Bath Time

Ok. Maybe the title is a little misleading. We are keeping clean.

Stacey and I took a trip to Bath in the Somerset region of England, about 160kms west of London, for a few days of walking around a beautiful little city that left us breathless, in more ways than one. More about that later. I call it a small city as it’s about the same population as Launceston in Tasmania at 95,000 people, however it has spread out through the valley and up the surrounding hills so doesn’t feel too crowded until the bus loads of tourists arrive. With the long summer days, the number of visitors, including ourselves, boost the population by a few thousand with most staying within the city centre for the duration of their visit making it feel busier than it really is.

We have been here before, in 2011 via car, but this time it was via a train trip from Paddington Station in London to Bath Spa railway station. The railway station is in the heart of the city leaving us a short walk to our accommodation, an Air B&B flat that was newly renovated, comfortable and very well appointed.

Bath itself is a photographer’s delight, rich in Georgian architecture, outstanding buildings such as the perpendicular Gothic styled Abbey and many examples of Roman influence including the thermal baths and cobbled roads. Add to that the fairly unique Pulteney Weir on the River Avon plus parklands that are expansive, and you have a very livable location.

Our first day is spent wandering the streets and getting our bearings. We find our way to the semi-circular Royal Cresent and Circus where the buildings are stunning in their curved stance. The level of detail is amazing.

From here we make our way along Royal Avenue to Royal Victoria Park which is a massive expanse of parklands with wide grassy areas lined by paths and trees. We are lucky enough to be in the park the following evening when Hot Air Balloon groups arrive, set-up and launch right in front of us. Stacey and I haven’t seen this at close hand before so it’s interesting to watch as they decant the baskets from trailers then layout, connect the balloons, inflate them and launch five balloons in a matter of an hour. Sorry for the overwhelming volume of pictures, it was both fascinating to me and colourful.

The next morning, we are up early to avoid the crowds and get some photos without too many people in them. Due to the long daylight hours, the sun is up around 4:30am and the light is not fading until around 10pm, there is limited time where the streets are empty.

The Bath Abbey is a feature in the heart of the city, standing proud and dwarfing most other buildings. It is the type of gothic church you would see in the movies and is essentially massive.

The Bath weir is also an interesting piece of work as it’s not your standard straight-line weir. It has a crescent or “v” shape to it that is apparently effective to control flooding of the river.

Now for the breathtaking part of our visit. We decide to head up to the Alexander Park Viewpoint which is on the other side of the River Avon. The walk started nice and flat but then progressively became steeper until we finally hit the 220-step staircase that takes you to the top. Well, we sounded like a chugging steam train by the time we made it through stage one of the stairs. Then stage two was a stop, wheeze, regain breath and move on affair until we hit the final stage where a sign advised us that there is only another “40 steps to go”. We trudged on and it was totally worth the effort.