Ian Fleming created the James Bond character while enjoying a semi-retired life in Jamaica so it’s more than a fitting salute that James Bond (Daniel Craig) in his last outing as 007 in No Time to Die has given up his MI6 duties and retired to Jamaica to sail, fish, cook and catch up on his reading... Well, (spoiler alert) - that was the general plan.

Early in the film, at his idyllic beach cabin in Cocoa Walk Bay near Port Antonio we see his coffee table and sideboard stacked with books. In clear view are three great reads:

Time’s Arrow By Martin Amis. The compelling, strange reverse chronology of doctor Tod T. Friendly who dies only to discover that tradegy makes him so much feel better and therefore sets about deliberately jilting lovers before seducing them,and delights in torturing patients before curing them. His life races backward toward the one terrible moment in modern history when these reversals make sense.

A Brilliant Darkness by Joao Magueijo. The true story of the extraordinary life of Ettore Majorana, a tormented genius who discovered a key element of atomic fission but mysteriously disappeared and was never seen again.

Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, written by British historian and scholar Tony Judt. The book examines six decades of European history from the end of World War II in 1945 up to 2005.

Also, as the scene moves towards the coffee table, there is a collection of other great looking reads but most noticeably we see Zaha Hadid’s The Complete Zaha Hadid  by Thames and Hudson.

Celebrating the work of one of our most innovative architects, this comprehensive volume details over 200 of her most successful (and not so successful) projects from her early experiments to her groundbreaking final accomplishments. 

Click here to visit Topping Books

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. 

Watches for couples are not only an a elegant statement of a partnership but also a hotly followed [but very subtle] luxury trend.

Tudor watches – an associated brand of Rolex – have all its Black Bay Steel watches available in both 32mm and 36mm case sizes. Elegant, superbly built and with a number of dial finishes there’s a perfect combination to be paired.

All models in the range feature Tudor’s self-winding mechanical movement, screw-down crown, luminous markers and are waterproof to 150. They have steel-polished bezels and brushed steel bracelets, although the option of a sporty fabric Nato strap offers further customisation potential.

The 32mm cases are priced from £2,130 and the 36mm cases are priced from £2,210.

Shown here (left to right) are: Tudor’s Black Bay Steel with silver luminous marker dial (32mm);

Black Bay Steel with navy blue luminous marker dial (36mm);

And Tudor’s Black Bay Steel with black luminous marker dial watch (32mm).

Emma's cushion covers designs are made from velvety vegan-suede and for all UK orders includes a plump fibre cushion insert. They are machine washable, feature a stitched zip and for each order placed a tree will be planted through the Trees for the Future scheme. There are currently 21 gorgeous designs to choose from and they are priced at just £28 each. 

Last orders for cushions 15 November for guaranteed Christmas delivery.

Launching today (15 October) this spectacular advent treasure is packed with N°5 pleasures. Containing some of the CHANEL House’s most iconic products. Among its many surprises are a limited-edition ROUGE ALLURE lipstick inspired by N°5, LE VERNIS in a new shade of red, and a bottle of N°5 Eau de Parfum, as well as a bracelet bearing the number 5, a one-of-a-kind snow globe, and a host of other accessories dedicated to the fragrance and designed just for the occasion.

Shaped like an enormous bottle of N°5, this holiday calendar was designed as a work of art and is available in limited quantities. Far from conventional, the calendar includes 27 boxes numbered from 5 to 31 – 5 for the perfume, 31 for the mythical address. Everything makes sense. Be quick as this is a limited edition. £610

Also launching today (15 October) is this special collection of make-up by CHANEL's creation Studio which has drawn inspiration from N°5 and celebrates a 100 years of  N°5 beauty. The golden hues of the fragrance have been transformed into make-up for the eyes and face, while lips and nails are draped in red, one of the signature house colours. These new exclusive creations are available for a limited time, created with the festive season in mind.

Danny Cipriani will make his home debut for Bath Rugby on Sunday when the Blue, Black and Whites host Saracens in Round 5 of the Gallagher Premiership.

The fly-half featured on the opening day of the season but was forced off due to a head knock and has since had to go through the Graduated Return to Play concussion protocols.

He will partner Ollie Fox in the half-back positions with the scrum-half making his third consecutive start.

Max Ojomoh and Jonathan Joseph continue their budding relationship in the midfield and Anthony Watson comes into the back three on the wing alongside Will Muir and Tom de Glanville.

In the pack, Tom Dunn returns at hooker in an all-England front row with Beno Obano and Will Stuart.

Captain Charlie Ewels and Josh McNally are named in the second row while Miles Reid, Sam Underhill and Josh Bayliss compete as a back row from the start for the third time in the 2021/22 campaign.

On the bench, Ruaridh McConnochie makes his maiden appearance in the Bath 23 this season following a spell on the sidelines through injury.

Sunday 17 October, 3pm kick off; bathrugby.com

After more than 30 successful years, Bath Decorative Antiques Fair celebrates a return to the Pavilion from 22–24 October.

Around 50 exhibitors will converge on the city from across the UK to reveal stock saved for this important fixture in the fairs calendar. Expect to see chic decorative antiques, sleek Mid-Century design, architectural salvage, glass, pottery, textiles, home furnishings and a wide range of art from period portraits to Modern & Contemporary.

A number of local exhibitors will be making a debut in October including Bath duo House of Hummingbird who will bring a dazzling collection of lighting, barware, art de table and stylish Mid-Century furniture for the contemporary home, Imagined Interiors, Somerset, dealing in decorative, country and semi formal furniture and accessories, The Table Gallery, Corsham, with exceptional country house furniture and Chairman Antiques also Corsham, with decorative antiques and rare objects for collectors.

Historically a spring event, buyers look for antiques for the garden and conservatory but with the trend to mix these pieces in interiors. Exhibitors will not disappoint with a diverse selection of English, Italian and French antique and vintage tables and chairs and decorative ephemera.

Bath Decorative Antiques Fair
22–24 October, Trade preview Thursday 21 October
The Pavilion, North Parade Road, Bath BA2 4EU

Complimentary tickets via bathdecorativeantiquesfair.co.uk

Instagram @bathdecfair

Image credit: French Loft

Those of us of a certain, erm, vintage don't need reminding of The Good Life: the cosy British 1970s sitcom penned by seasoned writing team John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, and starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith in the roles of the now-iconic characters Tom and Barbara Good and their neighbours, henpecked Jerry Leadbetter and his social-climber wife Margo.

The premise? Tom Good tackles a midlife crisis bought on by his 40^th birthday by giving up his job as a plastic toy designer in favour of living a self-sufficient lifestyle in the couple's suburban Surbiton home (conveniently pretty much paid for by a legacy from one of Barbara's relatives). But comedy gold storylines around Tom and Barbara generating their own electricity from methane, turning their front and back gardens into allotments and a home for their pigs, chickens and a goat and bartering crops for cash, wasn't this hugely successful show's only comedic device: cue Jerry and Margo dropping by at all hours of the day and night to add context, commentary and general ridiculousness.

When The Good Life hit the TV schedules, the 'self-sufficient lifestyle' was, in the 'provinces' at least, still largely shorthand for sex-crazed, dope-fuelled hippy anarchists living in communes. But Esmonde and Larby sensed that the times they were a'changin', and put a revolution-in-the-making into a domestic setting, predicting the changing lifestyles of a nation that would eventually go greener than even they could have imagined.

Jeremy Sams' new stage adaptation – premiering in Bath before embarking on a national tour – focuses more on the stresses and strains of close friendships rather than putting a Extinction Rebellion/Insulate Britain update spin on proceedings to carry the reboot along (spoiler alert: there are no panto-style Greta Thunburg references dropped into the script here). Instead, the storyline draws on references to classic, original Good Life episodes (Mutiny; Pig's Lib; The Weaker Sex) with only a minor excursion involving the results of the characters inadvertently scoffing a cannabis-spiked poppy seed loaf (did that happen in the original TV series? If so, I can't find a reference to it anywhere) to bring The Good Life to the stage.

Similarly, the ensemble cast channel the original actors playing the original characters to bring them back to life: Rufus Hound is Richard Briers' spoilt, slightly bullying Tom; Sally Tatum is Felicity Kendal's little-wife-with-a-big-personality Barbara; and Dominic Rowan is Paul Eddington's browbeaten but still ambitious Jerry. And while Preeya Kalidas is, in essence, very much a Margo tribute act too, it is she who steals the show: not quite as bullishly inept and cartoonishly, skilfully ridiculous as Keith's incarnation (hey, those are difficult platform sandals to step into) but still an outrageously obtuse, absurdly self-centred, gloriously glamorous stickler for social decorum, and the camp gift that keeps on giving throughout this inoffensive, well-executed, comfortable trip down memory lane.

The Good Life is at Theatre Royal Bath until Saturday 16 October: theatreroyal.org.uk

London Oriana Choir is coming to Bath for the weekend of 30/31 October and will be performing at venues across the city, including St Michael’s Church and the Assembly Rooms.

On Saturday 30 October, they will be joined by Bath’s own Noctis Chamber Choir in a joint concert to raise funds for Genesis Trust, a local Bath charity who offer immediate practical help to people who are hungry, homeless, and vulnerable.

The concert will be at St Michael’s Church on Broad Street at 7pm and tickets are on sale through the Bath Box Office at bathboxoffice.org.uk or by calling 01225 463362.

Internationally renowned food writer and TV cook Nigella Lawson has eleven bestselling books to her name and several successful TV series. Now, her approach to cooking has never been more relevant, serving up an abundance of inspiration for every generation.

Spend an evening with Nigella on 25 November as she shares the rhythms and rituals of her kitchen to celebrate her latest book Cook, Eat, Repeat – a delicious and delightful combination of recipes intertwined with narrative essays about food, all written in Nigella’s engaging and insightful prose.

Live in conversation, Nigella will explore how cooking is a personal, intuitive and connecting process, how one meal idea leads to another, and how one ingredient can spawn a multitude of ideas and recipes. Whether asking 'what is a recipe?’ or making ‘a loving defence of brown food’, Nigella’s wisdom about food and life comes to the fore.

See also our recent interview with Nigella Lawson.

Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston visited attractions in Bristol and Bath this week to hear about their exciting plans for the future and what the industry needs to recover from the pandemic.

Minister Huddleston was invited by Visit West to showcase developments in the region and learn more about the challenges and opportunities for the visitor economy in recovery from the pandemic. On Monday, he visited the multi-award-winning Brunel’s SS Great Britain in Bristol before moving on to Bath for the famous Roman Baths and Bath Abbey.

The visit comes just days after the launch of The National Lottery Days Out campaign, in association with VisitBritain, where visitors can claim £25 off at hundreds of top attractions and tours across the country, including many in and around Bath and Bristol. The £10million campaign is part of HM Government’s Tourism Recovery Plan.

Visit West’s Director of Tourism, Kathryn Davis says: “From walking in the 2,000-year-old footsteps of the Romans to celebrating cutting-edge technology providing inland surf experiences, the West of England has a wealth of attractions and experiences that make our region one of the must-visits for both domestic and international visitors. The West’s visitor economy is worth an estimated £2.33bn and it is vital that we support businesses to recover.”

visitwest.co.uk

This is the view eastward from the fields below Bloomfield Crescent around 1912. In the distance, the terraces of Poets’ Corner can be seen climbing to Alexandra Park. Beechen Cliff School and the eastern extension of Kipling Avenue still lay some years in the future, however. The most remarkable thing about this photograph, though, is that nothing can be seen but fields between this group of young people and Poet’s Corner. Today, although some green spaces have survived, most of the fields have long been covered with houses, while the skyline is dominated by the University of Bath.

akemanpress.com

A Kadai is a traditional Indian cooking bowl that combines as a fire pit and BBQ. You can get an original Kadai that's up to 100 years old – each one is completely unique with a rich heritage from years of use as a cooking bowl for weddings and festivals across India.
Hand-picked in Rajasthan and available in sizes from 60cm – 170cm diameter, the Kadai can be raised to the perfect cooking height with a handmade iron stand or can be used as an impressive fire bowl to enjoy evenings under the stars throughout the year.
Whether you just want a magnificent centrepiece for the garden or to experiment with traditional Indian outdoor cooking, a Kadai is perfect for the job.

The Boniti showroom on the A46 has an impressive selection of Kadais and accessories.

This ground floor apartment is a smart city apartment located in a sought-after position on Bath's northern slopes of lower Lansdown, conveniently located within 5 minutes walk of Bath city centre.

The handsome Grade II listed building leads into spacious well-maintained communal areas with an entrance into the ground floor apartment. The apartment leads into a separate hallway with doors to all rooms. The elegant drawing room is to the front and has 2 large sash windows with working shutters and a handsome period fireplace.

To the rear there is an elegantly proportioned master bedroom which has 2 large sash windows with working shutters, enjoying beautiful far-reaching views over the pretty Hedgemead Park. The well-appointed contemporary kitchen is also to the rear and has a comprehensive range of units within quality built-in appliances, space for a breakfast table and a large picture window enjoying the beautiful views. In addition, there is a lovely, spacious fully tiled bath and shower room. Priced at £325,000

For further details visit the property page on the Cobb Farr website: cobbfarr.com