It was nice to have 2 nights in a row, being able to unpack a little and have a little time to do some intermediate washing and get it dry. However there were things to do and places to go, so we left Portishead.
Our first stop was at the Avon Valley Railway. The trains only run on Wednesdays and Sundays outside the school holidays, but it was still worthwhile. One of the volunteers came and talked to us, then took us into the non public area and showed us the locos and carriages that were working and used. He then took us into the workshop and yard where they rebuild the engines and carriages. When the “official” service stopped, the rails were pulled up quickly, before the Avon Valley Railway group had time to come to any arrangement to move in. The last train over the Somerset and Dorset Railway prior to cessation of passenger services over that line and the Mangotsfield to Bath Branch was on 6th March 1966, Twenty-five years later to the day, 6th March 1991, the Avon Valley Railway's new line extension from Bitton Station to Oldland Common was opened. Very good coffee at the station cafe.
We headed off to Bath. Fortunately, the volunteer we were with at the railway suggested that we use the park & ride outside Bath. Park there for free and then £5.50 for 2 people return to the centre of Bath. Made life so much easier for all of us – Rick for driving and the other 3 putting up with Rick’s driving through narrow congested streets. Timing was perfect and we went on a Bath Abbey tower tour. 212 very narrow spiral steps to the top of the tower. On the way, we stopped in the bell ringer’s room. There are a number of ways the bells are rung. The loudest is the traditional way with the bell ropes swinging the bells (there are 10 bells). There are also hammers that strike the bells, with the bells stationary. there is a rack with 10 ropes close together so one person can operate the hammers alone, there is also a machine with a barrel that works like toys that have pins on the barrel and flicks little leaf springs to sound musical notes and a programmable box that can play lots of arrangements.
We went down a small passage from the bell ringer’s room and sat right behind the clock face. The hands were operated via gears driven by a long rod from the clock mechanism, about 5 metres away. (I can tell you anything and you won’t necessarily know if it is correct or not). We also went through another door and saw the other side of the abbey ceiling, with the domes, cornerstone etc. The ceiling has no load on it apart from gravity and is only about 100 mm thick. Apparently, when the builders finished installing the ceiling, they had to stand under it when the scaffolding was taken away. This ensured that it was constructed properly and this led to the phrase “on your own head be it”.
We reached the top of the tower and had the most magnificent views over Bath.
We went for a walk along the river for a different perspective on the city. Stunning scenery.
Back to the Park & Ride bus and to the car and we headed to Newport, Wales. We couldn’t work out which Newport to set in the car’s GPS, so it was back to the tablet and manual intervention to guide us out. We had a few circuits in Newport to find the hotel we were looking for, passing the same places more than once. We passed an unusual modern bridge on the way in that hopefully the passengers will allow the driver to stop at tomorrow, if we can find it again. Tomorrow we will visit the historic transporter bridge.
Off now to try and find G&J’s room here in the rabbit warren hotel for a pre dinner drink. We had to go up a few stairs, down a few and up again, through a number of fire doors to our room, don’t know yet just where G&J’s room is, only that it is a long way from R&G’s.
