Let us tell you a story!

This was one of our most popular walks in the 2019 Festival, so we’re delighted to have it recreated here for more people to enjoy. We’ve charted a linear walk through the back streets and green spaces of Bath, with regular stops to listen to accomplished local writers read stories inspired by the cityscape around them. Brought to you by the creators of Story Fridays, a popular and regular live story event, this is about stories on the move, about stories springing from the stones beneath your feet, about walking alongside delightful and entertaining forays into fiction. We have filmed all our writers and actors in situ so you can experience the walk at home, or at your own pace. If you are walking the walk, we hope you’ll focus your eyes on the location and your ears on the stories! This Bath Story Walk was created by A Word In Your Ear and Kilter Theatre. Download the route here.

Virtual Walks

Walcot Memorial Chapel

Walcot Chapel

‘Walcot’ is Anglo-Saxon for ‘Place of Strangers’, an epithet most residents & traders on this street still pride themselves on today. In the ‘60s and ‘70s when artists flocked to Bath to squat in the blackened crescents & town-houses, Walcot was an epicentre, not least for the Bath Arts Workshop that went on to become the Natural Theatre Company. The Memorial Chapel was built as a cemetery for the nearby St Swithin’s church. The green near the chapel was used until recently for the annual Walcot Festival.

Hedgemead Park

Hedgemead Park was created after a series of late 19th century landslides. Georgian back-to-backs were demolished to make space for what became Hedgemead Pleasure Grounds. Keep an eye out for the cast-iron drinking fountain with its golden eagle, the newly gilded bandstand and the battlemented lookout tower. A few years ago, the council ran out of money for flowers in parks and gave over the beds to Transition Bath. Their most successful, high profile veg patch is here: Vegmead.

The Museum of Bath At Work

The Museum of Bath at Work is housed in what was built as a Real Tennis Court. When that sport no longer turned a profit, the building became a Girls’ Free School, then a malthouse, then a pin factory. Today, you can visit the Museum to see an entire Victorian soft drinks bottling plant, a reconstructed stone mine and a Bath chair amongst other entertaining exhibits, which focus on the working life of Bath.

Julian Road

St Andrew’s Church once stood on the triangle at the end of Julian Road. It was the tallest building in Bath and from the front of the Royal Crescent it broke the smooth line of the rooftops. Some people were secretly pleased to see it toppled. When it is very dry, it is still possible to detect the footprint of the foundations of the church beneath the grass.

St James Square

St James’ Square is the only complete Georgian square in Bath, having escaped both bombs and developers. It consists of 45 Grade 1 listed buildings. It has had many illustrious residents, amongst them Charles Dickens, novelist, Walter Savage Lander, activist and poet, and Moses Samuel, who was prominent in providing a synagogue for the Jewish residents of Bath. Now it supports a thriving selection of independent shops – including the Dolly Tub, one of the prettiest laundrettes around – and a great pub, St James’ Wine Vaults.

Approach Golf Course

Bath has green fingers of land reaching right into its urban area. Where else do you find a golf course two minutes’ walk from the city centre? It’s popular, accessible, inexpensive and has breath-taking views of the city whether you are swinging a club or not. The backs of the terraces you can see flanking the golf course were built as wind-breaks for even grander addresses.

Royal Victoria Park

Royal Victoria Park is the first park in the country to be named after Queen Victoria, who officially opened it in 1830 at the age of 11. Victoria never returned to Bath. During her visit it is said that a local resident commented on the thickness of her ankles. The observation was duly reported to the Princess, causing her to shun the city for the duration of her reign. When she passed through again by train, she kept the blinds in her carriage firmly drawn. Look out for the duck pond and the skate park, have a picnic on the tables nestling in a grove of silver birches, spot the obelisk dedicated to Queen Victoria (built to honour her 18^th birthday) or treat yourself to a game of mini golf.

The Botanical Gardens

The Botanical Gardens were created in 1887. They contain a fine collection of plants that thrive on limestone, the same strata that are so amenable to the hot springs. Look out for the replica Roman Temple dedicated to Minerva and the pond teeming with carp and graced by a moorhen house. Cross the road to the Great Dell, planted in a disused stone quarry. Track down the monument to William Shakespeare and the giant sculpture of the head of Jupiter.

Bath Story Walk