Friday, July 24th, 2026
Burnham Visits Bath | Christian Climate Protestors Sentenced | Main Post Office Closing
🔔 Four Christian climate protestors have been convicted for hanging a banner from Bath Abbey last September which read “Don’t Crucify Creation,” reports the Bath Echo.
🗳️ New Prime Minister Andy Burnham visited Bath on Wednesday, announcing a £2 bus fare cap, reports the Bath Echo.
📮 Bath’s main post office branch is to close on September 1st along with TG Jones, the retail shop where it is located, reports the Bath Echo.
💧 BANES Council voted unanimously last week to commit to protecting the River Avon, following a campaign to get every council along its length to make similar pledges, writes Local Democracy Reporter John Wimperis in the Bath Echo.
↪️ Find We Are Avon’s Bioregional Charter here.
↪️ Hear Meg Avon, wife of the river and campaigner, speaking to BBC Radio Bristol here.
🦔 Somerset wildlife rescuers say the heatwave has left hedgehogs dehydrated and in need of help, reports the BBC.
❤️🩹 Meet the Somerset and Wiltshire mothers, in this BBC profile, who successfully lobbied the government to pursue raising the starting sentence for murdering a partner to 25 years, after their daughters were murdered and the perpetrators received lighter jail terms.
Weather
☁️ CLOUDS in the forecast…! 😅 In India, when the rains come, peacocks dance and people rejoice. Rejoice people, especially in Wales, where a drought has been declared. 🦚
↪️ The UK received just 3% of its average rainfall this month, with July on track to be the driest in almost 190 years, reports Sky News.
💨 Looking for air conditioners? Demand is up in the southwest even for next year, reports the BBC.
🤗 Families in Bath can now access a new youth mental health service, called The Youth Fairy, reports The Bath & Wiltshire Parent.
🧗🏼 Contribute to the MHA Stratton House care home fundraising campaign where staff are completing the 5k and 15k Tough Mudders obstacle courses.
🌅 Community walks around Bath
📆 July - September ⏰ 5.45 p.m.
📍Wednesday 22 July – Bath City Centre
📍Tuesday 4 August – Farleigh Hungerford to Iford Manor
📍Tuesday 15 September – Claverton Down to Monkton Combe
🎟️ Full details or contact organiser
🐧 Aardman Favourites
📅 July 25 - Sept 5
📍 Little Theatre
🎟️ Info and bookings.
🛖 Talk on Rammed Earth House, a no concrete Wiltshire homestead
📅 Wednesday, September 9th ⏰ 6pm
📍Museum of Bath Architecture
🎟️ Tickets £12
City & Region
🏗️ Work has begun on building independent living facilities for adults with learning disabilities on Tufa fields, reports the Bath Echo.
😥 Bath’s former mayor, Dr. Bharat Pankhania, has submitted his resignation as a councillor, potentially sparking a by-election for his Combe Down seat, writes Local Democracy Reporter John Wimperis in Bath Voice.
💂♀️ A BBC Southwest investigation has found that while the government has supplied 2,000 sets of new, curved body armour for Ukrainian women in the armed forces, the same equipment is not available to British women fighters.
Crime
🎗️ A woman posing as a charity fundraiser managed to swindle more than 3,000 people, stealing more than £64,000 before she was caught, reports the Bath Echo.
🚨 A man accused of exposing himself in a Bath hotel spa is to face trial, reports the Bath Echo.
👩🏼⚖️ The Bath-based PC mentioned in last week’s Bee accused of pinching a colleague’s bottom, has been found to have committed a lesser offence of ‘misconduct.’ Read the entire proceedings to understand how a hearing establishes evidence and culpability in this story by Local Democracy Reporter Adam Postans in the Bath Echo.
❓Police are appealing for witnesses, video and information about the driver of a car that collided with a teen in Victoria Park earlier this month, reports the Bath Echo.
Transport
✈️ Bristol Airport is working to become carbon neutral by 2030, reports the BBC, but campaigners say that doesn’t include emissions from flights.
🔋 A cooperative has plans to develop battery powered trains in Somerset and Wiltshire, reports the BBC.
⚠️ Work to upgrade the A4 Bath to Bristol is set to start this autumn, reports the Bath Echo.
Sweet stuff 🍯
🕺🏻 Strictly star George Clarke - known as "Clarkey" to millions of followers - received an honorary degree at Bath Spa University, reports the BBC.
🏊🏻♀️ UPDATE WITH SWIM RESULTS!
🏆 The ‘smaller, cheaper’ Commonwealth Games opened in Glasgow on Thursday, reports the BBC, ‘one of the best things that came out of colonisation’ according to one participant.
↪️ Competing for Team England from the Aquatics GB Bath ar several swimmers, reports the Bath Echo.
↪️ The BBC has more on some of the key competitors from our region.
🎓 The University of Bath has awarded honorary degrees to Navjot Sawhney, who founded the Washing Machine Project; Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, who trained at the RUH, and Dr Danny Sriskandarajah of the New Economics Foundation.
🎩 Top posts from last week’s Bee:
🛍️ The council is paying M&S to give up the lease on its old site.