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Showing posts from August, 2012

Widcombe Walk

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This is a walk I took on July 16th 2012. You leave the train station and travel under the tracks behind the station to find a foot bridge over the Avon river. Here turn left along Rossiter street until you encounter little Churchill bridge over the Avon and Somerset canal. Walking along the river pass the Travelodge on the left and continue to Spring Crescent or Spring Garden road and turn right. Our destination is the area above Widcombe but by a less direct route.    Here is the map On Ferry Lane continue up the road  and cross the railway under the arch the further up cross the main road to Pulteney Gardens. At this point the road crosses the canal again and a short excursion to the left reveals the location for the old pump house and the related chimney. This is where a steam engine pumped water to keep the canal full.   Past the canal turn right on Abbey View Gardens for a nice view of the city and you guessed it the Abbey in the foreground are allotment gardens. Turn back to Abbe

Abbey Cemetery

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Mortuary Chapel From the previous post I derived a story from this cemetary. It was built at a time when the cemeteries in Britain were overcrowded and there was a scandal that created a boom in building cemeteries outside of cities. Architects were hired and they were designed in many cases to serve the purpose of public parks as well. Built in 1844 this was during the great Victorian fashion of lavish funerals and memorials for the dead. This is a great example due to its size and number of grand tombs. The cemetery can be reached as an extension of a walk from Widcombe in Bath to the Thomas a Becket church. If one continues along Church Road from Widcombe Road towards Ralph Allen Drive then up the hill to the entrance. It is thick with weeds however there are mown paths for browsing the graves. Some of the more prominent tombs I have included below. Crimean War Memorial The Crimean war memorial is notable for including the names of enlisted men at the base an exceptional practice a