B AT H L I V E S
Q&A
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he’s currently celebrating her first year as director of development and alumni at Kingswood School in Bath where she’s loving her role. Here, we catch up with Susannah who tells us about her passion for the city and the
people in it…
What’s your role at Kingswood School? I’m one of the lucky ones as I get to meet a vast cross section of the Kingswood community – from little ones at our prep school to past Kingswoodians in their 90s. Everyone has a story to tell about their time at Kingswood and each one is fascinating. I’m very proud to fundraise for the Kingswood Foundation, our registered charity, which helps to provide the very best facilities for our pupils and also supports the crucially important bursary fund, which helps to support families who have suffered some kind of trauma. Tell us about the best parts of the job… It would be having the opportunity to play a role in the future of Kingswood School by raising funds for restoration, refurbishment and building the best facilities for our pupils, which will be my legacy. We have recently been granted planning permission to build a new state-of-theart education centre and nursery for Kingswood Prep School. The building aims to bring the outside, inside, so that younger children have a real sense of freedom, energy and space, enabling them to be more creative and ambitious in their learning. Where’s home and what are the pleasures of living in Bath? I live in Bathwick with my partner of almost 20 years. Even after decades of living here I am still awestruck by the architecture and the magnificent Georgian buildings. I adore wandering into the city on Sunday afternoons, strolling around the Royal Crescent and thinking about all the people who have ever lived there; oh, to have a time machine! Share a favourite spot in the city… I have friends who live on Widcombe Hill; the view from their house is stunning. I like looking back at Bath from the surrounding hills, especially at night when it looks so magical.
SUSANNAH MANSFIELD
The director of development at Bath’s Kingswood School talks time travel, becoming an author and her love of Bath’s Chandos Deli Your favourite restaurant, bar and café in Bath? The Canary Gin Bar is one of my favourite watering holes; for dinner I like The Chequers and Rajpoot; and my favourite lunch stop is Chandos Deli. If you had to live anywhere else where would it be? A nearby village so that I could get my Bath fix regularly. Otherwise, I am fond of Rome. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Keep your star shining brightly. What do you do to relax? I am a voracious reader; sometimes I’ll read a book each week. At the moment I’m reading See How They Run by Tom Bale. I love suspense thrillers – the scarier the better! What was the last film you saw? The Jungle Book – utterly fabulous and thoroughly recommended (although, be prepared to be humming I Wanna Be Like You for days afterwards). Most treasured possession? I wept over a book about the abdication of King
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Edward VIII and felt so moved by the story that I wrote to the Duchess of Windsor who, by that time, was widowed. I didn’t expect a response, but she sent a note of thanks for thinking of her and, to my delight and amazement, she sent me a Christmas card that year too. They are both very special items to me and a reminder of possibly one of the greatest love stories ever to be played out on the public stage. Any hidden talents? I adore animals and seem to have a calming effect on them, they tend to fall asleep when I stroke them. Your finest hour so far? Securing a £1million donation for the National Trust, just prior to leaving my post there to take up my current position with Kingswood School – I celebrated in style that evening. Surprise us… I researched everyone who has ever lived in my 19th century house and wrote a book about them called The House.
www.kingswood.bath.sch.uk