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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2882 |
14th September 2019 Mt. Biking: Bradford-on-Avon to Bath Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny and warm Max Speed: 23.49 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 28.22 mile (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Saturday 14th September – bike ***** Bradford-on-Avon to Bath – sunny. Walk ***** NT – Prior Park Landscape Garden. Good night in our spot by the Kennet and Avon Canal in the Canal & River Trusts car part at Bradford-on Avon. Woke early and after breakfast with picnic in the rucksack we left the van at eight on a still sunny morning with mist over the canal and headed towards Bath, ten miles away. We had not gone far when we realised we had made a big mistake by not wearing gloves as our hands got very cold which spoiled things until the sun warmed things up, it was not helped by being in the shade but it was very pretty, quiet too defiantly the best time to gey out especially on a nice weekend! We soon reached the Avon cliff Aquaduct where the canal passes over the River Avon, then onto the Dundas Aquaduct and Claverton Pumping Station as we head North in a big loop towards Bath. You leave the trees behind and get on into the sunshine as the canal travels along a marvel of engineering with no locks until Bath with absolutely stunning views of the hills all around with grazing sheep and I even spot Long tailed Tits on electric cables and a Heron on the far bank. Getting near civilisation we mistake Bathampton for Bath with its sand coloured terraces up on a hill. We soon enter the outskirts of Bath and start to see some of its fine houses, we go under tunnels and bridges before bumping into two fine Gentlemen in full 18th Century attire so I have to stop and get them to pose for a pic, which they were pleased to do:) We had no plan as we reached the end of the canal where it joins the River Avon, so we went up onto the road in search for a sign to the town centre but spotted a sign to Prior Park Landscape Garden another National Trust site and Mag had packed our membership cards. We had read that it offered magnificent panoramas of Bath so decided to give it a whirl. The only drawback was it was at the top of a huge hill, we started to bike but soon gave up, not helped by the car zooming past and the horrible diesel fumes! So, we walked, actually arriving in perfect timing at ten just as the gates where being opened! We must have been the first in as we showed our cards, another £15 off and the very nice man gave us a map, telling us the best way to see its attractions. He said we could leave our bikes or push them through the park, we decided to push them as there was another exit at the bottom of the hill. We wound our was down to the Tea Shed and started celebrating Mags birthday a few days early ( it is actually on Monday 16th ) by ordering Toasted Teacakes with cappuccinos and very nice it was too, you helped yourself to butter and NT jam which I am sure you should have paid extra for! Feeling nicely refreshed you leave the high woods coming out by the large Prior Park Mansion, now a private school but the view down the tree lined grassy valley is just amazing with small lakes at the bottom with its famous and fully restored Palladian Bridge with lovely reflections in the water:) You then bear right past the summerhouse and actually leave the park so you can see Bath at its best far below and up the side of the far hill, looking even better against the clear blue sky! Re-entering the park you head down to the lakes and up to the Folly Bridge, another great photo opportunity where we met the lovely young family again who we spoke to at the Mansion commenting that their small daughter had the most amazing curly hair, her name was Mily and her brother was Archie, we had also talked to another young family at the tea Shed. We have come to the conclusion that the National Trust attracts really nice people; we are getting such snobs with old age! We go and see the old ice house before making our way to the lower exit and continue towards Bath centre. We were not sure which way to go but got very lucky as we found the River Avon with several stand up paddle boarders heading down stream with the famous horse shoe weir in the distance. Then we came to a park by the River absolutely full of people in full 18th Century outfits and very fine they looked too, especially the ladies with their long dresses and lacy parasols:) There was period dancing and soldiers marching all being watched by a large crowd all around the top of the park, for a small fee you could join them but you got just as good a view from above. We are not actually lovers of big cities but Bath was pretty special despite the huge crowds of tourists with some fantastic buildings including a massive hotel across from the weir, there is a row of tea rooms over the river and we watched a small pleasure boat set off up stream. Back on our bikes we turned right down a wide road with impressive terraces which Bath is famous for on both sides. We stopped on a fountained roundabout for a pic before turning right again hoping to get more views of the river. It was a dead-end and were shocked to find that we had come out right by Baths tiny but very famous Rugby ground, it is hard to believe that not that many years ago they were the top team in England. We then biked past the huge church and into the centre, jammed solid with people and street entertainers with many groups on guided tours being led by people in full costume including a young lady doing the Jane Austin tour and we didn’t even know she lived here! As we were in Bath, we thought we better try and find Baths very famous Royal Crescent and after more uphill peddling and asking the locals directions we found it along with most of the population of Bath! The public park in front of the very impressive and very expensive property was full of people enjoying a picnic in the sunshine and it would have been rude not to join them! We found a quieter spot and enjoyed our yummy salad watching the steady stream of visitors snapping pics non-stop, the residents must get used to the constant crowds! Considering this is a Georgian building several of the terrace houses had ordinary Victorian sashes which looked a little out of place! After lunch we biked up and around the cobbled road outside the terrace of which most where flats apart from the middle section which was a hotel. It was then back down to the centre via a quick circuit of The Circus, a complete circle of terraces and finally making the Avon. We biked up to see the horse shoe weir from the other bank where we bumped into a lady in full Georgian dress, I said to her that the mobile phone and take away coffee she was carrying didn’t go with her outfit and we got chatting. We learned that this fancy dress was part of a Jane Austin week which included a swanky ball in the evening and that she actually lived in one of the flats in the Royal Crescent, you just couldn’t make it up! We chatted for absolutely ages about her flat and that she didn’t mind all the tourists, about biking routes in the area and the Jane Austin week, she was just lovely and I took her picture for her on her phone. Then it was time to head back to the canal for the small matter of the ten-mile return trip to the van! We got back to the van absolutely knackered having been away for 8 hours 40 minutes covering both biking and a little walking over 28 miles! Never was a cuppa and cake more needed as we dozed in the late afternoon sunshine. After tea I sorted the days pics but was too tired to do the blog and we left the bikes off the rack hoping to do it all again tomorrow! Photo Gallery Here NT – Prior Park, Bath |
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