The Bath Magazine May 2012

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ISSUE 116 • MAY 2012

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE CITY OF BATH £3.00 where sold

FACE THE MUSIC Bath restaurateur Richard Fenton

LOCAL HERO Bill Bailey talks about his home city

LUBBLY JUBILEE Bath prepares to party

FESTIVALS & CELEBRATIONS TOWN COUNTRY PROPERTY Bath’s Premium Properties Beautifully Illustrated

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The very best of local writing, what’s on, arts, lifestyle, property and so much more in your guide to life and living in Bath

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contents

2012

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ZEITGEIST

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Five things to do in Bath in May

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BIGWIG Our esteemed columnist looks at other career paths he could have followed

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TALK OF THE TOWN Rondo theatre artistic director Ian McGlynn shares his cultural passions

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FACE THE MUSIC Restaurateur Richard Fenton talks about his rock’n’roll past

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BATH AT WORK Café owner Wesley Hibberd reminisces about a Twerton childhood

2O FESTIVAL TIME

LOYAL TOAST

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WHAT’S ON From ballet to the bizarre – all the cultural highlights for the coming month

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COUNTRY PURSUITS Previewing the Royal Bath & West Show

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TAKE A BREAK

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LOCAL HERO

44 GALLERY GLOSSARY

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ARCHITECTURE A profile of Giles Gilbert Scott’s design masterpiece in Oldfield Park

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FOOD & DRINK News from Bath’s foodie scene

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COMPETITION Win a day out to the seaside aboard a romantic steam train

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INTERIORS A Victorian ugly duckling that became a beautiful swan

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GARDENING Make your borders sing with colour

The latest art exhibitions in town

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BEAUTY NEWS Get your body and skin in shape for summer

Bill Bailey on sitting for his portrait and what he misses about life in Bath

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PROPERTY For the largest selection of beautiful homes in the Bath area

ON THE COVER Bath prepares for the 2012 summer of festivals and celebration

FAMILY FUN Things to do with the children

Start planning your Jubilee celebrations

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There’s a lot more than just the Olympics to see in London this summer

A preview of this month’s International Music Festival and the Bath Fringe

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BUSINESS The movers and shakers of Bath

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THE WALK Andrew Swift leads us through woods carpeted with delicious wild garlic MAY 2012

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EDITOR’Sletter

F

irst of all I’d like to apologise for my gaff last month about how many years it’s been since the Bath Blitz. As I said to one of the many kind and sharp-eyed readers who rang up to tell me, I must have had a senior moment (you see I remember writing about the 50th anniversary and that doesn’t seem that long ago!) but as she pointed out, it was more of a very junior moment. The encouraging thing I take from the experience is that so many people actually read The Bath Magazine. Which is great as it is very much a magazine for Bathonians, whether born here or adopted.

Our May issue is absolutely jam-packed with things going on, from the magnificent classical music of the annual Bath International Music Festival, to the wonderfully eccentric and entertaining Bath Fringe Festival. We’re in celebratory mood, looking forward to the arrival of the Olympic torch in the city – quite a historic occasion that promises to be – and getting our bunting out to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee next month.

Rebecca Pow previews this year’s Royal Bath & West Show, where so many Bathonians head for an annual day out in search of livestock, cheese and country pursuits. Looking at all the different breeds of hens that’ll be gathered there, I’m almost tempted to put a henhouse in the back garden.

There’s the usual rich round-up of all the cultural goings-on in Bath for the coming month, we take a look at the architectural story behind the building of St Alphege’s Church in Oldfield Park, restaurateur Richard Fenton talks about his rock’n’roll past and we interview one of our favourite Bath old boys, the multitalented and all round good bloke, Bill Bailey.

Georgette McCready Editor

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GRASSE

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

THEBATHMAGAZINE Editor Email: Tel: Deputy Editor Email:

Georgette McCready georgette@thebathmagazine.co.uk 01225 424499 Samantha Ewart sam@thebathmagazine.co.uk

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The Bath Magazine, The Bristol Magazine and West Country are published by MC Publishing Ltd and are completely independent of all other local publications.

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Luxury Items for Home and Garden | Truly Tempting Skincare A unique shopping experience with fresh style and approach 3 Argyle Street, Bath BA2 4BA 01225 444260 | www.grasse.me.uk

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ZEITGEIST Enjoy

5

things to do in May

Celebrate

A one-day free family festival is being staged at Green Park Station on Sunday 20 May, with all manner of entertainment, from choirs and belly dancers to DJs and fancy dress. The Enjoy Festival, as joint organiser Annie Green says, is a time to celebrate in spite of many people going through tough

times. Market stallholders are being charged just £25 for the day and up-and-coming TV magician Katherine Mills, pictured, will be on hand with all kinds of tricks and illusions.

Enjoy’s fancy dress theme is iconic men and women. Find out more, visit: wwwenjoyfestival.com

See

It’s great living in a city of festivals – especially when you hear that some events are being laid on for our entertainment with no charge. Bath International Music Festival and the Bath Fringe Festival have both released their programme details (See Pages 20, 21 & 22 for highlights of both) but, meanwhile we’d like to draw your attention to two FREE events. On Friday 25 May the Fringe kicks off at Green Park Station with a free Bollywood opening party from 7pm, starring the west’s best Bhangra band RSVP. Don’t worry if you don’t know the dance moves – you’ll have great fun learning them and it’s the sort of occasion that all ages can enjoy together. And, on Friday 1 June, the main music festival hosts its traditional Party in the City night with live music on virtually every corner and venue in Bath city centre, culminating in the traditional firework display in the skies over Bath at 10pm.

Book It’s long been a complaint in Bath that the city doesn’t really cater for fans of live, popular music – not having a venue suitable for bigger audiences with decent acoustics. But all that is changing this year with a rolling programme of gigs at The Forum in the city centre, which is the nearest Bath gets to a large scale venue. If the names Rufus Wainwright, Patti Smith, Nick Lowe, Joan Armatrading, Mike and the Mechanics or Richard Thompson get you excited – or even, in some cases, nostalgic – you’ll be pleased to hear they’re all coming to Bath this summer. The new season at The Forum kicks off on 18 May with The Waterboys of The Whole of the Moon fame, who are playing an eclectic set from their varied career. The summer series of gigs is being organised by Bath Music Plus, which is basically a community organisation. It began to promote Bath as a venue for rock and pop names last year with appearances by Brian May and Newton Faulkner. To book tickets, visit: www.bathmusicplus.co.uk

Out of town The Olympic torch is to be carried triumphantly through the streets of Bath on Tuesday 22 May on its way to the London Games – providing an occasion that many will treasure witnessing for the rest of their lives. As we write, notices are going up all round the route, so we’re expecting crowds to be out there cheering on the local heroes who’ve been invited to carry the torch.

Another historic occasion to note is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which will be marked by a hot air balloon glow the evening before, on Monday 4 June at Solsbury Hill. (See Page 26 for Jubilee celebrations)

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It’s time to get the family out of town and walking. Over the weekend of 19/20 May, Norton St Philip hosts its annual Scarecrow Trail, pictured, which this year has a Royal theme. And just a pleasant, level, walk from Bath along the Kennet & Avon canal is the Claverton Pumping Station, open at weekends to visitors so they can get a close look at one of the largest working waterwheels in the UK, currently being restored.

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NOTES ON A SMALL CITY

By Bigwig

HAPPIEST IN THE WINGS

M

any people already know that in real life Bigwig is the director of an international performing arts company.

I’ve actually only had two jobs in my adult career…a stint in a mortuary and my current employment. The other day the illustrious editor of this magazine asked me what I would have done if I hadn’t followed that particular course.

Well, the school careers officer suggested I should work in a bank. At the time a bank clerk’s wages were about £20 a week, which seemed a fortune to Bigwig Junior. However, I don’t think the fellow had done his research because I failed O-level maths three times. Chaos at the tills I feel.

Being an incredibly shy young man, I had no plans to become an actor.

In fact, the only time I was in a school play I was hidden inside a Punch and Judy booth. Even then the stress gave me a nosebleed. Luckily, operating glove puppets involves looking up. Little did the audience know that I was bleeding to death in there!

I decided to qualify in stage design. But only because my best pal had the same thing in mind. We went to the interviews together. I doubt either of us would have braved it alone. We got in, but to my horror they made all the

budding designers take part in plays so that we could feel ‘at one’ with the actors. I nearly left.

However, everyone said I was funny and had a stage presence. Who would have thought that years later I would be able to fearlessly step on stage in front of thousands? I even got reviews such as ‘massive assurance’ and ‘Britain’s next great pantomime dame’. I wasn’t too sure about that last one. From my more usual place backstage I’ve seen enough great dames knocking back the gin before going on. ‘Britain’s most reluctant actor’ more like. These days I’m happier behind a desk making other people face the hungry monster known as the audience.

What would I have done otherwise? In addition to acting, we learnt sewing (presumably to be ‘at one’ with the theatre seamstresses.) Budgets were limited, so we had to make one-third size hats. Consequently my stitches are impressively tiny – I could easily have become a plastic surgeon.

We also studied play analysis. This is working out things such as the distance from the house to the station in The Cherry Orchard or would the top of the piano be polished or dusty in John Gabriel Borkman, Ibsen’s play about a guilt-ridden recluse*. I was pretty good at that, so I reckon I could have been a detective. I was once burgled and I worked out in minutes that the intruder, having found nothing worth taking, had gone straight through the house pausing only to pick up my statue of the Queen Mother which he/she then used to smash the window of the house next door, eventually leaving via their back door with a load of jewellery. The detective in charge told me to mind my own business. But it turned out I was right.

These days I’m happier behind a ❝ desk making other people face the hungry monster known as the audience ❞ Play analysis to scene of crime analysis is but a short step.

*(By the way, the piano would have been shiny as every day a little girl comes and plays it to the weeping old man. And conveniently, for dramatic reasons, it reflects the clear Nordic light onto his face, thus negating the need for the set designer to include a cardboard mountain outside the window – I’m sure you knew that.) ■

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TALKofthe TOWN

Book of the month Avon Street by Paul Emanuelli Published by The Mystery Press Paperback £9.99 Reviewed by Georgette McCready

W

e dwell so much on Georgian Bath it’s refreshing to find a novel that depicts the seamy side of the city in Victorian times. The area around Southgate, leading down to the River Avon, and round to where the Avon Street car park is was once a huge neighbourhood of slums, where life was hard and crime was rife.

As one of the characters in Paul Emanuelli’s Avon Street says: “A quarter of the city lives in squalor and disease in Avon Street and the other three quarters pretend they do not exist.”

In this seething underbelly, gangs of money lenders exploit the poor – that is until a Catholic priest, a gentleman of leisure and an actress from

My Cultural Life the Theatre Royal begin to work together to break one criminal ring’s stranglehold on its poor victims.

The plot romps along and the characters are clearly defined, but what makes it particularly appealing to anyone who knows Bath is the scenes in familiar places such as The Garrick’s Head and Queen Square. It’s interesting to imagine them as they were then. I can’t get out of my head the image – accurate for its time – of barefoot children wading through the mud by the river below Walcot Street in the hope of salvaging something worth selling in order to put food in their bellies.

The colourful world of Rosie Flo

We ask Ian McGlynn artistic director and self-styled Grand Fromage at the Rondo Theatre, Larkhall What are you reading?

11.22.63 by Stephen King. A really very exciting fantasy about going back in time to save JFK, and having 22 months in a year.

What’s on your MP3 player?

A bit of ketchup. And the mighty Electric Light Orchestra.

Which café or restaurant takes your fancy?

It’s all about the dog-friendly gastropub these days. So we rotate between One Beaufort (Steak night! Steak night!), The Hop Pole and The Marlborough Tavern.

Who doesn’t love a colouring-in session, equipped with brightly coloured pens and imagination? With the excitement of the Olympics combined with the season of school sports days, the arrival of Rosie Flo’s new Sporty colouring book couldn’t be more timely. Rosie Flo is the creation of Bath children’s illustrator Roz Streeten and her graphic designer husband Steve Kamlish, inspired by their daughters Sophie and Sasha’s obsession for colouring and drawing. As a result of this, Rosie Flo’s books are filled with

whimsical dresses and eccentric outfits waiting to have heads, legs and arms added to them. There is also a Johnny Joe series which is more action led. Rosie Flo and Johnny Joe have sold to countries all over the world, and the Camdenbased family business not only creates the artwork but also uses printers in and around Bath to print the titles. Rosie Flo’s Sporty, priced £5.99, is available, along with the other 10 Rosie Flo titles, from My Small World in Little Southgate and Mr B’s independent bookshop.

NEWS IN BRIEF Charity sponsors race day

2 Princes Buildings, George Street, Bath BA1 2ED Telephone: 01225 424499. Fax: 01225 426677 www.thebathmagazine.co.uk © MC Publishing Ltd 2012 Every month The Bath Magazine is circulated free to over 20,000 selected homes and businesses in Bath and the surrounding areas.

A certificate of print and publisher’s statement are available on request.

Disclaimer: Whilst every reasonable care is taken with all material submitted to The Bath Magazine, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to such material. Opinions expressed in articles are strictly those of the authors. This publication is copyright and may not be reproduced in any form either in part or whole without written permission from the publishers.

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Tickets have gone on sale for a big charity fundraising day at Bath Racecourse on Saturday 16 June to help boost the coffers of the Brandon Trust, which works to support people in the south west with learning difficulties. The charity has, like many other good causes, been hit by Government cuts in funding and relies on donations to help it continue to help people. Ticket prices for the Premier Stand and lawn are usually sold at £22, but if bought through the Brandon Trust they are £18 – with £8 of the price going to the charity. Under 16s go free. For tickets contact Clair Thompson, tel: 0117 906 2918 or email: fundraising@brandontrust.org.

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

Well, loads of plays – but that’s work, so they don’t count. I am looking forward to The Avengers movie, though. Does that count as culture?

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

Walking Hamish the dog to gastropubs with my lovely wife Alison, lurking in dingy rehearsal rooms on sunny days and hacking away at the garden. But mainly rehearsing – I’m directing a play (Bursary Boy) that goes on at The Rondo in June, so that will be May’s time-sucking activity.

What outdoor activity will you be taking part in?

Well, the wife’s American, so we’ll probably have to have a barbecue. It’s something the colonials enjoy.

The Rondo Theatre’s May programme includes The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist, Riot, Alliance, Six for the Charleston – and Two for Love, as well as a play about Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy. For more details visit: www.rondotheatre.co.uk

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MILSOMplace

Red, white and blue

se ss, Pha re Fleur d

Winnats top, Hobbs

• Hobbs features ivory and navy striped jackets and dresses which are on trend and a sharp image for the office. For a less formal affair the Winnats top in playful polka dot linen is a winning look teamed with a bold cherry red cotton voile Cowburn skirt. The Bryony dress is a must-have piece for the summer with its feminine frill hem and cropped sleeves.

Wear with red patent heels to complete the look.

Eight

The fashion industry pays tribute to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and national pride in The Olympics with red, white and blue, a strong theme for spring/summer ’12, so wave the flag and update your wardrobe at Milsom Place

Floppy hat, Ph ase

• Phase Eight knows how to rise to an occasion with its glamorous dresses. Saturated primary brights and vibrant print florals form the basis of Phase Eight’s story for high summer. The red Fleur sleeveless dress in jersey is easy to wear, accessorise with smart suede heels or a floppy hat to keep off the sun or choose a fashionable fascinator for a dress up affair.

ess, Hobbs

Bryony dr

Cowburn skirt, Hobbs

Eight

POP UP SHOPS AT MILSOM PLACE BIBICO & NANCY DEE Bath- based women’s ethical label, Bibico creates simple but stylish clothes made from 100% natural materials and stitched in fair trade co-ops. Inspired by retro designs, ethical label Nancy Dee reworks classic shapes with bold prints and strong colour palettes, utilising the softness and drape of jersey fabrics.

17 Milsom Place, until 15th May

• For your street party with a vintage theme, Cath Kidston comes up trumps with the Royal Rose tea dress. We love the Pearly Queen handbag which is sheer nostalgia.

Cath Kidston have a fabulous range of party pieces including Jubilee aprons to wear at your BBQ and commemorative plates and mugs and the Provence Rose cake stand is a must to present your perfect cup cakes.

GABRIELLA KNIGHT Gabriella Knight is renowned for its superior quality jerseywear for women and children. Their jerseywear is supersoft, fabulously flattering and so versatile you can wear it all year round. Great care is taken in choosing a fabric that keeps its shape wash after wash.

They are proud to say that their jerseywear is British made. An exclusive collection of tops, shirts and skirts in Liberty prints compliment the range.

11 Milsom Place, until 17th May

Pearly Queen handbag, Cath Kidston

KATHERINE FRASER British craftsmanship comes to Milsom Place with the work of Katherine Fraser. Her interest is in creating contemporary fabrics using traditional weaving looms and yarns. Katherine Fraser’s work is known for its stunning colour combinations and beautiful feel against the skin. Why not commission your own unique design for a scarf or cushion cover.

21-22 Milsom Place CHANIIB For gorgeous summer sandals check out ChaniiB shoes, designed in the UK by Chantal Pilon.

Chanii B footwear is made in Portugal from premium leather.

All the designs are fresh and confident, created with fashion and comfort in mind to bring something special and individual to every style.

11 Milsom Place, opens 21st May

Milsom Place, Bath Royal Rose tea dress, Cath Kidston WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

Tel: 01225 789 040 www.milsomplace.co.uk

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CITYgardens FACE theMUSIC

A PINCH OF ROCK’N ROLL Restaurant owner and former chef to the stars Richard Fenton talks to Mick Ringham about music, his career turn around in the USA, and his ever expanding empire of eateries 14 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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FACEtheMUSIC

FULL FLAVOUR: left to right, Frank Sinatra, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, The Police, Message in a Bottle, Jimi Hendrix, Crosstown Traffic

ENTREPRENEUR: main picture, Richard Fenton of The Firehouse Rotisserie PICTURE: courtesy of Matt Wyatt Design

I

t comes as no surprise that Richard Fenton is well acquainted with the local restaurant scene having, along with his partner, successfully established the Firehouse Rotisseries in Bristol and Bath. However, leaving aside the man’s gastronomic credentials he has over the years enjoyed a fascinating musical lifestyle.

After leaving catering school in the 1960s Richard headed for London, securing a post at the Grosvenor House Hotel. He says: “At that young age I was jack of all trades in many respects, but what I really enjoyed was being front of house.”

Dressed in black tails, bow tie and waistcoat, his long hair tucked discreetly into the back of his wing collar; he presided over the comings and goings of the great and the good.

Evenings off would find him at Soho’s Marquee club to see the top bands of the day. The temptation to get into the music business was too much and he decided to pick up sticks, becoming a drummer and playing in bands such as Savannah and Under the Sun. After a few years working the club scene, he got a call from a friend in California asking him to come to Los Angeles and form a new band. Richard said: “I didn’t have that much money at the time, but I could afford a one-way ticket with the old Laker Airlines and jumped at the chance.”

In time his newly formed LA band released an album, but the name Broken Edge was somewhat ominous as they split up soon after. It was at this point that Richard went back to his first love of catering, as a chef in a downtown restaurant.

Within a few months, itchy feet saw him working at a Sunset Strip hotel favoured by touring British bands. He was encouraged by guests to go into private catering and having rediscovered his passion, decided to take a chance in this lucrative market.

The idea was a great success and saw him and his team engaged for events and parties in mansions and homes of A-list celebrities. He found himself cooking for Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton and many more musical legends. He became personal assistant to Lol Creme from 10cc and Burt Bacharach asked him to become his personal chef.

Richard explains: “I had such a good relationship with Burt and his wife; they gave me free rein in the kitchen and a beautiful place to live.”

He stayed with them for five years and now with a young son, he and his wife moved back to the UK. They arrived in the west country in 1994 purchasing the lease of an old wool shop, which they transformed into The Firehouse. He then set his sights on Bristol and another jointly owned Firehouse at the Harbourside. A further two individual and successful ventures were to follow in Bath; The Hudson Steakhouse in Walcot and The Loft café, which in many respects just goes to show – you can’t keep an old rocker down.

● Jimi Hendrix – Crosstown Traffic He was so big in the 1960s and such a force to be reckoned with. I saw him at Tiles Club a few times with Mitch Mitchell, his brilliant and legendary drummer. This track has a New York influence; you can tell that it was recorded in just one take. So much energy at play here. ● Stephen Stills – Wooden Ships Crosby, Stills and Nash were a great influence on me, even before I lived in California. I went to see Stephen Stills in concert and realised that most of the great tracks on the first album are down to him. He gets a beautiful silvery sound on his guitar which I just love. ● Led Zeppelin – Ramble On I’ve been to quite a few festivals over the years, including the Isle of Wight and Reading. This track by Led Zep reminds me of Shepton Mallet. It’s easy to pick their big hits, but this track is just great and takes me back to those Somerset fields where I first saw them. ● The Beatles – Lovely Rita Not an obvious one to choose, but what I like about it is that it’s so beautifully crafted. When you listen carefully to this number, you find that every element has been thought through and engineered. Incredible to think that they recorded this 45 years ago. ● The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again I saw The Who many times particularly at the Marquee club. I was living in Notting Hill at the time – this was before it became trendy. They were such a thundering band, full of life and amazing power. Keith Moon is all over this piece and he was fantastic to watch. I can close my eyes and see him now. ● The Police – Message in a Bottle This takes me right back to that first year in the States. It was raining when I left Heathrow and within a week I was cruising through the streets of LA driving a Jeep, hands warm on the steering wheel, the sun on my back and this track coming through the speakers. ● Steely Dan – Aja I just love this record. I’ll admit that I haven’t a clue what they’re singing about. But I really do like the feeling it gives me.

Strangely I’ve never got around to seeing them, but I’m going to do something about that.

Richard’s top ten:

● Frank Sinatra – I’ve Got You Under My Skin These days I don’t really have much time to sit down and listen to music. Like most people I listen in the car. This is one of my favourite Sinatra songs, arranged by Nelson Riddle. The lyrics are simply wonderful, sexy and romantic. He also sings it like a gangster.

● The Small Faces – Lazy Sunday Afternoon This reminds me of when I first moved to London. I had a small bedsit in Portobello Road and this record was always being played on the radio. Steve Marriot along with Ronnie Lane had this cheeky element about them, they were real East End boys and their music was so right for that time.

● Peter Dvorsky – Recondita Armonia from Tosca Life has been quite hectic on the work front over the last few years. I’ve been getting into opera which I find paradoxically powerful and relaxing. I try and go a couple of times a year and like the mix of music, voice and theatre. It’s a fine art, like a beautiful painting or a great meal. ■

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Bath@Work Our series of photographic portraits by Neill Menneer shows Bath people at work

Wesley Hibberd The Archway Café was born in Twerton in the 60s and lived in one of those metal prefab houses built after the war as temporary housing. They were really spacious and had gardens at the front and back with out-buildings and coal sheds that would cost a fortune now!

Twerton was very different then. It was a real community.

The market was huge compared to today and you literally had to walk sideways to get through the crowds. The High Street was full of local shops that have gone now completely. There was Quinton’s the hardware shop, Donalds the butchers, Lathams the cobblers, and Dave and Betts the greengrocers.

I remember two supermarkets, two bakers, two newsagents (Tindall and Kerrs) and of course a petrol station. There’s just one of each now and no petrol to be had. As kids we used to play on Cameley Green all the time and sometimes we nipped down to Pennyquick Brook to fish and splash about.

There was an old coal tip there and we used to slide down it on bits of lino. Scrumping apples is part of any trip down memory lane and sure enough we used to do that in the vast gardens of the Poolemead home for the deaf.

I started work after leaving Culverhay school at Chipperfield’s event catering doing the local steam fairs and the like and this must have given me the taste as it were for catering.

However, I didn’t set up my own business until years later when I took over the Archway Café in Twerton. In the 90s though I had set up my own driving school and I did that for 15 years so I must have an entrepreneurial streak in me. I just like doing my own thing really. While I was doing the driving I became a fully qualified family therapist and worked for Eileen Murphy. Not a lot of people know that! But 15 years of driving slowly round bends is enough for anyone so when the café came up for sale I jumped at it.

There’s been a café here on the Lower Bristol Road for years – it used to be called Stand-Up Stan’s but it just used the front extension and not under the arches like we do now. I have fitted the café out with a few things I’ve picked up from junk shops like old radios and things to make it a bit homely.

I love the job, it’s a good living and I like to have a laugh and a joke with the customers. We don’t just do the traditional fry up. We cook proper lunches too: cottage pie, steaks and roasts for instance. This stops customers like Tony there from getting too fat.

I’d like my children to take over from me one day. Not just yet though as I’ve still got a few plans to make the place even better.

I

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PORTRAIT: Neill Menneer at Spirit Photographic

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WORLD FIRSTS FOR FESTIVAL This year’s Bath International Music Festival, which opens on 30 May, includes a number of world premieres and celebrations of anniversaries. We look at the highlights of this seventh, and last, year for festival artistic director and musician Joanna MacGregor

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he 2012 Bath International Music Festival has a real sense of occasion this year, celebrating as it does a number of birthdays and anniversaries, including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympic Games and providing the highlight and climax of festival director Joanna MacGregor’s seventh and final year of curating this cultural highlight of the Bath calendar.

Looking through this year’s programme is, in some ways, like going through Joanna MacGregor’s greatest hits. She has chosen pieces that particularly appeal to her, along with some crowdpleasers for her swan song. For her own particular farewell she is putting on a unique version of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute.

This is set in a futuristic city, with characters in modern dress and elements of modern wit and flourish twisted in with the original score and story. What’s more, this Magic Flute is being staged not in a formal concert hall or theatre but the converted cinema turned comedy club, Komedia.

The Magic Flute, like several items in the festival magazine, has been ear-marked with a Made For Bath stamp. Here we highlight some of the unique events that are seeing their world premiere in Bath as part of the festival.

• The Dark Magic of Angela Carter The Guildhall, Saturday 9 June, 9.30pm The Angela Carter themed events at the recent Bath Literature Festival, held on the 20th anniversary of the writer’s death, were extremely popular with audiences and this concert is expected to pull in the literati crowd from all over the country. This is a world premiere and includes a collection of previously undiscovered poems by Carter which Joanna MacGregor has set to music.

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writing a little better as we listen to Carter’s Desert Island Discs, chosen just before her death but never broadcast. With the haunting voice and sitar playing of Bishi, the sound of the Japanese flute, the shakuhachi, and readings by actress Dame Harriet Walter, this will be an original and intriguing evening.

• Belcea Quartet The Assembly Rooms, Saturday 9 June, 7pm Bath Festival regulars will be rubbing their hands in anticipation at the chance to hear the talented Belcea Quartet return to the city. This string quartet has played New York and Vienna to great acclaim and the programme it has chosen for Bath will be popular. The Assembly Rooms concert will comprise Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge and his String Quartet No. 5 in A major.

Try before you buy: this year’s artists can all be heard and seen on video on the festival’s own You Tube channel

• Rising stars Joanna MacGregor champions young musicians that she sees as worthy of putting before a discerning audience and helping them break through to the big time. This year she has three acts which should have people in ten years’ time saying: “Wow! I remember seeing X play at Bath in 2012. Unforgettable.” The first of the three is 19-year-old pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, winner of the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year when he was just 12 and named as one of the Telegraph’s Top Ten Britons of the Year.

He’ll be showcasing his talents with Bach, Chopin, Rachmaninov and Scriabin on 30 May at the Guildhall.

Another young man to watch is the Latvian pianist Reinis Zarins, who impressed audiences at last year’s four piano extravaganza, Les Noces, at the Abbey. He’s back this year, on 5 June with a programme themed around magic, circus, fairy tales

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Joanna’s legacy Jane Drabble chair of Bath Festivals, looks at the impact Joanna MacGregor has had on the Bath International Music Festival

CROWD PLEASERS: above, eight cellists make up the group Cellophony, which is playing in Bath on Monday 4 June Opposite page: main picture, the opening night party in the city remains free for all.

Clockwise: the Belcea Quartet, Zoe Rahman, Courtney Pine, Valeriy Sokolov

hat a hard act to follow! – that’s what so many people say. I’ve been talking to people who’ve known the music festival, and Joanna, for much longer than me. Lady Evelyn Strasburger, one of the festival’s most generous supporters, says: “(She) has influenced Bath with her extraordinary intelligence and vitality and leaves us with a vibrant festival that has really • I Fagiolini: The Diamond Jubilee Concert made a difference to our previously staid old city.” Chris Bath Abbey, Tuesday 5 June, 7.30pm Shepley, Chair of Bath Festivals in 2005 when Joanna was You could, of course, simply tune into BBC Radio 3 to enjoy this recruited, says the festival “needed a shot in the arm.” concert, which is one of a series of festival events being recorded “Joanna was an obvious choice, out of a hotly contested for worldwide consumption. But if you wanted to have your field, to provide this.” socks blown off by the sheer drama of a mass choir of 60 voices, What I will remember is the sheer range of extraordinary plus instruments, dotted around the Abbey and producing what musical experiences, all in Bath’s gorgeous intimate can only be described as human surround-sound, you’d need to settings: Natalie Clein, Alina Ibramigova, Stephen Hough; be there.

Joanna playing the complete Chopin Mazurkas; the • Accessible to all wonderful tribute to Kathleen Ferrier (being repeated this Party in the Park and On the Edge of Life: year). Because Joanna is such a superb musician herself, Labyrinth of Candles she draws around her other superb musicians, and the These two events, on Friday 1 June and over three nights, 6 – 8 pleasure they have in playing together is there for all to see.

June, are free and open to all. The first celebrates the traditional There’s a gusto and a fizz about it, and a wonderful sense Party in the Park that officially sees the festival launch, with a of privilege in participating in something unique. children’s colourful procession with costumes and percussion, At last year’s concerto master-class, with three brilliant Royal Academy students, we all learned that the pianist bringing joyful youthful exuberance to our streets. Last year more must lead the orchestra: “You’d better not play too fast than 18,000 people enjoyed opening night, with its bands at when you get to that point or the woodwind will hate different venues, gigs in the Abbey and Pavilion, and the annual you,” Joanna advised one student. firework show. A trail of 2,000 candles around the interior of St And then there was last year’s opening concert. Many of Michael’s Church, accompanied by music composed and played us didn’t know what to expect from the James Macmillan by young musicians from Bath, will form a haunting installation Piano Concerto. But a quick interview set the piece in over three evenings. Visitors can just drop in, wonder at the context, and everyone there was beguiled by its drama and spectacle and think on the themes of homelessness inventiveness. One audience member came up to me and rootlessness. At 10pm each evening the choir afterwards, beaming. He’d witnessed something he’d For of the Bath Spa University will perform Gavin never have witnessed otherwise, and loved it. He’ll tickets visit the Bryars’ Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, Box Office in Abbey come back next time. And that’s what Joanna’s true which is guaranteed to reduce even the most legacy is. “She’s experimented, she's given us things Church yard, or tel: flint-hearted to tears. we didn’t think we’d like, but find that, actually, we 01225 463362.

• Great Brits: The Planets do,”says Eve Strasburger. “She’s retained the legacy The website is: The Forum, Thursday 31 May, 7.30pm of bringing the best classical musicians in the world A lot of Bathonians will be very happy to see www.bathmusicfest. to Bath – who can forget Vengerov or the LSO? She’s the city’s own Bath Philharmonia Orchestra org.uk mixed sounds that belong in different worlds and we’ve taking part in this year’s music festival, and had a ball.” playing such a crowd-pleaser as Holst’s Planets.

Party in the City, the free event which takes place on the This is a classic classical programme, from the sound of The first Friday of the festival has been one of her great achievements. Last year, Joanna and I walked through the Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams, through Elgar’s Salut city together, dropping in on the amazing Kingswood d’Amour and Walton’s Henry V Suite, and one which makes an School jazz orchestra at Green Park Station, B&NES ideal introduction for children, while also being a familiar, muchMusic Service at the Forum, and the Carnevalistas in loved programme for others. This will be a really big show and Kingsmead Square. There was music-making in 35 venues, one with much popular appeal – justifiably so. cheered by enthusiastic supporters. Party in the City now • Other highlights and all that jazz. . . regularly attracts almost 2,000 local performers, and There’s Courtney Pine, one of the big stars of British jazz, audiences of 18,000 or more.

Somerset-based saxophonist Iain Bellamy playing with So thanks to Joanna the BIMF is in fantastic shape. If Norwegian percussionist Thomas Stronen, a concert by the you haven’t already booked, come and see for yourself. As glamorous British trumpeter Alison Balsom, the screening of the Chris Shepley points out, “Joanna is wise to leave us Judy Garland classic film The Wizard of Oz, a vibrant evening of wanting more.” ■ percussion by O Duo, plus much more. ■ and sunken cathedrals. The 26-year-old Ukranian violinist Valeriy Sokolov is making his debut at Bath after appearances with orchestras all over the world. His concert at the Assembly Rooms includes a post-concert talk, providing a chance for people to hear him talk about his work and his passion for music.

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IT’S PARTY TIME

The 2012 Bath Fringe Festival has every kind of entertainment, from a silent disco in Royal Victoria Park to a drama written by Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah’s Vivian Stanshall. We preview some of the pleasures ahead of us later this month

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HIGH DRAMA: Peepolykus at the Spiegeltent

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t’s always an exciting moment when you get your hands on a Bath Fringe Festival programme and the 2012 offering is no exception – it’s packed with dozens of events.

We’ve got the hard work and talentspotting skills of festival stalwarts Steve Henwood and Wendy Matthews (recently crowned Best Festival Directors at the Fringe Report awards for their 20 years on the front line) to thank for a consistently culturally rich programme each summer.

This year’s fortnight of fun runs from Friday 25 May, with a Bollywood opening night party at Green Park, until Sunday 10 June.

Some of our favourite elements, such as the romantic Spiegeltent which will once again be on the Rec, are still reassuringly there, while others are new. There are several dozen venues all hosting an eclectic mix of music, comedy, drama, dance and art.

There’s Attila the Stockbroker, some Victorian villany and burlesque, clowning for the children and a

stirring production of Macbeth by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Over at the Spiegeltent audiences will be entertained by three eccentric gentlemen with ukuleles, saws and a tea-chest bass, known as the Hot Potato Syncopators, or be thrilled by a night of hot and steamy tango as French dance company Bilbobasso bring us Polar a tale of gangsters, jealousy and seduction.

The late Vivien Stanshall’s drama Sir Henry at Rawlinson End is a 15character extravaganza, played by just one actor, or perhaps you’d prefer to examine the tangled lives of four people in Closer by Patrick Maber.

Whether you’re 18 months or 80 years old, there’s sure to be something in this smorgasbord of a festival that will float your boat. Why pay the train fare to the Edinburgh Fringe, when we’ve got such a fab festival right here on our doorstep?

For more information, pick up a programme or visit: www.bathfringe.co.uk. ■

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FLYING THE FLAG However you’re planning on celebrating the Jubilee be prepared for a party with these fun decorations and accessories í˘ą add a touch of celebratory spirit to your home with the TU heart Union Jack bunting, ÂŁ6, Sainsbury’s; í˘˛ if you’re going all out to celebrate the Jubilee then invest in the special Lillibut’s Jubilee nail varnish by Butter LONDON, ÂŁ12, www.harveynichols.com; í˘ł sit pretty with the floral Union Jack cushion, ÂŁ14, Cole, Little Southgate, Bath, tel: 01225 442926, www.coleshop.co.uk; í˘´ if the weather isn’t quite up to scratch come Jubilee weekend, keep warm with these Union Jack ladies gloves, ÂŁ99, Dents, Furnax Lane, Warminster, tel: 01985 212291, www.dents.co.uk; í˘ľ get the drinks flowing with the special UK edition Queen’s horse guard Alessandro corkscrew, available for pre-order, ÂŁ49, Quadri, Milsom Place, Bath, tel: 01225 329 212, www.quadri.co.uk; í˘ś pack all your beauty essentials for the Jubilee weekend in this large washbag, ÂŁ28, Cath Kidston, Milsom Place, Bath, tel: 01225 331006, www.cathkidston.co.uk; í˘ˇ make sure you are looking picture perfect on the day with the Jubilee compact mirror, ÂŁ12.50, Marks and Spencer, Stall Street, Bath, tel: 01225 462591, www.marksandspencer.com; í˘¸ lay out your Jubilee picnic spread on this Union Jack throw, ÂŁ110, Debenhams, Southgate Place, Bath, tel: 0844 5616161, www.debenhams.com; í˘š get in the celebratory spirit with the limited edition Pommery Pop, Union Jack edition, 200ml, ÂŁ14.50, Jolly’s, Milsom Street, Bath, tel: 0844 8003704, www.houseoffraser.co.uk 24 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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Stay sophisticated, stylish and spring chic this season with all the latest trends at Clarks Village

Next Clearance trousers was £35 now £16 Gap Outlet black t-shirt £5.99 Clarks Factory Shopping shoes was £39.95 now £24.99

Embrace the Perfect Print trend with florals and vibrant colours in an array of eccentric shades and designs. Why not mix loud maxi dresses with contrasting coloured accessories to complete your Mediterranean medley of colours? Mix and match patterns in trousers, tee’s, dresses or skirts and simply add jungle inspired jewellery to finish.

Whatever the weather make sure you are dressed head to toe in colour, keep your staple pieces busy and vibrant and don’t be afraid to experiment with items from last summer’s wardrobe to update them this year.

Conquer the outdoors in the latest Country Casual Chic with equestrian items, such as quilted jackets and gilets in natural earthy colours and Jodhpur style trousers or jeans. Team staple white tee’s or vests and simply layer up to complete your look.

Complement with coloured checked shirts and discover the countryside in style.

Keep up with the rhythm as well as the trend for this year’s Festival Chic, bring out the denim, add some colourful wellington boots and an authentic straw hat and dance the day and night away. If all else fails tuck some super skinny jeans into some authentic tan boots, add a lace waistcoat, coloured scarf or abundance of necklaces and you are set to go.

Crew Clothing grey gilet was £128 now £65 Gap Outlet white skinny jeans £39.99 Crew Clothing checked shirt was £55 now £40

Next Clearance white dress £16 Next Clearance blue jacket £40 Clarks Factory Shopping pink wedges was £39.99 now £23.99

Clarks Village has over 90 stores and is open Monday - Friday: 9am - 6pm, Saturday: 9am - 6pm, Sunday: 10am - 5pm, with late night shopping on Thursday until 8pm. For further information please telephone 01458 840064 or visit www.clarksvillage.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @clarksvillageuk & Facebook www.facebook.com/clarksvillageuk.

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JUBILEEcelebrations

HAVE A JOLLY GOOD JUBILEE You don’t have to be in London or glued to a television screen to be part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

With more than 60 local street parties planned, Rosie Parry rounds up the best events in Bath and beyond Programmes will be on sale in newsagents in Weston and Newbridge two weeks before the event.

The Queen by Cecil Beaton. Image use courtesy of the V&A museum

Diamond Jubilee Lecture: The Queen and the Monarchy: The Inside Story, Thursday 10 May, 7.30pm Hilton Bath City Hotel, Somerset Suite, Bath.

Tickets free on tel: 01225 812945 or email: mikeshort20@btinternet.com The Bath branch of The Historical Association present Robert Lacey, the distinguished, bestselling author of books on British history and institutions, the monarchy and Saudi Arabia.

River Procession: A Celebration of Monarchy, Tuesday 22 May – Sunday 10 June, 10.30am – 5pm No.1 Royal Crescent, Bath.

Tel: 01225 338727 www.bath-preservation-trust.org.uk This summer exhibition will focus on the 18th century history of royal river procession.

The Big Jubilee Picnic, Saturday 26 May, 5.30pm Westonbirt House and Gardens, Gloucestershire.

Tickets £10/£5. Tel: 01666 881333 or email: thebigjubileepicnic@westonbirt.org All guests are welcome to bring a picnic and enjoy a programme of music and dancing that includes sessions by The Big Brunch Band and Swindon Brass as well as a dancing display by Swingbytes. The grand finale is a spectacular firework display at 10.30pm. Other attractions of the evening include a refreshment tent, an ice cream bicycle, and a classic car display.

A Jubilee Celebration, Saturday 26 May, 7.30pm Bath Abbey, Bath. Tickets from Bath box office on tel: 01225 463362 or visit: www.bathboxoffice.co.uk Grenville Jones joins with the Abbey to present a Jubilee celebration of music representing the last 60 years of the Queen’s reign. The Abbey will resound to tunes that link with the Coronation as well as songs to evoke fond memories of the last six decades of popular British music. From Handel, Elgar, and Parry through to the arrangers of today, Rutter, Chilcott and Sir David Willcox; melodies from Elton John and the Beatles and Bath Chorus, all in aid of local charities.

Diamond Jubilee: Commonwealth Wine Tasting, Monday 28 May, 6pm – 9pm The Assembly Rooms, Bath. For tickets tel: 01225 322810 or visit: www.greatwesternwine.co.uk Celebrate 60 years of the Queen’s reign by tasting 60 of the Commonwealth’s very best 26 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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wines. Delectable wines will be on show from Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand – alongside four from Blighty: Camel Valley, Ridgeview, Kenton and Shawsgate. All revenue from ticket sales will go to Dorothy House Hospice Care.

Evening Talk: Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration, Monday 28 May, 6.30pm The Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney Street, Bath. Tickets £7/£5 on tel: 01225 388 569 or visit: www.holburne.org The diamond makes a fitting subject as a symbol of endurance and longevity for the special summer exhibition at Buckingham Palace in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year. Focussing on some of the most famous diamonds in royal possession the curator of the exhibition, Caroline de Guitaut, will explain the history behind many of her exhibits, including diamond jewellery belonging to Her Majesty and diamond-encrusted works of art in the Royal Collection.

Jubilee Westfest, Saturday 2 June, noon – 9pm Weston High Street and Recreation Ground, Weston, Bath.

Join the street party and enjoy a festive atmosphere, food and drink, games, music, art and history exhibitions. The Weston Rec is a sports zone from 2pm with tournaments, as well as children’s fairground rides and activites such as welly throwing, tug of war, sack race, maypole dancing and a bouncy castle. After 5pm there are bands, a bar and barbeque.

Bristol Jubilee Concert, Saturday 2 June, gates open 4.30pm The Mall at Cribbs Causeway. Details of how to get your free ticket at www.mallcribbs.com Starring Pixie Lott, Misha B and Young Kato and presented by Bristol comedian Joel Dommett. In aid of A Life for a Cure.

Diamond Jubilee Evening Picnic, Saturday 2 June, 6pm – 9pm Lacock Abbey, near Chippenham. More information on tel: 01249 730459. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock Join this street party on the south lawn. Bring a picnic and some drinks and enjoy an evening of music celebrating the reign of Elizabeth II from the 1950’s to the present day. Featuring The Redfords trio. A prize will be given for the best ‘silly hat’ with a Jubilee theme. Musical sets played between 7pm and 9pm.

Jubilee Party in the Park, Monday 4 June, noon – 7pm Beacon Field and Hall, Peasdown St John. For more information visit: http://peasedownpartyinthepark.org.uk Celebrate with live music, hot food, stalls and attractions – an event for all the family.

Jubilee Tea in the Orangery, Monday 4 – Friday 8 June, noon – 2pm & 3pm – 5pm Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire. For tickets tel: 0117 9371330 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dyrham-park Enjoy the beautiful setting of the early 18th century orangery for these exclusive afternoon teas to celebrate the Jubilee.

Queen’s Jubilee Picnic in the Park, Tuesday 5 June Royal Victoria Park, Marlborough Lane, Bath.

Tel: 0870 240 6783 or visit: www.visitbath.co.uk To celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee Bath is staging two giant screens in the park, allowing you to picnic and watch the celebrations. The event will feature performances from the Bath Philharmonic Orchestra and a host of young emerging pop artists. The evening climaxes with the ABBA tribute act Björn Again. Everyone is encouraged to dress up in retro 70s clothes, from 1977 when the Queen celebrated her Silver Jubilee.

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WHAT’Son THEATRE, DANCE & COMEDY – listed by venue

SWAN SONG

confinement. This adaptation includes material that had originally been censored by Otto Frank and marks the 60th anniversary of the diary’s publication in English.

The Diary of Anne Frank Photograph by Nobby Clark

Henry V, Tuesday 22 – Saturday 26 May, Tuesday – Wednesday, 7.30pm; Thursday – Saturday, 8pm; matinees: Wednesday & Saturday, 2.30pm Shakespeare’s Globe presents his masterpiece about the turbulence of war and the art of peace. It tells the story of Henry’s campaign to recapture the English possessions in France, culminating in the Battle of Agincourt. The charismatic King’s ambitions are challenged by a host of vivid characters caught up in the real horrors of war. This play, which opened the newly-built Globe Theatre in 1997, celebrates the power of language, summoning into life courts, pubs, ships and battlefields.

Swan Lake at Merlin Theatre, Frome

T he atr e R oya l Sawclose, Bath. Box office tel: 01225 448844. www.theatreroyal.org.uk

Anne Boleyn, Tuesday 1 – Saturday 5 May, Tuesday – Wednesday, 7.30pm; Thursday – Saturday, 8pm; matinees: Wednesday & Saturday, 2.30pm A play by Howard Benton and winner of the Whatsonstage Theatregoers’ choice award for best new play 2011. Compelling, witty and often laugh-out-loud funny, this celebration of a great English heroine, Anne Boleyn, exposes the life and legacy of Henry VIII’s notorious second wife. Anne Boleyn is traditionally seen either as a pawn, manipulated into the King’s bed, or as a sexually licentious predator, even a witch. But Howard Benton puts a very different Anne on the stage. Witty and confident, she takes on the vicious world of Tudor Court politics. She is in love with Henry but also in love with the most dangerous ideas of her day. Conspiring with the exiled William Tyndale, Anne plots to make England Protestant for ever.

Following two sell-out London seasons, two powerhouses of great British theatre – English Touring Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe – join forces to stage this vivid and vibrant production; gripping, rich in humour and shot through with chamber music played on period instruments, and visual imagery.

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Matthew Bourne’s Early Adventures, Wednesday 9 – Saturday 12 May, Wednesday, 7.30pm; Thursday, Friday & Saturday, 8pm; matinees: Saturday, 2.30pm Matthew Bourne is widely hailed as the UK’s most popular and successful choreographer/director. As part of New Adventures’s 25th anniversary celebrations, Matthew Bourne presents a triple bill of acclaimed early works that launched his career: Spitfire, Town and Country and The Infernal Galop.

The Diary of Anne Frank, Monday 14 – Saturday 19 May, Monday – Wednesday, 7.30pm; Thursday – Saturday, 8pm; matinees: Wednesday & Saturday, 2.30pm Anne Frank’s famous diary charts two years of her life from 1942 to 1944. This personal account of hope, courage and survival has united and touched people worldwide. Both moving and funny, this Pulitzer Prize and Tony-Award-winning play is an extraordinary theatrical experience. In this powerful new adaptation, Anne Frank emerges from history as a living, lyrical, intensely gifted young girl, who confronts her rapidly-changing life and the increasing horror of her time with honesty, wit and determination. While hidden from the Nazis with her Jewish family in a secret annex in Amsterdam, Anne documented her hopes, frustrations and day-to-day experiences in

Ladies in Lavender, Monday 28 May – Saturday 2 June, Monday – Wednesday, 7.30pm; Thursday – Saturday, 8pm; matinees: Wednesday & Saturday, 2.30pm From a short story by William J Locke and based on the film written and directed by Charles Dance, this is an evocative, heartwarming story of unfulfilled dreams and unrequited love. When a handsome and talented young Polish-Jewish violinist bound for America is washed ashore, the Widdington sisters take him under their wing and nurse him back to health. However, the presence of the mysterious young man disrupts their peaceful lives and the community in which they live. Starring Hayley Mills and Belinda Lang, the production features music from the film composed by Nigel Hess for which he won a classical Brit award.

T h e U s t in o v S t u d i o Monmouth Street, Bath.

Box office tel: 01225 448844. www.theatreroyal.org.uk

In The Next Room, Thursday 10 May – Saturday 9 June, Monday – Saturday, 7.45pm; matinees: Thursday & Saturday, 2.30pm Showing as part of American season at the Ustinov, this is a provocative, funny, touching and entertaining story about sex, intimacy and equality based on historical fact. In a spa town near New York in the late 19th century

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enthusiasm for the new electric light bulb is spreading through the homes of the well-to-do citizens. Young Dr Givings is obsessed with the marvels of technology and has been working with a handy new device, a strange electricpowered box set up in his operating theatre to treat female hysteria. But while the good doctor is blithely administering to his patients, his wife, Catherine, a new mother, is left feeling lonely and forced to take matters into her own hands. Contains scenes of an adult nature.

The Arsonists, Tuesday 29 – Thursday 31 May, 8pm

Cold Comfort Farm, Tuesday 29 May, 7.45pm

Their methods are simple; charm their way into a stranger’s home, carefully line up the petrol drums, and then, with a little help from their host, set the house ablaze. Biedermann is wise to the arsonists’ antics, but he is about to discover first-hand how they always get away with it. This is a production by Twisted Humour, an emerging young theatre company from Bath Spa University.

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School present this stage play of Stella Gibbons’ comic English novel, parodying as it does the romantic stories of DH Lawrence and Mary Webb. The heroine, Flora Poste, embarks upon a quest to discover her family’s roots, and as a result the ‘nice girl from London’ meets the rough and ready Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm.

Who can fail to enjoy her meeting the likes of evil Aunt Ada Doom, Elfine and Seth.

T h e R o n d o T h e a t re

ICIA Arts Theatre, University of Bath.

Box office tel: 01225 386777.

Saint Saviour’s Road, Bath.

Box office tel: 01225 463362 www.rondotheatre.co.uk

RIOT, Friday 4 & Saturday 5 May, 8pm 10 February 2005. At the stroke of midnight the British public punch, kick, strangle and eventually stab their way to £45 sofas and £35 bed frames at the opening of their favourite Swedish furniture store. RIOT is a true story set in a lamp-lit flat-pack universe bursting with violence, chaos and more characters than you can throw a meatball at. Hammered together with physical theatre and music, The Wardrobe Ensemble tear up instructions and disregard the diagrams to construct a comedic tragedy of a thoroughly modern kind.

IC IA

Laïla Diallo: Hold Everything Dear, Saturday 26 May, 7.30pm Laïla Diallo, who lives and works in Bristol, finds inspiration in themes of migration, displacement and transience to create a compelling moment of dance. She is joined on stage by a cast of performers that includes three musicians and composer Jules Maxwell.

Hold Everything Dear

Six for the Charleston – and Two for Love

Big Daddy vs Giant Haystacks, Friday 25 May, 8pm Winner of the Buxton Fringe award for best theatre, Fringe Guru Editor’s choice award and the Brighton Festival award for best actor.

At 4pm every Saturday, from 1976 to 1988, millions of Britons were in the grip of an extraordinary sports phenomenon: watching two big men pretend to fight each other. This is their story. This ambitious, hilarious comedy brings back to life the grunting, grappling famous feuding wrestlers and the bizarre world they bestrode.

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One of the best known love stories, performed by the ever popular Vienna Festival Ballet.

Lavish costumes, stunning scenery, international stars, and the glorious music of Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake captures the full range of human emotions – from hope to despair, terror to tenderness and melancholy to ecstasy.

P op- U p O pe r a Freshford Village Memorial Hall, Freshford, Bath. Tickets available from Bath Box Office on tel: 01225 463362 or email: boxoffice@bathfestivals.org.uk

L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love), Sunday 13 May, 4pm Limpley Stoke Performing Arts present exciting young opera professionals, Pop-Up Opera for a one-off performance of their latest production of Donizetti’s entertaining comic opera. Audiences are invited from apprehensive, first time opera goers through to seasoned opera buffs.

Six for the Charleston – and Two for Love, Thursday 17 – Saturday 19 May, 7.30pm Bath Unity Players present their spring production by Barry Hillman. Fun, fast and furious, two married couples, two admirers who turn up unannounced, staff with ideas above their station, cross-dressing, crossedwires – just a glimpse of this farce set in the 1920’s with musical interludes. Tickets from the Unity Box Office on tel: 01225 427108 or the Festival Box Office on tel: 01225 463362.

Swan Lake, Saturday 2 June, 7.45pm

M e r l i n T h e a t re

T h e M i s s i o n T h e a t re

Bath Road, Frome.

Box office tel: 01373 465949 www.merlintheatre.co.uk

32 Corn Street, Bath. For ticket information contact the theatre on tel: 01225 428600 or visit: www.missiontheatre.co.uk

Adolf, Friday 4 May, 7.45pm

The Winslow Boy, Tuesday 8 – Saturday 12 May, 7.30pm

Written and performed by Pip Utton and created from the words of Mein Kampf and Table Talk, this play furnishes an acute anatomy of fascism; its ideological justifications and its poisoned utopias. Pip Utton takes his audience on a journey into themselves, gently coaxing an understanding of the mindset of a nation that could allow a man such as Hitler to take control. But Utton doesn’t stop at his bunker, he plumbs the very source of racism and exposes just how near the surface of our own lives lurks its influence.

Based on the true-life story of the Archer-shee family, The Winslow Boy throws a revealing spotlight on the early 20th century struggles in this country for individual freedom and portrays an era characterised by the repressed manners of a dying aristocracy.

T he M useum o f Ba th at Wo rk Julian Road, Bath. Tel: 01225 318348 www.bath–at–work.org.uk

Black T–shirt Collection, Monday 14 May, 7.45pm

The Ha’penny Falls & The Nero Affair, Saturday 19, Friday 25, Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 May. Please contact the museum for times

From Fringe First winner Inua Ellams comes a story about two foster brothers building a global t-shirt brand. On their journey from a market in Nigeria to a sweatshop in China, Matthew and Muhammed discover the consequences of success.

Halfpenny Theatre presents two plays inspired by real life events in Bath, 1877 – the collapse of the Widcombe footbridge and the mysterious poisoning of J B Bowler’s dog, Nero – early in the same year. Two plays that use multi-role storytelling at its best.

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WHAT’Son

Iford Festival 8 June – 11 August Cloister Concert at Iford Festival

MUS IC – listed by date ■ Davina and the Vagabonds described as a meld of Bessie Smith, Etta James, Alberta Adams and Amy Winehouse, will be performing at The Chapel Arts Centre this month

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he Iford Festival presents an exciting and varied season of opera, concerts and picnic proms, held at The Peto Garden, Iford Manor in Iford. Enjoy a summer’s evening of fabulous music with your friends and family.

Here are just some of the highlights for this year: • July and August – Iford Festival Opera: Handel’s Susanna. This production has been chosen by The Times opera critic Hilary Finch as her pick for 2012 and by The Sunday Times as a ‘book it now.’

• 8 June – Picnic Prom First Night Party: bring your picnics, your friends and a bottle and help the Iford festival kick-off.

Music to dance to is provided by the wild Amigos and the international multiaward winning cappella ensemble The Songmen.

• 30 June – Cloister Concert Romantic Strings Sextets. Chroma’s emsemble of instrumentalists with an early Schoenberg masterpiece and Tchaikovsky’s Souvenier de Florence.

• 8 July – Iford Young Artists in Concert: popular operatic arias and ensembles with piano accompaniment.

• 11 August – Picnic Prom Final Fling!

Lucinda Belle took The Royal Opera House by storm, find out why for yourself, plus The Crooked Fiddle Band.

For more information visit: www.ifordarts.co.uk. For the Box office call the Theatre Royal Bath on tel: 01225 448844 or visit: www.theatreroyal.org.uk

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The Walcot State Choir, Friday 11 May, 7pm for 7.30pm

Music for a Summer’s Evening, Saturday 19 May, 6pm – 8pm

St Michael’s Without, Broad Street, Bath.

Tickets from Bath Box Office on tel: 01225 463362 The Walcot State Choir will perform a repertoire of songs specially commissioned by four women composers, who have set texts and poems by writers of freedom, many of whom are former women prisoners of conscience. This fundraising concert is in aid of Amnesty International to celebrate its 50th anniversary and is supported by the local Bath Amnesty Group. The choir was approached to take part in the national celebrations.

No.1 Royal Crescent, Bath. Tickets on the door This prestigious Georgian townhouse will be open for an evening of exquisite music. No.1 will be welcoming highly acclaimed musicians to perform in the drawing room. Enjoy the music as you walk through the atmospheric surroundings.

Bath Choral Society, Saturday 12 May, 7.30pm Bath Abbey, Bath. Tickets from the Bath Box Office on tel: 01225 463362 or visit: www.bathboxoffice.org.uk Bath Choral Society performs A Joyful Jubilee conducted by Will Dawes and with music by Walton, Chilcott, Bliss, Stainer, Dove, Tavener, Vaughan Williams and Handel.

Davina and the Vagabonds, Wednesday 16 May, 8pm Chapel Arts Centre, St James’ Memorial Hall, Lower Borough Walls, Bath. Tickets on tel: 01225 461700 or visit: www.chapelarts.org A combination of New Orleans blues, jazz, dixieland and ragtime, Davina Sowers plays the piano in a gin-house style and is described as a meld of Bessie Smith, Etta James, Alberta Adams and Amy Winehouse.

Paragon Singers, Saturday 19 May, 7.30pm St Swithin’s Church, Walcot, Bath. Tickets from Bath Festivals Box Office on tel: 01225 463362 Two chamber choirs from Bath and Berlin combine to give the first performance in the area of one of the most exciting musical discoveries of recent years. Striggio’s mass is written in 40 separate parts – expanding to 60 in the Agnus Dei. The 40/60 voices create a glorious, oscillating web of sound.

Bath Light Operatic Group & Bath Male Choir, Friday 25 May, 7.30pm Wiltshire Music Centre, Ashley Road, Bradford on Avon. Box office tel: 01225 860100 Showstoppers! from Bath Light Operatic Group and Bath Male Choir. The operatic group will perfrom choruses including Masquerade from The Phantom of the Opera and One Day More from Les Miserables.

Featured on BBC’s Last Choir Standing, Bath Male Choir perform led by Grenville Jones.

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WHAT’Son OTH ER EVENTS – listed by date An Evening with Michael Caines, Tuesday 8 May, 7pm

Haiku Course, Wednesday 30 May, 6.30pm – 8pm

The Bath Priory, Bath. £140 per person. For further details tel: 01225 331922 Michael is considered one of the UK’s most brilliant chef’s with a focus on cuisine that is European in influence, but created using some of the finest local, seasonal west country produce. This evening showcases a four course menu with wines matched by head sommelier, Guillaume Gorichon.

Quest Gallery, 7 Margaret’s Building, Bath. £75 for the five week course, to book tel: 01225 444142 or email sarah@questgallery.co.uk Japan Times award-winning writer Alan Summers leads a five-week haiku course at Quest Gallery as part of the participation programme. Enjoy learning about the traditional Japanese poetry and creating your own haiku, all in the unique setting of a contemporary art gallery. Students will learn the fundamental principles that underpin this ancient Japanese form and apply these to their own poetry. The sessions run each Wednesday and there will be an event to showcase work with guest speakers to celebrate the course.

Up, Up and Away Lunch with Bailey Balloons, Monday 14 May, 12.30pm Ston Easton Park, Somerset. £39.50 per person. Tel: 01761 241631 Hot air balloon experts Bailey Balloons will give you an out of this world view from their many adventures, including flights over the Alps and secrets from behind the scenes at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta.

Chilli Festival, Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 May, 10am Bath Racecourse, Lansdown, Bath. Tel: 01225 424609 or visit: www.bath-racecourse.co.uk A festival in celebration of the British chilli industry including a chilli eating contest, food sampling and music from KT Tunstall.

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The Vintage and Handmade Spring Fair

The Vintage & Handmade Spring Fair, Saturday 26 May, 10am – 4pm Chipping Sodbury Town Hall, South Gloucestershire. For more information visit: www.vintageandhandmade.co.uk There will be many quality stalls selling a fine selection of vintage homewares and handmade pieces as well as a vintage tearoom.

Open Gardens, Sunday 27 May, 2pm – 6pm Bradford-on-Avon. For more information tel: 01225 865797 or visit: www.bradfordonavon.co.uk More than ten charming gardens to enjoy, homemade teas, plant stalls and children’s craft activities. A great way to explore the hidden parts of picturesque Bradford-on-Avon.

Author Event: Robert Macfarlane, Thursday 21 June, 7pm Bristol Grammar School, University Road, Bristol. Tickets £7/£6 on tel: 0117 9339836 Bristol Grammar School and the Bristol Festival of Ideas in association with Penguin Books present author of Mountains of the Mind and The Wild Places, Robert Macfarlane talking to Andrew Kelly, director of the Bristol Festival of Ideas, about his new book, The Old Ways.

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COUNTRYpastimes

THE ULTIMATE HEN PARTY Feathers will fly in the nicest possible way as the Royal Bath & West Show hosts one of the country’s largest collections of hens. Rebecca Pow looks at the nation’s growing interest in poultry keeping and talks to a horse whisperer who is re-training highly strung racehorses to lead ordinary lives with new owners

A

ll over the region activity is hotting up for the nation’s largest farming and countryside event, the Royal Bath & West Show, due to kick off on 31 May. It’s the only four day event of its kind now running in Britain and it’s right on our doorstep. It draws on exhibitors not just locally but nationally and covers an immense spectrum of rurally related areas from pedigree livestock, to the national horse shoeing championships, the national alpaca show, cheese championships, cider competitions and even terrier racing and pigeon fancying.

The show now hosts one of the largest poultry shows in the country and is a great place to go to see the huge range of breeds and maybe choose a hen or a duck for yourself.

If you have a hankering to keep a handful of hens in your back garden, then the Royal Bath & West Show is the ideal place to get an overview of what is available, to meet breeders and showers and to discuss the merits of each breed and their suitability for your requirements. More than 300 birds will be on show including poultry, ducks and geese with varieties ranging from Brahma to Wyandotte poultry and Indian Runner to Saxony ducks. In addition there will be an incredible 400 eggs entered in the egg classes judged according to shape, size, shell, texture, colour, freshness, bloom and appearance. If you fancy obtaining hens that lay a range of coloured eggs, these classes are a good place to find out who lays what – soft bluey-green eggs are laid by Araucanas, deep dark eggs by Maran hens and pure white ones by the Light Sussex.

Somerset man, Paul Meatyard is passionate about poultry with a string of winning waterfowl and poultry to his name at the Bath & West, he’s also a steward running the busy fur and feather section, president of the Domestic Waterfowl Club and an egg judge.

He breeds Aylesbury, Muscovy, Cayuga, Pekin, White Call, Saxony, Black East Indies, and White Runner ducks and this year he is turning his hand to Chinese geese as a new project. If

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you are selecting a breed Paul says it’s important to consider the amount of land you have available.

He says: “For people with a smaller garden, they could go for something like the little Pekins, but for bigger gardens, the Sussex breed is nice. Really any bird with some colour is good, maybe some Buff Orpington or Leghorn, you just have to make sure you have a chicken house. Ducks and chickens are becoming more and more popular, and now so many people want to start keeping them. They produce great eggs, they are lovely to look at, and they keep down the slugs in the garden.”

In terms of showing, every breed has its own standard, but judges look for certain qualities: “The Aylesburys have to be what is called brick shape – they have to look square, whereas the Indian Runners have to stand at 90 degrees in the pen. From the skull to the end of the beak has to be completely straight,” says Paul.

Paul selected his show birds in March ready for this year’s Bath & West, and for weeks he had been keeping a close eye on them: “I just start mollycoddling them after I’ve selected them. I have a special bath for them and, without giving too many of my secrets away, I wash them with washing powder!”

Take a gander at Paul’s results by visiting this year’s show and at the same time peruse the poultry to find your perfect breed. Just wander in and enjoy the feathered spectacle.

One of the more unusual classes run at the show is for retrained racehorses and with so many racehorse trainers in the area, particularly in Somerset and Gloucestershire, it’s gaining in popularity every year.

At Burcott Riding School, near Wells, Nikki Stephens is putting a sprightly horse through his paces on the lunging rein with this very competition in mind. Ears pricked, bright as a button, Louie, as he’s known, is positively dancing.

Until three years ago, Louie, better known then as Vedova, was a racehorse and regularly competing in point to point events. Sadly he was one of the 3,800 racehorses leaving the industry every year through either injury or poor results and

FEATHERED FRIENDS: different breeds of hens lay different sizes and colours of eggs Inset, alpacas are increasingly popular

PICTURES: courtesy of Mike Youngs

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COUNTRYpastimes

RUNNERS AND RIDERS: Indian runner ducks and horseracing at Ascot Equine photograph by Bill Selwyn

would have been heading for the pet food industry had Nikki’s re-training programme not come along to give him a new lease of life.

Similar programmes all over the country are saving the day for many other ex-racehorses. Nikki has converted a string of horses from racing to eventing, long distance riding, pony club activities and showing and Louie is a good example: She says: “Having been retrained he’s now a riding school horse. He’s very good and used a lot for dressage lessons, he did pony club camp last summer with a 13-year-old girl and was very well mannered. He’s a good mover, stands politely, doesn’t back away or pull and he’s a good looking horse. He’s made such good progress we’re hoping to do some showing with him in the classes for retrained racehorses at the Royal Bath & West Show this year.”

It’s lovely re-educating a horse, ❝ giving it a better chance of a good life. You can pick one up quite cheaply

❞

Re-training a racehorse is no mean feat, with much psychology involved. Racehorses only operate in two gears – walk or gallop. They are highly strung and used to working in a group, gearing a racehorse up for life with a single owner in the outside horsey world takes considerable managing: “Initially you let it down gently and you let it get unfit, that is, get out of being racing fit. Turn it out into the fields which they are not used to. As racehorses they are too valuable to let run wild, they might get kicked or scratched. We turn them out with company to get them socialised, calm them down and get them to forget their old life.

“We alter their diet a lot, they don’t need to be on energy inducing feed, they put on a little weight and when they have calmed down we start to work them in hand. First leading it, teaching it to lunge on a long rein and teaching it about its mouth. When you ride a racehorse you want it to take the bit and gallop but now it means different things and we teach them about the use of the legs.

“Gradually we take it out with another horse and then teach it how to carry a rider in an upright position and not to gallop

instantly. Generally we manage it. Usually if they have learnt to learn, they are quite interested and adaptable.”

Next it’s time for Penthouse Minstrel (alias Gadjet) to work out. He’s a different kettle of fish, he had a successful seven year career in racing under Somerset trainer, Ron Hodges at Charlton Adam but he had to retire due to a hole in his tendon aged 12, and it wasn’t until he was recovered and re-trained at 14-yearsold that he began to compete in the totally different world of dressage and show jumping. Despite being ‘a bit of a devil’ he has taken to it well and Nikki herself has competed with him with some degree of success.

“It’s lovely re-educating a horse, giving it a better chance of a good life. You can pick one up quite cheaply as there are so many of them about. It’s enjoyable teaching anything that is receptive and responds. Re-training is a fantastic job for otherwise useless horses. They get very good homes, some can be re-sold for good money and of course it gives the horses a whole new lease of life.”

The ultimate accolade is to enter a re-trained racehorse into one of the many classes now run especially for them around the country of which the classes at the Royal Bath & West are among the best. Di Arbuthnot, who runs the charity set up for the welfare of horses retired from racing (ROR) is a big fan.

Di says: “The classes have grown enormously since they began just a couple of years ago and now there are so many entries for the ROR Thoroughbred Ridden Show Horse Class it’s being split into two, one section for previous flat racers and one for hurdlers. I love it, it’s a lovely show, wonderful atmosphere. It’s quite a high level and the top three in the ROR Re-trained Race Horse Challenge class will qualify for the final at the Royal Windsor Show 2012.”

Superstar chaser, Monet’s Garden has successfully made the transition from racehorse to a new life and racing legend, Denman, is on the cards to follow soon.

A string of prestigious judges maintain high standards in the Bath & West classes, with Jenny Pitman leading the field last year and trainer, Henrietta Knight judging this year. Meet some of the re-trained racehorses face to face at the Royal Bath & West Show, ROR classes take place on Thursday afternoon, 31 May in Ring 2.

The Royal Bath and West Show runs from 30 May to 2 June.

For more information visit www.bathandwest.com or tel: 01749 822200. ■

An ideal opportunity to dress up and eat cake Edd Kimber, pictured, winner of the BBC’s Great British Bake-Off two years ago, is to open the Festival of Baking at this year’s Bath & West Show.

Edd, who recently launched his cook book, The Boy Who Bakes, featuring more than 80 recipes for cakes, pastries, desserts and ice cream, will run an hour-long session on May 30, which will include a baking demonstration and book signing.

Kitchenware firm Lakeland is sponsoring the festival of baking and throughout the show there will be talks

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from some of the industry’s biggest names and a series of baking demonstrations each day.

If dressing up in style is your thing, tickets are now on sale for Ladies Day at the show. On Friday 1 June west country fashion designer Gill Cockwell, owner of Gilly Woo Couture will be casting her expert eye over the most fashionable outfits on parade.

Tickets for a VIP day out are £35, which includes exclusive access to the Ringside members bar, tea in the members’ marquee and a goody bag to take home.

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LONDONbreak

Follow in the footsteps of all the ❝ Hollywood icons past and present – don your best dress and head to the glamorous American Bar

❞

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LONDONbreak

A CAPITAL IDEA Ahead of this year’s Olympic Games there are plenty of other reasons to visit London this summer – we’ve selected some of our favourite cultural high and lowlights CULTURAL DIVERSITY: clockwise from top left; the V&A’s poster for the current British design show; Louboutin’s shoes; the Chelsea Flower Show; Little Venice on Regent’s Canal; The London Underground map

by Henry Beck from 1931, and the Damien Hirst retrospective

W

hile we are blessed in the west country with a myriad of festivals and cultural events, from time to time the eye can’t help but turn to London to find out what’s new and worth seeing. One inspirational website to browse is www.viewlondon.co.uk, where you’ll find something for every taste, from highbrow opera and theatre to the downright bizarre and a little bit naughty.

So, if you haven’t been for a while, or your memories of visiting London have been tainted by school trips or hanging around in the scrum that is Oxford Street, here is a cultural hotch-potch of what’s coming up in Town soon.

A celebration of British creative design talent has opened to great acclaim at the V&A Museum and runs until 12 August. It features design classics from 1948 to 2012, such as the Mini car, the Jaguar and the punk treatment of the Union Jack.

For a close-up view of one of the country’s one time enfant terrible of art, Damien Hirst, you might be advised to book in advance at his retrospective staged at Tate Modern and running until 9 September. Not one for the faint-hearted.

And if you missed the sell-out talk in Bath by Manolo Blahnik earlier this year, you can get your shoe fetish fix at the Design Museum (near London Bridge Tube station). It is staging an exhibition of work by French shoe designer – he of the red soles – Christian Louboutin, which runs until 8 July.

For those of an alternative, or demonstrative turn of thoughts, there’s London’s Naked Bike Ride to look forward to on 9 June.

This event, held to promote safe cycling and highlight the wanton waste of oil that goes on, attracts thousands of cyclists each year.

If you dare to bare, join them from 3pm in Hyde Park.

For those of a more modest persuasion, cycling around London is a great way to see the sights and explore some of the places off the main tourist tracks. The Boris Bikes are available to hire from most central areas from £1 for half an hour or £6 for two hours.

Green-fingered folk will certainly be heading to the capital for one of the top events on the London calendar – the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show which this year runs from 22 – 26 May at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. As well as offering a chance to see a wide range of gardens and spectacular floral exhibits, new for 2012 is an area that includes modern, inventive gardens and trade stands.

London is a great city for walks. You could pop down to Greenwich and make your own mind up about what you think of the revamped Cutty Stark with its new glass lifts and giant cradle.

Or, rather than get stuck in the crowds shopping at Camden Market, head off through Camden Lock along the canal path beside the Regent’s Canal. It’s surprisingly tranquil and green and

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passes along the back of London Zoo, with glimpses of the famous Snowdon Aviary birdcage above the canal.

The city’s parks are lovely places to cool down and rest on hot days and great for people watching too. Hyde Park with the water of the Serpentine glistening in the sunshine is a beautiful spot and perfect for taking time out for a picnic. If it’s really hot – and you’ve got your bathing costumes – the Serpentine Lido is an open air oasis for swimmers, while children can enjoy a dip in the paddling pool.

If you’ve ever admired the clever design concept of the London Underground map, you’ll want to head to the London Transport Museum to see a new exhibition about the inspiration, history and creativity behind London’s transport maps. Mind the Map: Inspiring art, design and cartography runs from 18 May – 28 October. It will explore the influence of the iconic London Tube map on cartography, art and the public imagination, as well as geographical and decorative transport maps.

For something to entertain the whole family, CS Lewis’s classic novel, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, is being staged in Kensington Gardens in a big top this summer, from 8 May – 9 September. Design will be key to this major pop-up realisation of Lewis’s Narnia and the makers promise puppets, flying and a 360 degree moving set projected around the walls and created with animation film to bring the magical story to life right in front of your eyes.

If you’re around the Covent Garden area after seeing one of the West End shows, do make a stop at Bedford and Strand on Bedford Street. It’s a small bistro, wine bar and deli sunk down below the streets with a very French sophisticated look. A perfect place to catch up with friends, it serves fabulous cheese boards and there’s a great selection of fine wines available by glass, carafe or bottle.

Or if you fancy a drink somewhere a bit quirkier, around the corner in 47 Villiers Street, just up from Embankment tube station is Gordon’s Wine Bar, thought to be the oldest wine bar in London, established in 1890. You’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time as you enter the underground bar with old wooden walls covered in historical newspaper cuttings and memorabilia faded with age. Find a rickety candlelit table and enjoy a glass of one of the award-winning wines – the list is varied and full of interesting wines and sherries, madeiras and ports are served from the barrel.

If you are staying the night in the city then drinking cocktails at The Savoy is a real treat. Follow in the footsteps of all the Hollywood icons, past and present – don your best dress and head to the glamorous American Bar where you will be treated like a VIP while you sip on a classic American cocktail and listen to music from the pianist in sparkling luxurious surroundings. ■ MAY 2012

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BILL BAILEY COMES HOME

Comedian, musician, actor, animal lover – and subject of a new Bath portrait for the Holburne – Bill Bailey answers Georgette McCready’s questions from the back of a London taxi on his way to a gig

W

hen Bath-trained artist Sally Muir won the £5,000 Holburne Portrait Prize she was asked to choose a subject for her winning commission – the remit being to paint someone who has made a significant contribution to the life of the arts in the south west. She chose a man who was educated in Bath (at King Edward’s School), is an accomplished musician, actor and comedian who has won the heart of the nation with his intelligence and unassuming manner. Being a busy man, with a tour in progress, it was tough for Sally to pin him down for sittings, and even harder for us to be able to arrange a

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time for an interview. We compromised on a telephone chat, which ended up with me bombarding him with questions which he kindly answered in the back of a cab on the way to a gig.

I understand you have lots of family pets - how did you select which one would be in the portrait with you?

We do have a lot of pets that’s true, but I didn’t select one for the portrait. I don’t think we have one that would sit still for that length of time. There was a stuffed greyhound in the office where the painting took place, which Sally quite liked, presumably because from an artist’s perspective, stuffed animals are brilliant at not moving.

POPULAR POLYMATH: Bill Bailey with friends

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THEinterview

Faces from the past

COMPELLING: Mask II by Ron Mueck is a larger than life sculpture which has the power to stop the viewer in their tracks

PRIZE WINNER: artist Sally Muir with the newly unveiled portrait of Bill Bailey

Were you tempted to ask Sally if you could include lots of other objects, such as musical instruments, into your picture to show the complete man?

No, I didn’t suggest anything to Sally, because it’s her decision what goes into a painting, and how it’s composed. And actually, it looks a bit staged I imagine, me sat there with a piano, an oud, a bouzouki, three guitars, a mandola and a theramin, like “ooh, you just caught me sitting amongst my instruments.” And by ‘complete man’ do you imply I have to include something from all my areas of interest to give an accurate representation? So some binoculars artfully draped over a Komodo dragon? A telescope strapped to a badger’s back?

You don’t strike me as the sort of person who sits still for long.

Did you find this difficult? Does one have to maintain a serene facial expression when sitting for a portrait?

I resent the accusation that I can’t sit still for long periods of time! Some of those Buzzcocks and QI recordings go on for hours, and there’s nothing to do except sit still and maintain a serene facial expression. I wasn’t aware of having to sit perfectly still, in fact, I was chatting with Sally the whole time. She was making sketches, taking photos, it was all very relaxed.

Has it made you realise what it might be like to be the Queen?

I now know exactly what it must be like to be the Queen. She must be painted almost constantly, in all poses, as she goes about her daily routine. Your Majesty, could you hold the teapot a little higher? Perfect now just stay there. And now could you wring the pheasant’s neck? Yes. Excellent.

You went to school in Bath. Is there anything you miss about the city?

I did go to school in Bath and what I miss about Bath, is the stone, the colour, the elegant pavements and the size. Everything is quite close together, you can stroll around the centre easily. And the tea shops – and Bath Buns. The Abbey Church Yard, where I once busked. And the proximity to countryside. And of course, when the Grand Prix is on, the cars whizzing through Walcot Street.

You wanted to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest – is that because you think they always choose the wrong sort of British music?

Well one year I did write a Eurovision entry. I thought it would be fun to write a big eco-anthem, it was magnificent. It was all about reducing consumption, and being more responsible.

Looking to the future, but not forgetting our glorious past. It was called, Put That Light Out, Mr Hodges but the BBC thought it was too silly, like I wasn’t taking it seriously, like we might get mocked . . . so they sent Scooch instead.

How do you think Engelbert Humperdinck will fare in the Eurovision Song Contest (the finals are being held in Azerbaijan on 26 May)?

I think Engelbert will do well, I mean it’s actually quite a good song, and in the Eurovision tradition. But is it a lighter in the air moment, as mine would have been? ■ Sally Muir’s portrait of Bill Bailey can be seen at The Holburne Museum

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The human face has been the fascination of artists for thousands of years – for its beauty, its power of expression and its instant visual appeal to the viewer.

The director of the Holburne Museum in Bath, Alexander Sturgis, has taken the art of the portrait as the subject for a fascinating new exhibition at the museum, which opens on Saturday 26 May. Presence: the Art of Portrait Sculpture brings together some of the most striking images of the human face from the ancient world to the 21st century. Work by ancient Greek and Roman sculptors is joined by portraits by Giacometti, Ron Mueck and Brancusi, for a collection of pieces which have been borrowed from galleries including the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum.

All human emotion is here, from the powerful patriachs of ancient civilisations to the little stoneware head, left, of a daughter, made after her death by her griefstricken father in the 17th century. Raising a smile, however, will be two wax full-size models of 21st century artists Henry Moore and David Bailey, lent

by Madame Tussauds. All the portraits will be housed together for the first time anywhere in this unique exhibition, which runs until 2 September.

Alexander Sturgis has also produced a book to accompany the exhibition, Presence, will be priced at £15. ■ Presence: The Art of Portrait Sculpture is at the Holburne from 26 May - 2 September, admission £6.95

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CENTRE STAGE FOR THE PHIL Classic FM has given it the stamp of approval, it will play for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and for Help for Heroes. The Bath Philharmonia Orchestra has a busy summer ahead

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ath’s very own professional Philharmonia Orchestra has been put in the global spotlight as one of Classic FM radio’s approved orchestras – the only one in the south west of England. This accolade comes at the start of a busy summer for our talented musicians, who are led by the tirelessly energetic music director Jason Thornton.

The orchestra’s legions of followers will be delighted to see the Philharmonia included in the international music festival programme, a mammoth affair including the mighty Planets suite by Holst, on 31 May at The Forum. In the audience will be Martin Bax, the orchestra’s concert manager, whose great-grandfather Balfour Bax is said to have inspired Holst to start writing the Planets after the pair had attended a lively country house weekend party.

The Bath Philharmonia’s annual summer season of concerts will continue apace. The orchestra will play a central role in the city’s celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee by playing a programme of classics in Royal Victoria Park on the extra bank holiday, Tuesday 5 June.

The orchestra’s community work is not generally known about, but its members regularly

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dedicate their talents to working with different sectors in the community. In June a group of 25 young carers from across Wiltshire will take part in a residential intensive musical workshop. The youngsters, who are aged between six and 18, spend much of their time looking after a parent or sibling and so have little time left for extra school activities, such as music lessons. This gives them respite care, the chance to be themselves, have some fun and to enjoy the buildup to a concert they’ll perform with the orchestra on 7 June at the Salisbury Playhouse.

On 23 June the orchestra will be on home turf at Bath Abbey, playing for a rousing rendition of Haydn’s Creation, sung by the South West Festival Chorus.

Jason Thornton and his team have pulled off another couple of coups in July with the Philharmonia’s invitation to go to Bournemouth to provide stirring music for the arrival of the Olympic torch on 13 July, which will be filmed by

the BBC for the One Show. Back in Bath, on 12 July Lord Ashdown (formerly Paddy Ashdown) has accepted an invitation to narrate Abraham Lincoln’s address to the American people as part of The Lincoln Portrait evening at The Forum.

This will be accompanied by music from Copland, Williams and Beethoven and money raised will go to the Help for Heroes charity which supports ex-servicemen injured in war.

The curtain falls on the Philharmonia’s summer season on 27 September, when the glamorous and very talented violinist Nicola Benedetti will play her first Brahms Violin Concerto at The Forum in Bath. ■ For tickets for Bath Philharmonia’s concerts call the Bath Box Office, tel: 01225 463362 or visit the orchestra’s website: www.bathphil.co.uk.

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ARTS&EXHIBITIONS TRAVELS WITH MICHAEL PALIN: BASIL PAO Fox Talbot Museum Lacock, near Chippenham.

Tel: 01249 730459 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock

Until 23 September The photographer who has captured Michael Palin’s many travels since 1988 is bringing an exhibition of his work to Lacock’s Fox Talbot Museum. Pao’s photographs have been used as the illustrations for the books encompassing eight journeys with a ninth in the works. The bold, rich and vibrant images give a sense of being close to the people and places Basil captures across the world.

THE ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY RUH Main corridor gallery, Combe Park, Bath.

Tel: 01225 824987 www.ruh.nhs.uk/art

Judy Rodrigues, 01

3 May – 15 July

Basil Pao, Kailash Girl in Rumbur, Chitral Valley, Northwest Pakistan

FAMOUS FACES Black Swan Arts Gallery Two, 2 Bridge Street, Frome, Somerset.

Tel: 01373 473980 www.blackswan.org.uk

12 May – 30 June Famous faces from the past 40 years will be on display in this photography exhibition. The retrospective by Somerset photographer Tim Mercer will coincide with the launch of his accompanying book Names and Faces. This exhibition showcases some of his best shots from his portfolio, including photographs of HRH The Prince and Princess of Wales in a private shoot.

SCULPTURE AND SPORT: A CELEBRATION FOR 2012 Victoria Art Gallery

By Pulteney Bridge, Bath.

Tel: 01225 477233 www.victoriagal.org.uk

26 May – 1 July To celebrate the London Olympics, this exhibition will display an inspired collection of bronze sculptures of 30 different Olympic and Paralympic sports by 30 British sculptors. Money raised from sales will be used to help disadvantaged and disabled young people. It will be supported with video and live technique demonstrations by talented local youngsters.

George Triggs, Basketball.

Photograph by Marko Dutka Tim Mercer, Zandra Rhodes, 1974

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The visual art group of the Royal Photographic Society showcases 90 framed prints at the Art at the Heart of the RUH. It illustrates the diversity and quality of photographic interests within the group. All works are for sale and 25% goes to Art at the Heart, helping to improve the healing environment.

BRITISH ART AND DESIGN Gallery Nine 9b Margarets Buildings, Bath.

Tel: 01225 319197 www.gallerynine.co.uk

18 May – 6 July An exhibition of new works from award-winning sculptor Matthew Chambers, minimalist porcelain from Derek Wilson, original jewellery from Ruth Tomlinson and Jennifer Wall, exquisite silk scarves from Emma Jeffs and paintings and relief sculptures from Richard and Janet Freeman.

Derek Wilson, Minimalist celadon glazed porcelain pourers

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ARTS&EXHIBITIONS

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MIXED EXHIBITION

Antlers by Carl Melegari

Liam Flynn, Oak Vessel

SPRING EXHIBITION

Edgar Modern Bartlett Street, Bath.

Tel: 01225 443746 www.edgarmodern.com

1 – 27 May Welcoming in the spring with new artist Jenny Southam joining the gallery with her ceramic pieces alongside exciting new works by Henrietta Dubrey, Dominic Hills, Carl Melegari, Mungo Powney, Katy Brown, Heath Hearn and Tyler Stone.

Beaux Arts 12 – 13 York Street, Bath.

Tel: 01225 464850 www.beauxartsbath.co.uk

BEN DEARNLEY Bath Contemporary 35 Gay Street, Bath.

Tel: 01225 461230 www.bathcontemporary.com

Until 12 May Beaux Arts hosts innovative local ceramic artist Fenella Elms, who uses porcelain to make extraordinarily beautiful wall-mounted sculptures.

Also on display are new works in wood by renowned Irish woodturner Liam Flynn, as well as photography by award-winning Bristol photographer, Barry Cawston with works from diverse locations.

21 May – 5 June LARKHALL OPEN STUDIOS Various Studios Larkhall, Bath. www.larkhallopenstudios.weebly.com

5 – 7 May SANDRA PORTER Studio Gaugers, Bath Road, Norton St Philip, near Bath. www.sandraporter.com www.clothroadartists.com

5 – 13 May As part of Cloth Road Art Trail with 45 venues, nine of which are based in Norton St Philip, Sandra Porter will be exhibiting abstract paintings, drawings and original prints concerned with the power of repetition in architecture and nature at her studio.

More than 30 artists will take part, some allowing you an intimate glimpse into their studios. The work will be for sale, from the tiny and affordable to the grand and imposing. You can visit the studios of printmakers, sculptors, ceramicists, painters, jewellers, automata makers, photographers and more. Many of the professional artists have a national and international following, including RWA painter, Ione Parkin. Open studios organiser and architect Simon Hodges will be showing local scenes and there will be a children’s workshop and children’s art.

PRESENCE: THE ART OF PORTRAIT SCULPTURE The Holburne Museum Great Pulteney Street, Bath.

Tel: 01225 388569 www.holburne.org

26 May – 2 September This original and inventive exhibition brings together some of the most striking sculpted portraits from the ancient world to the modern day.

It includes astonishing heads from ancient Greece and Rome; 18th century masterpieces; works by some of the greatest sculptors of the modern era including Degas, Giacometti and Brancusi, the waxwork of Henry Moore, once at Madame Tussauds, and sculptures by such major contemporary artists as Marc Quinn and Ron Mueck. With loans from the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and Tate, as well as from regional and private collections.

Sandra Porter, Pulse

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This body of work by Bath-based master sculpture Ben Dearnley unites the Olympian and Paralympian athletes through a series of life-size fragmented sculptures. The exhibition launches the day before the Olympic torch passes through Bath. Avenue of Champions is a collection of sculptures in limited edition bronze and carvings in Bath stone and Carrara marble, accompanied by Ben Dearnley and Mark Foster original drawings

by Ben in Indian ink, signed by the Olympic athletes and a series of limited edition prints. The sculptures of British Olympians include Mark Foster, swimming champion; Christina Ohuruogu, Olympic, world and commonwealth athletic champion; Ade Adepitan, Paralympic world champion; Debbie Flood, Olympic rower and Leon Taylor, Olympic diver.

During London 2012 Ben’s work will be on display in the Houses of Parliament.

Mark Foster will unveil the carving of himself in Southgate, Bath where it will stay as a permanent feature.

Mark Foster, plaster

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ARTS&EXHIBITIONS NICK CUDWORTH

Nick Cudworth, If Shoes Could Talk

Nick Cudworth Gallery 5 London Street, Bath.

Tel: 01225 445221 www.nickcudworth.com Howard Hodgkin, Eye

Until 31 May If Shoes Could Talk is an exhibition of paintings, pastels and prints by Nick Cudworth that relate to his long time fascination with shoes and how they can tell a story. Dancing shoes, slippers, smart shoes and working boots are all included, animated to create the theme but always without the wearer being featured beyond a possible show of ankle.

▲ BEAR FLAT ARTISTS OPEN STUDIOS

Wendy Batt, Chalk Cliffs

Hilton Fine Art presents an exhibition of prints by modern masters such as Howard Hodgkin, Gillian Ayres and Gwyther Irwin. It brings together a rich variety of prints that shows the range of expression possible in this medium.

Various Studios Newbridge and Lower Weston, Bath. www.newbridgeartstrail.com

SPORT AND FASHION

12 & 13 May

Fashion Museum Assembly Rooms, Bath. Tel: 01225 477 789 www.fashionmuseum.co.uk

Newbridge Arts Trail is an annual event in which artists living in the Newbridge and Lower Weston areas of Bath open their homes or studios to the public. It is a community event and showcases the diverse range of work produced by more than 30 local artists. Much of the work is for sale.

All Year The Fashion Museum hosts its Sport and Fashion exhibition. The red, white and blue suit that Olympic gold medallist Amy Williams wore at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 is on display.

Various Studios Bear Flat, Bath. www.bearflatartists.co.uk

25 & 26 May

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Now in its ninth year, Bear Flat Artists open studios event is larger than ever. Visitors are welcome to browse the numerous venues around the Bear Flat area to see a wide range of art and fine craft including paintings, prints, ceramics, jewellery, textiles, sculpture and photography. A relaxed atmosphere means a gentle amble around the venues will often afford the opportunity to chat to the artists about methods and techniques, art in Bath or share ideas. As well as the houses, local pubs The Bear and The Devonshire Arms will be exhibiting work.

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Hilton Fine Art 5 Margaret’s Buildings, Bath. Tel: 01225 311311 www.hiltonfineart.com

26 May – 16 June

NEWBRIDGE ART TRAIL

Jan Tozer, Flowers

PRINT

Sport and Fashion exhibition at the Fashion Museum

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MICHAEL KENNY RA RETROSPECTIVE OF DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURE

An Image Alone X

Quest Gallery 7 Margaret’s Buildings, Bath.

Tel: 01225 444142 www.questgallery.co.uk On show until 16 June Michael Kenny was born in Liverpool in 1941, the son of an engineer. He studied at Liverpool Art School where two of his fellow students were Stuart Sutcliffe, an early Beatle, and John Lennon. From Liverpool he went on to Slade in 1961 to study under Reg Butler, who called his protégé “the Liverpool Italian” because of his enthusiasm for Giacometti and Medardo Rosso as well as the classical austerity of the monolithic plasters he was making at the time.

Michael Kenny’s distinguished career as an artist and a sculptor began with his early first solo show in Oxford in 1964 when he was only 23years-old. Michael was one of the most influential British sculptors of his generation and his contemplative geometric stone works have become increasingly well-regarded. He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1976, and a Royal Academician in 1986. Throughout the 70’s he was the visiting lecturer at the Slade School of Fine Art and from 1983 to 1988 he was head of the fine art department at Goldsmiths College, London.

Today his work is held in museums all over the world, including the British Museum, The Tate Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Michael Kenny died in 1999.

At the opening of the exhibition on 28 April, Professor Brian Falconbridge was in conversation with Susan Kenny, Michael’s widow and the curator of his works worldwide. A centre piece of discussion was Michael’s last work, The Stations of the Cross, which was purchased by the Royal Academy.

Speaking about that work, Professor Falconbridge noted: “His last great series of drawings, on the theme of The Stations of the Cross encapsulate the full range of his imagery and references and must surely rank as one of the finest examples of genuinely religious art within the Christian tradition made since the Reformation.”

The works brought together at the Quest Gallery, his sculptures, drawings and paintings, will continue to offer insight and inspiration both to those who are familiar with his work and to those who meet it for the first time.

For more information about Michael visit: www.michaelkenny.org

Gentle Whispers III

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A SIMPLE MASTERPIECE Caroline Shaw tells the story of one of Bath’s unsung architectural gems, Our Lady and St Alphege Church, built in the 20th century and named in honour of the city’s own 1,000-year-old saint

B

ath is rightly known as a city of architecture.

Visitors flock to see masterpieces by John Wood and Robert Adam, the great architects of its Georgian heyday. But few tourists venture out of the city centre to Oldfield Park to view a building by one of the 20th century’s greatest architects. It is unlikely that many Bathonians could name the building that is considered to be ‘without doubt the supreme 20th century architectural treasure in the city.’

That building is the Catholic church of Our Lady and St Alphege. It was designed in the 1920s by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of Battersea Power Station, Tate Modern and Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, as well as the K2 red phone box.

To understand how Scott came to build a small Italianate church in the suburbs of Bath, we need to journey further back in time. Not much more than 100 years ago, the whole denselypopulated area that we now know as Oldfield Park was virtually uninhabited – it was then farmland. The development of the area began in the 1870s, with a series of villas for prosperous middleclass families. In the 1880s and ’90s, a network of terraces was built around Moorland Road, with modest, comfortable homes that were let to skilled artisans. At the same time, the area around Caledonian Road was filled with terraces to house workers on the expanding riverside industries, and the railways that served them.

During these boom years, several companies were established here, including the Victoria Brick and Tile Works on Dartmouth Avenue, and two of the city’s largest laundries. Then there was the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, which took millions of holidaymakers to the south coast and transported the coal that gave Bath the grimy appearance that many residents still recall.

As the new century dawned, the railway was employing hundreds

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of local people and the area was expanding fast, with shops, schools and churches of various denominations. By the 1920s it was clear that this new suburb of Bath needed a Catholic church to serve its growing population.

At the time, Catholics in Bath could attend St Mary’s Julian Road to the north, and St John the Evangelist at South Parade in the centre of the city, which was served by the Benedictines of Downside Abbey. Neither was easy to get to for the residents in the south-west of the city, and the Prior of St John’s, Dom Anselm Rutherford, decided that something needed to be done. He contacted a young up-and-coming architect named Giles Gilbert Scott, who had recently designed the great nave of Downside Abbey church. Dom Anselm wrote that he was planning to build a new church in Oldfield Park in an early Christian style, modelled on the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome.

Scott wanted the floor to imitate ❝ the 12th century flooring of Santa Maria in Cosmedin but instead of marble he used ruboleum – a type of linoleum

❞

There was not much money for the project, he said, but it needed to be done properly. Scott wrote back the same day, saying that he would be very happy to build the church.

Scott began work in early 1927. He designed a simple Romanesque-style church of golden stone with a campanile or bell-tower to the side. It was a building that would not look out

BEAUTY ON A BUDGET: the interior of Our Lady and St Alphege

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SCOTT’S MASTERPIECE: left to right, the exterior of the Oldfield Park church, centre, the patterned floor that looks like mosaic, and Santa Maria, the 8th century church in Rome which inspired designs for the Bath church

of place in Rome or Ravenna, although unfortunately the campanile was never completed. Inside, the design is simple – a nave flanked by two aisles, ending in a blind apse. Money for the building was always tight, and Scott devised creative solutions to compensate for the lack of funds.

The stone was quarried at Box, but instead of using it as a smooth ashlar like so many Georgian buildings, he left it rough and unpolished, which gives the church a look of antiquity – and saved on labour costs. Scott wanted the floor to imitate the 12thcentury flooring of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, but instead of marble he used ruboleum – a type of linoleum – at a fraction of the cost. He did not design elaborate stained glass, but instead punctuated the nave walls with a series of round windows in pale green glass, that let concentrated bursts of sunlight into the church. The great baldacchino – the canopy over the altar – was made of carved and gilded wood. Scott’s design gives the church a feeling of peace and a Roman quality of warmth and harmony.

The church opened in 1929 and was dedicated to St Alphege, a

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saint who was born in Weston in 954 AD. The interior contains a series of carved capitals in the Romanesque style, with 20 scenes from St Alphege’s life. He is shown as a hermit living on Lansdown Hill, as Prior of Bath Abbey, and as Archbishop of Canterbury. One scene depicts his violent death: Alphege was pelted with mutton bones by a group of drunken Vikings, who had imprisoned him for refusing to make the people pay their exorbitant ransom. This year marks exactly 1,000 years since Alphege’s death. Parishioners of St Alphege’s are going to mark the anniversary, and welcome visitors to the church, which is open every day except Monday. ■ The book Our Lady and St Alphege, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s Little Gem of a Church is by Caroline Shaw. It is illustrated, with photographs and reproductions of Scott’s plans and drawings, £9.99 plus £3.50 p&p. Cheques, made payable to St Alphege’s Parish can be sent to: St Alphege’s Presbytery, Oldfield Lane, Bath BA2 3NR. Email: stalpheges@gmail.com, or visit: www.saintalphege.org.uk.

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FOOD&DRINK

Bitesized news

■ Seasons, the cook’s shop at Holt is hosting a herby talk and lunch on Saturday 19 May. Herb expert Dorothy Whittle will give tips on growing culinary and medicinal herbs, while food writer Marie Pierre Moine will demonstrate recipes from her recent book, followed by Marie Pierre’s herb dishes for lunch. Tickets are £25, to book a place tel: 01225 782396.

■ There will be more than 48 different real ales plus traditional ciders to sample at this month’s CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Bath Beer Festival, being staged over two days on Friday 4 May and Saturday 5 May at Widcombe Social Club. There’ll be hot food and live music to help the beer go down. Entry is £6 a session and tickets are available from the Old Green Tree, the Star and Widcombe Social Club.

■ Congratulations to the Regency Tea Rooms in the Jane Austen Centre, which has been given an award of excellence in the annual Tea Guild’s 2012 awards.

The guild is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting good tea and good service. Its judges visited the Bath tea room anonymously to award points for the quality of food, service, decor and presentation. Only 72 establishments nationwide achieved this accolade.

■ Michelin starred chef, Hywel Jones, pictured, and plantsman Richard Vine, who preside over the Kitchen Garden at Lucknam Park, are running a series of tours of the garden and historic greenhouse. Visitors will be encouraged to taste their way through some of the unique produce with Richard, followed by lunch, with fresh home grown ingredients, all for £28. The first of the tours is on 24 May and there will be one a month until August. For more details, tel: 01225 742777.

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NEW FACE ON THE SQUARE

O

NE of Bath’s most familiar city centre landmarks, where The Beatles once swung through the revolving doors for a drink and the rich and famous have wined and dined over the years, is undergoing a £6m makeover.

The Francis Hotel in Queen Square has been taken over by MGallery, which already owns 50 hotels in 18 countries. The historic Bath hotel is MGallery’s second UK project and the first outside London.

The new owner has pledged to restore the terrace of what was once seven Regency townhouses to their former glory. The original houses were designed by architect John Wood the Elder, one of Bath’s most revered architects. The hotel was created in 1884 when Emily Francis combined the seven houses into one.

The end house was hit during the Bath Blitz of April 1942 and had to be largely re-built, which is why it looks slightly different from its neighbours.

When the hotel re-opens on 28 May it will have 98

MAKEOVER: one of the new-look rooms at the Francis Hotel, and inset, Raymond Blanc

bedrooms and adjoining the main hotel will be one of Raymond Blanc’s Brasserie Blanc restaurants. The French chef and owner of the highly acclaimed Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons has created a chain of bistros serving classic French food, overseen by him.

Brasserie Blanc is due to open on 24 May. ■

New brasserie promises something for locals We’re keeping our eye on goings-on at the Abbey Hotel in the centre of Bath where, we hear, good things are about to happen that will benefit not just the tourists but locals too.

Here’s what a spokesman for the hotel, in North Parade, said: “Chris Staines is our new head chef, and we’re putting together some exciting plans for dining at The Abbey. Chris is already very highly regarded in the industry – he was head chef at Foliage, Mandarin Oriental, London where he held a Michelin star for seven years and, before that, he was chef de cuisine at Marco Pierre White’s The

Oak Room, which held three Michelin stars when he was there.”

Chris will be presiding over the Alium restaurant for the hotel’s new owners, Ian and Christa Taylor, who are going through a £1.5m modernisation programe at the Abbey. Supporting Chris is new senior sous chef Ollie Pierrepont, who has been lured from the highly-acclaimed Coworth Park in Ascot.

The Taylors recently ran the award-winning boutique hotel Cotswold House in Chipping Campden.

Book a date for the city foodie festival Bath’s top chefs, food producers and vendors will be gathered together in one spot for the annual Flavours of the West food festival, planned for the weekend of June 30/1 July at Milsom Place in Bath city centre.

For the first time this year the festival will feature a Bake and Cake zone. The expert bakers of the local Women’s Institute will be cooking up cake and biscuits.

Bath-based patisserie Cinnamon Toast will be selling

macaroons and fondant cakes, or visitors can take home some tea from the Sherston Tea Company.

In the Octagon, chefs will stage a programme of free demonstrations, including a session with Michelin-starred Hywel Jones from five star Lucknam Park Hotel.

Some of the stars of Bath’s foodie scene will also be stepping out of their kitchens.

Rachel Demuth will be showing how to create vegetarian dishes, while

Duncan Glendinning of the Thoughtful Bread Company will unveil the secrets of bread baking. Charlie Dingley, who runs the King William and the Garrick’s Head, will also be making an appearance, as will Gordon Jones of the newly launched Bear Flat restaurant Menu Gordon Jones.

Garden designer John Wheatley, the brains behind the extraordinary RHS edible gardens at the Hampton Court Flower Show will be sharing some of his secrets too.

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The Tasting Room WINE MERCHANT & C AFÉ /BAR

Independent Wine Merchant Wines & Spirits to suit every occaison Tasting Room Café is a continental style café/bar located in the heart of Bath.

The style of eating is designed to be relaxed with emphasis on quality. Serving breakfast (brunch at weekends), lunch and dinner - open all day for coffee, tea and cakes and pastries.

The café/bar situated on the first floor, upstairs from the wine shop and there is a secluded terrace for the summer months. This is the perfect place to unwind after a long day at work with a cocktail, glass of wine (perhaps with a plate from the tapas menu) or choose from a long list of unusual Malt whiskies.

Pre-theatre 2 courses for £11.95, 3 courses for £14.95 Tapas deal 3 dishes for £10.00 Available all day and every day Now open Sundays Sunday Brunch from 10.30am • 2 course lunch for £11.95 served from midday OPENING HOURS - Sunday 10.30 – 16.30, Monday 9.30 – 16.30, Tues – Thurs 9.30 – 22.30, Fri – Sat 9.30 – 23.00 SHOP

OPENING HOURS

- Mon – Sat 9.30- 18.00

6 Green Street, Bath BA1 2JY • 01225 483 070

www.tastingroom.co.uk

Book a Wine or Whisky tasting

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Vegetarian Cookery School 6 Terrace Walk, Bath, BA1 1NL, tel: 01225 427938

REVIEW

A FEAST FOR THE SENSES I

t has been argued that curry has overtaken fish and chips or roast beef as the nation’s favourite dish – but how many of us are happy that our home-cooked version is as delicious as the food prepared by our local Indian takeaway?

Those clever chefs at Bath’s Vegetarian Cookery School are on a mission to teach the rest of us recipes that we can duplicate at home which will delight the tastebuds of our family and friends.

The Indian cookery workshop is just one of many themed sessions the school does and they’re increasingly popular with home cooks of all abilities.

I recently attended the latest Indian cookery evening, which fits in neatly after work. The session was led by Rachel and Jo and everyone who attended was friendly, helping to make it a relaxed and enjoyable way to spend a few hours.

We learned a huge amount in the session, from simple little hints such as how to measure exactly the right amount of water when cooking basmati rice, to what herbs and spices to buy to make the tastiest garam masala that can be kept in an airtight container for several months. I promise you, it knocks spots off the dried ready made powder we usually buy.

Some of the session was spent watching, listening and learning. We didn’t need to make notes as a comprehensive and nicely presented leaflet containing all the recipes was handed out at the end of the evening. But we also got the chance to do some hands-on cooking, being encouraged to feel confident popping spices in a pan over a high flame, or making our own stuffed paratha breads and then frying them.

It turns out the reason we find Indian dishes so delicious is partly due to the large amounts of ingredients that the human palate finds so pleasurable – namely fat, sugar and salt. But, although Jo added grated jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) and ghee, she said she wasn’t adding as much as an Indian chef would do. She also showed us how to make a basic balti sauce with inexpensive everyday ingredients – onions, tinned tomatoes, garlic and ginger, with the addition of our pre-prepared masala spice mix, which could easily be the base of any kind of vegetable or meat curry.

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If you made all the dishes we learned that evening at home they would guarantee you the top prize in any Come Dine With Me competition. Who coud resist a starter of crispy, home cooked poppadoms served with warm mango chutney, made with fresh mango with a tang of chilli and ginger?

For the main course we learned how to make a mixed vegetable balti, tarka daal, with paratha bread and jewelled rice.

This last dish looks so pretty in a bowl but is simple to achieve, by stirring the ruby red seeds of a pomegranate with some emerald green fresh coriander, chopped, into the gleaming white of the rice. We were all offered a glass of wine, or juice, then invited to sit around the table together and enjoy the fruits of our labour.

They say that you eat with all your senses, and that is certainly true of Indian cuisine. The smells in cooking and preparation are enough to whet the appetite, then there’s the sound of the spices popping in the pan, the sight of the warm, rich colours, and then, finally the depths of flavour as you tuck in.

Rachel and Jo were endlessly patient, answering questions and asking us about our own experiences of cooking and of Indian food. In the background Laura provided essential backup, bringing us clean spoons for tasting and washing up after us all.

The cookery school, which by the way has the best views of Bath Abbey from its rear windows, may be meat-free but that shouldn’t deter carnivores as it takes a global approach to food.

In June, for instance, you could learn about flavours of the Middle East, how to make Andalucian tapas, Vietnamese cuisine, or how to make perfect home-made bread. And on 31 May it’s organising a wild food walk with lunch made from ingredients gathered along the way, which sounds fun.

And if you’re wondering where you’re going to buy ingredients such as tamarind, a curl of mace or ghee (clarified butter) the Vegetarian Cookery School recommends we try shopping at Ban Thon, the Thai and oriental specialist store in GMc Weston High Street.

VARIETY IS THE SPICE: main picture, fresh mango chutney, and right, some of the ingredients needed to create authentic Indian flavours and dishes at home

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FOOD&DRINK

THE MAN ON THE STAIRS ...

Mezzaluna, 7a Kingsmead Square, Bath BA1 2AB, tel: 01225 466688

REVIEW

O

n a rainy lunchtime in Bath a vegetarian friend and I were looking for somewhere to have lunch and a good chat. We tried Demuths, which is the very zenith of meat-free cuisine in the whole city, but because we foolishly hadn’t booked there wasn’t room.

We could have gone to the Porter pub in George Street where they serve a bargain vegetarian hot lunch for a fiver, which includes a glass of wine, lager or a soft drink. But my friend wanted somewhere with a bit more napery and frills so we headed off to Kingsmead Square and stopped to read the menu outside the Italian Mezzaluna restaurant. As we did, a couple came up the stairs from the basement restaurant. “It’s very good,” the man climbing the stairs told us as we dithered, so we decided to take the plunge.

If you’re with someone who chooses not to eat anything with a face, whether for health or ethical reasons, this turned out to be a good choice.

Mezzaluna may be in a basement but there’s no whiff of cellar down here even on a day in the new British monsoon season. We were shown to an elegant dining room, ‘with napkins and everything’ as the friend observed, happily looking at the polished set of glasses waiting on the table.

From Monday to Saturday inclusive Mezzaluna is currently offering a two-course lunch for £8.95. There is another long-standing Italian restaurant in Bath which offers bargain pizza and pasta deals, but when I went there recently I found it had lost a lot of its old romance, the atmosphere was more canteen than bistro and the service a lot less charming than a few years ago.

Not so Mezzaluna’s staff who were friendly and efficient. On the lunchtime menu here were at least four meat-free main courses to choose from and several starters too. As my friend said, it makes a change not to be only offered goat’s cheese as an option.

I decided to be veggie for the occasion too, bearing in mind it’s National Vegetarian Week from 21 to 27 May, and chose fried mozzarella with a spicy tomato sauce, which came with a piquant chilli kick which I enjoyed.

The contrast between the outer crispy coat and the creamy cheese within was naughty but nice. The veggie’s roast tomato soup came with an artistic swirl of basil oil which she said was delicious.

Between polishing off our food with enthusiasm and sipping on a glass of house white each we managed to catch up on all our news. It wasn’t long before our main courses arrived – for m’learned friend a huge bowl of puttanesca spaghetti, big enough for a hearty appetite, studded with olives and a good garlicky and chilli beat thumping through it. They were generous with the Parmesan too, although the crepe I had, stuffed with rocket and aubergine, was smothered in a richy tomatoey sauce and a layer of melted cheese, so didn’t need any more. If you’re one of those diners who really likes your food hot rather than lukewarm you’ll be more than happy with Mezzaluna’s delivery.

Replete and yet reluctant to go back out into the downpour we said we decided a couple of cappuccinos would go down well.

All in all it was a very pleasant interlude. The bill came to £29.10, which we felt was very reasonable. And we silently offered our thanks GMc to the man on the stairs.

WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

Food for thought...

Every month The Bath Magazine is perfectly delivered to over 20,000 homes in over 1500 streets in Bath and throughout 31 neighbouring villages, That’s a lot of readers who will eat out regularly.

Tell them your dish of the day.

Advertise in The Bath Magazine and feed 1000’s • Telephone 01225 424499

MAY 2012

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

Subscription Form Mr/Mrs/Ms ................Forename ..............................................

Surname................................................................................

Address.............................................................................. ..........................................Postcode ............................

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COMPETITION

WIN A STEAM TRIP TO THE SEASIDE trip down memory lane awaits those who board The Weymouth Seaside Express this summer. This steam train service will recreate the 1950s heyday of seaside excursions and you could win a nostalgic trip on board.

Complete with restored 1950s and 60s carriages hauled by historic steam locomotives, The Weymouth Seaside Express will depart from Bristol Temple Meads, Keynsham and Bath on eight Sundays during the summer starting on July 1.

Heritage rail operator The Railway Touring Company has recruited two fine locomotives to haul these seaside specials.

Swindon-built, Castle class 5029 Nunney Castle dates back to 1934 making 1946-built West Country class Pacific 34046 Braunton a relative youngster.

With one of these powerful giants of steam at its head The Weymouth Seaside Express will travel southwards climbing through the Dorset Hills then race downhill and through Dorchester arriving in Weymouth around 12.30.

A stop of over four hours in this popular seaside resort will give passengers time to spend on the sandy beach or explore the Old Harbour before the homeward journey.

The Weymouth Seaside Express has first class and standard travel options with fares starting at £59 or £154 for a family of four. The service runs on Sundays, July 1, 8, 15, 22, on August 19 and 26 and on September 16 and 23.

Our competition offers the chance to win tickets on board The Weymouth Seaside Express on Sunday 8 July, 2012. First prize is a family first class ticket, including morning coffee with a Danish pastry and afternoon tea with a selection of finger sandwiches, scones, jam and cream, all served on board, worth £232, while second prize is a family standard ticket, including a reserved seat at

A

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a table for four, worth £154.

Simply answer this question: Weymouth will host the sailing events for which international sporting competition this summer?

The Railway Touring Company’s conditions of booking and travel apply. A family ticket is for two adults and two juniors (aged 15 and under).

Send your answers on a postcard marked Steam Trip Competition to The Bath Magazine, 2 Princes Buildings, Bath BA1 2ED or email: competitions@thebathmagazine.co.uk, to arrive by noon on Friday 25 May. Don’t forget to include all your contact details, including your phone number. ■

To book tickets, contact the Railway Touring Company, tel: 01553 661500 or visit: www.railwaytouring.co.uk

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Walking to Work If you live near your place of work, have you been inspired by the fresh spring air to leave the car at home and enjoy a leisurely stroll to work?

Walking to and from work can be a wonderful experience, and a very invigorating way to start and end each day. You are in control of your route and pace, and if you do it regularly you will start to notice things in your neighbourhood from a totally different perspective than when concentrating on the road ahead.

Some people enjoy the space and solitude of a walk to listen to their favourite tunes or catch up on the latest audio book. Or you can find plenty of opportunities for social interaction during your walk.

If your route takes you past a great café you can enjoy a coffee and grab a ‘guilt-free’ muffin along the way, as your walk to work will have burned off some calories, and enabled you to have a treat with the pounds saved on petrol!

Just thirty minutes a day of brisk walking can have many health benefits too including helping to reduce the risk of heart disease, helping to control your weight, strengthening your bones and reducing high blood pressure, stress and anxiety.

May 14-18 has been designated as ‘Walk to Work’ week, so why not sign up to take part in this nationwide initiative at www.livingstreets.org.uk and start walking your way to a healthier lifestyle.

To help kickstart a healthier you and to reduce your carbon footprint across the West we’ve teamed up with www.travelwest.info (the local travel information website) to give away pedometers (limited to the first 100 readers) so you can start counting your steps and monitor your progress day by day.

Visit travelwest.info/walk for more information, and get your activity levels up and your stress level down with a regular walk to work.

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FAMILYfun

MAY FUN: left, enjoy digging and planting at the My Small World Toy Store gardening morning; above, watch all your favourite book and television characters dance and sing on stage at the Theatre Royal Bath; right, walk with dinosaurs and hear them roar at Bristol Zoo Gardens

MAGIC MOMENTS IN MAY The city has plenty of events and activities on offer for all the family to enjoy this month; from origami to walking with dinosaurs and gardening to racing. Use our guide to help plan quality time with your little ones

Bank Holiday raceday

Green fingers

Bath Racecourse, Bath. Tel: 01225 424 609

Family–friendly theatre

My Small World Toy Store, Little Southgate, Bath. Tel: 01225 938338

The egg, Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath.

Box office tel: 01225 448844 www.theatreroyal.org.uk

Racing and West Country Olympics, Monday 7 May As well as the exciting racing the west country Olympics will be taking place for families.

Expect welly wanging and egg and spoon races.

Origami art Museum of East Asian Art, Bennett Street, Bath.

Book and pay by Thursday 5 May. Tel: 01225 464 640. Free with museum admission.

My Small Gardener, Thursday 10 May, 10am – 11am My Small World’s monthly gardening club involves planting and compost, singing and silliness. Mums and Dads can have a discounted take-away tea or coffee from Teamonkey next door and relax while someone else entertains the children. Fantastic first gardening fun in the indoor comfort of the store and suitable for all ages.

Origami Ikebana Workshop, Saturday 5 May, 2pm – 3.30pm

Children’s show

Come and learn how to make origami flowers and use them to make your own ikebana flower arrangement to take home.

Main House, Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath. Box office tel: 01225 448844 www.theatreroyal.org.uk

Tudor birds

The Little Big Club: Live in Concert, Sunday 13 May, 1pm & 3.30pm

Lacock Abbey, near Chippenham.

Tel: 01249 730459 www.nationaltrust.org/lacock

Tudor Falconry, Sunday 13 May, 10.30am – 4pm Be awed by the sight and flight of some magnificent birds of prey over the river Avon and Lacock’s water meadows. See the birds resting in the medieval cloister garth, chat to falconer Jonathon Marshal and maybe handle a bird. There will be two flying displays, 11.30am and 3pm, and a parade of hawks at 1pm.

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Featuring Barney the Dinosaur, Bob the Builder, Angelina Ballerina, Pingu, Fireman Sam and Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, this colourful new performance brings to life children’s favourite characters from books and television as they appear on stage together for the first time in an all-star family show. The action-packed entertainment starts with an interactive music concert, followed by singalong-songs from Barney the Dinosaur and Bob the Builder and a special dance from Angelina Ballerina.

Cloud Man, Friday 18 & Saturday 19 May, Friday 10.30am & 1pm; Saturday 11.30am & 3pm Cloudia has always had her head in the clouds.

She is a cloud expert and all her life has dreamt of seeing a cloud man. Cloud men are extremely rare creatures who live a quiet life high up in the sky. Follow the clues to the very top of cloud mountain where if you are lucky, you may see something very special. A blend of puppetry, storytelling and visuals. Suitable for ages 4+.

Prehistoric zoo Bristol Zoo Gardens, Clifton, Bristol. Tel: 0117 974 7300 or visit: www.bristolzoo.org.uk

Dinozoo, Opens Friday 25 May They ruled the Earth for millions of years and now dinosaurs are making a comeback at Bristol Zoo Gardens. For three months over the summer, 12 huge and incredibly life-like animatronic dinosaurs will be placed around the zoo. Visitors have the chance to get up close to amazing, roaring, moving, hissing and even water-spraying creatures they’ve only read about in books or seen in films. Take a walk with the dinosaurs if you dare.

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Curtain UpTheatre School Part time theatre school for children 6 to 18 years Schools in Bath and Melksham

Call Sarah for details of a free trial session for your child 01761 239185 admin@curtainup.org.uk www.curtainup.org.uk

THEBATHMAGAZINE THEBESTOFBATH PERFECTLYCOVERED BATHSBIGGESTMAGAZINE PERFECTLYDELIVERED TOADVERTISETEL: 01225 424499 WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

MAY 2012

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Are you hosting International students?

We are currently looking for caring hosts who can welcome one or more students aged 13 – 18 in Bath during June, July and August.

Please contact Dawn Bennett on 07771 279608 or email bathhostfamilies@elac.co.uk

Accredited by the VACATIONS

www.elac.co.uk

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Getting back into employment or returning to work after redundancy, can be quite a daunting prospect.

Here at Pitman Training Bath, we’re on hand to support YOU all the way.

We offer: ■ flexible training you can fit around work and family commitments ■ confidence that you’re one step closer to your dream job or new career ■ the widely respected Pitman Training name on your CV ■ the skills in demand by local employers

Get the Pitman Advantage™

Thousands of people have successfully undertaken Pitman Training programmes; they’ve progressed their careers, raised their salaries and broadened their horizons as a result.

Have a read and watch the videos on our website (Case Studies) to discover more about - Why Pitman Training is the best you can get.

www.pitman-training.com

Your Dividends are now subject to NI...!

tel 01225 462 066

….is a headline that will catch the attention of owner / managers of SME companies who have been used to paying themselves by way of a minimum salary plus dividends in order to reduce national insurance contributions (NI).

A recent decision in the Court of Appeal (PA Holdings case) ruled that dividends can be charged to NI, with the judge deciding that the dividends counted as salary for both tax and NI purposes. An appeal from PAH might be upheld, but does this mean HMRC will attack all owner managed companies?

Not in our view - the PA Holdings case involved a complex scheme with a special type of share designed to allow a bonus which would normally be subject to tax and NI to be paid as a dividend. This type of scheme was basically closed down some years ago and is not representative of the typical owner / managed business.

The benefits continue as before - if you are starting a new business (or own a small business) you should consider incorporating the business (setting up a limited company) to take advantage of the favourable tax situation.

At OCL we have been looking after small businesses (turnovers from £20,000 to £3 million) for more than twenty years and have clients who have been with us throughout.

We can explain the salary / dividend approach to you in less than an hour, covering the main points including how you can save money.

See our website for more on this approach – and download our FREE guide

Call Mike Wilcox or Marie Maggs on 01225 445507 to come in for a discussion – no obligation – we’re pleased to help.

141 Englishcombe Lane, Bath BA2 2EL

WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

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MOVERS&SHAKERS

MOVING HOME WITHOUT TEARS If the thought of downsizing, househunting or packing all your belongings to move horrifies you, there are people who can help. Georgette McCready meets the women of Bath who offer practical – and emotional – support in challenging circumstances

M

oving house is a terrifically stressful and tiring business, and I speak with some experience, having moved all my belongings four times in the past 12 months. The trauma includes the hassle and worry of packing all your beloved possessions into boxes, finding a new home that suits you and then trying to get all those said belongings into the new home. Not as simple as it sounds, believe me.

I could have done with someone like Wendy Manister of Zest Concierge, who’s been in business in Bath since 2006 and among her multi-tasking for clients, helps with the process of moving house. With a level and unflappable head on her shoulders, Wendy has welcomed the removal men into a home after the occupiers have jumped out of bed and gone to work. She oversees the movement of furniture into the new home, unpacks key kitchen items, makes the bed up again -– bed linen and all – only for the workers to arrive at the end of the day in their new home. They’ll even find milk in the fridge and a vase of flowers to make them feel at home.

Wendy said: “I can offer a range of tailor-made services for people. One client has me run through her paperwork on a regular basis so she doesn’t miss out on taxing her car and other essential admin jobs. Another family, who are moving house, have asked me to come in and help them de-clutter.

“I think having a neutral person to help with these things can make it less traumatic, less emotional. They might just want to employ Zest for a one-off job, or for a regular assignment. I’ve got one couple, for instance, who own a west country home that they visit from time to time. When they tell me they’re coming down I go in and sort out the pile of post, make sure the place is clean and spotless and stock up on some provisions.”

Sara Milward-Oliver of Tailormade Moves is another professional Bath businesswoman who keeps her head when all around are losing theirs. She specialises in all aspects of helping people move house, from helping prepare for a sale to finding the right tradespeople to help with getting the new property ready.

Sara said: “We recently moved a family downsizing from eight to four bedrooms and a far smaller garden. They were focused 64 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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and ready for it, but once deadlines were in place, with sale dates fixed, the sheer weight of decision-making, as well as the physical work, took them by surprise.”

Tailormade Move has been particularly helpful in offering practical support to older homeowners, either bereaved or divorced, who have faced the twin trauma of loss and moving home. Sara is adept at taking care of the rest of the family too, and reassuring them at what can be a tough time for all.

Friends and business partners Jane Padwick and Bryony Ares are used to multi-tasking as both are mothers of twins. They met while running a twins club in Newbridge, having moved to Bath from London and Spain.

Their own experiences led them to set up Relocate to Bath, which, as its name suggests, helps people wishing to set up home in Bath. The service can be as diverse as finding the right school, negotiating the best neighbourhoods for commuting or setting up broadband connection for a new property.

Because Jane and Bryony have seven children between them aged from two to 11, they understand what families are looking for when they move house. Bryony said: “I know exactly what it’s like to be trying to do a day’s househunting and find somewhere to live with a four-year-old tugging at your arm desperate for the loo.”

Relocate to Bath even offers an orientation day for people in which they give them a whistle-stop tour of the area, taking into account shopping needs with the desire for country views or access to good schools.

Clients so far have come mainly from London, but also Spain, Russia, Canada and France. ■ ■ Zest Concierge, tel: 07976 168 652, www.zestconcierge.com ■ Tailormade Moves, tel: 07968 213510, www.tailormademoves.com ■ Relocate to Bath, tel: 01225 428071, www.relocatetobath.co.uk

THE PROFESSIONALS: main picture, Jane Padwick and Bryony Ares, of Relocate to Bath Top, Wendy Manister of Zest Concierge, below, Sara MilwardOliver of Tailormade Moves

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LEGALmatters

ADV ERT OR I AL FEATURE

FAMILY ARBITRATION: MORE CHOICE FOR DIVORCING COUPLES W

e are now familiar with the various “out of court” options available to help separating or divorcing couples reach financial settlement: mediation and collaborative practice are fast gaining recognition. Since the end of March this year, these tools for resolving disputes have been extended by the introduction of family arbitration. Arbitration has long been a feature of commercial and construction disputes but only now is it available in a family law context.

What is Family Arbitration?

It is a system whereby separating couples can appoint their own arbitrator from a panel of experienced family lawyers and retired Judges.

They can ask for help on a single issue or a complex dispute. The neutral arbitrator will hear arguments, review evidence and make a binding decision based on the laws of England and Wales.

Depending on the nature of the dispute, the decision or award may then be referred to the court purely for an order to be made in the same terms.

Family arbitration may be used to resolve financial and property issues arising from divorce, civil partnership and cohabitation breakdown and inheritance disputes.

How does Arbitration compare with the court process?

The benefits of arbitration compared with the formal court process include: • Choice: Couples can choose the identity of their arbitrator if they wish. You cannot choose your Judge in court and indeed could end up with different Judges at various stages throughout the case.

• Autonomy: You can decide when and where hearings take place, ensuring speed and convenience.

• Bespoke Process: Although there is a formula for the process, it can be tailored to suit your circumstances and needs; for instance, a couple can agree to deal with all issues on paper rather than having a hearing to give oral evidence. Flexibility and a degree of informality should mean that the process is less traumatic. It is capable of being much more streamlined, whereas the court process is often a case of taking a sledge hammer to crack a nut.

WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

• Confidentiality: Potentially, within the court process, the media can report on details a couple would rather remain private.

• Cost: Although the arbitrator’s costs need to be covered, the quicker, more tailored process should be cheaper than using the court which can be extremely protracted and expensive.

The drawbacks could involve: • The limitations of an arbitrator’s powers compared with the coercive and wide ranging powers of a Judge. For instance, a Judge can force financial disclosure or freeze and preserve assets.

• The award may need to be adapted in a family law context and referred to the court for an order to be made. Only a court can ensure an absolutely final outcome, dismissing future financial claims.

• The process is new, with only a limited number of trained arbitrators available so far.

• It does not extend to disputes concerning children, such as residence and contact.

How does Arbitration compare with other forms of non-court based options?

These options cover agreement direct between the parties, mediation and collaborative practice.

• Agreement between the parties: Whilst this does of course suggest a much lower level of dispute, this offers the most freedom and flexibility as well as being the cheapest option, but this should be balanced against the lack of advice on hand as to realistic outcomes and the implications for the future. To protect the uninformed or vulnerable, a settlement agreed in this way should always be checked by lawyers and the paperwork correctly drafted.

• Mediation: Any imbalance of power can be addressed by the presence of a skilled mediator.

No legal advice is given during mediation but you should see a lawyer before finalising terms.

A mediated agreement is not however binding and certainly not the same as a determinative arbitrated award.

• Collaborative Practice: This appears to offer the best of all worlds: autonomy and choice, legal advice and support, an incentive on the lawyers to help you secure an agreement (otherwise the lawyers must cease to act) and lower costs compared with the court, although perhaps on a par with those of arbitration.

Crucially, you make the decisions rather than a

third party, but that could also be the downside of both collaborative practice and mediation, where negotiations potentially could grind to a halt. Arbitration at least has a clear timetable and outcome.

Which is right for you?

Any of the five possibilities dealt with here could be right for you, depending on your circumstances. Ultimately, it boils down to the level of agreement between a couple and what your priorities are. In a very difficult situation, you may have no choice but to involve the court, and in other circumstances a combination of approaches may work. You may, for instance, opt for the collaborative process but break an impasse by referring a particular issue to arbitration.

The Family Team at Mowbray Woodwards can help you choose the right path. With four experienced and qualified lawyers, two of whom are also collaborative practitioners, we can find the best solution for you.

For further information about divorce and separation or any other family law issue, please contact Meg Moss, Family Partner at Mowbray Woodwards Solicitors, on 01225 485700 or via email at mlm@mowbraywoodwards.co.uk

Meg Moss, Family Partner at Mowbray Woodwards Solicitors

Mowbray Woodwards Solicitors, 3 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HG www.mowbraywoodwards.co.uk MAY 2012

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ONLINEsecurity

ADVICE ON SAFE SURFING Just how secure is the information on your computer?

Tom Trosborg of Odin IT offers expert advice on staying safe online

E

xactly as we wouldn’t be happy to find our post had been steamed open prior to delivery, we also expect privacy for our personal emails. Recently, the Government aired plans to extend its rights to monitor our emails, telephone calls and social media, and although it seems likely that these proposals will be watered down after the ensuing outcry, the debate has raised important questions about the level of privacy we can expect for our online activity.

“Security issues affecting our personal computer use have changed substantially over the past few years,” says Tom Trosborg, who founded Odin IT in Bath 25 years ago this month.

“No one likes the idea of the Government spying on our personal emails and Facebook updates, but if you are concerned about the security of your information, then GCHQ is probably the least of your worries.”

Computer viruses can have devastating effects on your operating system. “There are many potentially harmful trojans, viruses and malware in circulation, and some come disguised as a plausible-sounding solution to help you cure a virus, leading unsuspecting people to infect their computer themselves,” says Tom. “It’s our job to keep up-to-date with new viruses, but prevention is always better than cure, so we ensure our clients have the right anti-virus and anti-spyware software installed to help avoid these problems occurring. We also offer an annual MOT as computer technology and viruses are constantly evolving and it’s important to stay protected.”

Some viruses cripple your computer’s operating system, so you can’t run any programs, send emails or access important information, which can be very costly to put right.

“Viruses can be downloaded via attachments or by clicking infected links on websites or emails, so we recommend you don’t open any emails or attachments from unknown senders and be very careful about the websites you visit,” says Tom. Fraudsters can also use spyware installed on your computer via a virus to gain access to your passwords and may hack into your online banking, social media or email accounts to steal your identity or your money. “It’s important to use strong passwords that can’t be easily guessed (not your cat’s name!) and change them regularly. The more information you give away about yourself online, the more exposed you are to security risks, so avoid signing up to lots of mailing lists. Ensure your home wifi network is password protected, and for laptop users, it’s a good idea not to do your online banking in public places using an unprotected wifi network, which may leave you vulnerable to hackers.”

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and you just need to take sensible precautions.

“Many of our clients have had whole new worlds opened up to them by learning how to use online services,” says Tom. “We’ve helped clients talk to their grandchildren in Australia using Skype; while others have tracked down old school friends and researched their family trees online. People can easily manage their photos, do their banking and shop for everything from groceries to theatre tickets at the click of a mouse in the comfort of their living room.”

So is there anything else we can do to keep our information safe? “When online shopping, always buy from reputable websites and check for the padlock symbol on the bottom right of the screen to show it’s a secure site that will help keep your card details safe,” says Tom. “Also, back up all your important information and photos onto an external hard drive, so if the worst happens, you’ve got copies of everything.”

We’ve helped clients talk to their ❝ grandchildren in Australia using Skype; while others have tracked down old school friends

❞

Finally, Tom says it’s important to always be on your guard – there are some very authentic-looking emails purporting to be from banks, the tax office and even from Microsoft doing the rounds, so always check with the organisation to ensure it’s genuine before responding.

If you get a phonecall from an unknown company telling you there’s a problem with your computer, even if they say they are from Microsoft, hang up immediately as it’s very likely to be a scam. And never reveal your account details or passwords in response to an email or unsolicited phone call – a reputable company would never ask for this information anyway.

“We’ve been supporting people and businesses in the Bath area for 25 years,” says Tom, “and although we’ve seen security issues become more complex, it’s our job to help people get online and enjoy all the fun and convenience of the internet without the worries.” ■ ODIN IT is Trading Standards Approved and CRB checked, which means you can be confident about booking a home visit. Clients range from students and families to OAPS, as well as a number of local businesses. Odin IT offers: • Free telephone advice – on any issue, no matter how trivial it may seem • Virus prevention and removals • Computer repairs and data recovery

SOUND ADVICE: Tom Trosborg, who has been helping people in the Bath area with their IT issues for 25 years PORTRAIT: Marko www. studiomarko.co.uk

• Safe computer disposal • Independent advice on software and products, including shop visits • No fix – no fee policy • Home and office support, including training in your own home • Support for internet telephony – VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) For free initial advice, contact Tom at Odin IT on tel: 01225 808475 or visit: www.odinit.co.uk

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A DVERTOR IA L FEAT U R E

Minimising the Destruction of Divorce for Children – Effective Co-parenting Tips

By Clare Webb, Sharp Family Law - Bath and Bristol Divorce Solicitors • www.sharpfamilylaw.com Clare Webb at Sharp Family Law, Bath and Bristol Solicitors helps separating and divorcing clients, who want to avoid prolonged conflict, to reach solutions that work for them and their families.

Turn up to events like plays, sports days, graduations together Show your children that you are still their mum and dad by putting on that united front. They will appreciate being able to share the experience with both of their parents rather than feeling guilty one is not there.

Always put the children first…

As parents you will share an abiding love and concern for your children. Provided you keep their best interest in mind you should both be able to focus on how best to achieve certain objectives as a family despite being in separate households.

For your free copy of the book “The Truth About Children and Divorce” by Robert E. Emery contact Clare Webb at Sharp Family Law on 01225 448 955 or by email on clare@sharpfamilylaw.com

C

o-parenting is often viewed as the most difficult aspect of a divorce or separation. Particularly, if there are still some emotional hurdles to overcome. However, if approached in the right way it can be the most rewarding part of your on-going relationship as parents – after all just because the relationship has broken down it doesn’t mean the family has to also.

Don’t talk about anything that might lead to an argument with the children present:

As a family solicitor in Bath and Bristol, many of the men and women I see want advice as to how they might address co-parenting issues which inevitably occur. As the children strive to get used to living in 2 households, their development can be greatly enhanced by following a few golden rules.

Don’t talk to the other parent through the children

Be respectful toward the other parent:

Be flexible and willing to compromise

In the children’s eyes you are still their parents whom they love dearly. Don’t let what negative or critical views you might have about the other parent be picked up by them.

Instead keep referring to the other as mum and/or dad, it will make the children feel safe and still part of the family.

Not everything in life can go according to plan.

Things may crop up when you need to alter arrangements or you will be asked to accommodate a change to schedule. Talk to the other parent about how best to deal with it and accept it. The children are having to learn to be flexible, so should you.

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There will be times when you have a difference of opinion. Don’t address these in front of the children. They are already having to get used to mum and dad not being together anymore. Let them remain children and keep the adult talk behind closed doors.

If you need to make alternative arrangements for contact or there is something else you need to say, contact the other parent directly. It’s not the children’s responsibility to be the messenger.

sharp F A M I LY L A W Sharp Family Law: Helping clients to reach solutions 3 Miles’s Buildings, Bath, BA1 2QS, UK email: clare@sharpfamilylaw.com m: 07766 107527 t: 01225 448955 website: www.sharpfamilylaw.com MAY 2012

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OUT&ABOUT

THE JOY OF FREE FOOD Within walking distance of Bath city centre can be found carpets of wild garlic, with a heady scent that fills the air, and as Andrew Swift writes, its leaves provide a free, tasty ingredient for home cooking

O

ne of the great rediscoveries of the ‘food for free’ movement is wild garlic – Allium ursinum – and nowhere is it more abundant than in the valleys around Bath. Even if it weren’t edible, its starburst flowers, creating dazzling carpets of white in dappled woods, would make it one of the glories of spring. But it is its smell – filling the air with a balmy pungency – that tempts us to an even closer acquaintance. Few, if any, other plants appeal so strongly to all five of our senses.

You can sample wild garlic soup at Demuth’s, wild garlic pesto at the Wild Café in Queen Street or wild garlic bread baked by the Thoughtful Bread Company. You can even buy bunches of wild garlic at the farmers’ market. But nothing can beat the satisfaction of gathering it yourself and rustling up a wild garlic and mushroom risotto or adding its chopped leaves to a spring salad. Preparation couldn’t be easier. Just wash and chop the leaves, and either serve them raw or stir them into whatever dish you fancy – but right at the end of the cooking time, as overcooking quickly destroys their delicate flavour.

There are many places to find wild garlic around Bath. The lanes and footpaths north of Batheaston, in the valleys leading up to Marshfield, as well as the woods near Colerne, are prime hunting grounds. South of the river, Bathwick Wood, owned by the National Trust, on the slopes below Sham Castle, is another good spot.

Less familiar, and largely inaccessible until recently, is Smallcombe Wood. To get there, go through a gateway on Widcombe Hill, just below Macaulay Buildings, on the opposite side of the road. Head diagonally across the field to the right and go through a gate. The overgrown paths are slowly being cleared

by National Trust volunteers, but you still have to pick your way round fallen trees and negotiate slippery slopes. Turn left as you enter the woods to follow a path along the edge of the escarpment, turn right to climb through the woods or carry straight on along a broad but muddy path. Whichever way you

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choose, you will find the woods carpeted with wild garlic, and you will eventually arrive at a broken-down wall, beyond which the land is privately owned.

Then there is Prior Park, which is staging a Gorgeous Garlic Festival until 6 May. Here, visitors are invited to pick wild garlic, try food made from it at the lakeside tea kiosk and take recipe cards home. And, with the gardens in the woods carpeted in sparkling white, there is no better time to visit.

To get there, you could just walk up Prior Park Road and Ralph Allen Drive, but there is a much more attractive option, using a newly-opened footpath.

From Bath, cross the footbridge over the river behind the railway station, cross two sets of pedestrian lights, and turn right and then left up Lyncombe Hill.

At the top of Lyncombe Hill, turn left down Rosemount Lane.

As you head steeply downhill, superb views open up – to the Abbey Cemetery and Perrymead on the right, and across fields to Widcombe Crescent and Terrace on the left.

Turn left at the end, right up Ralph Allen Drive, across the bottom of Perrymead and through the gates of the Abbey Cemetery. A few metres along, turn right up a flight of steps, follow the path round and continue uphill. Head to the right of the chapel and bear right along a rough path. On the other side of the wall is the Catholic cemetery. The main chapel is in the centre; the French-Gothic-style building on the right was a private chapel for the Eyre family.

Go through a kissing gate and turn left uphill. The road soon turns into a rough lane, climbing ever more steeply through a tunnel of trees – and a profusion of wild garlic. This was the old road from Bath to Combe Down, which fell into disuse when the new road up Ralph Allen Drive was opened. After passing under a grotto-like archway, built by Ralph Allen to carry a drive over the lane, turn left into a housing estate, follow the road round, and turn left. When you reach Ralph Allen Drive, turn left down to the gardens.

A TASTE OF THE COUNTRY: main picture, wild garlic

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OUT&ABOUT

ROMANTIC SPOT: the Palladian bridge at Prior Park, once ivy covered and neglected, now restored to its former glory

The gardens at Prior Park evolved between 1734 and 1764.

Ralph Allen’s ambition to create one of the finest gardens in the land was aided immeasurably by his choice of site. Had he done nothing more than graze sheep on the slopes below his house, he would still have had one of the most dramatic prospects in the west country.

After Allen’s death the gardens went into decline. His successors took little interest in the gardens, and visitors – whom Allen had encouraged – were no longer welcome. Despite their proximity to Bath, however, the gardens were not sold for development. They were simply abandoned – lost gardens at the edge of the city – until in 1993 they were taken over by the National Trust, who set about restoring them.

The lake at the bottom of the gardens, busy with coots and moorhens, and a resident heron stalking its prey, is a place to linger. When you manage to drag yourself away, leave the gardens

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by the lower gate and turn left along the lane. By the gate of a house called the Dell, go down a short flight of steps on the left.

At the end of the path, turn right, passing Widcombe Manor and the church, before emerging on Widcombe Hill. Turn left down to Widcombe and cross the river to return to the city centre. ■

FURTHER INFORMATION ■

Prior Park Gardens (NT) open daily, 10am to 4.30pm. Admission charges apply. Gorgeous Garlic Festival details, visit: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/prior-park or tel: 01225 833422. For information on Abbey Cemetery, visit: www.widcombeassociation.org.uk/abbey

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CITYpeople

News in brief ■ Bath-based law firm, Mowbray Woodwards has appointed Kate Jackson as partner and deputy head of the residential property team. Kate joined the firm in January 2011 bringing with her over 18 years of experience as a residential property solicitor. She specialises in all areas of residential conveyancing including assents of property and matrimonial transfers. Kate also has a particular expertise in leasehold property transactions.

■ Bath couple Emma Webber and Jeremy Smith have used their experiences as spa professionals to create The Natural Spa Factory products for use in hotels and spas.

Created from natural ingredients the Spa Factory will sell direct to corporate customers who will then be able to brand them as their own. Visit: www.thenaturalspafactory.com ■ Writer, author and editor Diana Cambridge is running one of her series of creative writing workshops in Bath.

Write your way to happiness on Saturday 12 May from 10am aims to inspire people to finish their novel, radio play or family history. Diana offers a one-to-one critique and professional advice, while therapist Sally Gillow will be sharing relaxation techniques. The workshop costs £37, for more details tel: 01225 312221.

■ A free classical music concert held at St Swithin’s Church in Walcot raised £1,000 for The Prince’s Trust charity from the closing collection. The concert, which included Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, featured harpsichord player David Wright, soprano Evelyn Strasburger and Mezzo Zarah Hible and a chamber ensemble.

Home care service expands Care company Home Instead Senior Care in Wiltshire, which looks after people in their own homes, has expanded its services to cover the Bath area. Owners Alison and Nick Yeatman have appointed care manager Diane Gleaves to help with the growing service.

Alison said: “We only opened our office in November but have had such a great response that we are really thrilled to be able to roll out our offering to include those living in Bath.

Quality at-home care is something we feel passionately about and we know that Diane will be the perfect addition to the team as she really embodies our values and this is crucial as our company starts to grow.”

Diane has spent her career working in a caring capacity. Prior to joining Home Instead she was a home care organiser. She said: “Home Instead’s emphasis on building relationships with its elderly clients is hugely important to me and I am not surprised that the team has experienced such a high demand for its services.”

Home Instead’s services includes meal preparation, light housekeeping, post-discharge care, personal care, medication reminders, shopping and errands, and, most importantly, caring companionship.

The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

HAIR EXTENSION: Dappa, the Bath hairdresser and barber based in Broad Street, has taken over the former Liberty restaurant building in Argyle Street. The sale was brokered by Colliers International, which showed more than 20 businesses around the site and received five offers for the property.

Chosen to create national postal museum Bath-based Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios is to design a new home for The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA). The museum and archive centre will provide access to unique collections of 400 years of postal, social and design history, including photographs, posters, vehicles, pillar boxes, employment records of millions of people and a world-class stamp collection.

The design will restore and refurbish an existing building, while more exhibition space and the archive will be located in the new build. The ultimate goal is to provide London with a new museum that displays a unique set of world class collections. Under a plan endorsed by the

Government, the new centre will be established at Calthorpe House, on London’s Mount Pleasant site, where the country’s oldest mail centre is located. It is close to the existing home of the BPMA at Freeling House, which has very limited space for exhibitions and displays.

Richard Collis, partner and project architect from Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios said: “We are very excited to be working with Royal Mail Group and the Postal Heritage Trust on the project. It reflects some great ambitions for a genuinely sustainable refurbishment and the creative re-use of a robust, existing industrial building in the heart of Clerkenwell.”

Designs on city homes

BESPOKE: the new Eton Design showroom in Walcot Street

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The former Walcot Reclamation premises have been transformed into a sumptuous showroom, full of swags of designer fabrics and around 500 sample fabric and wallpaper books, with the arrival of interior design business Eton Design.

The designers behind the label are Peter Higgins and Nicholas Sheridan, who have been successfully trading in Eton for almost seven years. They still have clients in the west of London and are currently working on the interior of a restaurant for Heston Blumenthal, but have fallen for the charms of Bath and plan to make their home here.

Nicholas said: “We love Bath and are looking forward to getting involved in the city’s community and vibrant culture. As an independent business we’re pleased to be

working with others in the city. We’re already working with Walcot Upholstery and we’ve decided not to carry Farrow & Ball paints, although we do use them, as there is a showroom in Walcot Street we can work with.”

Eton Design has an on site workshop where curtains and trimmings are put together.

Customers can call in and buy anything from a few metres of curtain trimming or swags to ordering a complete home makeover, in consultation with Peter or Nicholas. They are able, for instance, to get any image printed on to fabrics or wallpapers, so clients could use their favourite photo as art. Designer names carried by Eton Design include Christian Lacroix, Nina Campbell, Designers Guild, Mulberry and Osborne and Little.

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Trouble with Poorly Fitting Dentures, Soreness, Difficulty Eating, Can’t Taste Food Properly?

All-on-4 Dental Implants May Be The Solution At Edgar Buildings Dental Care we have been using the All-on-4 system for nearly ten years.

Philip Pettemerides at Edgar Buildings Dental Care says “The All-on-4 concept from Nobel Biocare provides an ideal alternative to dentures with a fixed solution using a minimum of four implants and in many instances, a provisional bridge fitted on the day of implant placement.

We are able to plan the implant position on a scan from our in-house CT scanner and even place implants with a guided approach similar to micro surgery with minimal surgical trauma.

The All-on-Four method uses 3-D scanning to find the existing bone and place implants made by Nobel Biocare in their optimum position.

In as little as one single appointment, patients can say goodbye to their dentures forever.

This procedure enables us to replace a complete denture with implants and a nonremovable set of new teeth within a day. In most cases there is no bone grafting, no sinus grafting, no incision or suture placement and no healing time required”.

Due to its ease and quick application, the procedure has been nicknamed ‘Teeth in a Day’. For anyone who finds dentures too troublesome or wants to replace missing teeth, an all on four fixed dental implant treatment is a well proven option. It is safe, quick and easy to administer.

permanent teeth. All-on-4 dental implants are beneficial especially to those who need teeth replacements for the full lower or upper jaw.

The All-on-4 implants provide tooth restoration options that are secure and can be used within the same day they are attached.

What are All-on-4 Dental Implants?

bone loss that removable dentures can induce.

To arrange a consultation at Edgar Buildings Dental on George Street please contact our reception team on 01225 466086 or e mail philip@smileofconfidence.com

Benefits of All-on-4 Dental Implants The All-on-4 dental implant system makes use of four dental implants that are strategically placed in the front part of the jaw, where there is usually better jawbone structure and density, so the need for more complicated procedures (such as bone grafting) can be eliminated.

The tooth restoration or replacement can also be attached to the implants on the same day the treatment is done, so that the patient can immediately enjoy the full benefits of both the All-on-4 dental implants and the WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

EDGAR BUILDINGS DENTAL CARE Immediate aesthetic improvement – As the All-on-4 dental implant system by the Swedish company Nobel Biocare is placed into the jaw bone and attached to teeth restorations within the same day, patients can enjoy immediate aesthetic improvements without the need to wait for weeks or months to see their brand new smiles.

Fixed implant restorations allow an increase in biting forces that are often reduced in denture wearers and help to prevent further

7 Edgar Buildings George Street, Bath BA1 2EE 01225 466086 www.smileofconfidence.com Philip@smileofconfidence.com www.allon4-dentist.co.uk Edgar Buildings Dental Care part of Portman Healthcare.

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FIT&FABULOUS

News in brief ● A free passage meditation beginners course is

being held in Larkhall over four Tuesdays in May from 7–9pm at New Oriel Hall. Passage meditation is the unique method for transforming the thought process whereby a spiritual text, or passage, is chosen which embodies our highest ideals and is memorised and repeated slowly with concentration.

This method is thought to bring two benefits: building the capacity to place our attention wherever we choose and awareness of inspirational consciousness. It is also thought to help reduce stress and anxiety, and improve concentration, sleep, and energy levels. The course will teach the method and provide ways of supporting an ongoing practice. For more information, contact Lin Patterson on tel: 01225 311163, email lin@phonecoop.coop or visit: www.easwaran.org ● Meningitis UK is appealing to Bath residents to take part in a walk through the Avon Gorge next month to help raise funds for the charity to continue its work in helping to fight Meningitis and save lives through developing preventative vaccines.

Meningitis UK’s Big Stroll is taking place on Saturday 16 June and will follow 11 miles of great views with a route that starts in Keynsham, winds along the green banks of the River Avon and finishes at the Avon Gorge Hotel with views of the iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge. This is one of four Big Strolls Meningitis UK is holding this summer, with two in Northern Ireland and another in the north east. To sign up, tel: 0117 303 3347 or visit: www.meningitisuk.org/bigstroll

Be pampered at Hotel du Vin’s beauty event

● Ladies, you won’t want to miss out on the special beauty event being held at Hotel du Vin in Bristol on 18 May. You’ll be treated to Champagne on arrival, drinks throughout the evening, two 15 minute or one 30 minute treatment, luxury canapés and a personalised skin analysis from Dermalogica experts including customised samples based on your individual skin concerns. Plus there’s a beauty gift bag for every guest. Tickets cost £80 with £5 of every ticket donated to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. To book, tel: 07794 070 812 or email: thebeautyevent@gmail.com

PREP SKIN FOR THE SUMMER

SKIN DEEP

Now is the time to pamper your skin to get it looking soft, supple and fabulous ready to bare all as the weather warms up. Try the body scrub from Tom Ford’s new luxury Neroli Portofino collection (£50, from Harvey Nichols) for beautifully smooth skin. The enriching and exfoliating scrub removes dead skin cells and leaves skin soft and delicately scented.

The latest health and beauty news and product reviews from Samantha Ewart

Celebrate the scents of the English country garden with the new Wisteria collection from Crabtree & Evelyn, featuring beautiful scents of wisteria with lily, lavender, rosewater, and iris in a range of products, all decorated with elegant designs. Available from Crabtree & Evelyn, New Bond Street

1 2 To help reduce the appearance of dreaded cellulite, there’s a great new product on the market which detoxifies congested skin and kickstarts the circulatory system using a warming and stimulating blend of oils.

Lubatti’s Essential Anti Cellulite Oil (£38, from Fenwick) is a beauty musthave this summer. Warm in the hands and massage into areas of the body most needing attention when skin is damp and you’ll soon see a visible improvement.

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3 ▲ MAKEUP BAG ESSENTIALS: ❶ The BM Beauty Dewy Perfection finishing powder (£12 from www.bmbeauty.com) adds a beautiful radiant glow to any skin type. Sweep over the entire face to diminish the appearance of blemishes, fine lines and imperfections to give you an air brushed finish and a fresh-faced dewy complexion ❷ The new bareMinerals READY eyeshadow duos (£19 from Jolly’s) feature complimentary blendable shades so you can colour match to your heart’s desire. Even better, they are silky soft and composed of nutrient-rich minerals and a non-drying formula that is kind to the skin ❸ The Dior Addict Extreme lipsticks combine vibrant colour intensity with luminous shine intended to make a statement. The sensual, wet-effect texture leaves them looking plump and full too. Available in four shades at £24 each from Debenhams

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unwanted hair?

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B A T H

Summer Treats SPRAY TAN - £25 MINI MANICURE & PEDICURE - £32 BRAZILIAN WAXING - £25 Available May - August

green street house, 14 green street, bath BA1 2JZ Tel: 01225 426000 Email: info@greenstreethouse.com www.greenstreethouse.com * No two offers can be used together. Quote this ad when booking

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TIPS FROM A TRAINER With plenty of options available to get you into shape, our resident fitness and nutrition expert, Paul Isaacs, looks at the pros and cons of two of the most popular keep-fit regimes – boot camps and personal training – to help you decide if either may be right for you

● BOOT CAMPS The rise in popularity of boot camps can be attributed to two things; media coverage thanks to TV programmes such as Celebrity Fit Club and The Biggest Loser, plus the fact that participation is cheap for members. For a few pounds, anyone can turn up and be put through their paces by a qualified personal trainer. Many people enjoy the camaraderie that prevails as each person strives to achieve their goals, and results are often very good – ideal for anyone looking for low-cost, organised exercise.

But boot camps aren’t for everybody. Apart from the fact that most classes take place in the (sometimes) cold outdoors, sessions can also tend to become a ‘one size fits all’ type of solution. Participants are likely to all have different aims, abilities and issues. One may want to lose weight, one may want to gain weight, while another may have a niggling injury. If any participants need care or advice regarding specific problems with injuries, ability or form, they need to be aware that they may not receive the specific or individual attention that they require.

PROS: Low cost, group camaraderie and motivation.

CONS: Lack of individual attention, ‘one size fits all’ solution, often weatherdependent. ● PERSONAL TRAINING We live in a world obsessed with looks and image, and in a society on the brink of an obesity epidemic, so what was once regarded as a lifestyle accessory of the rich and famous, having a personal trainer is something that more and more people now regard as a ‘part’ of their general well-being. A client’s relationship with a personal trainer should be highly consultative, one in which the trainer utilises his/her experience and expertise to develop a tailored exercise and nutrition programme, focusing on the client’s specific goals and needs. The trainer should be aware of the client’s insecurities, abilities and weaknesses, and will be able to adjust the programme to benefit the client to best effect. Make sure that the personal trainer is devising a plan to help YOU, rather than putting together a programme to suit his/her own interests or timescales.

Trainers are employed in a variety of ways. Some clients want a regular weekly arrangement on a long-standing basis so that health and fitness becomes a closely monitored and integral part of everyday life, while some clients prefer to use their trainer for a body blitz, for instance when preparing for a holiday or wedding. Although personal training is considered expensive by some, clients have the advantage of being able to train in a gym, outside or in the privacy of a studio or even their own home.

PROS: Individual attention, bespoke-designed programmes, privacy CONS: Cost.

For further information, contact Paul Isaacs on tel: 07712 454074 or visit: www.paulisaacspt.com 78 THEBATHMAGAZINE

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Clinics are held at Fairfield Park Health Centre, Camden Road, Bath BA1 6EA

BathFacial A E S T H E T I C S

Lyndhurst Upper Rooms 16a Upper Oldfield Park, Bath BA2 3JZ

Specialising in non surgical facial treatments Including • Wrinkle reducing injections • Restylane and Juvederm dermal fillers • Skin peels • Medical Microdermabrasion • Cosmeceutical skin care products • Treatments to reduce excessive sweating • Sculptra • Genuine Dermaroller All treatments are with Dr Marie-Claire Hamling MBBS (Guys) MRCGP an approved Restylane & Juvederm Practitioner with advanced training in the medical & cosmetic use of Botox For more information visit www.bathbotox.co.uk phone 01225 335033 or email info@bathfacialaesthetics.co.uk to book a free consultation

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Get ready for Summer This year why not treat yourself to Laser Hair Removal at Lifestyle Medical Beauty Clinic

In May, you can save £££££’s.

Pay for a course of laser hair removal for underarms and get Bikini area treated for FREE.

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

Ideal to prepare for your summer holiday. Just present the voucher to claim your FREE TREATMENT

Buy a course of laser hair removal for under arms and get a course of laser treatments for bikini absolutely FREE!

• We use Laser and IPL systems for a great clearance of unwanted hair.

• Permanent results, gentle treatments, proven results with 9 years experience of great laser hair removal results.

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Coupon valid until 1st June 2012 Call Lifestyle on 01225 464005 to book a FREE consultation today or visit our website

www.thelifestyleclinic.co.uk 10 Chapel Row, Bath BA1 1HN

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CITYinteriors

BIRDSONG & BUCK’S FIZZ A Victorian villa standing among Georgian gems has been transformed into an elegant boutique B&B. Georgette McCready went to meet the owners of Villa Magdala and the resident dog, Billy a rising star with a Facebook page and his own fans

S

omeone asked me the other day what defined a boutique hotel or bed and breakfast. Generally speaking it’s reckoned that anywhere worthy of the title is large enough to offer hotel level service but without the corporate anonymity, but not so small that you feel you’re intruding into someone’s home.

Happily husband and wife John and Amanda Willmott, who run the Villa Magdala next to Henrietta Park in Bath city centre, have got the whole boutique style beautifully right. What was built as a pair of opulent Victorian villas is now a 20-bedroom B&B currently enjoying its first season after an extensive overhaul.

Guests are welcomed in Villa Magdala’s long Victorian hall where they can admire the bookshelves trompe l’oeil wallpaper by Andrew Martin, before being offered afternoon tea with homemade Victoria sponge in the light and airy breakfast room.

The Willmotts and their staff are happy to brief visitors to Bath on what they might see while they’re here – “We always recommend the Holburne Museum and the Thermae Spa,” says Amanda, who in a previous working life was the creator behind the All Bar One chain. A wicker basket under the hall table filled with bats and balls for children’s games in the park is one of many thoughtful touches that raise Villa Magdala above the ordinary.

The rooms are fitted with shutters rather than curtains, all the sparkling bathrooms have White Company toiletries and there’s an iPod docking station in every bedroom for re-charging phones and iPads.

The stylish decor of statement wallpaper, clean lines and contemporary furniture is enhanced by the fact that the building is elegant inside. There’s a dramatic double staircase with ornate metal decorative bannister, like something out of a grand French hotel leading up through the landings, where Amanda and John have teasingly placed door-sized mirrors which create the illusion of more space as yet unexplored. They’ve also used a professional gallery picture hanger to create a stylish collection of old prints and paintings from the villa along the top landing.

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A lot of guests come from London for romantic weekends away, but others also came from all over the UK for events such as the Bath Half Marathon and the Christmas Market, while the next big excitement for the Magdala is a reservation for a bride who will be staying the night before her marriage, and leaving the next morning in her wedding finery to get married at Bath Abbey.

As might be expected, given Bath’s millions of tourists, the Villa Magdala also does brisk business with European, American, Australian and Asian visitors. This is reflected in the breakfast menu. Alongside the full English and toast, there’s also the option of pancakes or waffles, along with Vegemite. John is delighted to point out that they also serve pairs of kippers, freshly delivered from The Dartmouth Smokehouse in Devon.

Billy the dog . . . likes to sit on ❝ the landing wearing a neckerchief and a modestly charming demeanor

❞

John presides over breakfast in the mornings to the soundtrack of Radio 4 playing from a traditional Roberts radio, while guests are watched over by Maurice, the stag’s head over the fireplace.

Buck’s Fizz is routinely offered with breakfast, which goes down particularly well with husbands who have forgotten to buy anniversary presents.

The gardens at the Magdala are in the process of being restored, with a charming summer house that’s been given a new lease of life, fairy lights in the trees and deckchairs on the lawn.

Amanda says: “We’re lucky being so near the centre of Bath, that people can go out and explore and still have time to wander back and relax in the gardens before setting out again.

“Time and time again our guests comment on how they can

ELEGANT INTERIOR: main picture, the view from the top landing down through the double staircase at Villa Magdala, Henrietta Road

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CITYinteriors

CITY CENTRE COMFORTS: there are only 20 bedrooms at Villa Magdala but, eccentrically, there is a Room 23 and a Room 24

hear birdsong in the mornings rather than traffic. It’s very quiet here next to the park. We are getting a lot of people who come and then book their next stay before they leave, which is lovely.”

The other, perhaps unexpected success story at the Villa Magdala is Billy the dog, a terrier cross with a gentle disposition.

He stays out of the dining room, on strict instructions, and likes to sit on the landing wearing a neckerchief and a modestly charming demeanor, head on one side, which leads guests to want to instantly befriend him.

Amanda says: “Billy’s so popular he’s even got his own Facebook page and a growing number of fans. We’ve joked that he’s a natural successor to Uggie, the dog who was in the film The Artist.”

Amanda and John enjoy the fact that their B&B is quirky and

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English – and from the repeat bookings they’re getting their guests do too.

Aside from its proximity to the city centre, the Magdala has another asset which is much coveted in Bath, namely a car park.

Many a journey-weary visitor has breathed a sigh of relief when they realise they don’t have to negotiate Bath’s notoriously challenging car parking arrangements. The Willmotts often arrange to let their guests’ cars stay on in the car park after they have checked out of their rooms. They’ve even installed a cloakroom and loo off the Magdala’s entrance porch so people need not go back into the B&B as they return to collect their cars and prepare for the long journey home.

It’s these many thoughtful details which make the Magdala stand out, and which have earned it a five-star rating. ■

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For more information on the Charles Rennie Mackintosh kitchen collection and details of current special offers please call or visit the Homemaker Bath showroom

Homemaker Bath 8 Pulteney Terrace, Widcombe, Bath BA2 4HJ Tel: 01225 480 880 www.myhomemaker.co.uk

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INTERIORdesigns Advertisement Feature

One of Homemakers’ recent installations, featuring luxury contemporary units by top German brand; Hacker

Homemaker Bath’s Kelly Hicks is your kitchen expert The enthusiasm and drive of chief designer and face of Homemaker Bath, Kelly Hicks is infectious and will translate beautifully into a state-of-the art kitchen for your home.

S

ince it’s relocation to Widcombe from St. John’s Road four years ago, Homemaker Bath has enjoyed a fast word-of-mouth growth due to the high recommendation of Kelly. This has been down to a combination of the top quality German kitchen brands they supply – primarily Hacker – and the enthusiasm and drive of chief designer and face of Homemaker Bath, Kelly Hicks. With a degree in art and a background working at the BBC ’s props department, Kelly combines a detailed technical flair for CAD design with a real passion for kitchens. “I first started working as a kitchen designer part-time while still a student,” says Kelly, “What keeps me motivated is the fact that every individual customer is a new and totally different challenge. To me there is nothing more exciting than starting on a new project and striving towards realising my clients vision. My aim is to achieve the combination of a truly beautiful kitchen that is also completely practical and user friendly. To see my customers dreams come true is the ultimate buzz.”

Kelly has certainly built up a following of happy and satisfied customers.

To quote one customer, “You listened to what we wanted and have given us more than we could have asked for.” Kelly says, “This kind of feedback and testimonial is the most satisfying part of my work. The kitchen is the most important room, indeed the heart of any home, and getting it right is so important to me.”

Kelly combines the highest standards with a very competitive cost structure. “The key thing to emphasise is that in terms of price, we are as competitive as all the national chains and DIY companies, yet offer an

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Homemaker designer Kelly Hicks uses CAD technology to offer a perfect visualisation of every aspect of kitchen planning

extremely high quality German engineered product. We sell luxury German rigid kitchens at flat pack prices”. Homemaker offer a whole range from glassfronted and high gloss doors to solid wood in-frame kitchens.

They have also recently become the exclusive dealer in the Bath area for the exciting brand Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which competes at the high end in terms of quality but at accessible prices.

As well as fully fitted kitchens, Homemaker sells appliances and door makeovers and they have just extended their showroom with a fantastic new built-in appliance studio.

Please call Kelly on 01225 480880 to book your free design consultation.

Homemaker Bath, 8 Pulteney Terrace, Widcombe, Bath BA2 4HJ homemakerdesign@btconnect.com Visit the new website: www.myhomemaker.co.uk

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TILE & TADELAKT LTD Tile, Natural Stone & Moroccan Polished Plaster High quality wall and floor coverings and installation of bathrooms, wet rooms, and obstruction free showers

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At Tile & Tadelakt we believe strongly that our success depends on your satisfaction.

We use only quality materials and experienced, trusted trades people on all of our installations. That’s why all our installations come with a full 5 year guarantee.

Tadelakt is one of the oldest wall finishes known, first practised by the Berbers some 4,000 years ago. Its beauty, strength, and versatility make it a unique alternative to tile and stone in all indoor areas, especially wet areas. Used in association with tile and stone it can be even more stunning.

The real allure of Tadelakt is only truly appreciated to the touch, “soft as silk, yet hard as stone”, each installation is individually unique due to the hand crafting process of skilled artisans.

Add to that its excellent eco-friendliness, its breathability and natural anti-fungal properties and you can start to see why its now becoming so popular in the most elegant households around the world.

So if you are looking to install a new bathroom, or improve your existing one; or perhaps you would like to see some samples. Call today, and find out for yourself what the attraction is.

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Our beautiful granite finish surfaces are only 7mm thick and are expertly laid over your existing worktops to transform your kitchen in just one day Also in order to complete your transformation we offer a full range of sinks, taps and appliances too.

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Interior notes The best interior accessories hitting the market this month

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Anglepoise Type 1228 lamp in lime green, £159.95 Bloomsbury & Co. New Bond Street, Bath.

Tel: 0845 2702677. www.bloomsburystore.com

COLOUR POP: Lady Victoria 3 seater sofa in devotion citrus and mellow granite. £2411 Sofa Workshop, Milsom Street, Bath.

Tel: 01225 424586. www.sofaworkshop.com

SCRIBBLING: slate top table that can be drawn on, choose from a range of bases to suit your interiors scheme. White painted console table hand finished in any Farrow & Ball Estate Eggshell paint of your choice, £1,395 Slate Top Tables.

Tel: 01404 850881. www.slatetoptables.com

IN THE TUB: luxury free-standing mosaic baths, available in a range of colours and finishes to suit personal taste. The Mosaic Bath Company, Queens Square, Bristol. Tel: 0117 9292411. www.mosaicbathcompany.com

PROUD PRINTS: the Marimeko fabric range from Shannon. Available in a number of colours and designs. Unikko fabric, £37, Shannon. Walcot Street, Bath.

Tel: 01225 424222. www.shannonuk.com

MARKET LEADING: with the largest capacity on the market in a standard footprint along with a number of smart features to make your laundry that bit easier, the new LG 12kg washing-machine has certainly made an impact.

Available from Coopers Stores, Walcot Street, Bath. Tel: 01225 311811. www.coopers-stores.com

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BLINDED: Hillarys new shutters collection features chic and contemporary designs in a range of finishes. Advisors are available locally for design consultations. The Richmond Umber shutter, £333 per square metre.

Tel: 0800 9166524. www.hillarys.co.uk

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LIGHTING SPECIALIST

8 BATH STREET, FROME. TEL: 01 373473555 WWW.FIATLUX.CO.UK

BEAUTIFUL KITCHENS FROM £10,000

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It’s all about wood

S annon F U R N I T U R E LT D

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Introducing nine wooden veneer variations of Arne Jacobsen’s 1958 stacking chair collection and nine new colours inspired by the original colour pallet.

Choose all the same or mix and match,… they are all beautiful!

68 Walcot Street Bath BA1 5BD 01225 424222 www.shannon-uk.com

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Bristol Bespoke Carpentry Bath/Bristol Bespoke Carpentry FINE WOODWORK AND DESIGN Superior woodwork for residential and commercial properties:

Bespoke Furniture • Bespoke Kitchens • Bespoke Joinery • Sash Windows • Fitted Furniture • Hardwood Flooring • 01225 920900 info@bathbespokecarpentry.co.uk Hartley Farm, Winsley, Bradford on Avon BA15 2JB.

www.bathbespokecarpentry.co.uk

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CITYgardening

TURN UP THE HEAT Whatever the summer weather holds, make your garden sizzle with summer colour says Jane Moore as she starts picking the brightest blooms for pots and containers

A

lthough there’s still a chance of frost, as May begins I can’t wait to get the garden set up for summer which means refreshing pots and containers, window boxes and bare patches in borders. The garden centres are overflowing with lovely summer tender plants bedding plants: geraniums and marguerites; packs of violas, bacopa and petunias, and not forgetting glorious annuals like cosmos and snapdragons.

It’s time to come up with some exciting summer showstoppers.

With this summer full of Olympic and Jubilee fervour I fully expect council bedding displays to be themed around the traditional British colours of red, white and blue. Scarlet geraniums, white alyssum and blue lobelia will also be in high demand at garden centres for pots, boxes and borders of patriotic home-owners. Even that doyenne of good taste Sarah Raven features a striking bouquet of blue cornflowers, white cosmos and scarlet poppies in her current catalogue. Very classy although not very long-lasting, I should think.

They’re a riot of colour, and ❝ seem to be constantly covered in flowers ❞

And that’s what we want from our summer show – longevity.

Who knows when our summer is going to happen? We could be baking in June or we might have to wait until September. But our bedding plants have got to be looking good whenever the sun comes and the time is ripe for those lazy evenings of white wine sipping and barbecuing.

You can’t beat classics like geraniums and pansies for full-on colour all summer long but it’s how you use them that matters.

Try mixing up the colours yourself rather than simply picking up a mixed pack of violas and relying on the bedding growers’ idea of a good colour combination.

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with summer bedding plants,” says John Tucker, deputy manager at Bath’s Prior Park Garden Centre. “I go for all the jewel colours like magenta and amethyst purple.”

John’s favourite mix from last year was a magenta osteospermum combined with lime lysimachia and white petunias – very elegant. But he also has a passion for non-stop begonias, which I don’t share.

“Aren’t they a bit 1950’s?” I ask, snobbishly.

John says: “Not if you pack them in en masse, especially the orange ones. They’re a riot of colour and seem to be constantly covered in flowers. They look great on their own or combined with trailing surfinia petunias.”

We agree on the flower power of geraniums, although, as John points out, they are expensive for a large scheme. Instead geraniums should be used as focal points to a scheme, such as the single soft pink in my window box combined with heuchera and lavender.

“But scarlet geraniums are a bit run-of-the-mill,” says John.

“Oh I love the classic scarlet geranium in a terracotta pot perched on a wall or step – very Mediterranean,” I argue, although John still looks doubtful.

If you’re not sure what you’re doing when it comes to colour combinations then simplicity is the answer. Buy a selection of different bedding plants and plant them individually in interesting pots, then arrange them together. Try violas in old terracotta pots or even an old teapot, geraniums look great in olive oil tins and marguerites look good in anything. You can add interesting succulents, herbaceous plants and grasses and bamboos to the mix, or herbs and even a few vegetables. The beauty of this is that you can change the arrangement anytime you make a new purchase or a plant goes past its best – or when you just fancy a change.

It’s easy to work on your scheme at the garden centre when you’re actually buying the plants. You can wander around, matching things up and popping them

JEWEL BRIGHT: summer blooms gives gardeners licence to mix what might normally be seen as clashing colours – or go for the classically simple power of a single colour, such as scarlet geranium Below, the much maligned begonia

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CITYgardening Garden news: May

Prior Park Landscape Garden in Bath will be open for NGS on Sunday 6 May, 10am – 4.30pm. An 18th century landscape garden with a sweeping valley and magnificent views of the city as well as a Palladian bridge and lakes.

TO BOLDLY GO: the garden centres are bursting with a multitude of colour combinations – here lime green and deep purple are effectively teamed with white PICTURE: courtesy of John Tucker

in the trolley once you have a good combo. The only trouble is that you can get a bit carried away and buy far more than you need. Make a list of all the key containers you have and buy plants only for these – the rest will take care of themselves with any leftovers.

All planting schemes look best with a mixture of flowers and foliage but it’s easy to forget that when it comes to bedding and just go for flowers all the way. I like to use herbaceous plants and even shrubs in some of my larger pots to provide the foliage interest – partly because it makes a change from all the bedding foliage plants like lysimachia but also because I can use them in the garden after they’ve served their time in a pot. Heucheras, lavender, ferns and grasses are all great for a season, as are thymes and erysimums. The recent surge in coloured heucheras has been a boon for my bedding schemes

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as those rich purples and bright limes are brilliant for contrasting and combining with bedding.

Besides the non-stop begonias, John is a huge fan of bacopa, a small but vigorous trailing plant with usually white flowers. The flowers are small but they are a lovely clear white and there are plenty of them.

Last year Prior Park Garden Centre also stocked a lovely pale blue variety which I used for my window boxes at home and there’s also a white, large flowered variety which John recommends highly.

When it comes to lobelias, John is adamant that cutting raised lobelias are worth the extra money.

“They might cost more initially than seed raised lobelias in packs,” he says. “But they’re far tougher and less liable to dry out in a hot summer – when we get one!” ■ Jane Moore is the award-winning gardener at the Priory Hotel, Bath

Following the success of the first Bath in Bloom Great Plant Swap in 2011, this yearʼs swap takes place in the Interpretation Centre in Bath Botanical Gardens, Royal Victoria Park, on Sunday 13 May from noon to 4pm. Surplus bedding plants, divisions of perennials, unwanted seedlings – any healthy plant, flowers, fruit, vegetables, small trees or shrubs, can be taken along.

As part of the annual Dorothy House open gardens season, this month the owners of a Regency garden in Sydney Place, Bath will open to the public for the first time on Saturday 12 May, noon – 3pm. It will show plantings that would have been familiar to Jane Austen, who lived next door but one in the 1800s.

Over the weekend 12/13 May half a dozen gardens in the Somerset village of Hinton St George will be open. For full details see the Yellow Book of NGS gardens open for charity, £9.99.

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PETcorner

Is everything in your garden as rosy as you think?

G

ardening is one of our most popular pastimes. When May returns in all its verdant abundance we are in the garden tackling our flower beds and vegetable patches. Often our minds are not fully on our pets at this time as we have so much work to do. However, garden hazards are very much a part of springtime particularly for inquisitive puppies and kittens so I’ll mention a few potential dangers to keep in mind.

Slugs and Snails There is an emerging parasitic lung disease in the canine family caused by the ingestion of slugs and snails which is gaining a foothold in the UK. Commonly known as lungworm, Angiostrongylus vasorum will eventually lodge within large blood vessels of the chest and heart. Infections can manifest themselves as chronic coughing, heart problems, and bleeding disorders. If your dog is coughing, tires easily and is not gaining weight, then it’s time to see your vet. Foxes, the natural host for this disease, have been rising in number in the last forty years causing this disease to become more prevalent, and with seasonally wet spring weather slugs and snails, the intermediate hosts, also increase in number. Fortunately we do have a treatment for this emerging disease although prevention is really the key.

Your vet will have specific wormers that are effective against Angiostrongylus so make sure you worm your pet regularly and try to eliminate slugs and snails safely in the garden. A note on the topic of eliminating slugs; some of us may be aware by now that slug bait containing metaldehyde is extremely toxic to dogs and cats. When ingested metaldehyde is a potent neurotoxin causing a variety of clinical signs from mild vomiting to muscle tremors, fever, and seizures. Ultimately it can be fatal so avoid slug bait containing metaldehyde if possible.

Bedding Mulches There is a new mulch product made from the husks of cocoa beans, the very same component that produces chocolate. When ingested, this mulch is very toxic to dogs since it contains the toxin theobromide, which may cause vomiting, diarrhoea, increased heart rate and renal failure. Dogs are more likely to try eating cocoa mulch since it smells deliciously like chocolate and who can blame them? My advice is to steer clear of this mulch completely.

Compost and other fertilizers Mouldy or fermenting foods in compost heaps may contain specific toxins that can cause problems once ingested. Jeremy Clarkson recently wrote an article about his poorly pet after ingesting fermenting sloes in his compost causing acute signs of alcohol toxicity. Luckily, after veterinary treatment his dog has recovered but the incident serves to highlight the hidden dangers of compost. Innocuous foodstuffs such as fermenting fruit can be very hazardous so keep your compost in a covered container at all times.

Another soil enhancer, blood meal, is very attractive to animals due to its smell but unfortunately blood meal is high in nitrogen and some are fortified with iron so if ingested it can potentially cause serious illness.

Bone meal too creates problems as it forms a hard ball in the stomach when mixed with gastric juices which acts like a plug causing intestinal blockage if eaten in significant quantities.

Plants The plants listed as potential dangers to pets are numerous and varied in terms of their toxicity. The lily family holds particular importance with cats in that a small amount of ingested pollen, petals or leaves can potentially cause kidney failure. Other notables include foxglove, yew, and spring bulbs such as daffodils, tulips and hyacinths although ingestion of any plant may be a key concern. A helpful hint is that plants contain alkaloids causing nausea so one of the first signs you may see is drooling. Call your vet immediately if you suspect that your pet has ingested a suspicious plant since time is of the essence for treatment.

So remember when getting out your hoe and spade on these warm spring days, to be aware of your little pet behind you. To ensure that everything remains rosy in your garden, approach it with a certain amount of common sense and always maintain that hearty dose of optimism If you have any questions, local vet Jenny Keen will be pleased to help and can be contacted on 01225 428921. All Bath Vet Group surgery contact details and further information are available at www.bathvetgroup.co.uk.

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We are a small luxury cattery for those who prefer their cats to have extra special attention Diana sometimes breeds Burmese & Burmilla’s Opening Hours 9am to 1pm Closed Sundays & Bank Holidays The Old School House Kelston, Bath

Tel: 01225 313099 www.topcathotel.co.uk

+ 2 FREE

▼

Plumbing Large Ad 6 cms x 2 column

£120

per month

£100

per month + 1 FREE

£80

per month + 2 FREE

For the full range of sizes and prices please call us on

01225 424 499 Email: classified@thebathmagazine.co.uk

WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

MAY 2012

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THE DOWNTON ABBEY EFFECT W e’ve been seduced by the gracious drawing room, the sweeping lawns and the weekend house parties – yes, there’s no doubt that the hugely popular TV series Downton Abbey has struck a chord within the British psyche.

This detached Georgian country style house standing in over an acre of beautifully planted grounds in Bathford High Street could either be used as a single family home, or to accommodate several generations pooling their resources and sharing. Certainly there is enough space, with

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eight bedrooms, five bathrooms and even a guest annexe where a dowager Countess grande dame might be able to retreat from the family noise.

In addition to the formal drawing room, pictured, there is also a huge family sitting/dining room more than 40 feet long. And now that people don’t generally have a household of staff to run about after the family it’s appropriate to be able to dine informally in the kitchen with the warmth of the Aga. The building has some fine original features, high ceilings and well proportioned big windows.

It’s also well equipped with useful space, including a study, laundry room and store. There is plenty of space for parking – handy if The Orchard were to revert to its past use as a B&B – and a tennis court too.

The grounds are planted with mature trees including an old mulberry tree which yields distinctive red fruit. There are views to Solsbury Hill and Bathford village is just outside the gates, while Bath is just a couple of miles away.

The agent is Whiteley Helyar and the guide price is £2.19m. Tel: 01225 447544. ■

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PROPERTYin FOCUS

8 SYDNEY PLACE, BATH

Guide Price: ÂŁ1,695,000

Grade 1 listed Six bedrooms Self contained one bedroom apartment Period features and contemporary chic Storage vaults City centre garages Courtyard garden Pretty views

N

o. 8 Sydney Place is amongst the finest examples of Georgian elegance, combined with a subtle blend of modern day practicality and contemporary chic. Dating back to the late 1700’s, the property is Grade I listed and has many examples of special architectural interest such as detailed cornicing, deep skirtings and sash windows with working shutters. The house has been extensively renovated in recent years to an exceptionally high standard and with meticulous attention to detail. Spread over five floors the accommodation offers a great deal of flexibility. There are currently six bedrooms occupying the first, second and third floors, the master bedroom having an impressive dressing room and en suite bathroom. The drawing room and study on the first floor take full

WWW.THEBATHMAGAZINE.CO.UK

advantage of the pretty views over Sydney Gardens. At ground floor level the sitting room, dining room, kitchen and adjoining conservatory provide a comfortable space for entertaining. The house is also extremely functional offering a laundry room, storage vaults, partial under floor heating and high tech wiring for sound. The lower ground floor houses a self contained one bedroom apartment with its own private entrance which would suit a variety of needs from housing a dependent relative or staff member or which could present a letting opportunity. There is a pretty courtyard garden, two large garages and additional parking. This beautifully presented home fully deserves an early viewing which is by appointment with agents Pritchards.

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pritchard-partners.co.uk

Sion Road

Combe Down Village

A superb 3 bedroom attached period property dating back to 1860, Listed Grade II and extended to provide well proportioned and light accommodation arranged on 2 levels. Approx gross int. area: 2299 sq ft/213.58 sq m.

The Old School House was converted into a beautiful family home in 1991 and is attached and Grade II Listed. Gross int. area 3606 sq ft/334.99 sq m.

Entrance hall, elegant sitting room, wonderful kitchen/dining room, garden room, cellar, 3 bedrooms, bathroom, en suite shower room, utility & cloakroom.

Parking for 3/4 vehicles and a most attractive south facing garden to the rear.

Kitchen/breakfast room, dining room, living room, family room/guest bedroom with en suite, 4 further bedrooms with one en suite, study/occasional bedroom 5.

Shared garage providing parking for one vehicle. Pretty rear garden.

Price: £1.25 million

Price: £795,000

Northampton St

Woodlands Park

A charming Grade II listed 3 bedroom Georgian Town house offering very versatile accommodation arranged over four floors. Pretty walled garden & conveniently situated in a highly desirable residential location in close proximity to the city centre.

A well located & significantly improved 4 bedroom detached property offering light and airy accommodation throughout. Total approx floor area 1868 sq ft / 173.6 sq m

Study/bedroom, utility, workshop, cloakroom, 2 receptions, drawing room/bedroom, kitchen, 2 bedrooms & bathroom. Total floor area: 2188 sq ft/203.2 sq m.

Cloakroom off entrance. hall, 3 receptions, lg conservatory, kitchen/breakfast room, 4 double bedrooms - 1 en suite & bathroom. Private garden. Large workshop/shed. Ample driveway parking for 3.

Price: £735,000

Price: £650,000 11 Quiet Street, Bath BA1 2LB

PRITCHARDS May.indd 1

Tel: 01225 466 225

25/04/2012 11:00

pritchard-partners.co.uk

Bradford Road, Combe Down

Royal Crescent

An immaculate 4 bed detached family house occupying a generous plot and offered with the rare benefit of a one bedroom self-contained annexe/ apartment. The property enjoys a most pleasant outlook & the convenience of an easy walking distance to amenities.

3 reception rooms, lobby & cloakroom, kitchen. 4 bedrooms - 1 en suite, 1 with shower cubicle & wash basin and a further bathroom. Well maintained, good sized gardens. Garage & generous parking. Approx floor area: 1810 sq ft/168.2 sq m.

An elegant second floor apartment enjoying wonderful views over the Crescent Lawns and across the City in this most prestigious location.

Gross int. area: 1012 sq ft/94.1 sq m.

Price: £625,000

Price: £625,000

Marshfield

Percy Place

A modern 4 bedroom family home offering flexible accommodation which is beautifully presented throughout with countryside views. Approx floor area: 1361 sq ft/126.4 sq m.

A stunning south-facing lateral conversion occupying the majority of the ground floor of these two splendid 18th Century Townhouses. Rich in period detail, the property enjoys elegant proportions, tall ceilings and fine sash windows.

4 bedrooms, sitting/dining/kitchen room, study, utility & cloakroom, 2 stylish bath/shower rms. Sun terrace. Allocated parking & private south facing garden backing onto 1½ acres of communal gardens.

Price: £450,000

Fine communal entrance hall, private reception hall, sitting room, kitchen/breakfast room, two bedrooms and bathroom. Gas fired heating. Residents’ parking permit available.

Two bedrooms, fabulous 19`6” drawing room and allocated parking space. No onward chain.

Total approx floor area 850 sq ft/78.9 sq m.

Price: £250,000 11 Quiet Street, Bath BA1 2LB

PRITCHARDS May.indd 2

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THE VILLAGES OF BATH Other cities may have their suburbs, but Bath proudly retains its villages – Combe Down, Widcombe, Larkhall, Weston and many more – each with its own distinct character and sense of community

■ Providence Cottage, Widcombe The cottages on Clarendon Road are one of Bath’s best kept secrets.

All most of us ever see of them is their backs, their doors opening on to the lane behind Widcombe Crescent, while most of the house and all the garden are hidden behind a wall. You enter Providence Cottage at street level, where there are two of the three bedrooms and a bathroom. A straight, open staircase leads into the big, open plan living room which looks out over the south west facing delightful and well stocked gardens. This is a lovely spot with views across the valley of greenery and houses dotted up the hillside. The cottage also has a kitchen, garden room, third bedroom and a sunny garden room. Opposite the cottage is a handy garage. Bath city centre is just a few minutes stroll away, as is the countryside above Lyncombe Vale – giving you the best of both worlds.

Price: £595,000 Contact: Crisp Cowley, tel: 01225 789333

■ Christmas Cottage, High Street, Weston This is a really sweet cottage in Weston High Street, just a minute’s walk from the local shops and all that the community of Weston village has to offer.

Christmas Cottage is believed to date back to around 1750 and may have been once part of the local clay pipe manufacturing industry. Today it is a comfortable two bedroom home with a courtyard garden at the back and a small patch at the front off the street. The front door opens directly into the good sized sitting room, which also has space for dining and the kitchen is off this room, while the bathroom is on the first floor along with the two bedrooms.

Price: £225,000 Contact: Whitfield Nash tel: 01225 480444

■ Bathwick Street, Bathwick A rather elegant two bedroom maisonette has been created in a Georgian townhouse in Bathwick, with the added bonus of a large beautifully landscaped garden. The garden can be lit up at night, has a neat lawn and a stone terrace. Inside all is light and airy and fitted with attention to detail. There’s a drawing room, pleasant kitchen/dining room, utility or laundry room, two bedrooms and a sumptuous bathroom with a marble surround to the bath.

This home even has its own glassed-in first floor space which has been dubbed the Orangerie.

Price: £550,000 Contact: Fidelis, tel: 01225 421000

■ The Old School House, Combe Down For anyone who’s hankered after the kind of space you’d get in a New York loft apartment, this beautifully converted old school house might tick some of those boxes. This house is full of character, unusually large spaces and interesting features. The triple aspect sitting room, pictured, has big windows and a vaulted ceiling with plenty of space for furniture, people and beautiful objects. Its French windows open onto a balcony which looks out over the gardens. In addition the house has a dining room, kitchen/breakfast room and up to five bedrooms, two of which would make ideal offices or studies. One bedroom has an en suite and there’s a family bathroom too. There’s also a separate guest suite, with its own good sized bedroom and en suite bathroom. The Old School House, which is in the old village part of Combe Down, also has pretty gardens and a garage.

Price: £795,000 Contact: Pritchards, tel: 01225 445737

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Bath Office Sales. 01225 459817 bath@hamptons-int.com Beyond your expectations www.hamptons.co.uk

Marlborough Buildings, Bath A beautifully designed apartment set within this fine Grade II Listed townhouse situated in a prominent location within walking distance of the city centre and overlooking the Royal Crescent lawn with attractive views at the rear towards the Royal Victoria Park. This stylish and elegant apartment retains beautiful period features to include high ceilings, original cornicing and working shutters. The property further benefits from a self-contained studio flat and a west facing garden and double garage. Approximate gross sq.ft. 3750.

Guide Price ÂŁ1.25m 4 Storey Apartment 4 Bedrooms Stunning Interior Courtyard Garden Double Garage View of Royal Crescent

Bath Office 01225 459817 bath@hamptons-int.com

The pianist Yonty Solomon (1937-2008) once said that there are no such things as pianos – only Steinways; for us, there are no such things as estate agents - only Hamptons. Following past experience of dealing with Hamptons, we would not wish to approach any other estate agent. Bath Seller

Hamptons Sales May.indd 1

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Bath Office Sales. 01225 459817 bath@hamptons-int.com Beyond your expectations www.hamptons.co.uk

Cavendish Road, Bath Occupying a prominent position on the start of Bath’s northern slopes, this is a stunning contemporary designed apartment, located on the ground floor of one of the most prestigious developments in Bath.

The beautiful interior of the apartment offers a relaxed modern day living environment, enhanced by natural light streaming through impressive floor to ceiling sash windows with show stopping views over four acres of communal gardens and The Approach Golf Course beyond. The property further benefits from a garage with loft storage, a store room as well as visitor’s parking. Approximate gross sq.ft. 1216.

Offers in excess of £650,000 3 Bedrooms Interior Designed Gated Development Garage Large Communal Gardens Glorious Views

Bath Office 01225 459817 bath@hamptons-int.com

The pianist Yonty Solomon (1937-2008) once said that there are no such things as pianos – only Steinways; for us, there are no such things as estate agents - only Hamptons. Following past experience of dealing with Hamptons, we would not wish to approach any other estate agent. Bath Seller

Hamptons Sales May.indd 2

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Lettings news

DESIRABLE: rental properties, such as this one in Camden Terrace (£1,500 a month through agents Hamptons) are being snapped up by people looking to rent rather than buy

Renting in Bath is very popular at the moment, but research shows that the city has a long and proud history of people renting property in the city. Hamptons International opened its Bath Lettings office last July having identified that there was a huge demand from tenants in the city and its environs. When you think about it, some of Bath’s most illustrious residents including Jane Austen, Horatio Nelson, Napoleon Bonaparte and Thomas Gainsborough rented homes in the city.

Charlotte Knight, senior lettings manager at Hamptons, said: “These days it’s not the healing waters or dances at the Assembly Rooms that draw renters and buyers alike, with the exception of existing Bathonians renting while waiting for their ideal house to come up for sale.

The majority of our tenants in the last six months have come from either London or overseas (mostly returning ex pats), many of whom are drawn not just to a wonderful city but to its excellent schools.”

The location of good schools is often a big deciding factor for those tenants, resulting in a huge demand for properties in Lansdown and Bathwick and further afield in the Limpley Stoke valley. Renters are keen to get into the right catchment, sometimes deciding to commit to long term letting as the elusive house to buy in the right catchment area.

Charlotte added: “Some things never change though, many of our tenants relocating from London still cite their reasons as being the architecture, the proximity to beautiful countryside, the arts and culture, the theatre and its easy access to London.”

To enquire about letting opportunities, as a landlord or tenant, contact Hamptons International, tel: 01225 445646 or email:bathlettings@hamptons-int.com.

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■ Rhymes Place, Bailbrook A select development of six new homes in Bailbrook Lane, just east of Bath, has sold very well, with only one remaining. That property, built by Ashford Homes (South Western Ltd), is a four bedroom detached stone double fronted family home which is all ready for someone to move into. The sole agent, Cobb Farr, is hosting an open day on Saturday 12 May between 10am and 3pm, so potential buyers can call in and have a look round. There is a current offer of a £10,000 contribution towards stamp duty and extras, or part exchange is also negotiable. Plot 5 – as it is currently known – has fitted carpets, tiled floors and the gardens have been landscaped. There are lovely views from the house and garden over the countryside, while the site is just two miles from Bath city centre. The house has gas fired underfloor heating, and an advanced network to support all the new owners’ communications and media. One neat touch is the unobtrusive speakers fitted into the master bedroom, linked to an iPod docking station which allows the luxury of listening to music whenever one chooses.

Price £540,000. Contact: Cobb Farr tel: 01225 333332

■ Solsbury Villa, Northend As might be expected from the name, this double-fronted detached contemporary home has fine views towards Little Solsbury Hill.

There’s plenty of room inside and out, with a lawned garden plus terraces to the sides of the house, a big drive for parking and a double garage. The villa has a big entrance hall which leads through to the kitchen/dining room, while next door the sitting room has a triple aspect and opens on to the south facing terrace. There’s a second sitting or family room and upstairs four bedrooms, two of them with en suite bathrooms.

Price £750,000.

Contact: Carter Jonas tel: 01225 747250

Bath Office Lettings. 01225 445646 bath@hamptons-int.com Beyond your expectations www.hamptons.co.uk

W TIO N E UC R ST IN

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Grittleton, Wiltshire

£1800 pcm

A pretty detached house situated within 1.5 acres of both formal and woodland garden set back via a long drive for privacy. Farmhouse style kitchen with Aga, utility, boot room, shower, sitting room, dining room, conservatory, snug, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Approximately 2240 sq ft. Available unfurnished now.

I

W TIO N E UC TR NS

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Lansdown, Bath

£1500 pcm

A lovely French style 3 bedroom detached coach house set in 100 acres of the Landlords grounds with super views over the Cotswolds Way. Kitchen/dining room, sitting room, bathroom, parking and terrace. Suitable for professionals. Available fully furnished now.

Hamptons Office 01225 445646 bathlettings@hamptons-int.com

The pianist Yonty Solomon (1937-2008) once said that there are no such things as pianos – only Steinways; for us, there are no such things as estate agents - only Hamptons. Following past experience of dealing with Hamptons, we would not wish to approach any other estate agent. Bath Seller

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Martins fp May:Layout 1

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Batheaston, £1,150pcm

Monkton Combe £900pcm

Beautiful brand new 3 bed house with high quality finish throughout.

Lounge with fireplace, luxury kitchen, 3 double bedrooms, patio and rear garden. Available now.

Peaceful country views from this 3 bed ground floor purpose-built apartment. 2 doubles and 1 single, large lounge, parking and garden.

Available mid-May.

Newbridge £995pcm

Limpley Stoke £875pcm Traditional Bath terraced 3 bed located in Newbridge close to RUH. New bathroom.

Lounge and diner, 2 doubles and 1 single.

Available from end of June.

Picturesque 2 bed furnished cottage just 15 minutes from Bath centre.

Lounge/diner with log burner, good kitchen and parking.

Available from start of July.

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College Road, Lansdown A spacious and contemporary five bedroom family home with a recently added, very striking wood clad and glass extension designed to the highest specification. Located on one of Bath’s most desirable residential streets on the Northern outskirts of the city, the property enjoys convenient access to Bath city centre, the M4 motorway and a host of highly regarded schools.

Rent ÂŁ5,000 pcm striking wood clad and glass extension | bright and spacious living room | superb fitted kitchen / dining room | elegant oak flooring | 5 double bedrooms | 2 stunning en-suite bathrooms | contemporary shower room | utility room | secure off street parking | private enclosed garden

Reside Bath | 24 Barton Street Bath BA1 1HG | T 01225 445 777 | E info@residebath.co.uk | W www.residebath.co.uk

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Belcombe Road, Bradford-on-Avon. £499,950 Fortune smiles on the lucky buyer of this house! Impeccably situated 1930’s detached home with three bedrooms, sitting room and large kitchen family room. Welcoming entrance hall and conservatory/utility room. All set on a generous plot with gardens to both front and rear. Happily there is a garage nearby and on street parking.

Views stretch over the fields of the Avon valley to the Kennet & Avon canal with its gently chugging long boats and to the slumbering giant Tithe Barn settled amongst the trees. The town centre’s ample amenities are within a pleasant walk. Belcombe is on the north western side of town with access to Bath.

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

LE T

LE T

Fidelis

We are currently building a portfolio of quality landlords who prefer to manage their own properties and strive toward first class customer focused service from their letting agent If you desire a higher level of customer care talk to Fidelis on 01225 421000 or see our website for details www.fidelisproperties.co.uk

RECENT TESTIMONIALS

www.fidelisproperties.co.uk

Ò We wanted to say a massive thank you for all your help and hard work. We really appreciated the efforts that all the Fidelis team went to, to ensure things kept progressing. You certainly went above and beyond the service you would expect from other estate agents and we will be strongly recommending you to people we know.Ó

LE T

LE T

Ò The team at Fidelis are knowledgeable about the market, always professional and extremely courteous. Throughout the letting of my property I have been nothing but impressed and commend them to you.Ó

01225 421000

134 Wells Road, Bear Flat, Bath BA2 3AH Fidelis May.indd 4

25/04/2012 11:20

Fidelis

Horseshoe Walk

£625,000

Wellsway

£359,950

A Wonderful Family Home with Scope to Convert to Much Larger Accommodation Subject to Usual Consents

Elevated and Substantial Semi-Detached Home Offered for Sale with No Onward Chain

Spacious Accommodation Throughout | Living Room | Dining Room | Kitchen | Cloakroom | 3 Bedrooms | Bathroom | Large Undercroft | Good Size Garden | Off Road Parking | Offered for Sale with No Onward Chain

Lovely Family Home | Convenient for Local Schools | 3 Reception Rooms | 4 Bedrooms | Fitted Kitchen | Bathroom | Large Terraced Garden | Single Garage | Would Benefit from some Updating | Offered for Sale with No Onward Chain

Wells Road

Ringswell Gardens

£495,000

£304,950

Investment Opportunity – Spacious and Versatile House Currently Let as 3 Flats

Unusual and Intriguing Contemporary Town House within Walking Distance of the City Centre

Ground Floor 1 Bedroom Flat | First Floor 1 Bedroom Garden Flat | Second Floor Studio Flat | Current Yield £2,000 PCM | Good Condition with Modern Kitchens and Bathrooms | Close to City Centre and Bath Spa Station

Open Plan Living/Dining Room | Modern Kitchen | 3 Bedrooms | Bathroom | Large Decked Balcony | Car Port | Currently Tenanted until July 2012 at £1050 PCM

www.fidelisproperties.co.uk

01225 421000

134 Wells Road, Bear Flat, Bath BA2 3AH Fidelis May.indd 1

25/04/2012 11:19

Fidelis

Bathwick Street

ÂŁ550,000

An Exquisite and Most Impressive Refurbishment of a Georgian Town House Presented For Sale in first Class Order to Exacting Standards Following the Original Georgian Detail Grand Entrance Hall | Living Room | Bespoke Kitchen/Dining Room | Cloakroom | Utility Room | Stunning Orangerie | Library/office space | 2 Double Bedrooms | Luxury Bathroom | Large Garden

www.fidelisproperties.co.uk

01225 421000

134 Wells Road, Bear Flat, Bath BA2 3AH Fidelis May.indd 2

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1 Hayes Place, Bear Flat, Bath BA2 4QW.

k Mar r o l y a N

01225 422 224

BLOOMFIELD PARK

£800,000

Located in Bloomfield Park, a most sought after residential location of Bath, this delightful property enjoys a wealth of period features and sympathetic décor. With accommodation arranged over three storeys, the house offers a tremendous amount of space for a large family. A rarity in any market and therefore the owner’s agents recommended internal viewing at the earliest opportunity.

Entrance porch, hall, drawing room, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, pantry, utility, downstairs cloakroom and wash room. First floor, with five bedrooms and family bathroom. Second floor, two further bedrooms (one with en-suite shower), cloakroom and attic room. Approximate gross internal floor area: 3,195 square feet / 297 square metres.

www.mark-naylor.com

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1 Hayes Place, Bear Flat, Bath BA2 4QW.

k Mar r o l y a N

01225 422 224

HANSFORD SQUARE

ÂŁ595,000

An exceptional amount of wonderful space within this large family home on a generous corner plot, with level gardens. Much favoured location in Combe Down, nearby to shops, schools and countryside walks. Easy commuting to both Bristol and North Somerset country towns.

Entrance vestibule, hallway, sitting room, extended kitchen/dining room, cloakroom, 5 double bedrooms and 1 single bedroom, family bathroom, shower room and ensuite shower room. Large level gardens in corner plot, garage and driveway for up to 3 vehicles. Gas central heating and double glazing. Approximate gross internal floor area: 2,020 square feet / 188 square metres.

www.mark-naylor.com

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• BATHFORD An elegant and substantial Georgian house (6103 sq ft) enjoying a lovely outlook and standing in delightful gardens of about 1.35 acres.

8 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, drawing room, dining room, sitting room, study, kitchen/breakfast, guest annexe, various ancillary rooms. Garaging and parking for many vehicles, workshop, tennis court.

Price Guide £2.19 million

• BATHAMPTON A fabulous individual detached single storey property (3015 sq ft) peacefully located adjacent to playing fields in the heart of the village.

5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, sitting room, drawing room, dining room, study, utility, pantry, kitchen/breakfast/living room. Double garage, large workshop and store. Delightful sunny gardens.

Price Guide £1.25 million

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• BROKERSWOOD A well presented detached house (2815 sq ft) with extensive equestrian facilities and fantastic far reaching views to all sides, some 14 miles to the south east of Bath.

5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, kitchen/breakfast/living room, sitting room, dining room, study, utility room. Various ancillary outbuildings. Roof terrace. Garage and parking. Gardens, paddocks, orchard and land of approximately 11 acres.

Guide Price £900,000

• MOVARIAN PLACE A stunning conversion of an early 20th Century Moravian Church. 11 individually designed 1 and 2 bedroom apartments and maisonettes.

All apartments are finished to a very high standard, whilst the majority have designated parking, far reaching views and private terraces.

£165,000 to £250,000

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ENSLEIGH HOUSE, Originally built in early 1860 as a barrister’s private

quality of light and allow the most magnificent views to

built of local stone and set in just under an acre.

feature of the house with its double height ceiling and

residence, Ensleigh House is a fine Victorian property

There are stunning views over Charlcombe valley from

grounds which are surrounded by mature trees adding a

The large detached Victorian property offers 8 bedrooms, 4 reception rooms as well as sitting, dining and drawing rooms, a study and double garage with ample parking.

LANSDOWN, BATH

be appreciated at their best. The staircase is an incredible colonnaded galleried landing – again the sense of space and light is immense.

real sense of privacy and peacefulness.

The whole design and positioning of the house has

The house has many exciting original features ready to be

beauty of the valley views and allow as much light into

incorporated with flair and imagination into a residence eminently capable of providing a bright and spacious family home. Original wood floors, skirting boards,

cornicing and fabulous plasterwork details all add to the gracious character. Large bays with original shutters and

floor to ceiling windows fill the rooms with a marvellous

obviously pivoted around the desire to incorporate the the spaces as possible, the combined effect is as uplifting as it is inspirational.

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The proportions of the reception rooms allow for

valley to a fine range of hills, one interlocking the other,

adapting to the changing requirements of family life.

chalk downs of Wiltshire and the edge of Salisbury

great flexibility of use, this is a home capable of

There is a timeless quality here that is comforting and very relaxing, perhaps permeating from a time when

till about 20 miles off, the panorama is closed by the

City of Bath. The view is little changed even today.

Within easy reach of the centre of the city and its

Royal Sailors Rest, writes of her time here with much

easy access to major road and transport links, the M4

affection saying that the views from the lawn or

windows on a clear summer’s day are not easily

described – or forgotten. She continues to say that the eye is inevitably carried over a fertile and beautiful

of both worlds.

Plain while far below rise the towers and roofs of the

the pace of life was altogether much gentler. Indeed the barrister’s daughter, Agnes Weston founder of

those unique locations that simply offers the very best

wonderful amenities, shops, schools and facilities. with

motorway junction 18 is approximately 11 miles to the north of the city providing good access to Swindon,

London, Bristol and the M5 and some 9 miles to the west is the City of Bristol – here perhaps is one of

Full details of the property are available at fineandcountry.com

Contact: 01225 320032

Contact: 01225 320032

£2,500,000

OIEO £425,000

Marlborough Buildings

Offers in Excess of £500,000

First floor Georgian apartment | Two bedrooms | Prime location | Superb views | Period features | Balanced accommodation | Highly recommended A super first floor Georgian apartment in prime address with stunning views towards the Royal Crescent to the front and Royal Victoria Park to the rear. Apartments of this nature are a rare find and therefore early viewing comes highly recommended.

Connaught Mansions, Great Pulteney Street

Offers in Excess of £395,000

Georgian apartment | Two bedrooms | Stylish ‘Mark Wilkinson’ kitchen | Extremely well presented | Off road parking | Viewing highly recommended A beautifully presented two bedroom Georgian apartment located in a highly sought after building in a prime address. The apartment also has the advantage of an off road allocated parking space. A super apartment that is likely to attract considerable interest.

The Apartment Company May.indd 1

25/04/2012 11:23

Victoria Bridge Court

Offers in Excess of ÂŁ350,000

Gated development | Two balconies with river views | Spacious living | Allocated parking | Well presented | Two double bedrooms | Contemporary A modern and contemporary waterside apartment situated in a secure development within easy reach of central Bath. Also includes communal gardens and undercover private parking space. Stunning apartment - viewing essential.

The Moorings, Bathwick

Offers in Excess of ÂŁ285,000

Retirement apartment | Two bedrooms | Parking available | Communal terrace | Great location | Viewing advised A spacious and beautifully presented two bedroom apartment (with lift access) set within this highly sought retirement building with views over the city. The building was built by retirement home specialists McCarthy & Stone and there is a 24 hour emergency care line response system.

The Apartment Company May.indd 2

25/04/2012 11:24

Great Pulteney Street A simply superb maisonette providing approximately 3000 sq ft of accommodation spanning the top three floors of this exceptional Grade I listed town house | drawing room | master bedroom with en suite bathroom and dressing area | kitchen/breakfast room | reception room/ bedroom 5 | family bathroom | cloakroom | 3 further bedrooms | bathroom with separate shower | storage room | Guide Price: ÂŁ950,000

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

www.crispcowley.co.uk

Crisp Cowley May.indd 1

25/04/2012 11:24

Marlborough Buildings A beautifully designed apartment exceeding 3000 sq ft set within this fine Grade II listed town house with the benefit of a west facing garden and double garage | hall | drawing room | dining room | kitchen/breakfast room | cloaks | master suite with en suite dressing room and shower room | 2 further bedrooms | 3 further bathrooms | s/c studio flat with en suite shower room | second kitchen | laundry | cinema/bedroom 5 | storage room | boiler room | wine cellar | double garage | walled garden | vaults | Guide Price ÂŁ1,250,000

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

www.crispcowley.co.uk

Crisp Cowley May.indd 2

25/04/2012 11:25

Combe Park A semi-detached period house with beautiful Edwardian proportions, extended and refurbished for modern day family living | spacious hallway | drawing room | dining room | study | modern open plan kitchen/breakfast room with doors to garden | 5 generous bedrooms | large family bath/wet room | shower room | cloakroom | utility | large useable cellar | attic room | west facing level rear garden | driveway | parking | Guide Price: ÂŁ800,000

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

www.crispcowley.co.uk

Crisp Cowley May.indd 3

25/04/2012 11:25

Sydney Buildings A handsome late Georgian listed town house providing over 2500 sq ft of accommodation in one of Bath’s most desirable streets | hall | drawing room | study | studio | kitchen | breakfast room | garden room | cloakroom | 4 bedrooms | spacious family bathroom | snug | shower room | utility | 2 store rooms | fine gardens | westerly views | Guide Price: £1,300,000

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

www.crispcowley.co.uk

Crisp Cowley May.indd 4

25/04/2012 11:25

The Property People Offices throughout the UK including 5 in London

lower lANSDowN SlopeS

Ainslie’s Belvedere

ÂŁ1,375 pcm offered Furnished

Stunning one double bedroom maisonette tucked away just behind Lansdown Road. Large kitchen/breakfast room, sitting room with wood burner and marvellous views, one double bedroom and bathroom. Access to shared garden.

Bath 01225 747250 sharon.hunter@carterjonas.co.uk

Carter Jonas May Letting.indd 1

25/04/2012 11:28

carterjonas.co.uk

OUtBUilDiNG

wiltshire

Bradford-on-Avon

Guide Price ÂŁ1,500,000

A truly beautiful and architecturally important five bedroom detached Grade II* Listed country house on the edge of the town. There are numerous outbuildings, extensive gardens, a listed folly, and a tennis court. In all approximately 2 acres.

(Approximately 4,093 sq ft / 380.24 sq m)

Bath 01225 747250 patrick.brady@carterjonas.co.uk

Carter Jonas May Sales.indd 1

25/04/2012 11:27

The Property People Offices throughout the UK including 5 in London

BRADFORD ON AVON

Avoncliff

Guide Price ÂŁ1,000,000

A detached family home currently running as a bed and breakfast with a self contained annexe, a separate cafe and storage, numerous outbuildings, generous gardens, and further paddocks of approx 2 acres with river frontage and fishing rights.

(Approximately 4,260 sq ft / 396 sq m)

Bath 01225 747250 patrick.brady@carterjonas.co.uk

Carter Jonas May Sales.indd 2

25/04/2012 11:27

carterjonas.co.uk

BATH

Freshford

ÂŁ660,000

A fine Grade II Listed Georgian property that sits in the heart of the picturesque village of Freshford. It has generous proportioned accommodation over four floors and boasts a wealth of period charm as well as having a detached garden and parking area.

(Approximately 2,427 sq ft / 225.47 sq m)

Bath 01225 747250 david.mackenzie@carterjonas.co.uk

Carter Jonas May Sales.indd 4

25/04/2012 11:27

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