Footprints

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

For this episode you will need to grab your popcorn, dim the lights and settle down for a magical journey to the heart of the filmmaking industry in the historic city of Bath.

Rachel Bowers from the Bath Film Office describes the process for bringing upwards of two hundred actors and crew into the heart of the city to film.

Charlie McCLoud gives us his very own ‘Life in the day of an Extra’. 

Plus the Holburne Museum's Chief Operating Officer Emma Morris tells us the inside story of working in a building which famously doubled as Lady Danbury’s grand estate in the hit series Bridgerton

Links

Bath Film Office - www.bathfilmoffice.co.uk

Holburne Museum - www.holburne.org

Credits

Music: Richard Frohlich Media and the Texas Radio Theatre Company.

A short melody of Luigi Boccherini's minuet from his String Quintet in E, Op.13, No.6. Played by Howard Geisel

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Happy New Year and welcome back to Footprints!

In this our first episode of 2024, we look back at our highlights from 2023. More than 40 people took part in the shows last year and a huge thanks must go to them for making the episodes so fascinating and varied to listen to. They and the organisations they represent are at the very heart of the Bathscape and we will hear from many more in 2024.

Clips

Ep 13 February - Living Working Bath: Mark Batterham shows us around the Moorlands Estate, the first council estate planned after the second world war and opened by Nye Bevin.

Ep 14 March - Art in the Landscape: Marian Hill talks about her exquisitely intricate and accurate identification charts of bugs, beetles and butterflies, using collage.

Ep 15 April - Wellbeing in Nature: Lucy Bartlett leads a walk for students as part of Be Well week and three students talk about why being outdoors helps their mental health.

Ep 16 May - The Call of the Wild: One of the wildlife enthusiasts featured in the episode Catherine Turner talks about her passion for spiders and has me peering deep into the long grass .

Ep 17 June - The Love of Trees: Joe McSorley, lead ranger for the National Trust shows us around Prior Park Gardens and tells us why the gardens were created and what the trees were used for.

Ep 18 July - Haile Selassie in Bath: Ras Benji allows us to tag along on a tour of Fairfield House where Emperor Haili Selassie lived during his time in exile during WW2.

Ep 18 July - Haile Selassie in Bath: Pauline Swaby-Wallace shows around the Windrush Centre and describes what it was like to come to Britain at that time.

Ep 19 August - What did the Romans ever do for Bath?: Combe Down resident Helen talks about the time she found a skeleton of a roman citizen buried in her garden wall!

Ep 20 September - Farming in Bath: Bob Honey has a pedigree herd of Herefords, but he also has a cider apple orchard. This is a clip of him describing the year in the life of an apple. You will hear glorious names of apple varieties such as Slack-ma-Girdle!

Ep 21 October - Radical Bath: In this clip, Professor emerita June Hannam talks about why Bath was important to the Suffragettes and tree planting at Eagle House.

Ep 21 October - Radical Bath: the episode brings us right into the present with Kidical Mass campaigners talking about their mission to create safer streets for children to cycle in.

Ep 22 November - Bath at Night: We visit the West of England Falconry Centre in Newton St Loe and hear about Bella the rock owl during one of their flying displays.

Ep 23 December - Three Grand Schemes: This episodes hears about Bath Preservation Trust's renovations to Beckford's Tower, one of the National Trust's Green Corridor schemes at Bathampton Meadows and the recently-opened Cleveland Pools. In this clip three inspiring women talk about their experience of swimming in temperatures of around 10 degrees!

Our thanks to all our contributors throughout 2023

Stuart Burroughs, director, Museum of Bath at Work

Diana Ahmed, Twerton artist

Mark Batterham, local historian

Jessica Palmer, Bath artist

Perry Harris, Bath artist, watercolourist and cartoonist

Marian Hill, Bath illustrator

Chris Pound, architect, writer and World Heritage expert

George Cook, project officer, Avon Wildlife Trust

Mike WIlliams, Bath naturalist, specialist in beetles

Catherine Turner, Bath naturalist, specialist in spiders

Alan Rayner, Bath naturalist, specialist in mosses, lichens and liverworts

Helen Hobbs, organiser, Chalcombe Toad Patrol

Karen Renshaw, ecologist, Bath and North East Somerset Council

Dr Penny Hay, co-founder, Forest of Imagination

Andrew Grant, co-founder, Forest of Imagination

Savita Wilmott, director, Festival of Nature

Joe McSorley, lead ranger, National Trust

Hugh Williams, tree specialist and walk leader

Princess Esther Sellassie Antonhin, great granddaughter of Haile Selassie

Ras Benji, manager, Fairfield House

Pauline Swaby-Wallace, director, BEMSCA (Bath Ethnic Minority Senior Citizens Association)

Bob Whitaker, archaeological adviser BACAS (Bath and Counties Archaeological Society)

Lindsey Braidley, director, Clore Learning Centre, Roman Baths

+Helen, Combe Down resident

Bob Honey, Bath farmer

Biddy, Bath farmer

Mark Smith, adviser FWAG (Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group)

Andrew Swift, local historian

Professor Emerita June Hannam, University of the West of England

Annie Beardsley, Bath Natural Theatre Company

Saskia Heijltjes, organiser, Kidical Mass

Naomi Johns, manager WOEF (West of England Falconry Centre)

Joe Middleton, manager, Herschel Museum

Sam Grief, manager, Cleveland Pools

Siobhan, Rachel, and Victoria, Cleveland Pools swimmers

Dr Amy Frost, curator, Bath Preservation Trust

Joanna Rolfe, project officer, National Trust

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Bathscape - www.bathscape.co.uk

This month we celebrate three grand projects happening in Bath - Cleveland Pools, Beckford's Tower and Bathampton Meadows.

Cleveland Pools - back in 1801 a new bylaw was passed - the Bathwick Water Act. It prohibited nude bathing in the river Avon and so was born Cleveland pools because the swimmers had nowhere to swim.

Cleveland Pools is only a short walk the other side of Sydney Gardens and has recently reopened to the pubic following years of planning and designing, lottery applications and of course the building works. 

Now, with its highly modern heat pump allowing it to be heated during the summer, it has already attracted Bath’s keen cold water swimmers. Its manager Sam Grief and some hardy swimmers bring it to life.

Beckford’s Tower stands tall on the top of Lansdown, visible for miles around. It’s closed at the moment, shrouded in scaffolding and plastic while all kinds of major renovation works are carried out. It was built for William Beckford, a writer, collector and slave owner and Dr Amy Frost from the Bath Preservation Trust tells us about its complex history.

We finish the episode at Bathampton Meadows which is a new acquisition for the National Trust. It is one of their 20 green corridors sitting just below Little Solsbury Hill by the river Avon.  Joanna Rolfe from the National Trust tells us how it came about and what plans they have for the site.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Bathampton Meadows, National Trust

Bath Preservation Trust

Cleveland Pools