The Walk.qxp_Layout 1 09/07/2020 16:24 Page 1
Looking across Smallcombe Vale to Bathwick Fields
Bath’s green spaces
One defining memory of lockdown is the peace, the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze and the birds proclaiming their presence in song, as if exuberantly surprised by the sudden lack of competition. For those with the time to walk, we became aware of how our city is full of green corners, and discovered some that we hadn’t encountered before, says Andrew Swift
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ath’s parks have come into their own in recent months. From places where people escaped outdoors for a few precious moments in the early days of lockdown, they now seem busier than ever, full of strolling couples, children playing and socially distanced groups perched on camping chairs, meeting up after long weeks of isolation. Walking through the parks on these warm, high summer evenings, those halcyon scenes of Parisian park-goers so beloved of the Impressionists spring unbidden to mind. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Bath’s Georgian architecture did not enjoy the vogue it does today, the city’s parks were the main attraction for many visitors. Grandest of all has always been Royal Victoria Park. Opened by the future Queen Victoria in 1830 and one of the earliest municipal parks in the country, it was conceived on a monumental scale, with urns and vases lining its carriage drives, an obelisk guarded by lions and a magnificent collection of rare trees. Although best known for its rolling parkland, visitors to the park can also explore the winding paths of one of the finest botanical gardens in the west country or the hidden world of the Great Dell, an 66 TheBATHMagazine
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old quarry transformed into an arboretum, with an elevated walkway and a colossal bust of Jupiter. At the other end of the city is Sydney Gardens. When it opened in 1795, it was a lively entertainment venue, with the price of admission deterring all but the well-to-do. The labyrinths, follies and supper boxes which enchanted early visitors have long gone, but you can still stroll its matchless lawns and look down on the canal from delicate chinoiserie bridges. A similar bridge also provides a grandstand view of Brunel’s Great Western Railway, which was driven through the gardens somewhat later. A short distance away is Henrietta Park, with wide lawns, trees every bit as rare as those in Royal Victoria Park and a sensory garden providing a hidden oasis just minutes from the hubbub of the city. Hedgemead Park, on a steeply sloping site at the far end of Walcot Street is a very different proposition. This is a park that came about by accident – or rather a series of accidents. The rows of Georgian terraces that once stood here were hurriedly abandoned in the late 19th century when the land gave way beneath them. After they had been cleared away, the only option, once the ground had been stabilised, was to create the splendidly
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atmospheric – and occasionally vertiginous – park you see today. Nearby, at Walcot Gate, is one of those green spaces which the city abounds in, but which few discover. This large field, sweeping down to the river, hidden behind a bank of trees, was part of a cemetery which closed in 1855 and was later converted to a playground for a nearby school. The school has been converted to flats, but this hidden place still survives. Another old cemetery can be found across the river, on Bathwick Street, although this one is the real deal. Dominated by the ruined shell of a mortuary chapel, with blocked-up Gothic archways, a Roman coffin built into a wall and signs identifying the occupants of some of the more elaborate tombs, this is one of the city’s most atmospheric and wildliferich hidden corners. A little further out of town, screened from the London Road by grand terraces, are Kensington Meadows, which partly cover the site of another Georgian pleasure garden. Last year, as part of an improvement project, hundreds of trees were planted here and pockets of wild meadowland created. For many, though, the highlight is the riverside path, winding alongside the Avon, where it is possible to
