Bath; Sunday, 08 August, 2021

I had an early breakfast and checked out of the hotel to head over towards the Pulteney Bridge. The previous day I’d explored a small section of the River Avon below the Weir, this morning I was aiming to catch the river cruise boat that takes the upper part of the river between the Pulteney Weir and the Weir and Toll bridge at Bathampton.

I thankfully had remembered to take a jacket with me, which came in handy when sitting on the open top deck of a boat what a couple of short sharp showers passed through, but by the time we reached Bathampton, where the boat turned, the skies were clearing and the sun was out, and it made for a very pleasant sail back down to Pulteney Bridge.

As the skies were now generally clear (although as I discovered on a couple of occasions through the early afternoon, not always clear) I headed over to the open-top bus tour stop and picked up the hop-on-hop-off bus. There are two routes that operate in Bath, one takes in the sites in the centre of the city, whilst the second – the Skyline tour – heads up into the hills that overlook the city for the views back down on it.

I chose to do the Skyline tour first, before hopping onto a city tour once I got back into the centre. The city tour dropped me off back by the Abbey so I decided to go and have a slightly longer look around, without feeling that I was being hassled through as they had been preparing for the wedding the previous day. It turned out as I arrived, that in fact they had just closed for yet another wedding, so that was that plan out the window.

I stopped for a leisurely lunch in the centre of town before hopping back on the city tour bus and catching it out to the Royal Crescent.

This Georgian masterpiece was the first crescent to be built in Britain and is one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the country. The park in front of the crescent is a popular place for picnics and, if you go right to the back of it, at just the right distance to be able to take in the whole sweep of the crescent in one photo.

A short walk down from the Royal Crescent is the Royal Circus – older than the Crescent (the man who built the crescent was the son of the man who built he circus – this ring of buildings round a large green, with several very large trees in the centre – is another reason that Bath is a UNESCO world heritage city.

A little further still down the road are the Assembly Rooms, these were the spaces where Georgian high society met for the nightly balls during the season. Unfortunately, by the time I arrived they were already closing for the evening, but I was able to take a few photos of the outside, before hopping back on a passing tour bus and catching that for a circuit round the city and finally back to the centre of town.

Opposite the Abbey, and set down at the original level of the town, are the Parade Gardens, and with some time to spare I had a look around these. Along with giving an idea as to how much closer to the level of the river the city used to be, the gardens also provide an excellent spot from where to take in the beautiful Pulteney Bridge and the Weir.

Having looked round the gardens it was time to head back to the hotel, pick up my bags and catch my train back to London.