Bath

 October 20

Bath is an interesting city that has an incredible history. According to our guide, a man with leprosy was healed by rolling in the hot mud that he saw had a similar effect on pigs that he was tending. He told the story and others came, including the Romans in about 50 AD. They engineered healing baths here by the third century and the city has grown from that. The Romans had a huge complex here which has been excavated and there is a great museum which explains it and displays many artifacts. 

In 675, a convent was begun, in 1060s, a Norman church was built, then the Tudors took over in the 1500s, then Henry VIII closed the Abbey and the church went into disrepair. It is an interesting history and there is a great website https://www.bathabbey.org/visiting/history/

 

Our guide took us all around the city and explained its progress through 3 men. Beau Nash, saw use for new attractions for visitors to spend their money while in Bath. Another, Ralph Allen, bought all of the quarries and made the River Avon navigable from Bristol, and the third John Wood, developed elaborate housing so that all of the rich people would have places to stay that met their expectations. As a result there are now the Circus (a circular set of three arched colonnades of homes) and the Royal Crescent (a very prestigious address now in Bath)

We did some shopping (a new carry-on!) and had a cocktail at a “Proper Boozer” called the Sam Weller. 

Afterwards we hiked it back to our Leighton House Bed & Breakfast - an uphill hike - and did our final packing before tomorrow’s flight. We had scoped out a place for dinner and had the BEST fish and chips at the Scallop Shell. 

Tomorrow we drive to Heathrow, but plan on stopping at Stonehenge on our way