a visit to the city of bath, 2006

Last weekend Andrea and I woke up with a vague plan to hike along the south coast, and when we plotted out the logistics of this idea it quickly dissolved. Going to Bath instead made a great backup plan.

In the 1990s I worked for a company called The Centers for Academic Programs Abroad for a couple years, and part of my job involved organizing day trips throughout England for visiting American students. As a student I had been on a few trips from London myself, one of which took me and my friends to Stonehenge and Bath. Between that visit and the many day trips I later planned and supervised, I've probably been to both Stonehenge and Bath like an infinity of times.

Still, I was very pleased at going back. Andrea had never been there, and since the day trips for students were always brief, I'd never actually been there overnight. The weather ended up being fantastic, and I forgot how nice the city is.

Andrea at the Parade Gardens. This was in central Bath, very close to our hotel.

Just north of the gardens is the much-photographed Pulteney Bridge. While the city dates back to the Romans, it is particularly famous for its Georgian architecture; it was a popular holiday spot for wealthy people in the Eighteenth century who came to take the waters of its hot springs, and there was quite a lot of building in the city as a result.

Pulteney Bridge crosses the River Avon. This is the River Avon in Somerset, which is not the same river that passes through Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace. There are a few Rivers Avon in England, so named because the word Avon means river. At this point the river flows over a pictuuresque cascade, but to the left the water is deep enough for boats, and there is a lock behind the island.

A river boat turning around near Pulteney Bridge.

These buildings near our hotel in central Bath are a good example of the stonework throughout the city. Almost all buildings in Bath are made of Bath stone, a type of local limestone that gives the city its unique, honey-colored appearance. The stone has no layers, so it can be cut in any way. Local laws require building from this traditional material.

Probably the most popular thing to do in the city is to visit the Roman Baths musueum. The Roman city of Bath, called Aquae Sulis, was a popular spa for Roman citizens, who traveled to th ecity from all over Britain. The natural hot springs are the only ones in Great Britian. After the Romans withdrew from Britain the natural springs caused the area to silt up, preserving much of the baths. In the Eighteenth century they were rediscovered several feet below present street level. Most of the Baths have not been excavated because they are underneath beautiful Georgian buildings.

Statues at Roman Baths. These are actually Victorian, as is everything more than about four feet above the baths themselves.

A couple temples near the baths bordered a large public square. Much of the stone from the temples was incorporated into Saxon and medieval architecture (in fact, part of a Roman altar was built into the wall of a nearby church before the stone was given to the museum in the 1990s. But bits of the temple have been recovered. This Gorgon head was once above a temple entrance.

An altar in the main square. Quite a few items in this room are still more or less in situ.

The museum has a number of reconstructed mosaics.

This is the main drain of the baths. Much of the Roman plumbing still works as it originally did.

More original plumbing.

Andrea at the Roman Baths.

There is a rather good view of Bath Abbey from inside the Roman Baths Museum ...

... and it reflects. The water appears this green color because of exposure to sunlight. It doesn't look particularly good to bathe in, however in Roman times the building would have had a roof to block the sunlight, and the algae in the water would not have turned it green. It would have lookeda great deal more like a pool than it does now.

Another view of the Roman Baths. The columns are Victorian, but they rest on the bases of older columns that once supported a roof. Parts of the bases to the columns stick out into the baths, as the structure was apparently expanded at some point during its use.

This room of the museum is located at the site of one of the Roman Baths, but the structure itself is not Roman. It was used as a mineral bath used in the Eighteenth century, at which time the water was kept at a higher level. The stains along the walls are still visible. The window at the upper right of this photo is from the Pump Room, where you can taste the waters. (It's not worth it. I tried it years ago and it tastes like battery acid.)

We walked up toward the Royal Circus, in a part of the city that was largely designed by the famous architect Beau Nash. A circus is a round intersection, and this one is entirely surrounded by beautiful Georgian terraces in Bath Stone.

The Royal Crescent was also designed by Nash, and is right up the street. It has a nice view of the city and gardens.

We stayed overnight, and the next morning was beautiful. This is Bath Abbey again, just across the square from the Roman Baths.

Looking up the street, you can see the very pretty view of the surrounding hills. Bath is set in a lovely valley..

Another view of Bath Abbey.

The facade of Bath Abbey is rather interesting. I spotted these ladders and photographed them on the way in; it turns out that the first bishop had a dream about Jacob's Ladder, which inspired the building of this particular structure, which replaced the earlier abbeys. The ladders have angels climbing up them.

Bath Abbey has wonderful fan vaulted ceilings. These are Seventeenth century fan vaults, much later than most of the rest of the building.

This stained glass window depicts the most famous event in Bath Abbey: the coronation of King Edgar in 973. Edgar was the first king of all England. Previously most Saxon kings ruled particular regions of England. England would have a single Saxon king until the Normans arrived in 1066.

Another view of the fan vaults. Bath Abbey was probably one of the best kept cathedral-sized churches I have seen in England.

This hotel on Grand Parade, just beside Pulteney Bridge, was built to represent three styles of English architecture: Tudor, Georgian and castellated.

I snapped this photo because I liked the look of this road for some reason.

We walked up north of the Royal Crescent, to an area of the city where I have never been before, and found some very nice neighborhoods.

This is the view from High Common into the city.

Another view of High Common, which seems to double as a gold course. The city and parks were beautiful in the sunlight.

High above the rest of Bath we found a few more crescents overlooking the city.

Lansdown Crescent had a particularly nice view, and was quite photogenic.

Andrea at Lansdown Crescent.

Like a number of other contemporary streets, Lansdown Crescent is lined with highly consistent iron gates and lamps.

The view of the valley from Lansdown Crescent. The distant yellow-colored field was actually yellow. We spotted dozens of these yellow fields across the west of England. I have no idea what they're growing out there.

As we await our train back to London I indicate our location for record-keeping purposes.