Taking in Bath

Bath represents multiple layers of history and tourism stacked on each other. Romans built functional baths. Georgians built fashionable architecture. Victorians added romantic interpretations of both. Modern tourism adds another layer of interpretation and infrastructure. Each era imposed its own aesthetic and understanding on what came before. The result tells you as much about successive generations' values as any particular historical period. You're always seeing the past through multiple filters.

Layered History

September 9, 2025

Another early start this morning.

We drove to a park and ride outside Bath, then took the bus into town.

The Royal Crescent

First stop: The Circus and the Royal Crescent. Georgian architecture that shows how the wealthy lived when Bath was fashionable.

The Roman Baths were next. Informative but frustrating—layers of Victorian "enhancements" through to the present eliminated any real connection to Roman times. Lots of artifacts behind glass, making photography difficult. A couple of displays used projections on large plexiglass sheets, creating ghostly images over the actual remains. That worked better.

We walked down to the River Avon and Pulteney Bridge, one of the few remaining bridges with shops built on it, like London Bridge before it fell.

Coffee break and a nata—Portuguese custard pastry. Tastes good but difficult to eat without making a mess.

The Bath Art Museum was odd. The free exhibits were much better than the ones you had to pay for. It evened out.

Lunch beside the bridge at a Thai restaurant, then through the Bath Markets—lots of interesting little stalls selling lots of interesting little things.

After photographing several door knockers, we walked to the Bath at Work museum. A well-appointed industrial museum housed in what used to be a tennis court.

Next stop: the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. An interesting but difficult to photograph display about post-Cambrian time.

Time for coffee and beer. Another break.

Called it a day in Bath and worked our way back to Thornbury.

We tried to go to dinner in Bristol but the motorways were snarled due to accidents. Ended up eating at Mezze in Thornbury—very nice place. I'd definitely go back.

Then into Bristol on a mission to hear sea shanties. The area we were in is very urban with an amazing number of pubs and ale houses. Our destination claimed to be one of the many "oldest pubs in Britain." Twenty-plus taps.

Sea shanty night had moved, but we got to listen to a local actor telling stories about Blackbeard. Not a bust.

After a long day, came back to Thornbury, edited some photos, went to bed.

Bath is interesting for what it represents—multiple layers of history and tourism stacked on top of each other. The Romans built functional baths. The Georgians built fashionable architecture. The Victorians added romantic interpretations of both. Modern tourism adds another layer of interpretation and infrastructure.

Each era imposed its own aesthetic and understanding on what came before. The result is something that tells you as much about successive generations' values as it does about any particular historical period. Bath works as a city, but as a historical site it's complex—you're always seeing the past through multiple filters.

Images can be found here: https://beloretrato0.picflow.com/d43bka91mw/h8iyahmcc6