The Fashion Museum is delighted to welcome Steve Pateman to Bath’s Assembly Rooms this autumn. He will recount the fascinating true story behind the Kinky Boots movie and stage show – how he ran a shoe factory in Northampton and how a series of events then changed his life forever.

Follow Steve’s story as he enters a world he didn’t know existed. Learning to walk in six-inch stiletto heels and shaving his legs are just two of the things Steve had to do to help save his business.

He will be signing copies of his book, Boss in Boots, after the talk. The bar will be open throughout. 

Friday 22 October,  7.30pm–9.30pm (bar opens 6.45pm). Tickets £13. 

Don’t forget to wear your best boots!  

Our October magazine has a collection of great reading by our team of wonderful writers as well as beautifully presented advertising by Bath's best businesses. We 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. 

You can also enjoy our October issue here. 

Giovanni Panerai opened his first shop in Florence in 1860, serving not only as a watch shop and workshop, but also as the city's first watchmaking school and one of the finest outside of Switzerland. With a specialty for diving watches, Panerai is well known for its timepieces used by the Italian Navy. One of the company’s most groundbreaking inventions is a luminous substance called Radiomir, used for improved legibility under the water. Only since 1993, have Panarai’s watches been on sale to the public but they have enjoyed a huge celebrity following and have become more and more popular every year as a cool alternative to the better known luxury brands.

The PANERAI SUBMERSIBLE – shown here – is one of the most coveted recent editions to the range. Featuring a unidirectional rotating bezel it enables the dive times to be calculated with confidence, while legibility in the dark is ensured by Super-LumiNova® (a strontium aluminate–based non-radioactive) coating applied to the markers and the large skeleton hands.

The case is a 42mm satin brushed steel with a black ceramic bezel on a black rubber strap which is perfect for diving and very tough. The iconic crown guard is a unique feature to Panerai’s action watches. It has an automatic self-winding movement and is water resistant to 300 metres. A great, all-action timepiece. £8,500.

FInd out more about Panerai and explore the range at Mallory.

Dents of England has designed and hand-sewn the world’s finest leather gloves since 1777. Today, the best traditions of this time-honoured craft are combined with contemporary design and luxury leather in stylish accessories including gloves, wallets, and belts.

The gloves are crafted with skill and pride by craftspeople whose attention to the smallest detail creates a glove that is a unique and timeless accessory. This tradition of craftsmanship is embodied in Dents' commitment to preserving the revered skills and craftsmanship of its founder, John Dent. Enjoy the local craftmanship by watching the video or take a trip to Warminster to visit the Dents Factory Shop:

Dents Factory Shop. Furnax Lane, Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 8PE, or click the link to buy and/or take a tour of the Dents website. 

From mini masterclasses to on-counter treatments, 1:1 consultations and live demos, visit the Bristol store on Wednesday 13 October from 6.30pm – 9pm for a 'beauty-ful' evening as they showcase the very best the new season has to offer.

Discover the latest cult brands and hero products, from pro-worthy eye shadow palettes to winter skincare solutions. Find your inner glow this autumn and rediscover the art of getting made up ahead of the festive season. Tickets are £10, redeemable on beauty purchases made on the evening - T’s&C’s apply.

Bath Rugby is delighted to announce that Bath Rugby Ladies will feature in a double-header with Bath Rugby men's side on 17 October at the Rec.

Stuart Hooper's side will take on Saracens on their return to the Gallagher Premiership in Round 5 at 15:00, followed by Bath Rugby Ladies – who will play Supermarine Ladies in Round 3 of Championship 1 at 17:20.

It marks the beginning of an important partnership between the clubs, which both have strong ambitions to grow the women's game in the region and compete at the highest level of the domestic game.

Bath Rugby will go head-to-head with newly-promoted Saracens as the sides meet just over a year to the day following an agonising 17-17 draw at Allianz Park (now StoneX Stadium) in Round 22 of the 2019/20 campaign.

The match will air on BT Sport, with further live coverage on BBC Radio Bristol and Bath Rugby's Match Centre.

Tickets for Bath Rugby v Saracens are on sale now, and with Bath Rugby Ladies kicking off almost immediately after, fans are encouraged to stay in their seats and show their support for the women in Blue, Black and White.

Bath Rugby Ladies will face Supermarine Ladies in the first-ever competitive women's game to be played at the Rec following a top-flight men's fixture.

The match highlights the importance of increasing the visibility of female rugby in the region and aims to support the ever-growing rise of the women's game.

Providing access to the women's game is crucial; therefore, tickets to the fixture are free. Furthermore, the match will be live streamed on Bath Rugby's YouTube channel and on Bath Rugby's Match Centre.

bathrugby.com

Join the American Museum & Gardens for an American Halloween celebration throughout October half-term week, from 23 to 31 October.

The American Museum & Gardens will be offering plenty of spooktacular fun for children and their families over half-term, while celebrating the incredible autumnal colours throughout our grounds. Explore the gardens, parkland and our children’s play area, and discover the Halloween fun along the way.

Go along to the All American Pumpkin Place. Learn pumpkin jokes to impress your friends, seek out the special Trick or Treat zones and find the crayon rubbing stations. Look out for the museum's scarecrows and snap a Halloween selfie, and join in with some lovely autumn arts and craft.

Dress up in your very best costumes and join the museum for an American style fancy dress parade (at 11am or 3pm on Saturdays 23 & 30 and Sundays 24 & 31). The most fantastic costume will win a prize!

americanmuseum.org

The Shuttered Shed is welcoming you back to its 2021 events at the Health & Beauty Centre on Old King Street. with many beautiful items all personally chosen and curated. Browse jewellery, cashmere shawls, scarves & ponchos, hand-embroidered cashmere, silk and cotton dressing gowns, pure wool rugs, candles, hand-created glass homeware/gifts, China, children’s rugs and so much more. Dare we mention… Christmas decorations too.

Go along, bring a friend and enjoy a glass of prosecco whilst you browse. Profits from the event, will be donated to the Charitable Foundation for the Education of Nepalese Children – a local charity, supporting and funding the education of children throughout Nepal.

2021’s dates are:
15 and 16 October – 10.30am – 4.30pm
17 October 11.00am – 4.00pm

theshutteredshed.co.uk

Green Park Station, 10 October

Bath Contemporary Artists’ Fair is delighted to welcome everyone back to its October fair this weekend with an amazing 150 artists showing their work leading up to December. The fair is committed to bringing the best of contemporary art from the city and beyond right to the heart of Bath. Following on from the successful and popular fairs last year, visitors can browse the brilliant works of local artists and admire fine art, photography, sculpture and textiles, all under the vaulted glass roof of Green Park Station. For updates and exhibiting artists visit the website.

Find out more at: bcaf.co.uk

In a change of venue (originally scheduled to appear at The Forum)  The Fulltone Orchestra is bringing an explosive and massively exciting evening of classical music to the Abbey on 4 November, to coincide with Bonfire Night. They are big and bold and on the night,  will be playing the world’s most combustive musical treats from Holst to Barber and Bernstein to Tchaikovsky, all fireworkesque, full of light and shade and even some boom sound effects in the final number! It will be the most fantastic evening from a massive 65 piece orchestra. Huge sounds! There are no actual fireworks, just massive, blustering pieces of music to excite and enthral – it’s just not to be missed!

Find out more at: instagram.com/thefulltoneorchestra

Enjoy an audience with the most exciting names in culture and entertainment. Fane’s curated programme of live ‘in conversation’ events taps into the conversations of the moment. Whatever your interests, you’re guaranteed to discover something you like through their line-up. Spend an evening with Dame Joan Collins, Nigella Lawson, Fi Glover & Jane Garvey, Miriam Margolyes – and more!

Last night, Bristol Beacon live streamed a London Symphony Orchestra concert with Sir Simon Rattle at Bath Forum to care homes around the country as a thank you and gift to staff and residents for their hard work and resilience during the pandemic.

The free concert was organised thanks to sponsorship from Bristol Care Homes. It saw Sir Simon Rattle lead the orchestra in Martinů's Rhapsody-Concerto for viola with violist Antoine Tamestit and Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. It was the first time the orchestra had performed in Bath since 2008.

bristolbeacon.org; bathforum.co.uk

Homewood, Bath has been announced as the winner of ‘Boutique Hotel of the Year’ in the Boutique Hotelier Awards.

Hand-picked from entries across the hotly contested categories, Homewood has been recognised as the ultimate boutique hotel of the year. The award was unveiled at the glittering ceremony last night, in a fantastic setting for attendees to catch up with top hoteliers, owners, managers, operators and suppliers and to raise a glass to the truly impressive work of the team at Homewood.

A ‘Bible’ for the hospitality industry in the UK, The Boutique Hotelier Awards – new for 2021 – rewards the best hotels in the country, recognises the most innovative new products and marks the achievements of excellent staff and employers in the hospitality sector.

Ian Taylor, owner of Homewood, Bath, comments: “It is with incredible pride that we celebrate being named a winner in The Boutique Hotelier Awards. After one of the hardest years in the hospitality industry globally, it is fantastic to see the passion and dedication our team has put into creating something truly special at Homewood being recognised.

“We couldn’t have done this without the support of our wonderful guests, including so many supporters in our local community. We thank them all for their unwavering loyalty as without them, we might not have been raising our glasses!”

homewoodbath.co.uk; boutiquehotelier.com

The Roman Gym, a newly revealed section of the Roman Baths, will open on Friday 22 October. Never seen before by the public, the area includes a Roman Gym and a Laconicum (a type of sauna), which will be brought to life by exciting projections and interpretation. The Roman Gym is located next to the Great Bath and will be included in the cost of the general admission ticket.

In the Roman Gym visitors will be able to:

• Learn how Romans kept fit and healthy.
• Explore the ancient exercise yard where Romans would have worked out and learn about their fitness routines.
• Visit the remains of the Laconicum
• Walk through the remains of one of the most complete Roman doorways in Britain.
• See projections of Romans and the exercises they would have done in the gym.
• Learn about Roman medicine, centred around the belief that there were four humours in the body and to be healthy you needed a proper balance between them. If there was an imbalance, then solutions included herbal remedies or letting of bad blood.

Stephen Clews, Roman Baths & Pump Room Manager, said: "This is a significant addition to what you can see at the Roman Baths, telling the story of an important activity in larger bath houses like the one here in Bath. Romans died at earlier ages than we are used to today, so they were very conscious of the importance of keeping fit and healthy even if, like people today, they didn't always achieve it."

romanbaths.co.uk

With Bath Abbey’s ground-breaking £20-million Footprint project nearing completion, this week’s archive photograph takes us back 150 years to see what the Abbey looked like before Sir George Gilbert Scott’s restoration of 1863–74. It was Scott who installed the pews in the nave which have recently been removed. He also replaced the lathe and plaster ceiling over the nave with fan vaulting, removed galleries over the choir and memorial tablets from the pillars, and replaced many of the windows with stained glass. But perhaps his greatest change was moving the organ from the crossing to the north transept, so that for the first time in centuries it was possible to look from one end of the church to the other. This photograph shows the organ in its original position.

akemanpress.com

I Love Colours Studio is a small, creative and enthusiastic interior design studio based in Bath, whose projects have acquired multiple design awards. The team aim to create exceptional designs tailored to the client’s personality, filled with colour, texture and furnishings that add emotion to each interior, to outline something that is perhaps personal or very unique. What they love most, is to create beautiful spaces for their clients and I Love Colours believe in the power of good design to transform an environment. Services include comprehensive interior design, from concept and space planning through CAD drawings and elevations to colour schemes and visuals.

Web: ilovecolours.co.uk; Tel: 07484268727;
Email: alexandra@ilovecolours.co.uk

Make an appointment to take a tour of this exclusive new development. Situated in one of the best locations in Lansdown, Beckford Gate is a Grade II listed building, set back from Lansdown Road and within beautiful grounds. Now redeveloped into four highly individual and luxurious three-bedroom apartments.

Generous Georgian ceiling heights with classic mouldings and architectural joinery are complemented by exceptional finishes throughout including zoned under floor heating.

Beckford Gate is a beautiful development in the most sought-after area of the city. Designed in the classic Georgian Palladian style, using the golden ratio, which creates the symmetry and balance seen in Georgian property, the development has incorporated this traditional style and combined it with luxurious modern amenity. With features such as Chesney hand-carved Limestone fire surrounds, marble kitchen and bathrooms, solid hardwood flooring and Siemens appliances, no expense has been spared in the construction of this property.

All four apartments are available through Savills:

Apartment 1: Three-bedroom garden maisonette £1,100,000

Apartment 2: Three-bedroom garden maisonette £1,150,000

Apartment 3: Three-bedroom, first floor, large lateral apartment £1,250,000

Apartment 4: Three-bedroom penthouse with roof terrace £1,350,000

Click here for more images of the apartments and details of the open day event visit the landing page on the Savills website: search.savills.com. Or telephone Hunter Harling at Savills Bath on 01225 474591