Day 2: Bath

Even though he told us that breakfast runs from eight until 945, I got a call from Peter, our nanny/landlord, at 9:15 asking when I would be down for breakfast. Luckily, I was almost ready but it was still a surprise.

Ria met us and we walked up to the Royal Crescent to the small museum they have at Number One.

It was a lovely tour, we advanced from one room to the next, and in each room, there was an audio of conversations between the members of the household and staff, according to which room we were in. Stock characters, mother concerned about getting out of London to the fresh air and waters of Bath, father worried about his profligate son, daughters, worried about finding husbands, and staff talking about all the work they did. It was enjoyable and neat to look at the furnishings of each room. The kitchen was quite eye-opening. What a huge amount of work it was to create each meal.

Pat left to go to her spa afternoon appointment and Ria and I moseyed over to a café in a delightful courtyard. We sat outside, the weather was beautiful! Apparently there’s been two straight weeks of rain here. The cappuccino was wonderful, with a heart drawn into the foam.

Then we walked back to the bed-and-breakfast and met Tim, our guide for the afternoon. He is absolutely lovely.

We headed out of town to the small town of Bathampton, to the Bathampton Mill for lunch. It was right on the river Avon. At pubs here you order at the bar, pay, then take your drinks to a table. Tim insisted on buying us diet Cokes, which was very kind. Ria and I split some small plates, creamed, mushrooms, burrata with pesto, and an interesting scallop dish. It was plenty!

Then off to Bradford on Avon. On the way, we passed a rugby pitch that was overrun with sheep. Tim explained that it was the way to keep the grass down. I think they move the sheep when rugby season starts. Can you imagine?? 

Bradford on Avon is a delightful small town where a small bridge arches over the river. There’s an ancient structure built right into the bridge, called the blind lock up. It’s a very small stone cell where drunks would be taken until they could sober up. It’s called blind not because they got blind drunk, but because it was so dark in there when they came out, they couldn’t see until their eyes adjusted. 

We parked in the town lot and then walked over to the Saxon church, St. Laurence. It’s at least 1000 years old and is spare and beautiful.

Then we walked over to Holy Trinity church. It was built around 1150. There was a lot of refurbishment in the 18 century using money from the wool trade. A kind gentleman pointed out a small dark painting. He said it is a copy of the painting “Christ Blessing” by the Flemish, Master Quentin Metsys. The original was given to the church in 1940. Long story short, it was half of a diptych and sold for over £1 million. They used the money to help maintain and repair the church. 

Tim told us an interesting fact about the table tombs in the church yard. If someone collapsed and was thought dead, they would be put in their home for a day to make sure that they were actually dead. And then they were brought to the church yard, and put in the table tomb (if their family owned one, obviously). These tombs were used for whole families. And occasionally, when when was opened for a new burial, scratch marks were seen, which indicated that the person was still alive when buried. So a piece of string was attached to the body, threaded out of the tomb and onto a bell which could be used to signal that the corpse wasn’t actually a corpse. They actually had men staying in the graveyard until several days after burial. Their job was to listen for the bell. Hence the term “saved by the bell“ and also “dead ringer“.

We then walked on a path along the river to see a spectacular tithe barn. It’s from the 14th century and is huge, but was unfortunately closed.

Then back to Bath.

Pat decided to stay at the spa, having afternoon tea and a rest. So I walked over to our restaurant, Sotto Sotto, figuring I could have pasta after all that exercise. Of course I got a little lost, but was soon put straight. I depend on the kindness of strangers.

The restaurant is in the basement, the ceilings and walls are lined with stone. Beautiful. And the dinner was beautiful, too! Very, very tasty. The servers are all from Italy and apparently from the same family according to Tim. 

Pat admitted to not being very hungry, and then she showed a photo of her afternoon tea. Gorgeous. Sandwiches, scones, macaron, carrot cake, raspberry tart, chocolate mocha cake, a big bowl of clotted cream, and one of homemade jam. And a very full glass of champagne.

We walked back to the B&B together and hopefully I have more than 10,000 steps. I’m afraid to look.

On to the Cheddar Gorge and Wells tomorrow with Tim. Can’t wait.

Love,
Lynn