Notes from the brighter side

Iwrite this in a state of anticipation. Shops have been scheduled to reopen this month. This can be read as meaning: We are once again allowed into Bath city centre. As if with family and friends, we will be allowed to visit good old Bath for non-essential reasons.

Bath city centre through lockdown has been somewhat of a ghost town.

No Bath Festival meant that the streets were music-less and unbustling. The lack of tourists arriving by coach-load underlined the emptiness. Bath, our beautiful city, looked sparse and lonely.

The lifting of lockdown won’t rectify this: festivals will remain cancelled and tourism much reduced. But that does not mean our city must be unloved.

My advice to anyone wishing to enjoy the city is always: look at the buildings.

This may seem obvious: Bath architecture is globally renowned.

But, as with most things, the beauty is in the details – details very easy to miss when we, as locals, move purposefully through the city, not stopping to look at the masonry.

It’s a can’t-see-the-trees-for-thewood kinda thing.

Last summer was the first time I noticed the golden Greek lettering above the entrances to the Roman Baths and the Pump Rooms – relics from Regency, still blindingly bright.

As a child I would count the motifs on the tier above the front doors on the Circus – like snowflakes, I did not see a single motif repeated exactly.

I am still amused by the marble sign above Loch Fyne restaurant’s entrance, announcing it as the BANK.

And circling the exterior walls of the Guildhall, see the vast congregation of Romans in togas, seeming to whisper to each other (perhaps about what on earth these four-wheeled, horseless metal boxes are).

These are just a few of the quirks and curiosities that make Bath’s aged face truly beautiful. Whilst the tourists are gone, pretend to Bath that you are one.

Take lazy (socially-distanced) strolls through the city to marvel at the grand architecture and witty details left by the architects.

Seek out the areas so Italianate that you can pretend you’re in Positano (my grandmother does!)

Visit and maybe discover all the independent retailers – Topping’s, The Silver Shop, Rosario’s, The Bath Retro Store, The Mission Theatre – because they bring the essence of Bath to being, and they will desperately need our custom in this economic downturn.

As comparatively bare and touristfree Bath will be this year, we at least have the opportunity to be guests in our own home, explorers in our own city. After such a break, it’s hard to remember what Bath is to us – but soon we will be able to find out.