Join us this month as we explore some of the many ways Bathonians use the beautiful Bathscape in their free time.

The episode gets going at the saturday morning parkrun up at the National Trust skyline. Parkrun celebrated its 20th anniversary last October and there are now said to be 10m registered runners in 23 different countries. Parkruns are completely free. You can walk, run, jog, volunteer or spectate. It is a 5k course and takes place every Saturday morning.

Those who featured in this section were Bath Bats Founder Andy Mullett, Bath Parkrun Founder Helen Conner, Bath Parkrun Course Director James Gorman and Parkrun Master Runner Tom Hutchison.

We need a rest after all that running and so relax on the river with paddleboarder and architect Meg Collin.

Bathscape is well-known for organising the annual walking festival here in Bath and we thought it would be fun to hear from Andrew aka  'Abel' Lawrence who has written a book called ‘I walked every street in Bath’ .

We finish up at Odd Down Sports Ground where there's a charity called All Cycle Bath and West. Here Hannah Samuel shows us around the amazing variety of accessible bikes they have stored up there. 

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

All Cycle Bath and West - 

https://www.allcyclebathandwest.com/home

Bath skyline parkrun - https://www.parkrun.org.uk/bathskyline/

Bath Junior parkrun - https://www.parkrun.org.uk/bathodddown-juniors/

Bathscape - www.bathscape.co.uk

Bath skyline walk - https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/bath-bristol/bath-skyline/bath-skyline-walk

This year marks the 250th anniversary since Jane Austen's birth in 1775 and as she lived in Bath from 1801 to 1806, Bath will be celebrating! We find out from the Jane Austen Festival Director Georgia Delve what will be happening in the city this summer. Lizzie Bennet (Pride and Prejudice), aka actor Lauren Falconer talks about Jane Austen's time in Bath and the two novels she set in the city, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.

We visit a writer's event at Bath Central Library and meet three local authors, Jenny Knight, J F Penn and David WIlliamson.

And Sam Drew from award-winning bookshop, Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights gives us his curation of books inspired by the city of Bath.

Books mentioned by Sam

Did he do it? from The Governess and other Stories, Stefan Zweig

The Frequency of Us, Keith Stuart

The Shape of Darkness, Laura Purcell

Hidden Nature, Alys Fowler

Offshore, Penelope Fitzgerald

Outlandish, Nick Hunt

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Lauren Falconer, Actor and Performer

Jane Austen Centre and Festival

Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights

Bath Central Library

Bath Between the Wars, David Williamson, Hobnob Press

Pilgrimage, J F Penn, J F Penn Books

Bath Through Time, Jenny Knight, AMberley Publishing

This month join us as we explore the follies of Bath.

They were the thing in the 18th and 19th centuries. If you had cash to splash, why not show it off in the guise of a temple, a tower or a castle?

Dr Amy Frost, Senior Curator, Bath Preservation Trust takes me up to the top of Beckford's Tower and talks about the man himself, William Beckford.

We enlist the help of the Editor of the Folly Fellowship Magazine Jonathan Holt to try and pin down exactly what a folly is.

Finally Fliss Swallow is Head Gardener of the National Trust's Prior Park Landscape Gardens and she shows us around the garden's follies.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Beckford's Tower - www.beckfordstower.org.uk

Bath Preservation Trust - www.bath-preservation-trust.org.uk

Prior Park Landscape Gardens, National Trust - www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/bath-bristol/prior-park-landscape-garden

Folly Fellowship - www.follies.org.uk

Map of follies - www.follies.org.uk/index.php/map

Bathscape - www.bathscape.co.uk

Happy New Year and welcome back to Footprints!

In this our first episode of 2025, we look back at our highlights from 2024. More than 40 people took part in the shows last year and we'd like to offer them all a huge thanks for the time, knowledge and passion they put into their work and which shows through in their contributions to each episode. They and the organisations they represent are at the very heart of the Bathscape and we will hear from many more in 2025.

Clips

Ep 26 March - Geology of Bath: Professor Maurice Tucker tells us about his hero William Smith who is dubbed the Father of Geology. He lived locally at Tucking Mill and designed the first geological map.

Ep 27 April - Bath Goes Gardening: Professor Marion Harney shows us around Sydney Gardens describing what the pleasure gardens were like in the time of Jane Austen.

Ep 26 March - Geology of Bath: Simon Hart takes us down his mine - Hartham Stone Mine where we hear about the work of the pickers before mechanisation.

Ep 30 July - Full Steam Ahead!: Writer Colin Maggs talks about his lifelong passion for steam trains, a passion which has led him to write 114 books!

Ep 25 February - Bath in Film: Actor Charlie McCloud talks about what it is like to be an extra on the set of Bridgerton.

Ep 30 July - Full Steam Ahead!: Karl Baxter enthuses about running the gruelling 200 mile ultramarathon race backwards and forwards through the Combe Down Tunnel.

Ep 27 April - Bath Goes Gardening: Carol Stone shows us around Alice Park Community Gardens and tells us how to manage slugs.

Ep 31 August - Hedgelaying, Scything and Dry Stone Walling: In this clip, Dave Pegler describes the ancient art of scything.

Ep 28 May - Birding in Bath: Birding expert Lucy Starling takes us to Bathampton Meadows in search of a pair of sedge warblers returning to their nest.

Ep 33 October - Take a Walk on the Wansdyke: Local historian Mike WIlliams shows us the ancient monument at the top of Stantonbury Hill Fort.

Ep 29 June - Bath City Farm: Farm Manager Ella Holmes takes us to meet the pigs and we hear from a participant of the mental wellbeing group.

Ep 34 November - Renewable Bath: Architect Funda Kemal talks about her animation video which shows what Bath might look like with wind turbines, solar panels and green walls.

Ep 35 December - A Community Pub Crawl: Simon Coombe outlines the challenges the community faced, bringing the Hop Pole Inn up to scratch, ready to be opened on 25th January 2025.

Ep 32 September - Surfing the Generations: Bath College student Abi and Twerton's Forget-Me-Not club member Mary are in conversation.

Our thanks to all our contributors throughout 2024

Rachel Bowers, Director, Bath Film Office

Charlie McCloud, Actor

Emma Morris, Chief Operating Officer, Holburne Museum

Professor Maurice Tucker, Bath Geological Society

Mike WIlliams, Landscape Historian and Ecologist

Simon Hart, Managing Director and Owner, Hartham Park Stone Mine

Carol Stone, Volunteer Manager, Alice Park Community Gardens

Professor Marion Harney, University of Bath

Amie Cook, Community Ecologist, Team Wilder Ecological Advisory Service

Cat Baker, Ecologist and Manager, Wild About Bath

Lucy Starling, Birding Expert

Ed Drewitt, Peregrine Specialist

Marika Kovacs, Birding Expert

Staff, Volunteers and Members, Bath City Farm

Colin Maggs, Author and Railway Historian

Mike Beale, Secretary, Bath Railway Society

Karl Baxter, Runner, The Tunnel Ultramarathon

Mike Reed, Hedgelaying Expert

Dave Pegler, Scything Expert

Rob Morley, Dry Stone Walling Expert, Cotswolds Wardens

Robin Oldland, Dry Stone Walling Expert, Cotswolds Wardens

Chris Gannon, Health and Wellbeing Officer, Bath City Football Club Foundation, Reconnecting Twerton Club

Members, Reconnecting Twerton Club

Nicole Daw, Trails and Access Officer, Cotswolds National Landscape

Rob Mitchell, Supplementary School Coordinator, Bath and North East Somerset Council

Members, Black Families in Education Group, Bath and North East Somerset Council

Members, Forget-Me-Not Dementia Club, Twerton

Mitchell Horman, Coordinator Prince's Trust Programme, Bath College

Young People, Prince's Trust Programme, Bath College

Melanie Barge, Inspector of Ancient Monuments, Historic England

Robert Vermaat, Dutch Historian and Archivist

William Heath, Organiser, Kelston Roundhill Old Barn

Funda Kemal, Architect and Climate Activist

Robin Spalding, Programme Manager, Renewable Energy Team, Bath and North East Somerset Council

Steve Henwood, Member, The Bell Inn

Wendy Matthews, Member, The Bell Inn

Dom Moorhouse, Managing Director, The Packhorse

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Bathscape - www.bathscape.co.uk

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