Blog 10 – Train trip to the past

Bath, England. There are 38 trains per day going from London’s Paddington Station to Bristol Temple Meads Station. The train passes out of the city and into the green countryside and within a few minutes’ villages and fields with an esthetically pleasing number of sheep, cover the landscape. An hour and twenty-four minutes into the trip, the train arrives at the station of Bath Spa before continuing to Bristol, a city straddling the River Avon further west.

The Roman Baths have always been the center of town; although the name has changed over the centuries. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/428  The Romans named the town Aquae Sulis, Latin for “the waters of Sulis.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquae_Sulis  They merged the existing Celtic god of Sulis with their god Minerva and encouraged her worship at the baths, which they expanded and revised over the centuries into a major religious complex. The excavated Roman Baths, and the museum created to display and interpret the astounding array of preserved artifacts, continue the tradition of being the main tourist attraction and the reason for over one million visitors to the site each year.  https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/walkthrough 

We had planned a long week-end in Bath, in part to attend an event in the town’s comedy festival. https://www.bathcomedy.com/. But, of course, we had to see and do more than that. After arriving on the train and leaving our bags at the hotel, we set about learning our way around the town of Bath. We had compiled a list of things to see and do, but they were in no particular order, making this a very flexible few days. City center is old with narrow and winding streets, much of it still cobblestoned. We set off after determining the first thing we needed was lunch. It took a bit of walking, but we decided on a ‘pasty’ shop. Pasties are a common lunch item here in the UK, but to this point I had not had one. They are essentially a meat (or meatless) pie folded around with pastry so they can be eaten like a hot sandwich. http://westcornwallpasty.co.uk/ There were no tables to sit at. Noting that we were “not from around here”, the shopkeeper told us to simply go to the corner and turn left, there we would find a courtyard with benches. Yes, yes we did. We found one open bench as this is the courtyard in front of the Roman Baths. To our left stood Bath Abbey. http://www.bathabbey.org/

Bath Abbey is the second most visited spot in Bath, so it was also on our list of ‘must see’ sites. After watching a bus load of students go into the Baths, we decided we would go into the Abbey. The Abbey is a beautiful Anglican Church which also dates back hundreds of years. In addition to soaring ceilings and huge stained-glass windows, the abbey has a bell tower which stands 212 steps above the ground offering fantastic views of the city center and beyond. http://www.bathabbey.org/towertours Up we went. We add this to our list of “they would never let you do this in California” activities. Narrow, steep, dark, slippery; and totally worth it.

Now it was time to hit the Roman Baths. It is important to note that while the Roman Baths do have water in them, visitors are not allowed in the baths. The nearby Thermae Bath Spa uses the same water which is treated to make it safe for bathing. This was not our first Roman Bath. Most recently, when we were in Paris, (I know, it is good to be me) I visited the Cluny Museum of Medieval History, which is built over the remains of Roman Baths, https://www.musee-moyenage.fr/lieu/les-thermes-antiques.html. That was an amazing site to see with vaults rising more than 14 meters high; original walls and floors. Excavations in Paris indicate a much larger complex than is currently visible; in Bath much of the bathing complex is excavated and is accessible to visitors. We thought we were going to see an open bath area with columns and original floors; we did see that, and then the separate wings with saunas, therapy pools, frigidariums, massage and changing rooms for both men and women in addition to the whole large pool for socializing and swimming in the middle. There is also the museum which has been created to walk you through the artifacts and the lives of people who made them as you go from entry level (current street level) of the baths down to the base level. (Roman street level) Building fragments, headstones, tools, jewelry, pots and glassware; the largest hoard of Roman coins found Great Briton. It is simply astounding. It is stops like this that make us so grateful to be in London for an extended period of time – we would never make a trip from Baltimore to Bath, and only now know what a worthy side trip it makes. 

Over the next few days we accomplished our ‘must see’ list; we spent much of Saturday completing the Bath Skyline Walk, https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bath-skyline  A six mile walk of ‘moderately’ challenging terrain with wide views of the city and hills, forests, and meadows. (more sheep, and lambs too) We Saw the Royal Women exhibit at the Fashion Museum https://www.fashionmuseum.co.uk/news/royal-women  Having recently read the book The Gown by Jennifer Robson, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39893613-the-gown, it was a treat to view actual gowns made by the designer Hartnell. The Victoria Art Gallery had an exhibit of the Sharmanka Travelling Circus https://www.victoriagal.org.uk/events/sharmanka-travelling-circus An animatronic exhibit of found objects set to music and lights to create a 20 minute show. And, though not on our original list, while walking the Bath Skyline we found ourselves very close to the American Museum in Bath. https://americanmuseum.org/  Their current exhibit of Kaffe Fassett’s Quilts in America was truly something to see. Educational and inspiring. Fassett used quilts from the museums collection to inspire himself to create new quilts. The exhibit was a combination of both the new and the old. Who would have thought; a small town in England would have such a great display of American quilts.

38 trains go back to London, Paddington Station each day. Back on the train, back to work for Andy, back to planning the next trip for me.