Day Trips Archives | Page 2 of 3

Bath is either a three-hour drive or a 20-minute drive followed by a 90-minute train ride from our house. We opted for the train ride four our visit to Jane Austen’s Bath.

After getting up early on a cold Saturday morning in January, we drove to the station in the dark. We parked in a nearly empty lot, and then boarded the Great Western Railway to Reading where we switched to the high-speed train that would take us to Bath. We arrived at nine-thirty in the morning to a city that was just starting to come to life.

There’s a lot to see and do in Bath, and we wanted to fit as much in as possible so I had created an agenda for our day. We left the train station and went next door to the bus station and hopped on a bus to get to Royal Crescent Park.

Royal Crescent

The bus dropped us off a block below the park. We walked up the public footpath between the houses and through a car park. At the top, we emerged to a splendid view of Royal Crescent (above). We walked to the western end to begin our walk along the length of the Crescent. People were out, but we were mostly alone as we walked along admiring the Georgian architecture.

The Circus, Bath, England — **The Circus, Bath**

At the end of Royal Crescent, we walked the short block to The Circus, a circle of Georgian homes around a park. Adjacent to The Circus are the Bath Assembly Rooms. They weren’t open yet, so I took a picture of the front of the building, and we continued on to the Jane Austen Centre.

Jane Austen Centre

The city was fully alive by this time, so we had to wait our turn for the official greeter at the door. The Centre itself is a thoroughly delightful tourist trap. The building itself has no relation to the Austen family, although Jane did stay at a home up the street during her first visit to Bath.

The Centre houses few items that date to Jane Austen’s time but many reproductions used in film adaptations of her books. Everyone working there was dressed and in character as someone from one of Austen’s novels. Our tour guide, “Mr. Wickham, please don’t hold that against me,” was entertaining and informative. Now, that’s a job I would love to have in retirement.

After our tour and a browse of the gift shop, we were getting hungry for lunch. Although the Jane Austen Centre has a tea room, we decided to have lunch at the Assembly Rooms. Walking back, we passed the home where Jane stayed with her aunt during her first visit to the city in 1797.

Bath Assembly Rooms

Lunch was tea and cheese sandwiches and a shared piece of carrot cake for dessert in the cafe at Bath Assembly Rooms. We looked at the rest of Assembly Rooms before and after lunch and enjoyed taking photos with almost no one else around. January seemed to be a good time to go to visit Jane Austen’s Bath.

Bath Assembly Rooms
Tea Room
Ball Room
Great Octagon

It was almost magical to be in the rooms we’ve seen on screen so many times. Kurt refused to dance a country dance with me, but it still felt like we were truly in Jane Austen’s Bath.

From the Assembly Rooms we walked through the city to Pulteney Bridge to take in the view of the bridge over the River Avon. That’s where we started encountering the crowds and about when we started encountering protesters.

We crossed the street and walked through the Guildhall Market, the oldest shopping venue in Bath, to reach Bath Abbey. The market itself was interesting and I bought a souvenir tea towel for half the price we saw at any of the tourist hot spots.

Bath Abbey

After leaving the Guildhall, we crossed the street to avoid a group of Brexit protesters and walked the short distance to the Abbey. It is majestic, beautiful and old, and it was crowded. We photographed a few unique features including a dusty American flag with only 48 stars but didn’t spend a great deal of time there. I hate to say it, but once you’ve seen a few dozen grand abbeys, churches and cathedrals, they lose some of their charm.

Although, I did wonder if Jane ever attended services here when she was in Bath.

Stained glass and baptismal font at Bath Abbey
48 stars
Allies
Bath Abbey interior

Roman Baths

The Roman Baths are next door so we headed over and were relieved to find the ticket line was short. That was the last easy thing about our visit. From the moment we left the ticket counter, there were people everywhere and most of them seemed blissfully unaware that other people were also trying to move through and see the Roman Baths.

We navigated around groups blocking access to the baths from the ticket hall. At the first area inside the baths, I was asked to move so someone could take a photo of their friend sprawled across the sign describing what was in that area of the baths. I stepped aside so they could get their photo and then moved back so that I could see the baths. Again, I was tapped on the shoulder and asked to move so another member of their group could be photographed in the same Instagram pose.

I rolled my eyes and we moved on. About ten minutes later, when we were on the opposite side of the terrace, and that same group of tourists was still taking photos and monopolizing that same area. I stopped and posed to make sure I was in the background of at least one of their photos (#passiveaggressivephotobomb).

Terrace overlooking the Great Bath
View of Bath Abbey from Roman Baths terrace
Sacred Spring, notice the bubbles
Remnants of the temple pediment

We moved through the rest of the baths amid a crush of people. Some areas were worse than others because of the layout of the ancient structure. Before long, we had both reached our maximum tolerance for crowds and hurried through the rest. Well, we hurried as much as we could with people stopping and standing in the middle of the path blocking anyone from getting through.

The Pump Room

After catching our breath outside, we decided to channel Jane Austen and have tea in The Pump Room. While we waited for a table, we observed a group of Anonymous-styled vegan protesters outside the restaurant. Who knew Bath was a hotbed of protesting?

We enjoyed a lovely Beau Nash-style cream tea. It included some of the best salmon we’ve ever had and of course, scones with clotted cream and jam.

The Pump Room, Jane Austen, Bath, England — **The Pump Room**

We especially enjoyed the pianist playing a mix of classics and modern pop. It became an impromptu game of Name That Tune. We recognized Abba, Andrew Lloyd Weber, and Disney songs. I wasn’t the only one singing along. After a while, a violinist and cellist joined the pianist for more delightful and surprising tunes. We can’t recommend The Pump Room highly enough for a meal or afternoon tea. Everything about our experience was excellent, even if it didn’t exactly feel like Jane Austen’s Bath.

Bath Buns

After tea, we headed to Sally Lunn’s for one of those famous Bath buns (who doesn’t need a snack right after tea?). If you haven’t heard, Sally Lunn’s is where Huguenot Sally Lunn created the first Bath Bun in Georgian Bath. It’s in one of the oldest houses in Bath. We shared an amazing lemon curd bun and coffee in the cozy ground floor dining room.

We had a little time left before our return train, so we walked to the bridge below Pulteney and took photos of the city in the fading light. Then, the short walk to the train station gave us an unexpected treat when we came upon Admiral Lord Nelson’s former home.

Unfortunately, our train ride back did not go as smoothly as the trip out. Our train was delayed by a signal failure and the same failure caused our connecting train to be canceled. We had an impromptu dinner at Reading Station before another train was put into service, and we were home before eight that evening.

It was a full day and although we did everything we planned and a little more, we still haven’t seen everything there is to see. It’s a wonderful day trip that we’ll be making again, and we recommend it. We will definitely make another visit to Jane Austen’s Bath.

If you’re visiting London, the high-speed train to Bath departs frequently from Paddington Station, doesn’t require a change in Reading and still takes only 90 minutes. It’s worth the trip.

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Heroes at Highclere

Lynnette and I have only just realized how close we are to many of the places we’ve always wanted to see. Last night, as we drove home after a day trip to Cambridgeshire, she quoted Earle Hitchner: “The difference between America and England is that Americans think 100 years is a long time, while the English think 100 miles is a long way.” We laughed as we marveled at the truth in this observation.

Only a few days ago, a British friend related a story about a visit to Williamsburg, Virginia which left him entirely unimpressed. His host was astonished, protesting that Colonial Williamsburg is one of the oldest places in America, to which our friend replied that he knew of a dozen similar villages in Norfolk, England, all of which were older by at least a hundred years. Meanwhile, some of my English colleagues were astonished that we planned to drive the fifty miles to Cambridgeshire for the day.

It turns out that Highclere Castle is such a place, at just over an hour’s drive from our home in Pinner. (Honestly, it would not have taken quite that long, but we were behind a horse and rider for half a mile or so between Newbury and the castle.)

Fans of ITV’s “Downton Abbey” will recognize Highclere as the titular setting of the show. That connection was absolutely our reason for wanting to visit, but the castle and estate have so much more to offer than simple tours of a glamourous shooting location. Highclere is a place where fiction and history intertwine, lending it a magicality that is, if not unique, at least extraordinarily rare.

For example, in “Downton Abbey,” the character of Lady Grantham turns the house into a hospital for the many wounded sent back from the First World War. Under the supervision of Lady Almina Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon, Highclere did indeed become a veterans’ hospital in 1914, forming a strong connection between the Carnarvon family and the British military.

It’s that connection which provides the foundation for the annual Heroes at Highclere event we had the good fortune to attend.

Highclere Castle during Heroes at Highclere

We arrived fairly early in the morning. The efficient parking arrangements put us in a sheep pasture next to an immaculate Bentley, and we climbed the hill to the sounds of bagpipes and drums in the distance. We spent a moment in the check-in tent to show our tickets, and the staff there seemed as happy to have us as we were to be there.

From there, it was a short walk along the road to the house itself. If you’ve seen Downton’s opening credits, you know that road. Off to the right, on the lawn in front of the house, stood a Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter open for tours, a vintage Army helicopter, and several other attractions. Ahead and to the left were a number of tents containing presentations of the charities served by the benefit event. Nearer the front of the house was a small performance area and period offerings that included a storyteller’s tent, a collection of WWI-era military equipment and weaponry, and a display honoring early twentieth-century nurses. All of these were staffed by people in immaculate, thoroughly-researched period attire and character.

Danny and Mitch being put through their paces.

We met two of them, Mitch and Danny, who were not only impeccably dressed in their infantry attire, but their hands were made up to look as though they’d just crawled out of the trenches. They were hilariously funny and wonderfully nice to chat with, but we didn’t really appreciate the effort they’d gone to until we saw them put on an impromptu rifle drill demonstration under the command of another reenactor. These young men were very, very good!

Since Lord Carnarvon’s exquisitely-maintained 1936 Rolls Royce Phantom III was on display at the front of the house, its garage was put to good use as an ad hoc hair salon. Lynnette and our friend, Betty, enjoyed having their hair done with “Victory Rolls” by the warm and friendly ladies there.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the carousel, which was equipped with a calliope playing a rather non-traditional repertoire.

Situated around the house were a number of dining tents. Naturally, we had tea with our lunch, and I was surprised to find that it was served in china, rather than paper or plastic. “Of course,” Lynnette chuckled. “This is England.”

From time to time, aircraft from both World Wars performed aerobatics overhead, which was fitting, since there were eight crashes of British and Allied aircraft on the estate during the Second World War. Lady Carnarvon’s dedication of a memorial to the airmen who died on the estate provided a deeply spiritual context to the day on Sunday, and I found the memorial service to be profoundly moving. When you visit, please take the short walk down the hill to the memorial and spend a few moments honoring those who gave their all.

Another of the high points on the day was the talk by Lord Julian Fellowes, writer and creator of “Downton Abbey,” who turns out to be an enormously charming man. He spoke at length about his surprise and gratitude at Downton’s success, and shared several interesting stories from behind the scenes.

One of the scenes he’s proudest of, he told us, comes at the end of Season One, when Lord Grantham interrupts a garden party to announce that England is at war with Germany. When he was writing it, a second season was by no means certain, so he wanted to create a scene which would speak to the way the world was changing but also provide a launching point for a potential second season. As he struggled to achieve that, he remembered a story his father had told him of his own earliest childhood memory, of being at a garden party and the host interrupting the band to announce the declaration of hostilities. Writing, it seems, is a deeply personal thing, even on so large a scale as a television series.

The house itself is exactly as we expected it to be as fans of Downton Abbey. It feels familiar, right down to the furniture, most of which is used in the show. Many of the rooms contained photographs of scenes from the show, while others were connected with more amusing snippets of text: “The Room in Which Mr. Pamouk Died.”

I’m certain that we’ll go back. It’s such a lovely place to visit, I don’t see how we can stay away.

Correction: This post was edited to reflect that Downtown Abbey aired on ITV, not BBC as originally written. Thank you to the readers who pointed out the error.

Category: Day Trips

Jane Austen’s Bath