BC - RECORDS OF BATH CITY COUNCIL AND BATH & NORTH EAST SOMERSET COUNCIL
- BC/13 - Bath as a Spa, Cultural and Tourist centre: records of Bath City Council and Bath & North East Somerset Council's responsibilities for culture, leisure and tourism
  - BC/13/12 - Records relating to the Thermae Bath Spa
    - BC/13/12/1 - Records relating to the Bath Spa Project (1997-2006)
      - BC/13/12/1/1 - Audio recordings of interviews conducted to aid in the development of displays for the Spa Visitor Centre, Bath

Interview with Mr Brian Neale on the Stall Street fountain, the Roman Renderzvous and Beau Street Baths.

Reference Number: BC/13/12/1/1/2
Alternative Reference Number: 0779
Level of Description: Item
Title: Interview with Mr Brian Neale on the Stall Street fountain, the Roman Renderzvous and Beau Street Baths.
Date: 30 August 2005
Extent: Extent: 1 minidisc
Description: An audio recording of an interview with Mr Brian Neale conducted on the 30th August 2005 by Giles White. The interview, along with others, was conducted to aid in the development of visitor displays at the Spa Visitor Centre, which opened in August 2006.

The recording is 00:03:02 long with Giles' voice coming in at 00:00:03. Below are the extracts of what Brian said during the interview. Please note this is not a complete transcript as the superfluous conversation in between questions has been removed:

[Giles White] 'And if I can just ask you first of all to talk about the drinking fountain'.

[Brian Neale] 'Oh yes, I can remember going down Stall Street and just going across the road to the drinking fountain. It was running all the time and they had a cup, a metal cup with a chain on it and you could just take what you want in the way of liquid refreshment, but it was a required taste. Occasionally people would come with their own bottles and take the water away for medicinal purposes.'

[Giles White] 'And then secondly, could you just tell us about the Roman Rendezvous?'

[Brian Neale] 'Many years later my wife and I were courting, and we used to go to the Roman Rendezvous. And for ten shillings we could have a dance, we could have a swim in the Roman Baths, we had a fashion parade, we had an acro show. There were some refreshments, but the biggest thrill was actually swimming in the Roman Baths themselves and going into the Hot Cross Bath. And that middle section where the water bubbled up, that was so hot you couldn't keep your hand in there. You had to have asbestos fingers to stay there.'

[Giles White] 'And now just briefly about the Beau Street Baths. And remember, tell us about the difference between the Beau Street and the Royal.'

[Brian Neale] 'Well, we're often known these as Beau Street Baths, but when we were younger we used to call them the Tepid Baths because they were a lot cooler than the Royal Baths. They seemed to be nicer to swim in and the length of pool was good. The changing rooms were different. We had a row of boxes on one side of the pool with green curtains on. And the other side was sort of an entrance under the stand for the girls to go and change in their dressing rooms. But it was a very nice bath. The Royal Bath was a lot hotter and that had individual changing rooms, held about six people, had six chairs in each one. And you went in one door, changed your clothes into your swimming costume, then you opened another door, down four steps and you were immediately into the swimming pool. And that was the difference.'

[Giles White] 'And can you just describe a bit if the water was different or, say, when you were swimming in the Cleveland Baths and the Tepids?'

[Brian Neale] 'Right. The difference in the feel of the water. It seemed to be a harder water to swim in. But it was nice. It was warm. It was tepid. It was just how we wanted it. It was very good.'
Existence and Location of Copies: Digitised MP3 versions are available on Preservica via internal access at Bath Record Office.