CITYIST

Following a busy summer where visitors exceeded 100,000 for the first time since 2019, the Roman Baths & Pump Room has come third in Which?’s survey of the best historic attractions in the UK.

The Roman Baths drew praise for the opportunity to explore the ‘fascinating' and ‘well-preserved’ ruins in the heart of the city. The historic site scored an impressive five stars for its engagement and entertainment value, with several respondents saying that they appreciated the high-quality video exhibits on offer.

Councillor Kevin Guy, Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “Staff at the Roman Baths work hard to provide an outstanding and memorable experience for all our visitors, and we’re delighted to have this recognised by visitors themselves in the Which? survey.”

The survey of almost 3,000 Which? members took place between April and May 2022 and looked at nine criteria including overall value for money, helpfulness of staff and lack of crowds.

The result caps a strong year for the Roman Baths, which was also recently named Number 1 UK attraction and Number 8 best-rated attraction in the world by Tripadvisor. Visitors have also been returning, with over 105,000 people visiting in August alone.

Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire and the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh tied in first place with 88 per cent. The Roman Baths & Pump Room came a close joint third with Culzean Castle and Country Park in Scotland, both achieving a score of 87 per cent. romanbaths.co.uk

Peter Norriss moved to Bath in 1996 when the MOD’s Procurement Executive relocated to Filton Abbey Wood. On leaving the RAF he took on consultancy and review work. He is currently the Senior Men’s Captain at Bath Golf Club.

when her father was on the Berlin Airlift. We have lived in Widcombe, Bear Flat and on Bathwick Hill, but are now in Darlington Place, where we love the friendliness of those who live there.

and Cambridge University where I read modern languages, and subsequently did a course at Harvard Business School. At Cambridge I joined the University Air Squadron and loved the flying, so I joined the RAF and spent 35 years as a flying instructor, operational pilot on Buccaneers, staff officer, and commander of a squadron and then an operational station, before going into MOD’s Operational Requirements organisation. I then moved into procurement, ending up as what was effectively the Chief Operating Officer of the Defence Procurement Agency and a member of the Air Force Board.

endeavours, whether at work or play. During my first RAF tour I was encouraged to get a number of flying qualifications and became one of the then Prince Charles’ flying instructors at RAF College Cranwell. Later I was given command of No 16 (Buccaneer) Squadron in Germany and then RAF Marham in Norfolk, equipped with Tornado GR1 and the Victor tanker. I was privileged to be appointed Aide-de-Camp to the late Queen during that tour. The Queen was also the Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Marham, and she paid a memorable day-long visit to the station in 1986.

Bath, and we like showing them around. We enjoy the Theatre Royal, dine out at some wonderful restaurants, visit the Victoria Art Gallery, the Holburne Museum and Sydney Gardens. We also enjoy the view over the National Trust land near Bathwick Hill and looking at the city from that side. The Mayor sometimes invites me to join in civic events, and I take the salute every 3–4 years outside the Guildhall on Remembrance Sunday.

Recently I was diagnosed with cancer and have been treated brilliantly by my GP surgery in Great Pulteney Street, at the RUH and the Keynsham IV Clinic, which shows how lucky we are to have such facilities and professionals here.

In Bath there are two major issues that need to be sorted out: traffic management and the city’s grubbiness.It seems astonishing that the Council has done nothing of consequence over the years to tackle the traffic problem, while approving enormous house-building projects within the city, in the knowledge that those occupying them will be introducing many vehicles onto the roads. Ducking the issue of a Park-and-Ride to the east was also, in my view, a major failing. Bath is now looking run-down and neglected; it has lost many of the independent shops that were a major feature of the city, and there are now many empty shops, lots of rubbish, potholes and general grubbiness. I fear that Bath’s status as a World Heritage Site is at risk unless this deterioration is reversed.

events at Cumberwell Park and Bath Golf Club, and these have been generously supported by local companies, large and small. The most recent event took place at Bath Golf Club in late September in aid of Dorothy House and the Children’s Hospice South-West, and we managed to raise over £5000 for them.

For reading I tend to turn to action novels, rather than biographies or more serious books, though I also enjoy books about early Britain, and I have contributed forewords to some aviation books written by former RAF colleagues.

years of marriage, during which we have moved over 20 times; many of these moves required extensive work. Even as I approach the age of 79 my wife brings new design ideas for me to consider!

and the RAeS, am Chairman of a small property management company, and am on the Advisory Board of three organisations: Tickets for Troops, BFBS, and Aerospace Bristol for which I am an Ambassador. ■ bathgolfclub.org.uk

Parents in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s constituency of North East Somerset and across the UK came together recently to show widespread support for renewable energy. And to protest the government’s counterproductive plans to expand North Sea oil and gas production, and fracking.

Research shows that more than three quarters (78%) of people in the UK support onshore wind energy, whereas just 17% of people supported fracking in the most recent government poll; and that offshore wind can produce electricity nine times cheaper than gas. Despite this, the government has not been behind new onshore wind developments. To show the widespread support for renewable energy over fossil fuel expansion, Parents for Future UK created pop-up onshore wind farms across the country, demanding the government puts the power in communities’ hands.

Charlotte Howell-Jones, in Jacob Rees-Moggs’ home constituency of North East Somerset today commented: “Parents up and down the country are coming together because new fossil fuel projects are the last thing we need right now, they won’t bring down our bills and will lock in harmful emissions for decades. This government needs to give people what they want: clean, affordable renewable energy. We urgently need a coherent energy strategy that lowers both our emissions and our energy bills.” @OnlyOneWorld19

A new carbon-saving alternative to traditional methods of repairing roads is being used by Bath & North East Somerset Council to help deliver its commitment to tackling the climate and ecological emergency.

The Council have invested in a thermal road repair system to help significantly reduce emissions as it improves and maintains roads in the area. This new technology makes repairs using an infra-red heating process which reheats the existing road surface, bringing it back to a workable state where it can be recycled and used again. Additional material is added, mixed in and compacted to reform the road back to a high standard.

As the process reuses the existing road surface material, less new material is needed to make repairs and there is no excavation of material that then needs disposing, making the process zero waste. Also, by eliminating the need for power tools road repairs can be made faster, noise levels are reduced, and carbon emissions are significantly lower. Further contributing to the councils’ Net Zero goals, the system and the fully self-contained vehicle it travels in are fitted with solar panels. newsroom.bathnes.gov.uk

‘Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it...” The first-ever full-length biography of Kitty Fisher, the character from the nursery rhyme, has just been published... but who was she?

While she is remembered as an 18thcentury ‘celebrated’ courtesan and style icon, Kitty’s career in the upper echelons of London’s sex industry was brief. For someone of her profession, Kitty had one great flaw: she fell in love too easily.

Kitty Fisher managed her public relations and controlled her image with care. In a time when women’s choices were limited, she navigated her way to fame and fortune. Hers was a life filled equally with happiness and tragedy, one which left such an impact that the fascinating Kitty Fisher’s name still resonates today. She was the Georgian era’s most famous – and infamous – celebrity and her connections with Bath were strong.

This is more than just a biography of Kitty Fisher’s short, scandalous and action-packed life. It is also a social history of the period, bringing mid-18th-century London and Bath to life, and looking not just at Kitty but also the women who were her contemporaries, as well as the men who were drawn to their sides… and into their beds. In this meticulously researched, lively and enjoyable book we discover the real woman at the heart of Kitty Fisher’s enduring myth and legend. Kitty Fisher The First Female Celebrity by Joanne Major is published by Pen & Sword Books, £20; pen-and-sword.co.uk

Bath’s Cleveland Pools – the UK’s oldest lido, built in 1815 – has been restored after a painstaking 15-month renovation project. The historic pool, flanked by Georgian changing rooms, will welcome its first swimmers on 1 October following an extraordinary 18-year community campaign by the Cleveland Pools Trust, supported by thousands of Bathonians. The trust’s tireless campaign has taken the 207-year-old, Grade II* listed site from the lows of its closure in 1984 and a threat of demolition in 2003, to the highs of its stunning, present-day restoration.

The installation of heating equipment is not yet fully in place and operational. After the Heritage Open Day on 1 October (which is fully booked) the pool will be open to the public for the remainder of the year, offering cold water swimming sessions which will be on Wednesdays 12pm–18pm and Saturdays 9am–1pm. For this period visitors will be able to book and ‘pay-as-you-go’. The pools will then re-open next spring as a heated pool, warmed by energy from the adjacent River Avon, using heat pump technology integrated with a river pontoon for visitor access.

The overall cost of the project is £9.3m, £6.47m of which came from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project has also had significant support from the DCMS Capital Kickstart Fund, Historic England and Bath and North East Somerset Council.