Before I go any further I will tell you that Carol and I have had a wonderful day together, had lots of fun and laughs, walked ever single street, a long river walk, a long walk out of Bath on the London road and saw all there was to see.
While Carol thanked me for taking her to Bath and remarked she was glad she went, for me the whole place failed to live up to my expectations and who ever once thought it was worthy of becoming the capital city of England, must have been stark raving mad. I would go as far to say some of the places in Bath that have been hiked up as being something really special failed to make me get over excited and walking over the Ham Green Viaduct and through the Shaugh Tunnel on the disused Plym Valley line gave me a much better feeing than Bath was able to do.
Before I go any further, I see merse mentioned the Bath Rugby ground, well I did a photo shoot at the ground as it does have a great old looking stand, I will do a proper grounds view over the next few days using those pictures, what’s the name of the Bath team?
We set off nice an early and were doing fine until we discovered we were not on the road we needed to be to get to the Odd Down Park and ride but it did no matter in the end as we ended up at the Newbridge park and ride that you get to by turning off just before you get to Twerton.
It really is a bargain being able to park your car all day and get a return ticket for two to the centre of Bath for just £5 and the bus from the Newbridge Park and Ride stops outside the Westgate building smack in the middle of Bath and from there everything you want to see are only short walks away.
We got off the bus and Carol had with her about 30 A4 sheets I had printed off with all the attractions listed, maps of Bath itself and all the details about the Park and Rides and I asked her to find one of the maps so we could work out just where we were exactly standing in Bath.
While we were trying to work it out a man in his 70’s approached us and asked if he could help us as he lived in Bath. I asked him if he could shown me where we were on the map and he told me that was not going to be possible as he did not have his glasses with him.
He then went into his tourist information mode and gave us all the details where everything was and once he had done that we somehow got talking about Beer of all places, Paignton Zoo and even Plymouth, well you know what I’m like when I find someone to talk with.
You will never have any problems finding all the things to see anyway as there are plenty of posts with signs on them all over the city pointing you in the right direction. We had been dropped off on a street corner and we simply turned right heading for Pulteney Bridge first, but halfway along that street I saw a short narrow street that looked interesting and said to Carol we’ll take a look down here first.
The short street led into the sort of courtyard where the Roman Baths and the cathedral are and I really enjoyed my first sighting of the cathedral and that sighting was the very best one of the day. So we had a good looked around the cathedral and then walked out beside it as Pulteney Bridge is only just behind it and across a road, talking of roads, I dislike it when some streets are car free and others are not as I end up nearly getting run over as I sort of get used to walking on the car free streets and forget about the cars on the ones they can use.
Before you get to Pulteney Bridge you can look down over a wall into a beautiful park, but its only free for the locals of Bath to use, visitors have to pay a pound each and while I know that is not expensive, I do feel parks and open spaces should be free for everyone.
We carried on walking toward the bridge and it is a mighty fine bridge to look at and the only question I would ask is why it has been made so boats etc can only come so far up the river and not gain access to the waterway that goes under the bridge. There is one of those things that you see on canals that barges use , but judging by the amount of rubbish trapped in it , I don’t think its been used for a long time.
It was while taking pictures of the bridge before we were going to cross over it that my newly charged up Duracell rechargeable batteries gave up (last time I buy batteries off eBay) and I looked across the road and saw a small indoor market and in we went and bought 16 ordinary Duracell batteries to ensure I could take as many pictures as I wanted too.
I came out of the market and crossed back over the road and then it happened!!!! I can’t remember the last time a seagull ever shit on my in Torbay and now I’m standing in front of Carol with the stuff running down my arm, all over my hand and white tea shirt. So Carol had to spend a good five minutes using wet wipes to get me cleaned up as best she could.
We then turned right and went over the bridge and there is an opening in the wall that has steps going down in a spiral fashion that takes you down to the river walkway and here you get a smashing view of the bridge. You can also get a river boat ride from here but it only goes upstream first going under the bridge due to what I described earlier.
We walked along to the next bridge over the river and this one also has an opening in the wall and steps that take you up onto the bridge itself, the view from this bridge looking back up to Pulteney Bridge is very pretty indeed.
We then decided to walk back past the cathedral and headed up to find the Circus and the Royal Terrace calling in at the Jane Austin centre in Gay Street on the way. The circus I liked and it is three long bocks of terrace properties all crescent shaped forming a circle with a green in the middle that has some nice trees on it with a road all around it.
The Royal Terrace is only a short walk from the Circus and in the pictures I have seen of the Royal Terrace the building looked a sort of brown/red colour and it looked very impressive. Well my views are while it may be very long and forms a nice crescent, its featureless, some parts look like they were cleaned a few years ago, other parts look like they have just been cleaned and stand out like sore thumbs, while most at the far end looked like they have never been cleaned and are stained with a dirty brownish colour. Sitting in Victoria Park eating our lunch just after walking from one end of the terrace to the other and on a bench that was some way from the terrace but smack in the middle of it, I thought it looked more like Dartmoor Prison than anything worthy of using Royal in its name.
We left Victoria Park and spent the next hour or so finding all the back streets and alleyways that we could and in some of them I really go that feeling that time had stood still. I know apart from the main shopping area of Bath that has been built in the same sort of stone only is clearly more recently built, that the main heart of Bath is very old, but hardly any buildings make you want to shout out, “look at that wonderful building”
When I have been to London I have loved some of the very modern buildings and I have loved all the very grand and stately looking ones and London is very rich in having so many buildings I could stand and look at all day, while most in Bath I only gave a passing glance with my eyes.
With the time pressing on and not being too sure just how long it would take to see the Roman Baths we headed that way expecting it to be the highlight our visit to Bath City. Barton Downs said its one thing he has not done when he has been to Bath, my advice is don’t make a special trip just to see them
Carol and I are not skint asses and don’t mind paying to see such things, but after we came out afterwards we both agreed that at £12.25 each, it was far too expensive for what it was and was certainly not worth paying all that for what you get to see. Who ever owns those Baths is making a mint and the baths trades on their name and the fact they are famous and because of that fact alone, they must feel they can get away with charging what the hell they like.
I think we both felt there would be so much more to it and so much more to see than what there was, still at least we can say we have seen the Roman Baths and it’s a case that we won’t be doing it again.
You pay your money and walk through a door and onto a passageway where you can look through the windows and look down into what is the only real Bath you will see. You go out another door at the end and out into the open air on a walkway that was built in the last century and then walk all around the top of the Bath. You do get a great view of the cathedral as it almost nearly sits on top of the baths and towers high above them.
Once around the whole top of the bath you go inside to what is the bath museum and here as you would expect are display cabinets full of things and many large pieces of stones that were once a part of the baths in Roman times. It was very hot in there and slowly as you turn into different parts of it, it drops you down to the ground level of the bath.
Just before you do go outside there is one place where you stand and see water gushing out of the wall and you sure can feel the heat of the water but where it comes from and WHERE IT GOES is a mystery to me. I say that as it sure does not go into that bath, yes you can see a place where water is trickling into the bath, but there is a sign telling you of the dangers of putting your hand in the water in the bath and one look at it and you can see why. Its disgusting and I recon if you were stupid enough to put your hand in it, then it would be the last time you ever saw that hand.
You walk along one side of it and out another door into what are the old remains of the baths, they have false walls dividing them and a roof has been put over them, it’s more like looking at a site that archaeologists have been working on only under the cover of a roof.
Its then back to the bath again only on the other side and there is just one more bit to see a very small sort of shallow pool that was used to chill the bathers down after their hot bath. Up the steps and you are outside again and it makes the National Trust prices of around eight to nine pounds to view some of the best properties in the UK almost seem the bargain of the centaury compared to what just cost us £24.50p
Many years ago I worked for a another company and I would call at a company in Twerton and then head around the outside of Bath over an old bridge that was freed from being a toll bridge on the 29th June 1928 under the power of the Bath Corporation Act of 1925 and then turn right on to the London road turning of that road a bit later on heading for the M4 and then Swindon.
Looking at the map I could see we could go out from the centre of Bath and get onto the London road and my plan was to walk all around the outside of Bath and over that old toll bridge and come back into Bath near where Twerton is. It turned out a bit longer walk than I expected but we did get to walk on some of the canal tow path before heading back into Bath near the old railway bridge you drive under just below Twerton.
Feeling hungry again and only wanting no more than a snack, we remembered on the street that runs at the end of the short street the cathedral is in and just near the archway you can go under to get to the cathedral, was a young man with a stall selling hotdogs and I believe the his sign had “The Hot Sausage Company “written on it.
When we had been at this spot four hours before there were two lads playing great duelling guitar music, only they had gone by the time we got back there, replaced by some bloke in his thirties sitting on his knees with a very small drum between then, banging it with two sticks that had tennis balls on them. It was horrible and I said to the lad the two guitars players were good and he replied they were there every day but that guy banging that drum has never been here before and I hope he never comes here again. I don’t think he will as not one single person put any money in his hat while we sat there and ate our hotdogs.
There were a number of buskers all over the city and apart from the drum man they were all very good, I don’t mind putting in a pound or two as at least they have a bit of talent. Carol and I were a bit shocked to be approached by a number of beggars asking for money. I do remember a very long time ago being approached in Torquay but it’s very rare that happens these days and I’m surprised as I believe it’s against the law to ask for money in the street, its not being stopped from happening in Bath.
Not really ready to leave Bath just yet we went and took another look at the Pulteney Bridge and then decided to go back up to Victoria Park again but on the way we changed our minds and sat in the park at Queens Square. It’s a small park with a very busy road around all its sides and you have to be careful getting across the road and into the park.
It has two areas cut out of the grass that have been filled with what look like very small chippings and people turn up in groups and play a game on them. They open up their cases and take out small metal balls maybe just a bit smaller than tennis balls, throw a smaller ball( JACK) then toss their metal balls( not roll them) just short of the jack ball hoping it will then run on a short way and get close to the jack.
While sat in this park we had the very best laugh of the day and the last picture you will see tells its own story. A car pulled up and double parked by the entrance to the park, not a good move on such a busy part of the city. He then made about five trips from the boot of his car to the middle of the park with bags, bottles and other things.
When he had finished two women got out of the car and went and stood by the large pile of stuff he had stacked in the middle of the park while he went and parked the car.
He came back and then they opened up one large case and out came a metal contraption that they started stretching out. Then they worked trying to put a cover over the top of it and I was sat there thinking you are never going to be able to get inside due to all the metal work. With that they starting making it go higher and then it was clear to see it was some sort of gazebo, only they were getting in a right mess with it and 30 minutes later they were still struggling. So they sat down and starting reading the instructions and only then started to get it up close to how it should have gone up.
Time to get that number 21 bus back to the park and ride and dear Carol fell asleep in the car on the way home, a great day really but as I said Bath did not live up to my expectations of it.
"Bath Rugby" is indeed a re-branding of Bath Football Club which has been in existence since 1865.................it's as if the code that broke away and developed it's own brand of the existing football game has finally given up the ghost and come to terms with the fact that a game that allows the use of hands should not really be called "Football". That alone indicates the pure arrogance of the types that developed a game that should in all honesty celebrate it's difference from Association Football rather than stubbornly hold on to the "football" anachronism for so long.......................there are many more well established rugby clubs that are titled merely "Football Club" believe it or not!
