Bath was named after – you guessed it – a Roman Bath that was here about 2000 years ago. It’s a major tourist destination and we visited today.
That’s the main bath itself but it’s actually a large complex consisting of a temple and several baths. Most of it is now under the street level of Bath (much of the museum is under ground) but very well preserved. It’s fantastically well presented and there’s loads to see.
That’s a ‘curse’ which is a pray for divine intervention that petitioners would write on lead then throw into the main bath. They have many on display and they’re almost all asking the goddess of the spring (Minerva) to punish thieves. In some cases the petitioner even suggests a punishment, such as Docimedes who wished that the (unknown) man who stole his gloves would have his mind and eyes removed!
2000 years ago these were written. It was fascinating!
Needless to say we greatly enjoyed the Baths and if you’re ever here don’t hesitate to visit.
That is ‘The Royal Crescent’, a curved line of homes that are apparently some of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in England. We went and had a gander, but to be honest it didn’t impress any more than many of the other examples of lively architecture that fills this city.
As we were strolling around we saw signs for a steam-powered fair which we just had to check out. Find it we did and it was incredible:
Both those rides are steam-powered, as in run from steam engines! So is this one:
The theme of the fair was restored amusement rides from yesteryear. While it wasn’t massive (about 10 rides) all of the rides were beautiful and almost all used steam engines! One children’s carousel was even man powered via a hand crank. We rode the ghost train (which gave us a good laugh), had some ice cream and chickened out from riding the ‘steam yachts’ (shown above).
It was very warm and sunny today. Let’s hope this weather follows us west tomorrow…