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Book a show
Tucked behind the early 19th-century Theatre Royal is the intimate (and egg-shaped) ‘The Egg’ theatre, which for 20 years has been putting on performances for children, from Snow Mice! for the tiniest of theatre goers (with live music, puppetry and singing) to a reimagining of the Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett classic The Secret Garden. Pushchairs can easily be stored, and The Yolk Bar & Café in the foyer, with its play area, is designed to make your foray into the theatre with kids low stress. For the rainiest days, there’s also the tiny two-screen, art deco The Little Theatre Cinema, built in 1935 to show newsreels, and still with the charm of cinema’s heyday. Stock up on treats from the kiosk (Jude’s ice cream perhaps, or Mr Filbert’s nuts), where the menu is scribbled on a chalkboard, and settle in for the best blockbusters and arthouse films. On Wednesdays, there are the ‘watch with baby’ sessions for parents with babies under one year old, and on Saturday mornings, there’s the kids’ club showing family favourites.
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Shop for treasures
Mini magpies should make a beeline to the covered Bath Guildhall Market to Not Cartiers, where a kaleidoscope of the most elaborate costume jewellery hangs from every surface with prices from 50p to £50. Refuel with hunks of fudge from The Bath Humbug Shop across the market, before heading to The Yellow Shop on Walcot Street: a vintage mecca for teens, where a disco ball hangs from the entrance, music blares from the decks and racks of retro clothes are ready to be mined. Vintage records can be picked up at Resolution Records in the disused Green Park Station and at Chapter22 Roots and Records on Broad Street – a curious mix of plants and vinyl – you can nurse a coffee while music lovers browse or settle into a listening booth. The best bet for tinier visitors to spend their pocket money is My Small World, not far from the station, a fairytale toy shop where there’s (pretend) grass underfoot, real trees with foliage that changes with the season, hot air balloons hanging from the ceiling and birdsong as the soundtrack to their shopping.
