Holborn – Westminster – Kensington – Hammersmith – Chiswick – Osterley – Hounslow – Slough – Maidenhead – Twyford – Reading – Woolhampton – Newbury – Hungerford – Marlborough – Calne – Chippenham – Bath – Bristol – Avonmouth

Stretching from the City of London to Avonmouth, the Bath Road is an ancient route connecting 130 miles of vibrant communities. Once the artery of the south, transferring news from London to the fashionable town of Bath and onto mercantile Bristol, the Bath Road has a rich heritage of people living, working and travelling along its trajectory.

Digital Drama is looking for artists, playwrights, animators, actors, filmmakers, poets and anyone with a passion for the past and how it plays a part in our present…to get involved!

This project celebrates the heritage of the Bath Road and compares the experiences of previous generations with those of communities now. Drama, documentary, poetry and animation, blogs and images, reflecting this living heritage, will be shared online in a series of satellite projects, created by local residents and curated by local artists and historians. An interactive map will represent the villages, towns and cities along the route.

Drama:

Commissioning local writers, The Bath Road Project will create a series of online audio dramas based on the heritage of the mail coach era – whisking correspondence and travellers from Holborn to Bristol in a record fourteen hours. Performed in the communities by local actors, the plays will form a dramatic trail of this great road.

Documentary:

A series of oral history programmes, collating the experiences and images of the people of the Bath Road will focus on the heritage of living, learning, working and entertainment.

From Roman lay lines, to highwaymen, turnpikes and coaching inns, key themes picked up in literature and historical reportage will be brought together for the first time in one online space to be shared with the rest of the world.

Web Space for the Project

The Bath Road Project will exist online; a project web space for the diverse communities along the road to share their drama, documentaries and experiences. Contributors will be able to upload their own images and videos and comments.

Publishing the Project

The Bath Road Project will be collated into a printed resource, with accompanying CD for the drama, images and selection of videos. This resource will be distributed to all the schools, libraries and participating community groups along the Bath Road.

Touring Exhibition of the Project

Highlights from the project will be displayed in a touring exhibition, complete with QR codes for downloading of the drama and documentaries on tablets and mobiles. The exhibition will tour the length of the Bath Road, hosted by libraries, schools and community centres.

Producers: 

The Bath Road Project will be produced by Digital Drama and include specialists in the fields of audio drama, oral history, documentary, community training and project facilitation and publishing.

Digital Drama specialises in connecting people through creative projects and has previously produced the Kingston Market Place Heritage Project, Global Stories series of oral history films and is currently working on several projects to mark the First World War Centenary. 

Project Partners:

Digital Drama and the Bath Road Project will draw on the expertise of twenty museums and cultural centres, working with their community and education departments to involve people of all ages and backgrounds.

Local businesses, places of interest, schools and colleges will contribute to the content of the programmes made and uploaded to the shared project website. Local authorities and national organisations will feature the links to the website, celebrating the life stories, points of interest and journeys of its residents and visitors.

How to get involved:

Digital Drama are currently taking expressions of interest for involvement in The Bath Road Project. If you, or your organisation, would like to contribute and be part of building this ambitious project, please leave us your details and a short description of your main activity and ways in which you would like to be involved.