The Star: February 02, 2017

28 Thursday February 2 2017
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The Star
Travel
Chill out in the thermal springs
• By Mike Yardley
STEEPED IN Roman heritage
and swooned over as Britain’s
premier spa destination, Bath’s
architectural flourishes can’t fail
to impress.
Boasting Britain’s only natural
thermal springs, immerse yourself
in the warm, mineral-rich waters,
just as the Celts and Romans did,
over 2000 years ago. The Thermae
Spa is where to head for the ultimate
immersion experience.
I always enjoy taking a sizzling
soak after admiring the World
Heritage-listed Roman Baths, a
stirring monument of engineering
prowess where natural hot water
still flows through this extraordinary
temple and its cavernous
labyrinth of bathing rooms.
Lording over the thermal baths
is Bath Abbey, the last of the
great English medieval churches
which was built in 1499. Following
dissolution in 1539, the abbey
was sold into private ownership,
before being returned to
the city’s purview in 1572. But
it’s the Georgian architecture
that looms large as Bath’s calling
card; a living, breathing museum
of graciously curved buildings,
principally designed by masterly
town planners, Ralph Allen and
the two John Woods’ – the elder
and the younger.
Throughout the 1700s, the
streets of Bath were flanked in the
fashionable Palladian style and
Georgian-style townhouses. Size
up the splendour of John Wood’s
Queen Square, the gold-standard
of Palladian design, built to provide
visitors to the city the same
sense of grandeur that they were
accustomed to in their country
estates.
The Circus and the Royal
Crescent are both masterpiece
triumphs of urban living, with the
artful curvature of these multistorey
stone buildings. And the
grand stone Pulteney Bridge is the
only historic bridge, apart from
Florence’s Ponte Vecchio, that was
built with shops incorporated into
it. Take a boat ride on the River
Avon to intimately size up the
ANCIENT: Pulteney Bridge (left) incorporates
shops. (Right) – Take a sizzling soak in the
World Heritage-listed Roman Baths.
sheer splendour of the bridge.
Catering to the social needs of
the ever growing city, John Wood
the younger built Bath’s Assembly
Rooms in 1769. This gracious
complex comprising the Ball
Room, Tea Room, Card Room
and Octagon were the nerve-centre
of 18th century society life.
A wondrous collection of
contemporary and period dress is
showcased on-site, in the Fashion
Museum, which rekindles a sense
of the high-life and formal balls
that the Assembly Rooms bore
witness to.
If you want to add some tinglefactor
to your Bath escape, book
into the charming family-run
boutique property, Three Abbey
Green. Situated in a deliciously
tucked away cobbled square, all
of Bath’s banner draws are just a
stone’s throw away.
Fast track
Right track
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