﻿When visiting the city of Bath in England there are certain monuments that always draw
your attention: the great crescent buildings, the ancient Roman baths from almost 2000 years ago,
and the magnificent Bath Abbey Gothic church. But you're about to see there is so much more to enjoy
when visiting the wonderful city of Bath. In this program, we're focusing on the pedestrian streets
lined with many shops, and we'll take you into some little side lanes and tranquil courtyards.
Then we'll end up at the River Avon, flowing through the middle of town,
crossed by some magnificent bridges, and next to the Parade Gardens park, sometimes offering folk
music and dance. We'll see more of that dancing and park later in the program. But we're going
to get started now with our walking tour of the lively shopping streets of the city. We begin in
the very center of town in front of the Abbey and its busy churchyard, always bustling with
people and surrounded by cafes and museums. The street in front of the church is the busiest part
of town. It's like a festival at all times, with so many people having fun entertained by
street performers like bubble makers, musicians, comedians, and all sorts of bizarre characters.
The buskers provide free street entertainment, but you're always welcome to leave a tip if you
enjoyed the show. Perhaps the most interesting spectacle is people-watching, especially here
in front of the Abbey, along Stall Street, the busiest block in town. It gets more quiet on the
side streets, like at Abbey Green, one block over. It's a picturesque cobbled courtyard
with a few shops and pubs around its famous large plane tree. This sheltered open courtyard is like
an oasis right in the midst of the city, and it's just 60 meters away from that busy Stall
Street. One narrow cobbled lane leading out from here is the North Parade Passage, which has some
wonderful and famous restaurants, including Sally Lunn's, located in the oldest house in town.
Courtyard Cafe, in a sunken terrace, makes a good spot for a quick eat. One block further
along brings you to the Abbey Hotel, a place where I have stayed several times with my groups
because it's so convenient, one of the few hotels that's right in the center of town. Returning back
towards the Abbey, we pass the open terrace of Kingston Parade while walking along York Street,
completing our first little side alley excursion and ending up back in the center,
this time having a look at Bath Street with its majestic colonnades along both sides.
The map shows the short route we've just taken in the side lane to Abbey Green and
back to the main street. And notice that one main street stretches almost the entire length
of the center. It's about 600 meters long. Then we'll explore more of those little side lanes.
The southern end of this main pedestrian street is an excellent example of urban redevelopment. It's
Southgate Street, which is kind of like a shopping mall in the middle of the historic center. It
blends in very nicely with the pedestrian lanes around it and anchored by department
stores and a nice variety of clothing stores and eateries in a very well-organized and clean place.
We're heading back up that main street once again to just north of the Abbey, where that same street
is now called Union Street, which is so wide, they have room for a lot of sidewalk kiosks,
especially when you're here in the nice time of the year. This was photographed during early May
and right through the summer and early fall, the weather is so good that you have a lot
of these outdoor sales going on. There are nice restaurants here and many inexpensive food choices
along these malls, such as the Cornish Pastie. Here comes a self-contained, very well-prepared
young lady. There are numerous little side lanes and main streets that you'll want to
explore right in the center of town, including Milsom, Westgate and Kingsmead, coming up now.
The central area of Bath is only about six blocks wide and about eight blocks long, but there's a
dense network of fascinating shopping lanes to cover, which could keep you busy for many happy
hours. You will be tempted by attractive side roads leading off in each direction from this
central street. So you'll undoubtedly keep coming back and forth in this central lane many times.
The best strategy for the savvy traveler is stroll up one direction and then back down
another street, criss crossing the side streets in a semi-organized way until all
the possibilities are covered. Here we have the curious intersection of New Bond Street,
Old Bond Street and Burton Street. It's marvelous how they've converted many of these central lanes
into pedestrian malls – makes it so easy to walk, especially with that broad flagstone paving rather
than little cobblestones. The hospital dates to the 18th century when they believed that
Bath water is could cure many ailments. Now there are plans to convert it into a hotel.
Returning back again along Old Bond Street. This plaza, formed by several streets come in
together with the wide sidewalks, is really a lovely part of town and it's just north
of that main Bath Abbey area. A lot of people might miss it, but keep going and it, in turn,
will lead into one of the main shopping streets of town called Milsom Street,
which is kind of an extension of that main street that we've been walking on so far.
Previously, Milsom was the most important shopping venue in Bath, but in recent decades,
the development along Southgate, further south along Union Street, has really shifted
the center of gravity and balance things out nicely so that they're all doing very well.
Have a walk part way up Milsom Street and then turn around to continue our walking route along
more of the side streets. Westgate is one of those main cross-town streets lined with many shops,
changing names from Cheap Street and heading over to Kingsmead, connecting the east and west sides
of town. Although not strictly for pedestrians, people just walk in the street anyway.
This leads to Kingsmead Square, another local gathering place nicknamed Seven
Dials due to the converging streets around it, recently renovated with wide sidewalks,
outdoor cafes and bike lanes. It's a very popular place to hang out and a great example
of urban preservation and re-use. Located only three blocks from the tourist center,
but most visitors never get here. Many visitors just come for part of a day and miss out on these
neighborhoods. A block north brings you to Theater Royal, the main venue for plays and live musicals
in town. The theater has its own restaurant and in the side lane, Carrick's Head Pub,
another cozy neighborhood with quiet streets and more restaurants. From this point, we are walking
back across town to the east side along Upper Borough Walls. There is another road that many
of the day trippers are going to miss, but it's a lovely stroll. Broad, Wolcot and Northgate Streets
are fun to explore, then stroll along the River Avon, and we will end up at the Parade Gardens. We
are heading up Northgate into another interesting neighborhood with a shop called The Podium, with
the public library and a food market. And next to it, a Hilton hotel, very centrally located.
There are not many hotels in the heart of Bath, so you might want to consider the Hilton.
New Bond Street, that we saw earlier, is one of the side streets that connects over to the
Podium and so is Green Street. Notice the tall steeple of the church of St Michael Without,
so-called because when first built, this location was outside the Old City walls, even though it
is now in the middle of town. The church is next to Broad Street, which is actually quite narrow,
getting its name not from its size but from the old industry of manufacturing broadcloth here as
part of the former textile economy of Bath. This is one of the pretty significant shopping streets
of town, which again are often overlooked by the Day Tripper, but it's certainly worth a nice
stroll. There's a variety of interesting shops here, maybe geared more for locals, but that's
part of the authentic charm of Broad Street. A few blocks south, Broad and Northgate converge
into a High Street. Here we find the Guildhall from the 18th century still used as Council
Chambers. Adjacent, you'll find the Guildhall Market, an old covered arcade with 25 small shops
and food stalls, open from 9 to 5:30 every day except Sunday. The market has some craftspeople,
such as for knitting supplies and for having a custom leather belt cut. "And how long does
it take to cut one?" "Well if it's already made it's a five-minute job to cut." It's the oldest
shopping venue in Bath and it's been in action for the last 800 years on this same location.
One block over, continuing on Bridge Street, you arrive at Pulteney Bridge across the River Avon,
but you'd never realize it's a bridge because it's completely lined with shops that block any view of
the river down below. A view from above shows how this street is actually a bridge across the
Avon River. It's one of only three major bridges in Europe covered in shops. A staircase descends
from the bridge down to the River Avon, where you can amble along a delightful riverside path,
enjoying some splendid views across the water. The River Avon flows through the center of town,
creating a delightful, watery ambiance with parks along both sides and boat rides on offer.
Also along the river, you'll find a rugby stadium which can hold nearly
14,000 people. And then during the summer, when the rugby season is over, they remove some of
the stands and it becomes a cricket pitch and an open recreation ground for the people of Bath.
We are completing our walking tour of the shopping streets and parks of Bath, leading into the Parade
Gardens for the finale. Morris dancing the classic folk music and dance of England. "And what kind of
dancing is this?" "This is Cotswolds Morris, traditional English Morris dancing." "Morris
dancing." "Yes." "And all over the country they do Morris dancing?" "They do, yeah, mix of men and
women, from Cornwall right way up to Scotland." "And the next dance from the Royal Hampton Morris
is a dance called British Grenadiers." Exchange-rate ship shipped in just need screens