for more than a decade, followed by runaway success for her thrillers – making The Sunday Times bestselling charts for several titles – Sophie is an engaging and insightful writer and speaker.

Sophie Hannah will be at The Bath Festival on Sunday 28 May, from12.45pm at the Assembly Room, tickets: £10 / £9. n

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WHAT’S ON in January IN THE LAUNDRY: Nick Wilton as pantomime dame Widow Twankey with Jone Monie as Wishee Washee at the Theatre Royal. PICTURE: Anna Barclay

EVENTS ARE LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER ALADDIN Until Sunday 8 January, times vary n Theatre Royal, Saw Close, Bath Fun, music and laughter with the Theatre Royal’s annual professional pantomime. This year it’s Aladdin, featuring home-grown funnyman Jon Monie as Wishee Washee and ex Corrie and Emmerdale star Bill Ward as baddie Abanazar. Tickets, tel: 01225 448844 or online: theatreroyal.org.uk.

EDITOR’S PICK BRADFORD ROOTS MUSIC FESTIVAL Saturday 14, 11am – 10pm, Sunday 15 January, 11am – 4pm n Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire Bradford Roots Music Festival, features more than 40 musical acts, workshops, dance, poetry and family fun. Festival food by Hartley Farm Shop and Kitchen, who will be setting up a marquee with Big Green Egg barbecues and Box Steam Brewery. Saturday’s headliner is Rodney Branigan, Texan-born singer and multi-instrumentalist. There’ll be open mic sessions, a blues singing workshop and dancing led by ceilidh band Dance Bazaar. Proceeds in support of Wiltshire Music Centre, Zone Club for learning disabled young adults and Wiltshire Young Carers. Weekend pass £20 (£22 on the day) / £14 under-18s, Saturday pass £15 (£17 on the day) / £9 under18s, Sunday pass £10 (£12 on the day) / £6 under-18s. Free to under-12s. Visit: wiltshiremusic.org.uk, tel: 01225 860 100.

Crimes Against Christmas at the Ustinov

Buddy Holly tribute at the Chapel Arts Centre Felicity Montagu and Matthew Kelly as the Bennets in P&P at the Theatre Royal

Also at the Theatre Royal this month THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG Tuesday 10 – Sunday 15 January, times vary Anyone who’s ever been in an am dram production will recognise some of the calamaties encountered by the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society when they put on a murder mystery. And anyone who’s ever tried to put on a play will appreciate how brilliant – as well as funny – the cast are to choreograph all those blunders with perfect timing. It was a hit in the West End, get tickets if you can.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Tuesday 17 – Saturday 21 January, times vary The Regent’s Park Theatre Company brings its version of Jane Austen’s story to Bath following a sell-out run in London. Starring Matthew Kelly and Felicity Montagu as Mr and Mrs Bennet.

CRIMES AGAINST CHRISTMAS Tuesday 3 – Saturday 7 January, 8pm, Saturday matinee 5pm n Ustinov, Saw Close, Bath Agatha Christie meets the 12 Days of Christmas, meets The 39 Steps in this fast-paced comedy thriller from New Old Friends theatre company featuring husband and wife team Feargus Wood Dunlop and Heather Westwell. Tickets: £14 / £10 from, tel: 01225 448844 or online: theatreroyal.org.uk.

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816: THE YEAR WITH NO SUMMER Until end of January, Monday to Saturday, 10am – 4pm n Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, Queen Square, Bath The eruption of a volcano in Indonesia 200 years ago caused vast quantities of ash to accumulate in the atmosphere, which triggered a catastrophic change in weather patterns, resulting in the year with no summer. Crops failed and famine and distress spread. Meteorologist Luke Howard, documented the weather in The Climate of London, which along with others from the BRLSI library, are on show.

Admission is free.

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Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution Forthcoming events: JANE AUSTEN & MARRIAGE

Tickets / Bath Box Office 22nd January

The perennial appeal of children’s book illustrations

WINTER HOUSE TOURS Saturdays in January from 7 January, six tours daily from 10.30am n No1 Royal Crescent museum, Bath Join a tour to discover some housekeeping secrets while the museum is closed for winter. Compare winter housekeeping nowadays with how Georgian houses were cleaned 240 years ago.

Small parties of up to 15 will be led round No 1 by guides who will explain some of the conservation work being carried out. Places are £10 each, tel: 01225 428126 or email: krogers@bptrust.org.uk.

CHILDREN’S BOOK ILUSTRATIONS Monday 9 January, 7.15pm n BRLSI, Queen Square, Bath Images of characters such as Tigger and Toad in children’s literature retain an affectionate place in our hearts, even as we become adults.

Lecturer John Ericson will speak to the Bath Evening Decorative and Fine Arts Society on this fascinating topic. Pre-booked visitors £8, students free. Tel: 01225 742989 or 01225 742819, visit: bedfas.co.uk.

EUROPEAN GEOPOLITICS

THE YEAR WITH NO SUMMER

Tickets / Bath Box Office 24th January

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES AT BATH QUAYS 25th January

A FREE EXHIBITION

AT BATH ROYAL LITERARY & SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION

New Business and Economics Series:

THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY PROSPECTS & CHALLENGES Dr Ben Davies 10th January

WHY ECONOMICS MUST CHANGE – A POETIC APPROACH Dr Sebastian Berger 14th February

www.brlsi.org 16 – 18 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN 01225 312 084

WARREN MILLER SKI FILM TOUR Tuesday 10 January, 7.30pm n Komedia, Westgate Street, Bath Ignite your excitement for this season’s winter sports with the annual Warren Miller Film Tour. In its 67th year, this year’s Here There and Everywhere tour goes on a breathtaking cinematic journey across the globe. Experience the steep, the deep and the unthinkable on the big screen. Tickets: £12 / £10.50 from: komedia.co.uk/bath or tel: 0845 293 8480.

Also at Komedia this month EXPLORE MINDFULNESS WITH RUBY WAX Saturday 14 January, 11am n Komedia, Westgate Street, Bath Topping & Co bookshop has organised a morning with Ruby Wax, here to talk about her latest book, Mindfulness for the Frazzled.

Ruby’s definition of mindfulness isn’t about sitting on a hillock, legs in a knot, humming a mantra it’s something that can help us all.

Tickets: £7 in advance, includes £7 against the price of the book, from the bookshop in the Paragon or tel: 01225 428111.

FROM THE JAM Friday 27 January, 7pm From The Jam, featuring former Jam bassist Bruce Foxton, singer and guitarist Russell Hastings, and drummer Mike Randon return to Bath as part of a 40th anniversary tour. Tickets: £20.

DICK WHITTINGTON Wednesday 11 – Sunday 14 January, 7.30pm (Saturday, Sunday, 2.30pm) n The Rondo theatre, St Saviour’s Road, Larkhall A traditional family panto, written by Gill Morrell, with songs, dance, slapstick, spectacle, villainy, romance, undersea puppetry and a spectacular storm. Follow the adventures of Dick and his cat Tiddles. Tickets £12 / £10 / £6 under 12s from: ticketsource/rondotheatre or tel: 0333 666 3366.

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WHAT’S | ON ADULT ORIGAMI: YEAR OF THE ROOSTER Thursday 12 January, 6pm – 7.30pm n The Museum of East Asian Art, Bennett Street, Bath Celebrate the Chinese new Year of the Rooster with an origami workshop for adults. Make beautiful origami roosters and phoenixes decorations. Workshop includes Asian tea tasting. Places are limited to ten people, £6 a head or £3 for students and friends of the museum. Tel: 01225 464640.

Origami workshops at the Museum of East Asian Art

Habeas Corpus at the Mission Theatre

A Bob Dylan tribute at Chapel Arts Centre

Activities, talks and music at the Holburne Museum

HABEAS CORPUS Tuesday 17 – Saturday 21 January, 7.30pm n The Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney Street, Bath Next Stage Theatre Company presents Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus, set in the late 1960s. It has all the ingredients of a classic but surreal farce, spiced with the warmth and humanity of Bennett’s razor-sharp wit. Tickets: £12 (£10 concs), visit: missiontheatre.co.uk, tel: 01225 428600, or email nextstagebath@aol.com or Bath Box Office, tel: 01225 463362.

Also at the Mission this month I’M SORRY, I HAVEN’T A MINUTE Wednesday 25 January, 7.30pm Scary Little Girls make their debut with the bonkers Sorry I Haven’t a Minute! cabaret radio show. Audiences are invited to join the team of This Evening, a radio magazine show with hosts Summer Hill and Charlie Bray. Have this husband and wife duo got what it takes it takes to climb follow in the footsteps of their heroes, Richard and Judy, or will Mid East Midlands Digital Magic FM be as far as they go? Tickets £10 (£8 concs), Bath Box Office, tel: 01225 463362.

TEATIME TALK: THE MOUTH OF TRUTH Wednesday 18 January, 3pm – 4pm n The Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney Street, Bath Amina Wright, senior curator at the Holburne, is to give a talk centred on an 18th century Italian baroque painting, Bocca della Verita by Michele Rocca from the museum’s collection. She has fascinating tales to tell about the messages that lie in this restored work of art. Tickets: £7, to reserve a place tel: 01225 388588 or book online: holburne.org.

Also at the Holburne this month YOUNG PERSON’S WORKSHOP: SILVERSMITHING Saturday 28 January, 10am – 1pm This is a fantastic opportunity for 11 to 18-year-olds to gain handson experience of working with silver under the expert tutilage of Bristol contemporary jeweller Emily Gliddon. Ideal for a young person who loves the idea of making their own jewellery or designing for others. There are just eight places on the workhop, £20 a head, to include materials. Booking essential.

CONCERT: WINTERREISE, FRANZ SCHUBERT Saturday 28 January, 7pm Lyric barotone Richard Frewer, who has performed throughout the UK, in Europe and Hong Kong, will be accompanied by David Price, former conductor of the Bath Symphony, on the Schantz fortepiano.

Winter Journey is a song cycle by Franz Schubert, telling the story of a rejected lover and the winter of the soul. Each piece will be prefaced with a spoken introduction. Tickets: £12.

A HISTORY OF FASHION IN 100 OBJECTS Daily until January 2019 n The Fashion Museum, the Assembly Rooms, Bath A display of 100 items from the museum’s collection. One of the earliest garments is an embroidered waistcoat from the time of Shakespeare. The exhibition also includes a jacket by Paris couturier Lucien Lelong, worn by Vivien Leigh in 1948. Tickets: £8.75 / £7.75, £6.75 children. Free with Discovery Card or Art Pass.

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CHRISTIAN GARRICK AND THE BUDAPEST CAFE ORCHESTRA Saturday 21 January, 7.30pm n Wiltshire Music Centre, Ashley Road, Bradford on Avon Warm up a winter’s evening with some fiery Russian and Eastern Europea folk music. The Budapest Cafe Orchestra have won legions of fans through captivating, lively performances. Tickets: £16 / £8 under 18s.

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Robinson Stone present a tribute to Clifford T Ward at Chapel Arts Centre Visit: wiltshiremusic.org.uk or tel: 01225 860100.

Also at Wiltshire Music Centre this month MEN WITH HORNS Sunday 22 January, 4pm A musical programme linking Bohemia with it capital city Prague.

Highlights include Mozart’s aria and duet from Don Giovanni and Dvorak’s Song to the Moon from the Bouquet of Slavonic Folks Songs.

Tickets: £15 / £5 under 18s.

LIVE STREAMING: MATTHEW BOURNE’S SWAN LAKE Sunday 28 January, 7.30pm No matter how big your television screen it can’t compare with the impact of watching Matthew Bourne’s ground-breaking production of Swan Lake featuring a staggeringly beautiful all-male cast of muscular swans. Enjoy this treat on the big screen at the music centre, which is fitted with a superb sound system too. Tickets: £15 / £3 under 18s.

PETE AVES AND THE MANUALS Friday 13 January, 8pm n Chapel Arts Centre, Lower Borough Walls, Bath Singer-songerwiter Pete Aves released his sixth album in 2016 and his style has been favourably compared to Richard Thomspson (although he doesn’t wear a beret.) He’s supported by his band The Manuals.

Tickets: £8 (£10 on the door). Bookings: chapelarts.org or tel 01225 461700.

Also at Chapel Arts this month THE BOB DYLAN STORY Saturday 14 January, 8pm A backing band helps accurately reproduce some of Mr Zimmerman’s greatest hits in an evening of musical nostalgia that’ll have you scampering off afterwards to dig out your vinyl collection.

Tickets: £15.

I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S NOT BUDDY Saturday 21 January, 8pm The youthful exuberance and energy of the young Buddy Holly and the Crickets, as they were in 1958, is faithfully reproduced through all the hits, including Oh Boy, Heartbeat and Peggy Sue. Tickets: £15 (£17 on the door.)

ROBINSON-STONE PRESENT THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF CLIFFORD T WARD Saturday 28 January, 8pm The life of gentle Worcestershire born singer-songwriter Clifford T Ward was cut cruelly short after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, dying at just 57. These young musicians lovingly create an evening celebrating his life and music, relieving songs including Home Thoughts From Abroad. Tickets: £12 ( £15 on the door.)

THE MUSIC OF YUSUF/CAT STEVENS Friday 27 January, 8pm n The Rondo theatre, St Saviour’s Road, Larkhall Singer Keith James pays tribute to the life and music of the thoughtful singer-songwriter. In this event Keith weaves the story of Cat Stevens’ life from his early pop career, life threatening illness and spiritual journey around a performance of his songs. Proceeds will go to the charity UNICEF’s Syrian Children’s Appeal. Tickets from £12 from: rondotheatre.co.uk.

POETRY ON THE PARAGON Saturday 28 January, 11.10am n Christ Church, Julian Road, Bath Independent bookshop Topping & Co is hosting this event to

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celebrate one of England’s greatest contemporary poets’ 80th birthday. John Fuller will be reading from his new collection The Bone Flowers. Tickets from £6, to include book token, from the bookshop on the Paragon or tel: 01225 4281111.

PLANNING AHEAD . . .

A HANDFUL OF SINGERS Saturday 4 February, 7.30pm n St John the Evangelist, South Parade, Bath ‘Laudamus!’ is something of a celebration. Accompanied by the period-instrument chamber orchestra Quorum, complete with natural trumpets and drums, celebration is the common theme of the three Te Deum settings by Handel, Charpentier and Haydn. Whether commissioned by the wife of the Holy Roman Emperor, Empress Marie Thérèse (Haydn), written to celebrate the Anglo/Austrian victory at Dettingen (Handel), or with an opening Rondeau, also the theme tune of the European Broadcasting Union and frequently played at victory celebrations (Charpentier), they provide a joyful, exciting programme. Handel’s anthem for the coronation of King George II, Zadok the Priest, gets the party started. A highly acclaimed choir of 24, A Handful of Singers, pictured, is directed by awardwinning conductor Christopher Finch. Quorum, an elite period-instrument ensemble, based in the southwest, is led by Alison Townley. Tickets: £15, £5 under 25s, Bath Box Office, tel: 01225 463362, or visit: bathboxoffice.org.uk, tel: 07885 509813, or from: ahandfulofsingers.org.

JENNY ECLAIR Saturday 18 February, 8pm n The Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon Following a sell-out tour, How to be a Middle Aged Woman (Without Going Insane), the professional grumpy old woman, Splash survivor and novice knitter Jenny Eclair extends her hit tour. Semi-bearded and suffering from outbreaks of gout and hysteria, Eclair puts middle age under the microscope. You are welcome to join her, just button your cardi up properly and wipe that lipstick off your teeth. Tickets: £17.50, tel: 01225 860100.

BEATRICE AND BENEDICT Thursday 16 – Saturday 18 February, 7.30pm n The Wroughton Theatre, King Edward’s School, North Road, Bath Bath Opera opens 2017 with a colourful, witty production of Beatrice and Benedict by Hector Berlioz. This zesty, comic opera is Berlioz’s take on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in which two soldiers return home to Sicily from the wars. Claudio is welcomed by his girlfriend Hero, but his friend Benedict finds his war is not over and it takes several sharp-tongued skirmishes with Beatrice before they are tricked into admitting their love for each other. This production with full orchestra and chorus is created by the same team whose production of Peter Grimes in 2015 won three NODA awards. Julia O’Connor sings the role of Beatrice; Benedict is sung by Rupert Drury. Music direction is by Peter Blackwood and design and stage direction by Neil Kirkman.

Tickets: £25 Friday and Saturday; £20 Thursday, £10 students. On Friday 17 at 6.30pm there will be a free pre-show talk by the director and music director. Tickets from Bath Opera, tel: 01935 475219 or Bath Box Office, tel: 01225 463362. n

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7.30pm Feb 16, 17, 18 2017 The Wroughton Theatre, King Edward’s School, North Rd, Bath BA2 6HU Bath Festivals Box Office – 01225 463362 Bath Opera Ticket Hotline – 01935 475219 Online – www.bathfestivals.org.uk

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The Titan XXL The Titan pendant by British lighting company Original BTC is now available in extra large.

Bath Decorative and Fine Arts Society Bath Afternoon DFAS

2017 Lecture Programme

1.30pm at the Guildhall High Street Bath

Monday 9th January – Four Female Artists

Monday 6th February – Legends of Czech Glass – Mark Hill

Monday 13th March – The Birth of the Silver Screen

LIGHTING SPECIALIST 8 BATH STREET, FROME. TEL: 01 373473555 WWW.FIATLUX.CO.UK TUESDAY – FRIDAY 9.30AM – 5.30PM, SATURDAY 9.30AM – 5.00PM

Visitors welcome £8 at the door (no booking required) www.bathdfas.com

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ART | EXHIBITIONS

A FRESH VIEW FOR A NEW YEAR The city’s galleries and museums begin 2017 with an exciting selection of new and old work

ART AT THE HEART OF THE RUH Main corridor gallery, Royal United Hospital, Bath Open: Monday to Sunday, 8am – 8pm daily HILARY PAYNTER: AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT Thursday 19 January – 28 April A new body of wood engraving by Hilary Paynter commissioned by Devon Guild of Craftsmen, on the subject of ageing inspired by interaction and workshops run through Daisi with people from different generations. The exhibition also features work by printmaker, film-maker and photographer Leonie Bradley. This project has been funded by The Baring Foundation and Arts Council England.

Mad Dog by Hilary Paynter

REVISITING THE MASTERS: Djordje Ozbolt puts a fresh spin on a traditional painting of master and dog at the Holburne

THE HOLBURNE MUSEUM

GALLERY NINE 9b Margarets Buildings, Bath Tel: 01225 319197 Visit: gallerynine.co.uk Open: Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 5.30pm SAMUEL WATERHOUSE: JEWELLERY Throughout January Gallery Nine is featuring new work from Samuel Waterhouse a self taught jeweller from Northumberland, now based in London. He aims to create simple yet contemporary jewellery with original inspiration from antiquity. He attempts to retain a simplicity in all his pieces in order that the beauty of the jewellery can stem mainly from the surface and colour of the material used.

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Great Pulteney Street, Bath Tel: 01225 388569 Open: Daily, 10am – 5pm (11am Sundays) DJORDJE OZBOLT: THE GRAND DETOUR Until Sunday 5 March Playful, curious and highly skilled – this is an exhibition for all ages to enjoy. The contemporary Serbian artist based in London has fun interpreting the Holburne’s collection. Children will particularly enjoy running around the rings of gnomes on the museum’s lawns.

SILVER: LIGHT AND SHADE Until 22 January Enjoy outstanding silver of historic and artistic importance and view these pieces

Silver cuff by Suzie Horan

alongside the work of skilled contemporary makers. Admission to the Holburne is free while to see the exhibition, tickets are £10 / £9, two for £10 on Tuesdays under 16s free.

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ART | EXHIBITIONS

NICK CUDWORTH GALLERY London Street, top of Walcot Street, Bath. Closed on Mondays.

Tel: 01225 445221 Visit: nickcudworth.com

Collectors have been enjoying the fair since 1989

BATH DECORATIVE ANTIQUES FAIR

FIRST LIGHT Tuesday 3 – 31 January A series of paintings and prints capturing the first slivers of light at dawn as the rising sun catches the edges of buildings enhancing the shadows. Weather permitting, Nick Cudworth often rises early on a Sunday morning to walk the streets as the quiet city awakens to the sunlight streaming down upon the slowly filling streets. This activity has been the inspiration for several paintings over the years.

First Light on the Circus by Nick Cudworth

The Pavilion, North Parade Road, Bath Friday 3 – Sunday 5 March, 10am – 5pm

Make a date for your diary as the annual fair prepares for its 28th year in Bath.

More than 45 dealers offer a range of unusual pieces, from furniture and decorative household items to original art and ceramic, and dating from the 18th to the 20th century. Apply for free tickets from: bathdecorativeantiquesfair.co.uk.

THE EDGE University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath Open Tuesday to Thursday, 11am – 8pm, Friday and Saturday, 11am – 5pm, closed Sunday, Monday, free admission.

Tel: 01225 386777 Visit: edgearts.org.uk EXPRESSIONS OF RESEARCH Wednesday 18 – Wednesday 25 January This show is a result of collaboration between Fringe Arts Bath, the University of Bath’s public engagement unit and Edge Arts with the support of the university’s 50th anniversary fund. Five artists have each been collaborating with a research centre at the university, from exploring mechanical machines for making music to adapting the mathematics of chaos theory to understand art and creativity. Their outcomes present fascinating, inspiring and educational works.

VICTORIA ART GALLERY

By Pulteney Bridge Open Daily, 10.30am – 5pm Tel: 01225 477233 Visit: victoriagal.org.uk PETER BROWN: A BATH PAINTER’S TRAVELS Until 19 February This exhibition features over 100 new oil paintings and drawings by Bath-based artist Peter Brown, popularly known as 'Pete the Street' for his habit of painting outdoors in all weathers.

The exhibits, all to be captured in a new book, include scenes of well-loved Bath locations displayed side by side with views of Arles, Dublin, Granada, London, Seville and other cities. In all cases the artist uses the street as his studio and depicts the bustling life he encounters at different times of day and different seasons. Enjoy the audio tour of the show, which is just like having the

Sun After Rain, Lansdown Crescent by Peter Brown

artist chatting beside you.

Also, last summer Pete spent time at Glastonbury Festival – his first visit, and he says, not his last – where he enjoyed capturing the magic of the music, sun, rain

and revellers in the mud.

There will be a talk and book signing by Peter Brown on Saturday 28 January, from 11.30am at the gallery.

Free to Discovery Card and ticket holders.

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ART | EXHIBITIONS

Moon River by Emma Rose

EMMA ROSE Upstairs at 78 Walcot Street, Bath, Mon – Sat, 10am – 5pm Tel: 07885235915 or 01225 424 424 Visit: emmaroseartworks.com Standing Figure by Melissa Kiernan

BATH CONTEMPORARY

JANUARY SHOW AND SALE During January Brush away the January blues and enjoy

Emma Rose’s colourful and vibrant paintings, limited edition prints and canvas prints in her first floor gallery. Landscapes and sea scenes brim with burnished gold, rich purples and turquoises. Emma is an awardwinning Bath artist, recently shortlisted for the LaBelle Abstract Prize invites you to see her arresting new work and while enjoying a number of pieces on sale.

35 Gay Street, Bath Email: gallery@bathcontemporary.com Visit: bathcontemporary.com Twitter: @BathContemp Tel: 01225 461230 Open: Monday to Saturday, 10am – 5pm WINTER SHOW Until 28 January A selection of affordable work, including colourful, cosy scenes from printmaker Frans Wesselman RE and delicate little porcelain bowls with rich glazes from Peter Wills. Also new paintings from Corinna Button, Moira Huntly and Norma Stephenson, as well as miniature etchings by Peter Ford and ceramics from Melissa Kiernan, Albert Montserrat and Mick Morgan, and introducing ceramicist Neill Curran.

A Spring Path on Lewesdon Hill, West Dorset by KIt Glaisyer

KIT GLAISYER Great Pulteney Street studio For an appointment email: kitglaisyer@gmail.com or tel: 07983 465789. To view portfolio visit: kitglaisyer.com BATH RESIDENCY Artist Kit Glaisyer has opened a new studio on Great Pulteney Street, Bath which is open to view by appointment. There will also be regular private view events over the coming months.

In recent years Kit has gained a reputation as one of the leading landscape painters in the UK, bringing a fresh, contemporary twist to the romantic landscape tradition with his cinematic landscape series of paintings which offer a unique vision of the English countryside.

Growing up in North Dorset, Kit started plein air oil painting in the surrounding countryside alongside his father. He then

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went to art college at Bournemouth and Farnham, before moving to London, where he established himself as an abstract painter.

In 1998 he returned to Dorset, and since then he has lived in Bridport on the Jurassic Coast, where he has been a driving force behind the thriving Bridport art scene and director of the annual August Open Studios event.

In 2012 Kit exhibited in Bath’s Holburne Museum Portrait Prize, followed in 2013 by a successful retrospective exhibition at the Octagon Gallery in Milsom Place.

Now in demand for both commissioned paintings and his more experimental ideas, Kit still works for several months on each piece, combining traditional and contemporary oil painting techniques, with subtle narratives drawn from literature and cinema, creating an evocative series of panoramic views that capture nature at her most theatrical and sublime.

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nick cudworth gallery

Show Stoppers by Alexandra Grashion-Cowley, 38” x 56”, Oil on Canvas, £1100

Memb

First Light – Mineral Hospital – Limited Edition Print on Paper and Canvas

er Galle

The Art Gallery home of ArtGallery.co.uk

ry

Spencer House, 34 Long Street, Tetbury, Gloucestershire GL8 8AQ Tues-Sat. 9.30-5pm. Tel: 01666 505152 help@artgallery.co.uk artgallery.co.uk

art_gallery_uk

First Light 3 – 31 January A series of paintings and prints capturing the first slivers of light at dawn as the rising sun catches the edges of buildings in the city

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

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CITY | ARCHITECTURE

ON THE WISHLIST: above, the former King Edward’s School in Broad Street (NB the school no longer owns the building); left a Bath in Time image of the Corn Market and car park as it used to look, and below, as it looks today, its side shored up for decades by scaffolding Opposite page, scarcely noticed by most people is Ralph Allen’s townhouse – if you want to see it try standing outside Beaux Arts gallery in York Street, image: bathintime.co.uk

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CITY | ARCHITECTURE

SIX OF THE BEST: RIPE FOR RESTORATION Historian Catherine Pitt takes a stroll round six of her favourite historic buildings in Bath that she’d like to see either restored or opened to visitors

T

Walk in front. Although now hemmed in, it would be wonderful to be able to explore or at least view this beautiful building once more.

he beginning of a new year is a time of re-birth, transformations, and resolutions. It would be nice to see 2017 as the year that perhaps will see the rejuvenation of some places in Bath that really need a good dose of TLC. We walk past them every day, sometimes without even taking a second glance. These places and buildings are part of the city’s great tapestry of history yet lie undiscovered and inaccessible for most. As Cleveland Pools, the UK’s only surviving Georgian lido, moves ever further forward in its restoration project, we look at some other locations in Bath in need an injection of investment and rehabilitation.

KING EDWARD’S SCHOOL, BROAD STREET

BOG ISLAND This triangular oddity along the front of Terrace Walk was once the site of the Lower Assembly Rooms, and later the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute (1825 to 1932). The building was demolished for the road development linking the Orange Grove with Pierrepont Street, and the site was excavated to create public lavatories. In an era when not all homes had toilets, or certainly rarely indoor facilities, Bathonians could spend their hard earned penny (yes, younger readers, that’s where THAT expression comes from) here at what became infamously known as “Bog Island”.

Today the gates are chained and the access down the steps is blocked, but apparently these public loos were extremely elaborate, with coloured tiles, vast skylights, and plentiful porcelain and brass fixtures. When they closed in the late 1970s the site was purchased by three ex-Bath Rugby players – Bill Lye, Roger Spurrell, and Pete Heindorff, who set up a company called Island Club Entertainments.

This underground nightclub became a popular haunt in the 1980s and early 1990s as it was one of the few places to hold a late licence, unlike most pubs during this period.

It was renowned for being quite dingy, with condensation formed from the heaving bodies gyrating on the dancefloor, dripping on to the clubbers from the ceiling, yet it is remembered with fondness by many Bathonians as the place they met their future partners.

RALPH ALLEN’S TOWNHOUSE Hidden from public view behind a locked iron gate, and unnoticed by many, the building known as Ralph Allen’s townhouse is a Grade I listed architectural gem. You’ve

probably walked past it many a time but without even knowing it is there.

Unless you press your face to the gate along York Street and crane your neck to take a look, or dine at Acorn Vegetarian Kitchen on North Parade Passage at a table that looks out onto the courtyard, you wouldn’t know the building exists.

Apparently an extremely early work by John Wood the Elder, this property was leased in 1719 by Ralph Allen, the entrepreneur who developed the English postal system and supplied from the quarries he owned the beautiful honey coloured stone out of which most of Bath was built.

It is thought Allen lived here for a short period of time before moving to Prior Park in 1745. This building then became his offices where he administered the postal system for England and Wales.

It has been said that Allen built Sham Castle upon Claverton Down opposite so that he could have a direct view of this pleasing feature from his home. Today, however, this direct view is obscured by the buildings that have developed on Terrace

A sad sight whenever walking up Broad Street, this magnificent Thomas Jelly designed building has been left desolate since 1986 when King Edward’s School moved to its current site on North Road.

In 1552 King Edward VI granted a charter for a school in his name after the loss of Bath’s monastic school after the Dissolution of the Monasteries by his father (King Henry VIII’s) orders. Originally the school was sited in Frog Lane (now New Bond Street), then it moved to the nave of the disused St Mary’s Church by the North Gate. In 1754 it was agreed to build a new school, with a playground and dormitories, on the site of the Black Swan public house which opened in 1756.

Renowned for academic excellence, old boys of the school include the writer Thomas de Quincey, a friend of poets Coleridge and Wordsworth. In the 1950s the governors were given permission to demolish the school; however it was decided to house the Junior School here instead. By the 1980s the building was bursting at the seams.

Once the school had shut the site was bought in 1989 by Samuel Smith’s Brewery which proposed in 2013 to turn it into a pub and hotel. However plans have faltered. Still it sits in quiet majesty awaiting its fate.

THE CORN MARKET AND CATTLE MARKET Another building that has been left derelict in the city but this time in much poorer shape than King Edward’s School around the corner. The Corn Market building and surrounding Cattle Market area on Walcot Street are examples of the last vestiges of Bath’s Victorian working past. As such they remain on the 2010 – 2011 Save Britain’s Heritage at Risk list. Bath’s Market Charter was granted in 1317 by King Edward III and was located on the High Street for almost 500 years until the City Corporation decided that the increased number of livestock being brought for sale was blocking the area. In 1809 the selling of animals was moved to open land by the river, in what became known as the Cattle Market.

In 1855 a market hall was built alongside, replacing a tripe-boiler shop and a

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CITY | ARCHITECTURE

COLONNADES, PARADE GARDENS The Colonnades area of the Parade Gardens has been under consultation for development for a number of years. Once part of Bath Abbey’s orchard, the gardens were developed in the 18th Century as part of John Wood the Elder’s overall plans for this area – assembly rooms were built, the Theatre Royal opened on nearby Orchard Street, and North Parade and Orange Grove were developed as coveted places to live.

In addition, Wood developed the gardens, adding vaults beneath. The sweeping colonnade that runs alongside the River Avon, Pulteney

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These places and buildings are part of the city’s great tapestry yet lie undiscovered and inaccessible for most

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wheelwright’s workshop. Built by George Phillip Manners, this Grade II listed structure is now overgrown with weeds and supported by scaffolding; while the Cattle Market is now a car park. Look closer though and you will be able to see that the Corn Market entrance is a pre-existing Georgian townhouse, once residence of the market superintendent. Behind the townhouse running towards the river is the main market building itself, with its archways and vaults. Here there were slaughterhouses as well as facilities for storing excess grain to be sold on market days.

The market began to wind-down in the late 1960s, early 1970s. By then the Corn Market building had already been put to use as a woodwork classroom for local schools in the 1930s, and during the Second World War machine gun parts for Mosquito aircraft were manufactured here.

Currently there are no plans for its development.

Weir and end next to Pulteney Bridge, was added to the gardens in the 1890s

by Major Charles Davis as part of his planned building of the Empire Hotel and creation of the Grand Parade road. They were to act as a visual link to the area as a whole. Italianate in its design with terrazzo paving, this area is now partially closed to the public.

No longer can one perambulate by the riverside and admire the bridge. There was once access from the Empire Hotel to the gardens via the Colonnades and Vaults. Suggestions for restaurants and shops have been mooted, but a solution for this area has yet to be reached.

BLUE COAT HOUSE, SAW CLOSE Currently being integrated into the Saw Close development, this former school has a long history in the city as well as sitting upon much history itself – beneath lies a Roman tessellated pavement and an 18th century clay tobacco pipe factory. Founded in 1711

by Robert Nelson as the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, this charity school for 60 boys and 60 girls (aged 7 to 14 years old) from the “deserving poor” of

Bath, began life in a smaller building on site, built by William Killigrew in 1722. Demolished in 1859 the Killigrew school was replaced by the current building designed by architects John Elkington Gill and George Phillips Manners. Take a closer look at the architecture and you may notice an assortment of styles, from Gothic and Jacobean to Georgian and Dutch.

This miss-match of designs was deliberate as the building itself was intended as a visual textbook for the boys who studied there as most of them were destined to become apprentices to local builders. It is even believed that Bath’s most famous architect, John Wood the Elder, was an alumnus of this school. By the 1920s the school shut and the site sold to the local government who partitioned off the large class rooms to create office space. The partitions were removed when the site eventually became a restaurant. Apartments are also now above the original classrooms. We await to discover what its latest reincarnation will be. n

WHAT USE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS?: top left, the Colonnades beyond Parade Gardens; the Blue Coat School in Saw Close as it used to look, and below, Bog Island on Terrace Walk as it looked in 1975 Black and white images of Bath courtesy of the Bath in Time archive: bathintime.co.uk

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FAMOUS | FACES

THE FAMOUS VISITORS OF BATH’S PAST Jessica Hope delves into the archives and discovers some of Bath’s most illustrious visitors from centuries gone

B

ath attracts all kinds of famous and notable people and has done for centuries.

From the 17th century onwards, the city began to attract large quantities of people looking for both a cure for their illnesses and the perfect spot to socialise. The thermal baths presented visitors with the opportunity to ‘take the waters’, as it was once known, in the belief that this would help treat their ailment – and this idea quickly spread among the elite of society, many of whom needed cures for gout or syphilis, or wanted to improve their fertility in order to produce an heir for their family’s fortune, or even for the crown. We reveal just some of the prominent people who have visited the city and the surrounding areas across the centuries . . .

QUEEN CONSORTS In the 17th century, Bath was visited by two queen consorts looking to take the waters to help with their fertility. In 1663, Charles II’s wife Catherine of Braganza came to the city in the hope that she would become pregnant and secure an heir to the throne.

Unfortunately for Catherine, she never gave birth and so the succession passed to Charles’ Catholic brother, James, whose second wife, Mary of Modena, visited Bath in August 1687 for the

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same reason.

Unlike Catherine, Mary became pregnant in late 1687. Some people considered this pregnancy only possible because of the queen consort’s use of the thermal spa.

Mary gave birth in June 1688 to James Francis Edward Stuart, who later became known as The Old Pretender.

In celebration of this royal birth, the Earl of Melfort commissioned The Melfort Cross to be erected at The Cross Bath, making a clear statement about the belief that the thermal waters must have helped Mary’s fertility. This monument had three columns and a dome, with a cross with a crown of thorns on top, with three cherubs holding the crown, sceptre and orb also adorning it. This was a royal statement of power to those who rivalled James II’s crown.

However, after James and his family were overthrown and exiled in late 1688, this monument was ordered to be dismantled in stages over time. Despite this, one of the cherubs was in fact saved from destruction and later moved to adorn the wall above what is now the Bobbi Brown store on Old Bond Street.

ROYAL VISITORS After Charles II’s death in February 1685, Protestant courtiers feared

how the succession of the Catholic James II would influence the state of the country. In retaliation, some spoke out and argued that Charles’ illegitimate Protestant son, the Duke of Monmouth, should be made king instead.

In June 1685, Monmouth travelled from Holland to England in the hope of overthrowing his uncle and claiming his crown.

Landing in Lyme Regis, Monmouth was determined to take control of Bristol, which was one of the largest cities after London at the time.

Making his way across the south west, Monmouth’s troops secured Keynsham and set their sights on taking Bath. However, Bath was occupied by royalist troops, prepared and ready for battle. With Bath and Bristol seeming too difficult to take hold of, Monmouth retreated to The George Inn in present day Norton St Philip. It is believed that Monmouth stayed at the inn in the days leading up to the Battle of Sedgemoor, where his troops were defeated and Monmouth was arrested and sentenced to be executed. The George Inn continues to run as a pub to this day and visitors are able to stay overnight in The Monmouth Room.

At the time when Mary of Modena went into labour with her son in 1688, James II’s Protestant

NOTABLE NAMES: This page, portrait of Samuel Pepys by John Hayls, 1666, and The George Inn in Norton St Philip, c1890, image courtesy of Bath In Time – Bath Central Library Opposite, The Cross Bath and Melfort Cross, 1738, image courtesy of Bath In Time – Bath Central Library, and Assembly with Card Players from the Comforts of Bath by Thomas Rowlandson, 1798, courtesy of Victoria Art Gallery, Bath and North East Somerset Council – the Assembly Rooms were one of the reasons affluent people were drawn to Bath in the Georgian period Visit: bathintime.co.uk

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FAMOUS | FACES

PROMINENT AUTHORS While Bath will always have a connection with Jane Austen, there are many other notable authors and poets who have made appearances in the city over the centuries.

Charles Dickens became a frequent visitor in the 19th century, first coming to Bath in 1835 as a young journalist – he supposedly stayed at the Saracen’s Head on Broad Street.

Later on in life, Dickens made regular visits to see his friend and fellow writer Walter Savage Landor who lived in St James’ Square. There is a plaque outside Walter’s house, but there is no concrete evidence that Charles actually ever stayed overnight there. However, Charles did stay at the York House Hotel on George Street, which is now a Travelodge.

The people of Bath certainly intrigued Dickens, who may have based his character Mr Pickwick in The Pickwick Papers on the landlord of the White Hart Inn. Dickens also took inspiration from his visits to the Assembly Rooms and described them in The Pickwick Papers, writing: “In the ball-room, the long card-room, the octagonal card-room, the staircases, and the passages, the hum of many voices, and the sound of many feet, were perfectly bewildering. Dresses rustled, feathers waved, lights shone, and jewels sparkled . . .”

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methinks it cannot be clean to go so many bodies together in the same water

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daughter from his first wife, Anne, was residing in Bath. Anne, who suffered from gout throughout her life, believed that the thermal waters might be able to aid her condition. Anne had also just suffered a miscarriage in 1688, so it could be argued that her visit to Bath was also for recuperation.

Princess Anne also came to Bath in 1692, before returning to the city in 1702 after becoming queen. It was during this visit that she performed the ceremony of touching the king’s evil, where Anne touched the necks or heads of 30 people from the local area suffering from scrofula. It was believed that the monarch’s divine authority would be able to cure those with the disease. Anne was the last monarch in history to conduct the practice in this country.

Members of the royal family continued to be drawn to Bath throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1817, Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, travelled to Bath to take the waters. Among her entourage was the Duke of Clarence, the future William IV. Both stayed in Sydney Place for several weeks, and today you will find two plaques referring to their visit outside numbers 93 and 103.

Samuel Pepys, 1688 Fellow 19th century novelist Mary Shelley lived in Bath for a few years, arriving in 1816 with her lover (and later husband) Percy Shelley and her stepsister Claire Clairmont, who was pregnant with Lord Byron’s baby at the time. It was during her stay in Abbey Church Yard that she completed arguably her most famous work, Frankenstein, which was published anonymously in 1818.

Romantic poet William Wordsworth visited Bath in the 1840s to witness the marriage of his only surviving daughter, Dora, at St James Church (which was later badly damaged during the Bath Blitz in 1942 and demolished in the second half of the 20th century).

Although there is a plaque outside number 9 North Parade acknowledging Wordsworth’s residence there during his visit to Bath, a letter from the poet from the time of his stay mentions that his address was in fact at number 12.

THE SOCIAL COMMENTATOR During his travels in June 1688, diarist Samuel Pepys spent a few days visiting Bath and Bristol, making note of his experiences and opinions of both cities. Prior to arriving in Bath, Pepys and his wife stayed at The George Inn in Norton St Philip, the same inn that the Duke of Monmouth had stayed in three years earlier.

Upon arriving in Bath, Pepys saw the Roman Baths, noting in his diary “they are not so large as I expected, but yet pleasant; and the town most of stone and clean, though the streets generally narrow.”

The next morning Pepys woke up at four in the morning to visit The Cross Bath. To his surprise, the bath was busy with visitors from the early hours. Reflecting on his visit, Pepys wrote: “. . . methinks it cannot be clean to go so many bodies together in the same water.”

Surprised at how hot the waters could get, he stated: “But strange to see, when women and men herein, that live all the season in these waters, that cannot but be parboiled, and look like creatures of the bath!”

Pepys certainly picked up on the difference in social standings in the city at the time, noting that the King and Queen’s Baths were visited by a mix of people, while The Cross Bath was almost exclusively open to only the gentry.

Pepys seemed impressed by the architecture of Bath Abbey and enjoyed visiting the tomb of Bishop Montagu (the bishop of Bath and Wells from 1608 – 1616), whose tomb you can still see today, yet he was not as enthusiastic about the man giving the abbey’s sermons, writing in his diary that he fell asleep for most of the service.

Pepys and his wife didn’t waste any time during their visit to the west country. They made a day trip to Bristol, describing the city as “every respect another London” – a notion that is often still repeated by present day visitors and residents. Ending his tour of the west, Pepys visited the stone circle at Avebury, before heading back to London. n

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BATH @ WORK Our series of photographic portraits by Neill Menneer shows Bath people at work. View a gallery of Bath@Work subjects at: thebathmag.co.uk

Ivan Street Auctioneer at Aldridges

M

y dad John became an auctioneer in Torquay after the Second World War. He settled in Bath in 1961 and eventually became head of the auction rooms in Jollys.

In those days it was an old-fashioned department store offering a range of services including estate agency, removals, storage, decorating and funerals.

The auction rooms were purpose built in Old King Street, on the site of the present day Hall and Woodhouse. In 1975 House of Fraser bought Jollys and dispensed with all the non-retail businesses including the auction rooms. An investor, David Wickins, backed my father to set up Aldridges in the old Walcot Junior School. This was a brilliant site for auctioneering as it had 18,000 square feet of space on four floors. It was right in the heart of Bath in an attractive building with good light. We had many happy and prosperous years there.

In 1978 I finished school and went to work in the business.

My father had always shown me antiques and had tried to interest me in his work but, to be frank, I wasn’t initially that enthusiastic. However this was soon to change and after about a year something happened that really lit my fuse. It was during a china sale. Some works by Clarice Cliff were up for sale with a guide price of £40. There was some frantic bidding, complete with an excitable but hushed atmosphere. The tea set went for £200! I was astounded as I had never heard of this famous ceramic artist before.

But this was soon to change. I started to research not just this artist but all Art Deco ware. Then Art Nouveau. Then china more generally. I had truly got the bug. Dealers in those days were a secretive lot, but eventually I got to know them and they began to share their knowledge with me. I got really interested in the history of English porcelain. The Chinese were the masters, but before 1740 we had no idea how to make it. It was chemists including Dr Wall, founder of the Worcester Porcelain factory, who transformed the industry. By the 19th century the British were making the finest porcelain in the world at the Nantgarw works.

I have never collected antiques myself as my dad taught me that it could be a conflict of interest but anyway I had the best of both worlds. I could see, hold and admire items every day but didn’t need to spend money to own them.

The antiques business in Bath has changed beyond recognition now. The Americans used to be big spenders and supported the whole industry. Furniture had been a store of value. Nowadays the younger generation are not interested in old furniture and the economics and fashions have changed with credit cards, online shopping and disposable furniture. Luckily auctioneering is a self-levelling business. When some things go down, other items become sought after and more valuable (like Clarice Cliff).

Business rates pushed us out of Walcot and we moved in 1999 to Cheltenham Street. We’re now on the Lower Bristol Road and although much smaller than the old school it suits us well enough. I’ve always loved Bath. You don’t need to travel very far to realise how lucky we all are to live and work here. n

PORTRAIT: Neill Menneer at Spirit Photographic.

Visit: capturethespirit.co.uk, tel: 01225 483151.

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FOOD | NEWS

TITBITS

FAREWELL TO A BATH INSTITUTION

A MENTOR: head chef of The Olive Tree Chris Cleghorn ■ Some of Bath’s top chefs are giving up

their time this month to inspire the next generation during an employability week for hospitality and catering course students at Bath College. The week will include a visit from Chris Cleghorn and Claire Wilkins from The Olive Tree restaurant at the Queensberry Hotel. Chris will give a demonstration while Claire will run a black box challenge for students to prepare a dish from surprise ingredients.

Daryl Harris and Tom Ross from The Pig near Bath, will be among other professionals visiting the college. They will be leading a customer service masterclass.

Future events for students include those organised later this year by The Chefs’ Forum, which works with students and professionals, at The Gainsborough Hotel, The Manor House Hotel in Castle Combe and The Mint Room.

■ The Shrubbery restaurant at Bath

College runs monthly themed dinners with food prepared by visiting chefs and students. The next evening is on Thursday 19 January when the restaurant – a living classroom for hospitality students to hone their skills – is hosting a Burns Night supper. Tickets: £19.50 for a three course dinner, tel: 01225 328502.

fter 36 years as one of Bath’s favourite restaurants and great culinary institutions, Rajpoot in Argyle Street closed its doors to diners for the last time on Christmas Eve. Owner Ahmed Chowdhury said that while he was very sad to have made the decision to shut, he was finding it increasingly difficult to recruit staff.

He said: “This is an industry wide problem. Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants all over Britain are closing at the rate of two a week. This is largely due to very stringent immigration laws which make it hard for us to bring experienced staff from overseas.”

He said second generation Indians and Bangladeshis were increasingly reluctant to go into the family business, preferring to forge their own careers in other areas.

Many of the Rajpoot’s staff have worked loyally with the restaurant for decades and Ahmed said that he was very sad at saying goodbye to them. “It has been like a family,” he said. “We have also had so much support from our many loyal customers who have said how sorry they are that we are closing.”

He said he was very proud of what the Rajpoot had achieved. “When we first opened a curry house was somewhere people went after the pub to order a hot curry. If

AMBASSADOR: Rajpoot owner Ahmed Chowdhury, in blue

you weren’t careful you’d end the evening with a punch on the nose. But what we set out to do at the Rajpoot was introduce an atmosphere where families could happily eat and to bring a fine dining menu to people.

“I am proud that we made this a flagship for Indian cuisine outside London and that we have recieved so many awards. I would like to thank the people of Bath for their years of support.”

Ahmed says he plans to continue with his charity and community work and we can expect to see him out and about in Bath, where he is a partner in the Bengal Brasserie restaurant in Milsom Street.

COSY UP FOR WINTER ON THE FARM

We discovered the pleasures of lunch at Castle Farm café at Midford in the summer and hear from its legions of fans that the cosy barn is running a series of winter events once it opens on 11 January after a Christmas break.

The vegetarian café has teamed up with the Bath Culture House for an evening workshop on the joys of fermented food and the art of making sauerkraut. That takes place on Wednesday 18 January, from

6.45pm. Places are £28 a head, to include ingredients to fill three Kilner jars.

Future winter events at Castle Farm include Burns Night on Saturday 28 January and a screening of the National Geographic documentary Before the Flood, on Saturday 21 January, which includes a mug of hot soup and a hot water bottle to hug while you watch the film.

Find out more about these and other events up at the farm: castlefarmcafe.co.uk.

HOSPITALITY INSPIRED BY DEEP SOUTH

■ It’s time to dig out the family tartan for

the Burns Night celebrations on Saturday 21 January. An evening’s tribute to Scottish poet Robbie Burns begins with a drinks reception beside the torch-lit Roman Baths, complete with a traditional piper.

Toastmaster Stan Barker will lead guests to dinner where a Burns’ Night Feast will be served in The Pump Room, with Burns’ poetry read by Leonard Pearcey. There will be a raffle in aid of the Prince’s Trust and some ceilidh dancing with Skara Brae.

Tickets: £60 a head, tel: 01225 444477 or email: events.bath@searcys.co.uk.

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The latest arrival to fly in to the new foodie zone in Southgate is Absurd Bird, whose style is best described as where the Deep South of America meets the London street food movement. This is the place to go to satisfy hearty appetites, offering smoked and fried chicken and treats such as bacon jam, sweet potato fries and peanut butter cheesecake. The free range chicken is raised in Devon and smoked on site.

The decor in the new restaurant – Absurd Bird’s second venture outside London – is inspired by New Orleans, the Bayou and Louisiana, with a Mardi Gras inspired bar in the centre.

Its ethos is about people coming FROM THE DEEP SOUTH: Absurd Bird has a unique way with chicken together to eat and have fun.

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THE WINE COLUMN Angela Mount, wine and food critic takes us on a vinous voyage of discovery

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elcome to 2017, and, hopefully, to many new delicious and unusual vinous discoveries. January is the time for new starts, new challenges, new experiences, so why not do the same with wine? Beat the gloom and doom of cold days and nights with some new revelations to add to your wine repertoire – wines to warm the evenings, without breaking the bank, as belts are tightened in the post Christmas slump.

Let’s kick off January with Lambrusco – yes, Lambrusco, but not as most of you know it, and it’s red to boot. Forget the sweet, insipid muck of the eighties, this is the genuine stuff that the Italians have been drinking for years. The authentic version of this deliciously fruity froth is making a welcome comeback.

Lambrusco di Sorbara Vecchia Modena, Chiarli NV (£13.95 down to £ 9.95 for January at Great Western Wine) is a delightfully dry, fizzy red, with a glorious ruby hue, bursting with effervescent scents and flavours of ripe cherries and raspberries. It’s bright, zippy, with a refreshingly dry finish. Soft and fruity, try this one with platters of charcuterie.

Winter calls for warming, softer whites, which will match well with hearty bowls of stew, and spicy, oriental dishes, which liven up jaded tastebuds. At a recent wine dinner with Vietnamese cookery teacher Noya Pawlyn, top votes went to a fragrant, peaches and cream white from southern Italy. Malvasia del Salento 2015 (GWW £10.75), may not be that well known, but well worth a try. It’s a gentle and elegant delight, with scents of nectarines and honeysuckle, and smooth flavours of tropical fruit with a citrus twist. Lively and fresh, with a crisp finish, it’s the touch of acacia honey softness that gives the wine the extra edge needed to cope with spicy food.

White Burgundy is often another comforting and smileinducing winter white, but not particularly January-friendly, with its generally high price tags. Keep all the style, all the flavour, but at a fraction of the price by exploring Les Mougeottes Chardonnay IGP Pays d’Oc 2015 (GWW (£9.95). It’s not Burgundy, but it certainly tastes like one, and would fool many people in a blind tasting. Rich and buttery, with creamy baked apple and pear frangipane character, it’s smooth and delightful, with a kick of fresh lemon on the finish. Perfect for chilly evenings with chicken casserole, ideal by the fire with an oozingly rich, ripe camembert, or for a lighter food option, spot on with salmon.

Finally, to something and somewhere totally different; Lebanon has a long and noble history of winemaking, strongly influenced by Bordeaux. Ixsir Altitudes Red 2011 (GWW £16.95 down to £12.95 for January) is produced in the mountains of the Bekaa valley, at 1,100m above sea level.

Up this high, the grapes stay fresh, and the resulting wine has richness and intensity, but also a delicious liveliness.

Produced with the influence of the winemaker from Chateau Angelus, it’s a perfumed, seductive, stylish red from a blend of cabernet sauvignon, syrah, caladoc and tempranillo. It’s a jewel of a wine, with ripe cassis and wild herb flavours, combined with scents of violets and spicy black pepper. I could wax lyrical about this one; suffice to say, it’s a bargain in January, so stock up now – be bold, be different, and indulge in this delight with roasts, tagines, or slow-braised, herb-infused lamb shanks. n

THE US DELICIO GUIDE LOOKING FOR RESTAURANT INSPIRATION? The Delicious Guide to Bath 2016 featuring all our favourite eateries is available online at our website thebathmag.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter @thebathmagazine

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THAT’S ANOTHER FINE MEZZE . . .

Melissa Blease goes behind the menu to discover that fresh flavours from the Middle East are trending in Bath as 2017 kicks off

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o you recall in 2012, the phrase on every foodie hipsters’ lips was ‘comfort food’, as stodgy favourites such as burgers, macaroni cheese (which must only be referred to as ‘mac’n’cheese’) and anything that could be put into a pie was our dish of the day?

The following year, we started pulling and smoking every kind of meat until that particular fad became totally ‘yesterday’ when a certain high street fast food fried chicken franchise started claiming to be pulling their (our?) legs.

We’ve witnessed all manner of food fads, from pickling and fermentation to spiralising by way of ‘brinner’ (almost adopted as the new lunch, don’cha know). We found coconut oil in pretty much everything and cauliflower rice scattered everywhere.

But meanwhile, while all this was going on, a cuisine with its origins in one of the world’s most ancient cultures has steadily been attracting the attention of a generation jaded by the flash-in-the-pan fuss.

In the last couple of months, cookery books based around a Middle Eastern theme (Turkish, Lebanese, Iranian) have been topping the charts, with collections from Yotam Ottolenghi, Rick Stein and Honey & Co blazing the trail.

Waitrose has reported a significant increase in the demand for Medjool dates, pomegranate molasses and sumac. Meanwhile the flavours of ras-el-hanout, za’atar and harissa have replaced smoked salt, pink peppercorns and chipotle paste in our at-home seasoning lexicon.

While we can find our cravings for cool Middle Eastern flavours satisfied in restaurants both long-established and new, many of us are keen – particularly during the dark, dreary months of a UK winter – to take our tastebuds on a 6,000 mile roundtrip to warmer climes without leaving our own kitchens.

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Iranian-born cookery teacher, food writer, preserve maker and allotmenteer Simi Rezai opened the doors to her Pulteney Street cookery school Simi’s Kitchen in 2010.

She says: “The Middle East is a large and varied geographic region, and dishes vary in flavour and style depending on the availability of produce, ingredients and spices.

Persian food, for example, tends to be very fragrant, using generous use of herbs and subtle spicing. We try to balance each dish in any given banquet so everything is easy to digest and therefore more nutritious. Simple, everyday ingredients are cooked slowly to give time for the flavours to mingle, and each individual dish tends to be both colourful and flavoursome, with a variety of dishes to suit all tastes. We blend fragrant herbs, crunchy nuts and lots of yielding fruit and vegetables.

And Iranian food is generally healthy, too – there are wonderful vegetarian options which everyone can enjoy.”

Simi tailors each class to the dietary requirements of her guests and uses everyday kitchen equipment and seasonal ingredients from her organic allotment in Bath, proving that you really don’t have to take your shopping list on a magical mystery tour in order to create an authentic, traditional Middle Eastern menu.

“I would describe the Simi’s Kitchen experience as similar to going to an Iranian friend’s home for a traditional Persian meal, except I teach everybody how to create the dishes before we sit down to enjoy our feast,” she says.

But perhaps you’d prefer to venture out to eat and if sitting by a stove in a Marrakech souk isn’t on the

MIDDLE EASTERN INFLUENCE: this page, main picture Ottolenghi’s London restaurants and recipes have inspired legions of home cooks Inset, the flavours of harissa and ras-elhanout have gone mainstream Opposite page, tabbouleh and vegetarian falafel offer tasty, healthy options foreseeable horizon, you could take a trip into Bath city centre.

Tagine Zhor in North Parade was established 16 years ago by Casablanca-born Mostafa Benjelloun.

Named partly in honour of his Fezborn grandmother, this cosy Moroccan bistro specialises in tagines, cous cous and B’stila D’jej (an elaborate sweet/savoury concoction featuring chicken, almonds and saffron sauce wrapped in filo pastry and dusted with sugar and cinnamon – trust me when I tell you this really works). There’s even a bazaar and a shisha terrace to complete the staycation experience, proving that looking back to old traditions is often the way forward in Bath restaurant world.

Jars Meze, meanwhile, is a relative newcomer to the Bath scene. This little café opened in the summer of 2016, occupying the premises of what was The Hub on Northumberland Place. Venture in and an array of delights listed under headings including Spread on Bread, Meet the

Far right, Simi Rezai, who runs her own cookery school in Bath teaching mostly Persian cuisine

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BEHIND | THE | MENU

Meat, Earth Delights, Sea Treasures, etc run the gamut of sun-soaked flavours at rock bottom prices. Strictly speaking the Jars Meze menus are more Hellenic than Alexandrian in origin, but I’m prepared to take the flak in exchange for a heated debate over a dish of smoked aubergines alone – this is baba ganouj at its very best.

Back in 2008, Comptoir Libanais founder Tony Kitous forged a plan to offer wholesome Lebanese food in a souk-like setting – and his most recent branch, which opened in SouthGate in October, is set to be this small, independently-owned chain’s most popular opening outside of the capital.

“Tony wanted to open a restaurant that offers delicious, affordable, light and healthy dishes that can be enjoyed every day of the week,” says Comptoir Libanais operations manager Raymond Quinche. “Middle Eastern food is often cited as the world’s healthiest cuisine. Most dishes, even the

meaty options, often contain an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables, with lots of herbs, lemon juice and spices to add interest and a unique edge. Our most popular dishes include the traditional shakshuka (eggs poached in a stew of tomatoes, peppers and onion, with parsley, coriander and garlic, topped with feta cheese spiced with cumin and sojok) and the mezze platters, which are healthy as well as delicious.”

As we embark on a new year, we can only hazard a guess as to what food trends might bombard our consciousness in the seasons to come. I predict, however, that you could base your menus around a One Thousand and One Nights theme every day from now until New Year’s Eve 2017 without a single craving for ‘the new mac’n’cheese.

Simi’s Kitchen, Great Pulteney Street, Bath.

Tel: 01225 789554; web: simiskitchenblog.wordpress.com. Tagine Zhor, 1a North Parade, Bath. Tel: 01225

466437; web: taginezhor.co.uk. Jars Meze, 6 Northumberland Place, Bath. Tel: 01225 471434; web: jarsmeze.com. Comptoir Libanais, 4 New Ark Street, SouthGate, Bath. Tel: 01225 800894; web: comptoirlibanais.com. n Read our review of Comptoir Libanais on Page 54.

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RESTAURANT | REVIEW

COMPTOIR LIBANAIS 38 Little Southgate, Bath BA1 1TR. Tel: 01225 800894; web: comptoirlibanais.com; twitter: @ComptoirLibani

R E V I EW

LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE GOOD THYME

M

y first visit to the new Middle Eastern eaterie in Southgate was with daughter and daughter’s BFF, after the BFF announced she’d found a new energy after giving up all meat and dairy. We were hungry and in need of somewhere reasonably priced and offering a healthy menu where a vegan might not feel like an oddity.

Cue Comptoir Libanais with its large contemporary interior and brightly coloured tiles, its shelves lined with embroidered baskets and ornate shiny teapots (all on sale) looked welcoming. A quick scan of the menus outside reassured us we’d all find something to suit taste and budget.

On that occasion we had a mezze platter to share and some falafel on the side, plus a glass of wine each. The only item our vegan had to avoid was the halloumi cheese, so she was happy. The bill came in at about £30 for three people – sated and satisfied on that occasion, we said we’d be back.

My second visit was with that doyenne of the Bath foodie scene, our very own food writer Melissa. On a gloomy winter’s night the staff in their orange Comptoir Libanais tshirts gave us an enthusiastic welcome. It’s mid-week and the place was buzzing, playing the sort of music that reminds you of being on holiday somewhere reassuringly hot.

The whole mood of CL is geared to recreating that Middle Eastern sunshine and warmth, of fresh flavours and traditional dishes that perhaps we Brits associate with good times spent travelling. The founder, 54 TheBATHMagazine

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Tony Kitous, set up the first CL in London in 2008, but in recent months has rolled the brand out and lucky old Bath is one of its newest restaurants.

It’s very much a something for everyone kind of place – unless you’re dyed-in-thewool pulled pork and fries kinda dude perhaps, although even he might be pleased with a lamb burger, served with harissa mayonnaise and the Lebanese take on chips.

Call in for breakfast and enjoy coffee and pastries, or the Lebanese version of a full English. Take the kids and they can have a healthy plateful of falafel with hommos and vegetable sticks, ice cream and a lemonade, all for £5.45.

I’d recommend the shared mezze platter for two (£15.95). It is plenty for two, with a visually pleasing mix of herby tabbouleh piled high, filling lentil salad, hommos, falafel, grilled haloumi and tomato and – our favourite – some very moreish baba ghanuj, all mopped up with warm sliced pita bread.

If you’re in celebratory mood, as we were, a pretty pomegranate pink Cosmo cocktail of vodka, with orange liqueur and fresh lemon juice (£7.95) is a sophisticated treat.

You could stop at that, but that would be a shame as you’d miss out on some more Mediterranean favour. The auberine tagine (£8.95 and served with couscous and mint yoghurt) cooked in a rich tomato and chickpea sauce, the smokiness of the aubergine holding its own. It’s all bringing back memories of sunnier places, of starfilled night skies in the desert and warm sand

between the toes. A generous portion of gently spiced and herby lamb kofta, accompanied by bowls of mint yoghurt and harissa and garlic sauce (£10.45) finally defeated m’colleague’s appetite. And here’s more good news about the new kid on the Southgate block. The staff will happily package your leftovers to take home. This gets a big tick from us, and from the couple on an adjoining table, who looked very pleased to add their doggie bags to their shopping carriers.

Anyone who’s a veteran traveller, steeped in the smoke of the Tuareg fires or a regular in the back-street cafes of Beirut, may need to bear in mind that this is a chain, so inevitably some compromises will be made in bringing Lebanese cuisine to a mass market.

But there are authentic imported Lebanese wines and beers here and enough bursts of flavour to evoke memories – what you might call good thymes.

We both enjoyed a palate cleansing organic yoghurt, mine studded with fresh pomegranate seeds and orange blossom water, M’s with a dark, fruity pool of Lebanese fig jam.

Middle Eastern tastes extend to very sweet puddings and mint tea and these are both amply catered for. The fresh rose mint tea is poured with a dramatic flourish from a silver tea pot and a selection of sweet, traditional baklawa, are perfectly sticky pastry treats.

If you’re looking for a taste of summer this winter, you could do worse than visit this sunny corner of the Lebanon. n

GMc

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FAR FROM EVERYDAY FARMING FOLK Melissa Blease meets the Gay family, the awardwinning food heroes of Newton Farm Foods

I

f you’re not inspired to fill a basket or two at Newton Farm Shop, you’re simply not a proper food shopper. There’s organic Jersey milk, freshlychurned farmhouse butter and thick cream with an enticing natural crust on top. Or how about bunches of carrots with the morning dew still clinging to their feathery leaves, honey from local hives, Bath Blue and Homewood Park cheeses? Or Bertinet bread or ready meals prepared by local cooks.

Tempted yet? But then again, you could just be stopping by for lunch in the Parlour Café. Last time I visited I tucked into homemade glazed apple and apricot pigs in blankets with crab apple jelly; the time before that, I was early enough for a breakfast of Eggs Royale. The café serves up a legendary Sunday roast, too, which segues rather nicely into one of many reasons we’re focusing on Newton Farm for our New Year food heroes.

The farm, and shop, can be found just off the A4 heading towards Bristol (turn at The Globe pub roundabout). It’s a family-run business with generations of farmers supporting their route to modern day success. And success is writ large on the Newton Farm menu, as the Gay family was recently awarded the winner’s gong in the Family Farming Business of the Year category at the British Food and Farming Awards.

“We were surprised, thrilled and very humbled to have won the award, particularly as we’re just an ordinary farming family whose only desire is to do a good job,” says Celia Gay, who runs the business with husband Hugh and their four adult children.

Hugh has been farming at Newton Farm all his life, following in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather before him. The Gay family were originally dairy farmers, but in 2000 Hugh responded to market trends, giving up milking to focus his energy on his beef herd and selling home-reared beef directly to customers in the evenings after a long, hard day in the fields. Those fields are now home to a herd of around 450 beef cattle, of which roughly 100 are the characterful ginger-coloured Pedigree South Devons, with the remainder of the herds made up of Aberdeen Angus and Hereford crosses.

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A small herd of pigs and a flock of sheep have been added to the family and, when Hugh isn’t tending the livestock, he’s farming the 600 plus acres of arable land that yields wheat, barley and beans. Meanwhile, eldest daughter Kirsty is responsible for running the café, managing outside catering events and “generally being invaluable”. Second in command is their other daughter Naomi, who does “a little bit of everything” from serving in the shop and organising orders to helping out at a hog roast.

Son Josh – an agriculture graduate – mainly works on the farm, while his brother Will, who has an engineering background, is chief fix-it man.

There’s a third generation involved too, as Hugh’s mother Audrey is described as “a pivotal family member who makes the very best Victoria sponges and scones ever.”

“Every member of the family plays an important role in the development and success of the business,” says Celia. “They’re all always on hand and willing to put in the long hours of hard work that make Newton Farm beautiful, welcoming and a special destination.”

But surely a family living and working together so closely must have some tetchy moments? “We do of course have differing opinions on a range of issues which are often ironed out over heated discussions in the kitchen,” says Celia. “But we all learn from each other, be it from the wisdom of the older generations or

the views of the youngsters who keep us current in all areas, from food trends to social media.”

The Gay family members pride themselves on meeting challenges head-on, not least of all right now, when surely the current trend towards cutting down on meat must be impacting negatively on butchery business?

“We have many customers who choose to eat less meat, or to have meat free days during the week,” says Celia. “But they also tend to be the customers who have made a conscious decision to only buy meat of the highest quality, produced to high welfare standards and with the very best provenance. Our beef is a rarity in that the animal has been born and raised on our farm alone.

Our herd live and graze outdoors for most of the year on pasture that has had no chemical intervention such as fertilisers or pesticides, and therefore

TEAM WORK: main picture, the Gay family, back row Will, Naomi, Kirsty and Josh, front row, Celia Hugh and Hugh’s mother Audrey Inset, harvest time when everyone mucks in Opposite page, Newton Farm prides itself in the welfare of its cows and pigs

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FOOD | HEROES

it matures slowly and naturally. Our traditional butchery counter allows customers to buy the size and weight to suit their budget.”

Saddleback and Gloucester Old Spot pigs are kept outdoors, some in an open pen at the farm shop. Lamb is either from Celia and Hugh’s flock or sourced from Mells Park.

Poultry is free range and from Woolley Park (Bradford on Avon) or from Castlemead Poultry at Radstock. And flexitarians (that’s what the ‘eat less meat’ folk are called) will be pleased to learn that there are always plenty of lovely fresh vegetables, alongside all manner of interesting grains and

vegetarian inspirations.

“We’re fortunate to have access to a wonderful range of local suppliers and artisan producers in and around Bath,” says Celia. “We’re a listed stockist for many Great Taste Award winning products, alongside world class cheeses, chutneys, jams, jellies, ready meals, craft beers, ciders, wines and spirits – we stock the lot, including fun or quirky culinary items and farm-related gifts not often found elsewhere.

Our café has gained an admirable reputation, we maintain a lively schedule of activities, and we can cater for events such as hog roasts, barbecues, weddings, parties.”

On the odd occasion Celia has time on her hands, though, she makes full use of it. She shares a few of her favourite things: “A stroll round the Roman Baths, coffee at the Holburne Museum, lunch at the Chapel Arts Café. Shopping at Jollys, Rossiters or Rolfey’s on Bear Flat. The music drifting from the Blowout Sax School, the riverside walk by Pulteney Bridge, a stroll along Great Pulteney Street or just being in the centre of the city when Bath Rugby are playing at home, and hearing the roar of the crowd – there’s so much to love about Bath!” n Newton Farm, Newton St Loe, Bath BA2 9BT, visit: newtonfarmfoods.co.uk.

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CITY | PEOPLE

CITYNEWS News in brief

CORPORATE LAWYER: Ed Chapman has joined Royds Withy King in Bath

n Ed Chapman has joined the Bath-based corporate and commercial team at Royds Withy King lawyers from TLT in Bristol, where he worked on a range of transactions including mergers and acquisitions, disposals, fund-raising and management buy-outs. Ed’s appointment further strengthens Royds Withy King’s corporate and commercial team, which continues to expand following Withy King’s merger with City of London firm Royds. n Daily Telegraph columnist, Bath-based psychologist Linda Blair is to lead a series of workshops throughout the year, based around the practice of mindfulness. The courses will be held in the drawing room at the Combe Grove Hotel on the outskirts of Bath. Dr Blair will be covering a range of topics, from achieving quality sleep to improving your emotional intelligence. Sessions are from £25 each. Find out more at: combegrove.com. n Age UK B&NES is launching a new service called At Home. The not-for-profit paid-for service is now available to people across Bath and North East Somerset who need some help doing the tasks they are no longer able to do.

This could be help with housework, getting to appointments or social occasions, support with going to the shops or walking the dog. At Home will be available Monday to Friday 8 – 6pm. After a free home visit people can decide how much time and what kind of help they need. To arrange a free visit tel: 01225 462641 or email: karen.john@ageukbanes.co.uk. n Bath’s central library in the Podium is to be moved later this year to Lewis House in Manvers Street as part of a money saving bid

by Bath and North East Somerset Council.

According to research carried out at the library 53 per cent of users wanted to use a computer or print something out, while only nine per cent of users wanted to borrow a book. The new library, which will be on two floors at Manvers Street, will have more computers and improved wi-fi access.

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MUSEUM DIRECTOR TO MOVE ON The director of the Holburne Museum, Jennifer Scott, is leaving Bath to take up directorship of the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

She will take up this position in April, replacing Ian AC Dejardin, who is joining the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Ontario as chief executive.

Jennifer came to the Holburne in 2014.

Since then she has played a significant role in shaping the museum’s centenary celebrations, with three critically acclaimed exhibitions in 2016. She led a successful £450,000 acquisition campaign for Sir Thomas Lawrence’s painting Arthur Atherley and working to place the Holburne as the primary UK collection of works by Pieter Brueghel the Younger.

Jennifer said: “I am immensely proud to have been part of the history of this exceptional museum, particularly in leading our 100 Years Here celebrations throughout 2016. I feel I am leaving the Holburne in a position of great strength for the future. I now look forward with excitement to my new role at Dulwich Picture Gallery.”

Richard Fleck, Chairman of Trustees at the Holburne Museum, said: “We will be very sad to lose Jennifer. She has achieved a

BACK TO LONDON: Jennifer Scott is leaving the Holburne

great deal in her time at the Holburne – and the status of the museum under her leadership has gone from strength to strength. This is a tremendous accolade for Jennifer, and also acknowledges the success and standing of the Holburne.” Jennifer was curator of paintings at Royal Collection Trust, and has held positions at the National Gallery and National Museums, Liverpool.

FILMGOERS RATE FESTIVAL A SUCCESS We spoke to Holly Tarquini, executive drector of the Bath Film Festival about the 2016 festival, which took place in November. The festival screened 44 films over 11 days to an audience of 4,200, its line-up featuring films which will be screening in the future or hadn’t yet been shown in Bath.

We asked Holly how the films are chosen: “The festival has a programming team of seven, all with very different tastes and opinions.

They source films which they’ve watched at other festivals, or heard about online, or have been told about by film distributors.”

Funding is always an issue, but currently the festival’s income can be divided into three equal segments of: funding – which includes Bath Spa University and Col Needham of IMDb; ticket sales and sponsorship. Sponsors

INNOVATOR: Holly Tarquini

include Hawker Joinery and Pukka Teas to Bath Pizza Company and Westside Design.

Many people wondered why festival films weren’t shown at The Little this year? Holly said that unfortunately, the timing of the festival didn’t work with The Little’s schedule, so in 2016, after 25 years of collaboration, they were unable to hire the cinema’s screens in November.

Holly became full time at the festival in 2011. She says: “Having a full time

person at the festival means that we can run other strands such as the F-Rating, Bath Film Festival Community Cinema and the IMDb Awards. Having said which, there are three stalwarts who have been with the festival since day one; founder, Chris Baker, head of programming and creative director, Philip Raby and technical manager, Alastair Goolden.

“We really couldn’t do it all without our amazing volunteers too.”

In January the festival is hosting FilmScore, a competition for 14 to 19year-old musicians to write a score for a short film.

Submissions will also be open for the 2017 IMDb Script to Screen Award and the IMDb New Filmmaker Award.

For more details of how to enter visit: bathfilmfestival.org.uk.

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ABBEY | APPEAL

A GIANT STEP FOR FOOTPRINT At the start of the new year we report on the progress of the mulit-million pound project to protect the historic fabric of Bath Abbey and prepare it for useful service in the 21st century

A

fter almost ten years of work behind the scenes, the next phase in Bath Abbey’s history is about to begin. The Footprint project is a £19.3 million programme of capital works and interpretation which will transform the abbey by repairing its historic floor, installing eco-friendly heating using energy from Bath’s hot springs and creating more space and new facilities in order to improve the church’s hospitality, worship and service to the city.

The project is called Footprint for three reasons: the abbey follows in Jesus’ footprints; it will develop new spaces for the abbey, creating a bigger footprint in the city; and it will reduce the church’s carbon footprint.

Signs of the work that is to come have already sprung up. Excavations are taking place along the south side of the building to investigate the foundations for new underground spaces. The new rooms being excavated will provide the space which will support the new Discovery Centre.

The construction of these new underground spaces is an essential part of the Footprint project and will link the historic abbey with its ‘behind-the-scenes’ areas: offices, kitchens and a new song school for the abbey’s choirs. Unlike other big churches or cathedrals, the abbey does not own a large cathedral green, precinct or any outbuildings which could easily be refurbished, which makes the project all the more challenging.

Charles Curnock, Footprint project director said: “The Prior of the abbey sold off all the land and adjacent buildings back in the 16th century. He obviously didn’t realise the abbey would be so much in demand, with more than 1,000 services of worship, concerts and events every year, attracting nearly half a million people through our doors annually.

“We urgently need more space and new facilities just to keep up with these current uses, let alone enable us to improve what we have to offer, and enable us to engage better with our visitors and the local community.

Rather than adding a giant glass extension, our architects have come up with an innovative plan within restricted inner-city space, so we are going to go underground.”

In the summer of 2017, work will begin on Kingston Buildings, the row of Georgian terrace cottages beside the abbey, which currently house the abbey’s offices and also on the adjoining vaults and basements.

Once the work in Kingston Buildings and the underground spaces is well underway the work in the abbey itself will begin. Subject to consultation with organisations such as Historic England, SPAB and the Victorian Society as well as Bath and North East Somerset Council and the Church of England authorities, the work will start in the East 60 TheBATHMagazine

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VISION FOR THE FUTURE: an artist’s impression of the space to be created beneath Bath Abbey

end of the abbey in the autumn repairing the floor, conserving the hundreds of ledger stones that comprise it, and installing environmently friendly heating and lighting.

So how will the Abbey fund this once-in-alifetime project? Thanks to a grant of £10.7 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and additional funds from private individuals and trusts, as well as the Abbey’s own congregation and visitors, the Abbey now only has £1 million left to raise. So ambitious and worthwhile is the project that Andrew and Christina Brownsword via their Charitable Foundation, well-known throughout Bath for their generous philanthropy, have given their support to the project. They are offering £500,000 of funding which they have asked individuals, businesses and organisations in Bath to match. Andrew Brownsword said: “The abbey plays a vital role in the city, making a significant impact on those who live, work and visit Bath. Many people feel a connection with the abbey, whether through worship and prayer, its beautiful music or architecture, or simply by popping in for a few moments of quiet. The Footprint project is essential in ensuring the abbey is able to carry on these contributions to city life; as the city of Bath grows and changes, so must the abbey.

“We can see from the huge amount of care and work that has already gone into the first stage of the Footprint project, that this programme of change will maintain, make the most of and improve this magnificent building and its resources. We feel now is the right time to offer our support so that we can inspire other individuals, businesses and trusts to help this ground-breaking project that is much needed in order for the abbey to continue to inspire and bring lasting benefits

to future generations.”

However there is still a lot of work to come.

The abbey currently has over 200 volunteers, whose ages range from 18 to over 80. The abbey is aiming to develop stronger links with the local community.

Oliver Taylor, the abbey’s interpretation officer said: “Footprint goes beyond creating new spaces or innovative new technology, important though that is. For me, Footprint is about the new interpretation and activities programme that will allow the abbey to better reach out through volunteering, learning and family activity programmes.”

As a result of Footprint, the abbey will need even more volunteers. It hopes to appoint a volunteer officer shortly to recruit and train 137 new volunteers by 2020.

There are opportunities for anyone wanting to help now. If you love history, meeting new people and spending time in beautiful surroundings, you can volunteer as a welcomer, steward or guide.

The abbey is looking for at least ten volunteers to look through the archives to find out more about the building’s history and the people who are commemorated in it.

One project will look into the lives of those who contributed to the 17th century restoration of the abbey, using the historic Benefactors’ Book. In a link to the present a new Benefactors’ Book will record the names of contributors to the Footprint project.

Throughout this work, Bath Abbey will remain open as usual, with as little disruption as possible to visitors, worshippers and neighbouring businesses and residents.

If you would like to know more about the Footprint Project or wish to volunteer, please contact Charles Curnock on 01225 422462 or email: footprint@bathabbey.org. n

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Hannah Newton talks to some of the people who are moved to do more than drop a few coins in a charity collection tin, helping to change the lives of people in different parts of the world

W

hen you buy a souvenir from a street-kid while on an exotic holiday do you wonder why that child is on the street and not in school? Do you wish you had the courage to shake things up and make a difference to that one child? What would make you do that? Faced with the cruel reality of our divided world, after all, what can we possibly do to change it?

Meet some people who decided to stand up and make a difference.

ONE TO ONE SUPPORT Lyson Zulu was just 17 when Nicky Lewis, a Bath mum of twins, met him.

He was giving a life skills session to street kids in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, using sport as a vehicle, with a particular emphasis on HIV and AIDs. At the end of the workshop he gave each child a slice of bread.

Nicky says of that encounter: “I remember being in absolute awe of him, bearing in mind I have watched literally thousands of sports coaches at work over the years. He blew me away and the kids were captivated.

He was the most amazing role model – and he was only 17.”

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was working for the University of Bath and had taken some students out as part of a collaboration between British universities and Zambian sports organisations.

Lyson was living in the capital city with his aunt and uncle – his mother had died of TB when he was ten and his father had left shortly after.

“I thought Lyson was extraordinary, totally inspirational, his charisma, his beaming smile, his empathy and kindness for the children, his maturity at that age. He was incredible.”

The next day Nicky rang her husband Iestyn and told him about Lyson: “I said, ‘We have to support this young man’.”

Iestyn agreed and the following year Lyson, after months of hard work, was awarded a football scholarship at the University of Bath.

Nicky and Iestyn went on to support him, paying his living expenses and becoming his legal guardians in the UK. Lyson graduated from Bath with a foundation degree in sports performance and was then offered a place at Loughborough University. He completed his degree a BSC in sport and exercise science in 2010.

Today, he has risen to be head of football at the Olympic Youth Development Centre in Zambia.

He says: “I hope to be an

inspiration to many other young people in Zambia and in the world. If you stay focused, determined and work hard, anything is possible.”

He adds: “I was lucky enough to have met Nicky and Iestyn. I owe them everything that I am now. They made my dream a reality and I cannot thank them enough. I am lucky to have people I can call family in the UK, their twins Deia and Siena are gorgeous and are like my sisters.

Through the friendship I have travelled with Nicky on her work assignments and have had the chance to learn from some of the best in the game (football) at Chelsea, Reading and Southampton.”

Nicky and Iestyn continue to offer support to Lyson. Nicky, who works as a professional skills mentor for the Premier League, shares football mentoring ideas and information with him.

“I tease him and tell him he’ll be Minister for Sport someday! But the truth is, on this journey, he has taught me so much as well.”

BUILDING SCHOOLS While on the trip of a lifetime to Tibet and Nepal, Colerne-based Lisa Whitehouse-Foskett visited a Buddhist monastery. With each step to the sacred site she passed beggars of all ages: “Finally, I saw a young boy of

INSPIRING STORIES: top left, Lyson Zulu from Zambia making friends on a visit to Swainswick School; top right, the six teenagers from the UK who took their labour and laptops to a school in Uganda; bottom left, Lisa Whitehouse-Foskett with some of the Nepalese children sponsored by her charity, and bottom right, dairy farmer David Bragg, centre, pictured at the beginning of Send A Cow’s work 25 years ago

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MAKING | A | DIFFERENCE about five, his baby sister by his side,” she recalls. “He was wearing traditional clothing, had wind burnt cheeks, and was rocking back and forth, his begging bowl at his feet, sobbing. It was at that moment I said: ‘That’s it, I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’m going to do something’. One of my fellow travellers said: ‘Don’t let it get to you, they do it on purpose.’ I replied: ‘I don’t care, a child of that age should not know or be experiencing that kind of heartache and pain’.”

Lisa returned to the UK and in 2005 set up CFENC, the Charitable Foundation for the Education of Nepalese Children. Having never run before, but needing funds to get the ball rolling, Lisa applied for a place in the New York Marathon and went on to raise £2,500.

Lisa has never looked back. The work of the charity is two-fold: building and rebuilding schools in remote mountainous areas, using local labour and materials, suppling furniture, uniforms, stationery, sports equipment, toys and books. Secondly, through financial donations from individuals and groups, children are sponsored to attend school. The charity supports 30 children at eight schools – but continues to look for new donors and sponsors.

In 2015, giant earthquakes struck Nepal, abruptly halting construction on the charity’s work in the region. An appeal for funds raised a staggering £25,000 in just fourweeks. The west country charity sent emergency aid to 20 mountain villages and tents to families, teachers and medics who had lost their homes. This paid for a water filtration system at a school in Katmandu and water and sanitary aid to refugee camps.

Now Lisa’s team are just about to recommence work on the construction that was stopped due to the earthquakes.

Lisa: “Once I set my mind to do something, I don’t give up, I won’t and don’t let people down. Our two eldest students are pursuing their dreams; Sangita has begun nurse training and Karma is about to start his pre-medical studies to become a doctor.

Neither of them could have achieved this without CFENC and their sponsors’ support.

We are now seeing the fruits of our hard work and the aspirations of my personal dream.”

FRIENDSHIP AND SUPPORT Meanwhile, in Upper Swainswick, six young men – friends since childhood – aged between 16 and18 recently embarked, for the second time, on a big adventure. Having found and got involved with the British charity, The Friends of St Michael, the boys set about raising money to support the rural Ugandan school this charity helps.

Tobias Leigh-Wood: “On our first visit to the school, we felt a real connection with the small group of boys through sport. We decided we wanted to build a new dorm for them, because they had an old, small, damp and dark building, there were not enough beds, the boys got bitten by rats at night and

THE MILK OF HUMAN KINDNESS: dairy farmer Katie, with Kisakye, provided with help from Send A Cow when it rained, it flooded.”

On their first visit they raised £800 for sports equipment and took out used laptops.

The second time they went out, earlier this year, they had raised £8,000 to build a new dormitory. The British teenagers also took out 20 laptops and set up a wifi connection.

They spent five weeks painting, decorating the dorm and leading sports sessions.

“We have given the boys somewhere safe to sleep and mosquito nets – but I think we could do more,” Tobias adds. This group of friends are currently studying for A-Levels and considering university next year, but they hope to support a new group of youngsters who may choose to give hope in rural Uganda just as they have.

WORKING WITH ORPHANS In 1989, while her children were young, Bathford mum, Naomi Brown, was devastated to see graphic pictures of neglected children, suffering in harrowing conditions, in the over-crowded, state run Romanian orphanages on the news.

Desperate to help, but busy as a young mum, Naomi never forgot those shocking images. In 2010 when her own children were grown up, she decided to act. She discovered The Life Foundation, a small charity that supports its volunteers to visit and give practical help.

This is hands-on care for the children.

Naomi said:“I wanted to be able to visit, get to know the children both in the community and the children and adults in institutions, while raising money in the UK. It’s been wonderful to visit each year and see the difference the work of the charity makes to the children.”

PRACTICAL ASSISTANCE Bath-based charity Send a Cow was established in the late 1980s when EU milk

quotas forced milk farmers to slaughter healthy cows. Dairy farmer David Bragg, responded to an appeal from Uganda for milk. He says: “I realised one cow made a huge difference to a Ugandan family, while I could milk 200 cows and it wasn’t making an impact.”

So David, along with several other farmers set up the charity. Dairy cows were flown out to Ugandan families who benefited from their milk and ultimately their calves.

David says: “The initial aim was to provide milk to the malnourished, but it became clear that the manure was equally beneficial: it improved land and increased crops. Then followed our discovery that, by improving skills, both farmers’ confidence and community relations were improved.”

These three elements: livestock, sustainable organic agriculture and social development – make up the training programme of the charity. David adds: “It is only by providing all three that the roots of poverty can truly be addressed.”

Twenty-five years ago the charity was literally flying cows out to Uganda, today they work in seven African countries, developing existing livestock and rolling out the project to more families.

So if you have ever thought about raising your head above the parapet but were unsure, take this advice from Lisa: “Once people are relying on you, you absolutely cannot let them down. It is real, a huge responsibility. It becomes part of your life.

When real lives are affected by your aspirations and decisions, it’s not a game, but a wonderful feeling when you see that you have helped those who otherwise, for whatever reason, would not have been given such a chance in life.”

And as Oscar Wilde once said: “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention”. n

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ocl A C C O U N TA N C Y

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Corporation tax is payable nine months and a day after the end of the company’s accounting period and given that many companies have 31st March as their year end, the tax is payable by 1st January – a bad time for many businesses which are seasonal or simply suffer poor cashflow over the Christmas period. Changing the year end date, and so payment date, can be a good cashflow management idea – and it’s easy and quick to do. For example, choose 31st May for the year end and payment will become 1st March.

Changing the VAT reporting / payment dates can be useful when, for example, the annual corporation tax payment date falls alongside a VAT payment date.You can change the VAT reporting dates and therefore stagger payment timing – and again, it’s easy to do.

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Call Marie Maggs, Mike Wilcox or Hannah Bratten on 01225 445507 to arrange a no-obligation meeting 64 TheBATHMagazine

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BATH OPTICIAN SLEEPS OFF POOR VISION

S

leeping off poor vision sounds like a dream, but it is exactly what Bath optician Sarah West has started to enjoy.

The 29 year old Dispensing Optician decided to try an innovative form of nonsurgical vision correction called Orthokeratology, known as Ortho-k, before recommending it to patients.

She is so delighted with the ability to abandon her glasses and day time lenses that she is now recommending this to suitable patients at the practice where she works in the City centre.

Sarah, who has a prescription of -5.00 dioptres, has been shortsighted since she was ten and has worn soft daily lenses since she was 15, but found them increasingly uncomfortable – “I tend to suffer from dry eyes towards the end of the day, and I don’t like going out in glasses, so the ideal of having good vision all day without wearing lenses really appealed to me. When we talked about introducing Ortho-k to the practice, I thought well, I could be the guinea pig.”

Detailed topographical maps were taken in seconds of the surface of Sarah’s cornea and from these tailor-made lenses produced which she pops in at night as she goes to bed. Overnight they gently flatten the cornea by less than half a hair’s width resulting in excellent vision for the day ahead – “The result was brilliant, and so easy to do. My vision is stable throughout the day and I no longer have problems with dry eyes and putting in drops as the day progresses. It is so much easier when I go out in the evening too.”

Swimming has become a much more attractive sport for Sarah as the good vision means time in the pool is a lot easier – “Everyone knows you should never swim in contact lenses because of the serious risks of infection so I used to bumble around and really avoid going swimming, but I’ll be going a lot more now. I would say to anyone who is having problems with soft lenses – give it a try as the difference to your lifestyle is so dramatic. It only takes five minutes in the morning to take the lenses out and clean them and no time at all in the evening to put them in.”

Since Sarah started using Ortho-k several patients at her practice – Kathryn Anthony Opticians - have taken her lead and are now using this system to overcome problems of dry eyes for contact lens wearers, and for specs wearers who find the vision correction liberating.

Besides the lifestyle benefits, Ortho-k is now recognised by the optical profession as a means to arrest the progression of myopia in children: an increasing problem with double the number of children being found to be short-sighted compared to 50 years ago.

Sarah explained “The research from around the world indicates that this overnight vision correction acts almost like braces on teeth and that the use of Ortho-k can, in certain cases, stop myopia progressing.

The profession recognises that this has long-term benefits in eye health as well as vision correction.”

www.orthoklenses.com

Sharp Family Law fp January.qxp_Layout 23 19/12/2016 10:08 Page 1

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

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By Sharon Giles, Sharp Family Law – Bath and Bristol Solicitors. Protecting what matters most

W

ell, the truth is, if we’re talking about divorce in the UK, there are only five.

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For some, the actual cause of marital breakdown is intangible – a gradual erosion of the spark that was once there by years of irritation. So is a refusal to empty the dishwasher enough to satisfy a Judge that a marriage is broken down? Probably not. But after 25 years, such a seemingly minor issue could well be the ‘last straw’.

Moving on to a better future With professional support and an understanding of why a one-sided blame petition is needed, the finger pointing can be tempered. The focus can then turn to the real issues to address post divorce – such as shared care of the children and division of family finance.

For those prepared to wait until they’ve been living apart for two years or more, the need to find fault disappears. In reality though, most couples want their divorce to proceed without delay once they’ve made the decision. The currently obligatory ‘blame’ therefore needs careful management to avoid negative impacts on long-term outcomes.

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Sharp Family Law: 5, Gay Street, Bath, BA1 2PH, UK email: info@sharpfamilylaw.com m: 07950 173992 t: 01225 448955 website: www.sharpfamilylaw.com

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FAMILY | EVENTS

FAMILY DIARY IDEAS FOR THINGS TO DO WITH THE CHILDREN THIS MONTH Jump on a train ride, run around the outdoor play area or visit pets corner. And if you need to get out of the cold, the play barn is a large indoor play area with gravity defying slides, rope ladders, soft play and obstacle areas to keep the little ones occupied. There’s also a mini indoor village, with a pet store, post office and café for under five year olds to explore. Visit: avonvalley.co.uk or call: 0117 9864929.

Winter opening hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 5.30pm.

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SNOW MOUSE n The egg, Sawclose, Bath, BA1 1ET On until 22 January, times vary After an extended run last Christmas, Travelling Light Theatre Company is back with a new story about a little white mouse’s adventures in the snow. This follows the tale of a young boy who, while playing outside in the snowy woods, comes across a sleeping mouse buried under the snow. Together they explore the winter wonderland and laugh the whole way. Suitable for children aged three months – four years old. Tickets: adults £8.50, children £7.50, nurseries £6.50. Visit: theatreroyal.org.uk or call: 01225 823409 to book.

Also at The egg this month ROBIN HOOD On until 15 January The egg’s seasonal show follows the life of the legend of infamous outlaw Robin Hood as he outwits the evil sheriff of Nottingham and falls for Maid Marian. Expect spectacular sword-fighting performed by Robin and his merry men. Written and directed by Greg Banks. Suitable for ages six and over. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets: £18 adults, £12 children and students. Visit: theatreroyal.org.uk or call: 01225 823409 to book.

YEARLINGS WORKSHOPS n The Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney Street Mondays and Tuesdays, 10.30am – 12pm In this popular weekly workshop Chrissie Weltike will guide parents and children aged 12 – 24 months as they play and learn together through stories and creative activities inspired by the museum’s collection. Children can also celebrate the changing seasons with songs and sensory exploration. All places must be booked and paid for in advance. Block bookings only.

Visit holburne.org or call: 01225 388568 to find out more.

Also at The Holburne this month TODDLEALONGS WORKSHOPS Starting Friday 6 January, 10.30am – 12pm or 1 – 2.30pm These weekly morning or afternoon workshops allow children aged two – five years old to explore their creative sides through song, stories and art alongside their parents. There is a new museum-related

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The New Adventures of Snow Mouse at The egg

theme each week. Block bookings only. £60 for six weeks, £120 for 12. Visit holburne.org to book.

MUSIC FOR MINIATURES n St Swithin's Church, The Paragon, Bath, BA1 5LY Wednesday 11 and Saturday 14 January, 10.30 – 11.15am Music for Miniatures brings live classical concerts to babies and young children across Bath. Babies can sleep, babble and crawl while toddlers are able to dance, play airinstruments and engage with the performers. £7 per adult and child pair, with £3 per extra adult or child. Book online: musicforminiatures.co.uk.

ROYAL NAVY FLEET AIR ARM MUSEUM n On the B3151 Throughout January With four exhibition halls, over 90 aircraft and over two million records and 30,000 artefacts, the museum is Europe's largest naval aviation museum. It also houses the first British Concorde which you can go on board, view the cockpit and visit the award winning Aircraft Carrier Experience. Tickets: adults £16, children £12. Book online to get discounted tickets. Visit: fleetairarm.com.

Tel: 01935 840565. Winter opening hours: Wednesday – Sunday, 10am – 4.30pm.

OUTDOOR FAMILY FUN n Avon Valley Adventure & Wildlife Park, Pixash Lane, Bath Road, Keynsham Throughout January

TODDLER TAKEOVER – CRAZY CREATURES n At-Bristol, Anchor Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5LL Friday 13 January, 10am – 4pm Take your little ones to a fun-filled day exclusively for under five year olds. Children will be able to create a brightly coloured bug accessory to take home, attend the Beautiful Bug Ball, and take part in story time. Tickets: £8 adults, £6 children with gift aid. Plus, take a trip to the stars in the Space Explorers Planetarium show for an extra £2.50. Visit: at-bristol.org.uk or call: 0117 915 1000.

Also at At-Bristol this month DESIGN, MAKE, MODIFY From Thursday 5 January Children can unleash their inner inventor and get hands on experience in the Tinkering Space, where they can design, make and modify their own creation. They can construct a flyer and see how far they can go, navigate their way down a vertical obstacle course, and use shadow and light to tell their own story. Included in general admission ticket.

CREATE: ART n Fine Art Studio, The Edge, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY Saturday 28 January, 10.30am – 12.30pm This creative workshop allows children to tap into their artistic sides using drawing, collage, printmaking and textiles. Led by artist educator Dorcas Casey, this is an informal session for children and parents to enjoy and pick up some tips on making art at home. £5 per child, £3 per adult. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Suitable for five – 11 year olds. Pre-booking is advisable as there are limited spaces. Call: 01225 386777 or visit: edgearts.org.

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG n Bristol Hippodrome, St Augustine’s Parade, BS1 4UZ Wednesday 25 January – Saturday 4

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FAMILY | EVENTS

February, times vary Recognised as a favourite musical among many families, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is coming to the south west to cheer us up during these dark winter evenings. Can the loveable but whacky inventor, Potts, along with his two children and Truly Scrumptious, outwit Baron Bomburst who has decreed that all children be banished from his kingdom? And if that’s not bad enough, the children must also watch out for the evil Childcatcher! Starring Jason Manford, Claire Sweeney and Phill Jupitus. Visit: atgtickets.com/venues/bristol-hippodrome or call: 0844 871 3012 for tickets.

LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION n The Museum of East Asian Art, 12 Bennett Street, Bath, BA1 2QJ Sunday 29 January, 1 – 4.30pm Celebrate the year of the rooster this month at The Museum of East Asian Art. With free entry to the museum, plus craft workshops, calligraphy classes, tea and food tasting and storytelling, there’s plenty for the whole family to enjoy. Storytelling is £2.50 per person, booking is essential. Visit: meaa.org.uk or call: 01225 4646440.

SATURDAY SKETCHING n Fashion Museum, Assembly Rooms Saturday 7 January, 10.30am – 12.30pm

the animals on the farm. You can also enjoy a bite to eat and a warm cup of cocoa at the Trough Café. Free entry. Visit: bathcityfarm.org.uk or call: 01225 481269.

Toddler Takeover at At-Bristol Photo credit: Lee Pullen

LOOKING AHEAD . . .

Get the chance to sketch the beautiful objects on display in the museum’s A History of Fashion in 100 Objects exhibition, with suggestions of key spots of interest from the museum’s curators. Use the #SaturdaySketching hashtag and tag @Fashion_Museum and @minervaartshop on Twitter, and the museum will post visitors’ sketches on its online image gallery. Free with normal museum entry.

FUN AT THE FARM n Bath City Farm, Kelston View, Bath, BA2 1NW Monday – Saturday, open 9am – 5pm Visit Bath City Farm, take in the spectacular views of the rolling countryside and meet all

THE CHIMPANZEES OF HAPPYTOWN n Wiltshire Music Centre Saturday 4 February, 3pm Join narrator Polly Ives and musicians from Ensemble 360 for a fantastic afternoon packed full of vivid story-telling, live music and bright illustrations from the original story book, The Chimpanzees of Happytown. Find out how Chutney the chimpanzee transforms gloomy Drabsville into colourful Happytown and puts a smile on everyone's face. Suitable for ages three and over. Tickets: £10 adults, £5 students and under 18s. To book, visit: wiltshiremusic.org.uk or call: 01225 860100.

BENEATH THE BLIZZARD n The egg Friday 10 – Tuesday 14 February, times vary The city has been abandoned – no one dares visit after the disaster that struck so long ago – except for a small group of survivors that live beneath a secret bolt hole. This production is one of storytelling, folk music, and instrument-swapping. Suitable for ages seven and above. n

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EDUCATION NEWS WAR VETERAN’S LIVING HISTORY Children at The Paragon School enjoyed a living history lesson when former RAF serviceman and veteran of the Second World War, 95-year-old George ‘Johnny’ Johnson, pictured with headmaster Andrew Harvey and some of the pupils, visited the school in Lyncombe.

Johnny Johnson gave a talk to Year 5 and 6 pupils about his war-time experiences, which included taking part in the Operation Chastise raids on the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe Dams in Germany in 1943 – raids which were the subject of the 1955 film The Dam Busters.

The children asked the retired Squadron Leader questions, including whether or not he was scared during the raid (“No I wasn’t”), how old he was when

he started training as a bomb aimer (21) and whether or not he received any injuries. He also explained what each of his medals were awarded for.

The veteran left the children some advice from his own experience: “You should have an ambition and work your hardest to achieve it. Whatever you do in life, do it to the best of your ability.”

RECORD FUNDRAISING King Edward’s School in Bath presented a cheque to the Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW) for £10,000, following a year of fundraising by pupils and staff at the school.

It is the school’s largest ever charity presentation and includes a donation by KES parents, the school’s parent-led body who fundraise and run events throughout the year including the Christmas Fair.

Fundraising events included cake sales, a Year 10 sponsored cycle ride on exercise bikes covering the distance from Land’s

End to John O’Groats, KES Aid Week and the annual KES Charity Music Concert. One initiative, led by KES Soul, the School’s funk and soul band, saw the music group record and release a ten track album, Inconsoulable, the sales of which have so far raised more than £1,000 for charities including the children’s hospice which serves the south west, including Bath.

The album was recorded with the help of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and recorded at the Sony recording studio at the college.

ARTS HAVE POWER TO CONNECT A Level drama students at Kingswood School in Bath put on a production of Our Country’s Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker in the Kingswood Theatre. The play, which is a set text for many drama students, is set in 18th century Australia when a group of convicts and gaolers decide to put on a performance of George Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer.

Head of drama, Kate Nash said: “Our Country’s Good is incredibly funny, poignant and thoughtprovoking. Perhaps in these dark times of austerity and political and social turmoil across the globe there has never been a better time to remind ourselves of the redemptive and cohesive power of the arts and the fact that we have more in common than divides us.”

There was a retiring collection in aid of the UK Sepsis Trust and POWERFUL MESSAGE: cast members Conor Devlin Cook and Lizzie Scott the Genesis Trust.

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New year, new goals?

Part-time MSc Strategy, Change and Leadership

Scholarships now available*

Designed for busy managers to fit around a demanding management role, this part-time programme will help you to: • enhance your impact as a leader • understand organisational complexity and issues affecting success • improve your ability to manage change and uncertainty • make better choices about growth and strategic direction

Email Cheralyn Dark at efim-scl@bristol.ac.uk or Tel: 0117 954 6694 for details www.bristol.ac.uk/efm/courses/postgraduate/programmes/strat-change-leadership.html Come along to our Open Evening on Wednesday 22 March 2017 between 6-7.30pm.

To register, please email Cheralyn at efim-scl@bristol.ac.uk

*Selection criteria will apply.

Contact Cheralyn for details.

New Year, New Opportunities at Bath College If you’re looking for a new way to challenge yourself in the new year take a look at Bath College’s Love2learn part-time leisure courses.

It’s easy to add a course at Bath College to the top of your New Year’s resolutions list. You can visit our student advice centre, pick up a prospectus or visit our website where every course is listed.

We provide a wide range of courses to make sure there’s something for everyone – from art and design, cookery, music and floristry to business, computing, property maintenance and pet care.

You can choose from a five-week introduction to philosophy, practice your counselling skills or enrol on one of our popular digital marketing courses and learn how to boost your online presence.

In January, we start our beginner’s courses in French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Italian. These courses are ideal if you have no previous language skills but want to be able to have a simple conversation.

We’re also looking forward to welcoming students who’d like to study classical guitar. You don’t need to have any experience of playing the guitar and by the end of course you’ll have covered tuning, essential chords and picking techniques.

For sewing fans, there’s a 10-week course where you can learn how to make Roman blinds and London blinds with a specialist tutor to guide you through measuring up, marking up and fitting. Or, if you haven’t used a sewing machine before, we have a new sewing skills course which will help you learn machine stitch skills and how to follow a pattern.

If you’re looking to do up your house, you can learn more about this on a painting and decorating, or plastering course, at our Somer Valley Campus in Radstock. We hold a number of courses at our Somer Valley Campus, including a four-week motor vehicle maintenance course.

This will teach people a range of basic skills, including removing a wheel if you get a flat tyre, inspecting brake discs, and checking tyre pressures. It’s perfect for young people starting to learn to drive and would also suit drivers who want to cut the cost of routine maintenance.

Anna Dawson, Love2learn co-ordinator at Bath College, is looking forward to a new year and welcoming new and regular students.

She said: “In 2016 we welcomed over 1500 students from all over the region who came to us looking to further their skills for work or leisure and we are expecting another busy year in 2017, so I would encourage people to sign up for courses as early as possible.”

For more information on our courses and how to enrol visit www.bathcollege.ac.uk or call us on 01225 328720.

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TREASURE | HUNT

HOW MANY DID YOU SPOT?

In our Christmas issue we launched a treasure hunt which challenged readers to identify 35 places in Bath, with a prize draw to win afternoon tea for four at the Pump Room. And here are the answers . . .

1

2

3 4

5

7

6 10

8

9

11

13 12

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16

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HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW BATH? – 1) Beckford’s Tower. 2) Royal Crescent. 3) The war memorial, Royal Avenue. 4) St Michael’s Without Church door, Broad Street. 5) The Porter, George Street. 6) Brock Street. 7) Grace and Mabel, Broad Street.

8) The Paragon. 9) The Podium, Northgate. 10) Chapel Row, off Queen Square. 11) Princes Street. 12) George Street. 13) The Theatre Royal, Beauford Square facade. 14) Beau Nash, Sawclose. 15) Beneath the statue of Queen Victoria, Bridge Street.

16) Mallory & Son jewellers, Bridge Street. 17) Above Apricot, Union Street. 18) Sally Lunn’s house, North Parade. 19) Bath College, James Street West. 20) Walcot Street. 21) Bellotts Hospital, Beau Street. 22) Chapel Court, St John’s Hospital.

23) Pet cemetery, Parade Gardens. 24) The Huntsman, North Parade. 25) Behind the medieval wall, Upper Borough Walls.

26) Bridewell Lane. 27) Replica of the remains of the Bishop’s Palace, Swallow Street. 28) In Marks & Spencer’s loading bay off Old Orchard Street. 29) General Wolfe’s house, Trim Street. 30) On the corner of Grove Street. 31) North Parade. 32) The White Company, Northgate Street. 33) SouthGate. 34) The Mozart statue, Parade Gardens. 35) The doors of Bath Abbey. For extra brownie points the composer associated with No 34 was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the two saints associated with No 35 are St Peter and St Paul.

THE ANSWERS

35

33 34 29

31 32 30 26

25 21

28

27 23

22

24 18

17

20

19

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TRAVEL | SKIING

SKIING DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER

Naomi Price sings the praises of Chamonix for all levels of skill and recommends the resort’s expert guides for off-piste thrills

T

here’s nowhere quite like Chamonix. The world’s capital of off-piste skiing and extreme snowsports is a proper town in its own right. Smart shops, ordinary shops, large industrial areas, ornate Deco rooftops and cobbled streets – the mementoes of the early days of recreational skiing and the ways we live now all coexisting in jumbled harmony. With the other world of remote wilderness at 3,000 metres just 20 minutes above it all.

Chamonix is not really Chamonix but its five resorts: The Grands Montets, Les Houches, Brévent, Flégère and Le Tour. If you love your off-piste and the grail of untracked powder, it’s all here, with everything that wild terrain has to offer – the silent woods, the roller-coaster compressions up and over river beds, the chance to spot chamois and ibex, eagles and kites. And especially the glacier, where delicate shades of greens and blues show hazily through nature’s arrangement of seracs.

But if you’re not careful you could happen upon one of these as well – or 40 feet down inside a neighbouring crevasse. Don’t do that. It’s a nobrainer. Ski with a guide. Or more importantly, behind one. In 99% of avalanches, it’s the victim who sets them off. Guides approved by the Union Internationale des Associations de Guides de Montagne are the only ones to use – they’re qualified to the point where no further qualifications are possible.

There’s no shortage of off-piste all over the Chamonix valley of all types.

Le Tour, which enjoys the highest snowfall in France, provides good intermediate terrain; Les Houches, gentler gradients. The Grands Montets yields some of the most challenging skiing in the Chamonix valley, with many variations off the back of the Argentière glacier from 3,275 metres, accessed by a vertiginous flight of 100 see-through metal steps (fortunately the view directly underneath is invisible in poor weather). From there, a long 2,400-metre run drop into huge powder bowls and or steep tree descents down to the valley floor.

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Chamonix’s attractions for off-piste skiers: 22-km of some of the most exhilaratingly-beautiful scenery, leading down to the Mer de Glace. On a sunny day its benign aspect is especially misleading, concealing the multitude of crevasses that lie beneath.

It must only be skied with a qualified guide to whom skiers are initially roped for extra safety over the narrow entry at the top of a long arrête that needs to be covered on foot.

UIAGM guides are athletes with qualifications both reassuring and intimidating – the result of many years of training that involves a portfolio of 24-hour ice-climbs, vertiginous mountaineering and extreme skiing.

They clock your ability in a matter of seconds, won’t take you to places you can’t handle at the going pace, and are without exception extraordinarily brave.

Favourite routes for guides’ own personal amusement include the legendary descent down the Whymper couloir (gradient between 47 and 50 degrees), or the Pas de Chèvre (Goat Fell) down the west face of the Argentière glacier via the Rectiligne

couloir (taking in the odd poubelle, graphically named for the resemblance to a rubbish-chute).

But let’s not forget that Cham is a ski resort, which means that it has pistes, and pistes are created for people to ski on. Although it’s steep (a Chamonix blue may sometimes resemble something that another gradient-deprived ski resort may classify as a red or even black).

Ironically its nursery areas are more hospitable than those of many allegedly easier resorts in the Alps, with flat slopes and large, open green runs (Brévent-Flégère and Les Houches especially).

As Chamonix is not a purpose-built ski resort, there’s as much for nonskiers to do as there would be in any non-ski-related town, with more good restaurants than you can shake a ski pole at. Which is where you’ll find the mountain guides on a day without clients.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Ski Weekend is the only English company which organises all that Chamonix has to offer, and typically

REASSURING AND INTIMIDATING: main picture, Naomi Price, right, with an expert guide Opposite page, some of the excitement to be had off-piste and, right, the steps linking the Argentiere glacier

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TRAVEL | SKIING

round a long weekend. Small and slickly efficient, they arrange bookings at no notice (“The guys are on the plane – can you meet the flight?”), pick you up at Geneva and get you back to base, often within the hour. They provide a taxi service between areas, so the problem of Chamonix’s fragmented set-up instantly goes away.

The company runs courses tailored to requirements around learning to ski and improve in powder – Belles Traces (Fresh tracks) to Toutes Terrains Toutes Neiges (Ski the Whole Mountain) and Belles Traces (advanced off-piste). Piste Perfection offers – piste perfection, naturally. The services of a selection of the best of UIAGM guides,

shared between guests (with no more than six in a group) are offered at a cost drastically less than the 320+ euros per day, the standard rate for guides.

Ski Weekend prices start from £399 for four days/three nights at their base, Chalet Jumelles, which creaks with warm, friendly wood (even the wash-basins are teak) and quiet luxury. Packages cover half-board accommodation and transfers to and from Geneva and within resort. Contact: skiweekend.com, tel: 01392 878353.

The Chamonix area lift pass normally suffices (around £140) but the Mont Blanc Unlimited lift pass includes neighbouring Megève (St Gervais), Swiss Verbier and

THE WAX DOCTOR BATH’S ONLY SKI WAXING SERVICE

Italian Courmayeur. Just 30 minutes away through the Mont Blanc tunnel, this resort is a strong option when preferable conditions sometimes prevail and the Vallée Blanche may be accessed from here with a much easier entry.

Chamonix is stuffed with good restaurants and several Michelin-starred ones too.

For inventive, funky cuisine try L’Impossible in Cham Sud for unlikely but successful combinations: ricotta and parmesan mousse with chestnut honey and ginger; homemade pasta in a thyme and apple sauce; oyster ravioli with black truffle and orange honey. Contact: restaurantimpossible.com. n

Traditional alpine package: • De-wax and de-rust • Edge sharpening • Hot hand wax and brush finish • Base repairs extra • No harsh machinery

Skis £20 and Boards £25 Bath based Free city-centre pickup Text/call Kieran @ 07740 698 654

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HEALTH | BEAUTY

JAN FEELGOOD

Wellbeing

NOTEBOOK MIND AND BODY

Keiko Kishimoto was born in Japan, and having always been interested in the link between mind and body and the concept of holistic care, found that this fascination was intensified by her experience of travelling to England and discovering a new culture. Since the start of her training as a holistic therapist she has continued to develop her skills and add to her knowledge of a wide range of treatments and therapies. Combining both eastern and western techniques she aims to bring tranquillity and relaxation as well as physical and mental wellbeing to her clients.

Keiko’s list of treatments includes massage, reflexology, pregnancy care, facial treatments (including natural facelift massage and Japanese Cosmo Facelift) and Reiki.

For this time of year, Keiko particularly recommends aromatherapy or manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) treatments which both aim to cleanse the body from inside and out and offer intense relaxation. MLD is a gentle, non-invasive technique designed to remove excess fluid from the tissues by stimulating the lymphatic system. In oriental medicine it is believed that massage can help the smooth flow of Qi (energy) around the body which in turn aids the natural detoxifying process. Herbaceous and fruity fragrances such as lavender, chamomile, mandarin and bergamot are thought to be particularly beneficial in banishing winter sluggishness as we approach spring.

Keiko Kishimoto (IFPA, IIHHT, MICH) offers treatments at Southwick near Trowbridge and at Neal’s Yard Remedies, 11 Northumberland Place, Bath, BA1 5AR. Contact: Keikokishimoto.co.uk BUDDHIST PATH Modern life can be frenetic and stressful. If you feel the need to find some peace and stillness; meditation is said to help give a sense of space and serenity. Tibetan Buddhism is known for its powerful mind-training techniques, but Buddhism can also be a spiritual path, encompassing the practices of meditation and wisdom together with ethical behaviour to transform us and give our lives deeper meaning. The Bath Sakya Buddhist Group believes that the teachings of Buddha are as relevant today as they were 2,500 years ago. The group runs weekly classes at the Museum of Bath at Work, offering insight into Buddha’s teachings as well as instruction in the practise of ‘calm-abiding’ meditation. The group is a branch of Sakya Centre Bristol, and a part of Dechen, a network of Buddhist centres around the world, whose spiritual director, Lama Jampa Thaye, is one of the leading teachers of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. For more information on their courses visit: sakyabristol.org/bath or email: bath@dechen.org

HELPING HANDS Developed over 30 years ago, L’Occitane’s Shea Butter Hand Cream is a worldwide bestseller. Now L’Occitane has launched a new Intensive Hand Balm, enriched with 25% shea butter, perfect for soothing winter hands. A small amount of this extra rich texture is all you need to soften, nourish and protect damaged skin. Use daily as a hand balm or as a twice weekly mask; apply generously and leave to absorb for 10 minutes. L’Occitane operates a fair trade partnership with women working in cooperatives in Burkina Faso supporting their education and literacy. More than 9,700 women have been helped by the L’Occitane Foundation which has been cited by the UN (within the framework of the UN Development Programme) as an exemplary company.

Shea Butter Hand Cream, 150ml, £19, Shea Butter Hand Cream, 150ml £21.

L’Occitane, 13 New Bond Street, Bath, BA1 1BE

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Feeling jaded afte r all the excesses of the fe stive season?

Here’s a selection of little lifts that will gently ease you into 2017

DETOX TO A ‘T’ Bristol based Pukka Herbs’ Clean Me Green wellbeing kit offers muchneeded nourishment to start the new year. Bringing together the power of organic plants in one easy-to-follow, two week programme, the kit includes Pukka’s expertly blended Detox tea and Clean Matcha Green tea.

Clean Greens superblend powder is also included and can boast high levels of iodine, which contributes to healthy skin and supports both thyroid function and thyroid hormone production. RRP: £19.99 Pukka products are available at Seasons, 10 George Street, Bath, BA1 2EH or online at pukkaherbs.com

PILATES QUARTER A brand new fully equipped Pilates Studio has opened in the city. The Pilates Quarter will offer private small group sessions with programmes which address physical imbalances and personal goals to improve posture, strengthen the core, increase flexibility and overall strength and which can help to rehabilitate from injury. The studio is open daily so you’re sure to find a time that suits you and the team is offering a 55 minute introductory class for the special price of £20 throughout January. There is also a free half hour private session for every 20 classes booked. Visit: thepilatesquarter.com. 1 Cleveland Place East, Bath, BA1 5DJ. Tel: 01225 444525 ME TIME FOR RUNNERS The Vitality Bath Half Marathon will take place on Sunday 12 March. With 15,000 people taking part in the main race, along with the family run, it’s probably safe to say that you’re never further than six feet away from a runner (if you’re not one yourself). Many will be starting their training in earnest this month and will be in need of a little ‘me time’ to soothe those aching muscles. Mio Skincare’s Run Faster Kit includes Workout Wonder muscle gel, Liquid Yoga restorative bath soak and two Clean Slate workout wipes for face and body. The muscle gel can be applied preand post-run to warm and relax legs and feet, the bath soak acts as a single shot for a long stint in the tub or as drops in a foot soak, and the wipes are useful for when you need to freshen up but a shower is not an option. Mio Skincare Run Faster Kit £18.50.

The full range of Mio products is available online at: mioskincare.co.uk Space.NK. apothecary also stocks the brand and offers a free click and collect service at 10 New Bond Street Place, Bath, BA1 1BE

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What is Cryotherapy and what does it treat?

Hydra Peel Infusion the perfect post Christmas pick-me-up

Before and After Treatments

Dermapen Cryo is an advanced cryotherapy innovation that is fast, effective and safe and a new solution for removal of skin imperfections.

Hydra Peel Infusion is a treatment that combines dermabrasion, hydration, chemical peeling and non-needle mesotherapy to infuse different vitamins into the skin. Treatments have no down time and are suitable for all skin types. It can be used to target fine lines, wrinkles, dry skin, scarring, rosacea, sun damage and pigmentation as well as problematic skins.

The Dermapen Cryo emits a fine jet of nitrous oxide under high pressure which destroys the tissue without damaging the healthy surrounding skin.

Dermapen Cryo offers the ideal treatment for skin tags • sun damage • pigmentation • age spots milia • warts • cherry angiomas

Contact us for your FREE consultation

Dermal Fillers and Anti Wrinkle treatments Treatments performed by one of the medical team from the Dr Rita Rakus cosmetic award winning Clinic as featured in Tatler Clinic dates: Mon 23rd & 30th Jan, Mon 6th & Tues 7th Feb

www.drritarakus.com

Uplift not a Facelift ULTHERAPY is now available in Bath.

The latest non-surgical skin tightening treatment using state-of-the art ultrasound technology – “Uplift Not A Facelift” www.drritarakus.com

No.2 Kingsmead St. Bath • Tel: 01225 466851 www.theorangerylaserandbeautybath.co.uk

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HEALTH | & | BEAUTY

R E V I EW

A BURST OF SUMMER Georgette McCready visits the UK’s first L’Occitane spa at The Bath Priory Hotel

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he low winter’s sun casts a watery grey light over the ancient cedar tree on the lawns of the Bath Priory Hotel. It’s hard to imagine that this is the same golden sun that warms the earth and blesses the fragrant herbs and flowers of Provence in the south of France – home of lavender fields, orange groves and almond trees.

Luckily for us, here in winter-bound Bath, we’re now able to step straight into that bone-warming, restorative Provençal heat, thanks to the opening of the new L’Occitane spa at the award-winning Bath Priory Hotel. In keeping with the rest of the hotel, the atmosphere and welcome at the newly refurbished Garden Spa is reminiscent of arriving at a private country house. The staff and the ambience are adept at making you feel relaxed, encouraging you to slip off your coat and make yourself at home.

And on a day when the rest of the world was wearing its acrylic Christmas jumper and suffering yet another rendition of Santa Baby, I can’t begin to tell you how good it felt to step into the indoor pool at the spa and feel weightlessly at ease in the warm waters. If you book in for an afternoon you can enjoy all the facilities at this small but perfectly formed spa, beautifully designed and equiped with sauna, steam room, loungers and views across the gardens.

My therapist for the day was Chloe, who began with a ritual of gently washing and drying my feet. This was the first step to properly unwinding. My treatment of choice for the day was a shea ultra rich moisturising body wrap (45 minutes, £65 mid-week) using all those gorgeous L’Occitane products that smell so divine and are made from wholesome, natural ingredients.

My skin was thoroughly pampered and gently moisturised before I was cocooned like a cosy caterpillar in warm blankets, while, thanks to Chloe, an expert head massage finished the process of complete and utter relaxation. My skin did feel soft and nourished the next day too.

The whole process was unhurried, calm and shamelessly indulgent.

Afterwards, still in a warm glow, I lounged in the relaxation room with a herbal tea, looking out across the wintery gardens but thinking very sunny thoughts indeed.

Be among the first to try out The Garden Spa by L’Occitane with our exclusive reader offer, available only to The Bath Magazine readers and the perfect excuse to visit during January or February with friends. For £95 per person you can enjoy the full use of The Garden Spa by L’Occitane facilities with complementary use of robe, slippers and towel; a 25 minute treatment per person (choose from a revitalising aromachologie massage, a relaxing back massage, a mini manicure or a mini pedicure); full afternoon tea served in the Pantry; a glass of Champagne and 20% discount on any additional treatments booked.

This offer is available Monday to Thursday, from Tuesday 3 January to 28 February. Booking is essential and is subject to availability.

To book call The Garden Spa by L’Occitane, tel: 01225 478395 and quote The Bath Magazine when you book. For more information on the spa visit: thebathpriory.co.uk. n

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NEW FULLY EQUIPPED STUDIO IN BATH OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK HIGHLY QUALIFIED EXPERIENCED TEACHERS POSTURE CORE FLEXIBILITY STRENGTH REHABILITATION PRIVATE SESSIONS SMALL GROUPS OPENING SPECIAL 55 MINUTE PRIVATE INTRODUCTORY CLASS £20.00

TEL: 01225 444525 1 CLEVELAND PLACE EAST, BATH, BA1 5DJ WWW.THEPILATESQUARTER.CO.UK

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WEDDINGS

THE WEDDING LIST The Bath Magazine takes the stress out of wedding planning with some of our favourite wedding experts CARINA BAVERSTOCK COUTURE 11 Silver Street, Bradford on Avon, BA15 1JY Tel: 01225 866610 Web: carinabcouture.com Carina Baverstock and Lucy Haywood Rogers, directors of Carina Baverstock Couture, have just celebrated their sixth year in the boutique, having built the business from strength to strength with a simple ethos – to be unsurpassed on every level and to house leading British designers, hand cut individual gowns for each bride, not the more manufactured mass produced dresses.

It has been their mission to offer the very best of each genre of wedding dress, whether it is a classic gown in luxurious zibeline silk or a more eclectic design of hand embroidery with subtle hints of colour. This is what the company has built its reputation on and won national awards for – they’ve even starred on television.

The appointments at Carina Baverstock Couture are an experience like no other – Carina and Lucy take a genuine interest in each bride and try to understand what she would like to say about herself on her wedding day.

This year looks to be very exciting as the company has two new independent British designers who have joined its high calibre line up. Sharon Bowen Dryden has brought a breath of fresh air with her pop of bridal colour and artistic flair for brides searching for alternative statement dresses, while Clinton Lotter brings sheer elegance and sophistication with his seductive washed silk bias cut gowns.

Other designers showcased at the boutique include Suzanne Neville, who leads the way in modern contemporary classics with red carpet impact. This mood is juxtaposed with the luxury boho chic of Alice Tempereley’s festival vibe. The company’s final coup of last year was to bring Caroline Castigliano back to Bath – popular in the area for her young yet classic take on the relaxed modern bride.

Makeup by Christy Waterfall. Credit: James Green Photographer

SIGNATURE BATH TOURS Web: signaturebathtours.com For enquiries and bookings: signaturetours@hotmail.com This year treat that special someone to a priceless gift. Getting engaged? Celebrating an anniversary? Planning a proposal? Signature Bath Tours is a new and unique experience in Bath. A day tailored around you and your loved one.

Stroll through the beautiful parks and gardens.

Marvel at the glowing Georgian architecture.

Admire the Romans’ innovation. Indulge in gastronomic delights at the best cafés and restaurants. All the while having beautiful, candid and creative photos taken of you both.

This city is the finest backdrop for the love, laughter and happiness you’ll share. Special memories are made in special places and Bath is just that. Treasure those memories forever with the most wonderful souvenir – your own bespoke hardback book.

BATH FUNCTION ROOMS Green Park Station, Bath, BA1 1JB Tel: 01225 332981 Web: bathfunctionrooms.com Bath Function Rooms is a unique licensed venue for civil partnerships and weddings in the heart of Bath, offering restaurant quality catering provided by Green Park Brasserie. With over 20 years experience catering for large events and weddings, the team are happy to cater to your every need and create bespoke menu packages for couples. With a dedicated events manager, you will be helped every step of the way with planning your big day, and there will be a team of experienced staff on hand to make the running of your wedding as smooth as possible, so you can relax and enjoy the moment.

CHANNI B 9 Milsom Place, Bath, BA1 1BZ Tel: 01225 333693 Web: chaniibshoes.com

Caroline Castigliano, Morning Gown, Carina Baverstock

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Cork footbeds are a popular choice for weddings as they offer all day comfort and act as a platform reducing the heel height. Chanii B offers the chance to make your own bespoke wedding shoes unique to you and your big day – choose from an existing style like La Lune or design your own from scratch. Timescales and costs vary. For more information contact: chantal@chaniib.com.

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WEDDINGS

CHRISTY WATERFALL MAKEUP ARTIST Tel: 07970 101115 Web: christywaterfall.com Bath-based bridal makeup artist Christy Waterfall is incredibly passionate about providing the best bridal makeup service possible. She says: “I always take the time to understand a bride’s own individual style and reflect this in their bridal makeup. I select products and application techniques to ensure that the makeup will last well into the early hours, and look amazing in photographs as well as in natural light.”

Christy provides every bride with a makeup trial, saying: “It is very reassuring for a bride to know that her makeup will look exactly as she wants it to be on her special day and to have the opportunity to give it a good test.”

“I always encourage brides to wear their trial makeup for as long as possible, even go to the gym to see for themselves that the mascara doesn’t budge! From a more practical point of view, it is important to know that the products used work well on a client’s skin.”

“During the trial, it’s also a good time to create a schedule for the bridal preparation and I can offer practical advice from experience to hopefully take away some of the ‘unknowns’, such as ‘hair before or after makeup?’ ‘what time should I put my gown on?’ and ‘how will the timings work with the arrival of the photographer?’.

“Some brides are very clear on what makeup they would like for their wedding day and others leave it up to me to choose – either is fine,” she says. “From enhancing natural beauty in a subtle way, through to more defined looks such as modern 1940s, 1950s and 1960s makeup, Hollywood glamour or sultry smokey eyes, I’ve enjoyed creating them all on the lovely brides I have had the pleasure of doing makeup for.”

Christy uses carefully selected, high quality products, including Tom Ford, Bobbi Brown, Estee Lauder, Chanel, Nars, Mac, Lancôme and Dior, and is meticulous at adhering to all hygiene practices and takes great care of her kit.

Christy also works alongside many talented local suppliers, including hair stylists, wedding photographers and florists. Christy is happy to recommend her connections to her clients and all of these suppliers are listed on her website in the ‘love to work with’ section. “It’s a wonderful feeling for a bride and groom to know that they are in safe hands with professional people involved with the various parts that make up their special day,” she says.

THEBATHMAG.CO.UK

Makeup by Christy Waterfall. Credit: Lush Imaging

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THE HIDDEN CORNERS

Andrew Swift leads us on a stroll around Bathwick, highlighting historic points of interest along the way, before arriving in Sydney Gardens where he invites us to imagine the pleasure gardens in their heyday

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ntil the late 18th century, Bathwick was a tiny village clustered around a 12th century church, and was accessible from Bath only by ferry. Then Pulteney Bridge was built, and plans were drawn up for development on an unprecedented scale, with one of the most elegant streets in Europe leading to the eclectic delights of Sydney Gardens. The old church was swept away, along with the cottages, as out of keeping with the ultra-modern, ultra-fashionable new town that sprang up around them.

Only part of what was intended was built, but, over two centuries on, still fashionable but no longer new, Bathwick is full of architectural showpieces, as well as some decidedly quirky hidden corners, which this month’s walk goes in search of.

Setting off across Pulteney Bridge, with the classic vista of Great Pulteney Street ahead, turn left down Grove Street. The datestone of 5792 on the left dates from 1788, which was 5792 according to the Masonic calendar, which began in 4004 BC, when the world was believed to have been created.

As the road curves, you pass the old gaol on the right. This was one of the first new buildings erected in Bathwick, and, to blend in with the rest of the intended development, was in palatial style – except for the ground 80 TheBATHMagazine

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floor, which should have been its basement. Like other Georgian houses, it was built from the basement up, but the street was never built up to what should have been its ground floor.

A little further on, bear right along a broad alley past an old school and turn right along Henrietta Street. Look out for two archways on the left that led to Laura Chapel, where worshippers had to pay for the privilege of attending services. Opened in 1795, it was demolished in 1909. Turn left through the next archway into Henrietta Mews.

The redbrick building you pass on the right was built in 1907 as a garage for the Pulteney Hotel. Turn left into Henrietta Park, where there was to have been a large square – until the money ran out. Bear left, passing an old drinking fountain, and then fork right, where, hidden behind the fence of the George V Memorial Garden, is a stone commemorating the park’s opening in 1897.

Bear left along a path, turn right along Henrietta Road, and, just before the end, turn left into St Mary’s Churchyard, with a ruinous mortuary chapel, built from stones salvaged from the old church, in its midst.

Heading clockwise round the cemetery, look out for a Roman coffin built into a wall, and a blocked archway into the garden of the old rectory, which also came from the old church. As you go

through the gates at the end, St John’s Church, consecrated in 1862, is ahead.

The graveyard in front of it – with a tomb bearing the curious inscription, ‘This Grave is Full’ – is the site of the old church, demolished in 1818.

Turn right up to the road. The elaborate archway opposite may once have been the entrance to long-lost pleasure gardens, although it later served as the entrance to a builder’s yard. To its right is Rochfort Place, with superb fanlights and toothingstones indicating that there were plans to extend it further north.

To the right of Rochfort Place is the oldest surviving house in Bathwick.

The spacing of the second-floor windows is due to it having been gabled; a parapet was added in the 18th century to modernise it.

As you turn right along Bathwick Street, you come to Holburne Place, newly-built in mock-Georgian style. In 2012, before work started on it, archaeologists discovered a Roman street and buildings on the site. Cross at the lights, carry straight on along an alleyway and turn right along redbrick Powlett Road. A left turn at the end leads into Forester Road and the site of Bathwick Villa, built in 1777 and once surrounded by the aforementioned pleasure gardens. When it was demolished in 1897, some of its ornaments, such as urns, pediments and a winged dragon, were used to

WINTER WONDERLAND: main picture, the Kennet and Avon Canal cuts a swathe through Sydney Gardens Opposite page, one of the lost pubs of Bath, the Queen Victoria in Hampton Row and right, the mortuary chapel at St Mary’s Churchyard was built from stones taken from the original 12th century church which once stood on this site

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THE | WALK

embellish the houses on the left.

Turn right along Forester Lane and left at the end, passing a cottage which, until the canal was re-routed in 1840 to make way for the railway, stood on its banks. After passing the end of Rockcliffe Avenue, the road drops down to Hampton Row, passing the entrance to Cleveland Pools, opened in 1817, closed in 1984 and now the focus of a concerted reopening campaign.

A little further on, at 1 Hampton Row, was the Queen Victoria pub, closed in 1965 and earmarked for demolition, along with the rest of the row, to build a new road. The scheme was dropped and the houses were saved, although those at the end remain derelict. At the end, where the road widens, was Bath’s

shortest-lived station, Hampton Row Halt, opened in 1907 and closed in 1917.

Cross the footbridge, go up steps and turn right alongside the canal. After 200m, when the canal widens, were the Darlington Baths.

Opened in 1869 for men and boys (unless they were ‘intoxicated or disorderly’), the baths were screened from public view and closed in 1901, although steps down to the water survive.

Carry on through the tunnel, taking a look at Old Father Thames above the portal at the far end, and, after going under a bridge, go through a gate into Sydney Gardens. Opened in 1795, these were packed with delights to divert visitors, and, when the canal was built five years later, it was designed to complement

their air of whimsical elegance.

Standing here during the gardens’ heyday, you would have seen, to your left, a maze twice the size of that at Hampton Court, with a Merlin swing in the middle, and a ‘romantic subterranean passage’ leading to an elaborate grotto. Over to the right was a sham castle surrounded by a moat, from which a stream ran down to turn the wheel of a miniature mill. Elsewhere there were swings, while down by the hotel – now the Holburne Museum – were dinner boxes, a bandstand, a cascade and an area for firework displays.

None of these delights survives. What was left of them went when the railway was built, but, to round off the walk, one visual spectacle can still be enjoyed.

If you head to the front of the Holburne and look along Great Pulteney Street, you will see, rising above the buildings at the far end, the Silbury-like profile of Twerton Round Hill, which, according to legend, was the burial place of Bladud, founder of Bath.

While it is possible that this alignment is fortuitous, it was billed as one of the garden’s attractions, and, given that the whole development was on a greenfield site, there seems no reason to suppose it was not deliberate. n Andrew Swift is the author of On Foot in Bath: Fifteen Walks Around a World Heritage City and co-author, with Kirsten Elliot, of the recently-published Ghost Signs of Bath.

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Clair interiors Jan.qxp_Layout 1 19/12/2016 09:13 Page 1

THE WHEELS OF CHANGE Bath interior designer Clair Strong was asked to carry out a contemporary and inspirational redesign for the Bath offices of a workplace dedicated to promoting green transport

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The second was that the Cyclescheme team would continue to occupy the building during the project.

Clair said of these challenges: “We phased the work so that sections of the building could be closed off in sequence, and the Cyclescheme team could continue to work as normal – or as near to normal as possible – during the refurbishment. The employees were very positive about the changes, which made an enormous difference to the smooth running of the project.”

ath interior designer Clair Strong was hired to work with Grass Roots on a large-scale refurbishment of its Queen Anne House offices, which houses its Cyclescheme business. We spoke to Clair to get the inside scoop on the project.

THE COMPANY Cyclescheme was born out of the Government’s green transport plan to get people healthier by regularly cycling to work.

It began life in 2005 as a small tax-free cycle to work provider based out of a Bath bike shop. Grass Roots’ headquarters is in Hertfordshire, while the Bath office is in Charlotte Street, just off Queen Square. Now part of the wider Grass Roots Group, Cyclescheme has become one of the largest providers of employee benefits.

In the Bath office, which employs 45 people, the company provides employee benefits for mobile phones, cycle to work bikes, and tech gadgets for employers and their employees, allowing people to save money (up to 42%) and spread the costs.

THE BRIEF Designer Clair Strong was enlisted to create a fresh, modern environment, somewhere to create a positive vibe for both staff, and visitors to the building. The business 110 82 TheBATHMagazine TheBATHMagazine | | January DeCeMber 2017 2016

THE PROJECT

operates a paperless policy, and Clair was encouraged to continue this theme and rid the offices of clutter to create a spacious and attractive environment.

The project faced two potential challenges.

The first was that Queen Anne House is a listed building, so Clair and her team were required to work within these constraints, and apply for consent for some of the planned works.

After preliminary design and budget work – and the all important granting of consents – work started in spring 2016 for a six-month period. There were a few issues to tackle.

There was a staff room on the top floor, which was tired and unattractive. Being at the top of the building, it meant staff had to carry hot drinks down a winding, narrow staircase to their desks. The building was painted magnolia with the usual carpet tiles – in shades of pinkish blue and grey. In addition the lighting was dim and not conducive to a working environment.

Furthermore there was only one poorly functioning shower and fewer loos than they now have.

Clair chose a colour scheme based on the company’s branding of various brightly

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CITY | INTERIORS

UPCYCLED WORKPLACE: main picture, the light first floor open plan office, its circular window echoed in the artwork This page, top left, cycle motifs used in eye-catching places; top right, the shower and washing area encourages staff to cycle to work; below left, the break-out room and bottom right, the Queen Anne house exterior belies what lies inside PICTURES: courtesy of Nick Smith

coloured overlapping bubbles. White walls kept the space fresh and modern while providing a perfect backdrop for the bespoke wall transfers featured throughout. This liberal and refreshing use of colour extends to the flooring where, rather than standard grey carpet, Clair opted for woven vinyl flooring in two of the company’s brand colours.

Taking into account the nature of the business, bicycles are a prominent theme in the design. A favourite is a clever anamorphic image of a bicycle hanging over the stairs in the reception area. This image distorts and separates as you enter the building, allowing the viewer to see that it is constructed over several planes.

In one of the large open-plan offices, making use of the building’s character, Clair turned the beautiful oriel window into the focus of a piece of artwork featuring bike wheels and spokes.

The showers, laundry facilities and a bike lock-up and workshop were provided to encourage staff to ride to work, or exercise on their breaks.

These spaces were designed using hard-wearing materials to reduce maintenance and ensure longevity.

The bike workshop and meeting

room is a particularly interesting space, using some really unusual decorating materials, including bespoke wallpaper that looks like concrete, and hardwearing vinyl tile flooring designed to look like sheet metal. The oversized spanner graphic adds a bit of humour and ties in with the bike images used in the rest of the building.

THE END RESULT With the project finally finished, what do Grass Roots’ staff think of their new workspace?

Adrian Warren, general manager and finance director, said: “The environment we work in is fundamental to our performance, mood and productivity. The office now represents the ethos of the business and the people who support it. Clair has done a fantastic job of capturing the culture of the business and running this theme throughout the office design. I can honestly say that I am proud of the environment and facilities that we now offer to our team, and are now the envy of many colleagues.”

Giovanni De Flora, product leader, said: “Coming to work to such a nice and vibrant environment like our new office makes a real difference to our

everyday office life. From the lighting and artworks to the nice vibrant colours, it is a good representation of who we are and what we do. It brightens our day, gives us a reason to smile every time we enter the building and makes us proud when visitors come for meetings.”

Laurence Histon-Davies, client services, said: “Since the refurbishment, I have really enjoyed working in a smart, professionallooking office with a great range of new facilities. The graphic design incorporated in the office plan has really strengthened the sense of brand establishment.”

Stephen Holt, commercial director said the new-look offices had moved him to change his own mode of transport: “The facilities are so good I have started cycling to work again. A combination of flexible working hours, bike storage, clothes washing and drying facilities and great showers all make this possible.”

The designer too was happy. Clair said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed this project. It has been deeply rewarding from start to finish and the positive response from staff at Cyclescheme is gratifying. I’d also like to thankNick Smith, the photographer who captured the project so well.” n

Clair Strong Interior Design is a small, friendly, creative business based in Bath and London, providing services for residential and commercial clients. Visit: clairstrong.co.uk or contact: clair@clairstrong.co.uk.

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HOMES | GARDENS

Interior

GOING GREEN ERY If you o

ver-hygg then it’s ti ed things in 2016 me to add colour ba a little ck into yo ur life. Try touch of G a reenery – the Pantone ® colour of 2017

NOTEBOOK LIFE ON A PLATE Inspired by vintage designs, these ceramic lily pad plates by Graham & Green are a beautiful addition to dining tables and sideboards. Perfect as serving platters, trinket dishes or decorative wall art, the crackle glaze finish is striking and unique.

Available in three sizes. £22.50-£59.

Graham & Green, 92 Walcot Street, Bath. BA1 5BG. Tel: 01225 418300. grahamandgreen.co.uk

PANTONE ® MUGS Where palette meets palate - sip your Cuppa-sSoup in style and right on trend.

Or... plant a cactus for that cool, prickly look. Whatever you chose, the Greenery extra wide mug is a statement of your genius.

Visit Shannon for details: 68 Walcot Street, Bath, BA1 5BD. Tel: 01225 424222 shannon-uk.com TUBBY JACKS FOR THE BIG GRILL

LIVING WITH PLANTS An inspirational, 256 page collection of urban gardening projects, from private backyard paradises to rooftop community gardens and lush balconies. A complete guide to adding greenery at every opportunity. £35 Anthroplogie, 1–4 New Bond Street, Bath BA1 1BE. anthropologie.com

No need for separate pizza oven and BBQ you can do it all can on a Tubby Jacks ceramic outdoor cooker - in fact you can also do slow and low smoking, baking, grilling and searing. Made from the highest quality materials this is a premium product and is built to last.

Model shown is the small Patio model, in rich green enamel (We’ve colour matched it to Pantone® 3435) £399. For details on the Tubby Jacks range visit Boniti, Dunsdon Barn, West Littleton, ( nr J18 M4) SN14 8JA. Tel: 01225 892200

SOFAS & STUFF A huge range of sofa styles, all beautifully handmade in Britain, can be paired with any fabric you desire. Shown here is the Mansion House Lounger... and guess what – Sofas and Stuff have matched our theme colour perfectly. Nearest showroom, Woodchester Mill, Woodchester Stroud, GL5 5NN. Tel: 01453 700812. sofasandstuff.com

TEALIGHT DELIGHT Green Kastehelmi votives from iittala. There’s a full range of this bright and very desirable glassware to be seen at Shannon, 68 Walcot Street, Bath, BA1 5BD. Tel: 01225 424222 shannon-uk.com

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THE NEW ROMANTICS Pretty pastel roses and sweet peas, soft grasses and old English hedgerow favourites – Jane Moore sets her gardening style predictions for the year ahead

W

hile it’s true that gardening may not follow the whims and fancies of fashion in the same way as haute couture (thank goodness) it does still have its trends.

No self respecting gardener likes to think they’re subject to these foibles but we are subtly manoeuvred into buying certain plants and embracing new ideas by the likes of the gardening press, the flower shows, garden centres and nurseries.

Think back to the grasses trend, still very much with us, the fashion for perennials rather than bedding plants, cloud pruning and the reemergence of the box ball, now sadly retiring again due to the virulence of box blight. We gardeners even have our own version of high fashion with the horticultural catwalk that is Chelsea Flower Show producing designs that are ‘out there’ enough to rival the likes of Versace et al.

So, as we launch into 2017 I feel it falls to me, your gardening style guru as I like to consider myself (more Prada than Donatella I hope) to highlight the coming trends, point out the plainly passé and steer you through the chaotic waters of gardening ebb and flow to a horticultural high this year. If nothing else at least you can sound as if you know what’s what at the garden centre and among your friends as you 90 TheBATHMagazine

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airily pronounce this or that to be ‘the latest thing’ which, truth be told, is the approach I like to take.

ROMANTIC REVIVAL Grasses show no sign of being mown down but they are melding into something more romantic and flowery. I’m calling it the Romantic Revival for reasons of alliteration and trend setting purposes.

Seriously, I think that at times of trouble people hark back to a simpler beauty of soft pastels, sweet peas and roses, all combined with a dash of grasses and structure to keep it modern. It’s all a soothing balm to the troubled soul with not a whiff of political confrontation, fiscal meltdown or anything quite so upsetting.

AU NATUREL Species roses and the natural look are what it’s all about at the moment. The single blooms of Rosa mutabilis and Rosa moyesii look great in any setting and echo the wild roses of hedgerows and childhood days.

We’re also liking umbellifers – cow parsley is everywhere at Chelsea and has been for a number of years – but there are other less invasive umbels such as selinum and chenolophium beloved of top designers such as Tom Stuart Smith. They may take a bit of finding but ah, the prize of something

few others have.

More natural looking plants include the lovely sanguisorbas which I don’t ever seem to tire of. I love their blue tinged multi- leaved foliage and their flowers – some like little red buttons or elongated white cotton wool balls, others like Lilac Squirrel with fluffy tails of lavender mauve.

ON TREND And everywhere, everywhere are salvias – shrubby, herbaceous, semi shrubby – you name it they’re abounding. They come in lovely shades of sky blue such as African Skies (sadly all too short-lived at The Priory) or richer almost purples like Mainacht and Caradonna (which have a much better longevity

GATHERING IN: main picture, umbellifers such as the common cow parsley, or Queen Anne’s Lace, are proving popular Below, rosa chinensis mutabilis Opposite page, salvias, which were big at Chelsea last year, will be in abundance this summer

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CITY | GARDENING altogether) and combine brilliantly with those other on-trend plants. Echinacea is now abounding in more varieties than one could possibly keep track of.

DECLINE AND FALL Fashion is a fickle thing and in gardening it’s often dictated by the prevalence of nasty bugs and beasties. I’ve seriously gone off viburnum because of the dreaded beetle decimating its leaves and lovely bulbous lilies, once real favourites of mine because of their statuesque habit and fabulous fragrance, are now only bought from the florist because I can’t bear the ravages of the lily beetle.

BOX FRESH It’s taken a while for me to acknowledge the fact but box is also falling out of favour with me and many others because box blight is just so awful. I’ve been veering away from buxus in all its forms, knots, hedges, balls, cones and whatnot, for some time – I still plant it but not so often or so readily.

But there’s good news as there are alternatives particularly when it comes to balls which are what I use more than any other shape. These days I’m tending towards the deep, dark, dense evergreen of the yew ball – perhaps a tad more expensive but very pleasing. I’m also using sarcococca which clips beautifully once mature and gives the added interest of fragrant flowers in

midwinter and shiny black berries. For the sunnier garden there’s shrubby myrtle which also shapes well and I’ve heard of hawthorn being used for hedging and shapes although it takes a few trims a year to keep it in shape.

SHRUB LOVE Finally I must make a plea for the humble shrub which has been pushed aside by the prevalence of the perennial in the modern British garden. As a professional gardener I love shrubs – their hardiness, their simplicity, the fact that that they look after themselves with only a bit of pruning. Compared to

perennials with all that cutting back, chopping, lifting and dividing, they really are a lot less bother. So let 2017 be the year you treat yourself to a little less work in the form of a flowering deutzia or philadelphus, a splash of autumn colour with a cotinus or a euonymus or even a bit of winter interest with my old friend the dogwood. Your back will savour the rest and your garden will look all the better for it. n Jane Moore is the award-winning gardening columnist and head gardener at the Bath Priory Hotel. Find her on Twitter @janethegardener.

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PROPERTY | HOMEPAGE

P

icturesque Midford is approximately 4 miles south of Bath under the backdrop of the Midford viaduct. Close to several good schools, within easy access of the Tow Tunnels cycle path and The Hope and Anchor pub, the village is the perfect spot to put down family roots. This month’s property if an imposing, detached 1920’s home, set in an elevated position with panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. In need of modernisation, Highland offers enormous potential for improvement and has no onward chain. The floor area is approximately 2336 sq ft (including outbuildings and garage) and, in keeping with the period, rooms are well proportioned and built with family in mind. In brief the accommodation currently offers: four bedrooms, bathroom, boot room and WC Living room, dining room, serviceable kitchen/breakfast room, greenhouse/utility Detached double garage with workshop above, ample off-road parking, store Outside there are large lawned areas with mature trees, shrubs and plants offering plenty of space for free range children and gardeners alike. Highland is a lovely property for those looking to undertake some refurbishment and create a superb family home. Full details are available from agents Pritchards.

Pritchards, 11 Quiet Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 466225

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HIGHLAND MIDFORD LANE, NR BATH • Detached 1920’s property requiring modernisation • Four bedrooms • Large gardens, garage, outbuildings • Spectacular views

OIEO: £950,000

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pritchards-bath.co.uk

Bannerdown, Batheaston A most impressive detached house with a 1 bedroom annexe occupying a generous plot approaching 1 acre in a sought after road, close to village amenities.

• 4 bedrooms, 3 reception rooms, bathroom, shower room • Self contained 1 bedroom annexe • Large mature gardens to all sides • Garage, carport & ample driveway parking • EPC Rating: D • Internal floor area approx. 2500 sq ft/232 sq m

Guide Price: £1,250,000

The Glen, Saltford A stylish and spacious individual detached split level residence set in large gardens backing onto Duchy of Cornwall farmland in a popular village between Bath and Bristol.

• 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (1 en suite) & additional shower room • Contemporary split level reception hall, inner hall/family room with access to rear garden, utility room & cloakroom • Impressive well fitted kitchen/breakfast room • Double garage & ample driveway parking • Internal area approx.

2130 sq ft/197.9 sq m

Price: £839,500 11 Quiet Street, Bath BA1 2LB

Tel: 01225 466 225

Follow us on

Audley Lodge, Audley Park Road A contemporary and spacious two bedroom apartment which has been finished to a high specification throughout. Benefitting from allocated off-street parking and picturesque communal gardens, the property enjoys a peaceful and secluded location whilst also being within walking distance of Bath city centre.

Rent: ÂŁ1,600 pcm* light & spacious living room | tall sash windows | feature fireplace | elegant wooden flooring | kitchen / dining room | granite work surfaces | two double bedrooms (one en-suite) | modern bathroom | picturesque communal gardens Reside Bath | 24 Barton Street Bath BA1 1HG | T 01225 445 777 | E info@residebath.co.uk | W www.residebath.co.uk

*An administration fee of ÂŁ420.00 inc. VAT applies.

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THINKING PROPERTY Peter Greatorex, managing director of The Apartment Company

Choosing the right agent has never been so important Why will using an apartment specialist be different to the many estate agents in Bath?

I

f you are selling your apartment then you want to be sure that you're in expert hands. At The Apartment Company 100% of our enquiries are from people looking for apartments, so you can be certain that our marketing is targeted directly to these specific buyers and not just anyone looking for a new home.

We recently undertook a survey of local estate agents to see what percentage of their properties were also apartments. The result may shock you. On average only 20% of the properties they sell are apartments. Thus only 1 in 5 of their enquiries is for an apartment, whereas with us, it’s 5 out of 5.

In 2017 it is going to be even more important to find the right agent to sell your home. But as you may have read in the press, although house prices are unlikely to fall, the ongoing uncertainty could impact on the property market.

You don’t want your home gathering dust in an estate agents window; you want an agent who is dedicated, experienced and passionate about selling apartments. What’s more the majority of our apartments sell on average 1% over the asking price.

What are the key advantages of using The Apartment Company?

• Specialist expertise • Market leading in Bath’s apartment market for 7 consecutive years • Award winning agency for customer service • Best price strategy • Extensive Database – A register of ‘apartment specific’ buyers • Targeted Marketing – Attracting the right audience • Established and Proven – We have been the market leader for 7 consecutive years • Track Record – This year we have sold twice as many apartments as our nearest competitor. Again! (source: Rightmove intel. resale apartments sold in BA1 & BA2 value of £250,000 plus) Why would you want to sell your apartment with any other agent?

“I have no hesitation in recommending the Apartment Company, and especially Sharon Chesham, to anyone wanting to buy or sell an apartment. I have done both over the years and have been impressed by their professionalism, customer relations and efficiency. The whole team, are highly skilled in communicating, I particularly like the way the client is kept abreast of all developments in the process so that you feel central to the sale /purchase. Sharon is also very good at identifying possible snags before they occur and will happily negotiate with other professionals e.g. solicitors or accountants on your behalf.

They make the whole business as smooth and stress free as possible, therefore if you’re buying or selling go to The Apartment Company first.”

If you are looking for to sell in 2017, get in touch and discover more about our service and how we can make a difference. The Apartment Company, Bath’s No. 1 apartment specialists.

Tel: 01225 471144

Crafting beautiful homes in stunning locations Bath | Somerset | Wiltshire | Cotswold | Dorset

01225 791155 ashford-homes.co.uk

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CREATING A LEGACY

Georgette McCready visits Holburne Park, the latest development in Bath which will see the former Ministry of Defence site on Warminster Road transformed to create more than 200 new homes

W

hen Bath’s largest employer, the Ministry of Defence, pulled its staff out of the city there was widespread consternation – not least from the Bath families who faced either moving near to the new offices in Bristol, or a tiresome daily commute.

The bright side of this mass exodus is that it freed up three brownfield sites at Foxhill, Ensleigh (Lansdown) and off Warminster Road, on which much-needed new homes could be built. Like many others on the eastern side of the city, I have been watching with interest the transformation of the Warminster Road site from nonedescript office huts to a pile of giant matchstick rubble, followed by the site of clear bare earth ready for streets to be created. And like others, I had some questions about the new development, which developer Francis Firmstone of HardRock Developments was happy to answer.

Francis was pleased that the renowned architect Robert Adam, whose team designed Prince Charles’s award-winning village Poundbury in Dorset, was involved from the very early stages of the plans, visiting the site with his sketchbook and camera, 98 TheBATHMagazine

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with a keen eye on the buildings on the other side of the valley, below at Grosvenor and higher up as the Georgians, Victorians and 20th century builders after them, created terraces and streets along the contours of the hill. All are very aware that this is a very public spot, which can be seen clearly by many city inhabitants.

On this, most gentle of slopes with enviable views that take in Walcot and Camden to the west and commanding views of the countryside to the east, the new streets will also echo those natural contours. More than 200 homes will be created here, between the A36 and the Kennet and Avon, with a green border of trees, grass and footpaths running down to the canal, giving the new residents somewhere to walk their children and dogs.

Francis, who lives in Limpley Stoke, has much experience of creating homes on brownfield sites, particularly in Bristol, says his team has been especially diligent to Bath’s sensitivity to new buildings. Given that this is a World Heritage City, that’s not surprising.

So Bath ashlar stone will be used to face the new buildings, local contractors are used whenever possible and he is proud to have worked with the Holburne Museum to pay respect

to local heritage – hence the name, Holburne Park. The new streets will also be named after members of William Holburne’s family and ships he sailed in.

The homes at Holburne Park will consist of two, three, four and five bedroom houses plus one-bedroom apartments in three large mansion blocks.

From early interest, Francis and estate agents Savills of Bath, are confident that there will be a nice mix of residents, from young professionals perhaps on shared ownership schemes, through to young families whose children can walk to nearby Bathwick St Mary Primary School, and on to those who may be downsizing and like the idea of living within walking distance of Bath’s many city centre charms.

Unlike many sites that have been recently developed in Bath, Holburne Park is more of a gentle stroll than an uphill slog. Waitrose is a 20 minute walk away and the delights of the Kennet and Avon Canal and its opportunites for walking, running and cycling, are even closer.

Being aware of the impact of new families arriving in the neighbourhood HardRock Developments has agreed to make a substantial contribution to

SENSITIVE SITE: main picture, an artist’s impression for Holburne Park shows some of the new houses will have chimneys. What we cannot see is the soakaway system that carries rainwater away in underground tanks eventually to be filtered and piped into the Kennet and Avon Canal

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PROPERTY | SPECIAL

AERIAL VIEW: Holburne Park on Warminster Road, Bathwick, as seen from above, with the Kennet and Avon Canal, mainline railway and River Avon to the left of the site Below, examples of what sitting rooms and kitchens will look like in the new homes

St Mary’s primary school to allow it to expand and take on extra pupils.

We talked about the environmental impact too as I expressed concern about the considerable expanse of hard-standing roads and parking spaces. Francis and his team has designed the site with permeable hard surfaces which will allow the rain to soak down into unseen tanks below the road.

From here that soakaway water will be filtered and eventually trickled into the canal.

Around 100 trees will be planted on the site and the green belt between the houses and the canal will be retained, with footpaths and a fitness trail.

The houses themselves, faced in locally quarried stone, have large windows and will be very well insulated. Some also have chimneys, which adds to the village feel of the streets, and those houses will also be able to enjoy the latest low-energy woodburning stoves as approved for smokeless zones. They

are designed with all the appeal of classic Bath townhouses, but all the comforts and convenience of modern properties.

Award-winning Cotswold based interior designer Emma Sims Hilditch has created the style for the homes, offering a choice of contemporary or traditional kitchens for those who buy off-plan to choose from.

Unlike some brownfield sites there were no issues with existing or potential contamination. Until the 1940s this had been farmland and the Ministry of Defence staff who worked here after that date were working on pensions and payroll, so the only issue to be dealt with was an old oil tank which had to be dug out.

The diggers are busy on site already and the first phase of 35 homes should be ready for occupation later this year. The building work will roll out over three years, creating as little disruption to residents as it goes, with eventual completion due in 2020.

To enable potential buyers to get a real feel for what the developers are creating at Holburne Park, there will be a two-week viewing period at the new marketing pavilion, which affords great views across the site, from Saturday 14 January, before homes are released for sale on Saturday 28 January.

During the preview period, potential buyers can make an appointment to visit and find out more about the homes, see examples of the layouts and materials being used, as well as a 3-D model of the development showing the homes in situ.

One of the great draws of the site are its views. Whatever the weather, I defy anyone not to be impressed at the wide skies overhead, Solsbury Hill’s unspoiled summit and the sweep of 300 years of Bath architecture laid out in front of you.

Anyone interested in registering their interest in purchasing a home at Holburne Park can contact Savills on 01225 474591. n

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Bear Flat Rowacres, Bath, BA2 ÂŁ475,000

Camden Belgrave Terrace, Bath, BA1 ÂŁ799,999

A double fronted family home positioned in this pleasant cul-de-sac with views across the neighbouring rooftops and over the city. Open plan kitchen/dining room, sitting room, study, four bedrooms, driveway, garage and gardens. Energy Efficiency Rating: D

Belgrave Terrace is a handsome period family home, offering spacious and flexible accommodation over four storeys. It has exceptional views, over 2000 sq. ft., a garage and just 0.6 miles walk from Bath city centre.

Currently it has three bedrooms, an impressive drawing room, and an additional 27ft kitchen/dining and family space at garden level. Grade II listed.

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Bath Central Warminster Road, Monkton Combe, BA2 OIEO ÂŁ600,000

Newbridge Purlewent Drive, BA1 4BA Guide Price ÂŁ550,000

A beautifully presented, four bedroom, detached home nestled in the Limpley Stoke Valley. The home has been modernised and upgraded by the current owners and offers over 2000 square feet of internal space.

The property is set behind electronic gates and occupies a fabulous plot with views along the valley and over the River Avon. Energy Efficiency Rating: D

Three bedroom detached home in the popular Purlewent Drive. Accommodation includes sitting room, dining room, kitchen, utility room, home office with its own private front door, family bathroom, garage and off street parking and a lovely 110'10 x 35'5 rear garden. Energy Efficiency Rating: N/A

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When the dust settles Duncan Nash, of Bath estate agents Nash & Co asks a big question

A

s you pick up this magazine in early 2017, you may look back on 2016 fondly or possibly as a year that you are pleased to see the back of for one reason or another. For those in business, like me you may feel the latter. Though not dull, it is fair to say that 2016 was a turbulent year. You may therefore wonder, after the dust has settled, what state the property market is in now?

Let me first cast your minds back to the two key events this year that impacted hugely on the industry I am privileged to work in.

Firstly, the significant increase in stamp duty for second homes owners.

Basically, From 1 April 2016 anyone buying a second home for any reason is now paying a higher rate of stamp duty than someone buying a property which will be their main home. The increased rate is 3% above the usual stamp duty rate which can prove to be a significant financial burden. This in turn naturally led to a significant increase in investment sales pre-the 1st April, which in turn led to many people completing their buying and selling business by this time date. More importantly it took the heat out of investment sales for the rest of the year, the impact may go on further still while the increase is in place.

Then there was the Brexit vote on 23 June, we all know about this one! A vote which sent shock waves around not only the UK but the world. There was bound to be some impact on the housing market, either positive or negative. What it did do was generate uncertainty, and in my opinion led several potential buyers and sellers to sit on the fence while they and the rest of the markets worked out how Brexit would impact.

Well six somewhat difficult months further on, it seems from my perspective, that the markets seem to have settled somewhat. The excellent news is that the end of the year has been busy for Nash & Co with a spurt in the number of instructions coming to the market and likewise the number of sales. It could be just the market playing catch up, or perhaps just signs of “the show must go on”. More hopefully it could be that confidence is slowly and surely coming back to the market,

SELLING YOUR PROPERTY? Choose an estate agency that will promote your best interests If you are currently thinking of selling your property, then consider using one of The Bath Magazine’s featured estate agencies to give you the best possible promotional coverage.

Our estate agents advertise with us as part of a bigger selection of print and online marketing which means your property is presented to the highest standard and will reach the greatest audience.

Pritchards pritchards-bath.co.uk The Apartment Company theapartmentcompany.co.uk Cobb Farr cobbfarr.com Andrews andrewsonline.co.uk Nash & Co nashandcobath.co.uk Wentworth wentworthestateagents.com Mark Naylor mark-naylor.com Fine and Country fineandcountry.co.uk Savills savills.co.uk

At Nash & Co we will be geared up for a strong start to 2017, especially as we still have a good database of committed applicants looking to move in the Bath area. If you want to be part of this, then please do not hesitate to call me at Nash & Co on 01225 444800 for some further advice on any area of the property market you are interested in.

Bath’s Biggest Magazine

Wishing you all a healthy and prosperous New Year.

104 TheBATHMagaziNe

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JaNuary 2017

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Bearflat, Bath

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£1,100,000 Weston, Bath

£975,000 Combe Park, Bath

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Northend, Bath

Selling in 2017? £850,000

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Call Wentworth for a

£900,000

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Stanton Drew

£750,000

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FREE valuation Newbridge, Bath

£635,000

Bloomfield, Bath

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Holt, Nr Bath

£495,000 Grosvenor, Bath

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£550,000

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£450,000 Weston, Bath

£429,950

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Worcester Terrace

£750,000

A fine grade II listed 3/4 bedroom Georgian townhouse. Flexible accommodation over 3 stories with an abundance of period features.

Benefits from: open plan reception rooms on ground floor; galley kitchen; utility room; fantastic south facing drawing room on 1st floor; additional 1st floor reception room/double bedroom; back garden boot room; mezzanine level bathroom; 3 additional bedrooms on the 2nd floor. The back garden is tastefully landscaped. The front garden is traditional in style. The entire house is beautifully presented and oozes character and charm.

Fairglade, Weston Lane

£585,000

A 3/4 bedroom detached property located on Weston Lane. Inc’s: open-plan kitchen/dining/sitting rooms to the rear, a lovely enclosed balcony with sliding doors to sun terrace overlooking front garden; study/4th bedroom; cloakroom; master bedroom and guest bedroom with fitted wardrobes; and an extra shower room and family bathroom. The rear garden is large and mature, with lawned areas. House offers a large and wide garage with electric roll up door with further driveway parking.

Highbury Place

£695,000

A beautiful and characterful Grade II Listed Georgian townhouse, located in the Camden area of Bath. This marvellous property retains numerous period features whilst being thoughtfully and tastefully extended. The property benefits from off-street parking bay, a long southerly facing garden, and proximity to a number of very useful local amenities. Inc’s: 3 bedrooms; lovely Georgian drawing room on the first floor; open plan kitchen/dining room (with unique lantern sky light); large family bathroom; study; and additional shower/utility room.

Blenheim Gardens

£550,000

This family house has been extended and modernised to a high standard and offers circa 1500 sq. feet of excellent accommodation.

Benefits inc: 4/5 bedrooms, with an en suite; modern open plan kitchen/diner, leading into conservatory/ dining area; a separate utility area; downstairs office/bedroom 5; lovely front to back lounge with light from both aspects; level rear garden with decked area, lawn and planting borders. Off-street parking for at least 2 cars on the front driveway.

enquiries@nashandcobath.co.uk www.nashandcobath.co.uk Tel: 01225 444 800

NASH & CO

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k Mar Naylor SOLD

SOLD

Wells Road

SOLD

Chaucer Road

SOLD

Maple Grove

SOLD

Newbridge Hill

SOLD

Elm Place

Summer Lane

Following a very successful 2016...

Mark Naylor, 1 Hayes Place, Bear Flat, Bath. Tel: 01225 422 224

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Great Reputation...

SOLD

k Mar Naylor

SOLD

Bloomfield Park

SOLD

Carlingcott

SOLD

Tyning End

SOLD

Lower Oldfield Park

SOLD

Hantone Hill

Devonshire Buildings

We’d love to help you move in 2017

☎ 01225 422 224

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DYRHAM, Nr Bath

ÂŁ980,000

A charming seventeenth century country house in the desirable village of Dyrham. The property offers two reception rooms, kitchen, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, separate detached self contained studio, parking and gardens.

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GIDDEA HALL, Wiltshire

ÂŁ795,000

Stunning detached period home with four bedrooms and four bathrooms and one bed annexe in village of Yatton Keynell, 4 miles from M4 and 4 miles from Chippenham. Lovely gardens and off road parking are also offered.

Selling & Letting Bath’s finest apartments

Northanger Court Modern building allocated parking

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OIEO £535,000

Riverside apartment • Lift access to all floors • Private Two bedrooms • No onward chain • Communal gardens

We are delighted to market this unique City Centre apartment located in a highly sought after building. Situated on the upper floor with lift access, the apartment boasts spacious sitting room with dining area, fitted kitchen, double bedroom with en suite, mezzanine level for a second bedroom and finally a family bathroom.

Alexander Buildings

OIEO £480,000

Grade II Listed Garden maisonette Two double bedrooms Study • South facing garden • Approx 1,232 Sq Ft •

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Third bedroom/

Boasting its own private entrance, spacious rooms and a South facing garden, this charming apartment it is one not to miss! Situated with Larkhall village on its doorstep, just a short walk to the city and great access to the M4 this property would make a fabulous family home, city pad or investment.

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Highgate

OIEO £325,000

New development Penthouse apartment One bedroom Private balcony • High specification • Approx 585 Sq Ft •

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Stunning interior

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Situated in the highly sought after Riverside development is this beautifully presented penthouse apartment offering large open plan living area with a private balcony, double bedroom and modern bathroom. A short walk away from all bath has to offer, this is a superb opportunity to purchase this high end apartment.

Walcot Parade Grade II Listed • Georgian • Top floor Far reaching views • Approx 496 Sq Ft

OIEO £200,000 •

One double bedroom

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High ceilings

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Located on the upper pavement of Walcot Parade offering stunning views over Bath is this well proportioned top floor apartment with unusually high ceilings. The property boasts a large sitting room with windows to the front of the building, a large double bedroom, fitted kitchen, and a modern bathroom.

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Selling & Letting Bath’s finest apartments

Green Park

£1,275 pcm Park Lane

Georgian • First Floor • Two double bedrooms • No pets • Council Tax Band: B • Unfurnished • Agency fees £420 inc VAT Available Now

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Beautifully presented apartment situated very close to the Centre of Bath.

Rivers Street

£1,275 pcm

Two double bedrooms • Garage • Prime location • Well presented • Unfurnished • Agency fees £420 inc VAT • Available 1st January 2017

Spacious two bedroom apartment with the advantage of a garage.

£925 pcm Springfield Place

£875 pcm

Georgian • Second floor • Double bedroom • No students • Close to City Centre • Part furnished • Agency fees £420 inc VAT • Available Now

Period property • Ground floor • Double bedroom • Short distance from City Centre • Furnished • Agency fees £420 inc VAT • Available Now

Located in the heart of the City offering well presented accommodation throughout.

This is a charming property offering a double bedroom in a convenient area of Lansdown.

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Bathwick, Bath Ground floor apartment • Two double bedrooms Chain • Approx 954 Sq Ft

Offers in Excess of £775,000 •

Two En suites

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Cloakroom WC • Private Parking

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Landscaped gardens

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Set within a beautifully refurbished house are four stunning apartments finished to a very high standard. This apartment is located on the ground floor offering high ceilings and period features. The accommodation comprises: large sitting room with bay windows, stylish fully fitted kitchen, two double bedrooms both with en suites, cloakroom and well manicured gardens. Situated close to the City centre where you will find award winning restaurants and bespoke shopping. If you are looking for a well proportioned bright and stylish apartment, this is definitely the one for you.

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