My main reason for returning to Bath is the free 2 hour walking tour put on by the Mayor of Bath Honorary Guides. Although the tour covered much of the same ground as I visited on my previous visit, the anecdotes and insights were not only valuable, but were also thoroughly enjoyable. I would recommend anybody visiting Bath to take advantage of one of these tours, which run daily at 10:30am and 2:00pm - any weather and every day (Saturdays only at 10:30am) of the year excepting Christmas Day.
Starting and finishing at the Bath Abbey (where else?), and remaining external to the sites, the loop takes in (with appropriate explanations of) the Roman Baths, the Guild Hall, the Bath Royal Theatre, the Circus, the Royal Crescent, the Assembly Room, the Bath Mineral Water Hospital, the Garrick's Head Hotel, the home of Richard "Beau" Nash (celebrated dandy and Bath's Master of Ceremonies; 1674 - 1761), and other sites. The history shared is wonderful, giving a much greater understanding of Bath's various rises and falls, particularly through the Georgian building era.
Some interesting "fun" facts about Bath:
The Roman name for Bath
- was Aquae Sulis Minerva, indicating the importance of the water, referencing the local god Sula, and incorporating their own goddess Minerva - very tricky of them indeed.
- The first king of all England was crowned at Bath: King Edgar I (in fact, perhaps not surprisingly, the only King Edgar)
- Bath's Georgian Palladian style of architecture was heavily influenced by the work of the Venetian Italian architect Palladio, from whose name the term derives; Palladio's work was strongly based on the symmetry, perspective and values of the formal classical temple architecture of the Ancient Greeks and Romans.
- The architects John Wood the elder (Royal Crescent) and his son John Wood the younger (The Circus) laid out the new quarters in streets and squares, the identical façades of which gave an impression of palatial scale and classical decorum.
- There are still four complete homes in Royal Crescent; of the remainder (there were originally 30 separate homes), two have been combined to form a hotel, number 1 is a museum, and the rest are various combinations of smaller flats, etc. The Circus is now almost entirely taken by businesses.
- Jane Eyre, who lived in Bath and set her stories in and around Bath, didn't like Bath - apparently by the time she came along the heady days of Bath were passing, which disappointed her somewhat; but had she been born 15-20 years earlier, we may not have had the benefits of her wonderful writing.
- The High Street is the shortest in Britain, being around 50 metres long, running from the Abbey to the Guildhall - hardly worth it really.
Onto some shots from the tour:
Interestingly, the Abbey in its current form was built by one Bishop Oliver King, which can be seen in the carvings depicting a bishop's mitre above an olive tree with a king's crown at its base - fairly clever, if not somewhat vain.
And so, no report on Bath would be complete without a few more photographs of the Abbey - so here you go:
Marshfield accommodation has been warm and comfortable; easy access to good food (often prepared for me); fluffy towels, and good company.
Many thanks and much love to Jenny and Craig for your continued love, warmth and hospitality - see you in May!