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Leaving Cardiff
Waiting for train to Bath1 June Update.
Well, Bath was great – albeit the rain continued. Stayed in a reasonably posh hotel which kept Katie happy – all the cheapies fully booked. Seems she’s a Champagne traveller and doesn’t like the 1 & 2 star establishments our budget was designed around. I’m sure her tolerance levels will change when it’s her turn to go backpacking in 10 years or so!!
Soon after arriving, we found a small privately run museum on the outskirts of the tourism throng, which focussed on a local family business (Bowlers) that operated in Bath for 97 years over 3 generations and going back some time Mr and Mrs Bowler had 13 kids – all of whom worked the business. I was like a kid in a toy-shop with all the old metal working machinery and associated equipment on display (lathes, milling machines steam engines, over-head flat belt drives etc etc). The business also produced some of the first carbonated water and fizzy drinks - also of interest to me, cos my first job after finishing my trade as a fitter & turner with Stan Kennon, was working at QUF Industries in Bishop street where they produced all the
Bath
Still raining local coke, iced coffee etc (back in the early 80s) for Darwin. This particular place was great cos you could get up close and personal to the equipment. Some of the stuff I did my apprenticeship on looked of similar vintage!!
Being Bank holiday – Bath was absolutely packed. The queue’s into the old Roman baths was a few hundred metres long. We left that till the next day (which thankfully turned sunny) and walked straight in. The old spring fed baths are fascinating and many of the other terrorists there were equally fascinated by the thermal waters themselves. Apparently the water bubbling up into the aquamarine spring pook is estimated to be from rain that fell some 10,000 years ago and it’s taken this long to percolate through the earth’s heaters and bubble up at this, the only thermal spring in Great Britain. 10,000 years sort of dwarfs the 2000 years that the Roman baths have existed.
I guess thermal springs are a dime a dozen to us Territorians, so our interest was more around the structure and the historical incarnations of the complex over the last couple of thousand years. After wandering around town and taking
Private Museum
Covering the mechanical business run by the Bowler family a few pics, we jumped on a train back to London. Only an hour and a bit away. Then a further hour on the tube and 20 minutes on the bus and we were back at Bob and Ritas wonderful hospitality in Feltham. Katie is now an expert on the London underground.
Today we sadly said good bye to Bob and Rita and have now checked into a cheap and cheerful inner city hotel right near Kings Cross station (Waldonia). We’ll be making an early getaway to take the EuroStar train under the Channel to Paris tomorrow. A four hour trip. We lightened our load today by sending un-needed shoes and clothes home via surface mail. We thought we had been shrewd with our packing, but not shrewd enough. Lesson for future. Take too little and buy anything you need during the trip.
Will check in again from there.
Ciao – Bill Margie and Kate.
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Pete
non-member comment
Water quality looks a bit suss - a bit like Fannie Bay. Hope you didn't pocket any of the old tools as souvenirs. Bit chilly here at the moment - blog on