Margo’s Musings: Bath

I was born under a “wand’rin’ star.” If you’re familiar with the old musical Paint Your Wagon, you might remember Lee Marvin’s gravelly voice singing that song. My husband always says that should be my theme song, because I like to travel and move around.

On to Bath

Now we’re on the move again. We’ve just moved from London to Bath. Although we’re keeping our place in London and will go back and forth, Bath is a more comfortable place to be during this time. London is great, but all the things that make it exciting – theatres, museums, galleries – are closed for now.

So we have settled in Bath which is a lovely small city about 120 miles west of London in the county of Somerset. It sits alongside the River Avon and is surrounded by beautiful countryside. And the whole city is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Baths of Bath

Bath is named and famed for its hot spring. According to legend, Prince Bladud and his herd of pigs found the steaming stream first. Later the Romans came along and built a large bath house complex over it.

The remains of the Roman baths can still be seen and visited. And, in normal times, you can also visit a modern spa which uses water from the same hot spring that the Romans bathed in. You can read about visiting the baths here.

A Georgian City

Bath is a beautiful place. Most of honey-colored stone buildings that we see today were built during the Georgian era (1714 to 1837, during the reign of the King Georges: I, II, III, and IV).

The style is classical and harmonious, and it’s easy to imagine Jane Austen walking the streets in her bonnet and empire-waisted dress. And, indeed, Jane did walk these streets. She lived in Bath from 1801 to 1806. And two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, are set here. There’s a Jane Austin Museum which I hope to visit when it reopens. And there’s even a Jane Austen Festival when many people dress in Empire style clothes and promenade through the city.

Much More to See

There are lots of other places in and around Bath that I want to explore as well – when things get back to something like normal. There’s an interesting Abbey, a very particular bridge, a special Bath Bun (the edible kind), and I’ve noticed several chocolate and fudge shops I need to try… So, I’ll keep you posted.

Hope you are all well, healthy, and happy.

You Might Also Like:

• Bladud: Legendary Founder of Bath (and his pigs)
• Bathing and Cursing Like a Roman in Bath, England
• A Stonehenge Story: How to Move a Monument

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Margo Lestz

Margo has authored seven books and writes mostly about France and England. She has a BA in Liberal Studies with International Emphasis and enjoys travel, languages, history, writing, and experiencing other cultures.

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