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Last Update: 2 June, 2008 9:38 AM

07/05/2007
A TRAVELLERS GUIDE TO . . . BATH

Travel
Author: Gary Baker

ONLY if you live in the city of Bath can you fail to be left breathless by it. For ten months of my life, I lived in the Roman city and was guilty of taking it for granted.

I saw the darker side as well as the side most tourists will be encouraged to discover. Yet stay there for any length of time - even a daytrip or weekend - and the city will capture a corner of your heart and stay there for years.

Bath is an architect's paradise, a Roman historian would have days to spend looking among the nooks and crannies of the city and shoppers with a lot of credit on their cards would have a field day among the designer and specialists shops which stand alongside the more well-known outlets in the city centre.

Somebody said something very significant to me during my time in the city that is build on cream-coloured brick to keep in mode with the Roman tradition. Crispin Burgess, a want-to-be comedian who once did a ten minute open mike turn at Moles Comedy Club on George Street, said: "There is a lot of poverty behind the sandstone walls of Bath but there is also a great deal of incredible things to discover."

Surely every town and city with a large population has their undesirable districts, don't they, and, to be honest, Bath's are very few and far away to even be noticed.

So, in that respect, Bath puts on its best face day afte day for the tripper or longer-stay tourist but, then again, Bath does not have to try too hard to be absolutely stunning.

The best way of seeing the city is on foot, although the city tour buses - and there are quite a few of them that all go from opposite Garfunkels by the river and are five minutes away from the railway station - do a grand job of ferrying people from all quarters of the world as well as British tourists around the sights of the city.

Where else in the world would you see a street entertainer playing the glokenspiel, for goodness sake, rather than a batter guitar and singing something from the Beatles back catalogue? You do in Bath. Even when the winter kicks in, the city is a warm, wonderful place to be. When the sun shines, it is incredibly idilic.

The jewel in the crown is, of course, the Royal Crescent and The Circus, which are the main tourist attractions. The 1960s film 'Oliver' set one of its' most famous singing and dancing scenes on the Royal Crescent and, back in my days of living in Bath, a flat was put up for sale there for £150,000. In those days, that was a small fortune. Now, you would be lucky to buy a garden shed on the Royal Crescenty for that price.

Look around, though and a one-bedroom flat with a communial entrance is going for £150,000 in the city while another with three reception rooms is under offers for £165,000.

But how about that flat on the Royal Crescent (pictured right). One bedroom, one reception room and one bathroom is now going for offers over £650,000! Wish I had taken my chance ten years ago!

Never mind, I still think the world of Bath. In years gone by, cities like London used to have shops on bridges. Bath is the only city in the United Kingdom where this still exists and the sight of the water rushing over the weir underneath Pultney Bridge is something that is held in millions of photograph and digital computer albums throughout the world.

Bath is also famous for the Roman Baths (pictured left) which have recently been ungraded after years of trouble over the building of the place and then cracks discovered in the structure and the whole redevelopment project went massively over budget to the cost of the local council.

It is up and running now, though, and has begun to pay for itself with a flock of visitors coming in through the doors.

The Roman Baths stand alongside Bath Abbey - where our street entertainer was playing his glokenspiel - which is the last in a series of monastic churches built in the city and now actually serves as a parish church.

Archtecture, baths, shopping - all very well for the wonderful city but one things stands out for a certain section of the public - and that is Bath Rugby, the club which, for ten years during the 1980s and 90s, were the best rugby union team in England.

The Recreation Ground, (pictured left) a public-owned property, isBath Rugby's home ground and every time they play there, the place is packed to the rafters, such is its' appeal.

Bath won the English knock-out cup ten times between 1984 and 1996, and were the first English winners of the Heineken European Cup in 1998 when they beat French side Brive 17-16 in Bordeaux.

Their most famous players include England stars such as Jeremy Guscott, Phil de Glanville, who captained his country, and former national coach Andy Robinson.

There is a tremendous cultural influence on Bath, with the Theatre Royal often hosting plays and musicals which have come directly from the West End of London, while thee are also the best restaurants and pubs you can imagine and great nightlife.

There is also the Kennet and Avon Canal and River Avon, opitomised by the narrow boats which thread their way up and down through the trees and hills.

Bath rocks when it wants to but can be completely laid back at other times or business-like when needed. Whatever, it is a magnificent city and one that draws you in like a magnet time after time.

And all an outsider - as many of the rugby imports that are recruited by the club testify - can say about this city is to observe how lucky the residents all are to live there and how much so many would like to be in their shoes.

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