The Pulteney Bridge
8 June ’05, Wednesday.
Tuesday morning we left our campground, just 15 miles north of Abergavenny, and headed down to Newport, across a long and beautiful bridge to Bristol, and then on to our next campground in Bath. While in the UK, we try to stay in campgrounds belonging to The Caravan Club, but in Bath, we decided on a municipal campground. We are about 15 minutes out of Bath by bus, and the bus stops right across the street. Yesterday turned out to be a bright and sunny day. Seeing as half of our day was getting here, and seeing as how we needed to do a little washing of clothes, we spent the day in camp catching up. This morning we were out at the bus stop and on our way into see the attraction in Bath by 10am. We had a list of places we wanted see, and wanted to get with it. Bath (as the name might indicate) is noted for its baths”. At least it was in the Roman times and other times, off and on, since. Our first visit was to the “Roman Baths”. Even to this day, the center of Bath maintains its hot springs and with them, the Roman Baths. The original Roman baths from the 1st century (and they weren’t the first baths here), weren’t excavated until the late 19th century. The water coming out of the ground is still coming out at 116 degrees, but unfortunately, there are no spa’s available today to use this soothing water. There is a new complex that has been built, and was to open 2 years ago, but as of now it still has problems and no date available as to opening. Across the plaza from the baths, was the Bath Abby. We joined a tour going through the Abby and really enjoyed it. This Abby was built in 1499, on top of a church that was here in 973. The Abby, as it stands now, is over 500 years old and a fine example of “Late Perpendicular Gothic” (mean anything to you???). 12 noon, and we boarded a doubledecker red tour bus for a hour ride around the town. This is always a good way to acquaint ourselves with the layout of the city and the things to see. Then a picnic lunch, sitting on a bench in the center of town, listening and watching the street musicians. 2pm, it was time for a “free” guided walking tour of Bath. Then, we walked over to the Pulteney Bridge. This 18th century bridge is not only wonderful to look at, it is very functional as each side is lined with retail shoppes, from one end to the other. 4pm, we boarded the same sightseeing bus, and visited the hills around the city, having a good view of the houses and the city below. We saw “The Circus” (Georgian architecture at its best), a beautifully laid out prominent living complex. It is 3 large curving structures that make a complete circle, with a large park in the center. We also saw the Royal Crescent, which was a similar complex, only in a “crescent shape”. I guess I could have saved you a lot of reading, and me a lot of typing, if I had just said, “we saw Bath today”, and let it go at that…. Tomorrow…The Cheddar Gorge, and Wells…
8 June ’05, Wednesday.
Tuesday morning we left our campground, just 15 miles north of Abergavenny, and headed down to Newport, across a long and beautiful bridge to Bristol, and then on to our next campground in Bath. While in the UK, we try to stay in campgrounds belonging to The Caravan Club, but in Bath, we decided on a municipal campground. We are about 15 minutes out of Bath by bus, and the bus stops right across the street. Yesterday turned out to be a bright and sunny day. Seeing as half of our day was getting here, and seeing as how we needed to do a little washing of clothes, we spent the day in camp catching up. This morning we were out at the bus stop and on our way into see the attraction in Bath by 10am. We had a list of places we wanted see, and wanted to get with it. Bath (as the name might indicate) is noted for its baths”. At least it was in the Roman times and other times, off and on, since. Our first visit was to the “Roman Baths”. Even to this day, the center of Bath maintains its hot springs and with them, the Roman Baths. The original Roman baths from the 1st century (and they weren’t the first baths here), weren’t excavated until the late 19th century. The water coming out of the ground is still coming out at 116 degrees, but unfortunately, there are no spa’s available today to use this soothing water. There is a new complex that has been built, and was to open 2 years ago, but as of now it still has problems and no date available as to opening. Across the plaza from the baths, was the Bath Abby. We joined a tour going through the Abby and really enjoyed it. This Abby was built in 1499, on top of a church that was here in 973. The Abby, as it stands now, is over 500 years old and a fine example of “Late Perpendicular Gothic” (mean anything to you???). 12 noon, and we boarded a doubledecker red tour bus for a hour ride around the town. This is always a good way to acquaint ourselves with the layout of the city and the things to see. Then a picnic lunch, sitting on a bench in the center of town, listening and watching the street musicians. 2pm, it was time for a “free” guided walking tour of Bath. Then, we walked over to the Pulteney Bridge. This 18th century bridge is not only wonderful to look at, it is very functional as each side is lined with retail shoppes, from one end to the other. 4pm, we boarded the same sightseeing bus, and visited the hills around the city, having a good view of the houses and the city below. We saw “The Circus” (Georgian architecture at its best), a beautifully laid out prominent living complex. It is 3 large curving structures that make a complete circle, with a large park in the center. We also saw the Royal Crescent, which was a similar complex, only in a “crescent shape”. I guess I could have saved you a lot of reading, and me a lot of typing, if I had just said, “we saw Bath today”, and let it go at that…. Tomorrow…The Cheddar Gorge, and Wells…
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