The Bath experience

Genuine Victorian Tearooms in Bradford on Avon

Yesterday we headed out of Sussex and down to Bath for the weekend as Steve was giving a talk to the Bath branch of the Avon Beekeepers Association. We had been offered the use of a room in the lovely Georgian B&B house run by the secretary, Glenys Lunt, and her husband George in the nearby town of Bradford on Avon. Having left one boy with his grandparents and another with my friend, Gaby, who also puppy and house-sat, we set off first thing Saturday morning on the nearly 3 hour journey west.

After lunching with a group of the beekeepers at the Bear in Bath, we headed off to the venue just down the road from the pub. It was the AGM (Annual General Meeting) and so after the talk (Bees need Buddies - wildlife gardening for pollinators), and a buffet brought by members, we headed off into Bath to do a little exploring.

Bath is a beautiful old city in the county of Somerset in South West England, and was first established as a spa with the Latin name, Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis") by the Romans sometime in the AD 60s, about 20 years after they had arrived in Britain (AD43). They built baths and a temple on the surrounding hills in the valley of the River Avon around hot springs. Edgar was crowned king of England at Bath Abbey in 973.

Much later, it became popular as a spa town during the Georgian era, which led to a major expansion that left a heritage of exemplary Georgian architecture crafted from creamy yellow Bath Stone. The City of Bath was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

There were lots of lovely shops in Bath, many gearing up for the Christmas trade

We had dinner in the very atmospheric Cafe Rouge

Later we wandered down to the River Avon to have a look at the horseshoe shaped weir. The River Avon flows through both Bath and Bradford on Avon, and with all the rain we have had recently was very high! The Avon is 75 miles long, although there are just 19 miles (31 km) as the crow flies between the source and its mouth in the Severn Estuary.

Next morning, when the worst of the rain (and sleet!) had passed, we took a walk through Bradford on Avon, and it is indeed a very sweet town (although it would be better if the traffic flow through the town was somehow minimised) with some pretty narrow streets, interesting looking pubs and nice shops.

A faded old hotel sign on the back of a town wall

There was a Christmas Grotto in the grounds of the Old Tithe Barn, a spectacular 14th century monastic stone barn, 51 metres (168 feet) long, with an amazing timber cruck roof. It is one of the country’s finest examples of medieval monastic barns – rightly called ‘the cathedrals of the land’, and originally formed part of a range of farm buildings grouped around an open rectangular yard.

We walked back into Bradford and stopped at the Victorian Teashop to warm up by the fire and scoff a cream tea; rather large scones, home-made jam and cream served with Breakfast tea and coffee.