A former teacher has been appointed as the new curate for a group of rural Anglican churches. St John’s Peasedown, St Julian’s Wellow, St James’ Foxcote and St Julian’s Shoscombe – known collectively at the St J’s Group Benefice – welcomed Rachel Howlett to the team this week. Rachel worked for a number of years…

Discovery, connection and outdoor adventure are the themes of this year’s Somer Valley Walking Festival, on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September.  The festival, which is organised by Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Somer Valley Rediscovered project in partnership with Somer Valley Ramblers, is designed to encourage people to make the most of the…

Interactive workshops that encourage good recycling practices in young children and were shortlisted for a national award have returned to primary schools across Bath and North East Somerset. Bath & North East Somerset Council was a finalist in the Social Value within a Community award at this year’s Let’s Recycle’s Awards for Excellence in Recycling and…

Pupils and staff at Peasedown Primary School are celebrating this week after achieving the highest possible accreditation in a recent inspection. The school has been re-awarded, for the second time in a row, a Platinum Award for their Outdoor Play and Learning curriculum (or OPAL). School Headteacher, Ruth Noall, said: “OPAL, Outdoor Play And Learning,…

A Bath-based kitchen fitter has been fined £5,000 and ordered to repay more than £29,000 to two Bath and North East Somerset residents following a successful prosecution brought by Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Trading Standards Team. John Upson, 50, trading as Kitchens of Bath Ltd, was sentenced at Bath Magistrates’ Court on 2…

Signs are going up at Bath’s popular Royal Victoria Park by the empty pond advising visitors about the dried-up feature – which in the hot weather, is now waterless. The regular water source to the pond was cut off a number of years ago by Wessex Water because the condition of the pipes had resulted…

Council leaders representing two of England’s key visitor destinations have jointly written to Angela Rayner, urging the Government to convene a roundtable on support for sustainable tourism across heritage cities. In the letter, Bath & North East Somerset Council and Cambridge City Council  highlight the growing pressures faced by destination cities. These include strains on…

Work to improve footways in Chew Magna will start later this month as Bath & North East Somerset Council continue to deliver on its ambitious footway improvement programme. Over the last two years the council has doubled its investment into footway improvements to make it easier and safer for those walking and wheeling and to…

Combe Down Allotment holders are being asked to contact Bath & North East Somerset Council to explore options for plots on other sites following the landowner’s intention to end the lease of the land occupied by the council. A letter has been sent to allotment holders making the offer and reminding them they will need…