1__ A. H. Hale
Make haste! Get thee to an apothecary!
These days, you don’t need to be ill to benefit from the restorative power of a chemist’s shop. Step beyond the Ionic-columned façade of A. H. Hale Ltd, which enjoys a prominent, sought-after spot on the corner of Laura Place and Argyle Street and you enter a long-gone world of bottled potions and tinctures and solid, dark wooden counters. In what is surely Bath’s most eye-pleasing former apothecary, the antiquarian atmosphere is instantly soothing. Reminders of its long dispensing history vie for space amid scissors of all shapes and sizes, the finest gentlemen’s grooming products and more contemporary medicines. Beautiful, multi-coloured carboys – large glass bottles of Persian origin formerly used to hold corrosive liquids – sit alongside row upon row of chemical bottles (myrrh, anyone?), many still half-full, though presumably no longer used for prescriptions. This treasure trove of medicinal heritage remains a functioning community pharmacy under the calm stewardship of B. R. Doshi, who has been looking after customers for over three decades. Back in the 18th century, the apothecary was William Bowen, who sat on Bath City Council and whose customers included Jane Austen and her mother, Cassandra. The latter was successfully treated for a lifethreatening illness here, as evidenced by her proudly displayed poem ‘Dialogue between Death and Mrs A’ in which she praises ‘the skill and attention of BOWEN’. When you’ve had a look around and bought some cough sweets, step outside and look closely above the entrance. After languishing in storage for decades, the original coat of arms of keen amateur botanist and arts patron Charlotte Sophia, Queen of England (1744 – 1818) and wife of King George III, was restored and placed here in 1982. Sixteen layers of paint (over 1cm thick) were painstakingly removed to return it to its former glory. 10
Address 8A Argyle Street, Bath BA2 4BQ, +44 (0)1225 464429 | Getting there 5-minute walk from Bath Abbey | Hours Mon – Sat 9.45am – 7.15pm | Tip When Bath Rugby are playing, you can soak up a bit of the match-day ambience just around the corner on Johnstone Street, though trying to sneak a view of the game is trickier since a new stand was built.
2__ Alexandra Park
One of Bath’s most magnificent secret vistas
When Bath Council’s wonderfully named Pleasure Grounds Committee convened in 1898 to discuss buying a 44,500 m2 hillside chunk of land at the top of Beechen Cliff south of the city, they did well to satisfy the needs of the sellers – the owners of Holloway Farm – to the tune of a not insubstantial £2,750. If they had not, the land would almost certainly have been turned over to property development, and Bathonians would have been denied their most gasp-inducing view. The park is simply magnificent. It is accessed either through literature, by its main gated entrance at the top of Shakespeare Avenue (one of several perpendicular offshoots of the Wellsway named after celebrated scribes, including Milton, Kipling and Longfellow; Shelley, Chaucer and Byron also get a nod in this elegant part of town) or biblically, by a steep ribbon of steps rising up from Widcombe Parade, and known locally as Jacob’s Ladder. Named in honour of the beautiful and very popular Alexandra of Denmark, and opened in 1902 to mark the coronation of her husband, Edward VII, it has a friendly, uncluttered feel even in high season, with families enjoying picnics and dog-walkers strolling through tended lawns framed by a fine array of trees, with wildflowers bordering its circular driveway. There’s also a bowling green, tennis courts and plenty of children’s play areas. But it’s the breathtaking viewpoint that most enthrals both first timers and repeat park-lovers. On any given day, the small clutch of benches in the Jacob’s Ladder corner are claimed liked prized jewels by eager sightseers who pick out landmarks such as the cricket and rugby grounds, the Abbey, and the many churches and crescents dotted around the canvas laid out before them. It serves both as a fine family park and perfect panoramic location. The Pleasure Grounds Committee would be proud. 12
Address The main gate is at the top of Shakespeare Avenue, Bath BA2 4RQ | Getting there Bus 13 or 14 from Bath bus station, along Wells Road, to Bear Flat. Turn left up Shakespeare Avenue. | Tip Take Jacob’s Ladder from the corner beyond the panoramic viewpoint – be careful, it’s steep! – and you emerge close to Widcombe Parade, a cute place for a coffee or pub lunch.
3__ Approach Golf Course Enjoy a city-centre round with a view
Digging work in 2004 to install a subterranean irrigation system for Bath’s spectacular Approach Golf Course revealed that people had been enjoying the view over the city from here for centuries, and possibly millennia. Evidence of a Roman building – probably a small house, possibly a farmstead – was found set into the hillside. Archaeologists also found evidence of roundhouses possibly dating back to the Iron Age. Located in the northern part of what is now Victoria Park (previously known as the Middle Common), beyond the elegant upward sweep of Marlborough Buildings adjacent to the Royal Crescent and past the allotments on what became known as High Common, the property would have afforded spectacular views over developing Bath and the surrounding countryside. To find a golf course practically in the heart of an historic, UNESCO-listed city is one thing; to find one with such stunning panoramic vistas is quite another, as you can pick out plenty of landmarks in town, as well as beyond the valley to the northern slopes, as you make your way with pitcher and putter in hand across the top of the course. And to be able to come up here on a hot summer’s day to mooch about and hit a few golf balls in unhurried tranquillity is little short of miraculous given the volume of visitors the city has. It’s probably the quietest spot in town, save for the occasional weary walker spotted near the last few holes, on the final stretch of the Cotswold Way that concludes at Bath Abbey. Want to escape the tourist hordes for a couple of hours? Just rock up with a friend and start swinging. Clubs, tees and balls can be hired and you don’t need to be anything resembling an expert to have an enjoyable time hacking around the par 3 holes. The 2004 works on the course also revealed evidence of an unexploded World War II bomb, but don’t let that put you off your putt on the 8th. 14
Address Weston Road, Bath BA1 2DS, +44 (0)1225 331162, www.better.org.uk/venues/ approach-golf-course, bath.approachgolfcourse@gll.org | Getting there 18-minute walk from Bath Abbey; bus 20A to Weston Road | Hours Daily 8am – 4pm, closes later in summer (times subject to change) | Tip After a poor round, seek liquid solace! The golf course is not far from St James Square, home to one of Bath’s most characterful and popular neighbourhood pubs, The St James Wine Vaults (10 St James Street).
Address 14 – 15 John Street, Bath BA1 2JL, +44 (0)1225 331155, www.mrbsemporium.com, books@mrbsemporium.com | Getting there 5-minute walk from Bath Abbey; Charlotte Street car park | Hours Mon – Fri 9am – 6pm, Sat 9.30am – 6.30pm, Sun 11am – 5pm | Tip Head to The Salamander pub (3 John Street) opposite the bookshop and you too might have a bright idea or two. It’s one of Bath Ales’ traditional boozers, with ales for all tastes and excellent pub grub.
71__ Museum of East Asian Art An Englishman’s extraordinary collection
Bennett Street runs past Bath’s famed Georgian social hub, the Assembly Rooms, and was the final home of Admiral Arthur Philip, the first governor of Australia. But there is another far-reaching colonial tie that brings unique cultural interest to this quiet road between The Circus and Lansdown Road. Born in Hong Kong in 1932, it was whilst working there in the late 1950s that prominent lawyer Brian McElney started seriously collecting Chinese art, although he made his first acquisition, a 17thcentury Tibetan Buddhist statue, in London in 1955. His collection expanded into one of great diversity and importance until his retirement in 1992, when he very generously donated it to the educational charity that is now the brilliant Museum of East Asian Art. Housed in galleries over three floors of an impeccable Georgian townhouse, the permanent collection of some 2,000 objects includes ceramics, jades, bronzes, lacquerware and bamboo carvings. One firstfloor gallery is devoted to objects containing Chinese symbolism – peaches for longevity, bats for fortune, squirrels and grapes for bearing many sons. The second gallery looks at East Asian life, with objects organized according to their functions such as vessels for cooking, drinking and incense burning. On the second floor the focus is on craftsmanship and East Asia’s cultural exchanges with other parts of the world. And on the landings you can explore Brian’s collecting story and see a stunning array of Ming and Qing dynasty jades on loan to the museum from an anonymous collector. There are also diverse temporary exhibitions on the ground floor. Among the many unmissable items is an exquisite meiping vase dating from the second half of the 15th century. This blue-and-white beauty depicts two scholars meeting in a landscape and their attendants, one carrying a qin (Chinese zither), the other a dragon-headed staff. 150
Address 12 Bennett Street, Bath BA1 2QJ, +44 (0)1225 464640, www.meaa.org.uk, info@meaa.org.uk | Getting there 5-minute walk from Bath Abbey | Hours Tue – Sat 10am – 5pm, Sun noon – 5pm | Tip The museum is very family-friendly and hosts some great workshops often tied in with Chinese festival celebrations.
Address Saw Close, Bath BA1 1ET | Getting there 5-minute walk from Bath Abbey | Tip Wander up towards Queen Square and on your left on Barton Street you’ll find the awardwinning artisan bakery, The Thoughtful Bread Company, ideal for a spot of lunch or your fresh daily bread.
73__ Nelson at the Apothecary How Bath shaped Britain’s heroic naval officer
It’s a disingenuous trick for tourism or local authority bodies to stretch the most tenuous of links between the great and the good and their destination to lure visitors. Not that Bath needs any more high-profile names to boost its profile, but no matter; in the case of Lord Horatio Nelson and his doings with Bath, hardly any effort is being made at all. A small plaque, fixed to the simple townhouse in Pierrepont Street where he lodged for a year as a young officer between autumn 1780 and August 1781, reveals little of his links to the city. The visits that the esteemed naval officer made to Bath in order to benefit from its waters’ curative powers, as well as from the medical advice of local experts (he lodged with apothecary Joseph Spry) and more generally to relax before sallying forth again into battle on the high seas, had a direct effect on his ability to recover from illness and injury (paralysis after a tropical disease from Nicaragua’s ‘mosquito coast’, an amputated arm). They prolonged his career and, in the end, cemented his untouchable legend as Britain’s greatest naval commander. Nelson had visited the city as a child with his father, Reverend Edmund, who wintered in Bath frequently, as well as with his wife Fanny, who had relatives in Bristol. In 1797, after capturing two prominent Spanish naval ships, Nelson was gaining such public recognition that Reverend Edmund wrote to his son that ‘the name of Nelson in Bath is on everyone’s lips’. As a result, Horatio was granted the Freedom of the City. Once Fanny and Horatio became estranged following his scandalous tryst with beautiful socialite Lady Emma Hamilton, heartbroken Fanny remained in Bath, having been taken in by Edmund, and she received news of Horatio’s death at Trafalgar whilst visiting in 1805. In short, Nelson’s not-so-tenous Bath links deserve to be more widely acknowledged. 154
Address 2 Pierrepont Street, Bath BA1 1LA | Getting there 2-minute walk from Bath Abbey | Tip Reverend Edmund Nelson died in Bath in 1802, and Horatio’s sister Ann lies in the churchyard at St Swithun’s (Church Street) in Bathford, a village east of Bath, having passed in 1783, aged just 23 years.
Acknowledgements Huge thanks to everyone who took the time to show me around their place of work, especially those who shared their knowledge so generously on private tours. I loved meeting so many Bathonians with a passion for what they do. Special thanks to Valentine Morby, Simon Isaacs, Ben Hughes, Graeme Savage, James Whatmore, Amy Frost, Eric Snook (RIP), Brian Benson, Ken Loach, Kelvin Keller, Nic Bottomley, Nicole Chiang and Martin Jennings-Wright. I am very grateful to Alistair Layzell for helping to get the ball rolling, and to the brilliant Emons team for their guidance and expertise – that’s you Laura, Franziska, Katrina and Alison. My gratitude also to those friends who made invaluable suggestions – Dave and Jude, Di and Barry, Mart, Hylton, Clare Bear, Dave and Helen, Terry, Rik, Paddy and Cully. And finally, massive thanks to Julie for her support and patience when I was ‘head down’ most weekends and for accompanying me on photographic missions. And to Mum and Dad for their encouragement (and a few photos!).
The author Born and raised in Somerset and a graduate of Leeds University, journalist and editor Justin Postlethwaite usually writes about the places, food and culture of France. However, having lived in Bath for 20 years, he was thrilled to explore a little closer to home for this book. The opportunity to delve deeper into the stories, characters and intriguing places meant exploring his adopted hometown with fresh affection. One thing he learned? ‘Always look up in Bath.’