Bath

I woke to the sound of plastic bags rustling in my ear, and thought ‘why on earth is Amelia packing?’ Turns out it was rain. Very heavy rain. I snuggled under my feather duvet and pondered on what I would do with the wet day.

When I surfaced again a few hours later there were no clouds in the sky – maybe I dreamt it?

A milky coffee, drunk sitting in the enormous open fireplace in our kitchen woke me thoroughly. We gathered our wits and wallets and caught the 11.20 train into Bath.

Bath is beautiful. The earliest mayor decreed that all buildings should be made of Bath stone, garnered from the local quarry (which he owned). The result is a gorgeous city of cream coloured stone buildings of a similar design and age. I had read many novels set in Bath – by Jane Austen, Emily Bronte and Georgette Heyer, and it was a thrill to see the streets, squares, buildings and parks that I knew from those books. First up was the abbey, which I think must be the prettiest one we have seen in our travels.

We rambled around, partially following an audio guide Amelia had downloaded, and sometimes just following our noses. We saw the original Sally Lunn bakery and tea rooms dating from the 1600’s. A bit crooked but still standing! We marvelled at the River Avon, very flooded and racing past Putney Bridge. The Pump Rooms were under renovation so we walked up through the Royal Circus, where we stopped to take photos of the stunning circle of Georgian apartments made up of 3 blocks. Amelia has a panoramic facility on her camera, so we managed to be in both ends of the same photo and thought ourselves very clever! Then it was on to the Royal Crescent, again a most amazing design of Georgian architecture that is still lived in by the wealthy residents. It was a challenge to stand back far enough to take a perfect picture but we had lots of fun.

The upper assembly rooms were closed for a function so we headed to Jane Austen’s Bath Museum and tearooms where we partook of ‘Ladies Afternoon Tea’, made up of cucumber sandwiches, salmon sandwiches, scones, cake, and a choice of teas that I had never heard of! We followed this with a talk about Jane Austen, her life and works, and then time to wander through the museum. We thoroughly enjoyed it, and at the end could dress in costumes of the time and take photos, a light-hearted way to end the visit.

The Bath shops were well worth browsing, very few chain stores and lots of little boutiques. A pain to be limited by budget and luggage allowance!

We caught the 5 o’clock train back to Bradford on Avon, and rested our tired feet. Some light TV, snacks, games of Trivial Pursuits and story-telling finished off a wonderful day. Good times!