Places I have lived in – Bath, Somerset, England.

The city of Bath, in the county of Somerset, England was where I lived from 1990 until 1997 when I left England for the last time (not long before they turned the lights out it seems).

I lived in a small village just outside Bath called Batheaston, set on the slopes of Solsbury Hill.

All the above links are from Wikipedia articles which do much more justice to the subjects than I ever could.

The Bath region is in my view one which visitors to the United Kingdom ideally should have on their must see list.

The area is steeped in fascinating history, it contains stunning buildings (including well preserved Roman baths), beautiful countryside and quaint stuff. Example: the little old fashioned toll bridge at Batheaston right next to the water mill which itself contains a revolving restaurant!

I lived in a 400 plus year old house with an internal spiral staircase. Once, an old tradesman came to repair a window frame and told us about the ‘war glass’ we had in some of our windows. He explained that it was very thin – much thinner than normal glass – and was used during World War 2 to save resources. Someone therefore must have replaced some window panes during the war. It was fascinating to see hidden history revealed by someone who knew what he was looking at; or should I say; through.

Quite regularly I used to bump into a wonderful old gent called Harry. He was a lovely soul. He told me about how during the war he saw a German bomber flying low up the valley below – so close to the village that Harry could see the pilot looking over at him. The bomber was headed towards the city of Bath. Harry was, I sensed, one of those gems that one rarely meets in life. Two others are Dennis & Maureen; down at the local newsagent.

Bath was a very nice area to live in and I enjoyed my time there. I have never been back since I left in the very cold February of 1997 (we had a bad winter that year). I left many good friends behind, however at times one has to move forward in life and embrace the new. Since March 1997 I have been living on Queensland’s Gold Coast – a glitzy, hip and sub tropical place with its own natural beauty and biodiversity. Such a contrast from Bath where one can feel the atmospheres and spirits of old.

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