Whilst the purpose of our visit to Bristol was to attend the fabulous wedding of Holly and Ben at the Avon Gorge Hotel, we also are managing to do a bit of touring.

Today we headed 13 miles from our base of Bristol to the quaint and beautiful city of Bath, a designated World Heritage site. Our first stop was the Roman Baths, which were constructed around 70 AD as a grand bathing and socialising complex – ah the pressure of looking good must have been stressful ! Apparently these baths are some of the best preserved Roman remains in the world.

1,170,000 litres of steaming spring water reaching 46 °C still fill the site every single day. The Romans believed that this was the mystical work of the Gods (nice) although I think it probably has more to do with the water source, below the ground which comes from the King’s Spring.

Again we were below the ground (I am quite blasé about it now) this time walking on the ancient cobbled pathways just like the Romans did 2,000 years ago. There are a number of really interesting chambers to explore, with another excellent audio guide to accompany it. At the end I took a sip of the healing waters (very salty and warm water). Really really fascinating, and reconfirmed my desire to return to Rome!

Then onto the Bath Abbey, another beautiful church with an amazing history. There have been three different churches that have occupied the site since 757 AD. First, an Anglo-Saxon monastery which was pulled down by the Norman conquerors of England; then a massive Norman cathedral which was begun about 1090 but lay in ruins by late 15th century after King Henry had all monasteries dissolved and finally, the present Church.

Amazingly the first King of all England, King Edgar was crowned on this site in 973. King Edgar’s service set the precedent for the coronation of all future Kings and Queens of England including the current monarch Elizabeth II.

Sadly I didn’t get a great photo of it but on the outside of this church there is a ladder of Angels. The story behind this is that the Bishop of Bath (great title hey) Oliver King, is said to have had a dream of angels ascending and descending into heaven that inspired the design and which also inspired him to build a new Abbey church – the last great medieval cathedral to have been built in England.

For me one of the things that I like most about visiting these places is that each of them has a really unique story that I find fascinating ( not a view shared by others in the car I must say, although to their credit they nod away whilst I rattle of all the stats whilst dreaming of rugby or their next feed).

Before heading back to Bristol we take in the sights of Bath – a beautiful place I look forward to returning to soon.