The Bath Magazine July 2015 by MC Publishing Limited

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ISSUE 154 • JULY 2015

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE CITY OF BATH

www.thebathmag.co.uk

£3.95 where sold

DRAWING INSPIRATION IMAGES FROM THE BIG RED CHAIR FOR THE BATH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE FESTIVAL YOU ARE NEVER ALONE WITH A GOOD BOOK . . .

T H E C I T Y ’ S F I N E S T M O N T H LY G U I D E T O L I F E A N D L I V I N G I N B AT H

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THE | CONTENTS

JULY 2015

10 5 THINGS TO DO

42 BATH AT WORK

Carnival and Independence Day

Neil Menneer’s portrait of the month

12 MY BATH

44 BEHIND THE SCENES

Chai entrepeneur Ashley Bailey

Meet Bath’s event organisers

14 CHILDREN’S LIT FEST

48 DELICIOUS GUIDE II

Famous illustrators give art for auction

18 COMPETITION Win a pair of Superga shoes

WIN

20 FACE THE MUSIC Noel Britten of Bizarre Bath

22 VIP VISITORS

We salute the city’s tastiest eateries

51 RESTAURANT REVIEW We dined at Le Bistrot Pierre

52 SIX OF THE BEST Places for eating outside

55 SUMMER WINE

Native Americans to visit Bath

26 WHAT’S ON

Angela Mount’s July picks

32 JANE AUSTEN’S BATH Exhibition takes a fresh look at author

36 GALLERY NEWS What’s happening on city’s art scene

72 FAMILY FUN Activities for the school holidays

74 HEALTH & BEAUTY Turn heads this summer

82 THE WALK Andrew Swift heads out to Kelston

90 GARDENING Visit Milton Lodge in Somerset

93 PROPERTY Beautiful homes to buy or rent

The microbrewery revolution

58 THE FAIRWAY Profile of Kingsdown Golf Club

60 CITY PEOPLE News of the movers and shakers

Even more great content online: thebathmag.co.uk

Visit The Edge at the University of Bath

56 CRAFT BEERS

Bath’s rich cultural calendar

4 TheBATHMagazine

68 NEW ARTS CENTRE

JULY 2015

ON THE COVER

Illustrations donated by artists to raise funds for the Bath Children’s Literature Festival

Like us on Facebook.com/ TheBathMagazine

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it is American Independence Day on 4 July and Bath businesswoman Emma, of Grace & Ted in Kingsmead Square, has arranged an Independents Day of celebrations to showcase Bath’s numerous indie businesses. Emma’s festivities take place in and around Kingsmead Square on just one day, 4 July, but there’s a case to be made for making more noise about our fabulous independents in Bath all the year round. We’re lucky here at The Bath Magazine to be a small publishing house not owned by a multinational company, so we know how much other independents value their freedom to do things how they like – we also know that being a small business is damned hard work. I’d like to be able to hand visitors a guide to where they’ll find our finest independent shops, pubs, restaurants and cafes. Who wouldn’t fancy a peek inside an old-fashioned tobacconist like Frederick Tranter? Or an off licence with such an array of craft beers and spirits like Independent Spirit? Or a gloriously unspoiled higgledy-piggledy treasure trove of crazily eclectic objects, from fancy side tables and whatnots to church bellropes or a larger than life tiger, at Craiks in Margarets Buildings? I reckon you can buy anything you need in Bath from an independent if you put your mind to it. You can get everyday items such as bread (Bertinet or the Thoughtful Bread), vegetables (from the friendly guys in Kingsmead Square), cheese (the Fine Cheese Co) meat (from Gene and his team at Larkhall Butchers) or even tacks for fixing the shed roof (M&K Hardware in the Guildhall Market). If you’re in the mood for picking up something unusual, the indies have the edge over the big chains. On a leisurely stroll round the city centre the other day I noticed a beautiful old teaset of blue and white Spode in Bath Aqua Glass’ shop in Orange Grove, a sack race set (who knew such a thing existed?) in Bloomsbury and a fancy tiara for an aspiring duchess in Not Cartiers jewellers in the Guildhall Market. Harvest, the brilliant long standing brown rice and veggie store in Walcot Street, stands firm against the tide of express branches of supermarkets, while the professional teams at John’s Bikes, Coopers electrical shop and The Framing Workshop also continue to tirelessly serve their customers despite competition from the big boys of retail. In need of coffee? Bath has more independent coffee shops than you can shake a stick at, staffed by people who care passionately about their art (why else would one of our favourite baristas have Death before Decaf tattooed on his arm?). The city also still has a handful of old fashioned greasy spoon establishments that’ll do you a full English with a proper mug of tea, or you can go all healthy and vegan at one of our stylish meat-free cafes. One can dine romantically on modern English, Italian, French, Spanish or Indian – any one of them independent. Let’s not forget the city’s legions of artisans – largely unseen – making everything from ceramics to wrought iron railings, and the artists too. If you were an art collector, or simply wanted one original piece to cherish, you could spend many happy hours immersed in the city’s galleries. Even a diamond engagement ring can be designed bespoke by one of our many jewellery designers. Whether you’re buying a simple bunch of flowers from a florist or a mansion from an estate agent, you can bet there’ll be a Bath independent who can provide you with what you’re looking for. It’s not that we don’t appreciate having the big guns of Marks & Spencers, Waitrose and Anthropologie in our midst, it’s just nice once in a while to stand up and give a rousing cheer for our glorious, hard working, original one-offs. Happy Independents Day!

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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JULY 2015

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CITY | BUSINESS

THE | COLUMNIST

IT’S WORSE THAN GREY UNDERWEAR BATH SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF ITS BLAND GRAVELLED AND PAVED FRONT GARDENS, SAYS LIZ JONES, ISSUING A CHALLENGE TO GREEN UP OUR CITY

hen I moved to Bath I acquired a husband, a house and a garden. The latter was strange to me as previously the only gardens I had been in were all prefixed with the word ‘beer.’ Now I had one and I wanted it to be somewhere I could entertain guests without them getting depressed by pots of dead pansies. So I bought a few herbs and lavenders and something called a hosta. The next morning the hosta was gone. That night I went to the pub to drown my sorrows and mentioned my disaster to the landlord. To my surprise half the pub joined in the conversation and three hours and several pints later, I had made my first friends in Bath, comrades in slug warfare. At this point, if you are a non-gardener and miraculously still reading, you may be thinking, “I don’t know any gardeners.” True. Gardeners tend not to talk to non-gardeners as they don’t like all that eye rolling and being told that shopping in the organic section of the supermarket is a lot less hassle than growing your own. (We know this – and we refrain from smugly pointing out that it’s not us spending a fortune on extortionately priced raspberries). We don’t talk about it like rugby, reality TV and schools. Talking about one’s garden is bad etiquette unless one is talking disasters – and then it’s a horticultural conversational free for all. And if you are still doubting the Bathonians’ love of gardening I have three words for you = Britain in Bloom. Horticulture is one of the building blocks of Bath and is part of our heritage. Today there are dozens of specialist growers, plant nurseries, garden designers and landscape gardeners within a ten mile radius of Bath. Horticulture is a vital part of our local economy and employs hundreds of people. Just as Mrs Stokes advocated that the local economy needs hen parties, so it also needs gardeners. Luckily we have them – a huge green army of Dubarry-booted, Felco gripping gardeners. People who annoyingly say “we need the rain” and who curse when they see Jamie Oliver’s smug face on a packet of seeds in Homebase. Thanks to gardeners children grow up disliking fresh spinach instead of supermarket spinach and there are hundreds of black labradors named Monty. But Bath has a dark gardening underbelly. A shameful secret that gardeners and non-gardeners share and it’s not grey underwear. It is our front gardens. I’m sorry but there are many front gardens in Bath looking sad and neglected. Mine included – mine looks like the verge of the Keynsham by-pass. Let’s be honest – we just don’t bother about the front garden unless we are putting our house on the market. Why this anomaly? Two reasons – low maintenance and off-street parking. But these should not be at the expense of tarmac-ing, gravelling and paving the colour and greenness out of our city. We are in effect turning Bath grey and gravelly. Not only is this an aesthetic crime, but it has huge repercussions on our levels of pollution, on our wildlife and on our general wellbeing. We will all become really sad if our city looks like a lyric from a Jake Bugg song. Luckily the next big trend for the sophisticated city dweller is to become an urban pollinator – or suburban pollinator. This is fantastic – not only does it sound like a superhero but it also involves saving our bees and planting more plants. But putting the bees to one side (metaphorically) I would gladly become an urban pollinator just for the bragging rights. Simply planting something like a pot of lavender and sticking it on your paving gives you huge UP credentials. I don’t want to turn this rant into a gardening column so I will simply say look online – particularly at the RHS campaign Greening Grey Britain. So, next time your neighbour points to the weeds in your front garden (while they stand on their crunchy, environmentally unsound gravel) tell them you are an urban pollinator and doing your bit for the bees. You may have a tatty front garden but you will have the moral high ground, weeds and all. Even better, set loose your inner green and plant some colour. Pick up a trowel and pimp up your garden. Bath will be a better place for it. n

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JULY 2015

Georgette McCready 01225 424592 georgette@thebathmagazine.co.uk

Deputy Editor Email:

Jenny Hayes jenny@thebathmagazine.co.uk

Financial Director Email:

Jane Miklos jane@thebathmagazine.co.uk

Production Manager Email:

Jeff Osborne production@thebathmagazine.co.uk

Publisher Email:

Steve Miklos steve@thebathmagazine.co.uk

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

Liz Grey liz@thebathmagazine.co.uk

Advertising Sales Email:

Kathy Williams kathy@thebathmagazine.co.uk

The Bath Magazine and The Bristol Magazine are published by MC Publishing Ltd. We are an independent of all other local publications

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 www.thebathmag.co.uk © MC Publishing Ltd 2015 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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ZEITGEIST

things to do in

July

Party

Travel This summer is going to prove a challenging time for rail commuters as Network Rail replaces old tracks on one of the country’s busiest and oldest railways to bring electrification to the south west. The good news is that from 2017, the Bath to London commute will be shorter and the old diesel stock will be replaced by new trains, which will be longer, lighter, quieter and more environmentally friendly. But the bad news is that, in order for this modernisation to take place, there will be disruption to everyday services while new track and overhead electrification is installed. This will include lowering the track through Sydney Gardens. From 18 to 32 July, there will be only one train an hour between Bath Spa and London, and that will be diverted via Westbury. Then, for the whole of August, there will be no trains between Westbury and Bath Spa. Instead regular coach and bus services will be laid on. These disruptions will affect travellers to and from Westbury, Frome, Warminster, Trowbridge, Bradford-on-Avon, Chippenham, Avoncliffe and Freshford. Pick up a FGW leaflet to find out more details or visit: firstgreatwestern.co.uk

Support One of the things that makes Bath special is its many independent shops, cafes and restaurants. One of those great independents, Grace & Ted of Kingsmead Square, is organising an Independents Day market on Saturday 4 July in celebration of some of these one-off organisations. Emma Savage, who runs the dress agency with her mother, has invited local makers to set up stalls in the square selling art, jewellery and other items, and there’ll be all sorts of entertainment between 10am and 4pm. Find out how calming colouring can be with a visit to Colouring Mind’s clinic. Emma said: “The Fourth of July may traditionally be associated with America but it doesn’t stop us in the UK from joining in the fun.” 10 TheBATHMagazine

JULY 2015

The sights and sounds of the Rio Carnival are coming to Bath on Saturday 11 July as Bath Carnival hosts its day of family fun. Under the theme of Creatures, Colour and Communities, schools, community groups and artists have been working to involve as many people as possible into the procession through the streets of Bath (3pm from Great Pulteney Street) and a party for all in Parade Gardens from 11am. The carnival has also been given £15,000 from the Arts Council for dance and drumming workshops. Robbie Verrecchia, carnival director, said: “The best thing about carnival is that anyone can get involved. Being a samba teacher for many years I have seen all ages and abilities

Visit The American Museum at Claverton enjoys its annual Independence Day festivities with family-friendly events over the weekend of Friday 3 July to Sunday 5. The fun kicks off with an early evening barbecue on Friday 3 July, from 5.30pm, with some live rock and roll from covers band Kabinrock. Then, on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, troops from the 18th century re-enactment His Majesty’s Crown Forces will be putting on a display of military might – complete with a loud cannon. Young visitors can join the soldiers in their drill and find out if they’ve got what it takes to join the regiment. For more about events at the American Museum turn to Page 22.

Play The City of Bath Pétanque Club is opening two new pétanque (boule) terrains at Larkhall Sports Club this month, which will enable international standard tournaments to take place, allowing up to 16 games to be played at once. Club members have been working on the project for nearly two years, and these eﬀorts were rewarded when Sport England gave a grant for 50% of the cost. The club is well known for the tournaments it plays at Queen Square, but also plays at a number of other sites, and oﬀers free sessions for new players to come and try. Anyone interested in taking up boules can join sessions at Queen Square on Wednesdays at 11am, or Alexandra Park on Monday evenings at 5.30pm where they will be given a warm welcome.

benefit from learning how to drum, make a costume and dance to live music. Bath Carnival is a chance to give everyone in Bath these opportunities for free, thanks to all our generous business sponsors.” There’s still time to make your carnival costume, find out more at: bathcarnival.co.uk/jointheparade.

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ist

THE CITY THE BUZZ

My BATH We asked Ashley Bailey director of Henny and Joe’s Ltd what he’ll be doing this month

Bake Bathonians regularly support Ted’s Big Day Out, held each October with a different theme, to raise funds for Bath’s Royal United Hospital. This year’s fundraising week, between Monday 5 and Friday 9 October, is Ted’s Big Bake Off. Families, friends and workmates are being invited to rise to the baking challenge and help raise some serious dough. The hospital is currently raising £8.5m towards a new cancer centre. Ted’s Big Bake Off is being sponsored by Mogers Drewett solicitors. To register your interest visit: tedsbigbakeoff.com and get your oven mitts on your free baking pack with tips, tools and tasty ideas to add the icing on the cake, or tel: 01225 825823 for more information.

Nominate The search is on for a real life Mr Darcy, with a first prize of a romantic night for two at the Royal Crescent Hotel plus a pair of tickets to a costumed parade through the streets of Bath – which will give the any potential Lizzie Bennets the chance to see how their man measures up as a Regency dandy. The competition has been launched by organisers of the Jane Austen Festival, which takes place in September. The Finding Mr Darcy competition has already been inundated with entries. The prize package comprises; one night for two with breakfast at the Royal Crescent Hotel on Friday 11 September, entrance to and tea at the Jane Austen Centre tea rooms and two tickets for the Jane Austen Festival grand Regency costumed promenade. To enter visit: janeaustenfestivalbath.co.uk. The closing date is 1 August.

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What brought you to Bath? I was actually born here and have lived my whole life in Bath. I absolutely love this city. After school I watched most of my friends leave to go to university or move away to find work. Around this time I decided to work in Lemnos in Greece for a year. There I taught people how to sail and I had a great time. However, I missed Bath and I can honestly say there is nowhere else I would rather live. What are you reading? I’m not a great reader, In fact I would go on to say that I’m not a reader at all. Although, I prefer to read factual material if given the choice. However, on my last holiday my partner, Lottie decided it was time that I read Philip Pullman’s His Dark Material trilogy and I must say that I rather enjoyed it. What is on your iPod? I listen to artists such as Alt J, Arctic monkeys and RJD2. My all time favorite song has be One Day Baby by Asaf Avidan. Which café or restaurant takes your fancy? There are so many amazing independent cafes and restaurants to choose from in Bath and we really are spoilt for choice and diversity. They are all unique and fantastic in their own right. I like to go to a number of cafes such Jacobs Coffee House, the Forum, Society Cafe, C&S and Café Au Lait as they all use different roasters and techniques and therefore the coffee is always slightly different but consistently good. Which museum or gallery will you be visiting? I don’t visit museums and galleries in Bath enough. I do like to have a look through the windows of galleries when passing them by. My favourite gallery has to be the Rostra gallery on George Street, as it’s affordable. I’ll be taking my two sons Henry aged four and Joey, who is three, to the Victoria Art Gallery on Wednesday 22 July as the gallery has a free drop-in interactive seaside explorers morning, 10.30am to noon, aimed at children and I think it will be a great way of introducing the boys to the gallery scene. Your passions? What hobbies or interests will you be pursuing? As any small business owner will know finding the time to do the things you love can take a back

seat at times. I’ve always been into my sailing and have been since a kid, even competing at a national level through my teens. I used to sail a Laser at Avon Sailing Club at Saltford and on Chew Valley lake. This year I’m going to attempt to get out on the water a little more. What local outdoor activity or event will you be doing or visiting? We’re really looking forward to the Bath Carnival on Saturday 11 July. Henny and Joes is sponsoring the event and we will be there on the day with our Chai and shisha bar serving chai infused drinks and baking goods. It’s going to be a great event based in Parade Gardens and we can’t wait. Film or play? What will you be going to see this month? We’re very much into our films! We’ve just watched Jurassic World, which was better than I had anticipated. Why they keep opening the park we’ll never know. There are some great films coming out this year and I’m really looking forward to the Mocking Jay part two in November and then Star Wars episode VII in December. What projects are you working on now? At Henny and Joe’s we produce a 100% natural masala chai syrup, which we then supply to cafes, restaurants, bakeries and also direct to customers through our website. Masala chai is an Asian word for mixed spice tea, it’s been a staple in India and the majority of South Asia for thousands of years. We have been trading for nearly two years and have already achieved more than we had hoped in that time. Last year we won the 2014 Taste of the West Awards – for the best hot drink in the south west. I believe that this is down to our recipe as we use 100% natural spices and our chai is also free from artificial additives, colourings or preservatives. True to its origin and roots our chai is also caffeine free. It takes its name from my sons, Henry and Joey. Find out more visit: hennyandjoes.co.uk.

We’re following @BathBID aka The Bath Business Improvement District which is dedicated to improving trade for the city’s businesses, large and small. Its roving rangers are on call to clear up spills on the city centre streets and generally strive to make Bath a nicer place to live, work and visit.

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CITY OF FESTIVALS

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY Some of the country’s best loved children’s illustrators have given their work for an auction to help fund future Bath Children’s Literature Festivals

his September sees Bath host the country’s biggest dedicated children’s literature festival, with a fabulous line-up of writers and illustrators which includes legendary names such as Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen and newly appointed Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell. And festival founders John and Gill Mclay are back in the directors’ seats after two years away, to put together a page-turner of a programme. As part of the festival’s celebration of the art of the illustrator some of the country’s best loved artists have contributed original pieces, all inspired by the famous red chair which has become the festival’s trademark. Some 50 of these are to be auctioned off at a live auction on Thursday 1 October at the Guildhall, Bath, while others will be displayed for online bidding. John McLay said: “This really is a great chance for all kinds of collectors to get their hands on an original piece of art. They might be parents wanting to give a treasured piece to their children, or serious art buyers, or businesses who want to invest in work by some of the great legends of children’s book illustration.” John has called in favours from his friends and contacts in children’s publishing and invited dozens of artists to submit work inspired by the iconic

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red chair that’s at the heart of every festival. Among those whose work will be highly sought after is Goth Girl illustrator Chris Riddell, who having been appointed Children’s Laureate will see his artwork become even more collectible. Watch out for posters and displays surrounding the auction nearer the time. We hear the Mad Hatter (aka actor Pavel Douglas) will be presiding as auctioneer to oversee the bidding on the night We’ve asked half a dozen of those illustrators to tell us a bit about their work and what, or who they chose to include in their depictions. BEN CORT – 2015 CLF COVER ARTIST “From an early age I have always loved drawing and coming from a creative family – my father was a professional artist and my mother enjoyed writing, I think it was my destiny to do something in the arts. In 1965, my parents wrote and illustrated a children’s book Little Oleg, which has just been republished to celebrate its 50th anniversary and it was the first picture book I was aware of as a child. Although I studied illustration at art college, children’s picture book illustration was not part of the course and my work was of a more serious and grown up nature. It was several years after I had left college when I realised that I was no longer enjoying the more graphic, editorial based work I had been doing and decided to switch to the children’s book market. The huge variety of exciting subjects enables me to fully explore my imagination and have a huge amount of fun in the process.

MEET THE ILLUSTRATOR: above, left, Yasmeen Ismail chose Duck from Inside, Outside, Upside Down Above, right Steve Lenton’s creations all meet up for story time Below, left Sarah Warburton’s patient Daddy Lion prepares to put aside his paper to read to his cubs

I find illustrating a picture book very satisfying but also an enormous amount of work: creating characters and environments and making sure that my pictures do justice to the text, whilst also adding other layers of visual interest. Fantasy based subjects are my favourite and to have illustrated Aliens Love Underpants and the rest of the Pants series has been a dream commission: knowing that so many children around the world are enjoying them gives me huge satisfaction. It was a real honour to be asked to produce the Red Chair drawing for the 2015 Children’s Literature Festival here in Bath and to follow in the footsteps of some of my favourite children’s book illustrators. I approached my Red Chair drawing in the way I would produce a picture book cover. It was important that it had a strong graphic quality that would reproduce well at any size, from as large as a poster to as small as a postage stamp. It was great fun incorporating some of my favourite characters from the various books that I have illustrated into the design, which I wanted to be bold, colourful and humorous, to reflect my illustrative style”. STEVEN LENTON “I love to create charming and memorable characters for my picture books and can’t wait to share them all at the Telegraph Bath Children’s Literature Festival. For my Red Chair illustration, I used

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CITY OF FESTIVALS traditional pencil and colour pencil to colour the scene featuring all my characters from my published picture books so far: Shifty McGifty, Slippery Sam, Kitty Le Claw, Princess Daisy the Dragon and the Nincompoop Knights, Scottie Dog and Big Eared Bob – not forgetting Spider and Snail of course, who are hidden throughout my books” Steven’s books are published by Nosy Crow, visit: 2dscrumptious.com. YASMEEN ISMAIL “I have been writing and illustrating picture books since 2012. My first book Time for Bed, Fred was published by Bloomsbury UK in 2013. Since then I have completed over 11 books. I work mainly with watercolours, gouache and ink and I use the computer a great deal to create collages of my images. For the Red Chair picture I wanted to do something bold and minimal. This allowed the chair be the real focus. Duck from my book Inside, Outside, Upside Down, is one of my favourite characters. He loves to read, so who better to sit in the chair than him? It is always fun to work this way, so any chance I get I like to use this style. I live in Bristol and enjoy sitting in the garden and self-administering hay-fever medication. Visit: yasmeenismail.co.uk SARAH WARBURTON “I’ve been working as an illustrator in Bristol for over 20 years, mainly illustrating picture books. Most recent partnerships include Caryl Hart (The Princess and the Peas) Timothy Knapman (Dinosaurs in the Supermarket), Angelina Ballerina author Katharine Hollabirds Twinkle series and Mark Sperring (Mabel & Me, Max and the Won’t go to Bed Show and soon to be published Daddy Lion’s Tea Party). It’s from Daddy Lion’s Tea Party that I drew inspiration for my Red Chair. Daddy Lion is a loving, slightly harassed father who needs five minutes to himself, but the cubs want a story. I wanted to capture that brief

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Bath Children’s Literature Festival: Friday 25 Septemb er – Sunday 4 October www.bathfestivals .org.uk Bath Box Oﬃce 01225 463362

GET INVOLVED

MEET THE ILLUSTRATOR: above, Ben Cort, official cover artist for the 2015 festival, chose a cast of characters Below, left Sophy Henn’s fidgety panda Pom Pom settles down in the Red Chair Below, right, Laurence Anholt gathers Camille, his father and the artist Van Gogh together around the Red Chair

exhausting moment a parent feels before flinging the newspaper (or smart phone) aside and diving into the storybook with love.” LAURENCE ANHOLT Laurence began writing and illustrating children’s books when his children were born 30 years ago. Since then he has created more than 200 titles, many illustrated by his wife, Catherine. Their books have won numerous awards and are published in more than 30 languages. Laurence’s Red Chair image for the Bath Festival is based on Camille and the Sunflowers, one of his best selling series about great artists and the real children who knew them. The characters in the illustration are Camille and his father, Postman Roulin with Vincent van Gogh. Laurence’s first Young Adult novel, The Hypnotist will be published by Random House in March 2016. Say hello to Laurence on Twitter @LaurenceAnholt SOPHY HENN “I still can’t believe my luck at being a writer and illustrator of children’s books. I started late, after my daughter was born and it was reading endless picture books to her that inspired me to have a go. My first book was published when she was 12 years old, so that gives you an idea of how long it took. I tend to start with the characters. They can be inspired by life, daydreaming or just pop out onto the page and surprise me! By the time I have finished drawing them they have their own personality and that tends to steer the story. I work in pencil, then scan all my drawings in and put the images together digitally. So far I have two published books, Where Bear? and Pom Pom Gets the Grumps (Puffin), and I will be using both of them in my event for the Children’s Literature Festival on Friday

Tickets for the Telegraph Bath Children’s Literature Festival go on general release from the box oﬃce in the Tourist Information Centre, Abbey Church Yard on Monday 6 July. On Saturday 11 July Waterstones in Milsom Street, Bath, will be holding a fun day and is inviting families to popin any time during the day to take part in all kinds of creative projects. The first 250 people who buy festival tickets that morning will be given a goodie bag filled with treats such as books, badges and posters. Chris Haughton, illustrator and author of Shh We Have a Plan, Oh No George and A Bit Lost, will be in store meeting people between 2pm and 4pm. Look out for that big Red Chair too. . .

2 October. My next book, Pom Pom the Champion, is out in September, so that may well make an appearance too. I also have the huge honour of being official World Book Day illustrator 2015, which is such a thrill as it was only a couple of years ago I was helping to organise World Book Day events for my daughter’s school. I was over the moon to be asked to contribute to the Red Chair illustrations and what amazing company I’m in. I decided to sit Pom Pom in the infamous Red Chair, as even though he can be a bit out of sorts, a smidge fidgety, sometimes even a little bit shouty, if you give him a comfy chair, maybe an apple and a good book Pom Pom is completely enthralled and utterly content. I suppose that’s what the festival is all about, the joy and the power of a good book!” n

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COMPETITION Superga is an Italian brand with over 100 years of heritage, best known for their comfy 2750 style. The 2750 classic shoe is perfect for dressing up or down and comes in a rainbow of colours and seasonal prints /materials. The versatility of the shoe has lent itself to collaborations with the likes of Giles Deacon, House of Holland, Versus Versace and international bloggers such as The Blonde Salad. With fashionable collaborators as such, no wonder the brand is known as the fashion sneaker of choice in the UK. Superga’s Bath store, marking the biggest store outside London, first opened its doors earlier this year and has been keeping fashion lovers feet comfortable and on trend. For your chance of winning a fabulous pair of classic 2750s (voucher to be redeemed at the Bath store) answer the following question: Question: Where is the Superga Bath store located?

To enter email your name and address to competitions@thebathmagazine.co.uk marked “Superga Bath” or send on a postcard to The Bath Magazine, 2 Princes Buildings, George St, Bath, BA1 2ED to reach us by 31st July. All entrants must agree to their data being automatically added to Superga official newsletters.

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FACE | THE MUSIC

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

Mick Ringham talks to Noel Britten who runs Bizarre Bath tours about his life as a street entertainer and his work with orangutans

oel Britten isn’t your usual stand-up comedian – well, for a start he rarely stands still at all. He has carved a niche in Bath as a strolling entertainer, leading parties of locals and tourists on his irreverent Bizarre Bath walking tours of the city centre. Noel’s tours are more hysterical than historical, and if you’re looking for insights into Jane Austen or the development of Regency Bath, this is probably not the tour for you. But, if you enjoy what is basically a 90 minute comedy performance on the move, with a little magic, mayhem and silliness thrown in, this should go on your list of Things To Do in Bath. Noel launched Bizarre Bath in 1992, partly inspired by comedian Arthur Smith who, when visiting his parents in the area, would occasionally conduct the odd walking tour of the city. Since then Noel has honed his act, which regularly gets rave reviews on Tripadvisor. He runs it nightly with his business partner Toby. Noel says: “I never tire of performing and having fun with my audience. It really is a dream job in a dream city and although I manage to loosely stick to a script every night is different.” He was born in Wimbledon, and came to Bath to study business administration at university, where in his spare time, he started street performing chiefly as an outlet for his humour and to earn cash. He caught the performing bug from his grandfather who was an amateur magician and performed tricks for Noel’s brothers and sister. This made an impression on the young Noel who started performing his own brand of magic on family and school friends. Noel was also influenced by his father’s love of comedy. In the days before videos and comedy clubs, he listened to comics on the radio or on vinyl. His father was an enthusiastic collector of a then, new genre of American comedians including Shelley Berman and Bob Newhart. As a result of these influences it came as no surprise that Noel gained a passion for entertaining. On leaving university he travelled the world for more than five years performing as a street entertainer, magician and stand-up comedian. He worked at corporate events, on cruise ships and comedy clubs from Hong 20 TheBATHMagazine

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ALTERNATIVE TOURS: Noel Britten outside The Huntsman pub, from where his walks begin

Kong to Los Angeles gaining experience and developing his own particular and unique brand of hocus-pocus coupled with humour. The more he learned, the greater his enthusiasm grew. What keeps his performances upbeat is that you’re never quite sure what’s coming next, this alongside one-liners and razor sharp wit, make for a memorable night out. A highly regarded travel writer wrote of Bizarre Bath: ‘a great idea superbly executed and which should be on every visitor’s itinerary.’ Other reviews by the ITV and the BBC come to the same conclusion and endorse these comments, which is quite an accolade for a local

comic whose stage is literally the streets of Bath. He has one of the most creative advertising gimmicks in the city, parking a life-size skeleton on a bike in the Abbey Church Yard, which has become a tourist attraction in its own right, with visitors posing alongside for a photograph at every opportunity. Like most comics, Noel has a serious side. He is passionately committed to working with the charity International Animal Rescue, which helps wildlife overseas and is in-part reliant on volunteers. During the winter months, when the props are put into store and the laughter subsides, Noel and his wife Lisa head for Ketapang on the

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FACE | THE MUSIC

NOEL’S CHOICES: Shelley Berman – Phoning a Department Store This is not a music track but still after all these years one of my favourite records regardless. The great joy of this recording and also that of Bob Newhart’s material is the unheard reactions on the other end of the phone line. This particular monologue is truly a master class in timing and proving that silence can be just as funny as words in the hands of the right comedian.

The Pointer Sisters – Jump A great number to get people up on the dance floor and reminds me of my days at Bath University when I was studying there. Then there were the nights down at the Island Club on bog Island, after a few pints of scrumpy at the White Horse – both now no longer with us, progress isn’t always good, but there again nostalgia isn’t what it used to be!

Bobby McFerrin – Don’t Worry Be Happy A reminder of the time I spent as one of the street performers representing Britain at Expo in Brisbane during 1988. It was the first really big performing contract I managed to get and allowed me to hang-out with brilliant performers WWW.THEBATHMAG.CO.UK

from around the world. This record came out at the time and brings back all those happy memories of that wonderful event.

Victor Borge – Hungarian Rhapsody Any of Borge’s pieces are classic moments of comedy, but this is one of his best and combines both his musical and verbal comedy. Listening to this track musically it sounds just as the Rhapsody should – it’s only when you see the various contortions that the duo get into to make that possible, that it realises it’s full comedy potential. I was lucky enough to see Victor Borge at the Barbican many years ago, so if you’ve never seen him I recommend ‘listening’ on YouTube.

Shirley Bassey – This is My Life The ultimate diva’s number. Someone once said ‘every concert should have a show stopper. Some audiences are lucky to find one; however a concert of Shirley Bassey’s has one after another’. Having seen her at the Albert Hall a few years ago I can attest to that. Great music and showmanship combined, again a singer who gives it their all and shows today’s artists how to sing with feeling.

Sammy Davis Jnr – Mr Bojangles This is a fabulous showbusiness anthem. Apparently Davis said he was always worried that the story of Bojangles might map his own life in later years and consequently was always a tremendously emotional song for him to sing. This seems to come out in every recording I’ve listened to.

Dean Martin – Ain’t That a Kick in the Head My mentor in all things showbiz was the escapologist Alan Alan, who said one of the most important things to have on stage was repose. He always said Dean Martin was repose personified, so that’s why I chose him. It’s a very close call between this track and the track Sway, but the big band start to this one gives it the nudge.

Colm Wilkinson – One Day More I must have one track from a musical. The choice was between Les Miserables

MUSICAL MEMORIES: left to right, Dean Martin Ain’t That A Kick in the Head, I Wanna Be Like You from The Jungle Book, sung by Louis Prima, and The Pointer Sisters Jump

and Sunset Boulevard. A lot of my choices are very much based on the singer as much as the song, but this is one of a few that I would be less picky over the actual singer, as it’s such a big ensemble number. However, Colm was the first Jean Valjean I saw and it’s the 10th anniversary of this recording with a huge orchestra and chorus.

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My mentor in all things showbiz was the escapologist Alan Alan, who said one of the most important things to have on stage was repose

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Indonesian side of Borneo and work for a centre which helps rescue baby orangutans from being taken from their mothers and illegally sold as pets. The charity currently cares for around 90 orangutans. He tells me a bit about the work he and the other volunteers carry out, wheeling the young orangutans in wheelbarrows to the forest school area, as the creatures are arboreal by nature and so prefer travelling through the trees rather than walking. And, yes he does get attached to them. He said: “There was one baby that we went on to rescue which they kindly named after me. So there’s a Noel out there permanently now and not just during the winter.” As far as Noel’s musical preferences are concerned, it’s hardly surprising that The Jungle Book is among his top ten.

Spike Jones and the City Slickers – Glow Worm Another great combination of music and comedy. I listened to these tracks when I was young and wanted to know all the extra visual stuff that was going on to explain the bursts of laughter. Now of course you can find out on YouTube. Here are great musicians and comedians working in unison – especially the brilliant banjo playing of Freddy Morgan.

Louis Prima – I Wanna Be Like You I just had to pick this; I mean, just how many orangutan based tunes are out there to remind me of my time in Borneo? In truth you only really need one and this is just great! Bizarre Bath tours leave from outside The Huntsman Inn. North Parade Passage. Bath, every evening at 8pm. The walk takes approximately 90 minutes. No need to book, just turn up. Visit: bizarrebath.co.uk. For more information about the animal rescue charity, visit: internationalanimalrescue.org. n JULY 2015

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CITY| OF | CULTURE

A RARE CHANCE TO MEET Three Native Americans are to visit the American Museum in Bath this month, giving visitors the chance to hear at first hand about their rich and ancient culture

he American Museum in Bath is to this month welcome visitors from a community which has been exploited over the centuries but which is now revered for its rich culture and ancient civilisation. The visit by a trio of Native Americans coincides with this summer’s Spirit Hawk Eye exhibition of photographic portraits of Native Americans by an international photographer currently living in Bath. Heidi Laughton, the photographer, explains how she came to take these extraordinary portraits: “The project came about when I was living in LA, working out there as a photographer at the time. Los Angeles has more native communities than any other city in the US and I wanted to learn more about the culture. I immersed myself within the community and began to get to know some people. It was really when I met Danny (Navajo spiritual leader) that the project took off as Danny took me under his wing and taught me a lot about the Native ways. Alan Salazar and Sarita, who are coming to Bath, also introduced me to many people within the Native community. I then drove across the south west and met diverse communities on reservations and in urbanised environments. Native Americans have been exploited enormously throughout their history and understandably are very wary of anyone taking photos of them and profiting from doing so, without any money going back to the tribal organisations. Without a budget it was therefore really hard to get permission to shoot. The process involved getting to know people well and having them understand how the intention of the project was to help promote Native

culture around the world, to educate people about Native ways and build cultural bridges. That’s why it’s so great when a museum such as The American Museum of Britain display the exhibition and run these workshops. It’s really what the project has been all about, and what my vision was from the beginning – to help spread the word. The most private people to photograph were the Hopi and I was really blessed to have been given permission by the tribal officers to photograph a young Hopi girl looking out across the Hopi mesas. Sarita, Alan and Nocona are excited to be coming over, representing the Iowa, Chumash and Comanche (respectively). While in the UK, Sarita will be following an 1844 excursion when 14 Ioway people

SPIRIT HAWK EYE: images from Heidi Laughton’s photographic exhibition, including, top right, Alan Salazar and, below, Sarita McGowan, who will be visiting Bath this summer

visited London and staged exhibitions with George Catlin. She has the field notes from her tribe about where they visited and as two were buried here she will be finding their burial sites and will be performing a sacred ceremony for them. After the exhibition finishes at the end of November the show is due to go to South Carolina in 2016, as part of an exhibit the Black Creek Arts Council are doing in conjunction with the University of South Carolina. I’m open to offers and would love for it to go to galleries or museums in Europe.” n See more of Heidi’s work: heidilaughtonphotography.com. Spirit Hawk Eye runs until 1 November at the museum. The American Museum in Britain is at Claverton Manor, Bath BA2 7BD. Tel: 01225 460503. To book a place on a workshop tel: 01225 820868. Visit: amercianmuseum.org. The museum runs a free shuttle bus from Terrace Walk (Bog Island) in Bath. Check the website for times.

DISCOVER MORE ABOUT NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE The visit by three Native Americans will give visitors the chance to meet them face-toface and to learn a little about their rich and ancient culture. The season of Spirit Hawk Eye themed events begins on Thursday 16 July and runs to Thursday 23 July. IOWA HISTORY & TRADITIONAL CULTURE Sarita McGowan, enrolled tribal member of the Iowa tribe of Kansas and Nebraska gives a talk on the history of the Ioway. 6.30pm, Thursday 16 July. CHUMASH STORYTELLING WITH ALAN SALAZAR Alan is a spiritual advisor of Chumash and Tatavian Native American descent who will share some of his knowledge and is happy to

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answer questions. 1.30pm, Saturday 18 and Saturday 25 July. WOMEN’S NORTHERN TRADITIONAL BUCKSKIN DANCE EXHIBITION Sarita McGowan will give a dance performance and there will be the chance for audience members to talk to her about her handmade regalia and contemporary Iowa culture. Saturday 18 and 25 July, 3.30pm. WORKSHOP: HANDMADE MEDICINE POUCH Learn directly from Sarita how to make an authentic medicine pouch, which traditionally contains sage, cedar and tobacco, along with personal objects. Places need to be booked for this workshop, Sunday 19 July, 10am to 4pm. £40. CHUMASH HISTORY AND MARITIME LEGACY

Alan Salazar will give a talk about Chumash and Tataviam history and the quest to build and sail a traditional canoe in the sea between California and Santa cruz island. Tuesday 21 July, 6.30pm. £7. QUANAH PARKER AND COMANCHE HISTORY Painter Nocona Burgess is the great-great grandson of Comanche Chief Quanah Parker and he will be telling his ancestor’s story. Thursday 23 July, 6.30pm. £7. WORKSHOP: PAINTING OUTWARD, COLOUR THEORY IN PRACTICE Artist Nocona will be leading this workshop which explores the technique of painting on to a dark, rather than a light, background. Saturday 25 July, 10am to 4pm. Places must be booked. £40 per person.

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A CULTURAL CARRY ON

Late openings and live music are just part of the Holburne Museum’s summer fun

hat do Marilyn Monroe, a man-eating shark, a folk band and an Italian painter of masterpieces all have in common? Answer: they’re all part of the Holburne Museum’s summer programme of entertainment and art. The public museum and gallery has already gently launched its Up Late series of evening openings, which give visitors the chance to enjoy the collection after work while listening to some laidback music and sampling food and drink from the Holburne’s licensed café. And these have been so popular that the late night series will be extended across the summer. The fun starts with three evenings of al fresco cinema as the Little Theatre cinema stages Jaws, Grand Budapest Hotel and Some Like It Hot over the evenings of Friday 3 – Sunday 5 July. The café will be open and serving supper, snacks and drinks for the audience. There’ll be more after hours entertainment over the weekend of Friday 24 to Sunday 26 July as the Holburne celebrates its current Canaletto exhibition with a themed weekend for all ages. For the more serious minded there’s a study afternoon led by three experts: Marion McCauley, formerly of the Royal Collection, knows about the Canalettos in the Buckingham Palace collection, Bath

Preservation Trust architectural curator Dr Amy Frost and Holburne curator Amina Wright will shed fascinating light on the artist and on Bath’s classical architecture. There’s also an evening talk by historian Dr Jaqueline Riding, who advised film director Mike Leigh on the making of Mr Turner, which starred Timothy Spall as the artist. She’ll be talking about the Britain that Canaletto encountered in the 18th century. Throughout that Canaletto weekend there’ll be drop-in activities including a Punch and Judy theatre, ten minute art talks, Venetian mask making and a camera obscura, as used by Canaletto and other painters. From 6.15pm on Saturday 25, visitors will be able to sip on a Venetian inspired cocktail while enjoying live music from Maaike Siegerist, Joshua Lewis Michael and Rivers of England. Visit: holburne.org. n SUMMER SEASON AT THE HOLBURNE: clockwise from top left , the city centre museum is opening its doors later on selected evenings, the Little Theatre will be screening Jaws and Some Like it Hot, while visitors will be able to enjoy playful and academic events connected to Canaletto’s exhibition at the Holburne

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WHAT’S ON in July EVENTS ARE LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

Working From Home

WORKING FROM HOME Until Monday 31 August n Museum of Bath at Work, Julian Road, Bath Artist Julie McCalden presents an installation produced in response to the Museum of Bath at Work’s collection. Engaging with the life of an early 20th century woman, it camouflages signs of industrious activity in a domestic setting. Camouflaged objects include a kitchen range, cooking equipment, cleaning supplies, laundry on a washing line, match box assembly, and toys. Artist’s talk, 6pm on Wednesday 22 July. SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER Wednesday 1 – Saturday 18 July, times vary n Theatre Royal, Sawclose, Bath Oliver Goldsmith’s 18th century comedy is given a fresh look by director Lindsay Posner as part of the theatre’s summer season, starring Anita Dobson. Tel: 01225 448844. Also at the Theatre Royal this month ALAN BENNETT’S TALKING HEADS Wednesday 22 July – Saturday 8 August, times vary Stephanie Cole is one of the UK’s best loved actresses and she starred in the first series of Talking Heads in 1988. This production includes her reprise of A Cream Cracker Under the Settee, along with two other classic pieces, A Lady of Letters and A Chip in the Sugar.

PARTY AT THE POOLS Stephanie Cole

Sleuth

Reduced Shakespeare Company

BRLSI

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Saturday 4 July, 11am – 3pm n Cleveland Pools, Bathwick The party will include a performance by children, music from the Bath Spa Band, a barbecue and refreshments, stalls and things for children to do, plus a performance by the Natural Theatre’s Young People’s Company. It is hoped that by then the jetty will be built so visitors can arrive in style by boat on the Avon, jumping on board at Pulteney Bridge. Or arrive on foot after a stroll from the city centre. The trust is also collecting people’s memories of swimming at the pools. Tickets: £4/£2 children, from the Bath Box Oﬃce tel: 01225 463362.

DOROTHY HOUSE MARQUEE WEEK Friday 3 – Saturday 11 July n Dorothy House Hospice, Winsley, Wiltshire All week the hospice will be holding fundraising events in a marquee in its grounds, beginning with a quiz night on Friday 3, a history talk about west country inns by historians and authors Kirsten Elliott and Andrew Swift on Saturday 4, jazz with sausage and mash on Sunday 5 and the country fair on Saturday 11 July. For more information visit: dorothyhouse.co.uk/events. GEEK CENTRAL Saturday 4 July, 10am – 4pm n Komedia, Westgate Street, Bath After its huge success at Komedia in Brighton, Geek Central launches Bath’s first Geek-centric tabletop sale, shindig and swap meet. There will be ample opportunity to load up on all things blister packed, limited edition and to meet new friends, try new games and play some friendlies with your mates. Entry: £2 on the door, free for under 5s. Also at Komedia this month EDINBURGH FRINGE PREVIEWS Various dates throughout July, check komedia.co.uk/bath for details This is a great chance to enjoy a taste of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival without having to travel all the way to Scotland. New and wellestablished comedians will be honing their acts in Komedia’s café.

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REDUCED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRESENTS: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED) Friday 10 July, 7pm This was London’s longest-running comedy, filling the Criterion Theatre in the West End for nine years. Join the madcap men in tights as they weave their way through all Shakespeare’s 37 plays in just 97 minutes, leaving you breathless and laughing. Tickets: £17, tel: 0845 293 8480. STEEPLE ASHTON’S INDEPENDENCE DAY FROLIC Saturday 4 July, picnic set up from 5.30pm, concert 6.30pm n St Mary’s Church and Steeple Ashton Manor, near Trowbridge, Wiltshire Acclaimed Bath Abbey organist Peter King is to give a concert of American organ music on the recently re-built Bryceson and Ellis organ in St Mary’s Church, followed by bring your own picnicking in the gardens of the manor house. Tickets for both events, including a glass of fizz and apple pie with cream, £20, or £10 for concert only aisle seats. Tel: 01380 870602, email: aeberhard@btinternet.com. BATH CAMERATA: SPIRIT OF AMERICA Saturday 4 July, 7.30pm n The Guildhall, High Street, Bath Chamber choir Bath Camerata performs for the first time under the direction of its new conductor, Benjamin Goodson, for this Independence Day concert celebrating music from, about and inspired by America. The programme will feature American and British composers from Bernstein to Copland, and from Cole Porter to Billy Joel, as well as the moving Five Spirituals from Sir Michael Tippett’s A Child of our Time. Tickets: £15, £5 under 25s, from: bathcamerata.org.uk or tel: 01225 463362. Beer, wine and soft drinks will be available on the night. TRIBUTE: ROXY MAGIC Saturday 4 July, 7.30pm n Chapel Arts Centre, Lower Borough Walls, Bath Roxy Magic is the UK’s best and longestrunning tribute to Roxy Music and will run through the band’s greatest hits with style and stage presence. Singer Kevin Hackett, pictured, bears an uncanny resemblance to Ferry visually and vocally, and has honed a stage presence which has received wide praise from fans of the original.Tickets: £13 (£15 on the door).Visit: chapelarts.org. Also at Chapel Arts this month TRIBUTE: THE KAST OFF KINKS Friday 10 July, 7.30pm The band features long term members of the The Kinks. Mick Avory, the original drummer, John Dalton on bass/vocals (60s and 70s), and Ian Gibbons on keyboards/vocals (still with Ray Davies), are joined on guitar and vocals by Dave Clarke who has played with the Beach Boys. Expect all the hits including: You Really Got Me, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Sunny Afternoon, Lola, Deadend Street, Days, Waterloo Sunset, Come Dancing, and more. Tickets: £20. THE PAPERBOYS PLUS SUPPORT, DAN WEBSTER Friday July 24, 7.30pm The Paperboys were formed by Mexican born, Tom Landa in the mid90s in Vancouver, when he had a vision of forming a band that fused folk, Celtic and bluegrass with pop and rock. For the past 15 years, the band has been selling out venues without the aid of major labels or commercial radio play. Dan Webster is a seasoned English singersongwriter. Americana UK described him as ‘a hybrid of Damien Rice, Seth Lakeman and Tom McRae.’ Tickets: £10 TRIBUTE: JERRY LEE MEETS GENE VINCENT Saturday July 25, 7.30pm Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent reincarnated for a night of rock n roll nostalgia. New Yorker and West End star, Lars Young (Rock n Roll Paradise, Be Bop A Lula), creates an inspired performance as the mean, moody, magnificent Gene Vincent. Vincent was touring with Eddie Cochran in 1960 and was in the taxi that crashed outside Chippenham, killing Cochran – both singers were taken to St Martin’s Hospital in Bath. It is widely accepted that Vincent never overcame the tragedy of losing his best friend and he died aged just 36 in 1971. Taking the role of Jerry Lee Lewis is Peter Gill who will perform some of the best rock ‘n’ roll ever recorded - Great Balls of Fire, Breathless, Whole Lotta Shakin and Wild One. Tickets: £13, £15 on the door. Continued Page 28 >> WWW.THEBATHMAG.CO.UK

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WHAT’S | ON

Bike Bath: for cyclists of all abilities

Mitch Tonks

Edward Fox at Wiltshire Music Centre

Spandau Ballet at Westonbirt

Rufus Wainwright

BIKE BATH Sunday 5 July ■ The Recreation Ground, central Bath This will be the fourth annual Bike Bath, offering routes for cyclists of all abilities. For the first time there will be a 10 mile route for family and novice riders. Other riders may choose between the 80-mile challenge out to the Mendips, the 50-mile scenic ride or the 25-miler, which takes in the Two Tunnels and mainly follows cycle paths. Feilden Clegg Bradley Studio feed stations bursting with local and regional food and drink products will be perfectly located to help refuel cyclists before heading on for the next leg of their route. On completion back at the Rec, all riders receive a finisher’s medal. Entries are available for teams or individuals and the 10-mile route is free to under 16’s and £15 for accompanying adults. Visit: bikebath.co.uk or email info@bikebath.co.uk. BOOKS BROUGHT TO LIGHT: THE 18TH CENTURY BOOK EXPLOSION Until 5 September, 10am–4pm Monday to Saturday ■ Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution, 16 Queen Square, Bath BRLSI is displaying books from its historic library to reveal the story of the 18th century Enlightenment, the age of reason and learning. Bath was a particularly lively setting for discovery and debate, with pioneers such as William Herschel and Joseph Priestley making extraordinary discoveries. On display will be the journal of Edmund Rack, one of the founders of the Royal Bath and West Society, an intriguing mixture of the humdrum (like the price of starlings in Bath Market) and the serious, and his reflections on science, morality and the absurdities of social life throw light on all aspects of the Enlightenment. He has been recreated in cartoon form by cartoonist Sally Artz. CAMEL Tuesday 7 July, 7pm ■ The Forum, Bath Prog rock fans will be delighted to welcome Camel to Bath. Led by founder member Andrew Latimer, the band has weathered many storms and setbacks over a four-decade career. Latimer is joined by long-term musical colleagues Colin Bass (bass), Denis Clement (drums) and Ton Scherpenzeel (keyboards), for a summer festival tour. Tickets: £29.50, visit: bathforum.co.uk. Also at the Forum this month RUFUS WAINWRIGHT: SOLO Tuesday 14 July, 6.30pm Original singer-songwriter and performer with a huge following. Tickets: £37.50 plus £3.75 booking fee.

SPANDAU BALLET Saturday 11 July ■ Westonbirt Arboretum, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire Dig out your frilly white shirts and prepare to relive the 1980s as Spandau Ballet prepares to shake the very roots of the forest. The New Romantics established themselves as one of the super-groups of the 80s with classic hits such as: To Cut A Long Story Short, Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On), Lifeline, Gold and True. Tickets £46.50 (plus £4.65 booking fee) tel: 03000 680400 or buy online: forestry.gov.uk/music.

SHAKESPEARE LIVE PRESENTS:THE TAMING OF THE SHREW Monday 6 – Saturday 11 July; times vary ■ Lackham House, Lacock Outdoor Shakespeare from this long-established group viewed from the comfort of the tiered covered stand. This energetic, funny and thoughtprovoking production is set in 1913 at the height of the Suffragette movement. Tickets, visit: shakespearelive.com, tel: 07780 938107; £15 (£10 children / NUS students) except for Saturday gala (£20 / £15). Groundling places also available. ST MARK’S SCHOOL PRESENTS: THE WIZARD OF OZ Thursday 9 and Friday 10 July, 8pm ■ The Rondo Theatre, St Saviour’s Road, Larkhall 28 TheBATHMagazine

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St Mark’s School presents the RSC version of The Wizard of Oz, with music and lyrics of the MGM motion picture score by Harold Arlen and EY Harburg. Follow the adventures of Dorothy and friends as they travel along that yellow brick road and see what life is really like somewhere over the rainbow. Tickets: £8, concessions £5. Tel: 01225 444003, visit: rondotheatre.co.uk. Also at the Rondo Theatre this month BATH OPERA PRESENTS LA TRAVIATA Friday 24 and Saturday 25 July 7.30pm Verdi’s tale has been set in the 21st century, where amid the alcohol and drug-fuelled lifestyle of the city of London, Violetta and her high-flying city friends – bankers, lawyers and dealers in legal and illegal commodities – are partying. Violetta’s addiction has taken its toll: drink and drugs have weakened her body, but her spirit still demands freedom to enjoy the pleasures of life. Enter Alfredo, and the struggle between love and pleasure begins. Sung in English and supported by musical director, Peter Blackwood, at the piano. Tickets: £14, concessions £10. LA TRAVIATA Thursday 9 July, gates open 5.30pm n Prior Park College grounds, Bath The Garden Opera Company will perform Verdi’s La Traviata al fresco, and in English. There are a limited number of tickets remaining: £35, under 16s, £20, tel: 01225 354656. Proceeds to the Julian House charity which works with homeless and vulnerable men and women. RODE VILLAGE DAY Saturday 11 July, 2pm – 11pm n Rode, Somerset An afternoon and evening of family fun in the village of Rode, including a tug of war, bouncy castles, home cooked food, live music and a great Village Bake Off. WATERLOO AND THE MARCH OF SCIENCE Until 14 December n The Herschel Museum, New King Street, Bath The home of astronomers William and Caroline Herschel is holding an exhibition which invites us to consider 1815 and what was happening during this golden age of advancement. The museum has been selected as William Herschel had a meeting with Napoleon in France and wrote about the encounter. BELOVED CLARA Saturday 11 July, 7pm n Wiltshire Music Centre, Ashley Road, Bradford-on-Avon BA15 1DZ Award-winning pianist Lucy Parham, joins English actors Joanna David and Edward Fox for an exclusive performance, bringing to life the story of the intense relationships between Robert Schumann, his wife Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. The performance has been arranged for the National Osteoporosis Society and is the first in the area. VIP ticket holders will have the opportunity to meet the performers at a private reception hosted by the National Osteoporosis Society. Standard tickets £25 (concessions available) VIP tickets £50; to include a private drinks and canapé reception with the performers after the concert. Contact: nos.org.uk/beloved-clara. A SOVEREIGN SERENITY: CHORAL GEMS FROM THE ORTHODOX MONASTERIES Saturday 11 July, 7.30pm n St Michael’s Without Church, Broad Street, Bath The Yaroslavl Choir, founded in 2008 and based in Switzerland, is led by Yan Greppin and has singers from Switzerland, France, Belgium, Russia, the Ukraine and the UK. The choir will present a programme of simple, sober and beautiful choral music; works from the Valaam monastery in Russia, monasteries in Bulgaria and Serbia and the Lavra Monastery in Kiev. The concert is free, with a retiring collection. Continued Page 30 >> WWW.THEBATHMAG.CO.UK

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WHAT’S | ON true story of a little girl trapped in a lift shaft and three journalists above ground following the story. Tickets: £8/£6 concessions.

SMALL WORLDS DOLLSHOUSE EXHIBITION Until 8 November n The Brownsword Gallery, No 1 Royal Crescent, Bath A collection of historic dollshouses and furniture. Free with admission to the museum. Adults £9, concessions £7, children £4. SCHUBERT’S WINTER JOURNEY WITH IAN BOSTRIDGE Tuesday 14 July, 8pm n St Swithin’s Church, the Paragon, Bath Ian Bostridge is one of the most outstanding singers of our time. Having made awardwinning recordings of opera and song he has turned his attentions to interpreting one of the most powerful and enigmatic masterpieces in Western culture, Schubert’s Winterreise. His new book focuses on the context, resonance and personal significance of a work that is possibly the greatest landmark in the history of Lieder. Hosted by Topping & Co. Tel: 01225 428111. Also hosted by Topping & Co this month MITCH TONKS AND MAX PROWSE: A FISH AND SHELFISH TALK AND TASTING Wednesday 15 July 7.30pm Mitch Tonks, who used to run his fish restaurant in Green Street, Bath, has been named ‘fishmonger for the 21st century’. Now he and co-owner Max Prowse run The Seahorse restaurant, on the mouth of the River Dart, a favourite haunt of foodies. This event will take place in the bookshop in the Paragon. Advance tickets: £6, on the day, £7.

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CORSTON VILLAGE FAIR Saturday 18 July, 2pm – 5pm n Corston, between Bath and Saltford, on the A39 and A4 Enjoy a traditional family day out with stalls, a raffle, a tea tent, Chuffy the train rides, a bouncy castle and slide, a bar tent, a BBQ, classic cars, a dog show, ice cream, and a brass band. £1 adults, under 16s free. Comedian/guitarist Silky: Widcombe comedy nights A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM Wednesday 15 – Saturday 18 July, 7.30pm n Mission Theatre, Corn Street, Bath Zenith Youth Theatre return with this fastpaced, witty farce of a musical set in Roman times. Tickets: £12/ £10 concessions. Tel: 01225 463362 or visit: bathboxoffice.org.uk. Also at the Mission this month PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Monday 20 – Wednesday 22 July 7.30pm The Pantaloons presents Jane Austen’s witty and romantic masterpiece. This theatre company has had acclaim from the national press. Tickets: £12.50/£8 concessions. A FOOL’S PROOF Thursday 23 – Saturday 25 July 7.30pm Scratchworks Company presents sharp new writing. This is a powerful tale based on the

THE ARGYLE PLAYERS PRESENT: SLEUTH Wednesday 22 – Saturday 25 July, 7pm n Tovey Hall, Central United Reformed Church, Grove St, Bath A tantalising thriller by Anthony Shaffer. The ultimate game of cat-and-mouse is played out in a cosy English country house owned by celebrated mystery writer, Andrew Wyke. Invited guest Milo Tindle, a young rival who shares not only Wyke’s love of the game but also his wife, has come to lay claim. Revenge is devised and murders plotted as the two plan the ultimate whodunnit. Tickets £8, visit: bathboxoffice.org.uk, or tel: 01225 463362. DESIGNER HANDBAG CHARITY AUCTION Thursday 23 July, 7.30pm n Chapel Arts Centre, Lower Borough Walls, Bath A charity auction to raise funds for the Bath

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WHAT’S | ON

Dogs and Cats Home. Tickets, £25, includes drinks reception, entertainment by The Belle Fleurs and the designer handbag auction. There will also be a raffle (one ticket included in the price.) Tel: 01225 787334. WIDCOMBE NIGHTS: COMEDY SPECIAL WITH SILKY AND GUESTS Thursday 23 July, doors open 7.15pm n Ring of Bells, Widcombe, Bath A trio of entertainers is led by Silky, a favourite on the comedy circuit for years. He describes himself as a comedian, musician, writer and ‘all the other things people say they do when they don’t really have to get up too early.’ Paul Revill tells stories with vivid characters and involves the audience in the fun. Paul has enjoyed three full runs at the Edinburgh Fringe. Last year he won the Bath Comedy Festival New Act of the Year competition. Bristol based stand-up poet, actor and writer, Angie Belcher has supported the likes of John Hegley and Alan Francis, and written for stage, screen and radio. Her live work has been described as funny, poetic, topical and not for the faint-hearted. Tickets: £10. Visit: bathcomedy.com. PLANNING AHEAD RAY DAVIES Saturday 8 August n The grounds of Glastonbury Abbey Ray Davies, former lead singer with the Kinks, is the star of this year’s Extravaganza. He’ll be supported by current chart hit country duo The

This is the first chance to see a new musical based on the film starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. It tells the story of the real-life Windmill Theatre’s notorious nude girl shows and its famous slogan ‘we never close’ celebrating the spirit of the Blitz. The lyrics are by Don Black and the show stars Olivier award winner Janie Dee and Ian Bartholomew. ROUSING MUSIC TO RAISE THE SPIRITS Saturday 12 September, 7.30pm n Bath Abbey This concert to raise the spirits and the profile and funds of two charities, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association and Combat Stress, with music played on the Abbey organ by Jennifer Bate and music provided by the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines from Lympstone. Tickets from £10 to £33, tel: 01225 463362 or visit: supportingukforcesandfamilies.co.uk

Strokes and by Joan Armatrading. Tickets: £35 adult and £20 (children six to 16), or £40 adult, £25 children on the day. The evening will end with fireworks. Visit: glastonburyabbey.com/Extravaganza2015. WORLD PREMIERE: MRS HENDERSON PRESENTS Saturday 15 August – Saturday 5 September, times vary n The Theatre Royal, Bath

THE TELEGRAPH BATH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE FESTIVAL 25 September – 4 October Tickets for Britain’s largest dedicated children’s book festival have gone on sale. This is a festival bursting at the seams with activity for children of all ages, their families and friends. There’ll be visits from Julia Donaldson (The Gruffalo), Jacqueline Wilson (Hetty Feather) and Chris Riddell (Goth Girl) among over 100 events. For tickets visit: bathfestivals.org.uk, or tel: 01225 463 362. n

Now you can post your What’s on listings to our website. Visit: thebathmag.co.uk

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CITY | ARCHIVE

IN AUSTEN’S FOOTSTEPS

A new exhibition invites us to see Bath as Jane Austen and her contemporaries saw it. Georgette McCready finds that while much has changed, there are also recognisable similarities in the physical and the society of the city

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letters because the first was written when she arrived to live in Bath and the second, although it was written in London, contains a lot of references to clothes and fashion of the time and she talks about buying gloves.” Austen’s sister Cassandra destroyed huge numbers of her late sister’s letters after she died, so the remaining letters are all the more precious to those wanting to learn more about the woman behind the writing. Like Shakespeare, Austen leaves a great body of work that hints at a complex and fascinating personality, but very little tangible evidence. Austen’s first documented visit to Bath was in 1797 when she was 22, but members of her family had been living here for years. Her parents were married at St Swithin’s Church in Walcot, where her father is buried. She returned to Bath, when her family first stayed at 1 The Paragon before settling at 4 Sydney Place (where there is a plaque). Austen actually lived in Bath for just four years, from 1801 until 1805, at a time where despite still being the most cultured

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PLEASURE GARDENS: this page, images of Sydney Gardens from Regency times, including a cartoon of the swings enjoyed by visitors, as depicted by John Nixon

A Guinness world record was set in 2014 for the largest gathering of people dressed in Regency costume, at 550

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ear old Jane Austen, Bath’s most famous former resident, has her name bandied about on a daily basis in these parts. But you’d be hard pressed in the city which trades so much on the Austen ‘brand’ to find anything that she’d actually touched or owned. A new exhibition, which opens this month, aims to rectify that by showing letters and a poem written by Austen and showing a display of pictures from her lifetime that portray Bath as she would have viewed it. Readers of her novels will be able to imagine themselves in scenes from Northanger Abbey, or what Miss Austen’s days in Bath would have been like. The Victoria Art Gallery has worked in partnership with the Roman Baths – both owned by Bath & North East Somerset Council, and therefore by the people – to help make the exhibition, Jane Austen’s Bath special. The Roman Baths has lent the poem in Austen’s handwriting, which features a wedding and a deep love between two people. The gallery has also borrowed two letters from the Jane Austen House Museum at Chawton in Hampshire, the cottage where Austen lived in her later years. Bath may have the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street – just a few doors along from where the author once lived – but it is not a museum. Visitors may use it as a useful kicking off place for their exploration of Austen’s Bath, but it does not have any artefacts from her own life or work. Jon Benington, manager at the Victoria Art Gallery, said of the selection process from Austen’s letters for the upcoming exhibition: “We chose these

exciting and fashionable city outside London, its reputation was beginning to tarnish – in short Bath was not the squeaky clean Regency city we might imagine from its neat crescents. Living in Sydney Place Austen would

have been well placed to enjoy the delights of the pleasure gardens of Sydney Gardens. This was quite a mixed gathering of types of people, from the smart to the downright disreputable, but crowds were regularly drawn to enjoy such pleasures as the swings (strictly for the grown-ups) the communal breakfasts, open air concerts and fireworks. This, of course, was before the railway cut a swathe right through the gardens. Austen lived at a time when England was at war with France and when people took a keen interest in politics. This time also saw the rise of the satirical cartoon, or lampoon and some of these are featured in the collection, illustrating a long-running custom of mocking the great and good.

LINKING THE BOOKS TO BATH If you want to literally walk in Jane Austen’s footsteps, there are plenrty of places referenced in Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. You might start with

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CITY | ARCHIVE

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: above, the view from Beechen Cliff and another from the Lower Bristol Road of boats sailing past (on the left hand side of the picture, where you can just glimpse their sails) on the Avon Below, MC James King, 1746 – 1816, and The Successful Fortune Hunter, a cartoon by Thomas Rowlandson

a stroll down Milsom Street with the voice of Isabella in Northanger Abbey ringing in your ears: “Do you know I saw the prettiest hat you can imagine in a shop window in Milsom Street just now?” Or to reflect on Bath’s seemingly eternal reputation as a great place for its variety of shops: “Bath . . . a charming place because here one can step out of doors and get a thing in five minutes.” Once you reach Cheap Street cross the road by Oasis. ‘Everybody acquainted with Bath may remember the difficulties of crossing Cheap Street at this point,’ she writes in Northanger Abbey. ‘ . . .a day never passes in which parties of ladies, however important their business, whether in quest of pastry, millinery, or even of young men, are not detained on one side or other by carriages, horsemen or carts.’ And where would a young man today take his prospective date for the best views over Bath? Like the Regency chaps of old, they’d head up to Beechen Cliff. And as for Bath society, it seems not much has changed. There are still today the jaded souls who would recognise this

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sentiment. “Bath, compared with London, has little variety, and so everybody finds out every year. “For six weeks I allow Bath is pleasant enough; but beyond that, it is the most tiresome place in the world.”

JANE AUSTEN’S BATH Pulteney Street by John Claude Nattes, and below, the theatre in Old Orchard Street

BECOMING A JANEITE The enthusiastic followers of Austen and her work are known as Janeites and if you’d like to join their ranks there are plenty of ways open to you. Firstly and most obviously, you can read her novels and watch the various film adaptations. This entitles you to join the heated debate about which has been the best adaptation and whether Colin Firth in britches and a wet shirt has seared itself on our collective consciousness as the definitive Mr Darcy. Numerous academic books have been written – and continue to be written – about Austen’s world and work. There’s also the regular Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine, which has subscribers all over the world. It runs reviews of books and features on a variety of Regency topics such as Austen’s use of the sofa in her novels. For the fully immersive Austen experience you’ll want to join the throngs who don bonnets and gowns for the Jane Austen Festival, which takes place this year between Friday 11 and Sunday 20 September. This includes a range of events and talks, from the serious and academic to the frivolous. One of the annual spectacles of this delightfully eccentric festival is the Regency parade through the streets of Bath by Janietes who have hired, bought or made outfits to wear. A Guinness world record was set in 2014 for the largest gathering of people dressed in Regency costume, at 550. Find out more about this year’s Jane Austen Festival at: janeaustenfestivalbath.co.uk and for more information about the Bath-based privately owned Jane Austen Regency World magazine visit: janeaustenmagazine.co.uk. ■

The exhibition at the Bath and North East Somerset Council owned Victoria Art Gallery, runs from Saturday 4 July – Sunday 4 October. Admission is £3.50, but free to under 21s and to Discovery Card holders. Lunchtime exhibition tours: every Thursday, 12.30pm –1.10pm. Free to Discovery Card and ticket holders. Jane Austen themed talks: Wednesdays 9, 16 and 23 September, 1.10-1.45pm; free; in the Guildhall, Bath. No tickets required, just turn up. Join a free Jane Austen walk by the Mayor’s Guides. Walks start from the Abbey Church Yard at 11am and finish at the gallery. The walks will be held on: Friday 10, Wednesday 15, Tuesday 21 and Tuesday 28 July and Tuesday 4, Friday 14, and Sunday 23 August, Friday 11, Sunday 27 and Wednesday 30 September.

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CITY | BUSINESS

THE | COLLECTOR

WHERE HAVE ALL THE ANTIQUES DEALERS GONE? Duncan Campbell HAS BEEN DEALING IN ANTIQUE SILVER SINCE 1986.

Starting with a stall on Portobello Road while still at university, he (wisely) resigned from his job in the corporate finance department of a city merchant bank in 1993 to pursue his obsession full time. Having served his apprenticeship in the London silver trade Duncan has been based in Bath since 2001. Aside from the day to day business of running a shop, Duncan appears regularly as a silver specialist on BBC1’s Antiques Roadshow and is retained as a silver consultant with various institutions, museums and livery companies.

hen I was a young cub silver dealer, racing around the country looking for undervalued shinnymetal to sell to the rather savvier dealers of Portobello Road, Bath was a rich source indeed. Every Wednesday, I would hop out of my bed in West London at about 3.30 am and bowl down the M4 with high, and realistic, hopes of returning a few hours later with a passenger seat covered in treasure. Looking back, it is easy to see that the antiques industry in the late 80’s and early 90’s, became overblown. There were simply too many Lovejoy wannabes playing pass the parcel with second rate old stuff that the public just didn’t want. Couple that oversupply with a boom in Ikea steered minimalism and with eBay pushing the trade behind drawn curtains and we had the perfect storm to blow almost all of the antiques dealers clear out of Bath. A glance at my Asprey pocket barometer suggests that the storm now appears to be passing. Some may already have noticed that, from London Road to Widcombe, antiques shops are bucking the national trend and actually opening up. In a town like ours this ought not to be a surprise. Was there ever a city so steeped in Georgian history as Bath? As new residents continue to move to Bath for, in my view, very obvious reasons and tourists similarly arrive in increasing numbers there surely has to be demand for a bit of portable period detail or for an 18th century souvenir. There is a strong logic in Bath becoming an antiques destination once again, the more dealers and shops there are, the more worthwhile it will be to make a trip to our city to look perhaps at several side tables or umbrella stands before choosing ‘the one’. I am very optimistic for the continued growth of Bath’s antiques trade, but then I would be as I am nothing more that an urban treasure hunter when all is said and done. Optimism is more vital than any amount of specialist knowledge n Duncan can be contacted on; duncan@beaunashbath.com, www.beaunashbath.com, 01225 334234

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ART | EXHIBITIONS

SIZZLE INTO SUMMER Sculptures and ceramics join figurative and abstract pieces for a varied display in Bath galleries and the surrounding area

DAVID TURVEY PRINTS PRESENTS: THE BEST OF BRITISH PRINTMAKING 7 – 12 July Although exhibited and collected elsewhere, this is John Duffin’s first show in Bath. His exemplary draughtsmanship underpins a body of work that is redolent with influences from cinema, graphic novels and the history of painting. Michael Kirkman’s work focuses on intimate scenes that convey a sense of selective memory, with theatrically accented details that prompt a range of narrative possibilities. This is his second showing in Bath, containing new prints and drawings. Also on show will be post-war prints from the archives of the Emma Mason Gallery in Sussex, plus some rare etchings by London artist Martin Ridgwell from his Shadowplay series.

MUDSLINGERS CERAMICS GROUP Walcot Street Chapel, Walcot Street, Bath BA1 5UG

Solo by Nick Cudworth NICK CUDWORTH GALLERY London St, top of Walcot Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 445221, visit: nickcudworth.com ACROSS THE BOARD 1 July – 29 August A chance to revisit a wide range of signed, limited edition prints taken from original oil paintings and pastel drawings over several years.These represent Nick’s many varied interests often with an unusual perspective. A selection of paintings will also be on show.

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44AD GALLERY 4 Abbey Street, Bath BA1 1NN Tuesday to Saturday 10am – 6pm Sunday 10am – 4pm

JULY 2015

SUMMER EXHIBITION AND SALE Tuesday 14 – Sunday 19 July, daily 11am – 6pm Nine local ceramicists of Bath’s Mudslingers group present functional and decorative work from the figurative to the abstract. An opportunity to buy work direct from the makers, handmade in their studios. Ceramicists include: Kate Marshall (whose work is pictured), Kim Birchall, Yvonne Elston, Jane Gibson, Alan Hemming, Esther Norman, Andrew Rhodes and Sarah Martin.

Soho Rain by John Duﬃn

Come Here and Bring Your Broken heart by Andrew Crocker Works by up and coming artists as well as more established gallery names. Simon Allen’s Seascape in white gold is impressive, as is Andrew Crocker’s Come here and bring your broken heart

HOTTER THAN JULY Throughout July Summer brings hot vibrant colour to Walcot Street, with Emma Rose’s sultry land and seascapes inspired by environmental imagery. She uses nature as a metaphor for the creative process and the earth as a work in progress with ever changing natural environments being modelled, carved and coloured by the laws of nature.

Red Crescent by Emma Rose

EMMA ROSE Upstairs at The Bath Sofa and Curtain Shop, 78 Walcot Street, Bath Mon – Sat, 10am – 5pm Tel: 01224 424424 Visit: emmaroseartworks.com

BEAUX ARTS 12 – 13 York Street, Bath BA1 1NG Tel: 01225 464850 Throughout July ARTISTS OF FAME AND PROMISE

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nick cudworth gallery

Perfect Pitch – Signed, Limited Edition Giclee Print

ACROSS THE BOARD – SUMMER EXHIBITION 1 July – 29 August

A chance to revisit a wide range of signed, limited edition prints taken from original oil paintings and pastel drawings over several years.These represent Nick’s many varied interests often with an unusual perspective. A selection of paintings will also be on show.

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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ART | EXHIBITIONS BRADFORD ON AVON SCULPTURE GARDEN Lynchetts, Woolley Street Opening times: Sat 18 July, 6pm – 10pm, closed Monday 20, then open daily 11am – 6.30pm, Friday 24 July, open until 9pm

Hellebores by Lynne Cartlidge DAVID SIMON CONTEMPORARY 3 – 4 Bartlett Street, Bath BA1 2QZ Tel: 01225 460189 Visit: davidsimoncontemporary.com Mon – Sat 10am – 6pm, Sunday afternoons SUMMER SHOW Until 8 August A rolling exhibition of invited painters, featuring the latest work by Lynne Cartlidge, Diana Matthews FRCA, Nick Tidnam RBA and introducing for the first time at the gallery Sussex painter Andy Waite. This exhibition features a wonderful variety of different approaches, exploring semifigurative styles. With each of these artists’ paintings is a real feeling of the enjoyment of handling paint and an understanding of colour through subjects of still-life and landscape.

Witness by Allan Martin LANE HOUSE ARTS 5 Nelson Place East Bath BA1 5DA Tel: 07767 498403 Visit: lanehousearts.co.uk ALLAN MARTIN: THESE DARK WOODS and other work Until the end of July These fine subtle paintings seek something unknown, unsettling, yet familiar and seductive. He often works in almost monochromatic hues, but a recent shift to work in colour, as can be seen in this piece, explores some of the same themes.

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Flanged vase by Christine Ann Richards

Saturday 18 – Sunday 26 July The Sculpture Garden is the first event of the Bradford on Avon Arts Festival which follows later in the summer. There will be several new exhibitors and work will be for sale. The exhibition will appeal to adults and children. The location will be, as last year, the gardens of Lynchetts in Woolley Street, with views over Bradford on Avon. The exhibits will be placed around the gardens, which include both level and steeper areas. The opening party on Saturday 18 will feature light jazz and a glass of wine. Local poet, Dawn Gorman, will be creating impromptu poems based on what she sees and hears during the evening, Entry will be £3, £5 on opening night Visit: boaartsfestival.com.

BATH CONTEMPORARY 35 Gay Street, Bath BA1 2NT Email: gallery@bathcontemporary.com Visit: bathcontemporary.com Tel: 01225 461230 Opening times: 10am – 5pm, Mon – Sat SUMMER EXHIBITION Until 8 August A rolling summer season with new work from featured gallery favourites including Nicholas Turner RWA, Ellen Watson and the ever popular Claire Wiltsher. Also featuring new artist Anna Pinkster, winner of Bath Society of Artists Prize, 2014, whose colourful and absorbing paintings inspired by her travels in Vietnam tantalise the senses and provoke a passion for travel. Alongside featured artists the gallery will be running a constantly changing mixed exhibition in the rear gallery.

Fishermen by Nicholas Turner

UNIVERSITY OF BATH Galleries 1, 2, and 3 The Edge, University of Bath, Claverton Down BA2 7AY Until Sunday 31 May, Mon-Sat 10am5pm Free admission, all welcome ALAN COTTON: CONTOURS IN COLOUR Until Saturday 12 September, Monday to Saturday 10am – 5pm Alan Cotton, one of Britain’s most distinguished painters, is to have a major retrospective exhibition at The Edge, the university’s new arts Tibet Sunlit Peaks and Deep Shadows on Everest by Alan Cotton centre which is open to all. Thursday 2 July, 6pm Alan Cotton will be in conversation with adventurer David Hempleman-Adams. Tickets: £5, concs £3. “Whenever I have a new experience, wherever I travel, that is when my best work comes” – Alan Cotton on his adventures, with Hempleman-Adams. To book a place at the talk visit: icia.org.uk.

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ART | EXHIBITIONS THE PRINCE’S TRUST CHARITY ART AUCTION AND DINNER The Assembly Rooms, Bath

Murmuration by Laura Ellen Bacon (work in progress) THE HOLBURNE MUSEUM Great Pulteney Street, Bath Murmuration: a new work by Laura Ellen Bacon 27 June to 4 October Sculptor Laura Ellen Bacon will transform the façade and interior of the museum with a unique installation of Somerset willow. The work will be an undulating curvaceous form inspired by flocks of starlings in flight.

Thursday 8 October Tickets have gone on sale for the Prince’s Trust fine art auction, held annually, to raise money to support disadvantaged young people in the south west. Sponsored by Coutts & Co, Reside and Withy King, more than 40 artists have donated work to help the charity. Last year the trust worked with 3,552 disadvantaged young people in the south west. The previous two art events have raised £170,000, which has been used by the youth charity to help young people in the south west get into work, training or education. This year’s event hopes to raise over £75,000. Amber-Lauren, 20, a commercial artist backed by

The Prince’s Trust, will be showing her work at the event. Her huge abstract pieces have already attracted celebrity attention. Amber applied for mentoring from the trust in order to start and make a success of her business, Amber-Lauren Fine Art. The event, hosted by TV presenter Paul Martin, will bring together 250 art-lovers and consist of a drinks and canapé reception, threecourse dinner, entertainment, silent and live auction. Artists already signed up include Sir Quentin Blake, Diana Armfield, Ken Howard, Susan Derges and Lady Deirdre Dyson. Tickets: £1,500 for a table of 10 and £150 for individuals. This includes the reception, and dinner. For more information or to order tickets, email: Katherine.morgan@princestrust.org.uk.

Morning Glory by Amber-Lauren

GALLERY NINE 9b Margarets Buildings, Bath BA1 2LP Tel: 01225 319197 SUMMER SHOW 10 July – 31 August This is a group show, with Richard Bawden, son of artist Edward Bawden, presenting watercolours of rural and domestic scenes and Kevin Hughes offering new watercolours including local scenes. Matthew Chambers’ ceramic sculptures portray 3D patterns of beauty, rhythm and symmetry in abstract form, while Adan Frew’s work is centred on the potter’s wheel using traditional eastern forms to inspire him. Jeweller Tanja Ufer is inspired by colours, textures and shapes she sees in every day life and creates pieces that accentuate the natural beauty of the stones. Silver and gold jewellery by Jane Adam and Jennifer Wall will also be shown.

Bridges in Sydney Gardens by Kevin Hughes

The Start of Summer by Jim Whitty ADAM GALLERY John Street, Bath BA1 2JL Tel: 01225 480406 Open Monday to Saturday 9.30am – 5.30pm JIM WHITTY Saturday 4 – Saturday 25 July Jim Whitty is a local artist who paints large canvases mainly of river and woodland scenes, often around the Longleat Estate. The gallery had a show with him three years ago and sold a work to a client in California. Jim says of his work: “I love exploring, discovering secret, overlooked places off the beaten track. I’ll spend hours pouring over maps, following the course of a river or coastline on google, following my nose down a promising looking lane, or simply taking the dog for a run though the woods. These explorations revive a natural wonder for the world around us I have had since early childhood, and it’s often fleeting experiences at particular moments of transitional light, that provides the spark for a painting.”

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HILTON FINE ART 5 Margarets Buildings, Bath BA1 2LP Open Tuesdays to Saturdays 10am – 5.30pm Tel: 01225 311311 NEIL PINKETT AND MICHAEL KENNY Until 25 July This exhibition shows the work of two highly regarded and well established figures, one in the upper gallery, the other in the lower gallery. Neil Pinkett has lived much of his life in Cornwall, painting extensively around Newlyn. There, like painters before him, he has been inspired by the people who work in this busy fishing village. His work has been exhibited throughout the UK and he has regular solo shows in Cornwall. Michael Kenny is an artist and a sculptor, holding his first solo show at the tender age of 23. He was one of the most influential sculptors of his generation and

Cloud Over The Bay by Neil Pinkett established a reputation teaching at the Slade and in the 80s when he was head of fine art at Goldsmiths. He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1976 and Royal Academician in 1986. Kenny’s work is held throughout the world, including the British Museum, the Tate and the Victoria and Albert.

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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

Helen White Painting conservator

t seemed like a good idea after completing my degree in fine art, to spend the inevitable period of unemployment in Bristol; more beautiful and nearer the sea than Coventry where I had spent the previous three years. I took a summer sublet in Richmond Terrace in Clifton and marvelled at how sophisticated and cultured it all was, even on the dole. The next two years were spent doing voluntary cataloguing and gallery work at Bristol City Museum and Arnolfini with odd periods of paid employment, (including at the Elizabeth Shaw chocolate factory, currently being torn down) to keep body and soul together. By the time I finally landed a job at Arnolfini I realised that what I really wanted was a job using my hands. This meant another period of training and a move to London to complete a three year post-graduate diploma in painting conservation at the Courtauld Institute of Art. I left Bristol with every intention of returning one day. With me came my then boyfriend (now husband) who had been living in Bath but whose life was also changing with his appointment to a part-time lectureship on an art foundation course. After three really enjoyable years in London I took up an Andrew Mellon Fellowship in Chicago for a year and then came back to the Courtauld as technical assistant. A year later I set up a group conservation practice with ex-Courtauld colleagues in north London working mainly for national institutions and large private collections. By this time I was a Londoner, any jobs that came up in the west country were of no interest anymore. I spent 18 years in London but for several reasons we, now a family with two small girls, felt we needed to move. Where to go? We both worked as freelancers, (my husband, Peter Malone, is an illustrator) and could probably go anywhere – though within reach of London, where I could continue working part-time. Oxford, Cambridge and Lewes, were all considered but particularly Bath where we had some history and still a friend or two. To be perfectly honest it was a bit of a trial moving to Bath, everything seemed to go wrong for the first few weeks and we inevitably wondered whether we had made the right choice but it turned out pretty well once things settled down. We found a good school for the girls (one of our reasons for leaving London) that they could walk to and Peter and I set up studios at home (swapping a small London townhouse for a large Bath townhouse is always a good move). I continued to work in London two days a week for one of the national museums, as I still do, so I get my central London ‘fix’ and here in Bath I work for local museums and private collections. This summer we will have been in Bath for 18 years. The girls have gone (London is always calling the young) but Peter and I stay on. Our initial intention was to return to London once the girls had grown up but Bath has pretty much everything we need and you don’t get a view of green hills at the end of many London streets. n

PORTRAIT: Neill Menneer at Spirit Photographic. Visit: capturethespirit.co.uk, tel: 01225 483151.

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THEY’VE GOT IT COVERED In a city that thrives on festivals, weddings and entertainment, spare a thought for the professionals who toil ceaselessly to make it all happen. Hannah Newton meets some of the faces behind the big events

n the middle of a glamorous and sophisticated three-day wedding, the bride is ready for her close-up; hairdressers, florists, mojito bars are at the ready when BOOM! the electrics go down – what do you do? Or your waiting-staff are on hand to serve 200 perfect, chocolate puddings – when a gust of wind takes out the entire table. How do you handle it? Challenges like these are all in a day’s unflappable work for the city’s great event organisers, faced with such mammoth tasks as organising road closures, securing the attendance of first aiders, recruiting armies of volunteers, carrying out rigorous health and safety checks for the council – oh, and making sure there are toilets to cope with 30,000 people. These are but a handful of tasks hardworking events companies and teams do behind the scenes to create public spectacles enjoyed by crowds, as well as arranging elaborate weddings with rooms full of roses, complicated menus, dealing with the vagaries of the British weather and managing an entourage to ensure a sense of order and perfection is maintained with artful discretion. Who are the people behind these prestigious high-profile events? THE HOLBURNE MUSEUM LANTERN PROCESSION This will be the ninth year the Holburne Museum has held its annual Lantern Procession, an atmospheric spectacle held on the streets, which has gathered pace, energy and people year on year. The parade, which lasts no more than two hours in the run-up to the opening of the Bath Christmas Market, takes months of painstaking planning, preparation and hard work, involving thousands of metres of paper, Sellotape, glue and gritted teeth. The Holburne Learning Team works alongside artists, schools and community groups – encouraging, helping, developing, sticking and creating sheer magic from paper and willow. The team, which also runs drop-in, lantern-making workshops, oversee the development and evolution of hundreds of lovingly crafted paper lanterns. From full-scale elephants to a sea of tiny 44 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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bobbing fish, all hand-made and, I will add, hand-carried, and please, do not doubt, the weight of a paper and willow life-size elephant or sea serpent. The lanterns are borne aloft through the closed streets to the infectious beat provided by samba musicians who lead the procession pied piper style, gathering spectators, dancers, children, teenagers, families and bemused tourists along the way. The evening has developed into one of the largest free participatory events the city has the good fortune to include in its build up to Christmas. But the enormity of planning is arduous as central streets are closed to traffic and hundreds of people, small children and

MAKING IT HAPPEN: Josh Tully, Concierge and events organiser Flowers courtesy of Tallulah Rose Flower School, Bath, visit: tallulahrose flowers.com Photography: Nell Mallia Nellmalliaphotography.co.uk

dogs included, are co-ordinated to ensure it begins on time and conducts itself safely in the dark. Despite, the logistical nightmare, every year the Learning Team at the Holburne, and its generous sponsors, pull it off, sending forth a spectacular procession into the gloom and cold of a winter night, setting the city alive with light, art, magic and music and finally culminating in a mini-festival in Parade Gardens. THE BATH HALF MARATHON Andrew and Mel Taylor have already started planning the Bath Half for 2017 and beyond. The husband and wife team

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COOL AND HOT: above, one of Josh Tully’s events, the stage set for the guests Top right, thousands of runners set out on the Bath Half marathon Below, the team behind the Holburne Museum’s annual lantern procession Bottom, Andrew and Mel Taylor, directors of Running High, race organisers

took on the half-marathon in 2000 when the event had just 2,500 runners – today Bath Half has 15,000 athletes of all abilities taking part, and this year it raised more than £2m for charities. The event, which has grown in both respect and size since its first incarnation in 1982 – after the first London Marathon – was originally created by a local running club. Andrew and Mel work in a team of four, including them, though during the Bath Half this swells on the big day to 850 people including staff, volunteers and 16 local community groups. Andrew said: “We actually start planning two years ahead or more and there is a phenomenal amount of work that happens behind the scenes.” The team work extremely closely, not only with Bath and North East Somerset Council across a host of its departments, but also with key authorities including police, ambulance services, hospitals and local health care providers, local residents and associations to ensure all boxes are ticked and the event can run smoothly and safely. Several years in advance, the team will book additional train services for the weekend and secure commercial sponsorship. Contractors and suppliers are in place well in advance of the run – the team has already secured most of these contracts and

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sponsors for 2017 and even 2018. And with more than 30,000 spectators and thousands of runners in Bath over the March weekend of the Bath Half, the city’s hotels and restaurants do brisk trade. Andrew: “To run on traffic-free streets in the city centre enables our community to reclaim their rights to the public highway… the absence of any vehicular traffic creates a very different sound to that we are used to. It’s an amazing experience and a great celebration of our city.” JOSH TULLY, CONCIERGE Josh Tully, of Josh Tully Concierge, has had his fair share of high profile clients over the years. He was formerly employed to look after the elite private members and high profile celebrity guests at Babington House, country club to the uber cool private members club in London: Soho House. He has organised weddings for Sam Taylor Wood, Aaron Johnson and Amanda Lamb, to namedrop just a few, and has consequently perfected his ability to be calm in a sea of wedding nerves, turning negatives into positives and gently reassuring a stream of highlystrung brides. His Bath-based concierge business includes organising weddings, unique personal and bespoke lifestyle planning, private and brand events. Concierge demands can and will include anything and have seen clients request a fully working, complete fairground, people dressed as jumping kangaroos, three-day weddings and setting up a bar serving mojitos. Josh shares his secrets of staying on top of the planning: “The devil is in the detail, stay calm and focused and everything falls into place. Don’t be scared of last minute changes – just go with them. They will always happen, no amount of planning can change that.” Josh is working with a number of brands in the city at the moment and is also creating a coffee table book, bringing together independent businesses, contemporary photography

and design across Bath, he says: “ Watch this space, by the time I am finished it will be all over the city...”. Visit: joshtullyconcierge.co.uk FOREST OF IMAGINATION The Forest of Imagination was born out of a conversation that saw a need for Bath to have a permanent contemporary arts space that offered: a space to play and create, exhibit, a workshop, a meeting place and more. To show Bath the need for such a place, Penny Hay, artist, educator, senior lecturer and director of research at 5x5x5x, architect Andrew Grant of Grants Associates, and Wayne Lindsay founder and creative director at Imaginnovation, began designing a four-day contemporary arts event to showcase the city’s creative talents. In 2014, the Forest of Imagination was held at Sion Hill, but this year took place in the centre of the city, where it exploded into Queen Square, taking the city’s creative heart by storm. This year the event doubled in size, with almost 7,000 people of all ages passing through its portal. But like every great event the core team behind it were central to making it happen. Lucy Loveday, Forest curator and coordinator, worked alongside the creative team. Her tasks included making sure that artists were booked, had the space they needed, she worked with the council to secure the venue, ensure health and safety procedures were in place, sponsors were secured and looked after, while partner schools, businesses, volunteers and associations were managed. The BRSLI (Bath Royal Scientific and Literary Institute) on Queen Square got involved and Forest expanded its plans to include a day of talks, workshops and films focusing on the importance of play and creativity in childhood and beyond. They invited guest speakers and artists from children’s charities across the UK to take part too. This cross-fertilisation and wideranging spectrum of participants and creative businesses made for JULY 2015

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CITY | @WORK next year, but, where or when or what or how, no-one knows yet.

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SPECIAL PLACE: main picture, children delighted in the giant infltable rabbit in the Forest of Imagination in Queen Square Below, Ed May of EatFiveStar hospitality

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Most importantly, employ the brightest and best staff you can

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complicated logistics for it to succeed and also, essentially, for the public to embrace it. Lucy said: “It is important that all voices are heard, and feedback taken on board – as we want the city of Bath to feel as much ownership of the project as those in the planning meetings. The planning, design, curation and production are organic processes that are continually evolving from initial meetings right up until the event, and over the event itself. “An event like this takes time, hard work and energy, but working on a project that is not-for-profit and meant entirely as a gift to the city means the team all invest their time because everyone believes in the project. All those working on the project give up their time – and go above and beyond to ensure the success of the project.” With Forest’s resounding success this year the city would like it again

GREEN PARK STATION Since the 1980s Green Park Station has been supporting local businesses and events in the city from farmers, vintage and artisan markets to vintage swimwear, fashion shows, to independent traders and shops, all of these backing local and independent traders, charities, fundraisers, businesses, and the people of Bath, by providing a space to house an array of equitable companies and events. The site, which is managed by the Ethical Property Company, boasts the oldest farmers’ market in the country and supports a range of events. Rebecca Leach, marketing and venue manager, said: “We are very lucky because there is a great sense of community here with lots of local contributors, who invest both time and money into transforming the venue into a thriving and exciting space on a regular basis. It takes a lot of work to put on weekly and monthly events on this scale, and sharing that load enables us to widen our net when it comes to encouraging people to engage with small independent businesses and social projects. We are starting to see a return to ‘shop local’ ideals.”

Rebecca adds that more and more shoppers want to cut out the middle man and buy directly from source, add to this the growth of up-cycling and preloved possessions, all the events help to transform this venue on a regular basis into a community hub promoting the work of local designer-makers, artists and skilled craftspeople. The Ethical Property Company aims to build and support the community and not-for-profit companies by providing affordable events space. It advises small traders, charities and events people on the planning, promotion, marketing, logistics, licensing, risk-assessment, health and safety and management so that a smaller business or charity can develop their event or brand. Rebecca said: “We have the Bath Folk Festival joining us for five days in August. Festivities will include market stalls, busking, live music performances and a large ceilidh. We hope that this will become an annual event for the Bath social calendar, and that people will engage with the cultural side of

what Green Park Station has to offer, alongside our established retail success. For these events we work closely in collaboration with many of our tenants such as Green Park Brasserie and Beyond the Kale. We try to support one another wherever possible with a cooperative approach in the belief that we are all working towards a common goal. There is a lot to offer here for people and there is no limit to our drive and ambition to be an innovative and responsible venue for all to enjoy.” EATFIVESTAR HOSPITALITY Ed May is the MD of EatFive Star and Deluxe Hospitality. At just 32, Ed’s client list reads like a who’s who in Debretts and includes the Duke and Duchess of Somerset, HRH Prince Edward, not to mention an array of international clients, which might see him jetting off to the South of France to oversee a high profile elegant wedding or hobnobbing with wealthy New Yorkers over their Christmas plans. Ed launched his businesses, which include a five star event catering company and a luxurious, event and venue planning company, in 2008 after training in five star hospitality with leading hotels in both the US and France. Currently, work for Ed includes designing a week’s worth of activities for an international client for Christmas; including a circus and a full sized grotto with real reindeer, this, by the way, all for just one family. Ed is the exclusive wedding and private events manager at the family home of the Dukes of Somerset: Bradley House. He is also, among other things, managing a private wedding reception on the lawns of the Royal Crescent after a ceremony in the Bath Abbey. True to form, you can bet that whatever happens, Ed will ensure all these events are utterly, perfectly run – presided over by his retinue of well trained staff. This is his secret weapon: his staff and his suppliers, he advises: “Most importantly employ the brightest and best staff you can find. “When you think you have created the perfect event, think again. There really are no limits. Even on tighter budgets you can give clients the sparkle they need.” Visit: deluxehospitality.co.uk. So next time you shimmer in your Sunday best toasting the happy couple, cheer on the runners at the Bath Half or delight in the wonders of a life-sized, paper sailing ship lit-up with tiny LED lights and carried aloft through the streets of Bath, ensure you offer a small prayer of goodwill and thanks under your breath to all the workers behind the scenes for the enormous amount of planning, logistics and immense organisation that is behind each and every one of these fantastical occasions. Thank you all! n

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THE US DELICIO GUIDE This month’s Delicious Guide is the second part of this popular feature. Once again, The Bath Magazine has been unashamedly treating itself to uncover the very best gastronomic gems which celebrate the diverse culinary culture on offer in Bath. If you would like to catch up and see all of last month’s Delicious entries, then go to thebathmag.co.uk where you can enjoy the whole guide. Read it, tweet it, but most of all eat it...

FIREHOUSE ROTISSERIE 2 St John Street, Bath BA1 2JL Tel: 01225 482070 Online: firehouserotisserie.co.uk Firehouse Rotisserie has been one of the most popular independent restaurants in Bath for 20 years. Voted by Channel 4 as one of the top five American restaurants in the UK, it has been recommended by GQ, Tatler, and The Daily Mail. It is the only genuine rotisserie restaurant in this part of the country, boasting a blend of authentic Californian and south western American flavours using ancho, guajillo, chipotle and pasilla chiles as well as more familiar herbs and spices. In addition to its delicious free range rotisserie chicken, the Firehouse is known for its range of exciting and luxurious gourmet brick fired pizzas, and classic American Deli burgers. Located on a quiet street just off the main shopping area, the buzzy, cosy and relaxed atmosphere has a bustling open kitchen where diners can watch the food being cooked to order.

AQUA 88 Walcot Street Bath BA1 5BD Tel: 01225 471371 Online: aqua-restaurant.com

Aqua, set in a former church house, offers a spectacular dining experience. It is a family run, independent business that has been operating in Bath since 2007. Aqua provides its guests with a great selection of dishes, thoughtfully chosen to explore the different Italian cuisines but with a unique Anglo touch. With dishes such as fritto misto, pork cheeks, veal Milanese and rabbit ragout, they will wow your senses. Aqua has a great variety of food available, with weekly specials that change according to the seasons. There is also an affordable set lunch and early dinner menu, with two courses for £10.95 and 2-4-1 Bellinis every day. So whether you are wanting an informal catch up with friends or to celebrate a special occasion then Aqua is the place for you.

CIRCO COCKTAIL BAR The Halcyon, 2-3 South Parade, Bath BA2 4AA Tel: 01225 585100 Online: circobar.co.uk

Circo Bar And Lounge is proud to call itself one of the best cocktail bars in the UK, currently sitting at number one in its Tripadvisor category in Bath. They boast a large cocktail menu and a professional and passionate bar team who regularly attend (and win) cocktail competitions. Named after its circular bar, Bath’s stylish Circo cocktail bar and lounge is a chic blend of old and new, with classic panelled walls, luxurious Chesterfield sofas and a cool palette of chic grey tones accented by dusky burnt orange highlights. Featuring Tom Dixon lighting, Julian Chichester mirrors and a soundtrack inspired as much by the Balearic ideal as it is contemporary classics, it’s a venue that exudes a cool, calm and collected vibe. Featuring one of the most laidback bars in Bath, there is a extensive range of cocktails on offer, as well as a comprehensive Champagne, wine and spirits list, served by Circo’s attentive and knowledgeable team.

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KOMEDIA ARTS CAFÉ

HUDSON STEAKHOUSE

22-23 Westgate Street, Bath BA1 1EP Tel: 01225 489070 Online: komedia.co.uk/bath

14 London Street, Bath BA1 5BU Tel: 01225 332323 Online: hudsonsteakhouse.co.uk

Komedia Arts Café is a multi-award winning independent café in the heart of Bath in the city’s largest live entertainment venue. Head chef Tom Davey trained under River Cottage and serves lunch from Tuesday to Sunday. Enjoy Bath Good Food Award-winning breakfasts, sandwiches and daily specialssustainably sourced, organic, seasonal food. This café prides itself on its ethical credentials and all their ingredients are locally sourced from organic and sustainable producers. The café was recently awarded a Taste of the West Gold Award, and has been recognised as one of the top five vegan-friendly cultural venues in the UK by animal rights charity Peta. Komedia is also one of only two venues in Bath to hold the Soil Association’s Food for Life Gold catering mark. This award guarantees that what’s on the menu is freshly prepared, free from undesirable additives and better for animal welfare. Add to this its relaxed and welcoming atmosphere, daily film screenings and you’ll want to reserve a table for lunch.

GREAT WESTERN WINE Wells Road, Bath BA2 3AP Tel: 01225 322810 Online: greatwesternwine.co.uk

Hudson steak house has been serving the people of Bath the best steaks for a decade now, offering its diners prime dry aged steaks, starters with a fusion influence and classic dishes, all served in a sympathetic conversion of a once notorious Victorian pub. Owner Richard Fenton took on this run down building and has created a destination that has consistently won best restaurant awards locally and nationally. The bar serves exceptional cocktails, premium beers and world wines under sparkling chandeliers, while the upstairs grill room has an open kitchen and looks out over Hedgemead Park. Top local hotels often like to send their customers to Hudson, so it’s advisable to book. We recommend the Monday to Friday early evening special from 5pm to 7pm, which features an eight ounce Flat Iron steak with frites and a glass of wine for £15.95.

TAGINE ZHOR

Great Western Wine’s shop is an Aladdin’s cave of over 1,000 of the world’s most delicious wines, plus an eclectic range of rare, small batch spirits. We love its good old-fashioned service, which is matched with modern, award-winning wines, as recognised by the International Wine Challenge, which voted GWW the Best Wine Merchant in south west England. A selection of wines is always open for tasting, and enthusiastic, experienced staff encourage visitors to linger and browse while helping to find the perfect wine. Prices at every level are competitive and a very good mail order service is also available, with the same attention to detail and personal advice by phone, email or through their website. GWW regularly hosts extremely popular wine tasting events and dinners. These sell out quickly so it’s a good idea to join the mailing list. And if you can’t make it to the tasters, you can enjoy GWW’s wines in many of Bath’s best restaurants - as featured in our Delicious Guide 2015.

1A North Parade, Bath BA1 1LF Tel: 01225 839822 Online: taginezhor.co.uk

Tagine Zhor is an authentic Moroccan restaurant run by the Casablancan Moroccan born owner and named after his beloved grandmother Zhor. He takes pride in his Fez cuisine because it is based on traditional recipes that have been passed down from his loving Fez born grandmother who loved to cook for her family. The finest Moroccan restaurant for miles around, Zhor is the perfect place to experience real Moroccan food cooked and served in a distinctive and traditional manner, together with genuine warm hospitality in absolutely beautiful Moroccan surroundings. Most meals begin with the simple selection of hot and cold mezze, which might include hummus, olives and baba ghannouj, served with flat bread. The traditional and tasty tagine, a stew made of lamb, chicken, fish, beef, kofta and basilla, served with cous cous, rice or bread may come next. A single plate of dessert will usually consist of baklawas – sweet pastries dripping in honey or dusted in icing sugar – marking the end of the meal before refreshing fresh mint tea or Arabic coffee are served. There is also the opportunity to take a seat on their outdoor terrace to enjoy the Shisha pipe and its flavoured tobacco, or to visit its gem Bazaar Shop downstairs, which features beautiful and unique handmade Moroccan items; great for gifts.

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Celebrate

RAJPOOT 4 Argyle Street, Bath BA2 4BA Tel: 01225 466833 Online: rajpoot.com

Rajpoot’s 36th anniversary with 20% off. See the ad on page 53.

One of the country’s leading Indian establishments, The Rajpoot was founded with great fanfare. The business prides itself on providing innovative, top class Indian cuisine in an elegant and intimate setting. Its stylish dining rooms are hung with beautiful lanterns and service is always professional and charming. Rajpoot’s internationally acclaimed fare is fashioned through gentle layers of spicing, use of the best ingredients, and delicate but fastidious preparation. The restaurant is a frequent haunt of celebrity diners, and boasts an equally impressive list of awards, which is a testament to the quality it has maintained over its three decades of service. The restaurant’s team of long-serving chefs, alongside owner Ahmed Chowdhury, persistently look to improve and build on the Rajpoot’s impressive reputation, continuing their dedication to the art of fine Indian dining each and every night

CAFÉ LUCCA 1-2 Bartlett Street, Bath BA1 2QZ Tel: 01225 335394 Online: cafelucca.co.uk

Cafe Lucca revives and relaxes in equal measure. It serves wonderful food in a welcoming environment, offering freshly ground coffee and a light breakfast in the mornings, lunch from a selection of fresh, brightly coloured salads and bruschetta and panini, or for afternoon tea, an array of tempting cakes. This is the perfect place for catching up with friends, or as a respite from shopping and is one of Bath’s favourite places to see people and be seen. Deliciously fresh, modern Italian style/Mediterranean food is served in the elegant and spacious surroundings of The Loft. All the fresh produce and Italian products are from small local family suppliers. Situated in a traffic free street in ‘Bath’s Boutique Quarter’, the restaurant is just two minutes’ walk from Milsom Street and the Fashion Museum. And when the sun shines there are tables outside from where one can watch the world stroll by.

The complete Delicious Guide to Bath 2015 featuring the full list of entries is available online at our website - www.thebathmag.co.uk

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FOOD | REVIEW

LE BISTROT PIERRE 4a Princes Buildings, George Street, Bath, BA1 2ED. Tel: 01225 321840

R E V I EW

BIENVENUE TO LE BISTROT

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labelled and priced. The basket of fresh French bread and French butter is included in the price, as are potatoes and vegetables with the main dishes. Value for money seems to be very much at the core of Le Bistrot. For example, for £10.95 you could enjoy a 500ml carafe of French wine, or a bottle of soft, velvety house red for £15.50 – a good price point, we felt. There were five starters suitable for vegetarians and three mains, which you might not expect in a French restaurant. I opted for a starter of tarte aux cepes, a tasty savoury opener made with crispy pastry, Alsace bacon and cep mushrooms, with dressed leaves and an unusual fromage frais and caramelised onion dip. John’s three giant, whole prawns were too hot to handle on arrival but proved tasty and garlicky once he’d broken into them. The candles lit and the lights slightly dimmed as evening progressed and we tucked in with pleasure to two classic dishes. For me, the happy marriage of chicken and tarragon served in a creamy mushroom fricassé, and for the trad man, steak frites, another good value dish at £9.95 for a seven ounce bavette steak served with black pepper butter. This is served pink, so if you require it more rare (or even well done), speak up. Le Bistrot holds soirees gastronomiques every second and fourth Tuesday of the month, offering a six course dinner for £22.95, to include a French cheese course which sounds

GALLIC FLAIR: the stylish new bar and restaurant at Le Bistrot Pierre in George Street

tempting. To celebrate Bastille Day on Tuesday 14 July, there’ll be a celebratory menu, opening with a glass of fizz. For £23.95 for four courses, the menu features such classics as confit de canard, saucisse de Toulouse and salad Niçoise. The pre-theatre offer, two courses for £14.95, will surely prove popular with not only theatre goers but people who’ve spent the day in Bath and would like to eat somewhere with a sense of occasion before returning home. Regulars also benefit from a member’s loyalty card, with a tenth meal free.

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Some French romance seemed to have affected the young couple . . . when she returned from a trip to the loo they kissed ardently

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Cinderella transformation has taken place in George Street, where a rather dark and brown former café has been turned into a chic, French bar and restaurant, filled with natural light and Gallic charm. Le Bistrot Pierre, a chain with an independent attitude, has added Bath to its portfolio and gone to painstaking lengths to convert the listed building with its unusual glass cupola at the back, allowing diners to look up at the blue sky above. An open kitchen has also been created, where on the night we dined, the kitchen brigade behaved impeccably as they busied about. It seems the fashion for angry, sweary chefs is over, thank goodness, or it would make for a tense dining experience. There is plenty to like at Bath’s newest arrival. The place is spacious and easy on the eye, creating the feel of a Parisian brasserie. The staff are welcoming and keen to please. Some French romance seemed to have affected the young couple dining behind us, as when she returned from a trip to the loo, they kissed ardently, delighted at being reunited. Sweet. The simple menu has French titles for the dishes, but with English descriptions underneath. This is great for those of us with schoolgirl French – I once ordered a gateau de pruneax in France, only to be disappointed by a slice of prune cake. No such confusion here. All is clearly

We enjoyed our sojourn in this little corner of France and concluded our stay with pudding. Vanilla ice cream with warm pouring chocolate sauce, was simple but delicious. I’d also recommend the raspberry and cream ice cream with crushed meringues, doll sized pink marshmallows, fresh raspberries and chopped pistachios, a thoughtful touch. Le Bistrot Pierre is a welcome addition to the Bath restaurant scene.

GMc

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The Diner’s Digest SIX OF THE BEST

Al fresco dining

What could be nicer on a balmy evening to enjoy dinner and a drink outside? Melissa Blease picks some of her favourite gardens

GRAZE

This glossy contemporary Bath Ales venture offers unique al fresco opportunities conveniently adjacent to Bath Spa station and offering, from the balcony at the front, a bird’seye view across the city rooftops. But should you be in the mood for a distinctly unique Bath al fresco experience, settle down for an upclose-and-personal train spotting voyage almost (but not quite) on the station’s platform itself. Okay, so the ambience is more Close Encounter than Brief Encounter post-sunset, when the lights from an InterCity express can literally put a spotlight on the tipple you’ve just selected from the on-site micro-brewery. But there’s something satisfyingly relaxing about sitting back to chill out over that aforementioned pint or a glass of decent wine accompanied by a fashionable flat iron steak from the kitchen’s Josper oven, aware that weary commuters just a short trolley bag drag away from your table are hoping that a flaccid bacon bap and a lukewarm can of lager from the buffet car will help make the long delayed schlep between Swindon and Gloucester easier to endure. Gloating? No, not us. Graze, 9 Brunel Square, Bath BA1 1SX Tel: 01225 429392; web: bathales.com

THE WHITE HART

Those in search of a green and welcoming oasis can very easily find a corner of Riviera-style chic at the White Hart in Widcombe. Confident, dynamic Euro-route menus satisfy hunger pangs at all levels and are, at this time of the year, best enjoyed in the glorious private courtyard garden out the back. Step off the street and go through the building to find one of Bath’s nicest pub gardens. This is no mirage: find a table in this secluded spot, inhale the scent of the mature rose bushes and herbs in this walled garden and relax. If, however, you can’t stand the heat, cool but cosy interiors offer solace to sensitive-skinned souls weary of living under a Factor 50 grease cloud. The White Hart, Widcombe, Bath BA2 6AA Tel: 01225 313985; web: whitehartbath.co.uk

BISTRO LA BARRIQUE

If you wander along Barton Street around sunset on a warm summer’s evening, you may catch the subtle scent of lavender in the air. If this experience alone isn’t enough to make you literally follow your nose to the source of the waft, the supporting fragrances of garlic roasting, pommes being dauphinoised and boeuf, erm, daubing should seal the deal – et voila! We’re in Provençale-esque paradise, aka the utterly charming secret garden to the rear of Bistro La Barrique. Praise for the delights of BLB chef/proprietor Michel Lemoine’s delectable petits plats have been trending on the Bath foodie grapevine since long before anybody really knew what trending actually meant. Remember too how we all used to think that making a full meal of a tapas selection was

a Spanish-only concept? Say au revoir to the past, select a medley of little dishes (a la carte from £6.75; two plus a side for £10.95/£12.95 at lunchtime/pre-theatre) and enjoy all the sensations of a fragrant, Gallic-themed staycation without leaving BA1. Bistro La Barrique, 31 Barton Street, Bath BA1 1HG Tel: 01225 463861; web: bistrolabarrique.co.uk

THE HARE AND HOUNDS

This handsome 18th century alehouse oﬀers swoonsome views across the rolling hills to the north and east of Bath from huge picture windows or the sprawling, split-level garden. It is from either spectacular vantage point that, when I gaze across the hamlets, farms and manor houses tucked in among the folds of the landscape, I can’t help recalling the Jilly Cooper novels I used to devour in my younger days; set in the fictitious rural Rutshire – an arcadian Aga-saga utopia, home to dastardly toﬀs and wanton maidens. But even though my attention has since been distracted by experimental fiction (both in the literary and food-related sense), the H&H still captures my imagination. Our own dear Lady Editor suggests that the pub is best reached on foot from Charlcombe Valley: start in Larkhall and climb up the lanes and footpaths to ensure that you fully deserve a well-earned pint at your journey’s end. Others prefer to let the car or bus take the strain and motor up the hill. But however you get there, on a summer’s day or evening, just get there if you can. Hare and Hounds, Lansdown Road, Bath BA1 5TJ Tel: 01225 482682; web: hareandhoundsbath

THE OLIVE TREE

This modern-day grande dame of the Bath gourmet scene has recently undergone a makeover that’s updated the overall ambience with an opulent, glamorous new look that cleverly hasn’t detracted from the quirky twists and turns that make the restaurant one of Bath’s most enduringly popular fine dining experiences. But, pause a moment if you will, we’re not going inside just yet! As well as having one of Bath’s best restaurants, it’s worth pointing out at the Queensberry Hotel has a rather glorious private garden, reached via Old

Q Bar, in which you’re very welcome to indulge in a wallet-friendly selection of light lunches or early suppers from a bar menu (think, posh sandwiches; stylish snacks; etc) that evoke the integrity, character and essence of talented head chef Chris Cleghorn’s impeccable standards in casual, carefree, chill-out surroundings, effortlessly evoking a posh private garden party vibe. The Olive Tree at the Queensberry Hotel, Russel Street, Bath BA1 2QF Tel: 01225 447928; web: olivetreebath.co.uk

THE WHEATSHEAF I hereby invite you to quit the inane babble of Urbania for a moment and join me in a spot of quiet contemplation at what I believe to one of the most divine pastoral paradise visions around – welcome, peace seekers, to the Wheatsheaf: a quietly stylish inn in the quintessentially English village of Combe Hay. The pretty gardens are delightful and patio heaters ensure that you can make the most of your table in Eden long after the sun goes down. Inside, fresh flowers on chunky tables, comfy sofas by a huge open fireplace and modern art on the ancient walls await

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you should the weather take a tricky turn for the worse, while proprietors Ian and Adele Barton’s combined passions for good food, wonderful wine and a genuinely warm welcome provide a strong focus to prandial proceedings. But when the owls begin their post-sunset courting rituals and the softness of a summer evening wraps itself around you like the softest cashmere pashmina, you will not want to leave this little corner of heaven. The Wheatsheaf, Combe Hay, Bath BA2 7EG Tel: 01225 833504; web: wheatsheafcombehay.co.uk

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FOOD | NEWS

Titbits

■ It’s time to hoist the tricoleur and toast the spirit of democracy as independent French restaurant Casanis in Saville Row, Bath prepares its Bastille Day celebrations on 14 July. Supported by the Bath Aix-enProvence Twinning Association, the restaurant will serve a delicious celebratory lunch, there’ll be a mini boules competition in the garden, French music and fun prizes. Festivities are from noon til 4pm. You’ll need to book for this annual party, tel: 01225 780055. A three course lunch is £23. ■ An award-winning chef and his hard working partner, who established their reputation while at the Toll Gate Inn in Holt, are reviving the historic George Inn in Woolley Street, Bradford-on-Avon. Alex Venables, who trained at the Savoy and gained a Michelin star during his time at Lucknam Park, and Alison Ward Baptiste have re-opened the pub which has lain empty for some time. Alex will preside over the Chef’s Pantry, a Georgian panelled room with an open kitchen, where his brigade will create mouth-watering dishes. Next door is the bar for people who want to treat this as their local pub. ■ The Olive Tree restaurant at The Queensberry Hotel in central Bath, has undergone a major new refit. Hotel owners Laurence and Helen Beere worked with interior designers Absolute, who also previously redesigned the Old Q bar. The kitchens of head chef Chris Leghorn have also been refurbished, giving the kitchen brigade a better working environment.

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QUINTESSENTIAL BATH

A quick straw poll of the top five things every tourist should do while in Bath has come up with the following: the Roman Baths, Royal Crescent, the Thermae Bath Spa, the city’s independent shops, and taking tea at The Pump Room. We reckon there can be few more delightful ways of soaking up the atmosphere of Regency Bath, than munching your way through some freshly made cucumber sandwiches, the most delicious scones (with cream and jam and no one to harangue you about which order to apply, as here in Somerset we’re a bit more laidback about these things), followed by a naughty but nice cake or macaroon – or two. All this, with tea and a glass of Champagne, taken under the chandeliers of the Pump Room amid snowy white napery, makes for a magnificent afternoon treat. Searcys, the caterers, run a smooth professional outfit, daily serving visitors from all over the world. But, why should the tourists have all the fun? Locals in search of a traditional English tea served in the manner of a top hotel, can book in for a package, ranging from £21 to £37 for the full three-tiered kit and caboodle, including fizz.

COMPETITION FOR STARS OF FUTURE

Chefs aged between 11 and 16 are invited to enter the annual South West Junior Chef of the Year competition. The winner will be mentored by professional chefs, including work experience with David Everitt-Matthias at the two Michelin-starred Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham, along with other prizes including a Robert Welch Signature chef’s knife and sharpener.

Those interested in entering are invited to submit a recipe for a main course for two. The entry can be emailed and should include the cooking method in full and a photograph of the finished dish. The competition aims to focus on south west produce as much as excellence in cooking. Entries close on 31 July. Enter online at: southwestchef.co.uk. The Bath/Somerset heat is on 10 September in Bath.

TV JUDGE FOR BEST HOME COOKS

Congratulations to Laura Holland who has been crowned Best Bath Home Cook in a competition organised by Demuths Cookery School and judged by BBC former MasterChef winner Ping Coombes, Rachel of Demuths and Vicki Mowat of Riverford Bath. The four finalists had 1½ hours to cook a vegetarian dish with vegetables from a Riverford organic veg box and some store cupboard staples. Laura’s winning dish was a Japanese inspired rice dish, Shades of Summer Sushi with miso soup and tamari creme fraiche. Laura won a Riverford hamper, a day class of her choice at Demuths

CALM UNDER PRESSURE: Laura Holland Cookery School and a Kitchens Cookshop voucher. The runners up all took home a Riverford goody bag and an evening class of their choice at

Demuths Cookery School. We managed to grab Ping – who is always in demand in Bath since her win – for a couple of questions. What inspires you as a cook and to go on MasterChef? “I’ve always loved cooking and after being made redundant, I decided to give it a go.” What advice would you give to a budding cook? “Follow your heart and trust your palette, if you make mistakes, it’s OK, you will know what to do to make it better next time.” Can you tell us about your plans for the future? “My book Pings Pantry is coming out in May 2016.”

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THE WINE COLUMN Angela Mount, wine and food critic picks the perfect wine for balmy days and barbecues

ummertime wine drinking brings a completely different aspect to the styles of wine I choose, and how I enjoy them. Regardless of what the capricious English weather throws at us, there’s usually a general feeling of warmth in the air, the garden is in full bloom, and around the city, we’re enjoying alfresco moments, despite the frequent showers. Summer isn’t about bringing out serious bottles; it’s about choosing wines, which enhance the vibe and mood of the occasion. Whether it’s a weekday glass, after the kids have gone to bed, relishing the post 9pm daylight, or a weekend barbecue, summer wines are the supporting act, which add that touch of sparkle and make the moment special. My choices this month are all soft, fruity, delicious wines, which fit very companiably to just about every occasion, but won’t dominate. I’ve picked a mix of wines, some of which won’t be obvious choices, but all of which will tick all the boxes very nicely. Let’s kick off with a sparkling rosé, in this case a rosy-cheeked, fresh-faced pink fizz from north eastern Italy, Cleto Chiarli Brut Rose NV (GWW £11.40 to end July). Move over Prosecco, there’s great fizz on the other side of northern Italy too. From the much maligned, but now resurgent Lambrusco region, surrounding Parma and Modena, comes this bone dry, fragrant and zippy, dry rosé, full of succulent, ripe strawberry and redcurrant flavours, with a delectable scent of raspberries and wild flowers. Crisp, zesty, and delightfully fruity, it’s a perfect lunchtime fizz, or a welcoming early evening aperitif – spot on with canapés for drinks parties. Staying with the pink theme, few wines epitomise summer as much as a Provence rosé – tremulously pale in its delicate pinkness, and almost fragile in the delicacy of flavours. Chateau Sainte Marguerite

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2014 (GWW £ 14.04 to end July), an organic, Cotes de Provence rosé, ticks all the boxes, with its gentle, red berry fruit and rose scents, and citrus- infused , bone dry, and searingly fresh flavours. Best served with the freshest of seafood or tuna nicoise overlooking the glittering sea on the Côte d’Azur, but should bring a smile when served alongside similar fare in our own delightful environment. Moving on to white wines, I’m veering off the course of crisp, bone dry, skinny whites, and opting for a more fragrant, aromatic style. Why? Summer is barbecue season, where fish, chicken and steaks are marinaded before being proferred to the sizzling charcoal. A huge proportion of these marinades will have spicy Indian or Asian influences, which will result in fragrant, spicy, characterful flavours. So these need an equally spicy, feisty wine match. Step forward Yealands PGR 2104 (GWW £12.28 to end July), an exotic blend of three aromatic grape varieties, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and Riesling. Produced by the award-winning, eponymous New Zealand winery, it’s a glorious and heady riot of aromas and flavours, scents of lychees, nectarines, lime zest and rose petals. Bright, fragrant, with an opulent style, oozing fruit and hints of warm Moroccan spice and jasmine flowers, it has a refreshingly crisp finish and will be a star at any barbecue. Pretty good with Thai prawn curry as well. Finally, which red to drink, to keep things light and fresh.? I’m a great advocate of unoaked, lighter style reds, many of which are even better chilled. While chunky Shiraz may be the wine of choice for barbecued steak, many of us prefer a lighter, fresher red, which will cope with just about everything you can throw at a barbecue. Step up El Mago Garnacha 2014 (GWW £9.24 till end July), a bright, juicy, vibrant red from northern Spain. Made by Franck Massard, an ex UK Sommelier of the Year, who now makes wine. It’s a fun red, bursting with soft, silky, raspberry and blackberry fruit and not a hint of oak. Very versatile, it’s good with sausages or steak, and ideal as a picnic red with a platter of charcuterie or cheese. Also worth trying slightly chilled. n All of the above, plus a mixed case can be ordered through our website. Enjoy a 10% Great Western Wine discount by entering the code on Angela’s wine column. Visit: www.thebathmag.co.uk

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FOOD | HEROES

A CRAFTY REVOLUTION Catherine Pitt takes a look at microbreweries and the changing face of the brewing industry

ccording to the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), Britain currently has the largest number of microbreweries since the 1930s. This increase is set to continue at around 10 per cent per year, despite the fact that CAMRA reporting that more than 50 pubs a week are closing in the UK. Part of this increase in brewing is due to the 2002 Progressive Beer Duty, that saw duty slashed by 50% for breweries that produced under 5,000 hectolitres (900,000 pints) a year. The rise in microbreweries has also coincided with the increasing awareness and selfeducation of consumers in where and how their food and drink is produced. In Bath and the surrounding area there are 11 local microbreweries listed on the Bath & Borders CAMRA website, and with over 1,285 breweries in the whole of the UK, there hasn’t been a better time for the consumer in terms of choice and variety of beer. Some of the breweries listed on the Bath & Borders website may be familiar, like Abbey Ales (begun 1996) and Willy Good Ales (2000), while others are newcomers like the James Street Brewery at The Bath Brew House (2013) and Wild Beer Co (2013). This summer sees another added to this list with the launch of a new Bath 56 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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Brewery, Electric Bear, by entrepreneur Chris Lewis, as well as the disappearance of another, with Dawkins’ Brewery moving out of the area and into Bristol. The appeal of setting up a microbrewery in Bath was, says Chris Lewis, the opportunities and potential market here in the city. Chris’s background is in IT, but with his passion and with experienced brewer, Guillermo Alvarez, by his side, he is hoping to shake up the beer scene in Bath. For others, setting up a microbrewery was a natural succession of their qualifications and background. Anna Schwaeble, brewer at the James Street Brewery, graduated from The Brewery College in Munich, Germany; while Californian Brett Ellis, and Brit Andrew Cooper, of Wild Beer Co, both previously worked at the Bristol Beer Factory. However, not all microbrewery owners have vast technical experience or qualifications. For Alan Southward of Willy Good Ales in nearby Winsley, the brewery evolved from his hobby of home brewing. It was also an idea for his musician son, Will, who he runs the brewery with, to have a business to fall back upon. Alan Morgan of Abbey Ales is another musician and songwriter turned brewery owner. Alan’s experience though came from his years working in

FROM CASK TO GLASS: the inhouse James Street Brewery at the Bath Brew House pub – one of Bath’s growing number of small breweries making craft ales

the brewing industry. The most important influence that all these microbrewers share is their deep passion for their product: beer! The current hot topic of debate in the brewing industry is the term craft beer, and it’s one that local microbreweries cannot avoid being a part of. Personally, I see brewing as a craft that has continued in this country for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. However, it is not as simple as that. In the UK, the definition of a microbrewery is that of an ‘independently owned brewery which produces a limited amount of beer.’ Most of the beer produced is traditionally served in cask and known as real ale. CAMRA defines real ale as beer which continues secondary fermentation within the cask, therefore it is still a live product. In the last ten years the brewing industry in the United States has seen something of a revolution. Once dominated by a few major breweries churning out bland beer, today the US brewing industry has a plethora of craft breweries creating beers with interesting flavours and styles. Although these craft beers are produced by small, independent and traditional breweries, exactly as cask ale is here in the UK, the majority of American beers are served in keg,

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FOOD | HEROES

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HOP TO IT: main picture, craft beers come in all hues from palest gold to rich treacle brown Top right, beer making the traditional way Inset, Bath Abbey Ales’ Bellringer and newcomers to the city brewing scene, Electric Bear beers

edition, beers. Abbey Ales brews seasonals such as Twelfth Night and Mild, while Willy Good Ales have special editions such as Trip Hop and Roots Brew. Somerset based Wild Beer Co constantly adds to its growing list of bottled beers, while Electric Bear aim to have a limited number of what they will call World Series brews. Collaborations with other breweries are not unheard of with the new generation of microbreweries. Wild Beer have already produced beers with London based Beavertown Brewery, Toccalmatto brewery in Italy and Good George Beer from New Zealand. Anna, at the James Street Brewery says that over the summer she will be collaborating with the West Berkshire Brewery, to produce a Belgian sour beer. In fact the Bath Brew House actively encourages local groups to come and try their hand at brewing. This has proved so popular that you can now purchase brewing experiences.

Beer Co and Willy Good Ales. Pop along to your local farmers’ market, like Frome or Bath, or farm shop such as Hartley’s near Winsley, and you will also find you can pick up a local beer or two. Many restaurants in the city, such as Clayton’s Kitchen and Martini’s, are joining in the new trend of matching food with beer, and you will find many local microbreweries represented on their menus. Whatever your beer preference, cask or keg, there are certainly some fantastic and exciting beers available in our city for you to try. Cheers! n

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I see brewing as a craft that has continued in this country for hundreds, if not thousands, of years

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whereby there is no secondary fermentation. Instead, carbon dioxide is added, and the beer is cooled to a much lower temperature than cask ale. The flashy packaging, eye catching logos and funky experimental recipes of their US counterparts has inspired many UK brewers, and encouraged new breweries. Locally we are seeing the US inspiration with the setting up of Electric Bear, and with the amazing concoctions from the Wild Beer Co whose motto is appropriately, ‘Wildly Different’. Electric Bear aims to experiment fully with flavours and different hop varieties, and to have both cask and keg beer available to meet the growing consumer demand. However, traditional cask beer will not be gone from Bath, as Abbey Ales intend to continue to brew in the traditional ways. Neither CAMRA, nor the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), have yet to define the term craft beer in the UK, and so the confusion continues. As CAMRA chairman, Colin Valentine, says, “craft beer is a nebulous concept, it means what you want it to mean.” Local breweries are producing some fantastic beers, regardless of whether they are cask or keg. Abbey Ales’ Bellringer has won various awards, including finalist at the 2001 Champion Beer of Britain competition. Willy Good Ales’ Hopadelic won Bath CAMRA Best Beer of the Festival in 2014; while Wild Beer Co’s Madness IPA picked up SIBA Supreme Champion at this year’s National Beer Competition. The rise in experimentation and growing choice of ales on the market has gone hand in hand with the rise of beer consumers in the UK. In 2010 the number of 18 to 24 year olds who were drinking cask ale rose by 17% (The Independent) and in 2013 Mintel released figures that showed over 70% of UK adults drink beer. Perhaps the fast moving pace of the new microbreweries, with their limited edition beers, appeals to the internet generation, who are used to fast moving trends. Most local microbreweries will produce these seasonal, or limited

In Bath there are an increasing number of outlets where consumers can try local beers. Abbey Ales own four pubs in the centre – The Assembly Inn, The Coeur de Lion, The Star Inn and Trinity Inn. The James Street Brewery dispenses its beers from The Bath Brew House and The Cork. Electric Bear aim to have both a shop and bar on site. Independent Spirit in Terrace Walk stocks many local microbreweries, including Wild

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A CLUB FOR ALL SEASONS Wiltshire’s oldest golf course, Kingsdown Golf Club, offers a warm welcome to players of all abilities and some of the finest, fastest greens for miles around – just don’t get distracted by those far reaching views

recent research study of almost half a million people found that those who took purposeful exercise, including gardening and golf, experienced better nights’ sleep than those who burned their calories doing housework or childcare. And if you’ve been introduced to a golfer lately, you’ll know that they tend to have a firm, powerful handshake, honed from hours of driving practice on the golfcourse. At a time when so many of us are obese, regular exercise is just what the doctor ordered. Combine that with fresh air, beautiful views and the chance to have a chat and a laugh with other people, the sport of golf looks ever more appealing. I visited Kingsdown Golf Club high on the plain overlooking the By Brook Valley to visit the second oldest golfcourse in the country and find out what today’s golfers get up to in their leisure time. My guide was the club’s financial director Bob Wright, a former rugby player who took up golf in his 50s after a knee injury kept him off the rugby pitch. I achieved one of my life’s ambitions, to enjoy a ride in a golf buggy, as Bob gave me a tour of the greens. Kingsdown is indeed a beautiful spot and the greens are so carefully tended you could eat your dinner off them – not that you’d be allowed to sully them with even a crumb. The close sheared grass and gentle camber of the greens makes this both an interesting and a fast course to play. The 700 registered club members and visiting players enjoy the experience. The course was laid out and opened in 1880 and what helps to make it 58 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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special is that it’s not corporately owned, but managed and run by the members for the members. It also has the advantage is being run solely as a golf club and not as a wedding or events venue, so players know the site is theirs and theirs alone. Every course has its legends and stories and Wiltshire’s oldest is no exception. It is said that it takes its name, Kings Down, from the three kings who were buried here after falling in battle. Members have passed down the story that the trio of so-called burial stones along the ridge on the 16th fairway belonged to the three. The club logo has been designed to incorporate the three crowns of these long forgotten kings. The club employs five greenkeepers, has a well maintained clubhouse and a pro shop, along with two PGA pros to help players improve their performance. The head professional is Andrew Butler who is on hand to assist with golfing needs at all levels. Bob says new players are always welcome, but that the club strongly

FAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: the greens at Kingsdown Golf Club are immaculately tended and win plaudits for their speed The club is owned and run by its members, who number some 700 players from school age through to their 90s

advises beginners to start with a few lessons to get their swing right from the off. Newcomers can slope off to the driving range with a pro where they can drive and putt far away from judgmental eyes. There’s even a threehole academy course and a discrete coaching space complete with a metal frame that guides players to execute the perfect swing in order to get the ball to go where they intend it to. “One of the great things about golf,” says Bob, “is that players of different abilities can play a round together. You can play all your life too. We’ve got junior players here and it’s nice to see youngsters learning with their grandparents on the course or joining our junior training sessions on a Saturday. At the other end of the age range we have players in their 90s who like to play.” Youngsters who have parents or grandparents who are members can play for nothing, although membership for under 12s is a reasonable £36 a year. The club also has an active Ladies (as women golfers are traditionally known) section and dedicated times when they have priority on the course. To play a full round of 18 holes takes around five hours, although some opt to take the shorter route of nine holes. Wherever they stop to play a ball the players are treated to aesthetically pleasing lines of trees, the sound of birdsong and spectacular views over towards Colerne and Box on one side of the course and Bath in all its historic glory on the other side. In fact, it would be easy to be distracted from the business in hand by those sweeping views and big Wiltshire skies. Members can play from sun-up to sundown and

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LEISURE | TIME

KINGSDOWN GOLF CLUB At Kingsdown golf course you will find a Par 72 course, measuring 6,501 yards in length. The shorter, ladies course, is Par 73 and measures 5,744 yards. The state of the art eight bay driving range was opened in summer 2013. To contact the club tel: 01225 743472 or visit: kingsdowngolfclub.co.uk. The golf club is at Kingsdown, Corsham, Wiltshire SN13 8BS. The club is currently oﬀering a Get into Golf package for an intriductory oﬀer which comprises: l Six individual 30 minute lessons l Three months’ membership of the three hole Academy course l Ten range tokens l Equipment hire

LANDMARK: the stone monument at the entrance to Kingsdown Golf Club – the crest bears the three crowns in recognition of the Three Kings legend

can book their slots online. The atmosphere is friendly and seems to be relaxed, although you can see the tension in some of the body language. Sit in the clubhouse and through the big picture windows you can entertain yourself enjoying the spectacle of people playing off the first green. One of the things that makes Kingsdown popular is its elevated site, which means it doesn’t get flooded or

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muddy in bad weather. Winter sees players migrate from other clubs to partake of this geographical advantage – and some of them stay. As Bob is keen to stress, this is a course to suit all levels, from the beginner and the sociable player through to the competitive and ambitious. There is a Ladies section and a seniors section, both of which offer the chance for players to compete. n

In addition to male members, the club has a Ladies section of around 75 members, which oﬀers competition play on Tuesdays and Saturdays, a Senior section with 14 senior competitions each year and around 200 members, and a thriving Juniors section. Talented boys and girls enjoy PGA group coaching on Sundays and there is an active mentoring programme, along with competitions for juniors only as well as mixed competitions with older players.

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CITY | BUSINESS

News in brief

■ A Bath entrepreneur has come up with an ingenious wallet which protects contactless cards from theft or accidental payments. Dan Chapman has created the Tap Wallet, which uses RFID blocking technology, to protect against card clash and wireless identity theft, allowing any card of choice to be used, with just a tap. With over one million contactless payments taking place in the UK every day people are increasingly carrying more than one contactless card. Card clash occurs when your wallet touches a card reader, but more than one contactless card is picked up. This means you can end up paying twice, paying with the wrong card, or receiving an error message. This problem is affecting over 1,500 people every day. Ben is raising money for his invention through a crowdfunding campaign. Search for ‘card clash’ on Kickstarter.com or visit: combatcardclash.co.uk. ■ Chris Smith, managing director of Marshfield Bakery, in Bath, has been named best director of a small company at the Institute of Directors (IoD) regional south west Director of the Year awards. Chris was a winner last year for his role leading the family-owned bakery, increasing sales and putting in place expansion plans to create more jobs and look at overseas markets. Sales of the company’s private label and own brand tray bakes, cakes and biscuits have risen to nearly £3m with an increase in profit to £270,000, driven by manufacturing efficiency improvements and new business development. Work has now started on an 80% extension to the existing manufacturing site which will see a further £400,000 investment in new plant, creating an additional 15 jobs with a further ten by the end of 2016. He will now go on to the national IoD awards final in London in the autumn. ■ With only weeks remaining until the opening of the east terminal extension, Bristol Airport has signed off the next major phase of its expansion programme – a £24m west terminal extension. This is the biggest construction project at the airport since the current terminal building opened in 2000. State-of-the-art technology will be introduced to a significantly enlarged security area in order to deliver a faster, more efficient experience. The new extension will also create an enlarged baggage reclaim area, customs facilities, arrivals retail, and meet and greet area, easing congestion and improving services for arriving passengers. Work will get underway in a matter of weeks and is scheduled to open in summer 2016.

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JULY 2015

DOING THE LAMBETH WALK

Bath Abbey is inviting people to join four of its team who are doing a sponsored walk from Bath to Lambeth Palace in order raise funds for the Footprint project to repair and enhance the Abbey. The ancient church needs its collapsing floor shored up and an eco-friendly heating system is to be installed using Bath’s hot springs, in addition more space and improved facilities, including toilets, will be added. The group of four, including the Rector, Edward Mason and Footprint project director, Charles Curnock will be tackling the 140-mile sponsored walk from Bath to London (5-11 July), ending at Lambeth Palace, the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The walkers will deliver a letter for the Archbishop, Justin Welby, to invite him to Bath to learn more about the Abbey’s Footprint project. The Abbey is urging as many people as possible to give the team a send-off to remember by gathering outside the Abbey and walking with them for the first 11 miles of their journey from Bath to Bradford-on-Avon. The walkers will be leaving from the Abbey’s West Door on Sunday 5 July at around 11am and expect to arrive at the Archbishop of Canterbury’s residence on Saturday 11 July. Laura Brown, Footprint appeal director, one of the four taking on the full walk said: “For us, this is very much a community event, so anyone interested in joining the walk on Sunday 5 July is most welcome. We need as much

encouragement as we can get so we’d really love for as many people as possible to walk with us. So, whether you’re a seasoned walker or simply out for a Sunday stroll do come and join us for the first leg to Bradford-on-Avon. We’ll be walking mostly along the canal so it’ll be a lovely scenic walk, and you can take it at your own pace.” The Abbey’s Footprint project received initial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for a full award of £10m. The Abbey has already raised nearly half the £7.1m of match funding to unlock the full award with just over £4m left to raise. To sponsor the Footprint Walk team, visit: bathabbey.org.

GOOD SCHOOL SEARCH MADE EASIER Any parent who’s contemplated moving house to get their children into a good school, will welcome the arrival of the School Guide, a school information website run by a Bath woman. Mother of two Victoria Bond, who set up School Guide in 2013, has won a partnership with Rightmove, the property search website. This allows househunters the chance to use this useful tool while browsing potential new homes to assess the performance and merits of schools in the neighbourhood. The venture has already won awards and accolades, and the support of parenting site, Mumsnet. The partnership with Rightmove secures the business’ position as the most far reaching online school information resource in the UK. Victoria’s two sons attend Bathwick St Mary’s Church of England Primary School. She thought of the idea while searching for their education. She said: “School Guide has established itself as a vital tool to help parents choose the right school for their children. It pulls together all the important information into one place, and presents it in a format that is easy to interpret. It’s hard enough choosing a school at any time, but even more so when you are looking to move house.” The information appears on Rightmove as School Checker. It uses School Guide’s catchment indicator “heat map” feature to show the nearest schools to a property, and the likelihood of being admitted to each school, using recent official pupil data. Victoria added: “We are delighted to work

with Rightmove, helping them to become the first and only property search site to offer househunters this level and depth of school data and catchment information as part of a single search. School Guide’s heat maps are the first stage of catchment information to be shared with Rightmove. School Guide is collecting actual catchment data and the next phase of maps will be available in the coming months.” Rightmove’s recent research indicates that schools are the most important factor that influences people when choosing a location. Nine in ten parents (93%) consider schools when deciding if a location is right for them, and 83% of them would consider moving to be near a good school.

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CITY | PEOPLE

PRECIOUS MOMENTS

Bath photographer Nell Mallia is building a reputation for herself for her modern, natural and simple portraits. She enjoys capturing people’s personalities and the beauty of those everyday moments; from tender embraces to simple exchanges and heartfelt laughter. Nell specialises in family pictures, ranging from maternity shots and newborn babies, to growing families, couples and individual portraits. This photograph was one of a series she took while spending time with this young family, watching the mother and father at play with their son and capturing those fleeting moments, such as this one. Nell also takes beautiful wedding photographs, as you can see on her website. Prices start at £100, and Nell is oﬀering readers of The Bath Magazine a 10% discount on quoting this oﬀer. Visit: nellmalliaphotography.com to see more of her work.

PROPERTY FORUM: Bath’s newly elected Conservative MP Ben Howlett will be the guest at the second of a series of property and construction networking events in the city on Thursday 23 July at 6pm. The event is being organised by Bath law firm Stone King, chartered surveyors Colston & Colston and building services company Airedale Group. The MP is keen to get a clearer picture of the city’s property and construction sector and will be holding a question and answer session with property professionals. Ben said: “I recognise the lack of commercial office space for the business community as well as the desperate need for more affordable homes for families and first-time buyers. In the next five years we have a great opportunity to make changes that will benefit the city for future generations. I look forward to meeting local industry professionals to hear about the issues they face.” Contact Léonie Spencer at Stone King on LCS@stoneking.co.uk or 01225 337599 to register interest in attending.

AWARD FOR SERVICES TO EARTH Bath landscape architect Grant Associates has received an award from the Earth Champions Foundation for its contribution to protecting the planet’s environment. Grant Associates was awarded an Outstanding Earth Champions Award in the category of Built Environment. The foundation was created by the United Nations to recognise the efforts of organisations to nurture the earth. Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset are the current focus for the Earth Champions Quest that runs for a one year period in a specific geographic area to highlight the work of those striving to protect the environment. Notable landscape design projects by Grant Associates in the region include the regeneration of Bristol’s historic Harbourside as part of a £120m scheme for developer Crest Nicholson, and Wessex Water’s operations centre on the outskirts of Bath, which focussed on promoting the site’s delicate ecology. The award also recognised the practice’s effort to connect to the community. These include Forest of the Imagination, which saw Grant Associates help transform Queen Square as part of a four-day arts event. Key international projects, such as Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, have given Grant

CONNECTING: Andrew Grant Associates the opportunity to demonstrate the firm’s ethos of connecting people with nature. Grant Associates was one of 127 organisations and individuals nominated as Earth Champions, of which 36 went on to receive an Outstanding award. Andrew Grant, director, said: “This award is made all the more special because it stems from nominations made by members of our local community. We believe whole-heartedly in the Earth Champions’ mission to demonstrate that the global environmental challenges we face need to be tackled at a local level as well as through national and international efforts.”

ALL EYES ON NEW SPA

SYBARITIC PLEASURES: the new Spa Village Bath at the Gainsborough Hotel 62 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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By the time you read this the new, much vaunted Gainsborough Hotel in Beau Street, central Bath, should be open to welcome its first guests. The hotel, owned by Malaysian group YTL, is the first hotel in the UK to have access to naturally heated, mineral-rich spa water, taken from Bath’s greatest asset, the ancient springs. The luxurious hotel boasts 87 rooms, 12 suites, a restaurant and a spa, as seen here, with its atrium filling the space with natural light.

Visitors will be able to enjoy an hour long Bath Circuits, described as a ritualised tour of the thermal baths, saunas, steam room, ice chamber and elegant relaxation rooms – all reminiscent of the civilisation of ancient Rome at its apogee. The contemporary restaurant, Johann Lafer at the Gainsborough, will be overseen by one of Germany’s Michelin star chefs and is his first venture outside that country. The hotel’s striking interior has been designed by New York Champalimaud Design.

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ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Tax and Property

UK residential property ownership has become a complex area where a full understanding of your tax position is crucial, Calvin Healy from Richardson Swift writes

he desire to own property in the UK is an obsession, both for British and overseas individuals and investors. The phenomenal growth in the market over the last decade or so has led to significant wealth creation. Nowhere is this more evident than in Bath and the surrounding areas. The property market is a complex beast and in view of the financial sums involved it is essential that people have a full understanding of their position. Over the last few years there have been significant changes in the taxation of residential property. Numerous changes to existing legislation have been introduced as well as the creation of new legislation. It is fair to say that the property tax system here in the UK has surpassed virtually every other jurisdiction in becoming the most complex in the world. Here is a brief overview of some of the important recent changes. Changes in main residence relief for capital gains tax It used to be the case that the final 36 months of ownership of a property, which at some point during your ownership period qualified as your main residence, benefitted from relief from capital gains tax. This was irrespective of whether you actually lived there during this period. From 6th April 2014, the rules were tightened and the final period restricted to 18 months. From 6th April 2015, a further restriction was introduced to restrict the availability of the relief in cases where individuals owned residences in a country different from where they are considered tax resident. This was enacted to support the introduction of non-resident capital gains tax, see below, but equally applies to UK resident individuals whom own overseas homes. Non-Resident Capital Gains Tax

New legislation took effect from 6th April 2015 which charges to tax disposals of UK residential property made by any non-UK resident individuals. A form of tax return, known as an “NRCGT” return, has to be filed with H M Revenue and Customs within 30 days of completion. An assessment of tax due, including payment, may also have to be made at the same time. The rate of tax will be at 18% and 28%, depending on the extent of the individuals UK income. Bearing in mind the tight deadline this will cause practical difficulties in assessing the tax due. Reliefs, such as claims for main residence relief, may apply but will probably be very limited as the individual has to satisfy a new “day count test” in relation to each tax year for which relief is claimed. It is constructed so that satisfying “day count tests” will likely render the individual as being classed UK tax resident which bring with it a whole host of additional tax issues. WWW.THEBATHMAG.CO.UK

Annual tax on enveloped dwellings (“ATED”) This is a relatively new annual tax charge levied on companies and certain other entities (e.g. partnerships) that own UK residential property. For the current tax year it applies to a sole dwelling whose value is in excess of £1 million (£500,000 from next April). Tiered rates of tax apply based on the market value of the dwelling (as determined at 1st April 2012, or purchase if later). Certain reliefs are available to reduce the charge, such as for house builders. If you fall within the regime returns are required, and this is regardless of whether any reliefs apply. Non-compliance will result in penalties being levied, both on late filing of the return and non-payment of tax. These can rack up considerably bearing in mind that the default position is that returns are due by 30th April during the tax year in question (although for dwellings falling within the new £12 million bracket for 2015/2016 returns will be due by 1st October 2015 and any tax by 31st October 2015). ATED related capital gains tax Disposals of UK residential property which have fallen to be taxable within the ATED regime are also subject to a capital gains tax charge. The charge takes priority over the aforementioned non-resident capital gains tax charge. Gains will be computed in accordance with normal capital gains tax rules and taxed at a rate of 28%. As disposals will be made by companies and certain other vehicles main residence relief will not be available. For further information and guidance please contact either Calvin Healy or Jon Miles.

Calvin Healy

www.richardsonswift.co.uk 11 Laura Place, Bath BA2 4BL • 01225 325 580 JULY 2015

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ocl A C C O U N TA N C Y

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

www.oclaccountancy.com

Reduce your Capital Gains Tax liability on jointly owned property When you and your spouse sell a property that you jointly own and that doesn’t qualify for private residence relief, any profit you make on the sale will be subject to capital gains tax. You might expect the profit to be shared equally between you for tax purposes, but it’s possible for one spouse to make a gift of part of their share to the other spouse to maximise tax efficiency – and a tax saving can easily be made if, for example, only one spouse is a higher rate taxpayer. Having the income from the property split in unequal proportions can also save income tax. This tax planning opportunity is not complicated and can be achieved quickly; you are welcome to discuss it with us.

For tax saving tips contact us – call Marie Maggs, Mike Wilcox or Hannah Bratten on 01225 445507 for a NO-OBLIGATION MEETING. We look forward to meeting you - and see our website for more, including FREE download guides What our clients say:

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

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A DV E RTO R I A L F E AT U R E

“Let’s have Family Fun in the Sun this Summer - tips for separated parents”

By Richard Sharp, Sharp Family Law - Bath Divorce Solicitors. Producing Resolution not Prolonging Conflict

wo weeks in the sun sounds fun with the family but can represent a challenge for many separated and divorced parents. Divorce Court Orders frequently provide contact for the annual summer break with the Kids, leaving dates to be agreed between the parents. When parents can't agree, I can help to negotiate or mediate arrangements between separated parents or to take unresolved disputes back to the Divorce Court. But to ensure the summer sun isn’t overshadowed by family fallouts over the holiday contact arrangements the following three Do’s and Don’ts can help make the difference:

• Do help children maintain contact with the other parent Provide the other parent with contact information and details as to where the children are going to be and who with. Let the children communicate with the other parent whilst away.

do not want to take sides – don’t make them.

• Don’t talk through the children It is tempting to relay information through the children when talking with the ex is difficult. But messaging between households is a burden children shouldn’t have to bear. Make sure you are the one delivering news about trips you are proposing to take and scheduling needs surrounding them.

For more information on how to help minimise the pain of separation or divorce for your child contact Richard Sharp on 01225 448955 or email him at richard@sharpfamilylaw.com

And finally…..Conflict is the major cause of unhappiness and poor outcomes for children. Even though your family structure has changed you can have family fun in the sun this summer by focusing on your children’s needs.

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Conflict is the major cause of unhappiness and poor outcomes for children.

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• Do plan early and commit to decisions made Plan the arrangements for the summer holidays as early as possible. If you commit to doing something make sure it is followed through. Last minute clashes and changes are not easy to resolve. Children need their parents to make decisions and to stick to them

• Don’t ambush the other parent When making holiday plans, don’t set the other parent up. “I would really love for you to come with me to Spain, but it’s really up to your Mum to say yes” is neither fair on the child nor Mum. Instead, “A trip abroad would be lots of fun but before we can make plans, I need to talk with Mum to see if we can work out the details.”

• Do support your child’s contact with the other parent Be positive about your child spending time with their other parent. Let the children know it is OK with you that they are going away and that you will be OK too whilst they are away. It’s best for kids when both parents can be supportive of their activities and share in their excitement.

• Don’t make your kids pay the price If you make a decision to foot the holiday bill or move your schedule around to make a trip work, don’t make your kids pay the price. Whilst a trip abroad may be a wonderful experience for the child, it probably won’t be so wonderful for very long if the child has to listen to what Dad did or didn’t do to help. Children

WWW.THEBATHMAG.CO.UK

Richard Sharp

sharp F A M I LY L A W Sharp Family Law: 5, Gay Street, Bath, BA1 2PH, UK email: info@sharpfamilylaw.com m: 07766 107527 t: 01225 448955 website: www.sharpfamilylaw.com JULY 2015

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CITY | ARTS

WELCOME TO THE EDGE The University of Bath has opened a new arts centre and the good news is that it’s open for all of us to enjoy. Georgette McCready went to look round The Edge

he University of Bath’s reputation for all round excellence has been enhanced after recently being named, for the second year running, among the top five of the UK’s universities. Proving that it’s no mere ivory tower of academia, athletes who’d trained at its sports training village have won medals at Commonwealth, European, Paralymopic and Olympic Games. And now the university has added yet another string to its bow, with the opening of The Edge, a £10.9m recently opened arts centre which is for the use of students and to the rest of the community too. It’s another very good reason why more of us will be making the trip up the hill to Claverton, to hire its facilities and enjoy shows and performances. The Edge is an impressive four storey building which contains space for all kinds of art, from theatre and dance to music making and visual arts. One of its three galleries has been deliberately designed with enough height to display massive installations, such as sculptures, and the whole building has been csoundproofed, so a marching band could be rehearsing in one studio but no-one else would be able to hear them. The centre has a 220-seat theatre, a performance studio with loads of floor space, rehearsal studios, three galleries and, in the light and airy reception area 68 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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at its heart, a café. This open, light-filled space provides a great place for visitors to meet friends, wait for children attending classes elsewhere on campus, or to use as a refreshment stop while visiting an exhibition or event at the centre. There are also tables and chairs outside where visitors can enjoy this very green campus. The café serves delicious fresh wraps, mezze and cakes, but during the summer it will only be open Monday to Friday, 10am – 3pm. During term time it will extend its open hours to weekends and to evenings and all-year round when there are performances on in the building. One of the nice touches and references to the centre’s theatrical links is that the café uses theatrical masks rather than the traditional wooden spoons, to give customers when they order. Most of the rooms in The Edge are available for public hire. The theatre, for example, has brand new dressing rooms and showers and all the lighting and sound equipment is up-to-date. In one of the music rehearsal rooms, for use by staff and students, there’s even a grand piano, which university students of Grade 7 and over are able to play. It’s a great asset for the university, particularly for the high achieving students who come to study subjects such as architecture and engineering, but who also have talents in music, drama or dance that they also wish to pursue. The

ARTS FOR ALL: main picture, the foyer cum café at The Edge Main photo: Tim Crocker

facilities at The Edge will make the university more attractive to those students who seek an all-round education and experience. The university generates loyalty from past students, many of who have made donations through the alumni and friends to The Edge and its fittings. The Edge is also home to the School of Management’s executive education training suite, which offers an extended programme of short courses, master classes, speaker events and seminars. This facility calls upon some of the country’s top experts in various fields of business to offer tailor-made courses for

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CITY | ARTS

WHAT’S ON AT THE EDGE GROUND CONTROL Saturday 11 July, 12pm, 2pm & 4pm This is a family event in collaboration with the egg theatre. The audience will consist of children aged eight and over – their parents will be encouraged to visit the cafe and the art galleries at The Edge while their children are in the theatre. The premise is that it’s 1974 and three astronauts on board a spaceship are about to be woken from hypersleep. If you had to start a planet from scratch, how would you decide on the name, the laws, the cuisine? Children are given control to create. Tickets: £7 from Theatre Royal Bath, tel: 01225 823409

students and businesses large and small. University of Bath Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell, said: “Bringing the creative arts and the study of management together under one roof is a new departure for Bath and is unique among UK universities, arts organisations and business schools. Our aim is that this will foster a culture of creativity and innovation, add greater depth to our management programmes, and promote leadership

THE STAGE IS SET: the new theatre at The Edge – there are also galleries, a dance studio and rehearsal rooms

development and innovative business practice in the arts. The Edge provides a dynamic environment for creative minds and a wonderful enhancement to our facilities here at Bath.” The university is to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016, so expect all kinds of events to commemorate this centre of excellence, which continues to make significant contributions to the Bath community and to the world at large. n

DANCE FILM & PERFORMANCE: THE TOUCH DIARIES Thursday 9 July, 6 – 8pm The Touch Diaries is a research project that looks into touch and human connection across generations. This research has formed the basis of a short dance film. The audience will also see live performance work in development and a talk with project director Lisa May Thomas and her collaborators. They will be joined by Simone Fullagar and Stephanie Merchant from the Physical Cultural Studies Group. Tickets for this world premiere: £5. Visit: icia.org.uk.

We deliver to over 20,000 addresses every month. But if you live outside our distribution area or would like us to send a copy to friends or family then we are able to offer a mailing service for only £15.00 (6 issues) or £25.00 Euro zone; £30.00 (12 issues) or £50.00 Euro zone World Zone 1 £95.00 World Zone 2 £120.00 To subscribe just send a cheque payable to MC Publishing Ltd 2 Princes Buildings, George Street, Bath BA1 2ED or Telephone 01225 424 499 for card payment

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FAMILY | EVENTS

Summer holiday fun for the family WHERE WE ARE Saturday 4 – Sunday 5 July, 2pm and 6pm daily n The egg theatre, Sawclose, Bath A collaboration between the Young People’s Theatre and playwright and director Greg Banks. The group was asked to consider what life is like for young people in Bath and how they would change it. This production is suitable for aged eight and over. Tickets: £7.50/£6.50 concessions. Tel: 01225 448844. Also at the egg this month FREE RANGE POP-UP THEATRE FESTIVAL Until 31 July times vary Look out for all kinds of theatrical happenings popping up in unlikely places. This includes roving performances of Luna Lina by popular Bath-based Kilter Theatre and a garden party for under fives on 12 July at the Paragon School. See the egg website for show details. WHISPERING WOODS PRESENTS RED THREADS Friday 10 – Sunday 12 July, times vary n Prior Park National Trust gardens, Bath This is part of the egg’s theatre festival. Red Threads is a promenade piece, in which the audience move among the trees to watch aerial performances. Tickets: £7.50, children £6.50. Tel: 01225 823409. THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE Tuesday 7 – Saturday 11 July, 7.30pm (matinee Saturday 2.30pm) n The Mission Theatre, Corn Street, Bath Next Stage Theatre Company and Next Stage Youth present CS Lewis’ magical tale of four children who find themselves transported to another world. Escape to Narnia and enjoy this absorbing piece of theatre. Tickets: £12/£10 concessions. Tel: 01225 428600.

VICTORIA ART GALLERY Drop-in sessions, 10.30am – 12pm n Pulteney Bridge, Bath The gallery is holding a series of free creative drop-in sessions for families. Wednesday 22 July: Seaside Explorers Suitable for children aged three to six. Explore the seaside, paint fishy underwater scenes and make an ice-cream cornet mobile. Friday 24 July: Nature Artist Suitable for children aged 5 to 11. Make a mono-print inspired by nature, a landscape picture and create a collage from torn paper. Wednesday 31 July: Regency Revels. For children, three to six, to make hats.

Timsbury’s scarecrow trail TIMSBURY: SCARECROW TRAIL Saturday 11 July, all day n From St Mary’s Church, Timsbury Families are invited to set out from the church, armed with a map, which costs £2.50, to go in search of the scarecrows who are hiding around the village. Follow this with cream teas back at the church. TALLULAH SWIRLS: WHEN EGGY MET PEGGY Saturday 11 July, 3pm n Pound Arts, Pound Pill, Corsham, Wiltshire Theatre for children aged three to eight. Join Eggy and Peggy the pea for an original, funny take on the story of the princess and the pea. Tickets: £7, £6 concessions, family ticket £24. Tel: 01249 701628, visit: poundarts.org.uk.

WILD WEDNESDAYS Wednesdays only 22 July – 26 August, 10.30am – 12.30pm n National Trust Woodland Play area, off Claverton Road, Bath Join in the fun in the woods, with a bug hunt on 22 July and family trails on 29 July and 26 August. Take the City Sightseeing tour bus from town and get off at the bus stop M at Claverton, then follow the signs. FROZEN SING-A-LONG Friday 24 July, 10.30am n Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon Dress up in your favourite Frozen inspired costume and sing along to the smash hit Disney princess musical. Tickets: £3 each for adults and children, tel: 01225 860100. Also at the music centre this month SUMMER FUN KIDS’ FESTIVAL Monday 27 July – Friday 14 August Sessions include puppet workshops, creative writing sessions and music making. Activities for children aged from babes in arms to 19 year olds. Visit: wiltshiremusic.org.uk.

ARTIST COMBINES WORKSHOP AND CRAFT SHOP Creative types of all ages will enjoy a visit to a new craft shop that’s opened just off Lansdown Road in Lansdown Mews. Bath ceramicist Rachel Bass has opened Juniper and Blue Craft Emporium, combining a working studio with a shop selling her own beautiful ceramic pieces and a whole selection of craft materials, some of them at pocket money prices. It’s a small shop but packed with goodies such as beads, alphabet

Rachel Bass’ collectable pie funnels and right, beautiful buttons

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letters for decorating and decorative buttons. It’s also a great place to start if you’re looking for a present for someone. Rachel originally trained and worked as a graphic designer, but has been involved in ceramics since childhood. She is now well known to collectors around the world, particularly for her stylised pie-funnels which are influenced by her experience in graphic design.

Over the years she has also developed a keen interest in other crafts and came to realise that, although there is a vast range of craft materials available, the quality varies enormously and it can often be difficult to know what to choose. Rachel has an online shop, stocking items chosen by herself, and can also be found at Green Park artisan market on the second Sunday of each month.

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HEALTH & BEAUTY

Shine on you crazy

DIAMOND

TURN HEADS THIS SUMMER BY SHAKING UP YOUR USUAL LOOK Change your tattoos as often as you like with these eye-catching Bohemian Jewellery instant tats. Easy to apply, there are different themed sets to choose featuring designs from Indian, Eygptian and Celtic cultures. Each pack, which costs £16.95 online, contains four sheets with several tattoos on each. Cut them out and use your creativity to make fake necklaces, bracelets, rings and anklets. Bohemian Jewellery’s use of rich gold, silver and black makes the designs glow against the skin. And if temp tats are good enough for Beyoncé, pictured in her flash tats, they’re good enough for us. They should last around five days. Enjoy them at parties, festivals, picnics and on the beach.

CHOPPY BOB: Safe Haven star Julianne Hough

KEEP YOUR COOL WHEN ALL AROUND YOU . . . BRUNETTE BOB: Keira Knightley SUBTLE APPROACH: left, keep your complexion fresh by spritzing with Bobbi Brown’s light Face Mist, £21.50 Right, for a barely there natural look apply Bobbi Brown’s Face & Body Bronzing Duo, £34 over cheeks Make up artist Shari Knowles has some tips for keeping your make up last on hot days and evenings. Apply a primer, which acts as a barrier between skin and foundation, keeping it fresh and intact. If you apply eyelid primer you’ll stop eyeshadow creasing and help the colours appear vibrant. Waterproof mascara will save you from panda eyes caused by hayfever, squinting into the sun, or overheating. Lastly, look for setting spray to keep make up budget-proof. Pick one with hydrating ingredients such as cucumber or green tea to give skin a healthy glow.

DEVELOP BEAUTIFUL ARMS ON THE RIVER You’ll never suﬀer from bingo wings if you take up the sport of rowing. If you’ve sat on the terrace at the Boathouse Pub in Newbridge and watched enviously as scullers come skimming past, you might like to try Minerva Bath Rowing Club’s Learn to Row courses. The rowing club is based next to the Boathouse pub, and has secured the services of British Rowing coach, Phil Pring. He is running lessions and sculling sessions on Tuesday mornings, aimed at anyone and everyone who would like to try rowing. The next course begins on 7 July, or you can put your name down for the following course from 8 September. All ages are welcome. Contact: chairman@minervabathrc.org.uk.

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SMOOTH: Spiderman star Kirsten Dunst

BOBS, LOBS AND JOBS: for years people have been coveting Jennifer Aniston’s long, sleek hair but trends have changed. Bobs, lobs and jobs (wavy bobs) are everywhere and the trend doesn’t look to be going anywhere soon. Jess Singer, senior stylist at Number Three says: “We’ve had a huge demand for razored bobs. The razor creates a soft line and the hair can be worn both straight or tousled.” If you have a bob already Jess suggests you use a styling tool such as the GHD Creative Curl Wand then spritz on some Bumble and bumble Surf Infusion afterwards for definition, texture and sheen. Number Three, 3 Saville Row, Bath, tel: 01225 443222.

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CITY | BEAUTY

Beauty

DR JACKSON'S SKIN CREAM 01 50ML, £80

NOTES

Dr Jackson pays its dues in furthering natural product science. A percentage of all sales contributes to this through a research foundation.

O'RIGHT RECOFFEE MOISTURIZING SHAMPOO 400ML, £20 O’right is determined to make the world a greener place, so much so that once you’ve finished your shampoo, you can plant the bottle in your garden and watch it grow into a tree!

LAURA MERCIER LIMITED EDITION LIP GLACE, £19.50 Laura Mercier launched a selection of products to support the The Laura Mercier Ovarian Cancer Fund, founded in September 2012. Its mission is to raise awareness and fund research and educational efforts that will help diagnose, treat and support women with ovarian cancer.

MORE THAN SKIN DEEP There is only one thing better than highperforming beauty products that enhance our natural beauty, and that’s brands with a conscience says Rachelle Howells, Beauty Manager Harvey Nichols Bristol. From a commitment to the environment to supporting a charity, a selection of our favourite products go further than making you feel good – they help you give back. All products are available in Beyond Beauty at Harvey Nichols Bristol, or can be ordered online at harveynichols.com

LUCY ANNABELLA ORGANICS ARGAN & BERGAMOT TREATMENT OIL 125ML, £38 Lucy Annabella's zero carbon footprint has won it accreditation with the Soil Association and the Aromatherapy Trade Council.

TRILOGY ROSEHIP OIL ANTIOXIDANT+ 30ML, £26.50 Trilogy was the first New Zealand skincare brand to achieve carbon neutral certification. They take responsibility for how the products are bought, used and disposed of.

DERMALOGICA ULTRA CALMING CLEANSER 500ML, £48 Dermalogica is so passionate about empowering woman, it set up a foundation to direct loans to women entrepreneurs in 57 countries.

DR HAUSCHKA ROSE DAY CREAM 30ML, £29.50

Dr Rudolf Hauschka’s goal has always been ‘to support the healing of humanity and the earth’ from their ecologically conscious methods of sourcing ingredients to its fair trade initiatives.

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CRÈME DE LA MER WORLD OCEANS DAY LIMITED EDITION MOISTURISING CREAM 100ML, £300 With the sea at the core of Crème de la Mer's inspiration and products, it's no surprise that the limited edition jar pays homage to the 'Blue Heart', the need to protect and explore the ocean.

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COSMETIC CONTOUR

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Bored of feeling Anxious? Sick of feeling depressed? Solution Focused Hypnotherapist Viv Kenchington HPD, DHP, MNCH (Reg), AfSFH

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The Orangery fp July.qxp_Layout 2 26/06/2015 10:11 Page 1

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THE CROWNING GLORY There are three pubs on this 11-mile route devised by Andrew Swift, who has also planned a shorter route with a stop-off at the traditional Old Crown inn at Kelston

or our July walk there’s the choice of two distances. Both set out from Bath along the Cotswold Way to Kelston Round Hill before visiting Kelston village, with the option of lunch at the Old Crown. You can then either catch a bus back to Bath or take a longer walk by heading out to Saltford and walking back alongside the River Avon. Starting in Bath city centre in Queen Square. Walk up the left side of Gay Street and turn left along Queen’s Parade Place. At the end, turn right along Royal Avenue, cross the road at the far end and head past the obelisk. Carry on past the road bearing right. A little further on, take a path on the right heading across the park. Cross a tarmac path, and, at the road, cross and turn left along a footpath veering away from it. Turn left along the main road, cross the zebra crossing and carry on in the same direction along Weston Road. After 350m, follow the main road as it bears right, before turning left along Weston Park. Carry on in the same direction when you come to Weston High Street. At the end, cross the zebra crossing and take the lane to the left of the Crown & Anchor. At the top, bear right along the main road and carry on across the end of Southlands. A few metres further on, go up steps and through a kissing gate (KG) to follow a Cotswold Way signpost across a playing field. Head to the right of the left-hand goalpost, making for a gap in the hedge, where you will find a KG (ST724663). Go through it, head straight up a field, 82 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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go through a handgate and continue up a farm track between fences. Carry on through another handgate and follow a path winding along the top of a field. Cross a stile and head up a lane to carry on along the Cotswold Way. After 1150m, bear left through a KG and follow a permissive path to the top of Kelston Round Hill, where a bench is provided to take in the view. Bear left alongside the fence surrounding the trees on the summit. Cross a stile and, when you come to another bench, head down a faint track to the corner of the field (look for a small white noticeboard in the hedgerow).

Cross a stile and bear left down a rough track, which turns into a tarmac lane as you pass Coombe Barn Cottages. Continue down the lane and at the main road turn left through the village of Kelston. The initials on the cottages are those of Colonel Inigo Jones who built them in the 19th century. Look out for an ammonite on the wall of the old forge and the truncated elephant’s head on the water trough. The Old Crown at Kelston is one of the most unspoilt country pubs around Bath, with lunches served between noon

and 2.30. From here, you have the option of catching a bus back to Bath or of carrying on along the road past the old lock-up and turning right alongside the wall of Tower House. After passing Park Farm, home of Bath Soft Cheese, look to the left to see a sixteenth-century outbuilding once attached to a manor house demolished in the 18th century. A short diversion to the left takes you past the village hall and into the churchyard, where you can see a fiendish gargoyle and a dovecote reputed to have the largest number of nesting boxes in Somerset. Head back and continue along the lane passing the old school on the right and a thatched building – formerly the Old Cock Inn – on the left. Carry on through a handgate and across a farmyard, crossing a stile by a gate and continuing between a fence and a hedge. At the end, do not go through the old KG ahead, but bear left across a stile and follow the hedge. Cross another stile, carry on, and, after going through a KG, continue along a concrete track. Go through two more KGs, following a footpath sign and heading towards a bridge under the old Midland Railway, now converted to a railway path (ST688672). Just before the bridge, cross a stile on the right and climb steps to a path beside the old line. To your left is the site of Kelston station, closed in 1949, and unusual in that it was accessible only on foot. Turn right along the footpath which, after crossing the river, leads down to a road. Turn left under the railway into the village of Saltford, and, after passing the Bird in Hand pub, turn

LANDMARK: Kelston Round Hill, with its clump of trees at its summit, can be seen for miles around Inset, look out for this ammonite on the wall of the old forge in Kelston

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THE | WALK left and follow a road alongside the river. After 500m, just past the old brass mill, turn left down a path to the riverside. The path leads past Saltford weir and one of six locks constructed between Bath and Hanham in 1727 to make the river navigable. After passing the Riverside pub, a footbridge with steep steps leads over the entrance to a marina. Carry on past new boathouses and beside the railway embankment, with the tranquillity only broken by occasional trains. As you carry on, you will see Kelston Park – built in the 1760s by John Wood the Younger to replace the old manor house at Kelston – high on a hill to your left. Follow the riverside path as it curves away from the railway and under a bridge on the old Midland line. In the distance you will see New Bridge, built in 1734, widened and

reprofiled a century later and a suitably impressive entrance to the city. Follow the footpath through a small arch beside the bridge and carry on. When the path forks, bear right up steps and left along the railway path to cross the river. Once across, bear right to the river and continue alongside it. The path leads along Weston New Cut, a 500-metre canal built in 1727 to avoid two weirs, and provided with a lock and an inn – the Dolphin – still open today. Carry on, as the New Cut rejoins the river, to head back into the city. Beyond Windsor Bridge, you will find that the riverside path is currently closed as work to build a new Destructor Bridge continues, but a diversion is indicated. The level of challenge on this walk is mostly straightforward and on good surfaces, but with seven stiles to tackle along the way. n

IMPRESSIVE ENTRANCE: The New Bridge on the approach to Newbridge in Bath

FACT FILE ■ Length of walk: 11 miles (or five to Kelston) ■ Time of walk: five to six hours (2 ½ – 3 ½ hours to Kelston) ■ Map: OS Explorer 155 ■ Refreshments: The Old Crown, Saltford, open all day. Food served noon – 2.30pm, 6pm – 9pm, Monday to Friday, 11am – 9pm, Saturday and Sunday. Visit: oldcrownbuctombe.com. The Bird in Hand, Saltford, open all day. Food served 11am – 2.3pm, 5pm – 9pm, Monday to Friday, 11am – 9pm, Saturday and Sunday. Visit: birdinhandsaltford.co.uk

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INTERIOR | TRENDS

LET’S GO OUTSIDE

Bath interior designer Clair Strong shows us some stylish ways to create an outdoor room

ou don’t need four walls and a roof to create a comfortable and stylish living area. Outdoor rooms have been a fixture in gardens across America and Europe for many years and now this al fresco trend has hit British shores. Whether a small balcony, a modern roof terrace or acres of rambling back yard, any outdoor space can become an extension of your interior.

It’s simply a matter of taking your favourite style elements from indoors – such as the colour schemes and little personal touches – and finding a way to make them work outdoors. This means avoiding the green plastic lawn furniture from your local DIY store and shopping around for more exciting garden-friendly furnishings, lighting and accessories.

Angle Table and Bench, Jennifer Newman

LIGHT IT UP

Balmy evenings spent outdoors with friends require adequate lighting; the kind of soft, atmospheric glow that perfectly complements quiet conversation and good food and wine. A mixture of light sources is the best way to achieve this affect. Background lighting can be provided by wall-mounted fisherman’s lanterns and soft bulbs, while candles and twinkling string lights add ambience and set the mood. Accent lighting can make an impressive statement – consider picking out a tree or a water feature to add a little extra drama. Below: Vas-One illuminated pot from Serralunga, inset lighting by John Cullen

PAINT THE WALLS, DOORS AND FENCES

Let’s start with the bare bones of the space - the walls. In a garden, this might be the exterior walls of the house (or outbuildings) or it could be a few wooden fence panels. Whatever it is, you can add instant wow factor to the space with a splash of colour. There is no reason why fences must be brown and exterior walls neutral – unless there are clear restrictions on the property – so feel free to experiment with colour if that’s what you love to do inside your home. Create flow between the indoors and out by using the same or complementary colours in both areas. Door Yellowcake No 279 exterior eggshell, Farrow & Ball, Walcot Street, Bath

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INTERIOR | TRENDS Bertoia Outdoor Bench at Twentytwentyone

CHOOSE FLEXIBLE FURNISHINGS

We’re not blessed with the best weather in the UK so choose pieces that can be used inside the home too. There are many wonderful designers of outdoor furniture. High street shops like IKEA and John Lewis, or the more high-end Twentytwentyone, The Conran Shop, and designers such as Jennifer Newman, offer stylish, garden-proof furniture that wouldn’t look out of place indoors. It helps to cement the link between your indoor and outdoor spaces.

ACCESSORISE

When designing any space - indoors or out accessories simply complete the look. Without them a room can feel bare and void of personality so, like textiles, they’re an essential feature. The accessories should suit the space; in the kitchen you might have a collection of vintage crockery, in the living room a selection of treasures from your travels. In the garden opt for a relaxed vibe with lanterns – these are from John Lewis – and comfortable furniture. The garden can be a social place – it’s where all the best parties happen. I like to celebrate that with fun and festive accessories.

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

MJ Finishes offer unique wall and floor finishes to transform any room.

OUT OF THE HOUSE

Borrow rugs, blankets and cushions from your house or source textiles specially designed for outdoor living. Specialist outdoor textiles are easy to find. IKEA, John Lewis, Graham and Green, Green Decore and Marks & Spencer are a few places that spring to mind Moroccan tile mats from Graham and Green

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. WWW.THEBATHMAG.CO.UK

Beton Cire is a polished concrete resin, which comes in a range of exciting colours. Beton Cire is totally waterproof, ideal for bathrooms, wetrooms and kitchens. No grout needed! This durable product can transform dull rooms into stunning living spaces.

Please take a look at our website www.mjfinishes.co.uk or contact us mjfinishes@gmail.com JULY 2015

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Richard from TR Hayes says sublime curves, suave leathers and glorious woods come together perfectly in Tom Schneider’s stunning furniture collections. Garnering a reputation for beautifully handmade furniture with unique style, Tom Schneider has been at the forefront of curved design for over 20 years. Continually pushing the boundaries of how wood can be formed into the stunning shapes seen in his collections, his inimitable designs reveal the master craftsmanship that underpins the company’s core values. Each collection is distinct, with progressive shapes that have an enduring appeal and provide exceptional ways for you to express your individual style.

Spoilt for choice Still hand crafted to this day, Tom Schneider furniture is made to order allowing them to offer a customisation service on all their designs. Providing maximum choice on everything from wood finish, upholstery and size is integral to their offering. These are not off the shelf, mass produced items – you have the opportunity to enjoy a made-to-measure masterpiece and create a chic and timeless ambience in your living space.

50% off Discover Tom Schneider Discover the expertise of this eminent furniture designer online at www.trhayes.co.uk or visit the TR Hayes store on London Street to browse his stunning furniture. For our summer sale we are offering fantastic prices plus an exclusive offer – buy two pieces of Tom Schneider furniture and enjoy 50% off a third item.

DNA single strand shelf

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Bathâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Premier Removals Company Thomas Firbank Removals and Storage is a family run business that offers a personal and business service of the highest quality. For seventeen years we have ensured that all of our clients enjoy a stress free move and a great deal of our business is generated by referrals from satisfied customers. We tailor your packing and removal to suit your needs, and give you a prompt quotation without any hidden costs.

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Gardening July.qxp_Layout 1 26/06/2015 15:22 Page 1

OPEN| GARDENS

FOREVER ENGLAND Jane Moore spends a golden afternoon savouring the charms of a very English garden where the sloping site has been landscaped into a series of tiers and terraces – with commanding views over the city of Wells

t’s not often I say this, but I am rather charmed by Milton Lodge near Wells. There’s something about arriving along a drive that saunters through fields of sheep that just sets the right note. After that you’re in the perfect frame of mind for everything to be simply lovely – the house, the gardens, the home-grown plants, the owner with his mother serving the teas – it’s all utterly charming. There are parts of the garden I would change and bits that perhaps aren’t as good as they should be but really it doesn’t signify once you’re swept up in the inescapable charm that is Milton Lodge. Don’t expect to be bowled over, that’s not the intention, instead what you have is a more gentle, persuasive style of garden, one that nestles in its spot like a sheep in its meadow. Perhaps the greatest thing that Milton Lodge has going for it is its unmatchable location. It sits perched on the edge of the Mendips with wide ranging panoramic views across the Vale of Avalon to the spires of Wells and the whole garden is arranged in tiers and terraces to make the most of this fact. At first glance from the main lawn in front of the house it seems that the garden lies spread before you but that’s an illusion. Looking down from between the cannon – yes cannon – bristling from the edge of the lawn it’s too easy to be swept up by 90 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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the views and miss most of the garden. Instead the tiers and terraces are tucked away, screened and sheltered by the canopies of shrubs and trees, including many tender varieties, which thrive against these warm walls. THE TERRACES The four main terraces were carved and walled out of the sloping site over a century ago by the present owner’s great grandfather who started the garden. There’s something rather lovely about spending time in a garden that’s belonged to the same family since its beginning – it’s a garden that feels loved. The gardens were conceived in around 1900 by Charles Tudway, who was the present owner’s great grandfather. The terraces are now home to an eclectic mix of plants ranging from exotic loquats to the more prosaic but undeniably lovely roses and clematis. Wandering along the terraces gets you up close to the plants and each terrace has its own feel. The Sundial terrace is abundant with old rose varieties, rugosas and hybrid musk varieties as well as some of the more modern English roses framed by the lawn and the yew hedge, while keen botanists will enjoy the Central terrace with its 80 year old Feijoa sellowiana. The Pool terrace is more open and is home to a mixture of low growing shrubs and perennials but the main feature is the retaining wall which

ENVIABLE VIEWS: a cannon draws the eye to the vista overlooking Wells in the distance Below, the distinctive leaf of the gingko tree, which has been growing at Milton Lodge for 100 years

provides a rustic, grey toned backdrop to the clematis, golden Carpenteria californica and especially a pair of climbing roses both with rich yellow blooms Golden Wings and Leverkusen. THE MEADOW From the top terrace, after gasping at the distant views of Wells and over the Vale of Avalon, it’s the meadow that catches your eye, especially in spring and early summer when it’s at its best. Masses of native wild flowers, even when they’re the common or garden varieties of fields and hedgerows, are always a glorious sight. At Milton Lodge they’ve made the most of these natural assets by elegant mowing, creating sinuous paths and islands and drifts of wildness. Native buttercups, plantains and assorted wildflowers are dotted with handfuls of spring bulbs as well as interesting shrubs and trees including various sorbus varieties, acers and a century old ginkgo. THE COMBE This is decidedly a garden for tree lovers and the Combe carries on where the Arboretum leaves off. Comprising eight acres of woodland and specimen trees, it was originally laid out as a landscaped garden with terraced lawns, trees and

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OPEN | GARDENS

MATURING NICELY: the gardens at Milton Lodge have been in the same family for four generations

water courses back in the early years of the 19th century. Now more wild than contained itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great place to lose yourself on a sunny afternoon, enjoying the dappled shade of the canopy and coming across ancient specimens of oak, chestnut and beech as well as exotics such as the magnificent Wellingtonia and Cedar of Lebanon. THE ARBORETUM The formal areas of the garden lead inexorably towards the arboretum, a loose and eclectic collection of tree which merges the garden into the

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landscape. Sauntering through this is a delight for any gardener, as most of us can only dream of having the space for this number of interesting specimens, although it does tax your tree identification skills. More sorbus species are accompanied by the lovely sugar maple, acer saccharinum and a wonderfully peeling paperbark maple, acer griseum. There are also some lovely ash trees including the elegantly feathery Raywood and a good smattering of Japanese cherries which must make for a good show in spring with their blossom and in autumn with their fiery leaves.

OPENING TIMES Opening for NGS: Sunday 5 July from 2 to 5pm. Normal opening times: Good Friday until the end of October, 2pm to 5pm. Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday and bank holidays. Admission: adults ÂŁ5, children under 14 free. Buggies and pushchairs are not recommended due to the terraces and steps, nor is the garden suitable for wheelchairs. No dogs and no picnics. n Jane Moore is the award-winning head gardener at the Bath Priory. She writes regularly for the Telegraph and can be followed on Twitter @janethegardener.

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the directory

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Electricians

Health, Beauty & Wellbeing

Bored of feeling Anxious? Sick of feeling depressed? Solution Focused Hypnotherapist Viv Kenchington

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PROPERTY | HOMEPAGE

ating from 1544, The Wood House is a Grade II* listed former burgher’s house rich in period detail and believed to be the oldest building in Chippenham still in residential occupation. There are some fascinating details to admire including fireplaces, exposed beams and ancient stone mullions. Many of the beams are original oak ship timbers from Bristol and two particular mullions are believed to be reclaimed medieval monastic windows. The ‘Horse Passage’ and cobbled courtyard to the rear is said to be the oldest and one of the last in existence in the town. As well as period character and charm, the house offers substantial and consistently sized accommodation which is well presented and perfectly suited to modern family living. There are four to five reception rooms, four to five bedrooms, two bathrooms and a cloakroom spread over the ground floor, first floor and lower ground floor where you find the large but cosy traditional style kitchen. Outside there are private, largely level and landscaped gardens with a charming river frontage and a private mooring. The Wood House is simply brimming with history and will be irresistible to lovers of its combination of tradition and modern convenience. To arrange a viewing, contact agents by agents Pritchards. Pritchards, 11 Quiet Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 466225

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THE WOOD HOUSE ST MARY STREET CHIPPENHAM • Historic property in the centre of town • 5/4 receptions, 5/4 bedrooms • Brimming with character • River frontage with mooring at the rear of the house • Good family accommodation

Price: £650,000 JULY 2015

THEBATHMAGAZINE 93

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pritchards-bath.co.uk

Oakhill A spacious & versatile, beautifully presented detached period house in the centre of this popular location well placed for Wells & Bath. Large south facing gardens. (Additional paddock approaching 3 acres available by sep negotiation). • 5 bedrooms bathroom & shower room • 3 reception rooms • Fabulous kitchen/breakfast room with AGA • Wonderful detached studio/games room • SPACIOUS SELF CONTAINED APARTMENT • House 5134 sq ft/476.95 sq m Outbuilding 773 sq ft/71.61 sq m.

Guide Price: £975,000

Corston An attractive detached period house standing in magnificent & particularly private gardens and grounds of just over 8 acres incorporating a wide variety of rare and unusual shrubs, bushes & trees & an amazing well stocked lake. Occupying a magical rural setting, mostly facing south. • 4 bedrooms - 1 en suite and bathroom • Sitting room with woodburner, dining room & kitchen/breakfast room & impressive conservatory, study/playroom & utility • Pony paddocks & stabling • Large double garage, ample parking • Summerhouse & outbuildings • No onward chain • EPC rating C • Internal area house: 2349 sq ft/218 sq m • Video available online.

Price: £895,000 11 Quiet Street, Bath BA1 2LB

Tel: 01225 466 225

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pritchards-bath.co.uk

Corsham A delightful end of terrace period property, set in beautiful landscaped gardens of approx half an acre. (Main image shows rear of property). Garage, ample off road parking & outbuilding. • Master bedroom with en suite, 3 further bedrooms, bathroom, cloakroom • Drawing room, sitting room, dining room, office/bedroom 5, boot room • Beautiful landscaped gardens of around half an acre • Garage & off road parking for several cars • 10 miles from Bath • Total approximate floor area 2,420 sq.ft. 225 sq.m.

Price: £695,000

Beckington A most attractive double fronted Grade II Listed period property, conveniently situated within this sought after village convenient for Bath & Frome. • 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 reception rooms • Off street parking • Good sized rear garden • Retains many period features • 11 miles from Bath • Floor area approx. 1,543 sq.ft. (144 sq.m.)

Price: £475,000 11 Quiet Street, Bath BA1 2LB

Tel: 01225 466 225

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pritchardsapartments.co.uk

Lansdown Place West A rare opportunity to purchase a 3 double bedroom, 3 bathroom, garden apartment arranged over 3 floors and forming part of a Grade II Listed Georgian townhouse. • 3 double bedrooms, 2 en suites, 1 bathroom, 2 reception rooms • Good sized walled garden • Separate studio/office • Walking distance to the city centre • Int area 2661 sq ft/247 inc wine cellar • Outbuilding 245 sq ft/23 sq m.

Price: £950,000

Lansdown A beautifully presented three bedroom first floor apartment situated in one of Bath’s most sought after locations. The property also retains many of its period features. • 3 bedrooms, bathroom, open plan kitchen/dining room • Large communal gardens • Garage and off street parking • Within walking distance of the city centre • Total approximate floor area 1,256 sq.ft (116.7 sq.m) • EPC rating D

Price: £599,500 11 Quiet Street, Bath BA1 2LB

Tel: 01225 466 225

Notton, Lacock A beautifully converted four bedroom Grade II Listed Coach House, with picturesque walled gardens and an annexe providing additional accommodation. The property benefits from an outdoor swimming pool and tennis court, as well as ample off-street parking for several vehicles.

*An administration fee of ÂŁ420.00 inc. VAT applies.

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Beyond your expectations www.hamptons.co.uk

North Stoke, Nr Bath,

£3,725 pcm

Five bedroom Grade II listed period Farmhouse, set in the wonderfully idyllic no through village of North Stoke which is conveniently located between Bath & Bristol. There is also a converted barn annexe attached to the property with two further bedrooms and vaulted ceilings, which is fantastic for a growing family or home business.

Richmond Place, Bath,

£2,500 pcm

Delightful Grade II listed 3 storey cottage will make the ideal family home. The property offers good living space inside and out with a lovely court yard entrance plus mature landscaped garden to the rear. Convenient access to local schools such as St Stephens, The Royal School and Kingswood.

Bannerdown Road Bath,

£3,500 pcm

Hillside house is a unique five bedroom detached period family home, originally built circa 1900’s and has been thoughtfully extended in recent years. The plot is elevated just off the Bannerdown Road and offers off street parking for several cars.

Monkton Combe, Nr Bath,

£1,250 pcm

Hamptons are delighted to market a mid terrace property situated within a unique Viaduct development. A part of the development which was originally a coach house is now converted into four separate units. Located at the bottom of Brass knocker Hill overlooking the Dundas Aqueduct, the views are breath taking.

Bath Office

Lettings 01225 458546 | Sales. 01225 459817

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ADVERTORIAL FEATURE

One-bedroom yields make waterside properties attractive prospect

24 June 2015: Strong yields at Bath’s leading property development is steering an increasing number of investors to Crest Nicholson’s Bath Riverside, where those who are able to invest in a property, can currently expect a return of up to six percent.

shortage of quality rental accommodation in the city is also prompting canny investors – including parents of children studying at university – to take a closer look at the development. The large student population, including an influx from the Far East, has also placed additional pressure on current stock, resulting in the city seeing some of the steepest rent rises in the country.

100 THEBATHMAGAZINE

JULY 2015

Sales and marketing director Susan Young said it was clear prevailing rental demand across Bath was concentrating investor attention at Bath Riverside. She said: “Bath’s emergence as one of the top property investment locations outside of London is resulting in an increasing number of investors to Crest Nicholson’s Bath Riverside. “Bath is also regarded as being one of the best university cities in the UK, so naturally attracts a high number of students. “Much of the existing rental property in surrounding residential areas has long since been snapped up by existing and first-time landlords, with many traditional family homes having changed to houses in multipleoccupation. “With Bath Riverside being the most significant property development in the city, it is not surprising we are attracting investors who are looking at new build for letting opportunities right in the centre of town.” With yields being as much as 20 per cent higher in new properties, void periods much shorter and

maintenance costs lower, buying a new property at the development makes for a very attractive investment package. Many also see investing in property as a means to not waste money on rent. It also helps generate an income as well as a steady investment through capital appreciation. Current availability at the development includes a number of one-bedroom apartments in Leopold House, ideal for investors, plus some stunning top-floor penthouses. Susan added: “We have calculated that, in the current market, investors can expect a potential return of between 5 per cent to 6 per cent* on a one-bedroom apartment at Bath Riverside so striking now would mean getting the most for your investment not only in potential equity but also rental returns. “And because the properties here are brand new owners can expect there to be virtually no initial maintenance costs - always a tremendous benefit for a landlord.” For further information please call 01225 463517 or visit www.crestnicholson.com/bathriverside The marketing suite on Victoria Bridge Road is open daily from 10 am to 5pm. * Based on current valuations

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PROPERTY | THINKING

Our ultimate guide to viewings 10 must ask questions By Peter Greatorex, Managing Director of The Apartment Company. Viewings are a crucial part of finding a new home, but do you give them the importance they deserve? Viewing a home is an emotional experience; you are battling decisions of the heart with decisions of your head. Viewings should never be done alone, always take someone for that vital second opinion. A new home is far more than the four walls that surround you, it’s about being able to give you the lifestyle you need. At The Apartment Company we believe in accompanied viewings. We want you to be able to ask as many questions as you wish, without the fear of upsetting the owners. We want to advise you on things that you may not have thought of, and also prepare you should you wish to make an offer. But be warned as not all estate agents are the same, so check who is conducting the viewing prior to arrival. But what should you ask an estate agent at a viewing? We have put together our ultimate guide so you have all the information you need to make an informed decision on each property you view. Think of a viewing as not only looking at the home and décor but also an interview, will the next home you view get an A*? 10 Questions to ask at a viewing 1. Why is the owner selling? This will give you a guide of their situation and thus their timeline for moving. 2. How long has the property been on the market? This may impact on any offer you may wish to submit. 3. How many viewings have they had? This will give you a guide to the interest in the property within the current market. 4. What is included in the sale? This can vary dramatically from property to property, so it is always wise to check. You could also use any ‘must have’ items as part of negotiations. 5. Has there been any structural work recently? If yes, it is imperative to ensure that all the appropriate certificates are in place. 6. What is the local parking situation? You need to understand the practicalities of living in the location. 7. How did you decide on the asking price? This will allow the estate agent to demonstrate the research they undertook prior to valuing the property; it could also impact again on any offer you may wish to submit. 8. Do you speak directly to the vendors? Especially in Bath as many properties are second homes, you need to ensure there are clear lines of communication. 9. What offers have been made to date? You want to know your competition, although estate agents will not be able to give you exact figures. 10. What is the neighborhood like and what amenities are there? Especially if you don’t know the area, you want to gain as much insight as possible. Our feedback is only the start, why not visit the property at different times of the day and explore the neighbourhood yourself. We need to add two extra questions for our apartment clients in Bath 12. What are the terms and conditions of the lease? You need to know the length of the lease and also any conditions that may affect your plans for the property or your future lifestyle. 13. Is the property listed and if so what grade. So, next time you go for a viewing make sure you are prepared and ready to interview the estate agent whilst evaluating the property. The Apartment Company Tel: 01225 303870.

104 TheBATHMAgAzine

MAY 2015

Jeremy Jenkins FP July.qxp_Layout 4 25/06/2015 11:27 Page 1

Lacock - £765,000

Limpley Stoke - £695,000

Bradford on Avon - £625,000

• Four bedrooms, master with ensuite • • Fabulous kitchen family room • • Two further receptions • • Gardens backing onto fields • • Vast two storey annex • • Double garage & parking •

• Detached individual family home • • Four bedrooms, master with ensuite • • Kitchen breakfast room & utility • • Three good receptions • • Rural views over large garden • • Garage and parking •

• Well located period home • • Dining room • • Four bedrooms & three bathrooms! • • Very pretty walled garden • • Large sitting room with fireplace • • Integral garage •

Bradford on Avon - £550,000

Box - £450,000

Kingsdown - £375,000

• Captivating views • • Comfortable kitchen dining room • • Three great receptions • • Four good bedrooms • • Bathroom & separate showroom • • South facing garden •

• Character cottage • • Lovely position near the village centre • • Four bedrooms, master with ensuite • • Kitchen breakfast room • • Two receptions & study or play area • • Detached garden •

• Pretty character cottage • • Lovely kitchen dining room • • Attractive lounge with fireplace • • Two bedrooms & dressing room/study • • Long south west facing garden & patio • • Sought after rural location •

Kingsdown - £335,000

Atworth - £279,999

Kingsdown - £265,000

• Charming period cottage • • Spacious kitchen diner • • Two double bedrooms • • Garden with deck & seating areas • • Glorious views over the Bybrook valley • • Parking for two cars •

• Converted character barn • • Kitchen breakfast room • • 2 bedrooms & large boarded loft room • • Large sitting room/diner • • Courtyard garden & stone outbuilding • • Ample parking for several cars •

• Pretty detached cottage • • Sitting room and dining room • • One double bedroom • • Attractive bathroom • • Amazing views for miles & miles • • Garden with summerhouse •

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

fidelisinbath.co.uk GUILDPROPERTY.CO.UK

Proud sponsors of Beechen Cliff School Fidelis July.indd 1

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01225 421000

Fidelis

Thinking of Selling in 2015? Fidelis July.indd 2

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SHAKESPEARE AVENUE - ÂŁ515,000 This attractive Edwardian terrace was built in the early 1900s on the tree-lined Shakespeare Avenue; one of the highly sought after streets of Poetsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Corner on Bear Flat, just south of the City Centre. The property enjoys an array of features and there is also plenty of potential for refurbishment, including recently granted planning permission for a loft conversion with dormer window, to include a double bedroom with en-suite. Entrance vestibule, hallway, sitting room, dining room, breakfast room, kitchen, 3 bedrooms and bathroom. Front and rear gardens. EPC = F. Approximate gross internal floor area: 1,245 square feet / 115 square metres.

k Mar r o l y a N

01225 422 224 www.mark-naylor.com

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FORTESCUE STREET, NORTON ST PHILIP - ÂŁ395,000 A superbly appointed, and nearly new, upper storey duplex apartment offering fantastic views over the surrounding village and countryside. Cloakroom, sitting room, open-plan kitchen/dining room, 3 double bedrooms (master with en-suite shower room) and family bathroom. Small walled garden, under cover double parking space and bin store. EPC = B. Approximate gross internal floor area: 1,850 square feet / 172 square metres.

SUMMERLEA, PRISTON - ÂŁ395,000 This super-spacious, detached property enjoys a light and airy feel with stylish and contemporary presentation, arranged over one storey with easy access to accommodation. Hallway (with cloakroom), sitting/dining/living room, 3 double bedrooms, additional reception/potential bedroom 4, cloakroom and family bathroom. Delightful gardens with driveway to the front and south-westerly aspect to the rear. Oil-fired central heating and double glazing. No onward chain. EPC = D. Approximate gross internal floor area: 1,255 square feet / 117 square metres.

k Mar r o l y a N

Beyond your expectations www.hamptons.co.uk

NEW INSTRUCTION

Lyncombe Vale This handsome detached four bedroom family home is located in the enviable position of Lyncombe Vale, just off Prior Park and therefore walking distance to both The Paragon and Prior Park College. As well as some fine period features, a detached coach house within the garden adds further appeal to this fine home. EPC:F

Guide Price £1,400,000 • • • • • •

4 Bedrooms 4 Receptions Detached Period Residence Coach House Gardens and Parking Attractive Lyncombe Vale

Bath Office

Sales. 01225 459817 | Lettings 01225 458546

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Beyond your expectations www.hamptons.co.uk

NEW INSTRUCTION

Gay Street A stunning double fronted Grade I Listed townhouse situated at the top of Gay Street moments away from the iconic Royal Crescent and The Circus. This smart city home has been restored to its former glory with the most impressive central staircase, beautifully proportioned and stately rooms and fine period details enhanced by bespoke craftsmanship. There is a small west facing courtyard and central zone permit parking. EPC: Listed

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Guide Price £1,750,000 • • • • • •

5 Bedrooms 3 Receptions Double Fronted Beautifully Refurbished Grade I Listed Prime Location

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Box 17th Century five bedroom detached home close to all the amenities of Box, tucked away down a quiet lane. Offering large sitting room and two further reception rooms., kitchen breakfast room, utility, and double garage allowing a great work space. Stunning gardens and fantastic views. “Built in the early 1600s, our aim was to give the house back its character and natural charm and for it, once more, to become a family home. Our main reception room is extremely bright and sunny, with beautiful beams and features an exceptional fireplace; such an amazing room on dark winter evenings when the fire is roaring away. There is also an old bread oven. We use the dining room when our family and friends are around but, for day to day living, we eat mainly in our kitchen area with its Aga.”

“The garden is planted for all seasons and there is something to catch attention every month of the year. Many of our plants are perfumed and therefore abounds with butterflies and bees. We have also created a wildflower meadow. There are glorious views across the Bibrook valley to Colerne, down to Bath and beyond to the Mendips.” “Box village is vibrant and friendly with lots of shops and activities. The primary school has an Ofsted rating of ‘Excellent’ and there are good state and independent schools all within easy reach. Bath is just seven miles away and Chippenham is the preferred station for journeys into London Paddington with trains every half an hour.”

MILLS PLATT FOUR RECEPTION ROOMS • UTILITY ROOM • FOUR BEDROOMS, MASTER EN-SUITE • DOUBLE GARAGE • PARKING • GARDENS • EPC RATING D

Contact: 01225 320032

Price: £875,000

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Bath 'Regency' style house built in 1989 of Bath stone in quiet location in desirable village of Bathampton. Comprising four reception rooms, four bedrooms, master en-suite, double garage, parking, conservatory, lovely gardens.Its striking entrance hall is central to the property and there is an immediate impact of brightness and welcome; an atmosphere which permeates throughout. Stairs lead to a sunny, galleried landing which, in turn, opens onto a small terrace, a lovely spot for a morning cup of tea while enjoying its gentle outlook. The Grange has hosted many parties, with the flexible layout of the house being perfect for welcoming guests to stay and, when necessary, connecting doors are opened wide providing a wonderful flow and enabling large numbers guests to mingle comfortably in the light and airy space. Guests can easily spill out from the house onto the large terrace; another space for

relaxed dining and to relish the wonderful garden. Sitting here, it is obvious the amount of love and care which is given to this beautiful space which abounds with charm and colour throughout the seasons. The garden is walled with traditional stone, all enhancing such delights as the pergola, water features and mature trees. There is also a greenhouse and a potting shed. Although gently tucked away there is easy access to the village store, post office, pharmacy, doctors’ surgery and hairdressers and also a highly rated primary school and excellent pubs. Walking from the house through local meadows alongside the River Avon is a delight, as is walking into Bath along the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal. A truly spectacular home in an outstanding location with everything required being more or less on its doorstep.

BATHAMPTON FOUR RECEPTION ROOMS • UTILITY ROOM • FOUR BEDROOMS, MASTER EN-SUITE • DOUBLE GARAGE • PARKING • GARDENS • EPC RATING D

Contact: 01225 320032

Price: £1,300,000

Marlborough Street

OIEO ÂŁ795,000

Grade II listed | Georgian | Modern kitchen | Four bedrooms | Original Oak flooring | Balcony | Beautifully presented | HOLIDAY LETS PERMITTED A rare opportunity to purchase a superb and unique property situated in a highly sought after area of the City. This fabulous apartment offers a generous amount of living space which can also be used as a holiday let. Accessed via a private entrance on the ground floor, this apartment is arranged over the first, second and third floors, presented beautifully throughout.

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Royal Crescent

OIEO ÂŁ625,000

Grade I listed | Georgian | Lower ground floor | Courtyard | One bedroom | Occasional bedroom/stud | Residents private Crescent garden Located in the world famous Royal Crescent, enjoying breathtaking architecture and views. Occupying the lower ground floor in a Georgian townhouse we are offering a stylish and contemporary courtyard apartment which has been carefully designed and maintained throughout.

Hampton House

OIEO ÂŁ575,000

Grade II listed | Lower ground floor | Modern kitchen | Three double bedrooms | Parking space | Garage | Private patio | Approx. 1,160 Sq Ft A truly stunning apartment offering the most fabulous views over Bath and the surrounding areas. The property boasts a large rear patio, perfect for alfresco dining with seating and a dining area, a private garage and parking space along with spacious and luxury accommodation throughout.

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Suffolk House

OIEO £550,000

Victorian apartmen | Lower ground floor | Modern kitchen | Three bedrooms one with en suite | Study | Private patio | Communal garden | Two allocated spaces Set in the highly sought after area of Weston, on the fringe of the City, this apartment combines spacious living in an idyllic location. The apartment offers its own private entrance accessed on the lower ground floor with a private patio, well maintained communal garden and two allocated parking spaces.

Lansdown Place West

OIEO £390,000

Grade II listed | Georgian | Lower ground floor | Stylish kitchen | One bedroom | Occasional second bedroom/Study | Courtyard | Private vaults We are delighted to bring to market this fabulous one bedroom courtyard apartment located on one of Bath’s finest crescent. The property benefits from a variety of unique features, including its own private front door, private vaults, a delightful courtyard and immaculately presented accommodation throughout.

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Royal Crescent

£2,000 pcm Cavendish Crescent

£1,300 pcm Brock Street

£1,250 pcm

Georgian apartment | Beautifully presented | Private courtyard | Light and

Two double bedrooms | Courtyard area | Council Tax Band D | No Pets | Suit

First floor | Council Tax Band D | Two bedrooms | Arranged over two floors | No

spacious | No pets | Furnished | Agency fees £350+vat | Available Sept 14th 2015

Professional couple | Furnished | Agency fees £350+vat | Available Now

children | Furnished | Agency Fees £350.00 + VAT | Available 5th August 2015

This superb two bedroom apartment has been beautifully restored to the An impressive luxury two bedroom garden apartment in the most Situated between The Circus and the Royal Crescent this fabulous two bedroom highest specification and now offers well balanced living accommodation. desirable area of Cavendish Crescent, with an enclosed courtyard area. apartment offers recently renovated accommodation arranged over two floors.

T LE EED R AG

St James Street

£1,500 pcm Gay Street

Three bedrooms | Well presented | Gas fired central heating | No pets | Not

T LE EED R AG

£875 pcm Cambridge Place

Courtyard garden | City centre| Suit professional person or couple | Newly decorated

£825 pcm

Stunning views | Two bedrooms | Top floor | Ideal commuting location | Views

| Part furnished | Agency Fees £350.00 + VAT | Available July 12th 2015

A spacious quirky three bedroom apartment on three levels offering This splendid Georgian courtyard apartment is situated right in the

A superb opportunity to acquire a delightful two bedroom top floor

flexible, with views that can be enjoyed from most rooms

apartment close to City Centre on Widcombe Hill close to shops.

Royal Crescent

centre of Bath and has been refurbished throughout.

£775 pcm Portland Place

£750 pcm

Suit professional person | Studio apartment | No pets | Parking - permit parking |

One bedroom | Superb views | Council Tax Band B | Top floor apartment

Unfurnished | Agency fees £350+vat | Available August 1st 2015 or before by arrangement

| Part furnished | Agency Fees £350.00 + VAT | Available July 7th 2015

The Grange

£750 pcm

A stylish studio apartment in the much sought after location of the A stunning light and airy Georgian part furnished apartment located

A stunning light and airy Georgian part furnished apartment located in a

Royal Crescent.

popular central location with superb views across the City.

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in a popular central location with superb views across the City.

19/06/2015 12:31

West Yatton An enchanting Grade II listed 17th century farmhouse, illustrated in the National Trust Book of the Farm, with potential for 2 further bedrooms, separate annexe with own entrance, substantial outbuildings and over 6 acres of garden, orchard and woodland Offers in excess of ÂŁ1,350,000

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

www.crispcowley.co.uk

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Upton Cheyney An immaculately presented contemporary house with stunning panoramic views, set in established gardens and grounds approaching 3.3 acres Offers in excess of £1,350,000

Crisp Cowley Ralph Allen’s Town House York Street Bath BA1 1NQ 01225 789333

www.crispcowley.co.uk

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Lower Shockerwick A handsome stone built Grade II listed house dating from the 1740s providing 2,400 sq. ft. of accommodation in this highly sought-after location. Set within the picturesque grounds of Shockerwick House Guide Price: £1,100,000

Crisp Cowley Ralph Allen’s Town House York Street Bath BA1 1NQ 01225 789333

www.crispcowley.co.uk

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Hinton Charterhouse A superb Grade II listed house providing 2,972 sq. ft. of accommodation in this sought-after village Guide Price: £750,000

Crisp Cowley Ralph Allen’s Town House York Street Bath BA1 1NQ 01225 789333

www.crispcowley.co.uk

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