Bath: 27/4/23

 After breakfast I made my way up to the north end of town, carrying two bags of dirty washing, to find a laundromat called the Dolly Tub. It was in a quiet courtyard and nearly deserted, though one person did pop in while I was there. Luckily I had been saving pound coins, and had just enough for a wash and dry. I brought the clothes back to the hotel, intending to go out again to the same area and visit the museum at Royal Crescent, but a quick check online showed that they weren't taking any more bookings, so instead I walked out to the south-east intending to explore Prior Park, where I had failed to find parking on Tuesday.

After crossing the Avon and going under the railway I found myself in the less salubrious part of Bath, following narrow streets past slightly run-down housing projects, but in a few minutes I was out in the country again, in a place called Perrymead. I passed the Paragon School and turned off to visit St Thomas's Church, which was built in the 11th century and is still open for services -- but not while I was there. Continuing this way brought me to the bottom entrance of Prior Park -- which was closed -- and a footpath up the hill which I hoped would take me to the open top entrance.

After a bit of climbing, with some excellent views, I found it did better than that, and led me to a public gate at the back of Prior Park where I could get in for free; so I did, and wandered around there through the gardens for a bit taking in the sight of the Palladian Bridge, though it was too far to walk all the way down there and back. The park is topped by a set of huge buildings which were the residence of a Georgian builder, but are now a swanky college. Coming out at the top entrance, I climbed the remainder of the hill by road and found the Hadley Arms -- a one-room pub -- to sell me a pint of beer. I think I must have been the first stranger in there for a while, but there were several elderly male locals sitting round an open fire enjoying what must have been a regular lunchtime get-together; some of them talking in broad Somerset accents. It was a good beer -- a Cornish Tribute Pale Ale -- and I took my time before going back out in the gathering rain for the trip back.

Most of this was on something called Pope's Path, which started as a sealed footpath, then went under a tunnel and became a steep and muddy track. But I took it slowly and made it down OK. By this time the rain had set in and I was feeling like a warm meal, so I found a chain restaurant called Giraffe and had a coconut smoothie and a Thai duck curry, which restored my sense of well-being.

Back at the hotel for a bath, and then out to the nearby Bath Brew House for a brewery tour, which I had to myself; one of the staff led me into a room with glass doors at the back of the pub and explained the whole process in detail. More than I can possibly remember, but all delivered with interest and enthusiasm. The pub is essentially their only customer; they brew twice a week and sell nearly all they make. Anything left over goes to an affiliated pub/restaurant just down the road. I sampled three of their beers; an excellent stout, a reasonable pale ale, and an IPA called Warrior which was, frankly, uninspiring.

And so back to the nearby hotel, where the stingy provision of bandwidth means I can't watch BBC Iviewer, but have to make do with grainy YouTube videos. Hopefully Bristol tomorrow will be better equipped.

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