Stonehenge

Our first port of call after leaving London had to be Stonehenge. Not to see the henge cos it hasn’t changed since last time but to see the new visitor centre `a la Jane Monk our dear DIL. We did, it is truly interesting and a real piece of architectural work but guess who forgot to put the SD card back in the camera so I can’t show you what a masterpiece it is.

Suffice to say it is indelibly imprinted on the brain and just maybe Jane and Justin do have some photos I can add later.

Anyway for that transgression I had to take a Bath. We only got as far as Beckington on the way to take that Bath when we were distracted by ‘Olde England’……

We ended up overnighting in a nearby Travelodge (described as a budget hotel at $160.00 per night) which was pretty ordinary, no aircon and bloody hot. However we did get a good meal at the local pub pictured above.

Next morning on to that Bath.

What a sight as we rounded a corner to take in the vista of this city….

and we’ve just scratched the surface of what is a huge place.

First up was to find some accommodation. Guess what?

Another bloody Travelodge was as good as it got – I’m not surprised they had vacancies – you even have to pay for Wi-Fi and parking. Fact is there weren’t any other available, affordable options, so humble we became. Meals were crap too.

But, Bath made us feel better. First up was a tour bus to get some sense of the city…

this one actually taking us to the surrounding areas, the next one through the city proper….

then it was time for the promised Bath. Now here’s the rub – the Roman Baths are nearly 2000 years old, they’re lined with lead, the water is hot and as a consequencethy are full of algae. Not the most condusive environment to ones well being. So look don’t bathe was the order of  the day….

The second water shot above is actually the spring from whence the hot water comes and you can see bubbles coming up – it then is channelled into the main ‘bath’ from which it is further channelled out to the fields (well was once)

Interesting to note however is the overstructures that house the baths are all of more recent construction ie around 1800’s. The bath ruins were rediscovered in the 1700’s, the buildings having collapsed in centuries before and built over with other dwellings in the period after Roman withdrawal from Britain (AD410). The last photo above is of the caldera floor – a floor supported on stacks of tiles and under which a fire was set to raise the room temperature. There were several of these rooms all graduated in temperature to the heat of this final one where the Romans would flens their sweaty skins before entering the baths.

In later years, read 17-1800s’ after the rediscovery and reconstruction, the Victorians would start their day at 6.00am with a bath here, finishing around 9.00am then it was off to some foppish day time activities followed by evening balls and suppers. Its notable that the wealthy used porters to carry them to and from in their ‘bath chairs’.

The city as it is seen today is relatively recent, 1700’s onwards. It was previously a village after Roman times although a lot of Roman development took place in 100 – 300AD but was lost in years after Roman withdrawal. This is a fascinating piece of British history as are so many other places. The Bath Cathedral actually dates back to 700 AD but had revelopment and reconstruction in 13 -1400AD. We don’t know what its early form took although there was a ‘place of worship’ attached to the Roman baths much earlier.

The Royal Crescent built in 1767 – 1774 and designed by John Wood the Younger  is just another idiosyncratic piece of Bath….

and so is the yellow door  which is the only one allowed cos it was painted in the 1970’s and became the subject of a town planning appeal which was won by the appellant. Other attempts to change external physical elements have been thwarted.

Some more of Bath…

Bath is a very wealthy city both historically and today it seems. Tourism is rampant, probably the biggest money spinner. But we loved it – it is quintessentially British.

One Response

  1. Glad you liked the visitor centre, and what a pity you didn’t get any photos.
    Funny to have the visitor centre as the main attraction rather than the Stones!

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