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

The autumn has arrived and it’s that time of year to hunker down and stay warm. It's the perfect season to explore the nighttime in and around Bath.

In this episode we find out about the night sky and visit the Herschel museum where Uranus was discovered back in the 18th century. We’ll hear about the owls in Newton St Loe, delve into the reasons why some animals are nocturnal and our very own batman Dan Merrett will take us on a bat walk around Combe Down.

In this episode we start by meeting the owls at the West of England Falconry Centre in Newton St Loe. Naomi Johns, centre manager tells us all about their owls. Their events start again in early march.  

In our Expert Eye section, we find out about the Herschel family. William Herschel was born in Hannover in 1738 and came to Britain as a refugee fleeing the French when he was just 18. He was an accomplished musician and came to Bath to take up the post of organist at the very fashionable Octagon chapel in Bath.

The manager of the Herschel museum in Bath Joe Middleton tells us how he came to make the transition to one of the most famous astronomers of his day.

We finish with a bat walk with our very own batman - Bathscape’s Manager Dan Merrett and meet at least three species!

Credits

Music: Night Music by Kevin MacLeod (YouTube Audio Library)

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

West of England Falconry Centre - www.westofenglandfalconry.org.uk

Herschel Museum - www.herschelmuseum.org.uk

Bathscape - www.bathscape.co.uk

This month is about Radical Bath which over the centuries has had a rich underbelly of radicalism and rebellion with its streets home to rallies and riots. 

Andrew Swift takes us on a walk around Bath where we hear about the struggle to get the vote and the importance of Chartism in the city.

Professor Emerita June Hannam tells us about the suffragette movement and how Eagle House became a refuge for suffragettes when they came out of prison.

Annie Beardsley remembers taking a show with Bath Natural Theatre Company to support the Solsbury Hill bypass protesters in 1994.

And finally we join Kidical Mass - a group of cyclists campaigning for safer streets for children to cycle in.

Credits

Music:

Audionautix

Arianna Cunningham - first feature with Andrew Swift.

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Andrew Swift - Akeman Press

Kidical Mass - Facebook site

Natural Theatre Company

Bathscape

We're celebrating our 20th episode this month!

And it's all about the world of farming.

But first - Lucy Bartlett has just organised Bathscape’s seventh highly popular annual walking festival and she updates us on what to expect this year.

We visit local farmer Bob Honey who talk about his prize herd of Herefords and he's a man knows the difference between a Brown Snout, a Slack me girdle and the ten commandments. He is a cider apple farmer!

Biddy introduces us to her alpacas on her farm within 10 minutes walk of Marks and Spencers in the heart of Bath.

Mark Smith from Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) tells us why he's excited for the future of farming.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group

Bathscape

So what did the Romans ever do for Bath?

Why did they come? What did they contribute? What impact did they have over the 400 or so years they were here? 

To find some answers, this month we travel back two thousand years.

Bob Whitaker, Archaeological Adviser BACAS (Bath and Counties Archaeological Society) specialises in the Romans and describes the route they first constructed to reach Bath. He talks about the Roman lead mines in the Mendips and also the impact that geophysics has had on archaeology.

We take a tour around the award-winning Roman Baths Clore Learning Centre with Lindsey Braidley, Learning and Participation Manager, and hear about the activities they have designed for local school children and community groups.

Plus a local woman living in Combe Down tells us of the extraordinary find of a roman skeleton in her garden wall.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

BACAS - https://www.bacas.org.uk/

Roman Baths Clore Learning Centre - https://tinyurl.com/2s3px7se

This month we investigating the time when Haile Selassie came to live here in Bath, in exile. We find out about this remarkable African royal figure, seen as 225th in the line of the king of kings of Ethiopia. Not only a monarch whose roots are considered to reach back as far as King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, but also a man revered in his lifetime and now, as God incarnate by followers of the Rastafarian faith.

Princess Esther Sellassie Antohin, great granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie joins us from Addis Ababa and gives us great insights into his life and work.

We take a tour around Fairfield House with Ras Benji. This is the home where Haile Selassie lived almost a century ago with his family during his exile in Bath.

Then we’ll come right up to the present day and find out about Bemsca, (Bath Ethnic Minority Senior Citizens Association) what happens there today with Pauline Swaby-Wallace. 

Links

Fairfield House Bath

www.bathscape.co.uk

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Welcome to this June episode of Footprints in which we are celebrating trees.

There are two nature inspired festivals happening in Bath this month and we bring you news of both of them. Dr Penny Hay and Andrew Grant talk about the Forest of Imagination taking this year, the Assembly Rooms as its inspiration and also we’ll explore the Festival of Nature with Director Savita WIlmott, which is in its 20th year and is including some special tree walks.

Joe McSorley, Lead Ranger for the National Trust in Bath, joins us from Prior Park Landscape Gardens and shares some of his considerable wealth of knowledge around trees.

We’ll also find out about a new urban tree trail 'Leafy Legacies' with Hugh Williamson.

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

National Trust Prior Park Landscape Gardens

Festival of Nature

Forest of Imagination

Leafy Legacies - a new urban tree trail discovering the trees of central Bath

www.naturalbristol.wordpress.com

This month we celebrate wildlife enthuiasts.

It’s springtime and we thought we’d bring the outside in and isten to the call of the wild.

We start the show at Bath city Farm and meet Ribin the Robin. Naturalist Mike WIlliams tells us his story. 

Staying at Bath City Farm, Bathscape's Lucy Bartlett surveys newts and we hear how the newt population is doing in the farm's ponds. 

Catherine Turner takes us on a walk towards Englishcombe and hunts for for spiders.

Alan Rayner is a specialist in mosses, lichens and liverworts of which there are over 1000 species in the UK and more than 100 in Smallcombe cemetery where we find him.

Helen Hobbs is the patrol manager for the Chalcombe toad patrol. For 6 weeks of the year toads migrate across Chalcombe Road where, every evening, 40 volunteers take it in turn to help them keep safe.

Finally we hear from one of Bath and North East Somerset Council’s ecologists Karen Renshaw. We find out about Adders Tongue ferns and what the Council is doing to improve biodiversity in the city.

Resources

Newts

How to identify newts

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation - newts

Spiders

Natural History Museum - spiders

Britain's Spiders: A field guide, Lawrence Bee, Geoff Oxford and Helen Smith, WILDGuides

Mosses, Lichens and Liverworts

A Guide to Finding Mosses In Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, Peter Creed and Tom Haynes. Pisces Publications

Toads

Froglife Toad Patrols - search for Chalcombe toad patrol

Biodiversity

Bath and North East Somerset Council: Ecology and Biodiversity

Credits

Music: Audionautix

Photography: Mike Williams

Produced by Pommy Harmar

Links

www.bathscape.co.uk

www.naturalbristol.wordpress.com

This month it is all about Wellbeing and how getting out and about especially into nature does us the world of good. Walking is a great form of exercise; but it’s also a time to think, reflect and maybe slow down and notice the details and the beauty of the world around us.

We start up at Bath University where in March, it was BE WELL WEEK and Bathscape’s walking festival organiser Lucy Bartlett put on a wellbeing walk for students. Some of the students talked about why they had come on the walk.

Chris Pound is credited with being one of the movers and shakers behind the city of Bath being listed as a Unesco World Heritage site for a second time, this time as one of the Great Spa towns of Europe. In our Expert Eye section, he talks about the different ways landscapes over the centuries, have been considered to be therapeutic.

Finally, George Cook, the People and Wildlife Officer for the Avon Wildlife Trust tells us about the Natural Pathway sessions he runs at Bath City Farm.

Links

www.bathscape.co.uk

Avon Wildlife Trust

Bath City Farm

Unesco World Heritage

Bath University Be Well Week

www.naturalbristol.wordpress.com

Credits

Music: Audionautix, Ville Nousiainen

Produced by Pommy Harmar