Postcards from England Chapter 3
May 4th 2025 | 8:34 pm
#53
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From: Marlow
Re: Postcards from England Chapter 3
Welcome aboard the afternoon cruise on the beautiful River Avon !
Good morning dear Friends,I hope that you are very well.
23o celcius in the afternoon in Bath on the beautiful Friday 11/04 I revisited the City of Bath for the first time in years is something that we do not see happening often here in the UK at that time of the year !
After an energetic walk that took me from the beautiful Parade Gardens, to Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths in the very busy historic district, I walked towards the famous Pulteney Bridge and immediately felt a refreshing breeze coming from the River Avon.
And as I was about the cross over the bridge, I noticed a cute little terrace located on the over bank at the bottom of the bridge with a few tables, chairs & parasols overlooking the River Avon and the Weir.
A narrow stone staircase led me to the terrace that actually belongs to a little Thai Restaurant called Thai Weir where one places an order for food & drink. It is quite a miracle that a table overlooking the water became available when I was about to sit down and enjoy a refreshing glass of Pinot Grigio with a view !
The terrace also overlooked the mooring of the Pulteney Cruisers that offers a 50 minutes round boat trip from the Pulteney Weir to Bathampton Weir & return for just £13 per person.
The next departure being in 20 minutes, I had the time to enjoy my glass of wine and then stepped on board the boat to join a happy crowd of tourists delighted to leave the hustle & bustle of historic Bath behind for a while and just enjoy the cruise.
And what a delight it was as soon as the boat passed beneath the arches of the Pulteney Bridge, we entered the bucolic & picturesque banks of the River Avon with the song of birds as a background and at times rowing boats passing by with people having a picnic or a romantic outing at 2, beautiful riverside houses & gardens, and Swan showed us the way to the refreshing Bathahmpton Weir with its bubbling waters and we slowly made our way back to the Pulteney Bridge.
The commentaries on the return journey were very interesting and I learned that the River Avon is the 6th cleanest river in the country where one can swim, that severe floods hits the city every 10 years with water running up to 12 feet, that the Beaver was actually re-introduced in the area 3 years ago and that the sailing speed limit was 4 knots.
On the first rather hot afternoon of the season, sailing peacefully under the shade of the mature trees, the birds songs and a refreshing breeze was pure magic and yet so close to the City of Bath
Wishing you a lovely day !
Karim
Last edited by victorian67; May 4th 2025 at 8:44 pm.
