Bath Voice June 2024

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Tufa Field plans published

By John Wimperis, Local

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n NEWS

Continued from page 1 residents.”

homes over the field for the open market caused outcry and was scrapped when current council leader Kevin Guy took over the running of the council. But the council then began plans to build a smaller social development on the field.

Now a planning application is live to build 16 homes: 10 one-bed bungalows, four split-level two-bed homes, and two three-bed homes. The “landscape-led” development would house 16 residents and provide overnight accommodation for carers and would also include a “community hub.”

The buildings would be arranged in two “clusters” on each side of the tufa springs in the heart of the field and would be linked by a footpath. A statement submitted with the planning application said: “The landscape vision for Englishcombe Lane is to create an exemplary peaceful and landscapeled place to live, that responds the sites unique characteristics to enhance the natural environment and provide a renewed sense of vitality and well-being to the

The field is recognised as an “important green hillside” in the Bath World Heritage Site Setting supplementary planning document. Streams flow down the middle of the field and the statement submitted with the planning application said: “The site is prone to land erosion, flooding, and mudslides related to the watershed.”

The development will use geocellular crates to act as soakaways, pave the drive with a permeable surface, and buildings at the top of the hill will be built into the hillside with retaining walls to stabilise the mudslides.

The statement added: “The development proposals will aim to be broadly neutral in terms of their impacts on habitats, by creating new ecologically valuable habitats to offset the impacts of the loss of grassland to the new built form. Green roofs have been included in the design, along with habitat enhancement around the retained watercourses in the centre of the site.”

While contractors were on site carrying out geological surveys for

the planning application in August, a forklift tipped over with the driver inside at the entrance to the field — with a campaigner to protect the site rushing to help and calling him an ambulance. The campaigner said he understood the driver’s injuries were minor and he was discharged that night.

The plans will be open for

consultation until May 25 and the council will aim to decide whether to grant planning permission for its plans by July 16. Pictured is an artist’s impression.

Combe Down Allotments: The Council is pursuing legal routes to ensure the allotments are not built on. So far they have not had success. A report is on our website.

SUMMER PARTY

n ELECTION NEWS

General Election News. By Harry Mottram, and Local Democracy Reporters Daniel Mumby and John Wimperis. As the United Kingdom is set to head to the polls on July 4 for the general election, five candidates for different political parties have thrown their hats into the ring in Bath.

When an election is called MPs no longer become MPs but candidates if they are not standing down.

Bath is currently represented by Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse, having defeated Conservative Ben Howlett in 2017 and, she was re-elected in 2019 with over 54% of the vote.

She will be emboldened by a decisive Liberal Democrat victory in the local elections, which saw them win all but two council seats in the city itself (with two going to the Greens).

Wera Hobhouse is a very visible MP locally and has asked large numbers of questions in parliament of Government ministers on a range of issues including those relating to women and girls. Her private members bill to amend the Sexual Offences Act was eventually successful to add the offence of upskirting to the law.

Conservative challenger James Wright is hoping to return the seat to the Tories who have held

the seat from 1931 to 1992 when Don Foster for the Lib Dems was victorious. Ben Howlett held the seat for the Conservatives in 2015.

As a Somerset farmer James Wright pitches himself as friendly to the business community and as a strong critic of the current Liberal Democrat controlled Council for their policies on traffic, transport and cuts to local services.

Dan Bewley for Labour will be hoping to increase their share of the vote but pundits suggest he is the outsider in the election. Older Bathonians will recall when Bath had several Labour Councilors and will point to Labour’s Clare Moody winning the recent Police

and Crime Commissioner (PCC) election. With a national swing to Labour it cannot be ruled out that he could do very well, since Labour are now the official opposition on the Council.

Reform UK’s Theresa Hall will be hoping to pick up the votes of those who are unhappy with the way Brexit has worked out and inherit the support of UKIP.

Last time the Green Party in Bath entered an electoral agreement with the Lib Dems not to stand but now their candidate Dominic Tristram will have a chance to build on the strong showing of the Greens in the recent PCC election and local Council elections.

James Wright Conservative

Theresa Hall Reform UK

Wera Hobhouse Liberal Democrat

Dominic Tristram Green Party

Dan Bewley Labour Party

n NEWS

Empty school building subject of a battle to give it new life

Old boy occupies old school. By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: A old school building which has stood decaying in the centre of Bath for over 30 years should become a circus school — so says a former pupil who used to sneak into the building to train acrobats.

The rapidly declining state of the Grade II listed former King Edward’s School building on Broad Street has been a point of contention and concern in Bath for decades. Early on the May Day bank holiday Monday, four signs reading “What a waste” appeared hung on the windows of the old building. Written on the door were the words “Save our school” — signed by “Scott Harrison, old boy.”

“I put some signs out just to remind the people of Bath this is an empty building and has been empty for a long time,” Mr Harrison told the Local Democracy Reporting Service later in the week. He was a pupil at the school, in the same year as Bill Bailey, before leaving Bath to travel the world as a circus performer in a converted doubledecker bus.

Now he’s hoping to inspire fellow old boys to get involved with his plan to save their crumbling alma mater. He said: “I’m one of the few old boys who have been into the building. I know how far it’s gone.”

Writing in a letter to the Bath Chronicle ahead of placing his signs, he said: “During the Bath festival of May 1996 I put on a circus cabaret in the old assembly hall where I’d once (aged 7 years old) received the effort shield. Together with old boys from the school and locals

from Bath, we entertained over 200 enthusiastic supporters. Since this day, the building has not been used.

“That is 28 years of abandonment and the building is falling apart inside. My plan for the building is a simple one — let’s turn it into one of the world’s best circus schools.

“I would, of course, install a flying trapeze in the backyard and attempt to catch a triple. I’ve been a circus performer for over 30 years now and it’s enabled me to travel the world entertaining people. What a privilege it would be to find a place to teach those skills.”

Although the signs were quickly removed and the writing on the door cleaned off, Mr Harrison is hoping he can inspire other former pupils to club together and crowdfund the money to buy back the building. He said: “It cost me £26 on paint and £5 for the bus. […] I’m willing to sink up to £333.33p into this project.”

He added: “I’m cash poor but time rich.”

Mr Harrison was a part of Captain Bob’s Circus on Weston Island where he met Isabelle Feraud. The pair and their son

then spent 25 years travelling the world in a coveted double decker “Circus Bus” and paying their way through their comedy circus act as The Sprockets. They are now parked up in southern Italy where they have been teaching circus skills and Mr Harrison has been writing his books, which include: 101 ways to sneak into Glastonbury Festival.

Meanwhile, King Edward’s School fully relocated to its current location on North Road in Bathwick and, in 1989, its former home was bought by Samuel Smith’s brewery, a traditional Yorkshire pub chain known for its idiosyncratic bans on mobile phones and swearing.

But the building was never turned into a pub or hotel. Instead, it has been put on the national heritage at risk register. Mr Harrison called it “vandalism by neglect.”

He said: “I don’t think this brewery should have it any more. They should hand it back to us.”

If able to take it on, he hopes it could be used for yoga and a host of uses alongside the circus

school. He said the school was a “fantastic space” which had been just right for their circus cabaret back in the nineties. He said: “We’d been training inside the building without telling Samuel Smith’s for ages. We were using the assembly hall because it was really good for training acrobats because of the soft wood floor.”

Last year, Bath and North East Somerset Council resolved to appeal to the brewery for action on the building, and said it could force Samuel Smith’s to sell up or make repairs. The council’s then deputy leader, who has now stepped down, Richard Samuel (then Walcot, Liberal Democrat) said at the time: “It looks like it has been used as an ashtray.”

If you also attended the school when it was in the Broad Street building or if you want to get involved with Mr Harrison’s plan to turn it into a circus school, you can get in touch with him at info@ thesprockets.com

Samuel Smith’s Brewery was contacted for comment.

The former home of King Edward’s School

Posters have gone up in the windows

School

Transport News. By

John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter:

Children with special educational needs and disabilities in Bath and North East Somerset could be required to attend a nearer school to qualify for council-funded home to school transport, after a change to an “outdated” policy.

An equalities impact assessment said it would make it “less likely” for some children to get the transport support. But the council’s head of special educational needs and disabilities insisted children would not be asked to move schools and no children currently receiving the support would lose it.

In the UK, children who are unable to walk to school because of their special educational needs or disability and whose parents cannot take them may be entitled to free transport to school, as part of an education, health, and care plan (ECHP) drawn up with their local authority. After new government guidance was issued in January, Bath and North East Somerset Council is proposing changes to its “outdated” home to school transport policy.

The changes will add requirements into the policy for children to attend the closest appropriate school for their needs in order to qualify for the free

transport. If parents or carers request a particular school to be named as their child’s school in their EHCP but there is a space available at a nearer suitable school, the parent or carer will be responsible for getting the child to school.

A document outlining the changes added: “Going forward, we may also consider amending the named school on an EHCP if there is a closer, more suitable school that would make more efficient use of our resources regarding school travel support.” The council currently spends over £4m a year providing home to school transport to 433 children, aged between 4 and 16, with special educational needs and disabilities.

The equalities impact assessment prepared by the council said: “The new policy may make it less likely, in some cases, for parent/carers to get home to school travel support for their SEND [special educational needs and disabilities] child/young person due to the adjustments in the DfE [Department of Education] criteria. This will affect new applications and people currently receiving travel support.”

At a meeting of the council’s children, adults, health and wellbeing scrutiny panel on Monday May 13, the panel’s vice-chair Liz Hardman

(Paulton, Labour) called the move “really quite concerning.” She warned it would have an “emotional impact” on affected children.

But Laura Donnelly, the head of special educational needs and disabilities at the council, insisted there were “no plans” to ask parents to move their children to different schools. On the requirement to attend the nearest appropriate school, she said: “There’s nothing that’s changed in practice around that; it just wasn’t explicitly in the policy before and so it’s about us trying to be transparent.

“But I think our parents and carers who have EHCPs would be very aware, through conversations with their practitioners, that that was always the case and sometimes we would ask them if they wanted a further away school, to pick up the transport costs or partial transport costs in order to fund taking the child to a further away school if that was their choice.”

She added: “We have no plans to ask parents to move their children to other schools but we will allow our parents to have the choice of our new schools when they are opening which may well be closer to home, but at the moment that’s not something we are planning to do at all.

“It’s not the right thing to do but we would also never be successful at

tribunal over a move like that anyway.”

Asked by Dave Harding (Chew Valley, Liberal Democrat) how many children currently receiving home to school transport would not be able to under the new policy, Ms Donnelly said: “It’s none. The eligibility hasn’t changed.

“The type of transport might change or the type of transport we offer might initially be different, whether it ends up different after we have spoken to families and had professional reports etc, but there is no reduction in eligibility, no.”

The council’s cabinet member for children’s services Paul May (Publow with Whitchurch, Liberal Democrat) said: “Most of everything that’s driving this report has been set down by instructions from government and under those circumstances, our policy was I think quite confusing, and its sensible for us to have a sensible way for how we are moving forward.”

The council has written to all parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities currently receiving school travel support, and contacted all of the schools which they attend. Six in-person drop-in events have been held across the area over the plans. The policy will be finalised through a single member decision on June 10.

Planning news plus an update on the Bath Fashion Museum

Abattoir to restaurant. By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: A new “pop-up” restaurant has been granted a licence for a premises at a former abattoir in Bath.

It is the latest culinary venture by the Walcot Group, who run Walcot House and Green Street Butchers in Bath, along with Mother and Wild in Corsham. Located on Cheltenham Street in Westmoreland, what was once an abattoir is now a production kitchen for the owner’s local restaurants.

An application to secure an alcohol licence for the site states: “It benefits from an enclosed external courtyard which is drenched in sunshine during the summer months. […] We wish to utilise this space — ‘Cheltenham Yard’ — by providing a licensed ‘pop-up restaurant’ with pizza oven, grill, and bar.”

The group applied for a licence to sell alcohol on the premises up until 10pm every day, planning to close at 10.15pm. But

Speaking to object to the proposed licence before Bath and North East Somerset Council’s licensing sub-committee, neighbour Emma Sinden said that the street was almost completely residential and about 80% of the houses had

n ANTIQUES

Another Fine Lot!

Every now and then I’m greeted with an item that just makes me smile. A few weeks back, whilst out making house calls, I returned to my office to find an envelope on my desk, with a note stating a client had hoped the contents may be worth placing in auction. I peeled open the envelope and peeked inside. I was greeted by a fabulous signed photograph of Laurel and Hardy (pictured). It pains me to say, but in these

young children.

Ms Sinden — who was joined at the committee by other neighbours who did not speak — said she was concerned about the noise of people drinking, among other issues. She said: “I think its going to be very difficult to get a five-year-old child to sleep at seven o’clock at night.”

But agent for the applicants, Terrill Wolyn, said: “They are responsible applicants who have invested in their premises and their staff. They have a positive impact on the communities they serve and there’s no better example of this than they way they transformed what was previously the old Club XL premises on Walcot Street.”

She added that the premises would be “a restaurant with table service where the emphasis is on good food — this is not a boozer, a nightclub, or an end of night destination.”

Deborah Still of the Walcot Group added: “A lot of flats in that area don’t have access to gardens, so this gives them somewhere to come outside.”

Members of the licensing subcommittee agreed to grant the licence as applied for. Fashion Museum news. By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: Bath’s Fashion Museum

modern times, certain classic stars of cinema are beginning to fade from popular culture. Stars who were once top-of-the-bill in the twenties, thirties and forties are rapidly becoming forgotten. When was the last time you saw a Laurel and Hardy picture broadcast on television? Or in the cinema? If it weren’t for the many wonderful film festivals and silentcomedy events around, there would be no outlet for these classic works.

But that’s why this lot made me smile; because I have great memories of watching Laurel and Hardy as a child. Not in the cinema, I may add, (I feel the need to mention I am only in my thirties!) But on VHS tapes my parents owned. I used to sit on the floor and rock with laughter. Go and watch any comedy programme or film post-1960s and I promise you, there will be a gag that Laurel and

is set to reopen in autumn 2030 as architects have been appointed to turn Bath’s old post office into its new home.

The iconic institution has been homeless since the National Trust took back its former premises at the Assembly Rooms in 2022. But 1.3m people still saw objects from the collection on loan last year.

Now the Fashion Museum is set to reopen at a new location in the city centre. Architects 6a have been handed the job of turning the Grade II listed old post office on the corner of New Bond Street into a “stateof-the-art 21st-century cultural institution.”

Construction is expected to start in 2027, with the museum expected to open its doors in the autumn of 2030 — eight years after it closed at its former home of the Assembly Rooms. As well as museum galleries to display the iconic Fashion Museum collection, the museum will include new learning spaces for workshops, lectures, and school visits, a cafe and shop, and venues for hire.

Paul Roper, Bath and North East Somerset Council’s cabinet member for economic and cultural sustainable development, said: “The creation of our new Fashion Museum is of national and international

Hardy did first.

The signed photograph was more than likely obtained during their 1952 UK tour, more than likely while they appeared in Bristol. Such signed photographs are still considered rare, even though they signed hundreds wherever they went. What did

significance. This is reflected in the outstanding architectural practices who tendered for this project.

“This is going to be a new, world class institution in a UNESCO World Heritage City and there is huge excitement that, at long last, we will be able to display our unique and outstanding fashion collection in a location and setting that it fully deserves.”

The new location will have double the floorspace that the museum had at the Assembly Rooms. Mr Roper added: “The new museum is a key part of our plan to develop a creative centre in central Bath and provide a further boost to the visitor economy. As an anchor element of the Milsom Quarter Masterplan, the museum will enhance footfall and dwell time in the area and increase the desirability of the city centre.

“Engaging 6a is a significant next step in realising the Fashion Museum and I look forward to seeing 6a’s vision.”

The original Fashion Museum collection was gifted to the city by Doris Langley Moore in 1959, although it has since been added to. There are now over 100,000 objects in the Fashion Museum collection, ranging from the 1600s up to modern day.

this one fetch? Well, based on an estimate of £100-£200, I was pleased to see it sell for £260 to a private collector. A great result, and we did our part to keep their legacy alive!

Andrew Stowe ASFAV

n NEWS

Palestinian refugees. By John Wimperis, Local Democracy

Reporter: Bath’s Palestinian community have urged the council to petition the government to help them bring their families safely to Bath from Gaza.

Bathonians have been regularly on the streets since the conflict began calling for a ceasefire. Bath MP Wera Hobhouse is among those who have called for an end to arms sales to Israel.

About 35 Palestinians and other Bath locals supporting them held a protest outside the Guildhall on Thursday May 16 as Bath and North East Somerset Council prepared to hold its annual general meeting, with many then heading inside to address the meeting as public speakers.

Lara Amro, who is studying International Development with Conflict and Humanitarian Action at the University of Bath, told councillors: “I am a proud Bath resident. Currently, there are 12 million Palestinians in exile and I am one of these 12 million people and I am here to share my story

with you. My grandparents from my mum’s side escaped their home in Haifa and walked all the way to Jordanian refugee camps. My father was three years old when his family evacuated from Hebron and moved to Jordanian refugee camps as well. My two families closed their homes and took their home keys with them and took asylum in Jordan, hoping that it would be a week the war would be over, a month the war would be over.

“76 years have passed and they haven’t returned to their homes yet. My grandparents have passed. My parents have passed. And I am still here hoping to go home and I still have the keys to my family homes back in Palestine.

“But right now there are settlements built on these homes, my family home has been demolished, Israeli settlements have been built on it, they were built on the blood of my people.”

In Jordan, she and her family were granted citizenship. She was able to study at the University of Jordan and work with the United Nations high commissioner for

refugees to assist refugees in the country.

Describing his family’s experience in 1948, Majdi Lebaqa told the council: “They lost everything and they were forced to go to Gaza. After, they tried to build their life again, worked very hard. They managed to do a five storey house and the best restaurant in Gaza, and the best coffee shop in Gaza. And then again the army of Israel destroyed everything — absolutely everything.”

Ameerah Lebaqa urged the council to put pressure on the government to launch a family scheme, similar to the Homes for Ukrainians scheme, to allow Palestinians in Gaza to come to their family members in the UK temporarily until it is safe to return. She said: “As a British citizen of Palestinian descent I know the profound impact that a scheme like this would have for families living in the UK with loved ones trapped in Gaza.

“Just recently my family received the devastating news that my two twin distant cousins were killed at

just three years old as they played in their uncle’s lap before an airstrike hit their home and plunged them beneath mountains of rubble.”

Council leader Cllr Kevin Guy invited Ms Lebaqa to speak with the council’s cabinet member for children’s services, but he said that the council had only been able to support Ukrainians because of the government scheme which helped them get into the country.

He said: “If the government provides that particular service for any other country — including Palestine — Bath and North East Somerset is a very welcoming place and we would happily provide that same service.”

Gaza had also dominated at the council’s previous full council meeting on March 14, which began with a protest outside after a “peace motion” from the Green group on the council was judged to be unconstitutional. Instead, a statement was read out on behalf of all group leaders on the council expressing sympathy for those affected in Gaza and calling for an immediate ceasefire.

This is an edited version of John’s storysee the website for the full article.

n NEWS

Bus news. By

John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter:

Bath’s U1 bus service, which ferries students up and down Bathwick Hill, is set to be diverted due to a road closure for an estimated six weeks — resulting in a scenic ride across Pulteney Bridge.

The bus between the student area of Oldfield Park and the University of Bath’s hilltop campus is often called the city’s most used bus, said to account for a quarter of all bus journeys in Bath. It’s route takes it over the North Parade Bridge, but this bridge is set to close for maintenance from May 20, meaning the bus will follow a diversion for the last two weeks of the second semester.

As a diversion, a spokesperson for First Bus said: “The U1 will divert via Great Pulteney Street in both directions.”

It is a route that will take the bus across Bath’s iconic Pulteney Bridge. Built in its current form in 1800, it is the only bridge in the United Kingdom to have shops running all the way along it on both sides — and one of only four in the world.

The bus route diversion is

expected to be in place for six weeks while North Parade Bridge — built in 1836 — is closing for waterproofing and masonry works, with investigations and repairs to the underside of the bridge. But Bath and North East Somerset Council has warned that other defects on the bridge could be discovered which could extend the works.

Cleveland Bridge — built ten years before North Parade Bridge — closed for an expected three months of repairs in June 2021 but only fully reopened to two way traffic in October 2022 after severe corrosion was discovered in the structure.

As well as buses, North Parade will be closed to cars and cyclists but will be open for pedestrians. The diversion for cars will be across Churchill Bridge.

A temporary pontoon will be set up under the bridge which Bath and North East Somerset Council warned may also restrict the movement of larger boats.

Voting News. By Harry Mottram: A General Election will take place on July 4th, 2024.

You can vote in person at your local polling station which will be

open from 7am to 10pm on the day or by post or even by asking someone you trust to vote on your behalf (by proxy).

You’ll be sent a poll card just before the election telling you when to vote and at which polling station.

You can only vote at the polling station location on your card. You do not have to take your poll card with you and can vote if you’ve lost the card.

If you have not received a poll card but think you should, contact your local Electoral Registration Office.

Give your name and address to the staff inside the polling station when you arrive. You’ll need to show your photo ID to confirm your identity in some elections and referendums.

You’ll be given a ballot paper containing a list of the people, parties or options you can vote for.

You must apply for a postal vote if you want to vote by post, by 19th June and a day earlier if you want to vote in person. June 26 is the deadline for in person proxy votes.

Under new boundary changes which affect every constituency in Somerset, villages around Bath to the east and north which are currently included in North East Somerset will be included in the Bath constituency for the election on July 4.

Candidates for Bath are: Labour: Dan Bewley; Reform UK: Theresa Hall; Liberal Democrat: Wera Hobhouse; Green: Dominic Tristram; Conservative: James Wright.

The winner will join a long list of MPs who have represented the city beginning back in 1295 when what was known as the Model Parliament was called but the name of the first MP is unknown and it was another 90 years when Sewel Fraunceys and John Honybrigge were recorded as the city’s first named MPs.

Political parties came in during the late 17th century as before candidates tended to side with the crown or sometimes pretenders to the thrown.

William Pitt The Elder was a Bath MP for the Whigs and was Prime Minister in the late 18th century when Britain moved to a more democratic system.

Advertising Feature Bath care home Midford Manor bridges the generation gap

Residents at Hallmark Midford Manor in Bath, welcomed a gaggle of young visitors into the home as part of a new weekly music session run in partnership with The Together Project.

Songs & Smiles, which will take place every Friday in the home, brings together 0-4 year olds, their grown-ups and residents for music, movement, singing and the chance to develop long-lasting friendships.

Each session held at the residential, dementia and nursing home on Frome Road lasts approximately an hour, with the main activity followed by refreshments and a meet and mingle with residents and the care team.

The purpose of the activity is to reduce loneliness, improve well-being, tackle ageism and unite local communities through joyful intergenerational activities.

Wellbeing Co-Ordinator at Hallmark Midford Manor Care Home, Kerry Huggins said: “It

has been so great introducing Songs & Smiles to the residents here at Midford Manor. The Team and I can already see how much the residents love it. At the end of the sessions the residents, mums and babies interact and chat about all sorts of things together, and it’s lovely to see the relationships grow between them all. It is the highlight of the week!”

Louise Goulden, Founder and CEO of The Together Project added: “We are absolutely delighted to be bringing Songs & Smiles to Midford Manor. Seeing the beaming faces of residents, babies and parents is nothing short of magical and we can’t wait for next week.”

Midford Manor’s next Songs & Smiles session will take place on Friday 24th May at 11:00am. Each session is free however donations are welcome. For further information and to RSVP to the next session visit thetogetherproject.org.uk/ songs-and-smiles

n Advertising Feature

How hot air ballooning took off in Bristol and Bath

By Eva Amber: Aerospace Bristol

and Cameron Balloons to celebrate Bristol’s hot air ballooning heritage this summer

‘Look up! The Story of Hot Air Ballooning in Bristol’ will put hot air ballooning history on display, offer a behind-the-scenes look at how hot air balloons are made, and give visitors the chance to enjoy a packed programme of family activities

From Britain’s first modern hot air balloon, the Bristol Belle, to the annual Bristol Balloon Fiesta and the incredible colours and shapes that decorate the city’s skies each August, Bristol is the home of hot air ballooning in the UK.

This summer, Aerospace Bristol and Cameron Balloons will celebrate that heritage with a temporary exhibition at the museum and a special programme of hot air balloon themed activities running throughout the summer holiday.

‘Look Up! The Story of Hot Air Ballooning in Bristol’ will give museum visitors the chance to discover how and why hot air ballooning took off in Bristol, find out how Bedminster-based Cameron Balloons design and manufacture their amazing special shapes, and get hands-on with a range of hot air balloon themed activities.

Sally Cordwell, CEO of Aerospace Bristol, said:

“Aerospace Bristol tells a fascinating story of aviation

achievements spanning more than a century, from the early days of powered flight to the supersonic Concorde and beyond. Thanks to this new partnership with Cameron Balloons, we’re excited to expand that story and celebrate hot air ballooning as an important part of our city’s rich aviation heritage.”

Jess Siggers, Marketing Manager of Cameron Balloons, said:

“Cameron Balloons are thrilled to be partnering with Aerospace Bristol this summer. Since our company’s inception in 1971, we’ve proudly created and built thousands of hot air balloons for pilots and operators around the world from our home of Bristol, born from the passion and vision of our founder, aeronautical engineer Don Cameron.

We’re looking forward to telling the story of Bristol’s ballooning heritage alongside Aerospace Bristol’s innovative ethos and educational qualities, celebrating the boundless possibilities of aviation together and hopefully introducing the joy and excitement of ballooning to some pilots of the future!”

‘Look Up! The Story of Hot Air Ballooning in Bristol’ will run from Wednesday 24th July to Sunday 1st September. The exhibition and activities are included with museum admission and Aerospace Bristol tickets include free return visits for 12 months.

Ozzie has dramatically improved the warmth and comfort of his home as well as reduced its carbon emissions by 60%. He revamped his draughty, Victorian terrace home in Bath with energyefficient upgrades, including draft-proofing, triple-glazed windows and internal insulation.

If you want to improve your home like Ozzie, take the first step by speaking to Retrofit West today. We can help you make your home more energy efficient.

n NEWS

No to Moles. By

John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter:

Bath’s U1 bus service, which ferries students up and down Bathwick Hill, is set to be diverted due to a road closure for an estimated six weeks — resulting in a scenic ride across Pulteney Bridge.

The bus between the student area of Oldfield Park and the University of Bath’s hilltop campus is often called the city’s most used bus, said to account for a quarter of all bus journeys in Bath. It’s route takes it over the North Parade Bridge, but this bridge is set to close for maintenance from May 20, meaning the bus will follow a diversion for the last two weeks of the second semester.

As a diversion, a spokesperson for First Bus said: “The U1 will divert via Great Pulteney Street in both directions.”

It is a route that will take the bus across Bath’s iconic Pulteney Bridge. Built in its current form in 1800, it is the only bridge in the United Kingdom to have shops running all the way along it on both sides — and one of only four in the world.

The bus route diversion is

expected to be in place for six weeks while North Parade Bridge — built in 1836 — is closing for waterproofing and masonry works, with investigations and repairs to the underside of the bridge. But Bath and North East Somerset Council has warned that other defects on the bridge could be discovered which could extend the works.

Cleveland Bridge — built ten years before North Parade Bridge — closed for an expected three months of repairs in June 2021 but only fully reopened to two way traffic in October 2022 after severe corrosion was discovered in the structure.

As well as buses, North Parade will be closed to cars and cyclists but will be open for pedestrians. The diversion for cars will be across Churchill Bridge.

A temporary pontoon will be set up under the bridge which Bath and North East Somerset Council warned may also restrict the movement of larger boats.

Victoria Art Gallery News. By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: Important repairs have to be made to the roof of the Victoria Art Gallery to protect the art within

from water getting in.

Built between 1897 and 1900 and named to celebrate the then Queen’s sixty years on the throne and contains over 1,500 works of art. But modern rooflight windows added in the 20th century have deteriorated over time and now allow water into the gallery space.

Now plans have been submitted to Bath and North East Somerset Council to replace the windows and also to replace the current ladder arrangement with a new “mansafe” system to avoid the risk of falls.

A statement submitted with the application said: “This work is required in order to safeguard the future of this heritage asset which has been experiencing leaks with the current rooflight now at the end of it’s life. This rooflight is also located above the main gallery space, therefore art work within this space needs to be safeguarded from water ingress.”

Bloomfield windows. By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: Bid to replace all sash windows and wooden doors on Bath buildings with plastic Housing association Curo is

planning to swap out all sash windows and wooden doors with PVC at a block of flats in Bath.

32–54 Bloomfield Road in Bear Flat is a small block of flats in a pared-back Georgian terrace style. But now the housing association which owns the building wants to replace them with more modern PVC casement windows and PVC doors to boost energy efficiency.

A statement submitted with the application said: “The property was constructed post1950s and designed to mimic the Georgian style prevalent in the surrounding conservation area. The existing windows are aluminium and are not sympathetic to the surrounding area in design, colour or material.

“Therefore, we feel this application will not harm any heritage asset in the area while improving the buildings fabric and thermal performance.”

Widcombe: A new cafe has opened in the village called The halfpenny. Open from 7:30 up to 8:30 with evening sharing plates and wine and drinks.

n SPORTS NEWS

Celebrating the female footballers of Bath City Women FC

This report is from Bath City FC: Seven different players received nine awards in recognition for their successes across the last eight months.

The first team’s Players’ Player of the Season was Mils Bellotti. The centre-back excelled in her first full campaign which saw her play in all 18 games game and score four goals, while being part a side which contained just 21 goals, the second best defensive record in the league behind champions Poole Town Ladies.

Libby Goater won the Golden Boot with eight goals in 16 outings. She also claimed the Supporters’ Player of the Season in a stand-out debut year. Manager’s Player of the Season was awarded to Ashley Harris. The hard-working Welsh midfielder overcame a knee injury in November to be a vital cog in the centre of the park.

Jasmine Rennie collected two awards for the Development side.

By University of Bath Team Bath:

Aquatics GB Bath Performance Centre swimmers (above, from left) Tom Dean, Jacob Whittle, Kieran Bird, Leah Crisp and Freya Anderson became the first University of Bath-based athletes to be officially selected for Paris 2024 when they were named in Team GB’s Olympic Games swimming squad on 16th April 2024.

Having also featured fleetingly for the firsts, the youngster was a regular two divisions below, where her progress was recognised with the Most Improved Player accolade.

Rennie’s 16 goals in 16 games saw her pip Ceris Evans to Golden Boot. Evans was named Supporters’ Player of the Season, the former full-back moved to attack where

she chipped in with 15 goals in a promotion season.

Esme Fensome continued her development with the Manager’s Player of the Season trophy, a year after being named Most Improved for the firsts. The 17-year-old recorded 10 goals in 20 outings.

Liv Davis’ impressive form in midfield was recognised by her peers as she claimed the Players’

Anderson and Dean head to Paris as Olympic Champions, while freestylers Bird and Whittle are also set for their second Games. Economics and Mathematics student Crisp, supported by a Santander Sporting Scholarship, will make her Olympic debut in the marathon swimming event.

University of Bath Swimming Club‘s Ben Proud was also named in the squad along with Sport & Exercise Science alumna Anna

Hopkin. Click here to read the full story.

Bill Whiteley Sporting Scholar Kate Shortman and artistic swimming partner Izzy Thorpe (pictured) were officially selected to

Player of the Season award for the Development side. She was one of three ever presents for the Development – Fensome and Evans the others.

Both teams will begin their 2024/25 campaigns in September. The firsts will continue to play at Twerton Park with the Development remaining at Peasedown St John.

represent Team GB at their second Olympic Games on 14th May 2024. The duo are history-making World Championships medallists, with Shortman combining her sporting career with studying International Management and Modern Languages (French).

homemade

Valentine Letters, Holburne Pride and opera

Pick of Diary Events in Bath

Lighthouse Community CaféOpen every Wednesday from 9am to 3pm @ Bath Elim Church, Charlotte Street. Serving homemade cakes in a stunning and welcoming space.

Sat 1 Jun. Museum of Bath at Work. Film: Culloden. 9.30pm. Peter Watkins’s ground breaking, documentary style film on the pivotal event in Bonnie Prince Charlie campaign - the Battle of Culloden.

Sat 1 Jun. Burdall’s Yard. Nurry Lee - Classical Music Recital. 7.30pm. Local pianist and Bath favourite gives two performances that will appeal to all ages.

Sat 1-Sun 9 June. Bath Fringe continues from May. A festival of all the arts, with few rules as to what should be in or out – it’s what people want to do, and what venues in Bath want to put on. See the website for details at https://www.bathfringe. co.uk/

Sun 2 Jun. Komedia. Halcyon in

concert. Bristol based modern jazz quintet.

Sun 2 Jun. Mission Theatre. Bladud Productions Speaking of Witch. Comedy talk on witch craft of the 1660s. Also tomorrow. 7.30pm.

Thu 6 June. Toppings Book Shop. Tiny Tales Picture Book Reading. 9.30am. Tiny Tales is for children aged 2 to 5 years-old. They will have

Care

Stay

stories, colouring-in, and silly games as well as juice and biscuits for 45 minutes of fun. It’s free of charge, but they would appreciate it if you could sign up to help them estimate numbers.

Thu 6 Jun. Newark Works. ARRC Romance Photodrama of the Soul. An unusual event of improvised soundtrack over an

Bath Concertino’s concert in St Luke’s, The Wellsway, on July 6 features an exciting programme: Brahms’ powerful Piano Concerto No. 1 with brilliant soloist Brenda McDermott, and Bizet’s youthful and lively Symphony in C. In addition, the conductor Tim Robb will be playing Svendsen’s beautiful Romance for violin. Entry by programme on the door, £10 cash only. Proceeds to Dorothy House.

eclectic collection of short films and silent movies. 8pm.

Fri 7 Jun. Widcombe Social Club. Free Live Music Night every Friday. 7-9pm.

Fri 7 Jun. Bathwick St Mary’s Church. Gala Organ Concert. Dr Peter King celebrates the restoration of our 1878 Father Willis organ. 7.30pm.

Fri7-Sun 9 Jun. Royal Victoria Park. Foodies Festival. The UK’s biggest food festival featuring top chefs, tasty food, delicious drinks and live music.

Continued on page 16

Care in your own home

The Widcombe Art Trail runs from Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd June in seven venues in Widcombe, Bath. See page 17 for more.

n WHAT’S ON

Continued from page 14

Thu 13 Jun. Stand-up comedy at Bath Comedy Club with Laura Davis. With a top class professional line-up.

Fri 14 Jun. Holburne Pride. Holburne Museum. Over two days the Holburne Museum’s PRIDE event aims to increase the engagement of the local community with Queer arts and culture through talks, creative workshops, films, cabaret, and silent discos.

Fri 14 Jun. Bath Assembly Rooms. Dressing Fancy. Two days of talks and exhibitions of Georgian dress and fancy dress. Explore the histories of Georgian fancy dress and the legacies of it today in this free popup exhibition. It includes historic costume, recreated historical dress, and multi-sensory elements.

Sat 15 Jun. Bath Racecourse. Ladies Day. From noon. First race a 2pm. Dress up to watch the geegees race across the flat.

Sat 15-Sun 16 Jun. Festival of Motoring. Walcot Rugby Ground at Lansdown. A heady mix of live music and super cars.

Sun 16 Father’s Day. Take him to the Festival of Motoring or to Komedia to watch England v Serbia on the big screen in the Euros. But most importantly tell him that you love him.

Mon 17 Jun. BRLSI 16-18 Queen Square. Celebration of Truman Capote. Author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s with a screening of In Cold Blood - a film of adaption of Capote’s non-fiction account of a Kansas murder. 7.30pm.

Tue 18-Thu 20 Jun. West Wilts Dance Festival. The Forum. School performances from 5.30pm. Thu 20 Jun. Widcombe Wobblers Cycle Ride. Evening cycle to the Long Barrow, Stoney Littleton for a picnic. 6pm meet at the London

Capturing A Moment Walcot Chapel

Walcot Gate, Bath BA1 5UG

Open Tuesday 2nd - Sunday 7th July 2024

10am - 6pm.

Preview Tuesday 2nd of July from 6.00pm to 8.30pm

Plane Tree. Free but booking is essential.

Sat 22 Jun. The Forum with Nadiya and Kai. Strictly Come Dancing’s glamorous duo bring their glitter ball show to Bath.

Sat 22 Jun. Bath City Farm. Summer Fair. From 10am. Includes Wool Day activities to share the wonderful properties of sheep wool, a composting workshop plus games, craft stalls, and live music.

Sat 22-Sun 23 Jun. Widcombe Art Trail. At a number of venues across Widcombe. Exhibitors will be selling a wide range of work including screen prints, sculpture, painting, photography and jewellery.

Tue 25 Jun. The Egg. Play time: Pie Rat Island. Play-along theatre adventures for 2-6 year olds and their grownups with a journey on the high seas. 10am, 11,30am & 1.15pm.

Tue 25 Jun. No 1 Royal Crescent. Indian Block painting Workshop. 6.30pm. Artist Clare Walsh will guide you through the process, teaching techniques and explaining the relevance to Georgian Fashion.

Tue 25 Jun. Bath Philharmonia & Seckou Kieta at The Forum. Bask in the musical sunshine of Senegalese virtuoso kora player, Seckou Keita in African Rhapsodies, a sublime poetic journey sparked by his fascination with crossing cultural borders, and gleam in the daylight of Max Richter’s re-imagining of Antonio Vivaldi’s seasonal masterpiece.7.30pm.

Wed 26 June. Widcombe Social Club. Go Green Widcombe. A free talk by Joe Pitt on all things retro fitting your home including the installers, assessments, benefits and the grants that are available to make it energy efficient. See the advert on page 6. To book email ggwidcombe@gmail.com or call 07909 528943

Sat 29 Jun. Rondo Theatre. Don Giovanni. Bath Opera are on tour with Mozart’s haunting story of love, deceit and tyranny. It’s back in July on the 19th at Prior Park School.

7.30pm.

Sat 6 Jul. Bath Concertino’s concert in St Luke’s, The Wellsway. An exciting programme: Brahms’ powerful Piano Concerto No. 1 with brilliant soloist Brenda McDermott, and Bizet’s youthful and lively Symphony in C. In addition, the conductor Tim Robb will be playing Svendsen’s beautiful Romance for violin. Entry by programme on the door, £10 cash only. Proceeds to Dorothy House.

Sat 13 Jul. Bath Carnival. Take part or watch and enjoy the hundreds of people in the city’s big parade. Theatre Picks In Bath Egg Theatre

Fri-Sat 6-8 Jun. Hayfever. Directed by Feargus Woods Dunlop. The 1920s comedy by Noël Coward, revolves around the quirky Bliss family and their weekend guests. The story is a whirlwind of misunderstandings, emphasising the family’s charmingly

The Argyle String Orchestra Summer Concert

Thurs 20th June, 7.30pm. St Bart’s Church, Oldfield Park, Bath BA2 3PB

You’ll enjoy Bartok’s Romanian folk dances, the ever popular Mozart Symphony No 40 in G minor and Mendelssohn’s Sinfoniesatz. We’re also delighted to be welcoming back Tim Robb as soloist in Haydn’s Violin Concerto No 1. An array of refreshments will be available during the interval.

Tickets £10 on the door or £9 online (inc booking fees) via www.ticketsource.co.uk/argylestring-orchestra. www.facebook. com/ArgyleStringOrchestra

unconventional nature. Presented by Bath Spa Productions in a collaboration between graduating Acting and Theatre, Festival and Event Production students.

Fri-Sun 20-22 Jun. Love and Information. In this fast-moving kaleidoscope of human relationships, more than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know. By turns warm, moving, insightful and very funny, a play with 57 scenes and more than 100 characters performed by Concord Theatricals.

Main House Theatre Royal 25-29 Jun. The 39 Steps. John Buchan’s novel has been adapted for the stage by Patrick Barlow to become the smash hit Olivier and Tony Award winning comedy.

Mission Theatre

4-5 Jun. The Valentine Letters. Based upon the Second World War correspondence between airman John Valentine and his wife Ursula.

Tue 2-Sat 6 Jul. Dancing at Lughnasa. Brian Friel’s drama about

Continued on page 16

n WHAT’S ON

Continued from page 15

four sisters struggling to survive in 1930s Ireland. Next Stage Theatre production.

Rondo Theatre

Wed-Sat 19-22 Jun. Collaborators. The Rondo Theatre Company stage a black comedy set in Stalin’s Russia about a writer given an impossible task to write about the dictator’s early life.

Ustinov Studio

Thu 1 May-Sat 1 Jun. The Deep Blue Sea. Terence Rattigan’s 1950’s study of obsession and the destructive power of love. When you’re stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, the deep blue sea can sometimes look very inviting. In this powerful drama of passion versus loyalty, Hester Collyer, the daughter of a clergyman and wife of a judge is floundering in the closing stages of a hopeless affair. Freddie Page, her lover, a handsome but shallow ex-Battle of Britain pilot, is out of his depth in their relationship, overwhelmed by the strength of an emotion he is incapable of reciprocating.

4, 5, 10 - 13 June & 8 - 10

September Deborah Warner

Season: Winterreise. International opera and theatre director and Ustinov Studio Artistic Director Deborah Warner brings to life Schubert’s Winterreise (Winter Journey), a cycle of 24 songs for voice and piano set to poems by Wilhelm Müller, performed by renowned tenor Ian Bostridge and pianist Julius Drake.

19 June - 6 July Deborah Warner Season: Echo and Narcissus. Kim Brandstrup returns to the Ustinov Studio with a brand new work to complete his mythological trilogy. Following the huge success of Minotaur and Metamorphoses in Deborah Warner’s first and second seasons, which explored notable characters and relationships from Greek mythology, Olivier Award-winning choreographer Kim Brandstrup presents the final installment of the triptych with Echo and Narcissus.

Fri 19 Jul. Catherine Wyn-Rogers in concert. Leading mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers performs a selection of sacred songs inspired by her great, career-spanning affinity with spiritual music, notable in her multiple performances of Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St John Passion and

The Bath festivals began back in the late 1960s with music and rock events followed by the Walcot Festivals of the ’70s & ‘early 80s, mostly run by a community group called Bath Arts Workshop – the name still exists for the company that runs the Natural Theatre Company of Bath. Later the Bath Fringe was set up with the support of the then city council in 1981but as resources dwindled over the next decade a new group promoted the Bath Fringe in 1991. That group, Bath Fringe Ltd., is a cooperative, and includes a variety of members and was briefly funded through Bath Festivals Trust, but the arrangement didn’t work out and the Fringe retained its full independence. For details of this year’s events see https://www.bathfringe.co.uk/

St Matthew Passion, and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.

Exhibition Picks in Bath American Museum, Bath. Claverton. American Road Trip. 9

Mar-31, Dec, 2024. Images, sounds and sets allowing you to experience a trip across the USA.

Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Continued from page 15

n WHAT’S ON

Continued from page 16

Institution. ‘The World Revealed’ Exhibition. Free. It features items donated to BRLSI over the years. Until 12 October 2024.

Herschel Museum of Astronomy. It is located in a town house at 19 New King Street that was formerly the home of William Herschel and his sister Caroline. In 1977 the William Herschel Society was set up to gather support for the rescue of the building. It was purchased in 1981 with the aid of Doctors Leslie and Elizabeth Hilliard, saving it from demolition.

William discovered Uranus whilst residing in the house in March 1781 using a 7 foot telescope designed and built in the attached workshop.

Holburne Museum. Current shows include Mr Doodle! Museum Mayhem. Primarily characterised by black ink on a white background, Mr Doodle’s graphic style conjures up a mesmerising world of quirky creatures and anthropomorphic forms, using ink pens and spray paint to weave together what he describes as “graffiti spaghetti”; Henry Moore in Miniature from May 3 to September 8. Moore’s practice involved carving small stones or pieces of wood,

casting lead, modelling in clay or, as was usual in later years.

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. 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 tea ceremonies run on Thursdays every month: 11 July. Experience the wonders of a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony with Yukie Williams and presented by Yukie Scott.

Victoria Art Gallery. Exhibitions include Toulouse-Lautrec and the Masters of Montmartre until 29 September 2024. Discover the sights and sounds of Toulouse-Lautrec’s thrilling Bohemian Paris in this dazzling exhibition of works by Toulouse-Lautrec and the Masters of Montmartre.

Attractions in Bath Assembly Rooms. The National Trust are working on the Georgian Experience, due to open in 2026. You

can book a visit the once centre of Georgian social life – wearing period costume is optional.

Bath Abbey. Not just a place of worship with numerous events and services but also features a shop, tower tours, a discovery centre and a social history museum.

Bath City Farm. 37 acres overlooking the city on Kelston View. A working farm with café, facilities, workshops and gardens.

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.

Jane Austen Centre. Gay Street. Everything you need to know about the author and her life.

Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein. Gay Street. Monsters and more.

Museum of Bath Architecture. The Bath Preservation Trusthas reopened the museum at he Countess of Huntingdon’s Chapel. The museum tells the story of the rich architectural history of Bath, from its transformation from a small medieval town into the world-famous Georgian

city, to the Victorian expansion and 20th century demolitions.

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 Great views from the windows.

The Roman Baths. The hot water that comes out of the ground is the reason Bath exists. A fascinating tour of the city’s history from the time of the Romans to the renewed interest by the Georgians up to today’s discoveries.

Widcombe Art Trail 2024

Widcombe Art Trail will take place on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd June in seven venues in Widcombe, Bath, within easy walking range of each other. Open from 10.30am until 5.00pm on both days. Entry is free.

We have twenty-eight artists in private homes and community venues, including The Natural Theatre Company and Widcombe

Baptist Church and will feature art of all types including sculpture, painting, printmaking, glass work, textile art and photography.

Our artists are looking forward to welcoming people and chatting about their work in this volunteer-run event celebrating the best that Widcombe has to offer.

www.widcombearttrail.com

Take a dip in Cleveland Pool this summer

n OPINION: TUFA FIELD

As a child growing up in Combe Down in the 1950s and 60’s, we were acutely aware of the Rock Hall School, a ‘hospital’ housing children with disabilities that we would now consider unfortunate, but hopefully not threatening. Not so then. The Victorian practise of creating institutions to lock away anyone who was destitute, mentally ill, physically or mentally impaired from the accepted norm was still rife. We were told to avoid these children, who were sometimes wheeled, steered and guided through the streets in a discrete fashion, as if in some way it were possible to be infected with the same afflictions. Ignorance bred fear and fear encouraged ignorance. In retrospect, these kids would today be diagnosed with cerebral palsy, down’s syndrome, acute autism, even polio and their only common factor was they couldn’t attend mainstream school, however parochial and church-run it was.

Society (us) had decided that the way to deal with people who didn’t fit in was to lump them together, to meet their inconvenient needs by

institutionalising them. ‘This is where we keep our weird people’ seemed to be the message. There was certainly no attempt to help them lead integrated lives, to educate society about them or even to just show them affection and I wonder what became of them.

Fortunately all that has changed. Or has it?

The plan to create a purposebuilt facility to house some of our young people with neuro-divergent needs on the greenfield site of the Tufa Field appears laudable, allowing them to be closer to their families and experience a degree of independence. For these people and their often hard-pressed but fiercely protective advocates and loved ones, this is certainly an improvement on the current out of area provision we offer them. But a closer, dispassionate examination of the plans raises some aspects that I find worrying.

The proposal is for a living complex in a fenced area with a single entrance. Although notionally urban, the site is in fact quite isolated. There are no

shops, community centres, or social activities nearby, the site has steep gradients, and the nearest bus route will be over half a mile for residents at the western end of the site. In short, it looks like a compound.

Now I do not pretend to know what is appropriate for these peoples’ needs. So I asked the Assistant Director for Integrated Commissioning at BANES at an exhibition planning meeting the question “What was the reaction when you asked your potential residents what they actually wanted? She answered simply. ‘We haven’t asked them.”

And there is the nub of the problem. At the heart of our thinking is still that we impose our solutions on people, with a kind of ‘That’s what we’ve got, take it or leave it’ attitude, well-meaning but thoughtless.

Now it may well be that this proposed development is appropriate for some people. But if there is one human right above all that each of us expects, it is the right to self-determination, to live our lives as we see best. And when people come to us for help, our first

n MESSAGE FROM POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER

I will be visible and accountable to you

IT’S a privilege to have been given the opportunity to serve the people of South Gloucestershire as your newly-elected Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset.

My commitment to you was to be visible and accountable to all residents of Avon and Somerset, and I intend to fulfil this commitment now I have taken up this role. I will also be focused on the twin challenges of reducing crime and raising public confidence in our police.

I bring a wealth of experience to the role, gained from working across different sectors. I served as a Member of the European Parliament for our area, I worked at the heart of government in No. 10 Downing Street, and I was a trade union officer for over 20 years.

Prior to being elected to the PCC role, I was co-chief executive of an equality and human rights national charity. These roles have

given me a good understanding of how institutions work, and effective strategies for getting things done.

As your PCC, I will be tireless in speaking truth to power, calling out the uncomfortable, and above all, I will work to build a safer future for everyone. To do this, I will be working with community partners, police staff and police officers to understand and address the challenges we face – I am eager to roll up my sleeves and get to work.

In my time running up to the elections, the people of Avon and Somerset made their most pressing priorities clear to me. I heard that people want to see a greater connection to their local neighbourhood police and for their police service to address and reduce violent crime, particularly knife crime and male violence against women and girls. I also heard how people would like prevention of crime to be a higher priority, for the police service and

response should always be ‘What do you need?’ not ‘This is what we choose to afford’.

But of course, we must also be aware of the public purse.

The original estimated cost to us of this proposal was about £6m. The construction difficulties of the site now mean this is expected to double and may rise further during construction. . So at approaching £1m per resident does this represent value? Even in Bath, you can buy some decent living accommodation at the heart of the community for a lot less.

In this 21st Century, we need to be sure that we don’t blunder into the mistakes of the past, to put those who ask for our help at the centre of our response and never again create the ‘place where we keep our weird people’. In this Paralympic year we should embrace the new paradigm “Assume that I can, so maybe I will”.

Simon Banks Simon Banks is a campaigner against the loss of urban green spaces in Bath, and runs the Tufa Field website. The views expressed here are personal and do not necessarily represent similar campaigners.

for others who run services within and for communities.

I am here to listen, and I am here to represent you. To do this, I need to truly understand how you feel and where you would like our police to prioritise their time and resources.

As I begin my term as your PCC, I will be getting out and about to hear from as many groups and individuals as I can across Avon and Somerset.

I’m also going to create a comprehensive Police and Crime Plan to address the evolving challenges in policing and to deliver lasting solutions.

I’m committed to actively listening to the concerns and priorities of residents – one way I will do this will be to run a public survey. The details for how you can take part will follow soon.

Please follow my office on our social media accounts for regular updates – you can find us

on Instagram, X, Facebook and LinkedIn – search ASPCC.

I commit to being a PCC who stands for you, actively engaging with and understanding the diverse communities our police serve. Please reach out to me and my office with any concerns or suggestions you may have. For more information visit www.avonandsomerset-pcc.gov.uk.

n BATH LIBRARY BOOK REVIEWS AND NEWS

Adult Fiction

The Weather Woman – Sally Gardner

magic and science with vivid descriptions of a frozen London. Great characters too.

The saying goes “never judge a book by its cover” but that is the exact opposite on how I found this book. The cover is beautiful, and the story is gripping. Set in the late 18th Century when the River Thames in London froze so solidly that fairs were held on it. We meet Neva - a child of trickster parents but she has an extraordinary gift - she can predict the weather. She hears when ice is due to melt or when a severe thunderstorm is coming. In 18th Century London this could be a dangerous gift to possess.

Her father, a very successful clockmaker, devises a way to protect her from superstition and the new scientific weather men. However Neva plans change when she meets Henri. Can she her gift with hhim? This is an original historical novel combining

Adult Non-Fiction

DK The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook

Air Fryers continue to be very popular, and this handy recipe book describes some very scrummy food. It begins with a super easy guide to your air fryer and accessories needed.

Then sections for healthier snacks; dinners; veggies and finally deserts. So there are guides to: pickle chips; salmon fishcakes and even a brussels sprout revolution recipe which sounds interesting.

My particular favourite of course southern fried chicken and chocolate lave cakes. All the recipes are laid out in a clear style with cooking times and tips.

Loft Boarding & Insulation

Parenting Hell : the book your parents wished they had read, but they didn’t have the time (or energy), Rob Beckett, Josh Widdicombe, as reviewed by Emilie Bioud, Keynsham Library Assistant

This book comes with a warning as “100% No Advice Guaranteed”. You might be already familiar with the Podcast of Rob and Josh. It started during the Covid time, when those 2 comedians were “trapped” at home having to look after their children while working at the same time. They started to moan to each other on how terrible all this situation was, how they had no clue whatsoever of what they were doing, and that they were terrible at it. So they decided to do a podcast, recording once a week their thoughts on the parenting subject adding extra guests, some other comedians like Bill Bailey, etc, asking them how they survived parenthood. The podcast is very funny, very sweary as well. Well the book is a condensed version of it, talking about less funny subjects, like miscarriage, and sharing their experience. As it is in a book, they are less sweary than their usual self. I found some chapters I could relate to, and that moved me. Definitely a good read when you get the chance to put your feet up once the little ones are in bed.

small; it can be a chair; a hat and even a shop. It can be taken to a sunny spot or a rainy one and can be scary or funny. But in the end books are

everywhere! A lovely story that shows that it’s never too soon to share a good book.

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

Children’s Picture Books Where the Wild things are – Maurice Senak

A real classic and part of the library’s centenary book collection –1960’s. Max is up to mischief in his wolf suit so much so that his mother calls him “Wild Thing” and sends him straight to bed without any tea! But once in his room, that night, a magical forest begins to appear, and a boat takes him to a place where the wild things are…. With superb illustrations the Wild Things come to life, make Max their King and the real rumpus begins! Read all about their adventures!

Books Always Everywhere – Jane Blatt & Sarah Massini

A delightful picture book for your littles ones. A book can be tall; a book can be

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.

Air raid shelters plan sparks conservation concerns

By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter:

A plan to turn two “very rare” Second World War air raid shelters in Bath into a bike shed has sparked concern among conservationists.

Air raid shelters were built across Bath during the Second World War. The Bath Blitz in 1942 saw the Luftwaffe conduct three bombing raids on the city as part of the “Baedeker Blitz” on cities of cultural importance.

Now an application for listed building consent to repair a leaky roof at Grade II listed 3 Park View, just off the Lower Bristol Road, is also seeking permission to turn two of the city city’s surviving air raid shelters at the end of its garden into a bike shed. The end walls of the two shelters, which face each other, would be opened up and the space between them enclosed with a new roof and a door to access it.

A statement submitted with the planning application said: “The bomb shelters are used as sheds but are not readily accessible. The alterations will maintain their historic significance whilst making them utilitarian.”

But local conservationists have criticised the move and urged Bath and North East Somerset Council to not let the work go ahead. The Bath Blitz Memorial Project said the shelters were “very rare survivors of wartime air raid shelters” and added that their entrances — which would be knocked through under the plans — are particularly historically significant.

Submitting a letter of objection to the plans, the project’s

Above: Google map indicating with a red marker approximately where the shelters are, top right is a detail from a photo of shelters that survived the Bath Blitz posted at Bath Heritage - http://www.bathheritagewatchdog.org/bathblitz- and below King Edward Street in the aftermath of the bombing. The photo at the foot of the page shows how bad Bath was hit in 1942 during the Baedeker raids when hundred were killed in the city

historical researcher said: “The risk of a bomb hit on one shelter causing blast damage in the other had been thought of, which is why the doorways that face the two structures in number 3 are staggered so that the blast from one hit would not blow the door of that shelter into the door of the

other, which would be a weaker point than the brick surrounding the door.”

“The positions of the doorways is therefore of particular historic interest”

One of the two shelters extends into the garden of number 4 and is believed, by Bath Blitz Memorial

Project, to likely have been publicly funded for residents of the whole terrace. The other smaller shelter, and ones in the gardens of numbers 5 and 6 are believed to be private ones constructed later.

Also submitting an objection to the plans, Bath Heritage Watchdog stated: “Private shelters built in the style of public shelters will have been quite rare even in the wartime; to have such shelters survive through the 80+ years since built makes them an important and very rare heritage asset, and fully justifies the Grade II listing they currently enjoy.”

Their objection added that the air raid shelters were not covered by the list entry for the Park View terrace, but instead were Grade II listed under another list entry covering the garden walls, and therefore a separate application would have to be submitted for the work.

Susan Walker, part-owner of one of the shelters, said she “strongly” objected. She added: “The idea of owning a listed house is to be able to live in a property that will have its setting preserved by the listing; it is the gardens to the east of the terrace that are the location of the shelters and those shelters are part of Park View’s charm.”

She said: “There is no clear and convincing justification supporting the applicant’s proposal and there is no public benefit. Rather, there would be public disservice in that historians will be denied the chance to examine the shelters in their current configuration.

“Also the shelters do attract visits from people interested in the history of wartime Bath.”

She suggested the applicants could easily apply to install a bike shelter instead.

The Bath Blitz killed 417 people and destroyed over a thousand buildings in the city, with over 19,000 buildings affected.

You can view and comment on the plans here: https://www.bathnes. gov.uk/webforms/planning/details.

Editor’s cycle ride for Bath charities delayed due to accident

By Harry Mottram:

It was all going so well as I trained with long distance cycle rides ahead of my June cycle trip from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise cash for Bath Mentoring Plus and the Bath Food Bank.

That was until one May morning as I was cycling back from Worcester on the A38 when I was hit from behind by a car travelling at speed. I was apparently thrown into the air landing on my head having been hit in the ankle, arm and back meaning that I was knocked out for a considerable amount of time.

The next thing I knew I was in Gloucester Royal Hospital having my wounds treated.

With multiple fractures, cuts and bruises and concussion - and my bike smashed in - I quickly realised the June cycle ride would have to be postponed for a few weeks.

My thanks go to the NHS staff who treated me, my family who rallied round and the hundreds of messages of support from friends

and many strangers who wished me well. Plus of course those kind folk who are sponsoring the cycle ride - now put back to the end of August.

My sisters have already bought me a new bicycle and I am in the process of claiming compensation from the motorist’s insurance for

the damage and injuries.

I’m of the old school of cyclinga sit up and beg bicycle, a slow pace so I can take in the countryside, a bicycle bell, arm signals and certainly no Lycra. However on that day I neglected to wear my helmet - and have been roundly told off by everyone for forgetting to don this essential piece of kit.

To sponsor the two Bath Charities visit https://www. justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ harry-mottram-Bath Bath Mentoring Plus Mentoring Plus supports young

people in Bath & NE Somerset who are facing challenges. They help 5-25 year olds feel connected through award-winning mentoring schemes, youth clubs and inspiring activities programmes in our community. See https://mentoringplus.net/ Bath Food Bank

Under the umbrella organisation

The Trussell Trust, the Bath Food Bank helped 5,279 people in the area in 2022-2023 including 1,452children.

To volunteer or to donate call 01225 463549 or email info@bath. foodbank.org.uk or use the form at http://bath.foodbank.org.uk

Land’s End to John O’Groats Known as LEJOG there are several routes, but on a bike it’s roughly 1,000 miles which takes about two weeks.

I will be mostly camping and keeping to my normal weekly household budget - and hopefully losing weight and getting fit.

The editor in hospital

Setting off from Bath

Clevedon Salerooms, The Auction Centre, Kenn Road, Kenn, Clevedon, Bristol, BS21 6TT

Alfred Pollentine (1836-1890) - Oil on canvas - The Grand Canal, Venice Sold for £3,000

CAR BODY REPAIRS