Pub ruins could become home
The ruins of an old pub and brewery beside Bath’s canal could become a new ecofriendly family home.
Local boater couple Wendy and Tom hope to transform the rubble of the Folly Inn and brewery into an off-grid, car-free home for them and their three children. They bought the site in 2017.
The bargee traveller family has lived on a boat for many years, but they said that it was now at odds with the children’s schooling.
In their design and access statement, Wendy explained: “We have always opted not to drive a car and choose to travel primarily by bike. Our children cycle to and from school so during term time we try to stay within four miles from the
primary school, as more than this, in all weathers, is too far for them to ride.
“We are committed to a car-free lifestyle and living on our land would make travelling so much easier by bike for school and work, and we would have access to a much greater variety of public transport. We also often have to travel a few miles with our rubbish to the boaters’ bins, and so taking our rubbish and recycling to Grosvenor
Bridge Road and keeping our compostable waste on our land would be much simpler.
“The electricity on our boat is supplied by an off-grid solar PV system, supplemented by a dieselfuelled generator during the winter months. We are very aware of the number of resources that we use, be it water, diesel, electricity, wood, coal or gas. We intend to create an even lower impact way of life. A south-facing roof of solar panels will ensure we will be self-sufficient for electricity throughout the year, and we will use our own water supply on-site.”
Since the Folly Inn and brewery fell into ruins, the site – sandwiched between the Kennet and Avon Canal and the railway line – has been used by rough sleepers and drug users. Wendy and Tom hope to give it a new lease of life by building a four-bed home there.
There has been a mixed response to their vision, with seven comments so far on the planning application, which was submitted on July 27. While two objected to the plans, five supported them.
One woman wrote: “I am a close neighbour to the land in question and have been acquainted with this family through Bathampton school for over a decade. I wish to support the application since this is exactly the kind of living B&NES Council should be supporting in light of its zero carbon commitment.
“To permit less climate-friendly properties such as those we see very close by and refuse such as this would be contrary to that commitment. I know the family to be genuinely and sincerely committed to environmental protection and to have been enthusiastically, deliberately car-less for the time I’ve known them.”
She added: “I believe that granting permission for this environmentally conscientious development, where there has previously been a development, will protect and preserve what has since become a lovely green space in my locality.”
However, one man said: “The route next to which this property would be built is of great historic importance to those of us who walk daily this way into town to avoid the polluted London Road. It is a lovely area and walk and not only would this new building totally destroy its loveliness it would destroy the pleasure given to hundreds of people who walk this route daily. It would be totally out of keeping and destroy a rare, historic and picturesque ruin.”