Hip Bath
The Romans piped the water from hot-springs into a huge public bath, which became so popular that they named the beautiful city: Bath.
By Hugh & Colleen Gantzer, TNN |
The buskers teetered on slack-ropes, played fiddles and turned somersaults. Crowds clapped, threw coins onto sheets spread by the street entertainers on the Abbey Square. The Abbey was magnificent: its 52 stained glass windows flooded its cathedral with jewelled light. It probably inspired today's Bath Aqua Theatre of Glass at 105-107 Walcot Street. Here, by adding copper oxide to molten glass they blew, spun and twirled glass into beautiful aquamarine creations. We pitted our hands ... and our lungs ... against the professionals. Great fun but not quite Swarovski!
Bath, above ground, is festive, hip, cool.
In the depths of the earth, far below the old cathedral, however, there is another, awesome, world. Out of an arched grotto, sulphurous steam and scalding water gushed blood-red in the gory glow of spotlights. It was a stifling, disturbing, place.
Bath, above ground, is festive, hip, cool.
In the depths of the earth, far below the old cathedral, however, there is another, awesome, world. Out of an arched grotto, sulphurous steam and scalding water gushed blood-red in the gory glow of spotlights. It was a stifling, disturbing, place.
But the Romans, who had invaded this land in AD 43, were unfazed. Very pragmatically, they piped the water from the hot-springs into a huge public bath. The baths became so popular that they gave their name to the beautiful city that grew above and around them: Bath.
The original Roman-to-Georgian hamams aren't functional any more, but there is a new, state-of-the-art, Thermae Bath Spa. We hadn't experienced that as yet but we did visit the Pump Room where the Georgians drank thermal mineral water drawn from the deep springs of Bath. The Pump Rooms are now a popular restaurant with a Georgian ambiance. (Do ask for a Cream Tea if you can't have it in the oldest house in Bath, Sally Lunn’s) We dutifully drank glasses of hot, Bath water. As Charles Dickens's Sam Weller said, it has a “wery strong flavour o’ warm flat irons.” Tonics are not always delectable!
We walked everywhere in Bath though we could have taken a bus tour. We strode up a rising road, past cottages set in little gardens, to the top of a wooded hill. Bath spread at our feet, cupped between the green Mendip and Cotswold hills, gently smug in the valley of the blue Avon River.
The hills were quarried for the pale, honey-coloured, Bath Stone used extensively including in the elegant Crescent, the impressive Circus. To us, the strange emblems carved on the façade of the Circus resembled tantric and yogic icons. The 18th century saw a growing interest in mysticism, secret societies and things Indian thanks to the activities of the East Indian Company. We even discovered a Vellore Street!
The original Roman-to-Georgian hamams aren't functional any more, but there is a new, state-of-the-art, Thermae Bath Spa. We hadn't experienced that as yet but we did visit the Pump Room where the Georgians drank thermal mineral water drawn from the deep springs of Bath. The Pump Rooms are now a popular restaurant with a Georgian ambiance. (Do ask for a Cream Tea if you can't have it in the oldest house in Bath, Sally Lunn’s) We dutifully drank glasses of hot, Bath water. As Charles Dickens's Sam Weller said, it has a “wery strong flavour o’ warm flat irons.” Tonics are not always delectable!
We walked everywhere in Bath though we could have taken a bus tour. We strode up a rising road, past cottages set in little gardens, to the top of a wooded hill. Bath spread at our feet, cupped between the green Mendip and Cotswold hills, gently smug in the valley of the blue Avon River.
The hills were quarried for the pale, honey-coloured, Bath Stone used extensively including in the elegant Crescent, the impressive Circus. To us, the strange emblems carved on the façade of the Circus resembled tantric and yogic icons. The 18th century saw a growing interest in mysticism, secret societies and things Indian thanks to the activities of the East Indian Company. We even discovered a Vellore Street!
This was also the age when Bath became the social capital of England. London had become a grey, grim, regimented town under the influence of the martinet German king, George. Led by the king's eldest son, Frederick, the young and restless Londoners fled regularly to Bath where the flamboyant 'Beau' Nash, official Master of Ceremonies, had fashioned it into an always- glittering party town.
The social centre of Bath was the Assembly Rooms, just off the Crescent. Europe's finest set of 18th century crystal chandeliers, which still hang, once illuminated swirling dancers, gamers, theatrical performances and banquets. High society folk drew up in their carriages at the deep portico, and then hurried down the stairs to the Changing Rooms to don their formal attire.
These chambers now house a superb Fashion Museum displaying many original designs of clothes through the ages. The more leisurely the age the more extravagant the design. In the mid-1700s, when the riches of India were creating the John Company's Nabobs, women often wore the outrageous pannier skirts. A scaffolding of wicker or whalebone made the hips about one and a half meters wider than they actually are. Attention catching, if nothing else!
Thanks to Nash's encouragement of the good life, Bath's reputation as a swinging city became a magnet for writers, artists and those with unorthodox life-styles. Jane Austen lived, and based many of her novels, here. So did the young Charles Dickens. Richard Sheridan set his comic plays in Bath, Gainsborough painted his famous Blue Boy in No 12, the Circus, and astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus from his home in Bath. Nelson was nursed to health by his mistress Lady Hamilton at No 88 Pierrepont Place. And, most recently, Lacock Abbey, near Bath was the setting for Harry Potter!
We were also fascinated by the Bath Postal Museum. From here, in 1840, the world's first letter was posted carrying the first postage stamp, the Penny Black. The Museum is a wonderful place with interactive displays, postal memorabilia. And if you're in luck (and not strapped for funds!) you might still be able to buy an original Penny Black stamp with its provenance carefully authenticated.
Here, too, Bath bridges time and space. It is also the most relaxed, informal and friendly city we have ever visited in England!
The social centre of Bath was the Assembly Rooms, just off the Crescent. Europe's finest set of 18th century crystal chandeliers, which still hang, once illuminated swirling dancers, gamers, theatrical performances and banquets. High society folk drew up in their carriages at the deep portico, and then hurried down the stairs to the Changing Rooms to don their formal attire.
These chambers now house a superb Fashion Museum displaying many original designs of clothes through the ages. The more leisurely the age the more extravagant the design. In the mid-1700s, when the riches of India were creating the John Company's Nabobs, women often wore the outrageous pannier skirts. A scaffolding of wicker or whalebone made the hips about one and a half meters wider than they actually are. Attention catching, if nothing else!
Thanks to Nash's encouragement of the good life, Bath's reputation as a swinging city became a magnet for writers, artists and those with unorthodox life-styles. Jane Austen lived, and based many of her novels, here. So did the young Charles Dickens. Richard Sheridan set his comic plays in Bath, Gainsborough painted his famous Blue Boy in No 12, the Circus, and astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus from his home in Bath. Nelson was nursed to health by his mistress Lady Hamilton at No 88 Pierrepont Place. And, most recently, Lacock Abbey, near Bath was the setting for Harry Potter!
We were also fascinated by the Bath Postal Museum. From here, in 1840, the world's first letter was posted carrying the first postage stamp, the Penny Black. The Museum is a wonderful place with interactive displays, postal memorabilia. And if you're in luck (and not strapped for funds!) you might still be able to buy an original Penny Black stamp with its provenance carefully authenticated.
Here, too, Bath bridges time and space. It is also the most relaxed, informal and friendly city we have ever visited in England!
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