#bathlitfest

After three series and widespread acclaim, historical drama series Downton Abbey seems to have taken the world by storm. Its popularity was certainly reflected in the enthusiastic crowd who filled the Old Theatre Royal to see Jessica Fellowes in conversation with Viv Groskop.

Fellowes, author of The Chronicles of Downton Abbey and niece of series creator Julian Fellowes, had a unique insight into the creation of the show. The hour-long talk seemed to fly by, touching on everything from behind-the-scenes anecdotes to the grim realities of war.

The Chronicles of Downton Abbey serves as a companion to the series, with background information on the characters and the world they inhabit. Fellowes is certainly an expert on the show, and her passion shone through as she spoke about her favourite characters and storylines.

Downton fans were able to quiz Fellowes on her perspective of the show, with one audience member having come all the way from the USA. The anticipation for series four, currently beginning production, was high. Fellowes also revealed that she is working on a follow-up book to Chronicles, entitled A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey.

Written by Harry Naughton edited by Sara Bird

The stage was quite literally set in Bath’s Old Theatre Royal for Dr. Emily Mayhew to expose the lesser known story of the British Medical Staff in the First World War, and she did not disappoint. In the current nostalgic climate that the centenary has encouraged it is Dr. Mayhew’s opinion that not enough coverage has been given to the efforts of the men and women, tasked with nursing injured soldiers back to health during this war of attrition – Wounded addressed just this.

Ironically, Dr. Mayhew came to the event with a cold but this did not stop her from presenting in a clear and coherent manner. Perhaps because of the nature of her talk she did not let this ailment put her off and it did not affect the energy she brought to the subject. Despite warnings for those who had eaten recently Dr. Mayhew did not dwell on any of the more graphic images from her book and instead focussed more on the role of the nurses and stretcher-bearers whose involvement has been generally overlooked. With the advancing technology and stagnating tactics of the First World War, the techniques that were implemented by the British Medical staff pioneered the system that is used in Afghanistan today. The impact that this progress had on the practices of wartime treatment cannot be stressed strongly enough. Dr. Mayhew explained how the nurses and stretcher-bearers are the ancestors of the MERT (Medical Emergency Response Team) who crew the chinooks and brave the battlefields in the conflicts of today.

As the story of the First World War nurses had been covered in slightly more detail, the attention that Wounded gave to the stretcher-bearers was refreshing. The event touched on several personal and shocking accounts from the men who took up the mantel during the war, including one which featured a soldier so terrified that he resembled a garden statue as his fear had frozen him to the spot. Dr. Mayhew revealed the extensive training these men received and how they were evident but never visible to the uninformed in many recognisable scenes of trench warfare. A reprehensible instance of this is the anonymous status of stretcher-bearers in photographs of the soldiers executed for desertion who were coerced into untying and disposing of the lifeless bodies. Without books and events such as Wounded, the legacy of such servicemen and women was in danger of being overlooked as it slipped further away from living memory. Certain aspects, such as the sign language that the stretcher-bearers developed, may have already been lost but Dr. Mayhew is representing those who can no longer represent themselves and she does it excellently.

On the penultimate day of the Bath Literature Festival, three fascinating speakers came together to paint a vivid picture of life in early twentieth-century Britain. The Great War Salon took place at the Holburne Museum in a small yet atmospheric space and was hosted by Salon London co-founder Helen Bagnall. With a lateral look at the country in the years leading up to the First World War, the event aimed to tell its audience something they hadn’t heard before.

The first speaker was Lucinda Hawksley, historian and descendant of Charles Dickens. Hawksley spoke about the contribution of women such as Emmeline Pankhurst, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, and Flora Drummond. She also brought up their often-forgotten supporters – husbands, fathers, and other men who put their power and status behind the Suffrage movement.

She also read from her book, March Women March, including some harrowing stories of violence against Suffrage campaigners. Bringing history to the present day, Hawksley shared some photos from the International Women’s Day march which took place in London earlier the same day.

For the second segment, the topic moved to perfume. Odette Toilette, AKA Lizzie Ostrom, spoke about the history of scent in the early 1900s – both its rise in popularity and new developments in its production.

People in the early twentieth century had the same conversations and assumptions about scents that we do today. For example, violets were associated with “nice” girls, while Spanish leather had more unsavoury associations. Ostrom brought an interactive element to the evening, passing out samples of popular perfumes to take the audience back in time. The talk was an unorthodox insight into a much-discussed period of history, and Ostrom’s passion came across in her encyclopaedic knowledge of scent.

The final speaker was Jessica Fellowes, author of The Chronicles of Downton Abbey and niece of show creator Julian Fellowes. Fellowes began on a humorous note, with a musical summary of Downton’s first three series. She went on to provide the appreciative audience with a wealth of historical facts and anecdotes from the show’s development, covering everything from the sinking of the Titanic to the responsibilities of the estate’s head cook.