Monday 16th September 2024

Jane Austen's Bath - minibus tour

9:00 (duration 3 hours)

Meet: outside the Jane Austen Centre, 40 Gay Street, BA1 2NT

A combination of walking and driving visiting outdoor locations in Austen's Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Includes Charlcombe, described by Jane as 'being sweetly situated in a little green valley', and finishes with the best view of Bath from that 'Noble Hill'.
For this event you will travel in a small luxury 21st Century minibus driven by your tour guide Adge Secker.

Tickets £48

A Very Private Public Breakfast

10:00 (duration 1hr 30mins)

Venue: Kinwarton, 3 Upper Camden Place, (part of) Camden Rd, BA1 5HX (20 mins walk)

Sample the delights of an 18th Century public breakfast just as Jane Austen did in Bath. Bread rolls, toasted fruit bread, cake, tea (Jane Austen blend) or coffee - all in the private dining room of a typical Regency Bath house. Breakfast is accompanied by a talk from Jane Tapley.

Tickets £16

"To be a Fan of Dancing"– Regency dance workshop

10:00 (duration 1hr 30mins)

Venue: City of Bath Scouts, 7 Grove St, Bathwick, BA2 6PJ

Not only did a fan keep you cool in a heated ballroom and allow secret messaging, but forgetful dancers, hoping to impress, could take a quick peek at the printed dance instructions! The Jane Austen Dancers select some fast and slow dances from surviving paper fans, to make an unforgettable dancing session for all Jane Austen “fans”!
No experience or partner necessary, but flat non-slip shoes and a drink essential. No seating provided. A good understanding of English is necessary to understand the teaching. Period costume & fans welcome! 

Tickets £18

Regency Silhouette Embroidery - workshop

10:00 (duration 2 hours)

Venue: Percy Community Centre, New King St, BA1 2BN

Create your own personalised Regency silhouette (just like Jane Austen’s) but with needle and thread! Using the same techniques from over 200 years ago, you will create a piece of embroidery with the added sparkle of metallic thread, embellish with your choice of modern or historical designs.
All materials and instruction are provided by Abigail Rose. Beginners welcome. Refreshments will be provided.

Tickets £60 from Abigail Rose Creative, book via e-mail: abigailrosecreative@gmail.com

Whether the weather be fine or whether the weather be not - walking tour

10:00 (duration 2 hours)

Meet: outside the main door of Bath Abbey, Abbey Churchyard, BA1 1LY

Georgian Bath was designed for city walking. Come with Bath Parade Guides to experience city living in the 18th century and hear about the importance of weather [the British pre-occupation!] in daily life, in the plots of her novels, and for Jane Austen herself.

Tickets £13

Building Northanger Abbey

12:30 (duration 1 hour)

Venue: Museum Of Bath Architecture, The Countess of Huntingdon’s Chapel, The Paragon, The Vineyards, BA1 5NA

Old medieval ruin or fake gothic new build? Following on from the success of our previous ‘Building Pemberley’ talk, join Dr Amy Frost to explore Jane Austen’s Gothic architecture (real and imagined), as the audience become the architects of Northanger Abbey. Bring your drawing skills with you – no matter how dodgy! As the talk runs over lunchtime, please feel free to bring lunch with you too. Costume welcome but not required.

Tickets £13

"Carriages" to Meryton & Longbourn - minibus tour

13:15 (duration 4 hours)

Meet: outside the Jane Austen Centre, 40 Gay Street, BA1 2NT

Starting with a driving tour of Austen’s Bath, then onto the village of Luckington to visit the St Mary with St Ethelbert Church and walk in the footsteps of the P&P 1995 cast. Next Lacock – a village trapped in time and the location for Meryton & Highbury. Then back to Bath to finish with the best view of Bath from ‘that Noble Hill’.
For this event you will travel in a small luxury 21st Century minibus driven by your tour guide Adge Secker.

Tickets £58

Why Mr. Collins? The Church and Clergy in Jane Austen’s Novels

14:00 (duration 1 hour)

Venue: St Swithin's Church, The Paragon, BA1 5LY

Jane Austen thought highly of the church. Why, then, did she present Mr. Collins as an obsequious buffoon? This talk explores Mr. Collins’s words and character, comparing him to Austen’s other clergymen, satirical cartoons, and Anglican and Evangelical ideals. It will conclude with questions and a book signing for Brenda S. Cox’s Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England.

Tickets £13

Dancing in the Footsteps of Jane Austen - Narrated Performance

15:30 (duration 1 hour)

Venue: St Swithin's Church, The Paragon, BA1 5LY

Relax and enjoy performances of all the fashionable dances from Jane Austen’s Georgian era. From Minuet to Mazurka, from Cotillion to Quadrille, from the pacy Scottish Reel to the racy, scandalous Waltz!
Offering a visual treat charting the chronological history of dancing throughout Jane Austen’s lifetime and beyond, for each dance we explain the background, read dance quotes from the time and surmise whether Jane Austen danced them or merely mentioned in her letters/novels.

Tickets £19

High Tea at Highbury

19:00 (duration 3 hours)

Venue: Regency Tea Room, Jane Austen Centre, 40 Gay Street, BA1 2NT

Partake of a deliciously decadent selection of High Tea Treats, finished off with a traditional Regency pudding in the gorgeous surroundings of the Regency Tea Room. Complete with bubbles and highly entertaining Austen interpretations, why not escape for a couple of hours to this haven of literary fiction? With musical interludes, join Emma Woodhouse and Jane Fairfax from the Jane Austen Centre and finally decide who is most accomplished.

Tickets £58

Stargazing at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy with the Bath Astronomers

20:00 & 21:05 (duration 1 hour each)

Venue: Herschel Museum of Astronomy, 19 New King Street, BA1 2BL

Join the Bath Astronomers to stargaze from the back garden of the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, where the Planet Uranus was discovered from by William Herschel on 13th March 1781. There will also be a chance to explore the house where brother and sister musicians turned astronomers, William and Caroline Herschel, lived from 1777 to 1782.

Please note: in the event of poor weather the event will go ahead even if stargazing is not possible, as a tour and talk around the museum will be provided from Bath Astronomers.

Tickets £20

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