A look at Bath

Good evening from Bath, not Barth as the posh folks call it, but Bath as in bog standard English. I am in Bath, ha ha. I've done a lot of walking today, about nine hours worth, with the odd sit down to have a nibble of my packup, oh and I had a bus ride for ten minutes as well. I must have walked pretty much all of the city centre, and it's all up and down. Here is a snap of the hostel. I am in the room with the balcony, in the middle. The doors are locked though so there's no sitting out on it.  

I got myself a free map from the Tourist Information. They had some for sale, but if you look through the free leaflets you will always find a map somewhere amongst them. This might look a bit like The Royal Crescent, but it is The Circus, they are of a similar design. The Circus has four sections to it and in the middle is a grass area with five trees on it. 

This is The Royal Crescent. It's almost impossible to take a perfect photo of the whole of it. I've chopped a bit off the right hand side because it's in the shade. In front of it is The Royal Victoria Park.

Number 1 is a museum.

And here are the prices for an entrance ticket. At 64 I am not classed as a senior, though I suppose I could lie. They probably won't believe me though as someone once told me I could pass for early fifties. I told him he needs to go to Specsavers, ha ha. 

I had a walk all along the Crescent, from one end to the other.

Some people have tried to create a little garden in their small space.

This is looking down into the basement, quite a lot of shrubs and plants in pots make it look nice. 

This looks a bit odd, the only one with shrubs as large as trees swamping the front of the house. 

On the other side of Royal Avenue is a large park. Through the trees you can catch a glimpse of the Crescent. 

This tree looks like some of it's branches have collapsed and almost broken away from the main trunk, but they are still attached and haven't died, even though they are laid on the ground.  

I was appalled to see rubbish in bags hanging from the railings at the front of the houses. They were awaiting collection, and due to the design of the properties and limited access they are not able to have wheelie bins. 

Doesn't it look just awful. If they are out at work all day the empty bags stay there until they return. 

I feel sorry for the bin men, having to sort it all out. If we put our rubbish out like that most of it would get left behind as the bin men wouldn't touch it. Surely the Council could provide them with some small bins which are all the same, instead of them using any old bags they can find. At least it would look a bit tidier.  

This is the view I had as I ate my lunch outside the Abbey. It had been quite cool earlier, but now it was hotting up again. 

I noticed quite a few street entertainers as I was walking round. This old geezer with his stubbly face and several teeth missing was belting the songs out, and I tell you what, he was quite a good singer. He could also play the trumpet as well. He got loads of applause, and was making a few bob.  

This lady, centre of the photo just above the flowers, had a beautiful operatic voice but no one was taking any notice of her, and I didn't see any money going in the hat. Shame really, but maybe opera is not everyone's cup of tea.  

Above the parapet over there is the Roman Baths. I might go and see that tomorrow, if I can talk myself into spending some money, ha ha. 

I noticed that several of the streets have raised pavements, they are quite a lot higher than the road. Every so often there are cutaways with steps in them to get up and down. Cars are not allowed on the upper level, even though it is wide enough to accommodate them.

Some of the houses have underground garages. 

I took this photo from North Parade Bridge, looking towards the weir at Pulteney Bridge.  There are boat trips along this part of the river. 

Opposite the Bus Station is the Royal Hotel. 

This was interesting. The old Green Park Railway Station has been turned into a car park and shopping area. They have kept a lot of the old features just as they were. Sainsbury's applied for planning permission to build a superstore on the land next door. It was granted on the understanding that they would pay for the work to be done on the station. It's nice to keep some of the old features.  

Well after searching all day for somewhere to visit which was going to be free entry, I have finally found somewhere. The Holbourne Museum is free to go in.  

The Victoria Art Gallery says it is free to enter, but it only applies to the long term exhibition. There was another exhibition on in the building for which there was a charge of £8.
Here are some of the others I found which were not free.
Fashion Museum £7.75, but as someone mentioned on yesterdays post I could get a saver ticket for this and the baths for £16.25. Still thinking about it.
Assembly Rooms. £2.00
Museum of Ancient Art £2.00
Jane Austin Centre £7.00
Postal Museum £3.00
Museum of Bath at Work £4
Some of those I would go in if they were free, but I am not sufficiently interested enough to pay.
Anyway, I've had a good day, seen most of the city centre, I will maybe venture out a bit further tomorrow. The hostel is halfway up a steep hill, in fact most of Bath is on a hill, there's a lot huffing and puffing to do.
A lot of Chinese people in the hostel tonight, they don't half jabber on. Crikey, they take over the kitchen, I'm glad I made my dinner before they arrived.
Nearly forgot. Take a look at Kath's blog, she has written about our walk up the Tor.
Toodle pip.