FEBRUARY IN BRADFORD & BATH

In mid-February, we went on a circuitous tour (and the Range Rover’s first English tour ! ) of Wiltshire. We visited the quaint village of Laycock which is a National Trust village with no modern infrastructure then went on to the Avebury Circle (purists say it is a better stone circle than Stonehenge - more stones over a larger area, but we saw Stonehenge in the same weekend and enjoyed both for different reasons). We stayed at our first Farmstay near Bradford on Avon and tucked into our first "full English breakfasts" which included ‘straight from the udder ’ milk, eggs from the chickens plus bacon and sausages made from previous pigs (we went and spoke nicely to the most piglets to apologise). 


We went to the village of Eddington and found Sally's grandparent's home, picked some overhanging flowers from the garden and took them to the Priory.  After much searching in the cemetery, it was William who found his great grandparent's grave. We tidied up, planted some flowers and bulbs we'd brought and added some gumtree leaves.  We then went to nearby Trowbridge to see Sally's grandparents' and uncle's last home and another house she and her family stayed in for a short while when visiting in 1976.  The last stop in Trowbridge was the grave of Sally’s Uncle Geoffrey.


We went on to Bath to marvel at the Roman baths there. The main museum was amazing as were the still functioning Roman baths. Two hours was not enough to see whole thing. In Bath Abbey there is a memorial to Arthur Philip who retired to and died in Bath. We will have to return to see his grave which is in Bathampton a few miles away. Bath itself was beautiful and, as we have done so many times since, we marvelled at how many tourists were there, considering it was mid-winter, and pondered what it would be like in summer. 

Eddington Priory

THE RIVER AVON AT BATH

The Main Bath.

Before heading back to London we visited the impressive tythe barn at Bradford on Avon - where the church collected it's share of the town produce - walked along the river and climbed up the hill among the narrow alleys to the honey coloured sandstone millers cottages hanging to the side of the hill.