A specially curated guide to the next 48 hours (or more) in Bath
|
|
|
|
WE'RE COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS UNTIL SPRING...
|
|
|
|
SPRING ACTIVITIES | A WALK IN THE GARDEN
|
|
|
|
The American Museum & Gardens 2023 Opening Weekend
Join The American Museum & Gardens for their 2023 opening weekend as visitors are welcomed back for an exciting new season.
Try the delicious menu at the new American Garden Deli after a walk in the gardens (where you’ll be able to enjoy 40,000 narcissus popping open) and then an inspiring visit to the museum.
Find out more at americanmusuem.org | American Museum & Gardens, Claverton Manor
|
|
|
|
OUR MARCH ISSUE | OUT NOW |
|
You'll love our fabulous March magazine which features a collection of great reading by our team of wonderful writers as well as beautifully presented advertising by Bath's best businesses. We really hope you'll enjoy the read!
Every month we deliver 15,000 copies door to door, but if you don't get a copy at home then you can pick up a copy at many places around town and from our floor stands at: Waitrose, Sainsbury [Green Park], M&S Foods in Twerton, Tesco in Weston Village, and at The Holburne Museum.
Click here to enjoy our current issue!
|
|
|
|
|
|
And if you would like to have a copy sent in the post every month, then we offer a postal subscription for just £33 for 12 issues, £18 for six issues or buy a copy for just £4.25. UK mainland prices. For Euro and World zone subscription prices – see our website.
|
|
|
|
Want to share this newsletter with a friend? Forward it on!
|
|
|
|
WEEKEND RECIPE | COMFORT FOOD
|
|
|
|
Recipe by Melissa Blease
French Onion Soup
It's all too easy to think of French Onion Soup as a restaurant treat only. But consider this: that hearty, deeply flavoursome broth topped with big cheesy croutons originated as a simple French peasant dish made from onions, stale bread and water; it is, in fact, the ultimate frugal comfort blast that never fails to satisfy, whether served at a sophisticated dinner party of simply as a simple midweek supper.
Contemporary versions of French Onion Soup are slightly more sophisticated than the original version but it’s still super-simple to prepare, the key to success being patience, patience, patience: in order to develop that trademark depth of sweet/savoury flavour, the onions need to be cooked low and slow so that they sweeten and turn a rich brown caramel colour without burning. The optional flourish of adding sherry or brandy towards the end of cooking time further adds to the deeply umami party, and to make a vegetarian version (albeit with a much less rich-tasting result), simply replace the beef stock with vegetable stock.
|
|
|
|
Ingredients (serves 4)
50g butter 1 tbsp olive oil 1kg onions, peeled and thinly sliced 1 tsp sugar 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 2 tbsp plain flour 250ml dry white wine 1l hot beef stock A splash of Worcestershire Sauce 4 tbsp sherry or brandy (optional) 4 thick slices from a large baguette Dijon mustard Around 150g Gruyère cheese, finely grated
|
|
|
|
Method
1. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large, heavy-based pan over a very low heat. Add the onions, sugar and a generous sprinkling of salt and gently sauté (uncovered) for around 40-50 minutes, stirring frequently until the onions are fully caramelised and deep golden brown in colour. If the onions seem to be browning too quickly, reduce the heat slightly, add a splash of water to deglaze the pan and continue cooking.
2. When the onions are fully caramelised, add the wine to pan and turn the heat up. Continue to sauté, stirring continuously for around 8-10 minutes or until almost all of the liquid has evaporated.
3. Sprinkle the plain flour into the pan and stir until the flour has cooked out completely and the roux has thickened. Add the hot beef stock, a splash of Worcestershire Sauce and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper and stir again to thoroughly combine the all the ingredients in the pan. Simmer on a low heat (partially covered) for 30 minutes, adding the sherry or brandy (if using) for the last 5 minutes of cooking time.
4. Meanwhile, toast the French stick slices on one side under a hot grill. Turn the bread over and thinly spread the untoasted side with Dijon mustard. Top with liberal handfuls of the Gruyère cheese and grill until the cheese has thoroughly melted and started to brown on top.
5. Ladle the soup into warm, deep bowls and top each bowl with a slice of the hot, cheesy toast. Serve immediately.
|
|
|
|
WEEKEND WINE | MARCH SPECIAL
|
|
|
|
Enjoy Australian wines with up to 25% off
And now the reds… Following last week’s newsletter for great whites at the Great Wine Co., this week we discover delicious reds from talented producers also on offer in their March special.
The Footbolt Shiraz | D’Arenberg Earthy, spicy Shiraz from McLaren Vale in South Australia, full of black plums, liquorice and black pepper, with a peaty underlayer of mushroom, pipe tobacco and charcuterie | £13.30
Are You Game? Pinot Noir | Fowles Wine A fun and bright Pinot Noir with exciting, distinctive aromas of vibrant red cherry, clove and crushed mint leaf. These vivid aromas become more subtle and savoury in the mouth, with leather, rising bread dough and baking spices | £13.87
Luccio Novello | Pikes A vibrant showing of fresh red fruits, boiled lollies, red confectionary, pomegranate and crushed rose petals. Slight hints of dried herbs as the wine warms and opens in the glass | £13.87
Markview Cabernet Merlot | McWilliams Aussie Cabernet-Merlot blend that is classic Hunter Valley: a mouthful of red and black berries, a nose full of spice and a lovely balance between the two | £9.95
Pax Aeterna Old Vine 'Barossa Nouveau' Grenache | Chaffey Bros Wine Co. Vivacious Barossa Valley Grenache: savoury and complex while also delicate and succulent, with red fruits including cranberries in the mouth and a nose-full of aniseed and spice. Pure pleasure | £13.87
Wild Scarlet Shiraz Cabernet | Rojomoma This classic Australian blend of Shiraz and Cabernet shows vibrant varietal characteristics; richness from the shiraz and dark cocoa notes of the cabernet sauvignon | £18.33
See the full range of Australian wines on offer at The Great Wine Co by clicking here.
|
|
|
|
MOTHER'S DAY | DINING OUT
|
|
|
|
Mother's Day at Green Park Brasserie: extended kitchen hours!
Green Park Brasserie is extending its kitchen hours on Sunday 19 March.
Due to high demand, the historic destination restaurant is running their Sunday Roast Menu from 12pm through to 8pm (last table at 6pm).
The popular Sunday Roast menu includes roast beef and roast chicken, both served with yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, honey glazed carrots, cauliflower cheese, red cabbage and parsnips. The menu also includes a Catch of the Day (from Newlyn Fish Market, Cornwall), a selection of steaks from Newton Farm (just 3 miles from the Braz’s kitchen) and a Chuck Steak Burger and Vegan Burger. Click here to see the full menu.
Booking highly recommended: greenparkbrasserie.com | Green Park Brasserie, 6 Green Park Station, Bath | 01225 338565
|
|
|
|
EATS & TREATS | FROM OUR DELICIOUS GUIDE 2022
|
|
|
|
Timbrell's Yard in beautiful Bradford on Avon
Timbrell’s Yard, the award-winning boutique hotel, has a contemporary bar well stocked with craft beers, West Country ciders, regularly changing local ales and an intriguing wine list. The wonderful riverside terrace offers the perfect spot for a sundowner. Grab a fabulous cocktail (the Grapefruit and Thyme Martini and non-alcoholic English Garden with Seedlip Gin, come highly recommended) and watch the mellow river Avon winding by. Pretty lighting and a view of Bradford on Avon’s iconic medieval bridge set the tone.
|
|
|
|
Looking for more delicious foodie inspo?
Click through to browse our full Delicious Guide!
|
|
|
|
RESTAURANT OPENING | FRESHLY COOKED THAI
|
|
|
|
Rosa's Thai to open in Bath
Rosa’s Thai, the popular restaurant group founded by Saiphin Moore in 2008, will open the doors to its Bath restaurant on Saturday 18 March.
To celebrate the launch, Rosa’s Thai Bath will offer guests the chance to be the first in and enjoy 50% off their food bill during its soft launch on Tuesday 14 to Friday 17 March.
Guests at Rosa’s Thai Bath can feast on curries, noodles and stir-fries, all freshly cooked to Saiphin’s time-honoured recipes using the best of Thai produce, including chilli pastes from the Huai Yod district and rice noodles from a 3rd generation family business that has been making noodles for over 80 years.
Bookings for Rosa’s Thai Bath are now live and bookable here.
Rosa’s Thai, 4 Cheap Street Bath BA1 1NE | rosasthai.com | @rosasthai
|
|
|
|
ORDER ONLINE | CHOCOLATE TREATS
|
|
|
|
Chatley Farm Brownies
Joanna Pobjoy has been creating delicious food from her professional kitchens on Chatley Farm near Bath since 2002.
Based on the beautiful Chatley Farm, Jo and her team enjoy sourcing ingredients from wonderful local suppliers in Avon, Wiltshire and Somerset and using them to create delicious squares of heaven.
Find out more at chatleyfarmbrownies.co.uk
|
|
|
|
Mother's Day Offer: 20% off all Brownie Hampers!
Order online and simply use BATH20 at checkout (offer ends 18 March).
|
|
|
|
OBJECT OF DESIRE | NATO ALLIANCE
|
|
|
|
Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight Navy
The Tudor name was established by Hans Wildorf in 1926 as a sister brand to Rolex; the name had appeared on watches made by Rolex, but in 1946 Wildorf formed Tudor as a separate company, offering affordable watches that would sit alongside Rolex’s reputation for high precision, dependability and build quality.
Nowadays, Tudor is a mighty force and, as well as sharing a rich history with Rolex, it is its own entity and enjoys premium brand heritage and tradition.
With a ‘big crown’ aesthetic and reflecting the style of Tudor’s 1950s diving watches, the recently introduced Black Bay Fifty-Eight is smaller and slimmer than the standard Black Bay watches with a 39mm steel case. The automatic movement is the excellent Manufacture Calibre MT5402 and water resistant to 200 m.
Shown here with a navy Nato strap is the blue face with luminous markers and a blue inlay on the rotating aluminium bezel. Priced at £3,020, the vintage styling paired with the modern build makes for appealing everyday wearability, as well as an investment that will bring joy for collectors.
Click here see the full Fifty-Eight range with dial and bracelet options at Mallory.
|
|
|
|
MOTHER'S DAY | GIFTS OF GRATITUDE
|
|
|
|
Honey Willow Double Seed Necklace | Silver
Celebrate the relationship with your mum with a double seed necklace. Seeds symbolise new life, hope, growth and resilience | £110
Free shipping and personalised note inside the gift box.
Available at honeywillow.com
|
|
|
|
Jo Malone London: The Blossoms Collection
The air of a new season fills the city with fragrance. Among busy streets and serene gardens, glistening blossoms fan out on arching tree branches and bushy evergreens...
This year’s Blossoms Collection from Jo Malone London includes three light floral colognes, as well as a lightweight hair mist and diffuser. The collection features the Osmanthus Blossom, Nashi Blossom and Waterlily Colognes, as well as the Star Magnolia Cologne and Hair Mist and Silk Blossom Diffuser.
Browse the Blossoms at jomalone.co.uk.
|
|
|
|
Reiss wedding collection: Scarlet Metallic Detail Jumpsuit
The scarlet jumpsuit in ivory adds a decorative edge to a signature silhouette. It's cut with a deep v-neckline and fitted with adjustable shoulder straps | £348
Available at reiss.com | Reiss, 34 Milsom St, Bath
|
|
|
|
MAGAZINE KIOSK | WHY WE LOVE PRINT
|
|
|
|
Curated by Daniel McCabe
In an end of year blitz of new arrivals the extraordinary fourth The Analog Sea Review came in and I haven’t mentioned it. This ‘offline culture’ journal collects essays, stories, interviews and images (from Paul Simon, Joan Didion, Eimear McBride, Hannah Arendt, Pablo Picasso, Leonard Cohen, Toni Morrison, Donna Tartt and others) that are interrelated with ingenious, unannounced sub-themes. They guide our curiosity with unexpected tangents and sensory experiences very differently to the way we register digital information and entertainment – quite a feat. If you’d like to know more, the publisher will explain in a talk at Magalleria on April 13 | £14.99
store.magalleria.co.uk
|
|
|
|
DAY AT THE RACES | GOOD FRIDAY FUN
|
|
|
|
Good Friday Raceday, 7 April, Bath Racecourse
Join Bath Racecourse on Good Friday for a memorable day of exciting racing as the 2023 season kicks off.
The perfect excuse to let your hair down and kick start the long Easter weekend, the Good Friday Raceday will see seven thrilling horse races with entries battling it out. Whether you want a day out for the whole family or fancy getting a group of friends together to start the Bank Holiday weekend in style, the Good Friday Raceday ticks both boxes.
U18s get FREE entry, plus there's plenty of free entertainment to keep little ones happy throughout the day.
For more information and to buy tickets, visit bath-racecourse.co.uk
|
|
|
|
EXHIBITION | PRIZE-WINNING ARTIST
|
|
|
|
Exhibition: Millie Claxton Keys, 17–19 March, 15 New Bond Street
Upcoming exhibition by Bath based Artist Millie Claxton Keys: winner of last year’s Young Artist prize at the Bath Society of Artist’s Open Exhibition.
Animal and abstract paintings on display.
Open 10am–6pm at 15 New Bond Street, Bath | millieclaxtonkeys.com
|
|
|
|
LOOKING BACK | ALL ABOARD
|
|
|
|
Words by Andrew Swift
To mark 70 years since the release of one of the best-loved Ealing comedies on 5 March 1953, this month’s archive photograph features Monkton Combe station. It opened in 1910, after the Great Western Railway built a line from Limpley Stoke to Camerton to serve the newly-opened Camerton Colliery. Passenger services were very much an afterthought and most trains ran virtually empty. They were withdrawn as a wartime economy measure in 1915, restarted in 1923 but finally withdrawn in 1925. After that, apart from special trains serving Monkton Combe School, the line was used for goods only, until they too were withdrawn in 1951. The following year, however, the line had a glorious swansong when Ealing Studios used it to film The Titfield Thunderbolt, starring such luminaries as Sid James and Stanley Holloway. All that survives of Monkton Combe station, renamed Titfield in the film, are a couple of gateposts, but the countryside through which the line passed, and which features so evocatively in the film, is little changed – and to celebrate 70 years since its release, on 24 April local author Simon Castens is publishing The Titfield Thunderbolt The story of a much loved film.
(Visit titfield.co.uk for more information).
akemanpress.com
|
|
|
|
SPORT | NORTHAMPTON SAINTS V BATH RUGBY
|
|
|
|
Dunn to captain Bath Rugby at Northampton Saints
Head of Rugby Johann van Graan has made eight changes for Friday’s trip to Northampton Saints in the Gallagher Premiership.
D’Arcy Rae returns to the front row alongside Beno Obano and captain Tom Dunn while Josh Bayliss, Chris Cloete and Miles Reid make up a fresh-looking back row.
Second row Dave Attwood comes back into the pack to partner GJ van Velze who started last time out against Leicester Tigers.
In the backs, Louis Schreuder is selected at scrum-half with Max Ojomoh combining with Jonathan Joseph in the midfield.
Orlando Bailey continues in the 10 jersey and there is a first appearance since November for Gabriel Hamer-Webb who returns to action from a lengthy injury. Matt Gallagher and Tom de Glanville complete the backline.
Bath Rugby will play Northampton Saints tonight (10 March), Cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens; 7.45pm KO | bathrugby.com
|
|
|
|
FASHION | A TEMPORARY HOME
|
|
|
|
Fashion Museum Bath moves collection to temporary home at Dents
The Fashion Museum Bath is pleased to announce that its world-class collection has found a temporary home at luxury glovemaker Dents Headquarters in Warminster while it works to create a new museum at the Old Post Office in the centre of Bath.
The Fashion Museum closed its doors at the Assembly Rooms at the end of October last year and the curatorial team have spent the last few months packing up the collection and moving its 100,000 objects into a high spec and secure storage facility at a site owned by Dents on the outskirts of Warminster.
Established in 1777, Dents is one of the UK’s leading heritage fashion brands with a long tradition of making hand-crafted luxury leather gloves. The firm has supplied handmade gloves to royalty, celebrities and the film industry including the late Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation glove, worn as part of the ceremony in 1953. Dents was awarded a Royal Warrant in 2016 and its gloves have featured in TV series Bridgerton and Mr Selfridge as well as Bond movies No Time to Die, Spectre and Skyfall.
For more about the Fashion Museum’s future, visit fashionmuseum.co.uk | dentsgloves.com
Featured image: Deborah Moore, CEO of Dents, with Rosemary Harden, Fashion Museum Manager
|
|
|
|
INTERIORS GUIDE | FURNITURE PAINTING AND DESIGN
|
|
|
|
Marmalade House
Marmalade House is an award-winning, professional furniture painting and design company based in Bath. It specialises in French and Gustavian finishes that include the layering of colours, distressed paintwork and lime-washing as well as gilding, colour washing for ageing and waxing services. The focus is all about colour and style and how that fits into a customer’s home. The team of trained interior designers also offer a design and styling service that brings together the client’s style and aspirations for change. For those who prefer to do everything themselves, the company also offers popular training courses on how to paint furniture to professional standards, and the use of colour within your home.
Run by Vanessa Sayce, Marmalade House is an established, friendly company that has its clients’ interests at heart, whatever changes they would like to make, and at whatever scale.
01225 445855 | themarmaladehouse.co.uk
|
|
|
|
PROPERTY | A GEORGIAN TOWNHOUSE IN LARKHALL
|
|
|
|
Victoria Place, Larkhall, Bath BA1
Offered for sale by Hamptons estate agents.
Situated in the ever popular and stylish Larkhall village, this classic Georgian Grade II Listed townhouse is a stylish and comfortable three-bedroom home retaining a wealth of period features along with modern twists. As soon as you step inside you are greeted by the entrance hall, which has a beautiful cantilevered Bath stone staircase leading to the upper and lower floors.
On the ground floor is the reception room spanning the depth of the house, it has a wide array of period features including a marble surround central fireplace, stripped timber flooring and French doors leading out to the veranda. Also on the ground floor is the utility room, which also has access to the garden.
On the lower ground floor is a stylish and beautifully created kitchen/dining room. The kitchen has been finished in a modern style with a range of units and a polished granite worktop. This space has plenty of period charm with its original large Bath stone fireplaces with a wood burner in the dining area. There are also four vaults on this floor creating useful additional storage areas.
|
|
|
|
To the first floor is the stunning principal bedroom suite. The bedroom is beautifully appointed with superb ceiling heights, a flank of fitted wardrobes along with a central fireplace. The bathroom serving this bedroom is luxurious with stripped wooden floorboards, a central fireplace, a roll top bath and double shower.
There is an additional luxuriously fitted WC with Thomas Crapper sanitary ware on the half landing between the ground and first floor.
The second floor completes the accommodation of this fine home with two more delightful bedrooms and a shower room, which has been recently refurbished.
Outside there’s a beautiful veranda that leads from the French doors (from the sitting room) setting the scene for the garden. From the veranda and also accessible from the utility room, is a patio area leading to a lawn with well-stocked borders and a path leading to a further patio area housing the shed and a rear gate | Guide price £1,300,000
For more images, floor plans and details click here to see the property on the Hamptons’ website.
|
|
|
|
|