For our mid-winter episode join us for a pub crawl to three cosy community - owned pubs in and around Bath.

The last few years have not been easy for pubs, with the pandemic, rising energy costs and inflation. More than 500 closed their doors in 2023, but community pubs it seems, are thriving.

The first pub to be bought by the community was The Red Lion in Preston, Hertfordshire in the early 1980s. According to the Plunkett Foundation, a charity which helps people set up community-owned business, as of January 2024 there were upwards of 180 community-owned pubs in the UK and Bath has three of them. 

In this episode we start at The Hop Pole Inn in Limpley Stoke. It was bought by the community and after three years of frantic fundraising and backbreaking work, it is set to open its doors on 25th January 2025 for the first time in 9 years.  Chair of the Board, Simon Coombe tells us all about it.

We move on to The Bell Inn in Walcott street which was the very first community-owned pub in Bath. It is also home to the Bath Festival Fringe office. Steve Henwood and Wendy Mathews are heavily involved in both the Festival Fringe and The Bell Inn and talk about what it means to them.

Finally we visit The Packhorse in South Stoke. Perched on the side of a steep hill overlooking the beautiful Midford Valley, The Packhorse has been the centre of South Stoke life since the start of the 17th century. Managing Director, Dom Moorhouse shows us around.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Save the Hop Pole Inn - www.limpleystokecbs.org

The Bell Inn - www.thebellinnbath.co.uk

Bath Fringe Festival - www.bathfringe.co.uk

The Packhorse - www.packhorsebath.co.uk

Plunkett Foundation - www.plunkett.co.uk

Plunkett UK Impact Report 2024 - www.plunkett.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Impact-Report-2024.pdf

Bathscape - www.bathscape.co.uk

In 2019 Bath and North East Somerset Council declared a climate emergency and is aiming for Carbon Neutrality or Net Zero by 2030.

In this episode we explore what that means and what some of the challenges are facing the city. 

What will Bath and the landscape surrounding it look like if it is to be powered by solar and wind farms? 

How can this be achieved while making sure it keeps its UNESCO World Heritage status?

Could areas in Bath and the villages surrounding it one day be powered entirely by local renewable energy sources?

In answer to these questions, we are joined by three people who are keen to make a difference.

William Heath joins me up on Kelston Round Hill at the Old Barn. The building is used for weddings, memorials and events and is completely off grid. Recently they installed a new zero-emissions system to provide electricity and hot water.

Architect and climate activist Funda Kemal tells us about her animation video which visualises a future Net Zero Bath, adapted to climate change. 

Robin Spalding is the Renewable Energy Programme Manager for Bath and North East Somerset Council. He talks about what the Council is doing to reach Net Zero in terms of meeting the energy demand through renewable sources - wind, solar and hydro.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Kelston Roundhill Barn - www.kelstonroundhill.com/home/

Launch of solar panel array - https://kelstonroundhill.com/2024/06/28/celebration-and-discussion-to-mark-the-move-to-renewables/

Funda Kemal - www.fundakemal.org

Utopian Realism. Animation Video - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcere_Op_0k

Bath and North East Somerset Council Climate Emergency - www.bathnes.gov.uk/climate-emergency

We Want Wind - www.wewantwind.org

This month we take a walk on the Wansdyke.

Stretching for 35 miles the Wansdyke links Savernake Forest near Marlborough with Maes Knoll just south of Bristol. The eastern section in Wiltshire is the best preserved, but in this episode we explore the western section, the piece that starts at the top of Horsecombe Vale and runs through Odd Down, over Stantonbury Hill Fort and on to Maes Knoll.

Many questions surround the construction of the earthwork - who built it? The Romans or the Saxons or someone else? Why was it built? And where exactly did it run as it passed by Bath? The Wansdyke been the subject of debate and misinformation for decades and in this episode we’ll try to make sense of it.

Local historian Mike Williams shows us around a section at Odd Down, just up near the Park and Ride, and then at the end of the show, we head up to a second section at Stantonbury Hill Fort.

Melanie Barge is an Inspector of Ancient Monuments with Historic England and she tells us how they go about protecting ancient sites.

We also meet Robert Vermaat in the Netherlands. Robert is a dutch historian and archivist who became interested in the Wansdyke when he was 17. He set up a website drawing together the many articles associated witht the giant earthwork and one of his aims has been to create a long distance path along it. In 2023, the LDWA (Long Distance Walkers Association) put a 13 mile stretch up on their website. Parts of the Wansdyke are clearly marked on OS maps so why not get out and explore it for yourself?!

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Historic England

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/

Search the list to find designated (protected) heritage sites 

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/missing-pieces/

Allows anyone to add their own information or photos to a site on the List

https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/features/ghost-signs/

A recent project asking people to identify Ghost Signs - there are quite a few in Bath.

https://historicengland.org.uk/research/heritage-counts/heritage-and-economy/wellbeing/

Historic England's research on health and well-being and Heritage

Know Your Place West - https://www.kypwest.org.uk/

Project 21 - http://www.wansdyke21.org.uk/wansdykehomepage.htm

LDWA Wansdyke path - https://ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Wansdyke+Path

Bathscape - www.bathscape.co.uk

This month we take a closer look at the city of Bath through the eyes of its residents. We will hear some wonderful memories shared by those who’ve grown up and spent their lives working in the city.

The episode starts with Reconnecting Twerton, a group set up by the Bath CIty Football CLub Foundation. The group is for older residents and aims to connect older residents with each other, combating loneliness, sharing stories and having a lot of fun. Three of its members share stories about their lives. The Foundation's Health and Wellbeing officer Chris Gannon introduces us to the group

We find time to get out and go for a walk. Nicole Daw is the Trails and Access Officer for the Cotswolds National Landscape and  she’s been asked by Bathscape  to make a number of films about the joys of walking. We join her with young people from the Black Familes in Education Group. Rob Mitchell is the supplementary school coordinator and he talks about why he’s chosen to take them out walking.

The episode finishes off at the Forget-Me-Not Dementia Club down at Bath city football stadium. This is a group for older people living with dementia and we hear a couple of them in conversation with some young people from the Bath College Prince's Trust Programme . 

Mitchell Horman is in charge of the Prince's Trust team programme at Bath College and he brings the episode to a close with his views on the importance of intergenerational projects.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Reconnecting Twerton - www.bathcityfoundation.org/reconnecting-twerton

Bath City FC Foundation - www.bathcityfoundation.org/

Cotswolds National Landscape - www.cotswolds-nl.org.uk/

Black Families in Education Support Group - www.educationequals.org.uk/

Forget-Me-Not Dementia Club - https://www.forgetmenotfamiliarfriendscic.com/

Bath College Prince's Trust Team Programme

This month we head out into the countryside to find out about the many traditional and ancient skills using only hand tools and age-old techniques, including scything, hedge laying and dry stone walling.

Local expert Mike Reed tells us all about hedgelaying, why it's done and what is different about the North Somerset style.

We head up to Lyncombe Hill Fields and meet Maurice Tennenhaus leading a team of scythers. Presenter Pommy Harmar gets a lesson in scything from scything maestro Dave Pegler.

Robin Morley leads the Cotswold Wardens Dry Stone Walling team and we hear from him and from the oldest drystone waller in the group Robin Oldland.

Many new words are learnt in all three crafts!

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Mike Reid Hedgelayer - https://www.instagram.com/mikereedhedgelaying/

Avon Needs Trees volunteering - www.avonneedstrees.org.uk/volunteering/

Chew Valley Plants Trees - www.chewvalleyplantstrees.co.uk/

Community Farm, Chew Valley Lake - www.thecommunityfarm.co.uk/

Natural England - www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england

Friends of Lyncombe Hill Fields - www.friendsoflyncombehillfields.co.uk/

Green Scythe Fair - www.greenfair.org.uk/

The Scythe Association - www.scytheassociation.org/

Cotswold National Landscape - www.cotswolds-nl.org.uk/

Cotswold Voluntary Wardens - www.cotswolds-nl.org.uk/looking-after/volunteering/

Dry Stone Walling Association - www.dswa.org.uk/

Join Dan Merrett (Manager) and Lucy Bartlett (Community Projects Officer) from Bathscape as they transport presenter Pommy Harmar by electric bike along two disused railway tracks across the Bathscape.

We start in Saltford on the Bristol to Bath Railway Path, which follows the route of the Midland Railway Mangotsfield and Bath branch line, which was closed during the Beeching Axe of the 1960s.

We meet Colin Maggs, a railway historian and the author of more than 100 books about British Railways. He was awarded an MBE in 1993 for services to railway history and an honorary MA from the University of Bath in 1995. He is joined by Mike Beale, Secretary Bath Railway Society who' can trace back four generations of railway workers in his family.

We explore the two tunnels which form part of the Dorset and Somerset Line and meet Karl Baxter a runner competing in the gruelling ultramarathon 200 mile race called simply 'The Tunnel'. Every year around 45 men and women try to run backwards and forwards through the dark mile-long tunnel 200 times. In 2024, only 7 completed the race within the mandatory 55 hours.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Bath Railway Society - www.bathrailwaysociety.co.uk

The Railway and Historical Railway Society - Dorset and Somerset line 150th Anniversary Commemoriative Walk with Mike Beale

The Tunnel - 200 mile Ultramarathon Race in Combe Down Tunnel

Tucking Mill Resevoir - Visitor information

Sustrans - Bristol to Bath Railway Path

Sustrans - Two Tunnels Circuit

Two Tunnels Greenway - www.twotunnels.org.uk

Bath and North East Somerset Council - Linear Park

This month's episode celebrates Bath CIty Farm.

Situated on a beautiful 37-acre site with stunning views over the city, Bath City Farm is a working farm, that’s also a much loved visitor attraction.

On the site there is a community cafe and farm shop, farm animals, children’s playground, woodland and nature trails. Entrance is free however donations are very welcome.

In this episode you will meet a varitety of farm animals with livestock coordinator Ella Holmes.

And on the way we will talk to:

Sarah Davies, Programme Lead for Mental Health

Brendan Tate-Wistreich, Director

Amy Nelson, Roots to Work Coordinator

Sarah Prettejohns, Cafe Lead Roots to Work

Luke Roberts, Horticultural Assistant

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Bath City Farm - www.bathcityfarm.org.uk

Bathscape - www.bathscape.co.uk

This episode is published on International Dawn Chorus Day which takes place on the first Sunday of May every year and this year it’s Sunday May 5th. It  is a worldwide celebration of nature's greatest symphony and in this show we want to celebrate birds in general, the birds of Bath and their incredible songs.  One of the main reasons that birds like to sing at dawn is that it’s quieter then,  the air is usually very still and birdsong has been shown to carry 20 times further at dawn. 

Remember you don't have to head out to a nature reserve, you can always just open your window - and listen.

The episode starts off very early one morning just behind Sydney gardens with expert bird listener Lucy Starling who was keen to find out whether a pair of sedge warblers had returned to nest in Bathampton meadows.

Ed Drewitt is a local naturalist, author, tour leader, birder, photographer, public speaker, bird ringer, zoologist, feather expert and he’s currently studying for a PhD based on researching Peregrines for the last 24 years. He talks about what the dawn chorus means to him and describes the life of a peregrine falcon and the Peregrine Project in Bath.

The episode finishes with a walk organised by the Cotswolds Wardens with expert birder Marika Kovacs.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Dawn Chorus audio kindly recorded by Ed Drewitt

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

RSPB - dawn chorus - www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/the-dawn-chorus-all-you-need-to-know-about-natures-big-show

Bath Peregrine Project nest site webcam - www.hawkandowltrust.org/live-cameras/bath-peregrines

Cotswold Warden Walks - www.cotswolds-nl.org.uk/visiting-and-exploring/guided-walks

Ed Drewitt - www.eddrewitt.co.uk

Bath Natural History Society - www.bathnats.org.uk

Bathscape - www.bathscape.co.uk

This month, as spring gets properly into its stride, we go gardening.

We start with Carol Stone, one of the volunteers from Alice Park Community Garden down below Larkhall on the London Road. If you have always wanted to know how to stop slugs and aphids munching your beans, well - listen in..

Marion Harney, Professor of Buildings and Landscape Conservation at University of Bath takes us around Sydney Gardens, the only Georgian Pleasure Gardens left in the UK and tells us how the Georgians liked to have fun.

Amie Cook, Community Ecologist for the Team Wilder Ecological Advisory Service gives advice on how to encourage wildlife into your back garden. This is a service offered by Avon Wildlife Trust via site visits, video calls or workshops.

Cat Baker, ecologist and manager of WIld About Bath takes us around a wild garden overlooking Horsecombe Vale, tells us what she loves about gardening and gives tips on composting.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Alice Park Community Garden: www.facebook.com/aliceparkcommunitygarden/?locale=en_GB

Team Wilder Ecological Advisory Service, Avon Wildlife Trust: www.avonwildlifetrust.org.uk/team-wilder-ecological-advisory-service

Wild About Bath: www.wildaboutbath.org

In this episode we take a deep dive underneath the city of Bath and discover the geology that underpins it.

Professor Maurice Tucker from the Bath Geological Society tells us about the father of Geology, William Smith

Mike Williams is a landscape historian and ecologist and he talks about the affect of the landscape on settlement and biodiversity. He also shows us petrification in action!

Finally in our feature we go underground! Simon Hart, Managing Director and Owner of Hartham Park Stone Mine takes us down the mine where we meet a 16 ton chainsaw and see 200 year old graffiti.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Bath Geological Society -www.bathgeolsoc.org.uk

Hartham Park Stone Mine - https://www.lovellstonegroup.com/quarry/hartham-park-bath-stone