I’m sitting on Putney Bridge in Bath, England, eating lunch as I type. This is one of four bridges in the world that actually has shops on it, so you can’t see the water below while walking on the bridge. Glad that’s not common, as so often the best part of being on a bridge is seeing the water and other scenery below.
It’s my last full day in Bath but I’m treating it like a “sea day” and not doing much because sometimes that’s the right answer. I started the day by doing computer chores and I’ve now ventured out for lunch. My only other plan for today — other than eating both lunch and dinner (having skipped breakfast) — is to organize my luggage for the weekend in Bristol and an overnight in London on my way to Geneva, Switzerland. [mission accomplished]
I arrived in Bath Sunday evening after a variety of public transportation and a decent-length walk with my luggage.
Monday I had visions of doing the free mayor’s tour which is 2 hours hosted by local volunteers. I lasted about 20 minutes before I found my mind wandering and my body fidgeting so I aborted. I retreated to an old standby: a hop on hop off tour. Much more my speed, especially since after going through the entire cruise healthy my body finally succumbed to the crud that most of my friends dealt with at some point (for me it’s mostly just been a deep cough that I’ve been treating rather aggressively). I got enough information about the local history to satisfy but not satiate me. And I got to sit atop a double decker bus for a loop around the central part of the area, and then a second loop on a different bus to see sights further afield. Then, true to form, I used the bus to transport me to places closer to geocaching targets. Go figure.
Bath is a pretty city. But it’s a city. Filled with limestone buildings from various eras. Roman baths. A historic Abbey. Jane Austen lived her for awhile, but apparently she hated it … found the buildings too bright or something. Queen Victoria visited as an 11-year old to open a park that she designed (before she became queen) but a reporter criticized it and she vowed never to return. Victoria kept her vow, even to the point that when a train she was on passed through Bath she insisted on closing the blinds so she wouldn’t see Bath and Bath residents wouldn’t see her. Ah, pettiness.
The first picture is of the Abbey in the morning, before the crowds. The second was taken Wednesday afternoon. Even though Jane Austen didn’t love Bath, the city is celebrating her 250th birthday.
There are lots of street artists in Bath. There’s clearly a system of who gets which area for which time slot as a new performer always seems to be waiting for the previous one to finish. I’ve seen an opera singer, violinists, guitar players, painters (see the picture above), and a person impersonating a statue pouring a glass of water. There is also a noticeable population of presumably unhoused people. And lots of smokers and vapers, though nearly all of them are polite enough that they minimize tobacco inhalation for the rest of us — and I’ve only noticed tobacco, not other smokable substances.
I had a picnic lunch along the Avon River. Not *that* Avon river. Seems that the word Avon meant river to the people the Romans encountered, so the Romans dutifully recorded the river names. No, I don’t know how many Avon rivers there are in England, but the answer is multiple.
I should confess that I entered neither the Roman Baths nor the Abbey. Not really my thing. But I did walk around both buildings.
As I wearily walked toward my lodging after a busy day exploring, I spotted an open-air farmer’s market. Actually it was a single vendor. The first thing I noticed was the English peas — what could be more English than that?!?! So I asked if they took credit cards and to my delight the answer was yes (as an aside, the only place that I’ve encountered that didn’t take cards was a pay toilet). So I purchased my favorite snack of the trip so far: fresh English peas and cherries. Mmmmm.
Tuesday I decided to visit Cardiff, Wales. This completed “the set” as I’m currently in England (for at least the third time), visited Scotland on the cruise, and visited Northern Ireland in 2022. The weather was, shall we say, quite British. At times clear with blue sky peeking out from the clouds, cloud, drizzly, rainy, and pouring. If I didn’t like it I could wait twenty minutes to see what changed.
Cardiff’s buildings seemed much grayer. But when I looked at my pictures today, I suspect they’re not nearly as gray as I remembered them, though they do seem to be a slightly different color than the ones in Bath which makes sense as it’s probably a slightly different limestone.
I circumnavigated the castle (though, not surprisingly, chose not to pay the admission fee) because, well, geocaching. It’s a castle. With a nice clock. And like other castles in the southern park of the UK, it’s quite square with the turrets looking like square “rooks.” The wall in “front” has a different animal at each post: the seal and pelican were among my favorites. And Paddington Bear was waiting patiently on a bench. Behind the castle was a very nice walking park. Lots of dogs walking their owners, runners, walkers, and very few tourists. Always nice to find the place that the locals frequent! After leaving the park I had to count the stones on a castle arch which required explaining to a security guard what I was doing — he graciously wished me luck.
There didn’t seem to be more interesting caches nearby, so I only spent a few hours in Cardiff before returning to Bath. The walk from my last cache to the train station was rather wet, but it soon stopped raining. However, we arrived in Bath during a torrential downpour. The nice men at the train station said that we could wait inside but if we scanned our tickets through the exit turnstiles we would have to go outside. Easy choice. Especially when they offered plastic rain ponchos to those of us who hadn’t gone out yet (very nice as my windbreaker isn’t big enough to cover my daypack). Naturally the rain abated and by the time I reached my lodging the poncho was sweaty and no longer necessary.
Even though I haven’t written about Wednesday’s great day in the Cotswolds yet, I’ve finished my lunch and the sorbet across the street is calling. Clearly it would be wrong to disappoint it, so I’ll take a break now and finish writing later.
And a fine break it was. Across the street, and still on the bridge, was a business that advertised its “award-winning ice creams and sorbets.” The chocolate was delicious. Not the best I’ve ever had, but it did hit the spot.
Wednesday was the highlight, and the day I’d been looking forward to the most from this part of the trip. I’d booked a day tour of the Cotswolds. Needless to say, it did not disappoint! Each community — hamlets, villages, and towns — was unique and most of them were interesting and worth visiting. I feel like I had a nice taste of the region, though I don’t feel a need to return (which isn’t to say I would object to returning). Technically Bath is the only city in the Cotswolds, and the area isn’t precisely defined as it includes parts of several counties.
The first stop was to a very quaint village called Castle Combe that once had a thriving wool market. Population maybe about 200. It’s claim to fame is that it was once voted the prettiest village in England and, since then, has appeared in various movies and films. Alas, no caches there, but plenty to look at during the half hour or so we were there. Lots of interesting (but short) doors. And one Tudor-style wood brick with eaves (the word eavesdropping comes from people standing beneath the eaves to overhear conversations).
My least favorite stop was Malmsbury. It’s a historic town, England’s first king is buried there. But definitely the least charming location of the day.
Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town, and looks just like an English town should look like, though apparently I didn’t take any pictures of it because it’s the overall impression that’s interesting, not necessarily the individual elements. Also one of my favorite stops. The trees at the church entrance apparently inspired J.R.R. Tolkien. I didn’t enter any of the apparently elegant shops, though I did purchase a baguette for lunch at our next stop and took a nice walk around the area (yes, caching) which led me to this nice view of the local topography.
Bourton-on-the-Water would be a wonderful place to visit but not during the tourist season. There’s a “river” (I’d call it a stream) that goes through town but there are so many kitschy stores, restaurants, and ice cream shops to serve the crowds that the charm gets lost. Sort of like a beach town, but with the little river rather than ocean or a lake. However, our guide offered to take us to a quieter spot further upstream. I had a lovely picnic lunch there with another traveler who works in the fashion industry in South Africa. Fun to talk with her, and definitely flattered when she was surprised to hear I’m retired because she’d pegged me for age 45. It was here that I encountered the bathroom that required coins, so I exchanged the 5 pound note that I acquired from my cruise roommate for coins and returned to the bathroom where the turnstile was open so I didn’t end up having to pay after all.
By the time we got to our final official stop, Bibery, another market town, I was done. Arlington Row, 14th century homes that housed spinsters (the women) and weavers (the men) during the days of the wool trade. On the positive side, there was a swan in the river — another body of water that appeared more like a stream to me.
[I’m having trouble adding Bibery pictures so I’ll have to add those later]
I don’t want this to sound like I’m disparaging Bath. It’s been a perfect segue from the cruise part of the trip to the post-cruise part. Low key (except for the long Cotswolds tour), pretty, friendly, and worth visiting. But not earth shattering….just what I needed. I will be with friends Friday - Sunday and then again next Friday so it’s been nice to have some introvert time, catch up on computer chores (as of now I’m almost caught up on attaching pictures to the blog, with only Bath and Lerwick to do).
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