Malmesbury and Bath
On our one year anniversary of leaving Australia for our Gap Year, we bring you our 155th blog post of the gorgeous town of Bath.
Out of lock down once again, we headed down south-west-ish to see some more of England. First stop was to view the White Horse in Uffington which I had never seen before. Long story short – traipsed up and down hills in the freezing cold only to eventually find ourselves on top of the thing (which is of bugger all use). I stand to be corrected, but it appears that it isn’t possible to view from a distance (unless you own a private helicopter or plane) so we headed off to Malmesbury.
Malmesbury was recommended to us by our friend Deb back on the Sunshine Coast. The recommendation was for two reasons; she used to live here and it also has the most fascinating gravestone I’ve ever heard of (more about that later).
In the meantime, Malmesbury is one of the loveliest, quaintest towns we’ve been to. Exactly what you’d expect of England and we had lunch in one of the loveliest pubs too.
Back to the gravestone (pictured above left), it commemorates the first death by tiger in Britain’s history! It is the grave of Hannah Twynnoy and whilst I was at first shocked to hear of her demise, on reading the background here; I think she had it coming! If you zoom in, you can just make out some of the writing.
We then drove down to Bath and the first stop the next day was Bath Abbey which had some very impressive gothic architecture.
Next stop was the Roman Baths which (as the name implies) are baths built by the romans and are fed by hot springs. The water in the spring rises at a rate of 1,170,000 litres/day at 46C. It bubbles up into the King’s Bath which was built in the 12th Century – unfortunately no wallowing in the baths allowed by us mere mortals!
Due to COVID (limited numbers, online booking only) – you can see we practically had the place to ourselves.
After lunch where we had a tasting board of cider (do not recommend this – most of them were nasty), we took a walk around the town itself, stopping in at some of the more scenic/famous places like Green Street, St John’s Place and Pulteney Bridge.
Pulteney Bridge (below) is a bit like the English version of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. Except with English architecture, and the shops that run along the bridge are mainly coffee shops, cafes and gift/homeware stores.
Last stop after an exhausting day on our feet was the Royal Crescent pictured below. It is a row of 30 terraced houses laid out in a sweeping crescent. Designed by the architect John Wood, and built between 1767 and 1774, it is among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found in the UK (so I’m told).
On our last night in Bath we took a walk into town for dinner and to see the Christmas lights. Neither disappointed, Bath-by-night was delightful and Jarrah found a French restaurant where the food was absolutely delicious and the staff amazing.
12 Comments
Diane Cooper
Just beautiful! Gorgeous pics and lots of memories as I’ve been to Bath a few times. Although it does look a little cool and wet. I bet you’re just glad on being allowed out :)! Congrats on the anniversary!
Tom
Congrats on your anniversary. Love the tiger story.. yeah, she had it coming. I was half expecting you two to jump in the bubbly Roman bath though. What’s the worst that could have happened? 😂
Lynda Maxwell
Can’t believe it’s a year since you left Oz. Such lovely little towns, restaurants, pubs etc. Nice to be able to travel around a bit again.
Sandy
Yes, nice to be able to get around a bit again – weather is very wet though 🙁
Liz
Soz, perfectly possible to view Whitehorse. Follow the damn signs. You always were a rebel, and now you’ve dragged Jarrah into your ways. Mwah! Happy gap-aversary. x
Sandy
Yeah … nah! Their website directs you to the car park we went to. All signs directed us to same car park. Not sure what being a rebel has to do with this?
Liz
You can’t see the horse from White Horse Hill. You can see it from across the Vale of the White Horse — around Great Coxwll, Longcot and Fernham, which are about 4 miles away. That said, Nick and I spent a six hour round trip to get there one time as we were keen, but staying in the Cotswolds. Not actually worth it TBH. But kinda cool. I’m conflicted!
Audrey
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary ladies! I am still very impressed that you decided to persevere with the dream – good on youse!! The town of Malmesbury looks straight out of a movie or just “the real thing”. I don’t know that I could have visited Bath and not had a dip – I am a sucker for the baths! We are gearing up for a humid, damp (maybe rainy and stormy) Christmas day here in Sydney, totally unlike the icy, frosty weather you have. Missing you both terribly!! Axx
Shona Sherwin
Your first year of adventure ticked off … who knows how long that will extend, given covid’s insistence.
Enjoy reading of your travels, especially the UK where I lived for 6+ yrs many moons ago.
Life’s pretty well normal here in Sydney save the mask wearing, social dlstancing and reduced socialising.
Best of wishes for the festive season and I hope 2021 brings an abundance of good health and happy times for all.
xx Shona
Christopher Urtz
Creme Brulee! An excellent choice!! 🙂
Sandy
Put your glasses on Chris! That’s not brûlée!
Lauren
What a year you have had!! Did you try a Sally Lunn bun when in Bath?