Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Bath

  • Bath – Beckford’s Tower (Tomb of William Beckford)

    Bath – Beckford’s Tower (Tomb of William Beckford)

    The tomb of William Thomas Beckford (1760-1844), with Beckford’s Tower in the background, more on which in another post. Beckford managed to have quite a few interests, aided with a substantial legacy from his father of the same name, which included literature, art collecting, travelling and building design.

    Beckford was buried at Bath Abbey cemetery on 11 May 1844 and the tower where he wanted to be buried, then called Lansdown Tower but now better known as Beckford’s Tower, was flogged off to the publican of the Freemasons Arms on Abbey Green who planned to use the land as a beer garden. I doubt Beckford would have been entirely satisfied at this, but fortunately for him, his daughter was able to buy back the land and in 1848, Beckford was buried outside the tower in this grand pink granite tomb. This had proved impossible earlier on as it was consecrated ground, but permission was granted and there are now around 5,000 other burials at the site.

  • Bath – December 25th Shop

    Bath – December 25th Shop

    When I took this photo in 2017, I assumed that this was just a shop set-up for Christmas, although I thought that they were being a little enthusiastic opening in August. The shop on Cheap Street was though much more permanent, run for over 30 years by Graham Tomkiss, but it sadly closed in 2018. A pop-up shop opened on New Bond Street for Christmas 2019, but there’s no confirmation yet whether there will be anything for 2020.

    For children though, this must have kept the excitement of Christmas alive for the whole year.

  • Bath – Views from Bath Abbey

    Bath – Views from Bath Abbey

    Just photos from a few years ago, from the roof of Bath Abbey which can be accessed as part of a behind the scenes tour of the building.

         

  • Bath Abbey – William Oliver Tablet

    Bath Abbey – William Oliver Tablet

    This lengthy memorial tablet is to the memory of William Oliver (1659-1716), a medical pioneer who was the uncle of William Oliver, also a medical pioneer from the city, who invented the Bath Bun and Bath Oliver. He was buried in Bath Abbey, which is where this tablet remains in place today.

    This William Oliver spent some of his time as the surgeon responsible for Lord Monmouth’s army, something which would have rather an innovation at the time.

    His tablet reads:

    “In memory of William Oliver MD FRS. He was descended from the family of Trevarnoe, in the County of Cornwall. While he was prosecuting the study of physick in foreign universities. The miseries of his country called aloud for a deliverer. He was ambitious of contributing his might to so great a work. He came into England an officer in King William’s Army in 1688. He was appointed physician to the fleet in 1693 and continued in that station till the year 1702. He was appointed physician to the hospital for sick and wounded seaman at Chatham in 1709 and in the year 1714 he had pleasure to have his old fellow sailors committed to his care. He being then appointed physician to the Royal Hospital at Greenwich in which honourable employment he died a bachelor on 4 April 1716. His love to this city, where he practised physick many years appears in his writings”.

  • Bath – Bath Abbey (Clock)

    Bath – Bath Abbey (Clock)

    As part of a tour of Bath Abbey, there’s the chance to see the inside of the clock. There are two small benches so people can sit by the clock for a few minutes, although the guide gave several warnings to not touch anything connected to the clock, which seemed sensible advice.

    Located on the north side of the building, the abbey’s clock, which belongs to the people of Bath, was moved here in 1834 after being lowered from a previous position when the structure of the tower looked a bit unstable. It was originally once backlit by gas to ensure that it was visible at night, but electricity has made that much easier.

    The advent of the railways brought problems to time-keeping in UK cities, as they often had slightly different times and this was problematic when trying to run a railway. Before the railways, no-one much minded if Bristol and Bath were running at different times by five-minutes, but what became known as ‘railway time’ required some standardisation. Bath did this by in 1845 installing a band of metal on the clock which would show railway time. Scaffolding was put up to ensure this addition could be made, although I wonder why Bath didn’t just keep railway time to keep things simple.

    The clock looks relatively small in the above photo, but that’s deceptive, and in 1926, the Bath Chronicle wrote about a refurbishment of the clock. They noted:

    “The diamond-shaped aperture in the face of the clock is due to having been removed in order that the hands might be disconnected. From the ground it does not look more than big enough for more than a fist to emerge, but that is deceptive as George Willis [the man in charge of the project] was able to project his head and shoulders through the opening. The minute hand is 3 feet long, and the hour hand 1 foot 10 inches in length. They revolve on a face having a diameter of 6 feet”.

    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bath_Abbey.002_-_Bath.jpg

    And here’s a photo of the clock from the outside.

  • Bath – Smallcombe and Views Over City

    Bath – Smallcombe and Views Over City

    Just photos, of my walk down the hill from Bath University into the city centre a few years ago. There’s a peacefulness that is surprising from being so close to the centre of a city and fortunately, Bath has retained a large amount of greenery around it, without urban sprawl destroying its tranquility.

    The National Trust sign at the entrance to the walk at Smallcombe, which is all part of the Bath Skyline Walk.

    I liked the whole concept of the community nuttery.