Our little family went visiting in Cardiff over the Easter holidays and on our way back home we happened to see a sign to Bath. Now, I am a huge Jane Austen fan and my husband is a Time Team/amateur archeology enthusiast so we indicated and left the motorway in search of Roman Baths and Circulating Libraries.
We were not disappointed! Bath is a truly beautiful place and I was swept back into a world of ladies in long dresses, Darcys and Mr Wickham. The yellow stones of the buildings there lend a gorgeous mellowness and the architecture is stunning.
I could just imagine horses and carriages travelling down the Royal Crescent, calling for important afternoon teas. The Roman Baths themselves are stunning and I felt quite emotional imagining the people who travelled there to partake of the waters, from pre Roman tribes to Roman pilgrims to Georgian ladies. In the Roman bath museum there are even the steps to the original Temple of Minerva, worn and hidden from view of the current street level, but still able to evoke a strong sense of history.
As Bill Bryson said in his commentary on the little audio guide they give you " The rain that fell 10,000 years ago and has made its way through the Mendip stone bubbles up from the spring here in Bath". The big pool you can see is as warm as bath water and the orange mark on the walls of another pool is where the water used to come up to. The rings on the sides of the wall are donated by bathers cured of their ills hundreds of years ago - thoughtful of other bathers. The rings were for those other bathers to hang on to as they enjoyed the baths.
I absolutely loved Bath and I would recommend you visit if you ever get the chance. Even my boys enjoyed it and my husband and I plan on returning, sans children, to stay in a posh hotel and visit the Pump Room for afternoon tea, as well as exploring further such places as the Fashion Museum and the Assembly Rooms. Oh Joy!
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| us ... and the Royal Crescent. |
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| looking from street level at the Roman Bath. |
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| the steaming overflow of spring water. |
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| the Roman Bath |
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| the orange marks the original water level. |
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| bathers entered down the steps and hung onto the rings. |
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| almost like a Russell Flint painting - a beautiful place. |
