Travel podcasts for city break fans. All the historical and cultural background you need to enjoy your visit.
Episodes
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
Less than an hour's drive from Bath, Wells is England's smallest city and makes a lovely day out. Hear about the main attractions, including the cathedral and the Bishop's Palace and learn lots of fascinating snippets: everything from bell-ringing swans to England's last fighting Tommy, via a fight in a vineyard, the stabling of horses in the cathedral and a record-breaking Olympic gold medal.
Useful links
https://www.wellscathedral.org.uk
https://bishopspalace.org.uk
https://bishopspalace.org.uk/whats-on/swan-news
https://www.wellsmuseum.org.uk
https://wellswalkingtours.co.uk/wp
https://www.visitwellssomerset.co.uk
http://www.wellssomerset.com
Wednesday Oct 14, 2020
Wednesday Oct 14, 2020
The first of three episodes suggesting days out from Bath, this one takes you to Lacock and Corsham. Hear about the widowed Mum of eight who founded Lacock Abbey in the 13th century, about the life of the nuns there and the village's role as a popular film set. You've probably seen it in Pride and Prejudice, Wolf Hall or Harry Potter. Secondly, off to Corsham, home of Corsham Court and of a 17th century almshouse and schoolroom.
Useful links
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock-abbey-fox-talbot-museum-and-village
http://www.corsham-court.co.uk
https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Squeezed into our anthology are lots of authors who wrote about the city and whom you'd enjoy reading before a visit or afterwards when you want to reminisce. Or indeed when you are actually there: a spot of Jane Austen in Sydney Gardens, perhaps. On this episode you will hear a selection of diary entries, travel-writing and fiction, all of it centred on Bath and providing plenty of new perspectives.
Useful links
https://mrbsemporium.com (the best bookshop in Bath! Bound to have a good selection of the authors mentioned here, as well as lots of other books on the city.)
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
Hear a little of the history of theatre in Bath, including the story of the 'Theatre Royal', now more than 200 years old, and its predecessors. Find out how Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Sarah Siddons made their theatrical name in Bath, and hear about one of the city's finest musical traditions, the genteel combination of tea and music in the Pump Room.
useful links
https://www.theatreroyal.org.uk
https://www.bathvenues.co.uk/pump-room-history
https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
A genteel walk - or 'parade' as it was known in the 18th century! - is a very 'Bath' thing to do and this episode will take you on lots. We visit some of the loveliest parks and explain their history; think Jane Austen at a fireworks display and a brief glimpse of Queen Victoria's ankles. And we suggest some excellent city centre routes which take you past the things you most want to see, plus some more energetic ideas for leaving the city centre and getting out into the surrounding countryside.
Wednesday Sep 16, 2020
Wednesday Sep 16, 2020
Here we present a selection of Bath's best museums and galleries: the Fashion Museum, housed in the Assembley Rooms and featuring clothes, ranging from Elizabethan-era gloves to the very latest 'dress of the year'; the house where astronomer William Herschel discovered Uranus; the Postal Museum, telling the story of Bath's revolutionary postmaster whose profits helped finance the Circus and the Royal Crescent and Bath's two best known art galleries, the Holburne Museum and the Victoria Art Gallery.
Useful links
https://www.fashionmuseum.co.uk
https://herschelmuseum.org.uk
http://www.bathpostalmuseum.co.uk
https://www.holburne.org
https://www.victoriagal.org.uk
https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Jane Austen's novels are a window into life in Regency Bath, a city she lived in for a period and over whose ways she often raised a quizzical eyebrow. Hear what Jane herself did in Bath and how she presented the city in her writing, then find out where in the city today you can have some Jane Austen experiences.
Useful links
https://janeausten.co.uk
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bath-assembly-rooms
https://www.bathvenues.co.uk/pump-room-history
https://visitbath.co.uk/listings/single/pump-room
https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/pump-room-restaurant
Wednesday Sep 02, 2020
Wednesday Sep 02, 2020
Hear what all those elegant visitors were actually doing all day (and evening!) when they came to 'do a season' in 18th century Bath. Find out about the flamboyant master of ceremonies, Beau Nash, and the buildings you can still visit today which will conjure up the atmosphere for you: the Pump Room and the Assembly Rooms.
Useful links
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bath-assembly-rooms
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bath-assembly-rooms
https://www.bathvenues.co.uk/pump-room-history
https://visitbath.co.uk/listings/single/pump-room
https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/pump-room-restaurant
https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
Wednesday Aug 26, 2020
Wednesday Aug 26, 2020
Bath's 18th century building boom left a legacy of lovely crescents and squares which are still today the most impressive areas of the city. This episode takes a look at how they came to be built, at the design ideas behind them and at what life was like inside, for the wealthy owners and also for their servants.
Useful links
https://museumofbatharchitecture.org.uk
https://no1royalcrescent.org.uk
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
It's over eleven thousand years since Bladud is said, thanks to his pigs, to have discovered the healing properties of the waters in Bath. This episode looks at stories of people bathing and 'taking the waters' in the city over the centuries, with a particular focus on the medieval and Georgian periods, then bringing things right up to date at the 21st century Thermae Bath Spa.
Useful links
https://www.romanbaths.co.uk
https://www.thermaebathspa.com