Bath Voice September 2023

bath voice

September 2023 No. 43

FREE EVERY MONTH in Bear Flat, Combe Down, Oldfield Park and Widcombe

INSIDE

Lidl News

Page 4

Look back

Page 10

What’s On Pages 14-16

Playing and learning at Three Ways School

Vision for new rugby stadium

Sports News

Pages 20

Sandpits News

Page 22

Bath Rugby’s long-held ambition to develop a rugby stadium at the Rec has been progressing recently, with a consultation on their designs carried out earlier this year.

But two Bath architects have caused a stir with a counter-design in classical style. Mark Wilson Jones

and Jakub Ryng of Apollodorus Architecture reimagined the new stadium as a oval Roman colosseum, together with a classical rebuild of the leisure centre.

Bath Rugby Club and in particular its stadium or rather ground at Bath’s

Continued on page 3

By Bath Voice news editor Harry Mottram and John Wimperis of the local democracy service: The architects behind an alternative design for Bath’s new rugby stadium — which has captured the popular imagination — hope local people might push for the design.

It’s an under rated aspect of growing up - playing. At Three ways School this summer the importance of playing has been highlighted by Bath Area Play Project (BAPP) Holiday Playscheme. More on page 18.

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Wera Hobhouse MP - Bath

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Jacob Rees-Mogg - NE Somerset House of Commons

Westminster London SW1A 0AA jacob.reesmogg.mp@parliament.uk

BANES Councillors

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07464 867554

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Twerton: Sarah Moore 07807013635

Sarah_moore@bathnes.gov.uk

Tim Ball 01225 400834 / 07970461674 Tim_ball@bathnes.gov.uk

Westmoreland: June Player 07967 920064

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Colin Blackburn 07796 807157

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n NEWS

Continued from page 1

Recreation Ground is not just for the preserve of the club and its supporters.

The landmark site and the club itself are of far wider importance – indeed many in the city feel an ownership of the site and the team that goes far beyond buying a ticket for a match.

So it is important to remind ourselves that any changes to the ground will be viewed with interest across Britain and indeed the rugby playing nations of Europe and yes the world. Which is why the new design must get it right and not be something that is regretted in a few short years time.

Mark Wilson Jones and Jakub Ryng of Apollodorus Architecture dismissed the current plans from the club and argue Bath ‘deserves much better’. The critique of the current plans on the table are that it would essentially look ugly from above, fails to match the Bath skyline and does not sit well next to the Leisure Centre and the river side.

Instead Apollodorus Architecture offer up a colosseum – an oval shaped stadium that reflects the city’s Roman past, compliments the Georgian aspect of Bath and is an addition to the architecture of the city rather than a detraction. The practice cites for example the Hilton Hotel as to how

not to design a building for Bath and makes criticisms of the current leisure centre which ideally would be rebuilt to blend into the new building so there was a unified structure.

The comments online have so far been very positive – unlike some of the negative comments about Bath Rugby’s plans which have not been so explicit in detail as those from Apollodorus Architecture. There is of course a major question mark over the London practice’s ideas: the cost. Who would pay for the colosseum stadium and its adjoining Leisure Centre to be built? And with the considerable debt the club already has and the shrunk size of the rugby’s top flight league due to bankruptcies

last season meaning less gate money and funds from hospitality it’s a pertinent question.

A stadium fit for a Roman Emperor? It certainly looks different

For a reality check Reading’s Madejski stadium cost around £80m to construct while Huddersfield’s John Smith’s Stadium had a £72.8m price tag and others in Hull, Cardiff and Leicester were all over £50m. Those eye watering figures are likely to have influenced the current design on offer as the plans would suggest a much lower figure to fund – one the club feels it can afford. That said, seen in a wider context there is scope to include a more ambitious creation – which could attract more

partners with deeper pockets. And in a world of shared stadiums other clubs and teams could be interested in a colosseum fit for a Roman Emperor and perhaps upwards of 50,00 spectators.

Reporter John Wimperis said Mark Wilson Jones and Jakub Ryng of Apollodorus Architecture had put their plans to Bath Rugby but have been ‘politely declined’ by the club.

They told John Wimperis that under their plans, the leisure centre would be divided into two blocks, with more pedestrian connections, and an open square in front of the Pavilion, which would be kept. The buildings would continue the classical style of the colosseum stadium, complete with a Roman lighthouse-styled tower.

Wilson Jones said: “This is an idealistic vision put forward really just to shake things up and get people to think in those kinds of ways.”

He is hoping that, if the city is behind the new design, a grassroots group of people could form to promote it.

Mr Wilson Jones said: “If it resonates enough with people I suppose they have got to do something about it.”

John Wimperis in his report said the architects felt it was up to local people to press for a more radical approach and to pressure the club to be open to the ideas.

The colosseum style idea seen from the air

Lidl Planning Controversy, by John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: The planning application for the discount supermarket in Larkhall attracted more than 1,200 comments from the community before comments closed in July.

A total of 295 people have voiced their support for the store on Bath and North East Somerset Council’s planning portal, a total of 16 people left neutral comments, and 945 commented to object to the plans – which would see the store built next to Bath Rugby’s Lambridge Training on the London Road, on what is currently a wild field surrounded by trees.

Bath currently has one Lidl store, located in Twerton. The company says that a Lidl in this location — on the far side of Bath — would prevent people from having to travel across the city for discount food, increase shopping choice, and create new jobs.

A consultation event over the plans in May was picketed by protestors opposed to the plan (pictured), including ward councillor on Bath and North East Somerset Council Joanna Wright, who said: “This is a green entrance to the city that the Georgians

put in place hundreds of years ago […] We should not be building on it. We should be protecting it.”

Lidl stated it had “searched exhaustively” for suitable sites, and that the London Road site was the most suitable, accessible, and convenient.

The company plans to increase biodiversity on the site by 40% through new tree, hedge, and wildflower planting, a seasonal wetland, green roof, bird baths, bat boxes, and bee towers. The woodland by the river would also be retained. The application can be viewed, although comments are now closed: https://www.bathnes. gov.uk/webforms/planning/details. html?refval=23%2F02212%2FFUL

Council Staff News: Unacceptable behaviour towards Bath and North East Somerset Council workers by a minority of the public is being highlighted in a new campaign aimed at raising awareness of the violent and aggressive behaviour staff frequently have to face.

Examples of unacceptable behaviour over the past year include one worker being driven at, a female colleague followed back to her workplace and threatened with physical violence and another member of staff threatened with a hammer.

Staff also reported being sworn and shouted at, being trolled on social media and receiving persistent aggressive calls, visits or emails.

Road News: Local democracy reporter John Wimperis has reported on changes planned for one of the main roads leading into Bath from Bristol.

He writes: Huge changes could be made to a major road linking Bath and Keynsham with Bristol in an attempt to boost bus, cycling, and walking options.

Six miles of bus lanes and over nine miles of bike lanes could be installed on and alongside the A4 under the plans. The changes could see two lanes on the Keynsham bypass replaced with bus lanes and the Bristol and Bath Railway Path extended further into Bath.

His full article is on the Bath Voice website and will run in October’s issue.

You can see the full details of the plans here: https://b2b. haveyoursaywest.co.uk/ A consultation on the plans will run until 1 October, with people who would be impacted by the plans asked to come along to consultation events and to send their feedback to the West of England Combined Authority.

Six drop-in consultation events will take place including one in Bath: Thursday 14 September (2pm – 7pm) at The Street, Bath Spa University, Locksbrook Campus BA1 3EL

Election News: New election boundaries could reshape the parliamentary constituency of Bath with part of North East Somerset joining Bath.

Since 2010, each council area has been divided into two constituencies. But the 2023 Boundary Review, recommends changes that will see Bath taking in rural areas including Bathford, Swainswick and Bathampton.

North Somerset loses the area around Yatton and Kenn to the Wells constituency which loses Burnhamon-Sea to Bridgwater – but Bridgwater loses the large West Somerset area. North East Somerset that surrounded Bath loses much of the area to the North and South of the city but gains the populace area of Hanham on the edge of Bristol. A new constituency has been

created that touches the south of Bath in East Somerset and Frome.

To the east of Bath a new constituency of South West Wiltshire takes in Bradford on Avon and Box while to the north of Bath there is Thornbury and Yate and to the west Kingswood.

The government has four months to bring forward an order to bring the recommendations into effect. The next election is likely to be held next year, but could legally not happen until January 2025.

It seems unlikely that the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will wait that long – as John Major did as the then prime minister hung on to the last minute back in 1997 hoping for a miracle which didn’t happen. It may have made his conservative administration even

more unpopular as a result.

The accepted wisdom is that he will call an election in the spring –possibly May or June of next year as usually there is a feeling of optimism with warmer days ahead and more importantly an improving economy. If inflation is down to two or three percent by then, industrial unrest has abated and there’s the small matter of England hoping for glory in the football European tournament in July to look forward to – then the PM could drive up the Mall to see the King.

The opinion polls suggest he’s on a mission impossible but in an election campaign public opinion becomes more fluent and sometimes upsets happen – as the elections of 1970,1974 and 1992 suggest, when the favourite to take the keys to Number 10 was

pipped at the post. It seems unlikely that Sunak will win – but we must wait and see how things pan out – and see if Kier Starmer can become the seventh Labour Prime Minister of this country.

In 2019 the result for Bath was:

Wera Hobhouse, Lib Dem 28,419 Annabel Tall, Conservative 16,097 Mike Davies, Labour 6,639 Jimi Ogunnusi, Brexit Party 642 Bill Blockhead, Independent 341 Waterworks Cottage news: Local Democracy Reporter John Wimperis has reported on approved plans to replace Bath’s historic Waterworks Cottage with two new homes.

The news marks the end of an almost three-year planning battle over the cottage, on Charlcombe Way.

The cottage’s architect owners, Jeremy and Sarah Flavell, secured the right to knock down the cottage without the council’s approval in 2022.

But their attempts to build “unashamedly modern” houses on the site once the cottage has been knocked down have been repeatedly held up at the planning permission phase.

A final decision had been expected when the plans came before Bath and North East Somerset Council’s planning committee in June, but councillors voted to postpone their decision while they went on a site visit to see the cottage for themselves.

Meeting again after the visit on Wednesday, July 26, the committee voted to grant planning permission and allow the homes to be built. The cottage is believed to have been built in the mid nineteenth century and to have housed people who worked at the nearby waterworks.

Book Review: Bath

– I Walked

Every Street, by Andrew ‘Able’ Lawrence

From walking the workhouse burial ground to exploring quirky Dover Place in Snowhill and from the grandeur of The Paragon a ‘Georgian gem’ to the quiet rural greenery of St Mary’s churchyard in Upper Swainswick, I Walked Every Street, by Andrew ‘Able’ Lawrence is a love letter to Bath and its environs.

The Bath author has spent years literally walking every street, road and footpath and charting his thoughts and observations including poems to illustrate his connections and emotions with some of the evocative places in the

city of many faces. Visitors will only see the Georgian crescents, Pulteney Bridge and perhaps the ruins of the Roman baths, but for Bathonians the city is so much more. And Andrew or rather Able as he is known has certainly explored areas which many residents will never have ventured.

So why do it? Well we all enjoy a walk but this is on another level as in his own words, “I bought a street map and coloured in each street after I’d walked it…” this after having previously as he puts it,…”always enjoyed diverting from direct routes from A to B within the city to explore side streets and back alleys.”

And who hasn’t wandered past

a house lit up on Christmas Eve and looked in on a family dressing their tree, or a summer barbecue on a patio where the unknown residents clink glasses with faces which seem familiar and whose stories you’d like to know?

Neatly divided into sections the book is comprehensive in including some of the oddities locals will know such as the horse trough on The Hollow or the Old Lock Up on Mill Lane. Certainly for anyone who loves the city and enjoys a lyrical description of the sights, sounds and lost histories of the Bath this is a unique and brilliant work.

Harry Mottram

Bath – I Walked Every Street, by Andrew ‘Able’ Lawrence, softback in full colour, at £14.99, is available from Brown Dog Books

Bird menace: Local Democracy Reporter John Wimperis has reported on the issue of seagulls, or more accurately gulls - usually herring gulls:

A Bath woman who was recently attacked by a seagull has called on the council to do more to tackle gulls. Debbie Andrews warned that attacks by gulls are on the rise across the city at a full meeting of Bath and North East Somerset Council on July 20.

She told councillors: “I was attacked recently walking out of M&S with unopened food. As I was putting it in my bag I felt a heavy thud on my back. I only realised what it was when a wing hit me across my head and the bird actually bent over my shoulder to peck through the plastic and managed a bite out of the food.

“Two women checked I was ok as it was such a vicious attack.”

She said that a gull had attacked her friend while walking in the Oldfield Park area of Bath and had drawn blood, visitors to the city eating outside in Kingsmead Square had meals snatched off their plates, and one elderly man

had his bread snatched from his trolley in the Lidl car park.

She said: “It’s infuriating to know that funding has been withdrawn from trying to solve this problem. I’d like to know why. When will funds be released to help solve a problem that is only going to get worse?”

The council has cut £20k from the budget to tackle gulls, which had also funded free advice for people on dealing with the birds.

Though no actions were immediately agreed by the council at the meeting, Independent councillor for Westmoreland, June Player, suggested they take the matter to Natural England.

Council staff have previously warned that their “hands are tied” over tackling the gull problem as the birds are protected by Natural England. Natural England can issue a license to councils to kill nuisance some birds, destroy nests or use methods to dissuade the avian menace.

Drunk Driver: A drunken driver who crashed his car into a Bath hotel has been banned from driving for 15 months and ordered to pay £253 in court fees and will put on a

drink-drive rehabilitation course by Bath Magistrates.

Benjamin Maddocks pleaded guilty to drink-driving at Bath Magistrates’ Court following the incident on March 19 when in a spectacular crash managed to wedge his Kia Picanto into the access to a basement gap between the railings at the front of the Francis Hotel on Queen Square. Incredibly nobody was injured in the crash which left diners in the restaurant aghast at the sight.

Maddocks admitted responsibility for his car colliding with the railings and the Francis Hotel in Bath. It took a crane to remove the car as it was wedged so securely and remained there for three days.

Moorland Road: Shoppers are already struggling to find somewhere to park on a popular Bath high street despite new rules not coming into force for another two weeks.

David Pye has run popular greeting cards and gifts shop This ‘n’ That on Moorland Road with his wife Judith for 25 years. He said: “People are coming into our shop saying

we can’t find anywhere to park because its all permit holders’.” Despite new signage having already been put up on the road by Bath and North East Somerset Council, the permit holders only rules do not come into effect until August 29 — when Moorland Road the surrounding area will become part of the Oldfield Park and Westmoreland Residents Parking Zone. Mr Pye said: “Its causing a lot of confusion because they are putting the markings in the road, they are putting the signs up, and then they are telling people its being delayed. People don’t know that.”

The new parking rules in the area had been scheduled to kick in on July 31 — in line with the city’s other new residents parking zone which covers Walcot, Snow Hill, and Claremont Road — but on July 19 the council announced it would be pushed back so they could include more short-stay parking bays for visitors.

There had been uproar from local businesses and organisations who feared that people would be unable to park on the street to do their shopping or use the services.

Phew! Relief at top A-Level results at Bath’s schools

Students in Bath studying for their A-levels received their results last month with a mixture of relief and in most cases happiness.

Nationally the results saw the proportion of A or A* A-level grades is 27.2% - down from a peak of 44.8% during the pandemic.

This adjustment did not dampen the enthusiasm of students who discovered their results in the city’s schools.

Hayesfield School’s Year 13 students recorded 25% of students gaining 3 A levels at AAB or better, 28% of all entries at A/A* and nearly 60% of our students achieving 3+ A*-B.

Some of those heading onto university included Holly Powell (Veterinary Science, Cambridge);

Jasmine Todman (Natural Sciences, Cambridge); Amie Clark (Law, Oxford) and Esme Dannatt (Philosophy & Linguistics, Oxford).

Six students are taking up places on Art Foundation courses as well as those joining the Norland Nannies in September.

Beechen Cliff students’ A Level results saw 28% of grades of A*/A grades and 76% of grades were at A*- C, which is above the national average for England this year.

160 students are taking places at university with two thirds achieving their first choice and 79% their first or second choice.

Of these, three students are off to Oxbridge or to study medicine. Other students are moving onto apprenticeships, college,

employment or a gap year.

Ralph Allen School students this summer had some impressive figures with their A-level results.

The Bath secondary school saw 29% of the grades were A*-A while 67% of grades were A*-B and 85% of the grades were A*-C.

Students heading to Oxford include Alex Buxton reading Mathematics, Marianne Clark reading Spanish and linguistics, Ella O’Shea reading English literature, Frieda Miller reading Modern Foreign Languages and Dimitri Lang reading Mathematics.

Prior Park College had over 80% of this year’s cohort accepted into their first or second choice university, with students securing places at the likes of Imperial

College, UCL, Birmingham and Nottingham. Well done also to Annabelle Goymer, who was accepted into the University of Oxford to study Theology, achieving A*AA in her A Levels.

Monkton Combe School congratulated their A-Level students who received an outstanding set of results keeping the high achieving traditions of the school on track.

St Gregory’s School was also delighted with some fantastic results with 66% of candidates in Spanish receiving A*-A and 60% candidates achieving an A*-A in Fine Art plus 50% of candidates in Mathematics securing an A* or A grade and 40% of English Lit and Lang candidates achieving A*-As.

Looking relieved: Students of Beechen Cliff School in Bath having received the news of their A Level results

Students of Hayesfield School in Bath having received the news of their A Level results

Students of Ralph Allen School received the news of their A Level results

Relief for one student at Prior Park College and also delight at St Gregory’s - above

Students of Monkton Combe School awaited for their exam results

n NEWS

Tufa Field News: John Wimperis has reported that work will continue for months to come Bath’s “tufa field,” the council has said.

The nature reserve on Englishcombe Lane is ecologically and geologically significant due to its tufa blushes — a rare type of limestone spring — and is the location of controversial plans by Bath and North East Somerset Council to build a supported housing development.

Contractors have been working on the site preparing the way for construction with surveys. Cllr Deborah Collins, , said: “These surveys are under the supervision of an independent ecologist and will continue into the winter months.”

Simon Banks who runs tufafield. com, a website which campaigns to protect the nature reserve and contains photos, information, blogs, and live cameras said the contractors had been there since last month. Sandpits News by Cllr Jess David (Moorland) and Lynne Whitfield, Chair of the Friends of Sandpits Group: The Friends of Sandpits is a group of residents working to improve the play park.

This summer the group has been celebrating 100 years since the park was created. With sponsorship and support from many residents and businesses, an afternoon of family fun was held with Bath Area Play Project on Monday 7 August.

This was a fantastic, sunny afternoon, with hundreds of people of all ages (pictured)

The centenary event was opened

by the Mayor of Bath (Cllr Dine Romero) and featured a raffle with prizes from businesses on Moorland Road and the Moorfields Pub, music from the City of Bath Brass Band, displays from Baskervilles gymnasts, and free sessions with Bath Rugby Tots.

Posters created by children from Oldfield Park and Moorlands schools were also on display at the event.

Local people were also invited to learn about the history of the park, the site of an old brickworks, in a talk with Stuart Burroughs from the Museum of Bath at Work and John Branston, a long-time resident of Oldfield Park.

Thank you to everybody that has contributed to the Sandpits centenary celebrations. We are sure this wonderful space will delight many generations to come.

Recalling the filming of The Titfield Thunderbolt

By Rob Coles:

It is now seventy years since the Iconic and much loved film, The Titfield Thunderbolt, was made by Ealing Studies. The filming location was centered on Monkton Combe station and the Cam Valley railway line, Freshford and Bristol Temple Meads also feature.

To mark the date a new book by local author and publisher, Simon Castens tells the full story of the the film – The Titfield Thunderbolt The Story of a Much Loved Film – is available from the Oldfield Park Bookshop in Bath.

When I was a young schoolboy I cycled down Shaft Road from Combe Down with my friend Michael to Monkton Combe to see the filming of the Ealing Comedy The Titfield Thunderbolt. Past the arc lights and bustle of filming we found the real star sleeping on a siding line opposite the station, Thunderbolt.

More accurately Lion the 0-4-2 locomotive built for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1838, even in 1952 it was well over one

hundred years old.

The film’s story was about villagers taking over their railway that British Railways were closing, Following an act of sabotage by a bus company an antique locomotive was brought from a museum to the the Titfield line to run the service.

For the final scene at Bristol Temple Meads, the Thunderbolt traveled on the main line from Limpley Stoke line to Bristol and must have surprised passengers on Bath Spa station as it passed at a stately ten miles an hour.

The definitive account of the making of the film has now been written by author, publisher and Titfield Thunderbolt expert, Simon Castens who has researched the film for very many years.

In its nearly 200 pages the book includes 320 photos, many previously unpublished – The Titfield Thunderbolt The Story of a Much Loved Film – is available from the Oldfield Park Bookshop, Moorland Road, Bath, and from the author’s Titfield Thunderbolt bookshop,

Studio 4, Tollbridge Studies, Tollbridge Road, Batheaston. Check opening times on the web site or phone 01225 462332.

• Released in 1953 The Titfield Thunderbolt is regularly screened on TV was directed by Charles

Crichton and starred the late great Stanley Holloway along with Naunton Wayne, George Relph and John Gregson – not forgetting the beautiful Gabrielle Brune and a young Sid James - he of the later Carry On movies.

Strike News: The industrial unrest amongst NHS medics shows no sign of abating as some staff continue to vote with their feet in an ongoing campaign for improved wages and working conditions.

Last month some RUH medical staff members took strike action while earlier this year nurses also walked out but now have ended their dispute following a recommendation by their union to accept the Government’s pay offer.

The dispute between the doctors trade union The British Medical Association (BMA) who have asked for a 35% pay rise to restore pay to 2008 levels after a series of below-inflation pay rises and with the government who have offered them 6% this year plus £1,250, bringing the increase to nearly 9% on average. The Government said that is the final offer but the doctors and consultants are not backing down.

The Government have made reducing inflation as their main priority and have rejected pay rises they believe increase inflation.

The RUH said that patients due in hospital on future strike days are advised to attend as normal, unless told otherwise, with those whose

appointments are affected being contacted directly with details of alternative arrangements.

Crime News from the police: A 36-year-old man who raped his victim and set fire to her belongings has been jailed for 13 years.

Jamie Hardy, from the Upper Weston area of Bath, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday 19 July, after he was found guilty unanimously of oral rape, two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, sexual assault and multiple assaults.

He had already pleaded guilty to arson at the start of his trial. The court heard how Hardy assaulted his victim, torched her belongings and orally raped her.

The victim was left with serious bruising, including two black eyes. In a personal statement, the victim said she ‘won’t ever be able to articulate’ the level of abuse she suffered.

Along with his custodial sentence, the judge granted an indefinite restraining order and ordered Hardy to register as a sex

offender for life.

Details of how to report to the police are available here: www. avonandsomerset.police.uk/report/ rape-and-sexual-assault/ Opera News: Bath Light Opera Group (BLOG) are set to bring the streets of Victorian London to life in Lional Bart’s musical based on Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist – get ready for Oliver!

We think of the charity Street Child for their work in places like Sierra Leone, Somalia and

Silk Road Rugs

Afghanistan and yet only a few generations ago Bath, Bristol and London had thousands of street children – highlighted in Charles Dickens’ serialised 1839 novel Oliver Twist

The novel has been filmed for the cinema and TV and was adapted by Lionel Bart from the musical version of the story Oliver!

In September BLOG are staging the musical at Theatre Royal, Bath, following the success off their last production of Mack and Mabel. Join orphan Oliver Twist as he escapes Mr Bumble’s workhouse, navigates London’s underworld of theft and violence, searching for a home, a family, and – most importantly – for love. (Pictured). The score is packed with some of the best-known songs in musical theatre including Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, I’d Do Anything, Oom Pah Pah and As Long as He Needs Me.

The show runs from 12-26th September 2023 nightly at 7.30pm with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday. Tickets available from www.theatreroyal.org.uk/events/ oliver/

Westway Farm, Bishop Sutton, Bristol BS39 5XP

Circuit of Bath Walk and Claverton’s Flower Show

Theatre Picks In Bath

Thu 24 Aug-Sat 23 Sep. Ustinov Studio. Farewell Mister Haffmann. Set in 1942 in Nazi Occupied Paris jewish Monsieur Haffmann enters a bizarre life swap to survive.

Wed 6-Sat 9 Sep. Mission Theatre. Beginning. This funny, uplifting, and at times heartbreaking play by David Eldridge takes an intimate look at the first fragile moments of risking your heart and taking a chance.

Wed 13 Sep. Rondo Theatre. The Bobby Kennedy Experience. Written & performed by Russell Lucas about the younger brother of JFK.

12-16 Sep. Theatre Royal Bath. Oliver! Musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ 1838 novel Oliver Twist and the stage musical and film by Bath Light Operatic Group.

Sat-Mon16 - 18 Sep. Egg Theatre.

Nest. Filled with clowning, original song and beautiful shadow play, this highly physical show uses minimal language to tell a tale about taking care, discovering what’s important and learning how to fly.

Tue-Sat 26-30 Sep. Mission Theatre. West Side Story. Youth Theatre production.

Thu 28 Sep-Sat 7 Oct. Theatre

Royal. A Voyage Round My Father. Rupert Everett in John Mortimer’s

autobiographical play.

Wed 4- Sat7 Oct. Rondo Theatre. The Alchemist. Set 1890s London Ben Jonson’s story of three con artists intent to cheat the wealthy and greedy with a con involving alchemy and the Philosopher’s Stone. Directed by Scarlett Hayler-King for Bath Drama.

Thu 5 Oct. Mission Theatre. In Other Words. Connected by the music of Frank Sinatra, this intimate, humorous and deeply moving love story explores the effects of Alzheimer’s disease and

the transformative power of music to help us remember the past, connect with the present and hope for the future..

Theatre Picks Outside Bath

Fri 1 Sep. Swindon Arts Centre.

Persuasion. DOT Productions with a new adaptation based on Jane Austen’s final novel - often judged her best.

Fri 1-Sat 2 Sep. Bristol. Alma Theatre. God of Carnage. The Malmesbury Repertory Company stage Yasmina

Rezas’ hit comedy about two sets of parents who fall out over a minor incident involving their children.

Thu 31 Aug – Sat 2 Sep. Bristol Old Vic. Orpheus and Eurydice. A modern retelling of the ancient Greek legend by a community theatre production with a large cast directed by Lisa Gregan.

Fri 1-Sat 23 Sep. Salisbury Playhouse. Perfect Nonsense. Comedy drama based on PG Wodehouse’s stories of Jeeves and Bertie Wooster.

Wed 13-Sat 30. Bristol Old Vic. Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder. A hilarious murder mystery musical.

Thu 14th - Sat 23rd Sep. Cheltenham. Everyman Theatre. The Full Monty. Simon Beaufoy’s comedy play about out of work chaps who decide to bare their credentials.

Pick of Diary Events in Bath

Thu 31 Aug-Sat 2 Sep. The Forum. Play in Three Days. Clarion Call Arts Academy. Young people stage three days of performances in a celebration of the arts.

Sat 2 Sep. Claverton Community Hall. Flower and Produce Show. 2pm. Traditional village flower show. Tea and cakes, vegetable auction, ice cream and misshapen vegetables on show. £2 entrance.

Continued on page 13

Poet Nikita Gill, is one of many writers at the Children’s Literature Festival

n WHAT’S ON

Continued from page 12

Sun 3 Sep. Bath Cats and Dogs Home Walk. The wag walk raises cash for the home. Up to five miles. Register on their website.

Sun 3 Sep. Twerton High Street. Carnival event. Twert Lush is a day of music, art, dance and a celebration of all things carnival.

Thu 7 Sep. Toppings Book Shop. Tiny Tales. Free reading group for ages 2-5 at 9.30am. First Thursday of the month.

Thu 7 Sep. U3A. Talk on the Port of Bristol by John Chaplin. 10.30am. The Pavilion.

Fri 8 Sep. Theatre Royal. Austen’s Arcadia. Jane Tapley follows the career of one of the earliest and greatest female writers of the 18th Century. 2pm.

Sat-Sun 9-10 Sep. Combe Down Art Trail. At Combe Down Community Centre and various venues. 10am - 4pm. For details see www.cdarttrail.com

Sat-Sun 9-10 Sun Sep. Bath Scape Walking Festival. See the website for details.

Sun 10 Sep. Cleveland Pools Reopens. The pool is free on this first day but booking is essential at https://www. clevelandpools.org.uk/

Sun 10 Sep. Jewish Cemetery Open Day. 11am to 4pm, entrance free. Part of Heritage Open Days. Last Open Day for 2023. About 100 people from Bath’s 18th and 19th century Jewish community are thought to be buried in this peaceful semi-secret place behind high walls. There is a printed guide - or if you bring your

Bath Light Operatic Group presents Lionel Bart’s Oliver!

Musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel Oliver Twist and the stage musical and film.

12 Tue-16 Sat September, 2023 Nightly at 7.30pm with 2.30pm matinees on Tuesday and Saturday at Theatre Royal Bath Box Office 01225 448844 www.theatreroyal.org.uk

smartphone you can find out about the history of the community and find online biographies for the people buried here with our online guide. The burial ground is located on Bradford Rd by the roundabout entrance to Mulberry Park, 1 Greendown Place BA2 5DD. Bus no 2 from Bath Railway Station stops close by. Free parking along Bradford Rd. Wheelchairs can come down the steps via a ramp (though the ground is uneven once inside). We will also be hosting two artists as part of Combe Down Art Trail. Sat 16 Sep. Museum of Bath at Work. The Way of the Morris. 11am. 2pm. Free. As part of National Heritage Open Day the Museum is showing the award winning documentary ‘The Way of the Morris’ .

Fri 15 Sep. Burdall’s Yard. Cassidy Janson. Concert in support of Dorothy House. Carol King-esque singer.

Sat 16 Sep. Burdall’s Yard. Alive and Brel. A celebration of chanson French music with all the classic songs.

Sun 17 Sep. Lansdown. Bath Beast Cycling Charity Challenge. Start and finish at the racecourse in aid of Julian House Bike Workshop. 100, 70 or 25 mile routes.

Wed 20 Sep. Rondo Theatre. Women Who Gave No Fucks. 8pm. Presented by Story Jam. Stand-up storytellers slam down no-holds-barred tales of women who didn’t play by the rules in the past.

Fri 22 Sep. The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes. Talk by Kate Strasdin, a fashion historian and museum curator on a diary from 1838 who wrote about her life. 2pm.

Fri 22-Sun 24 Sep. Milsom Street. The Great Bath Feast. Food and drink events at various venues. See reatbathfeast.co.uk

Sat 23 Sep. Widcombe Social Club. European Folk Music. Celebrating European Folk Day. 8pm. Starting and finishing at Bath’s iconic Lansdown Racecourse, this epic new cycling route will take you through the scenic sights of the Westbury White Horse and the mighty Gare Hill plus stunning views of Shearwater Lake.

Sun 24 Sep. Kingswood Upper Sports Pavilion. Circuit of Bath Walk. In aid of Julian House. In support to over 2,000

vulnerable men, women and children across the region.

Sun 24 Sep. Green Park Station. Vintage and Antique Market. Not just an antique market but a recycling event!

Sun 24 Sep. Boathouse Pub. Dragon Boat Race. Everyone who participates in the Bath Dragon Boat Race will be supporting a charity based in Bath: Designability, Mentoring Plus or Rainforest Concern. The entry fee per boat is £550 and crews are then asked to raise a minimum of £650 in sponsorship for their chosen charity. If you would like to enter a team, please email fundraising@designability.org.uk or call 01225 824103 to obtain a registration form.

Mon 25 Sep. Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. Talk by John Willis on his book Nagasaki The Forgotten Prisoners. 7.30pm.

Fri 29 Sep-Sun 8 Oct. Bath Children’s Literature Festival. Over 100 writers, creators and illustrators from the world of young people’s books including Sir Lenny Henry, Robin Stevens, Cressida Cowell, Rob Biddulph, Holly Jackson, Dapo Adeola and Nathan Bryon, Nikita Gill, Katherine Rundell, Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet, Holly Bourne, Chris Riddell, Tom Holland and Dermot O’Leary. See bathfestivals.org.uk/childrens-literature for details.

Sat 30 Sep. Egg Theatre. A Damsel Not in Distress. This hilarious picture book is being brought to the stage by a cast

Continued on page 16

n WHAT’S ON

Continued from page 13

of performance actors specially for Bath Children’s Literature Festival.

Mon 2 Oct. Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. Talk on French Women’s Writing after May 1968 by Dr Sandra Daroczi. 7:30 pm. The talk will focus on Monique Wittig’s work, setting her in the literary and socio-political contexts of the second half of the 20th century. 2023 is a year dedicated to Monique Wittig marking 20 years since her passing and 50 years since the publication of her seminal work, The Lesbian Body. Dr Sandra Daroczi, Lecturer in French Studies, University of Bath

Thu 5 Oct. U3A. The Pavilion. Talk. Fri 6 Oct. Mission Theatre. Queen of the Night by Julia Golding. A staged reading of the play with wine, music and telescopes.

Thu 6 Oct. Toppings Book Shop. Tiny Tales. Free reading group for ages 2-5 at 9.30am. First Thursday of the month.

Sun 15 Oct. Bath Half Marathon. See https://bathhalf.co.uk/

Pick of Diary Events outside of Bath

Sat 30 Sep. Riverside Inn, Saltford. Molly’s quiz Night for Mencap. 7pm. Test your wits in our fun quiz night, organised by Molly Hale, to raise money for Keynsham Mencap. You only need to book one ticket for the whole team. You can give your quiz team name now, or just a lead name for the booking. Book via Ticket Tailor, or in the Keynsham

Mencap office. £12 per team, maximum of 6 people per team.

Exhibition Picks in Bath American Museum, Bath. Claverton. The Museum features collections from the United States where you can visit room sets that recreate periods of American history giving the feeling that someone has just stepped out, as well as our world-renowned folk art, quilt and map collections. The Exhibition Gallery has a rotating programme of temporary exhibitions with Brick America a Lego exhibition. Until 31 December - discover famous buildings, cityscapes and vehicles, plus models inspired by movies, history, NASA, iconic people and much more, with many models and mosaics built specially for the American Museum & Gardens by LEGO artist Warren Elsmore and his team. Assembly Rooms. The National Trust are working on the Georgian Experience, due to open in 2026.

Bath Abbey: From 18 September to 29 October 2023, Bath Abbey is hosting Luke Jerram’s touring Gaia artwork as part of the Treasuring Creation Festival. Gaia features detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface and provides the opportunity to see our planet floating in three-dimensions. More details at bathabbey.org.

Bath World Heritage Centre. Interactive exhibits and displays designed to reveal the history of Bath and show visitors and residents free walking trails and guides

to help you explore everything Bath has to offer.

Burdell’s Yard. Art exhibition. Free entry. War and Peace by Brian Elwell. Until Sat, 7 Oct 2023. In a brand new exhibition of paintings, Brian Elwell loosely features ideas about buildings in England and Ukraine at the present time.

Herschel Museum of Astronomy. It is located in a town house that was formerly the home of William Herschel and his sister Caroline.

Holburne Museum. The heart of the present day Collection was formed by Sir Thomas William Holburne (17931874). As a second son, Thomas William (generally known as William) first pursued a naval career. He ultimately inherited the Baronetcy in 1820 following the death of his elder brother, Francis, at the Battle of Bayonne in 1814. In 1882 this collection of over 4,000 objects, pictures and books was bequeathed to the people of Bath by Holburne’s sister, Mary Anne Barbara Holburne. One of the Holburne’s main purposes is to preserve the things that have been entrusted to our care. Museum of Bath at Work. Julian Rd, Bath BA1 2RH. Enter the world of working Bath through a series of authentically reconstructed workplaces, workshops and display galleries. Two thousand years of working life are on display from a Victorian ironmongers and engineering works, a soft drinks making factory and even a Bath Stone

and Enjoy these Benefits

* Staying active, keep learning and having fun

* Meeting people and making new friends

* Access to online learning and training

* Free attendance to talks and learning events

* Meeting other members with similar interests

* Learning new things and sharing your skills

About u3a in Bath

There are 450,000 of us in the UK and 1,300 in Bath. We are in “u3a in Bath” and our members are all retired or semi-retired. We take part in a range of educational or recreational activities. See the complete list of over 100 interest groups on our website u3ainbath.uk

Come and join us

You can join us by going to our website www.u3ainbath.uk and completing the online application form or you can download the application form from the website and send it to Membership Secretary, u3a in Bath, PO Box 4040, Bath BA1 0EJ. You can also join in person at one of our monthly talks at The Pavilion. Membership fee is only £15 per person per year.

mine working, all on show in a former Real Tennis court, dating from 1777.

Exhibition: All Day Long: The Workers of Bath in Fifty Portrait Photographs Museum of East Asian Art. MEAA’s collections consist of some 2,000 objects. The majority of these are of Chinese origin, spanning from 5,000 BC to the present. The collections also contain artefacts from Japan and Korea and a number of countries in South East Asia. No.1 Royal Crescent. Features an immersive experience, which will allow you to see life as it was lived in Georgian Bath during the late 1700s. Look beyond the Crescent’s famous Palladian façade and see what life was like for the wealthy and their servants in eighteenth-century Bath.

Victoria Art Gallery. Kaffe Fassett: Timeless Themes – New Quilts. 1 July 2023 to 1 October 2023. This vibrant exhibition showcases 23 large new quilts and ties in with Kaffe’s forthcoming book, Timeless Themes. Also Candace Bahouth: Enchanted Visions for the same period - Candace Bahouth creates grand rococo mirrors decorated with porcelain and china pieces.

Exhibition Picks outside Bath Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The Cave Art of Lascaux: a Virtual Reality Experience at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. Step back in time 21,000 years and visit the incredible Stone Age cave art of Lascaux in immersive 3D. Until 10 Sept 2023.

Our Monthly Talks

Monthly Talks are usually held on the first Thursday in the month (except August) and start at 10.30 a.m. Doors open at 9.45 a.m. for coffee. Admission is free for members but a donation of £2 for non-members.

Talks take place at:

The Pavilion, North Parade Road, Bath BA2 4EU

Upcoming Talks are:

7 September 2023

BRISTOL PORT: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE by John Chaplin

5 October 2023

ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IN THE POST-COVID ERA by

Graham Cope

2 November 2023

WHAT DIPLOMATS DO AND IS IT WORTH DOING?

By Francis Cornish DMG LVO FRSA

n BATH LIBRARY BOOK REVIEWS AND NEWS

Adult Fiction

Shrines of Gaiety – Kate Atkinson

From the pen of the excellent author Kate Atkinson, comes a tale set in 1920s Soho, London. London in 1926 is still recovering from the Great War but its nightlife is booming. Decedent nightclubs

are opening, full of showgirls and members of the gentry – four of these clubs are owned by the infamous Nellie Coker. We first meet her as she is released from prison and met outside by 3 for her six children. Nellie is ruthless and ambitious for her children and determined to keep hold of her empire. But other criminals and the police are circling around, looking for a weakness to topple her.

One of these is Chief Inspector John Frobisher who has been sent to Bow Street Police station to root out corruption, clean up Soho and investigate the murders of young

women. He is determined to bring Nellie Coker down and the corruption within the police station. This book is full of great characters from Nellie herself; her son, Niven, traumatised by the war; her other son Ramsey, desperate to escape the club scene and become a writer; Gwendolen Kelling, a spirted former nurse sent on a special mission; and finally, Freda, sucked into the seedy London world to desperately try to become an actress. Kate Atkinson captures London very well and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Atomic Love – Jennie Fields

Chicago 1950 and we meet Rosalind, working in the antiques section of a large department store. But she hides a secret. During the war she was a very successful physicist, working on the Manhattan project – the atomic bomb that would eventually be used to such devasting effect in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While there

Loft Boarding & Insulation

she meets and falls in love with Thomas Weaver, but this relationship ends badly and Rosalind loses the job she loved.

Five years later, Thomas Weaver unexpectedly comes back into her life. He appears to be a changed man, but can Rosalind forgive and forget. To add to the jeopardy Rosalind is approached by Charlie Szydio, an FBI agent who asks her to conduct a special mission, allow Thomas Weaver back into her life, as he is suspected of being a spy for the Russians and Charlie wants evidence to arrest him. But this is a dangerous game and who can Rosalind trust. All the characters are very well drawn and there is real suspense, is Thomas guilty? Can Rosalind allow him back into her life when he betrayed her so badly? What is Charlie hiding and she begins to find herself being followed. A good thriller read.

Adult Non-Fiction

A Spy Among Friends – Ben Macintyre

This book can be found in Keynsham Library’s large print section and coincides with the recent ITV Drama: A Spy Among Friends. The book is about friendship and the betrayal of that friendship.

Nicholas Elliott of MI6 thought he knew everything about his friend Kim Philby who also worked at MI6 and had an impressive war record. However, he was eventually unmasked as a traitor and a member of the Cambridge spy ring. Well written and extensively researched. With access to MI5 files and unseen family papers this is an amazing story of Cold War espionage. Children’s Fiction

Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer –Jeffrey Boakye

Kofi lives on the fifth floor of a flat with his parents and sister Gloria. He always appears to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and therefore ends up in detention at lot. However, with the arrival of his Uncle Delroy and a new school friend, Kelvin things seem to look up. Kelvin has a photographic memory and the pair come up with a new school

magazine: Paper Jam full of song lyrics and it proves a roaring success. Suddenly the summer looks like its going to the best yet!

A real inspiring, funny and warmhearted story.

The Missing Bookshop – Katie Clapham & Kirsti Beautyman Milly loves her local bookshop, especially the storytime read by Mrs Minty. She loved the stories about bears and aliens and hoped that the bookshop would be there forever. However, one day the bookshop was closed “due to unforeseen circumstances”.

Poor Milly was worried that Mrs Minty may not return, and the bookshop may not open again. Milly embarks on a local campaign to keep the shop open. Find out if she is successful in this really uplifting story.

Library News

Storytime: Thursday at 11am is Storytime at Keynsham Library – term time only and for 0-4 years. Come along, with a cushion and listen to some fantastic new stories.

As here’s always so much going on in all our libraries, and it’s all free, so drop in and see what’s on offer. For families with children, sing along at Baby Bounce and Rhyme, or get comfy whilst listening to stories at our everpopular Storytime.

For adults, we’ve got book clubs, writing classes, and much more throughout the year. Joining the library costs nothing, so pop in or visit www. librarieswest.org.uk to also access thousands of eBooks, eMagazines, Audiobooks, and a wealth of other resources! Our ‘Virtual Library’ has loads going on, including the latest library news, competitions, book reviews and, all our digital offers. Search ‘Bath and North East Somerset Libraries’ on social media or visit bathneslibraries. wordpress.com

Moorland Road Community Library

Tues 10-4pm, Thurs & Fri 10-1pm and Sat 10-1pm. Email for more info at Moorlandroadcommunitylibrary@ gmail.com

And visit https://www. moorlandroadcommunitylibrary.com/ to find out how to volunteer and much more.

The library is seeking more volunteers to help keep it open for longer.

n NEWS

Play Scheme News: Many people of a certain age will often look back at their long summer holidays from school as some of the happiest days of the lives – because of the amount of time they had to simply play. In their back gardens, in parks and playgrounds, in organised summer camps or simply in the street playing ‘it’, hopscotch, catch or kiss chase. And play is important when you are growing up – and it is so vital that it is included under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, that children have the right to play in their own community.

The Good Play Guide sums up the benefits: “When school’s out for summer, children have a unique opportunity to explore their imagination and creativity. With lots of free time and a break from school routines, the long holiday becomes a blank canvas for children to unleash their imagination and go on exciting adventures.”

In short you don’t need to go to Florida or Disney Land to enjoy the pleasures of play – they can be accessed on you doorstep – or in the case of the students of Three Ways School in Bath with the Bath Area Play Project (BAPP) Holiday Playscheme.

The Bath MP Wera Hobhouse helped to highlight this invaluable scheme when she visited the school on Tuesday the 25th of July. The Bath Area Play Project (BAPP) Holiday Playscheme is for disabled children aged 5 to 19 years based at Three Ways School. The programme is funded through the Council commission for Short Breaks and provides a holiday club open to children from across the Bath Community.

Bath Area Play Project (B.A.P.P) is a local voluntary organisation and registered charity that was established in 1979 to offer and promote quality play opportunities for school-age children during school holidays. Since its inception, B.A.P.P has hosted thousands of children, who have enjoyed one of their open-access holiday playschemes, playdays, and family play sessions.

The Project’s playworkers support families with SEND children aged 5 to 19 years, using whole family support and play as a process of engagement and support to develop stronger family bonds. For more on BAPP see https://www.bapp.org.uk/

For more on Three ways School visit https://threeways.co.uk/ Bath Press site: Founded in 1889 the site of the one time Pitman Press on Lower Bristol Road has been left to gather weeds and litter for 16 years.

Previously the Bath Labour Party told Bath Voice they would have

looked to use legal means to force the owners to develop the site for housing if the rules on compulsory purchase are changed by a future Labour Government.

Bath Business News’ Robert Buckland reported on a planned redevelopment citing owner that Abrdn (formerly Aberdeen Standard Investments) has put it on the market for an undisclosed sum.

Back in 2012 Tesco proposed the site for a supermarket and new homes but a public inquiry ruled it out.

In 2021 the owners Aberdeen Standard Investments proposed to build 246 new homes there which gained a planning green light but the plan hit the buffers when it proved not to be viable. The site is up for sale by informal tender on a freehold basis with vacant possession.

Ticket Office News: GWR’s plans to close all ticket offices at railway stations including Bath Spa has not been well received.

Bath’s MP Wera Hobhouse raised the issue in Parliament last month. In response, Huw Merriman, Minister for Rail, argued that closing ticket offices would lead to staff being present at stations instead, which he claimed would attract more people to rail.

Local Democracy Reporter Adam Postans reported that the Labour metro mayor Dan Norris, head of the West of England Combined Authority, met with Rail Minister Huw Merriman to raise his opposition to the plans.

Many people rely on the advice given at ticket offices - not just for information about the next train but general inquiries as well. The BBC reported on the how blind people would find it even harder to use the railways.

They reported that research by the Royal National Institute of Blind People found that only 3% of people with sight loss said they could use a ticket vending machine without problems and 58% said it was impossible.

Rail union, RMT is campaigning to save ticket offices, with protests and demonstrations and an online petition and are taking strike action on 20,22 and 29 July over pay, conditions and now the ticket office closures.

One aspect of the closures is that of job cuts and staffing levels. The RMT’s Mick Lynch said: “Ticket office closures under Schedule 17 means there will be no regulations on staffing levels at stations whatsoever.”

Which he said compromised safety for the passengers with companies cutting staff levels. And finally the editor of Bath Voice has said his recent trip from Bath to

Yatton would have been impossible with the help of ticket office staff.

November Concert: My Son My Brother is a very special concert to take place in Bath Abbey on Friday November 3 at 7.30pm to celebrate the life of Kieron Jones who passed away on July 11th just two days before his 47th birthday.

Kieron was the middle son of Bath’s music man, Grenville Jones, and Kieron’s brothers are Daniel and Laurie. He was diagnosed with bowel cancer three years ago and passed away at St Christopher’s Hospice, Sydenham. The concert will support cancer charities. Abbey News: Bath Abbey have created a website to chart the hundreds of tablets and memorials with a database on the website to enable the public to find out more about the wide range of people connected to the Abbey. There are also transcripts of the inscriptions on the memorials, translated from Latin.

Examples include William Oliver who was an army surgeon and involved in the Duke of Monmouth’s failed rebellion against King James II in 1685. And Ann Partis who died in1846 and inherited a fortune which she used to establish an alms house for gentlewomen in 1825 called Partis

College in Bath. Today, it continues to provide housing for retired women. And less altruistic there are memorials to owners of slave plantations which the Abbey is keen explain, apologise for but also to contextualize. See www. bathabbeymemorials.org.uk

Culverhay news from John Wimperis: The Culverhay swimming pool should be reopened and a commitment made to bring education back to the vacant school, a councillor has told Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Attending a meeting of the council’s cabinet on Thursday July 13, Southdown councillor and former cabinet member Dine Romero said: “I am here tonight to ask you to confirm your commitment to vocational education on the Culverhay School site and at the same time, as it is the same site, to confirm you do wish to see the swimming pool reopened.”

Culverhay School — renamed Bath Community Academy for its final years — has largely sat vacant for the five years since it closed. But Ms Romero said that Bath College was looking at plans for vocational education at the site.

n SPORTS NEWS

By Harry Mottram: listed are the fixtures plus information of the various sports teams and clubs – I try to keep them up to date but do send in your results and news to news@bathvoice.co.uk We also list fixtures, results and give some basic news and information on our website at www.bathvoice.com

Sports listed in Alphabetical Order

American Football: Bath Killer Bees: The Bath Killer Bees are current members of the British Universities American Football League (BUAFL)’s South Western Atlantic Conference (SWAC). They are recruiting for the 2023/24 season to begin our assault on BUCS South West Division 1. Season restarts in the autumn. See their website for details. https://www. thesubath.com/americanfootball/

29/10/23 - B’mouth Uni Bobcats (A)

12/11/23 - Exeter Demons (A)

19/11/23 - Southampton Stags (H)

26/11/23 - Southampton Stags (A)

03/12/23 - Exeter Demons (H)

10/12/23 - Bristol Uni Barracuda (A)

28/01/24 - Bristol Uni Barracuda (H)

04/02/24 - B’mouth Uni Bobcats (H)

Cricket: Bath Cricket Club: The club is based at North Parade and was founded in 1859 and has a long

and interesting history. See www. bathcricket.com

Fixture list for the 1st XI:

• Sat 2 Sep. (H) WEPL V Taunton D. Cricket: Bear Flat Cricket Club

Established in 1982, the Bears are in Division 1 of the Wiltshire County Cricket League (WCCL) on Saturdays, with a home ground at The Glasshouse Academy, Bradford Road, Combe Down. For more details of the various teams plus the youth and children teams visit https://bearflatcc.org.uk/

First XI fixtures:

• Sat 2 Sept. Home V Chippenham. Cricket: Somerset County Cricket Club. The club are based at the county ground in Taunton. See somersetcountycc.co.uk/

• Sun 2 Sep. LVICC. Away. V Hamps.

• Tue 19 Sep. LVICC. Home. V Kent.

• Tue 26 Sep. LVICC. Away. V War’ks

Football: Bath City FC. Bath play in the National League South, the sixth tier of the football pyramid. The home ground is Twerton Park and the manager is Jerry Gill. Known as the Romans they play in black and white vertical stripes.

• Sat 2 Sep. VNLS. Home V Havant and Waterlooville

• Tue 5 Sep. VNLS. Away V Truro

• Sat 9 Sep. VNLS. Away V Welling

• Sat 16 Sep. FA Cup.

• Sat 23 Sep. VNLS. Home V Dover

• Sat 30 Sep. FA Cup

• Sat 7 Oct. VNLS. Away V Braintree

Football: Bath City Women

The Bath City Women Development Team will play in the Somerset County Women’s League in Division

2 North starting on September 3rd. They will play their home games at Lansdown South, the pitches that Bath City Youth have recently taken over, with at least one fixture at Twerton Park before the end of their season.

• Sun 3 Sep. Home V Weymouth. KO 2pm.

• Sun 10 Sep. Bye in the FA Cup.

• Sun 17 Sep. Away V Poole. KO

• Sun 24 Sep. Home V Purton. KO

• Sun 1 Oct. (A) V Glos/Ciren. FA Cup.

• Sun 8 Oct. Home V Stock’d. KO

Football: Odd Down FC. They are in the Western League Division One (WLD1) and play at the Lew Hill Memorial Ground

• Sat 2 Sep. WLD1. Home V Cheddar

• Sat 9 Sep. WLD1. Home V M’zoy

Sat 12 Sep. WLD1. Away V Bradford

Sat 16 Sep. WLD1. Home V Boco H

Sat 26 Sep. WDL1. Home V Cribbs

Sat 30 Sep. WDL1. (A) V Longwell G

Wed 4 Oct. Cup. Away v Wellington

Sat 7 Oct. WDL1. (H) V Shire’ton

Tue 10 Oct. WDL1. (H) V Bristol Tel

Rugby: Bath Rugby Union Club

Men. Details at www.bathrugby. com/

• Fri 8 Sep. Away V Cornish Pirates.

Premiership Rugby Cup

• Sat 16 Sep. Home V Jersey Reds.

Premiership Rugby Cup

• Sat 23 Sep. Home V London

Scottish. Premiership Rugby Cup

• Sat 30 Sep. Away V Northampton.

Premiership Rugby Cup

• Fri 6 Oct. Away V Edinburgh.

Friendly

• Sun 8 Oct. Home V Exeter.

Premiership Rugby Cup TBC

• Sat 14 Oct. Home V Newcastle.

Gallagher Premiership

Bath Tennis Club are holding Dan’s Festival of Tennis on Sunday 10 September as they support him in his battle against cancer and in his desire to raise money for Cancer Research UK. The event is open to everyone including families. Here is the link to Dan’s Just Giving page which would provide you with more information about his personal situation as he undergoes treatment for cancer: https:// fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/ page/dans-festival-of-tennis

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For younger readers

NOTE After feedback from readers, we have made The Fiend SLIGHTLY easier!

Wildlife News: Bloomfield is proving to be the new centre for exotic wildlife. First there has been a peacock shimmering its way around the gardens of the south Bath suburb captured on film by Sarah McGlynn on Bloomfield Road - pictured. Now it’s the turn of a roe dear or capreolus capreolus to give it its full Latin name that has been popping into the local gardens – to the delight of some and perhaps not so delight of others. A female or doe is pictured above visiting a garden in Bloomfield Road and the image was posted on the Bloomfield FaceBook site.

Herbivores such as Britain’s smallest deer the Roe deer (if you exclude the invasive Muntjac and Chinese Water deer) do like to chomp on leaves, berries and er… well geraniums, sugar snap peas and anything else the good gardeners of Bath provide for them. It’s one of the hazards of having areas of woodland close by off Englishcombe Lane and Wellsway.

Roe deer are found in most areas of this country and are no strangers to parks and large gardens – and are often seen in the headlights of cars in the lanes in and around the city. They are naturally very shy and have a fear of dogs in particular – who apart from man are their main threat since wolves have long since disappeared from the countryside.

TV News: The detective series that some in Bath love to hate is set to return to our television screens after the production company behind the programme were seen filming on the streets of Bath last month.

Tala Gouveia and Jason Watkins are the mismatched detectives, DCI Lauren McDonald & DS Dodds (pictured) who are tasked with solving what can only be called a growing crime wave in the city.

This will be the fourth series of the show which has had mixed reviews from Bathonians. The West Country accents have jarred with some while the settings have been a joy – but the main gripe amongst critics is the hackneyed character device of having two leading characters who are seemingly poles apart and yet in the final section of the story are united in

their solving of a crime.

Pub News: The Full Moon pub in Twerton could become a six-bed house under plans submitted to the council reports Local Democracy Reporter John Wimperis

The Full Moon in Twerton dates back to 1872, although the Grade II-listed building is an amalgamation of a terrace which is even older.

Despite being popular on match days and something of an institution in Twerton the pub closed down in 2020 and now plans have been submitted to Bath and North East Somerset Council to turn the vacant premises into a six bed house.

After six months on the market, with 11 viewings and one offer which did not proceed, it was bought by Lee Clark who now hopes the old pub could become a home.

You can view and comment on the application on the Council website. Lyncombe Hill Fields News: Working in collaboration with More Trees, the volunteers have constructed a covered nursery to bring on saplings of natives trees grown from seeds gathered locally last autumn.

The tiny beech, blackthorn, crab apple, field maple, hawthorn, hazel, oak, spindle and whitebeam will be distributed to their final planting sites in the New Year. To join the merry band in the Hill Top Paradise as they call it - see their website. Crime News: A 60-year-old man has appeared in court following the death of a man in Bath.

Michael Sloan has been charged with the murder of 55-year-old David Christian at an address in Drake Avenue on Sunday 9 July.

Formal identification is still to be completed but Mr Christian’s family have been informed. They will be supported by a specially-trained family liaison officer and the police said their thoughts are with them at this time.

A post-mortem has been carried out and established the man died after receiving a number of stab wounds. Sloan, of Drake Avenue, appeared before magistrates on Tuesday 11 July and was remanded in custody ahead of a hearing at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday 12 July when the case was adjourned to September with the trial planned in the New Year. He was remanded in custody again.

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