Andrew Swift charts a walk which gives us the chance to enjoy Bath’s canal and river network
The stretch of the River Avon below Pulteney Bridge has long been regarded as one of the jewels in Bath’s crown. Carry on downstream, though, or head up past Pulteney Bridge, and it is a different story – unloved or inaccessible, the river has for too long been something the city has chosen to turn its back on.
Attitudes are slowly changing, and a Water Space Study, spearheaded by B&NES council, is looking at ways to revitalise Bath’s canal and river network. Already, the canal towpath east of Sydney Gardens has been upgraded, and further projects are planned.
This month’s walk is a riverbank and towpath stroll, taking in the familiar and the unfamiliar, and demonstrating how much scenic variety can be found along Bath’s waterways. There is plenty of history, as well as wildlife habitats, monumental civil engineering – and a visit to some lost pleasure gardens.
We start at the back of Pulteney Bridge – the side few visitors see – before heading past the site of Bath’s first pleasure gardens. Spring Gardens opened in 1735 and, until Pulteney Bridge was completed in 1774, were reached by ferry. They eventually closed in 1798.
From there we head past North Parade Bridge, built of iron in 1836 and clad in stone in 1936, and St James’s Bridge, over which the first train linking London with Bath rumbled in 1841.
We then join the canal to climb past the flight of six locks that raise it almost 20 metres. Beside the bottom lock is the old Thimble Mill which once pumped water halfway up the flight. Next comes Deep Lock, at 5.9 metres the second deepest on the canal network. It replaced two locks demolished when Rossiter Road was built in the 1970s. Beside the fourth lock is the chimney of another pumping station. This pumped water to the top of the flight, replenishing water lost when boats travelled through the locks.
After going through a tunnel with the former offices of the canal company above it, the canal passes through Sydney Gardens in a cutting crossed by two Chinese-style bridges. Above the portals of the tunnels flanking the gardens are the carved heads of Sabrina, Spirit of the Severn, and Old Father Thames, symbolising the union of the two rivers.
Leaving the second tunnel, the view of Solsbury Hill opens up ahead. Originally, the route of the canal lay further to the west, curving almost as far as the houses on the far side of the railway. It was re-routed when the railway was built.
After passing the site of one of Bath’s lost stations – Hampton Row Halt, opened in 1907 and closed ten years later – we pass the site of Cremorne Pleasure Gardens, also known as the Folly, whose chequered career was brought to an end by a stray German bomb in 1942.
Then it’s back across the river, via a concrete bridge replacing the original suspension bridge of 1830, to the site of Grosvenor Pleasure Gardens, an enormously ambitious enterprise which opened – although far from ready – in 1792, and closed, after a series of crises, less than ten years later.
From here, we follow a tree-lined riverside walk – one of Bath’s best-kept secrets – with views across to Cleveland Pools, the country’s only surviving Georgian lido, which opened in 1817, closed in 1984, but is finally being brought back to life. Just beyond it lies the Victorian Boating Station, still very much in business.
From there, we have to turn away from the river, as, for the last two-thirds of a mile to just above Pulteney Bridge, its banks are in private hands. An anticlimax perhaps, but with plenty of pubs and cafés to drop into on the way.
DIRECTIONS
Heading north along Walcot Street. After passing the Hilton Hotel, turn right through the Cattle Market car park. Cross and turn right at the bottom, before going down steps and continuing along the riverside walkway.
After climbing a flight of steps, carry on and turn left. After crossing Pulteney Bridge, cross and turn right down steps to the riverside walk. Spring Gardens stood where the Beazer Maze and the north end of the Recreation Ground are.
After going under North Parade Bridge, look across to the end of South Parade – where steps once led down to a ferry – and St John’s Roman Catholic church, whose spire is home to peregrine falcons.
After crossing the canal, turn left along the towpath. After going under two road bridges, climb the steps, cross the canal via the pavement and continue along the towpath on the other side. After 300m, carry on across a road, but, at the next road bridge, climb steps, turn right and cross the zebra crossing before continuing along the right bank of the canal.
Follow the towpath as it crosses the canal at the back of the old canal company offices and go through a tunnel to emerge into Sydney Gardens.
Having gone through another tunnel, carry on along the towpath with the railway below you on the left. The footbridge crossing the line 350m along marks the site of Hampton Row Halt. After another 50m, turn left down a path. A spring running under the path, 200m on, marks the eastern boundary of Cremorne Pleasure Gardens, which stood on the right-hand side of the path. All that now survives are bits of masonry and steps leading into the undergrowth.
Turn left under the railway and, after crossing the river, turn left, go through a gate and turn left down steps to the riverside path. Grosvenor Pleasure Gardens covered the whole of the area, stretching the length of Grosvenor Place, the Georgian terrace over to your right. After 200m, you pass the site of the swimming pool which stood at the western end of the gardens, its site now marked by willows and nettles.
A little further on, look out for Cleveland Pools – the curved building with a row of doorways, largely hidden by horse chestnuts, on the opposite bank. Just past it is the Boating Station, after which, when the path forks, you need to bear right to head up to Kensington Meadows. As you bear diagonally left to follow a faint path across the grass, you will see Kensington Chapel – now converted to housing – in the row of buildings to your left. Go through a gap in the fence to the right of some gates, bear left, head up to the London Road and turn left to return to the city centre.
The locks at Widcombe, c1910
FACT FILE
Length of walk: four miles
Approximate time: 2 hours
For more on canal and river: Queen of Waters by Kirsten Elliott, published by Akeman Press, Cleveland Pools: clevelandpools.org.uk. Water Space Study: bathnes.gov.uk/riverandcanal
Level of challenge: some steps, but otherwise straightforward
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