This month, Andrew Swift takes us on a delightful late autumnal stroll through Bath’s inner suburbs, seeking out some of the city’s lesser-known delights. On this three-and-a-half-mile walk, discover hidden corners, lesser-known histories, and surprise viewpoints. And, although straying well off the beaten track, it follows pavements and hard surfaces throughout, so you don’t need to worry about muddy boots. Above all, it reveals the sheer variety of what can be discovered just a short distance from the city centre. Image: Norfolk Crescent
Starting in the High Street, head west along Cheap Street and Westgate Street, and at the end, carry straight on along the north side of Kingsmead Square. Continue along Kingsmead Street, which after less than 50 metres ends with steps down to a car park. At one time, you could have carried straight on, for this was one of Bath’s busiest streets, with trams rattling along it. After it was largely obliterated in the Bath Blitz of 1942, it was abandoned and replaced by the buildings you can see ahead.
Go down the steps, turn left and, when you come to James Street West, turn right. At the end turn right up Charles Street as far as the pedestrian lights, which is where Kingsmead Street once ended. Cross to head along New King Street, which boasts some distinguished former residents. Caroline and William Herschel lived at No 19 – now a museum dedicated to their memory – while Nelson was nursed back to health at No 17 after losing his arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz in 1797.
Image: Dredges Bridge
Further along on the right is St Ann’s Place. Although most of the buildings along here date from the mid-18th century, the one at the end with the skewed roof is 17th century. It was a pub called the Royal
Oak, which closed in 1961, and the roof is skewed because it was originally thatched.
Carry on at the crossroads, and at the end you come to a corner of Bath dedicated to Nelson’s memory. Norfolk Crescent, to your left, recalls his home county, ahead lies Nelson Place, while to the right is Nile Street, commemorating his elevation to Baron Nelson of the Nile. One particularly attractive feature is the night watchman’s hut across the road, its design based on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens.
The riverside path
Carry on along Nelson Place as the road drops down to join the riverside path. The bridge you can see ahead was built in 1836 to an innovatory cantilever design by James Dredge who owned a brewery on the north bank. Originally of cast iron, it was rebuilt in steel to the original design in 2015.
Climb the steps to head across the bridge and on the far side turn right to head up a broad flight of steps. Carry on and turn left when you come to a road. This area was once a busy industrial complex, the only remnant of which is the group of redbrick buildings on your right – a sewage pumping station opened in 1914.
Further along on the right is an abutment for a bridge across which trains from Green Park Station ran north to Bristol and the Midlands and south to Bournemouth.
At the Lower Bristol Road, cross at the pedestrian lights and take a short detour left for a few metres to Vanguard Self Storage, where a Vampire T11 fighter jet takes centre stage in the atrium.
Head back along the Lower Bristol Road and after passing the former St Peter’s Church – now flats – take the first left. On your right is the former Bath Press site, now being redeveloped for housing.
Carry on along a footpath between playgrounds and turn right along Caledonian Road. The grand building on the next corner is the former governor’s house for Bath Gaol, opened in 1842 and closed in 1878.
Although most of the gaol was demolished, as you turn left along Stuart Road you can see remnants of its windows in the side walls of the taller buildings on the left.
At the end, turn right along a footpath. On your left is Oldfield Park station, opened in 1929. At the road, cross and carry on along another footpath. When you come to another road, cross to continue along a footpath beside Twerton Cemetery. At the next road, carry on along the pavement for 90m before crossing and turning left along the Two Tunnels Greenway, which follows the trackbed of the Somerset & Dorset Railway.
A different view over Bath
After 400 metres, when the path forks, bear left to cross a bridge which provides a very different view over Bath. As you continue along the old track bed, you pass under a bridge before a large redbrick building comes into view on the left. This was the Co-op bakery, once served by a siding off the railway.
Image: The view from Calton Gardens
After crossing another bridge, turn right to double back down to Monksdale Road. Cross the zebra crossing, turn right and right again at the end. On the right, you pass St Alphege’s Church, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott – who also designed Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and the K6 phone box. He modelled it on the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome.
After passing the school, turn left to follow Oldfield Lane as it narrows uphill between old field walls. Turn right at the end, passing grand villas built in the 1840s, which originally enjoyed views across open country.
As you take the first right into Bloomfield Avenue, Old Cottages, on the corner, despite being tarted up in the late 19th century, really are old. They appear on a map of 1742 as ‘Mr Mullins’s Summer House’, suggesting that they were originally the country retreat of a wealthy merchant who decamped here from his townhouse in Bath during the summer.
A left turn at the T junction leads into one of Bath’s finest late Victorian developments – grand semi-detached villas surrounding what is to all intents and purposes a reimagining of a Georgian square.
The ‘Sack of Bath’
Carry on uphill to emerge by the Bear on Bear Flat. Despite the ursine effigy over the door of the pub, this part of Bath got its name from the fields of barley hereabouts – ‘bere’ being the old name for barley.
Cross at the pedestrian lights and turn left. Carry on past the Co-op and, at the end of the row of shops, cross to turn right down Holloway. This was the old road into Bath from the south. Some reminders of its former glory survive, notably Magdalen Chapel, founded over 900 years ago. Opposite lies one of Bath’s smallest parks, while next door is a hospital built in 1761. Paradise House, below it, is also 18th century, but beyond that everything – including much dating from the 17th century and possibly earlier – was swept away in the late 1960s in one of the grimmest offensives of the ‘Sack of Bath’.
Further down, even the course of the road was obliterated, so this is where we part company with it, turning right along a path to Calton Gardens. After passing the bottom of a flight of steps, take the right fork to follow the road, with the wild slopes of Beechen Cliff above. At the end of Calton Gardens, two surprise views are suddenly revealed – to the north, past the tower of St Mark’s Church, to the Abbey, St Michael’s and the slopes of Beacon Hill, and to the east to Larkhall, Little Solsbury, Bathwick Hill and Bathampton Down.
At the end turn left downhill. At the bottom you have a choice – to turn right into Widcombe, where there is a choice of pubs, cafes and independent shops – or to carry on across two sets of pedestrian lights, over the bridge and under the station to return to the city centre.
Discover more of Andrew’s walks around Bath here
Discover more of Andrew Swift’s work at akemanpress.com