People across Bath can enjoy a wide range of interesting venues for free next month – including some run by Bath & North East Somerset Council – as part of the Heritage Open Days 2011.
From Thursday 8th to Sunday 11th September, venues across Bath and the surrounding areas are opening their doors for free to local residents of all ages to celebrate the area’s vast heritage.
Bath & North East Somerset Council has been taking part in Heritage Open Days for over ten years. This year there are new places to visit along with some old favourites.
Take a tunnel tour at the Roman Baths on Thursday 8th or Friday 9th September, or visit the local history store at St John’s on the corner of Locksbrook Road and Upper Bristol Road, in Bath, on Thursday 8th or Saturday 10th September. There is a wide variety of sites across the area providing local residents with access to places which are not usually open to visitors.
Councillor Cherry Beath (Lib-Dem, Combe Down), Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said: “Bath & North East Somerset Council is proud to support Heritage Open Days and celebrate the distinctive array of heritage sites which are open during this special weekend.
“I thoroughly recommend these open days as I’ve personally found them to be a really good way of getting to know about this area’s rich heritage in more detail, and have usually come away having discovered something new. Visitors have the chance to explore some new places this year and to enjoy some old favourites.”
Other sites open as part of Heritage Open Days 2011 include:
* Bath Masonic Hall
* Central United Reformed Church
* Cleveland Baths
* Museum of Bath at Work
* Nexus Methodist Church, Walcot
* No 4 The Circus
* Roman Baths – Exploring the Periphery talk and tour
* St Swithin’s Church, Walcot
* Southcot Burial Ground
* Claverton Pumping Station
* Cross Manufacturing Co Ltd, Combe Down
* Englishcombe Tithe Barn
* Eyre Chapel, Perrymead
* Prior Park Landscape Garden
* Saltford Brass Mill
* Somerset and Dorset Railway Heritage Trust, Midsomer Norton
* May Gurney Recycling Depot, Keynsham
* Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution
* Widcombe Open Chapel Trail.
For more details of Heritage Open Days 2011, including listings and the online leaflet, visit Bath & North East Somerset Council’s website:
http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/leisureandculture/museumsandgalleries/events/pages/default.aspx