Our beautiful city of Bath, which brings tourists and film crews alike, has been used
for the backdrop of episodes for many a programme, drawing in millions of viewers,
including detective drama, Sherlock, and most recently the films, Les Miserables, Vanity Fair and The Duchess. Yet Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench and Keira Knightley will all need to make way – as camera crews are due to descend on none other than the old Welton, Bibby and Baron site on Friday.
Having gained national attention for its innovative ways of trying to tackle the city and surrounding area’s mammoth gull problem, B&NES Council, with its hawk scaring, university studying, let’s spend a mere £60,000 on getting rid of them strategy, will be receiving a visit from the BBC’s Springwatch crew to study the gull phenomena at the old factory site in Welton, which has become a haven for the birds in recent years – from black backed gulls to herring gulls, little gulls and just plain old common gulls, the team are fascinated to see how this environment has helped the scavengers flourish and will be capturing the magic during this year’s breeding season.
While Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan will be taking a closer look at the brownfield site which is due for redevelopment, it is rumoured that, inspired by the recent publicity which saw the local media scaling the roof of Bath Abbey in the pouring rain and wind with a hawk in tow, celebrity explorer and daredevil, Steve Backshall, fresh from his expedition in Venezuela, will be getting in on the act by scaling up and abseiling down some of the highest buildings in the locality to study these pesky beasts.
It is thought that once the team have completed filming, they may move on to the town’s High Street to see if they can capture on camera the mysterious brown trout, otter and thriving rodent population rumoured to be living in Midsomer Norton. Readers can report sightings so that the team can begin planning the programme by calling: 01761 010416.
A. Fool