Festival of the Future City Bath

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To be held at venues across Bath including The Edge Thursday 19th October – Saturday 21st October 2017

 

Exciting arts and creativity hub, The Edge will host three days of talks, walks and workshops across the city centre looking at urban development in the 21st Century.  With a focus on the complexities of a place like Bath, a city similar to Venice with UNESCO world heritage status, how should cities reinvigorate their character and economy when looking to the future?

Thanks to the master planning of John Wood Senior and Junior in the 19th Century, Bath could rightly claim to be one of the UK’s first future cities.  But could it really make that claim today? Is there a city in the UK, or in the world that can?

The Utopian City

Thursday 19th October, 3pm-9pm, Various locations Events suggesting how utopian thinking could develop our cities, and what utopian aspects are already in place. Including ‘Walking Utopia’ a walk around Bath with writer and critic Owen Hatherley – author of A Guide To The New Ruins Of Great Britain and an evening of PechaKucha presentations on ‘Liveable Cities’.

 

Whose City Is It?

Friday 20th October, 1pm-6.30pm, Assembly Rooms Bath Taking in the complexities of a place like Bath we look at the local question of future city. What are the best ways to develop an ecosystem for all to contribute economically, and benefit by return? Is public space an answer? Explore the challenges of preserving architectural heritage whilst creating new buildings and welcoming new populations with leading architect Alison Brooks’ (Bath Western Riverside housing scheme), Henrietta Billings, Director of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, Andrew Vines of Historic England, Jim Heverin, Director at Zaha Hadid Architects and more.

 

The Creative City Saturday

21st October, 12.30pm-5.30pm, The Edge What makes a city a great place to live? Explore global radical housing solutions, the city as artistic inspiration and 21st Century design. Speakers during the day include Stuart Woods (Thomas Heatherwick Studio, Garden Bridge project) Anna Minton (Big Capital), Alex Vasudevan (The Autonomous City), The Design Museum’s Justin McGuirk and artist Rut Blees Luxemburg a photographer and installation artist focusing on urban space.

 

Talks will include:

Owen Hatherley – Architecture and Utopia (A Walk in the City of Bath) Thursday 19th October, 3pm-5pm, Bath A unique walk around Bath on the trail of architecture and utopia.

 

Ken Loach Friday 20th October, 7.30pm-8.30pm, Bath Assembly Rooms Ken Loach presents his vision for the city of Bath, his home for many years.

Books to cheer us on as the nights draw in – reviewed by Milly Adams

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Agatha Raisin and the Witches’ Tree: M.C. Beaton has done it again. My favourite laugh aloud village crime author has, I think, a slightly, but only slightly darker touch in this latest offering, and it’s still wonderful.

Rory and Molly Harris, the new vicar and his gorgeous wife, drive slowly home from a dinner party  and see in the gloom a body dangling from the branch of a tree. It is Margaret Darby, an elderly spinster who, despite appearances, hasn’t killed herself. Indeed no, someone else has taken it upon themselves to do the deadly deed. But why? As the bodies mount, witches raise their heads, and disparate characters begin to reveal themselves, Agatha Raisin and her team of private detectives finally arrive at the answer. But not without Aggie, as politically incorrect as ever, almost becoming a victim, and misreading Charles’  feelings for her. Who is Charles?  Oh come on, read it and find out. Lovely jubbley.

M.C. Beaton is the author of the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth series. Both have been turned into TV successes.

Agatha Raisin and the Witches’ Tree by M.C. Beaton. pub Constable. hb £16.99. Also availabe as an eBook

 

The Prime of Ms Dolly Greene: by E.V. Harte

One hot day Dolly reads the Tarot cards for Nikki, a client. Nikki knows how to share herself about, shall we say, but as Dolly reads the cards she sees a vision of blood, bruises – could it be death? When a body is washed up on the banks of the Thames does she do as Aggie would do, and bustle and thump her way into the crime scene – or not? I do like these less than dark crime novels. Such a relief from the ones you read and have to check the curtains are drawn in case there’s some awful murderer waiting to pounce and do unimaginable things to you. Another to enjoy. Tarot cards, crime, and a warm heart. What’s not to enjoy. (Nifty title too)

The Prime of Ms Dolly Greene: by E.V. Harte. Pub Constable. pb. £8.99. Also available as an eBook/digital audio download.

Different genre but just as much a page turner, one not about to rip your  heart out but leave a thoughtful warm glow:

Fanny Blake’s:  Our Summer Together.

Is it ever too late to begin again?

Just begin this novel, why don’t you. You will find you are turning the pages late into the night. Warmhearted and amusing Our Summer Together explores how someone can find themselves again, or even for the first time, after a lifetime of being someone’s daughter, mother, grandmother, wife, a progression set in stone, until suddenly  ditched by a husband of many years standing.

What are you going to do? Go to bed with a box of tissues and a large helping of woe is me, perhaps a bottle of gin? Probably for a while, but what then?

Read this and see how a meeting with a younger man can help you re-asses, help you find just who you really are.

(If only they grew on trees)

Our Summer Together by Fanny Blake. Pub Orion. pb £7.99 and eBook.

Reviewer Milly Adams is an author with Arrow. Her latest novel is The Waterway Girls. She also writes for Arrow as Margaret Graham

 

The Waterway Girls By Margaret Graham | Recommended Reads

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Frost likes to think we know what we are talking about when we recommend books, and, the fact is: we do. Written by writers and authors, we read hundreds of books every year. So Frost editor Catherine Balavage here to recommend The Waterway Girls By Margaret Graham. You can read the review here. Milly Adams also writes for Frost and we are very proud of that.

THE FIRST NOVEL IN MILLY ADAMS’ BRAND NEW SAGA SERIES. Perfect for fans of Daisy Styles and Nancy Revell. 
War lands them in the same boat. Can they pull together?

October 1943, West London
Nineteen-year-old Polly Holmes is leaving poor bombed London behind to join the war effort on Britain’s canals.

Stepping aboard the Marigold amid pouring rain, there’s lots for Polly to get to grips with. Not least her fellow crew: strong and impetuous Verity, whose bark is worse than her bite, and seasoned skipper Bet.

With her sweetheart away fighting in the RAF and her beloved brother killed in action, there’s plenty of heartache to be healed on the waterway. And as Polly rolls up her sleeves and gets stuck into life on board the narrowboat – making the gruelling journey London up to Birmingham – she will soon discover that a world of new beginnings awaits amid the anguish of the war.

 

 

Chichester’s triple threat… Review: The Norman Conquests

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The Norman Conquests
Chichester Festival Theatre
Until 28 October
Box office: 01243 781312
www.cft.org.uk

Photo by Manuel Harlan

Three interconnecting plays, Alan Ayckbourn’s cleverly conceived trilogy gets the red carpet treatment in this excellent revival. While seeing all three provides the complete story, Ayckbourn wrote each play as a standalone, so you don’t lose out if you’re only in town for an evening. But there are several dates when the marathon triple bill can be seen and, if you possibly can, take your seat for the longer haul.

Fabulously staged (a first for Chichester is the addition of on-stage seating, thus creating a full in-the-round experience); the setting is a rambling country house and garden in Sussex where Annie (Jemima Rooper) lives and looks after her ailing mother. Desperate for some much-needed fun (in the absence of local nice-but-dim vet Tom putting the moves on her), she plans a dirty weekend away with her incorrigible brother-in-law, Norman (Trystan Gravelle). The arrival of her brother Reg (Jonathan Broadbent) and sister-in-law Sarah (Sarah Hadland), followed by eldest sister – Norman’s wife – Ruth (Hattie Ladbury) puts paid to Annie’s plans. The collective convergence also unleashes fall-outs, flirtations and some enthusiastic hurling of home truths.

Taking place over the course of a weekend, in the first play, ‘Table Manners,’ the action takes place in the dining room. In ‘Living Together’ we relocate to the sitting room to see what has been going on in the meantime. Finally we catch up on the outdoors action (and oh boy there’s plenty of it!) in the concluding ‘Round and Round the Garden.’

Making her Chichester debut, Blanche McIntyre directs. Written and set in 1973 (superb design and detail from Simon Higlett), while the period is evident, McIntyre injects a sense of newness; vintage Ayckbourn with a contemporary twist.

Without exception the performances are polished. Delivering beautifully played comedy while highlighting the foibles and struggles of their individual characters, there is a pleasing synchronisation between the actors that aids the flow of the entire trilogy.

Very funny, neatly done and with moments of sharp poignancy, this is a hugely satisfying three-course theatrical feast.

The Chicken Soup Murder by Maria Donovan

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Although Maria Donovan has had great success with her short stories this is her first foray into longer fiction – and I dearly hope this debut novel is swiftly followed by another. It has such warmth and humour – which isn’t bad for a story about murder and death.

Michael lives with his nan in a little town near the sea with its magic hills and the three pebbled dashed semis in a long arc. But everything is turned upside down when the Bulls move in next door and Michael’s magical creative thinking lands him in trouble: why is he the only one who thinks a murder has been committed? Can we believe his story?

As Michael struggles to help himself and the people he cares for to move on, he learns about acceptance and grief, and to what happens to those who are left behind when a loved one dies.

Reading the above you might think that this would be a maudlin, fearful book but its not like that at all. Although Donovan explores the many repercussions of death – on family, friends and neighbours, she has a light touch and paints a varied picture of grief as it is, in its everyday shabbiness and unwashed clothes, in the difficulties of holding on and letting go.

The narrator, eleven-year-old Michael, just about to go up to ‘Big School’, leads the reader through the happenings at the three semis in the street where he lives; his own home where he lives with Nan, Irma the next door neighbour and best-friend Janey and her family at the house on the end.

It would do the novel a great injustice to describe it purely as a murder mystery because it is so much more. It is about what makes a family, what holds it together and how friends and neighbours can be family too. How much they become a part of the very fabric of our lives. I was gripped until the very last sentence.

The Chicken Soup Murder was a finalist for the Dundee International Prize and is published by Seren.

Maria Donovan is a native of Dorset and has strong connections with Wales and Holland. Past career choices include training as a nurse in the Netherlands, busking with music and fire around Europe and nine years as a lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glamorgan.

www.mariadonovan.com

 

THE BUSINESS OF BOOKS: IN HISTORY WE TRUST – Jane Cable turns her hand to event management

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On Sunday about forty people turned up to an event I organised at a wet and windy Studland Bay and proud doesn’t even begin to cover it. My latest novel, Another You, is set in Studland but that was just the catalyst for Dive into D-Day, run in conjunction with the National Trust.

A number of writer friends have asked in awe how I ‘got in with’ the National Trust. Meaning, I guess, how come they are selling Another You in their shops. Well, to be precise it’s just one shop and therein lies the answer – go local. And write a book they love and so will want to sell.

Towards the end of writing the book, which although a contemporary romance harks back to World War 2, I felt it lacked the colour of what it really would have been like to live in the village in the 1940s. Through Studland History Group I was put in touch with local National Trust ranger Stewart Rainbird who had collected an oral history of the era. A morning spent with him paid huge dividends and when the book was published I send him a copy as a thank you.

In turn he passed the book to the manager of the local NT shop who loved it so contacted me and asked if they could stock it, and would I like to do a signing or some sort of launch event. We met and he commented that the film Dunkirk meant that there was a great deal of interest in WW2, something he’d like to capitalise on given that Studland played a huge part in the preparations for D-Day with Exercise Smash.

Another You opens on the sixtieth anniversary of the first day of Exercise Smash when six men died when their amphibious tanks launched too far out to sea and were lost in the bay. For my main character, Marie, it was the start of everything but for these young men it was the end of their too short lives. Being wartime the whole thing was top secret and for a long while it remained that way – even their families were told nothing about what happened. It was only down to amateur WW2 historian and tank restorer John Pearson that there is a memorial at all.

John had also helped with my research and if there was to be some sort of history day (the event was growing like topsy), he was first on my wish list of speakers. Although he professed to nerves he jumped at the opportunity. As did Stewart Rainbird who volunteered to lead a guided walk – and mentioned that Purbeck Sub Aqua Club were diving the remains of the tanks in preparation for the 75th anniversary of Smash in 2019. When they agreed to put on a photographic display of their finds and talk about their first dive season the day had a definite shape – and a name.

With speakers lined up the National Trust did everything they could to promote it through leaflets, a Facebook promotion and a press release. The media uptake was really good – I’m sure the NT’s name on it helped – but the story of Exercise Smash is so compelling two of the tabloids picked it up. I was in part frustrated and in part amused to see that they ‘improved’ on the story by embellishing facts in a way they had been told wasn’t true, but I guess that’s the way of their world.

But the day itself was amazing. Forty people braved the elements to discover more about Studland’s wartime history and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The National Trust were so pleased they want to do it again. And I sold half a dozen books, which although it wasn’t the point, was still something of a result.

The Crazy Nature of Human Communication: The Importance of Being Mindful of The Moment

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By Dr Rajan Sankaran, author of Dog, Yogi, Banyan Tree

Arriving at the lift of my building one evening, I met a neighbour who was known for his rudeness and for putting others down, while blowing his own trumpet. If someone from the building met him somewhere he would ignore them and walk away with his nose in the air. I tried to be a good neighbour and greeted him in a friendly manner asking him how he was.

When he perfunctorily asked me how I was, I thought it might help bridge some of the gap between us to share something. I said, “the younger of my two sons has gone to the USA to study, and with both my sons gone I feel an emptiness in the house.” Instead of some words of empathy or enquiring what my sons were studying, he pointed out that now my sons had left, the alterations that I had made to my apartment, which he had advised against, were now useless. He went on to mention that the alterations were probably illegal.

I was taken aback by this comment. I had tried to be a good neighbour and this was the response! This thought kept going on in my mind all day. So, when later I met another neighbour who is a friendly person, I told him about the incident. I wanted to share with him my experience of the rudeness and insensitivity of the other man.

Instead of seeing where I was coming from, he immediately was concerned about the plans of my apartment that he said he had seen some time ago. He told me that he was quite sure there was nothing illegal about the changes I had made to the apartment.

Stepping back from these experiences; I observed how the three of us saw the same thing in entirely different ways. I was lonely because my sons were away. I tried to convey this to my neighbour, who wanted to find some way to put me down. Then the second neighbour who heard all this, saw it from a completely different perspective: namely, the legality of the changes in my home.

Though I know somewhere that each one of us has his own perspective and that there is no objective reality, my mindfulness in the above incident made this very clear. Each individual comes from who they are and how they perceive things.

There are so many perceptions in one reality. When we communicate with each other, it is actually each one of us talking to himself. We hardly hear the other one. We are hearing ourselves all the time. It is like an orchestra where each musician is playing his own melody.

By stepping back and becoming a witness to the whole phenomenon, I got an insight into how stuck each one of us is in his own inner pattern of perception. I also realized the crazy nature of human communication.

Dr Rajan Sankaran is an internationally-famed homeopath, spiritual thinker and practitioner of holistic healing. His new book, ‘Dog, Yogi, Banyan Tree’ is an insightful and inspirational chronicle of personal and spiritual self-discovery. It is available now in paperback from Amazon UK, priced £21 and published by Homoeopathic Medical Publishers. For more information visit www.dogyogibanyantree.com

Win a copy of Dog, Yogi, Banyan Tree by Dr Rajan Sankaran

We have three copies of Dog, Yogi, Banyan Tree by Dr Rajan Sankaran, usually priced £21, to give away. To be in with a chance of winning follow frost on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/frostmag, just email frostmagazine@gmail.com with your name and address. The three lucky winners will be notified by 3rd November and will receive their prizes shortly thereafter.

 

ZeroWater Really Cleans Up | ZeroWater Review

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zero water filter

Lead and other heavy metals in our waters is a major concern. However, bottled water is bad for the environment and the costs add up. Never mind that the plastic is not very good for you. So water filters are big business and rightly so. Every home should have one. Not all water filters are equal however. When Frost read the press release for ZeroWater we were very impressed. ZeroWater is the only water filter brand that delivers the equivalent to purified bottled water into your home. Developed a pour-through system, with an aim to deliver the best filtration possible with their premium five-stage ion exchange technology, this filter removes virtually all total dissolved solids (TDS), a claim which no other filter can say. 

Well you can see why we are impressed. So we reviewed it. And…it is brilliant. It looks great, is easy to use, and makes great-tasting water. It gets the Frost stamp of approval.

ZeroWater is the only gravity-fed filtration system to match the TDS levels found in purified bottle water. This breakthrough filtration system from ZeroWater is certified by NSF International for the reduction of Lead and other heavy metals such as Chromium 3 & 6 and Mercury. The Good Housekeeping Research Institute have also revealed that ZeroWater removes more total contaminants from water than a regular Brita filter, making it a must have for all homes in the UK.

zero water

ZeroWater’s 12-cup Ready-Pour™ pitcher is the first in its class that has a sealed lid and reservoir, making it possible to pour water that has already been filtered without spilling water that’s still filtering. This means the reservoir can now be kept full, adding a full two cups’ capacity to the existing 10-cup design. It also features a one-hand, pull and pour button spout for easy bottle filling.

The 12-cup Ready-Pour™ uses the patented ZeroWater filtration system, which combines FIVE sophisticated technologies that work together to remove virtually all dissolved solids from your water. The result is great-tasting water, straight from the tap, and the only pour-through filter pitcher on the market that’s certified by the NSF to reduce lead. ZeroWater’s first layer of filtration, activated carbon and oxidation reduction alloy, removes the chlorine taste you are accustomed to with tap water. The Ion Exchange stage removes virtually all dissolved solids that may be left over from public water systems or even leached into your water from piping, such as aluminium, lead, zinc, nitrates, and more. Three additional stages are included to remove other impurities and ensure your water receives the appropriate amount of treatment time to deliver a “000” reading on the included laboratory-grade Total Dissolved Solids meter.

About ZeroWater

  • NSF Certified to REDUCE LEAD
  • Removes 99.6% of all dissolved solids
  • Purest tasting drinking water
  • 12 cup capacity = 10 cup pitcher + 2 cups in reserve
  • Immediate pouring ability
  • One-hand “push to dispense” spout to fill any bottle or cup
  • Convenient space-saving design
  • Certified* to reduce Lead, Chromium, & Mercury
  • Premium 5-Stage Dual-Ion Exchange filtration system
  • Ion-Exchange system that removes virtually all dissolved solids in your water
  • The FDA requires the TDS level in PURIFIED bottled water to reach 000-010ppm. ZeroWater is the only filter in its class to achieve this level.

The ZeroWater 12 cup ready pour costs £39.99 from Zerowater.co.uk and amazon.co.uk, smaller jugs start from £24.99.