Visiting Bath with home hosting and teachers travel web

Bath, England, Roman history and tourists.

Bath! We were so pleased we visited it in late December. Not used to huge crowds or queues, we couldn't believe

the number of tourists there even in the low season, what would it be like in the high summer season?

You can do Bath in two ways, as a tourist on a whistle stop "been there done that" tour that will take an hour, or you can take the time to wander the streets, poke your head in the door of the shops and picnic in the park.

As a day trip we left our Worcester home hosts at 10.00am. We left "home" late to let the frosty roads melt and were back "at home" by 4.30 as darkness fell. It was an hour's drive from Worcestershire, on the M5, then M6, both super highways, 3 lane, driving at 80mph. The speed limit is 70 but stick to the speed limit and you will be the slowest car on the road! Once off the motorway on the A46 you are in rolling hills with hedgerows, green fields and very pretty scenes.

If you are in a car, as we were, parking can be a problem. We suggest you leave your car as soon as you find a space once you are in the built up area of Bath. Then walk, it is all flat and there is lots to see. There is no parking at all in the centre and the closer in you go, the more expensive it becomes. Parking could be free for an hour, or £1 , or even £1 for 30 minutes if you get in close. Look for a pole with a white P on it on a blue background, it could be 50 metres away from your car space, read it, it will save you a parking ticket as the wardens are everywhere.

Bath is obviously famous for its Roman Baths, but pick up a tourist map of the area, and as you walk into the centre where the Baths are located, keep your eyes open for other surprises. The buildings are all in cream stone, tall and very different to the rest of English architecture. There is a street of curved homes used in the filming of Charles Dickens novel, Oliver. Walking down it you are immediately back in that century, we expected Mary Poppins to arrive any minute!

Further into the centre you'll see the office where the first stamp was posted, and lots of little shops full of interest.

We found a small business called Bath Aqua Glass, specialising in hand blown glass, all in shades of blue.Here
you can actually blow some glass yourself, and have a commentary on the process.
The Guild Hall Market is undercover in the centre. Established in 1284, it has a traditional butcher selling English meat
such as chittlings, scratchings, faggots, haggis black and white puddings. Next to his stall was a cheese seller,
with a collection from all the areas of England. We bought some Lancaster cheese to try an old recipe our hosts
had passed on to us with bacon and onion. Hot chocolate is only 80p from another stall.
What a great opportunity to try food from a bygone era!

The main attraction of Bath is the Roman Baths, Britian's only hot springs! This is one of the top tourist destinations in England, and tour coaches are everywhere. The guides run in front of their tours, umbrellas held high in the air, saying ,"follow me." If you want to keep up their pace, these tours out of London leave every day. In Bath there are also 1 and 2 hour coach tours around the area with commentaries.
We love to go at our own pace, and ignored all these options.

The Baths are deep in tourist country. To get into the Baths, low season, there is still a queue. Entrance fee is £7.50 for adults. An audio guide is included in the price, in several languages and free backpacks to hold the toddlers as no pushchairs are allowed.They also have braille and large print versions of the information panels. Each display is explained with interesting boards of explanation, and a wonderful actor poses as the arctitect who rediscovered them deep under homes built on top.He wanders through the complex, educating and entertaining as he goes.

The first thing you see is the Baths themselves, which are warm and not in use. However you also go underground into passages showing the excavated temple of the Goddess Minerva, and Roman tombstones dating back to 4AD. You walk on the same stones the Romans did and it is a rare chance to go so far back in time.We were very pleased we were there with smaller crowds and wondered how you would see anything in the summer with so many people around the displays.

As you emerge from the passages you are in the Pump House, a restaurant reminiscence of the tea and cucumber sandwich culture of the past.£2.20 for a pot of tea made this an expensive place to sit and "play ladies". Spa water from a fish fountain is sold for 50p a glass from an alcove beside the diners. It tastes warm and minerally, not too pleasant, we were pleased we only bought 1 glass. The water was sold from 1706 for its medicinal and restorative powers, for " paralysis, colic, palsy and gout". With 43 minerals, calcium and sulphate in it, perhaps the water worked, as we had plenty of energy to keep exploring.

The Avon river winds its way through Bath and right in the centre of the city you'll find a delightful park. Even in winter it was lovely with a weir across the Avon on the left, and canal boats parked on the opposite bank on the right.The Park itself has benches for a winter picnic, and is a great place to rest the weary legs. The Pulteney bridge in the distance, which is only a short walk away, houses tiny shops with a florist, souvenirs, cafes, clothing and nautical gear.

The Bath Abbey houses vaults with a collection of items and Saxon and Norman stonework. Entrance fee is £2 and it opens every day except Sunday.

Teacherstravelweb.com
founder Mike Legg being
the tourist at the Roman
Baths in Bath,
December 2001

The Information Centre is also behind the Roman Baths, beside the Abbey set around a pedestrian square.You can even visit the nearby home of the late Sally Lunn, the lady who invented the famous English Bun, or the Jane Austen Centre celebrating the life and times of this famous author.

Bath, so much more to see than just the baths.

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