40 Steps Backwards and A Pirouette. : Bath or Bust - Day 2 - Tuesday 19th September 2017

I woke up two or three times during the night. I guess going to sleep at 9.30 pm can have that effect on your sleeping patterns. When I eventually got up, I showered making full use of the woody smelling body lotion in the bathroom.

I went down to breakfast. Imagine my mood when I learnt that my breakfast was indeed, inclusive. In reality, all this means to me are various random items of food placed on the plate together. Who would have thought that a cold kipper or mackerel, scrambled egg, hash brown and bacon could complement each other so well? The 7.10 am breakfast crowd looked as perky as I felt. I marvelled how one guy ate a chocolate muffin at that time in the morning. Horses for courses I guess.

I went back to my room and read for an hour then headed off to the Roman Baths. When I got lost finding them, a lady pointed me in the right direction. Basically, if you can find the Abbey, you can find the Roman Baths. The Baths were surprisingly empty. The exhibition that accompanied the Baths, a fun mix of artifacts, animations and a dodgy audio device that resembled a pre 90s mobile phone, which you elegantly hold to your ear after dialling various numbers, displayed next to certain artifacts and areas. The commentary short enough to be informative and interesting. The Baths themselves were fascinating to behold. Steam rising, urging unsuspecting tourists to strip off and take a dive. Various statues have been added belatedly of Roman figures and deities to bang home the point that these were Roman Baths.

Following the Baths, I went to Bath Abbey. Being a modern Abbey with eyes on the money to ensure the current (and future) restoration of the building, two amounts are suggested, one for the Abbey and one to climb the stairs. The prospect of a couple of hundred stairs after breakfast with several miles of walking expected for the remainder of the day, meant that I focused my attention on the main Abbey. I was particularly moved by the ledger stones and shocked by the obvious truth that as tourists and worshippers wander through the Abbey, they are potentially destroying traces of people and of families. Some of the stones are cracking and some of the fund raising is being used to restore these stones.

The stained glass windows and Jacob's Ladder outside helped to complete my aesthetic appreciation of the Abbey.

I then walked over the bridge to the Holburne Museum, admiring the lengthy boulevard leading to the building with its assortment of eateries, doctors' surgeries and lively architecture. The Holburne Museum is the fawning companion of the old pleasure gardens, which is now missing their maze and other bits. The Museum contained a selection of paintings and other assorted knick knacks collected by Sir William Holburne. In many respects, this museum reminded me of Horniman Museum without the Walrus, of course.

I went for a little walk around the gardens afterwards then went to look for something to eat. As I have had this innate desire to sample the bleeding thing, I had a Bath Bun in the rather aptly named, 'The Bath Bun'. In practical terms, £5.50 for a bland bun with a sugar coating and some currents on the top is a little pricey. Although, it did come with a jolly nice wild cherry tea!

At this point, I kept checking my watch to see if I could head over to the Masonic Museum, as I still had over an hour to kill until the next tour, I decided to go to the Victoria Art Gallery. I wandered around in here for awhile, looking at the paintings and listening to a staff member regaling some visitors with her past exploits in other countries. In many respects, our knowledge of other cultures can be largely informed by such subjective accounts. I learnt her preference for one area of Australia over another. As I left there was a weird donation thing that enabled you to place money into slots which would subsequently cause a wooden (I think it was wooden) effigy of a painter to imitate the act of creation with a jerky intensity, not seen since I last dabbled with a paint brush. I left and checked my watch.

I went to the Masonic Museum several times. The door remained locked and I was more than a little apprehensive to press the button. At one point, a man was standing at the door and I enquired whether the tour was happening this afternoon. He replied in the affirmative, explaining that he was waiting for the guide. He advised me to come back a bit later.

Around 2.20pm, I came back and there was a sign outside, the man who had seen me earlier invited me in and explained how I should pay the guide. We had a chat and I learnt about the long history that the man had with the building. Effectively, he has been a caretaker. I asked him if he had ever considered being a guide. He just laughed and said that he had enough to do.

The guide appeared introduced himself and stated that we would wait a couple more minutes for anyone else to arrive then he would begin the tour. I was the only visitor this afternoon. He explained the various uses of the building from a theatre to a Catholic church to its current use as a Masonic Hall. He showed me around explaining about the Freemasons in a way that revealed aspects of the symbolism without going into detail about the meaning of the little plays that the members enact. He quite rightly pointed out that the secrecy surrounding the organisation helps to make things more interesting for its members. When I asked certain questions, I received answers that hinted at the deeper meanings surrounding certain symbols and practises. If anything, he piqued my interest. My view of Freemasonry remains as ambivalent as ever, although they do a lot for charity. I wonder whether complete openness is the way to go for the organisation. The fact that they are not fundamentally tied to any religious movement (although, related organisations such as the Knights Templar are) may make them an interesting proposition for anyone seeking an unconventional belief system. I just wish that they were more inclusive. Although, there are mixed sex Lodges in other countries, which I feel is a good thing and could be the path the organisation is heading down.

After this visit, I went to a fish restaurant and generally unwound prior to my visit to the theatre, where I am heading in ten minutes (I am currently in my hotel room getting ready to go out). I am looking forward to going to the Theatre Royal Bath to see Tom Stoppard's play, 'The Real Thing'.

Ah, a quiet night out at the theatre. Now back home after audience sickness and various technical hitches on stage. The most notable being a device under a sofa on stage repeating the legend, 'No battery, please recharge'. To the point that Laurence Fox slipped out of character and frustratingly retorted, 'Will someone sort that out as it's impossible to act?' (or words to that effect). A stage hand quickly removed the offending article. Earlier in the evening, an audience member fell ill in some way and I was impressed by the professionalism of the theatre's staff. They initially checked that the lady could be moved then carefully took her outside of the main auditorium. The venue's staff then prevented the audience for accessing the area where the lady was being treated and/or recovering. The play, 'The Real Thing' was a typically intelligent Stoppard play that suffered a little through lots of scene changes, which initially make sense and then appear somewhat excessive.

Anyhow, back in my hotel room and I am about to drink a second glass of wine from the complementary bottle that still sits on the desk area taunting me for my daylight sobriety.

Earlier today, I had another moment of synchronicity, stumbling by accident on another private gallery exhibiting Bob Dylan's artworks. Where I am Bob Dylan must surely have got there first.

Barry Watt - 19th September 2017.

Afterword.

The Roman Baths are definitely worth a visit. Please check out their website:

https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/

Bath Abbey renewed my interest in religious buildings even though I wouldn't describe myself as religious:

http://www.bathabbey.org/

Holburne Museum is probably as interesting for the journey there as for the museum itself (the boulevard leading there is staggering):

http://www.holburne.org/

Horniman Museum as you may know is not in Bath but worth a visit:

https://www.horniman.ac.uk/

The Victoria Art Gallery also has a website:

https://www.victoriagal.org.uk/

The Bath Bun where you can sample the delights of the eponymous Bun also has a website. They are worth visiting as a result of the large variety of teas they offer:

http://www.thebathbun.com/

The Old Theatre Royal (otherwise known as the Masonic Hall) was probably my favourite excursion during my Bath visit. It opened my eyes to so many things. My guide was interesting and I left with a slightly different view of the Masons:

http://oldtheatreroyal.com/

Freemasonry will always divide opinion and I want to add that my opinions in my blog, simply reflect my feelings as a non-member. The Wikipedia entry seems a fairly comprehensive view of some of the tenets upon which the organisation seems to be founded:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry

An official website about the London Lodge of the Freemasons is below. Each Lodge operates slightly differently but they all seem to contribute to charities:

http://www.londonmasons.org.uk/

The current Knights Templar have their own website too:

http://www.knight-templar.org.uk/

The Theatre Royal Bath is a very popular theatre whose shows regularly transfer:

https://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/

Tom Stoppard is a well known playwright and 'The Real Thing' was a play that was first performed in 1982:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Stoppard

Bob Dylan as well as being one of the most important singer/songwriters of all time has dabbled in many other art forms. His artwork regularly tours and is sold in private galleries:

http://www.bobdylanart.com/

BW.

Photographs.