BRLSI’s Bath Discovery Trails App

From Jurassic creatures via the Romans to the Bath of the present day, some of the greatest names and most significant moments in history have come to be associated with the city of Bath.

Alongside the Bath narratives we might all be familiar with, the association with the novels of Austen, the discovery of Uranus by Herschel, many other culturally significant but lesser-known moments also took place within the city walls. Did you know for instance that Bath was once considered the cradle of world geology? Or that one of the most famous scientists of all time held a connection with the city that was to fortify him through his own crisis of faith. You didn’t! Then BRLSI’s new Bath Discovery Trails smartphone app is about to revolutionize your daily walk and enlighten you at the same time! There are four great trails to choose from entitled The First Meteorite, The War Crosses, On the Origin of Species, and The Railway Leviathan, and whichever trail you opt for you are bound not only to find yourself illuminated but to have enormous amounts of fun into the bargain.

The four stories included in the trails span 4.2 billion years: from the very formation of our planet to the lost worlds of extinct species, from the friendship that forged Darwin’s Origin of Species to the world’s first industrial war. Focusing on a single artefact from the collection of the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI), each trail will take you on a historical journey through the city to reveal a detailed and fascinating story about that object’s connection to Bath and BRLSI. Each trail begins at a unique location and will lead you back to the BRLSI building in Queen Square where you can see for yourself the objects that provided inspiration for your walk on display as part of a dedicated exhibition.

Development of BRLSI’s Bath Discovery Trails was led by Tim Vyner, Professor of Illustration at Bath Spa University with Rupert Bassett, Associate Lecturer in Graphic Communication, and Renée Binyon and Adrian Boots of TrailMakerPRO™.

Tim said “BRLSI’s Bath Discovery Trails have been a really exciting project to work on. Working with Isabel Hurley, Maidei Kambarami, Edna Monteiro, Nicky Stevens, and Rosie Yates — all postgraduate design students at Bath Spa University — we produced unique city trails that engage new audiences with the collection. We worked with the Collections team at BRLSI, led by curator Matt Williams, to identify four objects that best reflect the diverse nature of the Institution, and then set out to create a digital narrative that connected each object to the City of Bath.

“The students produced many individual pieces of artwork, including illustration, photography, printmaking and typography, that have been collaged together to illustrate the unique story of each object and its close connection to the city and to BRLSI.”

Renée, from TrailMakerPRO™, added: “We were delighted to work with BRLSI and Bath Spa University to pilot our new trail app platform to provide a bespoke, licensed app which gives visitors to the city a unique and engaging way to interact with the BRLSI collection”, and BRLSI certainly hope that visitors will be encouraged to see what these young female creatives have come up with.

Bath MP Wera Hobhouse praised the project and looked ahead to completing one of the trails: “It is great to see students in Bath create such an innovative and unique experience. This app is a real asset, and it will enrich tourists' experience whilst visiting the city. It will provide a unique experience and will teach people about Bath’s colourful history. I’m looking forward to completing one of the trails to learn more about the history of Bath.”

None of the work on the app or the exhibition would have been made possible without the generous support and encouragement of the Art Fund who awarded BRLSI a grant through their Respond and Reimagine programme designed to meet the immediate challenges connected to the Covid-19 crisis and reimagine future ways of working, and the M. St J Way Charitable Trust.

This project saw the introduction of new technology to BRLSI, enabling them to put their programme and collections before the public in ways previously elusive to them, securing new and more diverse audiences as a consequence.

From 28^th June you can come and enjoy the fruits of their labour for yourselves! BRLSI’s Bath Discovery Trails app is available for both Android and Apple smartphones. To download the app, please follow the relevant links at http://brlsi.org/app and then you will be all set to go.

The trails are designed for adults and children aged 10 and over, and are intended to be as interactive as possible, inviting walkers to engage with their natural surroundings through the provision of a ‘picture challenge’ where images are uploaded to a gallery on your phone, these can be shared with other walkers using the hashtags #BRLSI #BathDiscoveryTrails if you so wish. And in case your knowledge of Bath’s geography is not the knowledge of a Somerset native, the app uses GPS (Global Positioning System) to guide you along every step of the way. Each route is distinct, and takes between 90 and 120 minutes to complete, passing many local cafes and hostelries on route!

And for those of you who have never been into BRLSI before and are not sure why you should be interested in their collection, BRLSI’s mission to provide a cultural hub for the people of Bath and wider areas began in 1824 when key Bath figures proposed a permanent space be created for those interested in cultural activities and the natural sciences, and the BRLSI of today builds on that original educational and cultural ethos by providing events for 21^st century audiences both in-house and digitally. The Institution of today not only provides a cultural hub for members of its local community it is home to a world class lecture programme and educational YouTube channel, guardian of a rich and varied collection of worldwide significance, keeper of a historic library and archive, enabler of free-spirited debate, but alongside plays host not only to its own community of members but to likeminded cultural groups who shelter under the auspices of its Queen Square premises. If you have never visited before, BRLSI would love to see you and get the chance to share not only the delights of their collection but tell you about some of the wonderful things they have coming up this season.

To discover more about the trails, lecture programme and what BRLSI do visit www.brlsi.org. or visit our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. @brlsi or YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmSry14NpKQtLhGtIcr4oUQ