Marley In Bath

I spent Easter Saturday visiting some friends in Bath, a town about 55 miles South of Cheltenham. Bath is quite similar to Cheltenham as it also has lots of Regency buildings and is renowned for its Spa history. Here are a few of the photos I took. I hope you enjoy them.

The world famous Royal Crescent.

One of the lions on top of the gated entrance to the Royal Park.

A violin playing, tightrope walking street entertainer.

The front of Bath Abbey.

The inside of the Abbey.

A more detailed photo of the stunning stained glass window.

Bath is a favourite haunt for tourists from all over the world and Saturday was no exception. The town was heaving with people. There are loads of things to see in Bath and it would have been nice to be able to explore with a few less visitors, but I still had an excellent day.

Back to Cheltenham photos tomorrow. Come back to see what I can come up with!

Storm Of Yellow Crocus

This is what spring is all about. These lovely yellow Crocuses are at the back of the Royal Well Bus Station in front of a Beech hedge. The area was tidied up in 1998 as part of a commemorative garden for Princess Diana. The unsightly trees and over grown shrubs were replaced with a Beech hedge and a dozen Silver Birch trees. This renovation in turn revealed the Royal Crescent buildings and opened up the whole area. Its just a shame that in front of one of the Countries finest Georgian Crescents is the Cheltenham Bus Station!

I've also posted this photo to take my mind off of the worst storm of the year that is due to hit us today. We are told to expect gale force winds of around 80 mph and torrential rain, so that'll be nice!

Royal Crescent

Surprisingly Royal Crescent is the back drop to Cheltenhams bus station, the Royal Well. The bus station is a bit of an eyesore in front of the towns earliest Regency terrace to have survived intact. The Crescent was first designed as two blocks of 12 houses, with a road between, by architect Charles Harecourt Masters at the start of the 1800's. Construction started in 1805 and was completed in the early 1820's, the houses first used as lodgings for visitors using the towns Spas. The Crescent is now used mainly as office space with many Solicitors and Doctors surgeries occupying most buildings. In 1998 the over grown trees and shrubs between the bus station and Crescent were removed, revealing the white curved terrace, and replaced with a Beech hedge and Silver Birch trees as a commemoration of Diana, Princess of Wales who died the year before. The ironwork railings and balconies are one of the features of Royal Crescent and are typical of the Regency buildings in Cheltenham.