Footprints

Pommy Harmar
Footprints

This podcast is designed to inspire you to get out and explore the beautiful natural landscape surrounding the city of Bath, with its hills and valleys, grasslands and woodlands. Season 1 brought a monthly flavour of the September walking festival through interviews with special guests, a recorded local walk and a 'top-tip' section with festival organiser Lucy Bartlett. Season 2 delves deep into the rich diversity of the Bathscape, its culture, heritage, landscape and people. Footprints was nominated for an ARIA (Audio and Radio Industry Awards) in 2023 in the Grassroots category and in 2023 and 2024 in the Best Local Show category! Hosted and produced by walking and podcasting enthusiast Pommy Harmar. Get in touch with us through Facebook or Twitter, visit our website: www.bathscape.co.uk or email pommyharmar@yahoo.co.uk

  1. JAN 1

    Highlights of 2024

    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...

    58 min
  2. A Community Pub Crawl

    12/04/2024

    A Community Pub Crawl

    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

    42 min
  3. Renewable Bath

    11/08/2024

    Renewable Bath

    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

    37 min
  4. Take a Walk on the Wansdyke

    10/09/2024

    Take a Walk on the Wansdyke

    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

    46 min
  5. Surfing the Generations

    09/09/2024

    Surfing the Generations

    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

    46 min
  6. Hedgelaying, Scything and Dry Stone Walling!

    08/02/2024

    Hedgelaying, Scything and Dry Stone Walling!

    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/

    40 min

About

This podcast is designed to inspire you to get out and explore the beautiful natural landscape surrounding the city of Bath, with its hills and valleys, grasslands and woodlands. Season 1 brought a monthly flavour of the September walking festival through interviews with special guests, a recorded local walk and a 'top-tip' section with festival organiser Lucy Bartlett. Season 2 delves deep into the rich diversity of the Bathscape, its culture, heritage, landscape and people. Footprints was nominated for an ARIA (Audio and Radio Industry Awards) in 2023 in the Grassroots category and in 2023 and 2024 in the Best Local Show category! Hosted and produced by walking and podcasting enthusiast Pommy Harmar. Get in touch with us through Facebook or Twitter, visit our website: www.bathscape.co.uk or email pommyharmar@yahoo.co.uk

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