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Free booking and cancellationFree payment tour, no set price, booking and cancellation are free
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Hello! My name is Susan and I have a background in ecology, art, and counselling. I have loved Bath since the moment I saw it over forty years ago and it is an absolute pleasure to share with you the less obvious spots in the city. Come join me!
Bath is a gem of a place to visit any time of the year with so many things to do amongst it’s stunning architecture 🎇
Join me on this intimate tour (5 people max) as I show you the hidden side to Bath.
Be sure to wear suitable clothing and give yourself plenty of time to find parking/bathroom, et cetera.
This is an illustrated amusing tour that I have aimed at grown-ups - I do not accept children on the tour.
While I'm not a historian, I am a keen local, who follows a carnivore lifestyle, and I love the history of monasteries and sharing the history of this place, so come along as we find the lesser-known and older parts of the city.
In the first part of the tour I will endeavour to paint a picture of two periods in Bath’s history - how Bath looked before the massive rebuilding of the city in the 18th century, and Anglo-Saxon, Bath with its delightful monastery and huge gatehouses and walls.
We discover what we can still see of the Anglo Saxon monastery and follow the route of ancient walls of Bath, look at how they were a vital part of King Alfred's defence against the Danes, see the original Roman and Saxon layout of the city and the part they played in Bath surviving very turbulent times.
The second part of the tour looks at the challenges faced developing the land across the river, and the magnificent job the Georgians did to overcome them, then we explore a delightful green space behind the Holburne Museum and learn about its colourful history.
We start by walking the line of the wall, south through the site the monastery orchards,
then onto the southern line of the city wall to where the pretty Southgate once stood.
From there we explore the history surrounding the hot springs and the lovely buildings surrounding them.
Further around we see where the massive Westgate once dominated the skyline, then continuing to the northern wall, we find a piece of the original mediaeval wall still intact.
As we complete the circuit of the walls we move to the Northgate, and then the only Gatehouse still partly intact, the very lovely Eastgate.
Now we take a look at what was once called Bath New Town, where the fabulously wealthy Pulteney family created a massive extension to the city by building luxurious homes on their farmland.
Walking Great Pulteney Street to the end we walk through the delightful Sydney Pleasure Gardens before we finish the at canal.
Meeting point is between Orange Grove and Browns brasserie & bar just east of the abbey. I will be wearing a dark or light grey jacket/coat, trousers, cap & carrying a dark backpack 👌
We uncover the history of this lively corner and see extraordinary continuity of use from the earliest days of Bath.
Very hidden, we look at the history of this, the only surviving gate of the ancient fortifications of Bath, and the once beautiful courtyard beside it.
A beautiful bridge with a fascinating backstory.
Here we see the hidden layers of Bath’s history and what remains of the monastery.
The site of the Sacred Springs.
The site of the ancient southern entrance to Bath.
We see the site of the ancient West Gate of Bath and its history.
The site of the ancient North Gate into Bath.
Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end of the tour the amount that he or she considers appropriate (these usually range from €10 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).