Bus Challenge No 245

The King’s Spring, looking down onto the King’s Bath, Bath

“The Bath Hot Springs rise in the centre of the city. These natural springs deliver around 1.3 million litres of mineral-rich water every day. It's generally understood that the water comes from the rain falling on the Mendip Hills nearby. The water infiltrates the limestone beneath and flows north. It then flows beneath the North Somerset coal field which reaches a depth of 2.5km where the water gets hotter. The water then rises up through fractures in Jurassic rock beneath the city, emerging at a temperature of 40C or above. There are three separate hot springs in Bath: The King's Spring, the largest and most significant spring rises within the Roman Baths Museum.”

Bit of a convoluted Bus Challenge today. First thing this morning took a bus into the city centre then straight onto a second bus and back out again to the RUH for a routine hospital appointment. A third bus took me back to the city centre for an appointment at the bank and then time to discover something new. 

When I visited the Bath World Heritage Centre last week I learned of a secret way to view the 12th century King’s Bath, built on top of the foundations of the Roman Spring, and which continued in use for curative bathing until the middle of the 20th century. From there I was able to enter the Pump Room and “take the waters”, looking down on the King’s Bath. As you can see from the discolouration of the fountain, the warm water tasted very metallic; think I’ll stick to Diet Coke! A fourth bus took me back home in time for lunch.

Sunny on and off but fresher still at 11 degrees with a biting wind, we even had hail this afternoon. Appropriately, this evening I’m enjoying the Figure Skating World Championships.

Total bus journey time = 1hr 20mins

Thank you for your kind stars and hearts for yesterday’s railway blip.