One of the great things about Reading is that it is easy to escape from and quickly and easily get to almost anywhere in the UK. While it is possible to get away by car we much prefer to travel by public transport when we can and with Reading being a hub getting away by train is almost always straightforward. Today it was a short journey to Bath where we are spending the next few days.
Bath is somewhere we have been numerous times before and consequently know the central area with the abbey, crescent, and shops pretty well so before coming we did some research on places we hadn’t done before. This turned up a National Trust page on Walk the View! (I don’t know why the exclamation mark is there either but that’s how they have styled it).
Walk the View! is a three mile circular walk that starts in front of the abbey leading you out of town and almost immediately we were in places we had never visited before. There was the most beautiful bookshop, Topping & Company Booksellers, where all the books seemed to have been wrapped in a protective cover and treated with the utmost care. From there we walked to the Sydney Gardens – gateway to the Kennet & Avon Canal.
For some reason, I hadn’t realised that the canal ran through Bath, although I probably should have given that it also runs through Reading too. Maybe next time we could get here by narrowboat…
The walk along the towpath went through narrow bridges, over some attractive locks, and past the most beautiful houses before we turned off and climbed Bathwick Hill leading to the most amazing view over the city. It has to be said that this view was very much enhanced by the beautiful weather. Had it been drizzly and grey I’m not sure I would have been eulogising quite so much about it!
We sat on a bench and watched the world go by before heading back down the hill and through the beautiful buildings of Bath before returning to the bustling centre of the city.
Quite how we have missed so much of the City on past visits I am not sure but this walk is well worth it for the views and places on the way and comes thoroughly recommended.
