Bath is one of the places closest to my heart, one I could go back to over and over. Not only because it's exquisite in itself and has a very strong connection to Jane Austen, but because this is how I imagine Regency London might have looked like, were it not for 200 years of inevitable changes.
Today I had the great joy of visiting it again, in wonderful company: Beau North and her friend and travelling companion, Crystal - two amazing ladies who made the trip an absolute delight. I wish I could have stayed all day, but this time I couldn't stretch it too far beyond the end of school hours. Still, the few hours that we had there together couldn't have been better! Bath greeted us with brilliant sunshine that made the beautiful buildings glow - and none more than those in the Royal Crescent.
We walked up the usual route, past the famous bow window in Milsom Street, up the hill towards the Assembly Rooms, stopped to admire the Circus and made a beeline for No. 1 Royal Crescent.
What an amazing place!! You can absorb Georgian lifestyle in every room, but the dining room is out of this world - literally. To say that it's exquisite is simply not enough. I love it! And even more so because every detail of the beautifully ornate table and sideboard brings to mind an elegant, yet quite intimate dinner that our dear Mr and Mrs Darcy might have hosted. You can almost see them sitting to partake of the confectionery that can't fail to please the eye (the palate - not so much; the display is made of silicone and other materials. There are fascinating details in the house about the project undertaken several years ago, when real moulds from the kitchen were used to make working moulds, and the latter used to create the beautifully intricate confectionery).
(All photos below: click to enlarge)
Across the entrance hall there is the morning parlour, with the table set up for an even more intimate breakfast, and beyond it there is a room where Mr Bennet might have sat to read the paper in peace and quiet whenever he came to visit his favourite daughter - usually unannounced ;) . And alongside there is a writing desk Mr Darcy might have vacated, for Mr Bennet to write home. Not that Mr Bennet would trouble himself to. But he must have used it, because this is where he left his spectacles.
If you climb the very elegant staircase you'll discover the drawing room, and you might be treated to some musical entertainment (this time we weren't; the photo on the left is an older one, from last year's Jane Austen Festival).
The tour then takes you down a far less glamourous staircase towards the kitchen and the servants' quarters. The kitchen is a delight, full of all manner of implements, from moulds to sugar clippers, coffee roaster and spinach mashers. And nearby is the housekeeper's parlour, where we can picture Mrs Reynolds sitting to do the household accounts or have a well-deserved rest and a cup of tea when the day's work is done.
It was a lovely tour, and great fun to share it with Beau and Crystal! I wish I could have joined them for lunch at Sally Lunn's, but we enjoyed the No 1 Royal Crescent tour SO much, we simply couldn't just zoom through it, and soon after that I had to catch a train back.
Lovely ladies, I hope your lunch was delicious, that you enjoyed your time in Bath as much as I did, and that you come back soon. Nudge, wink, I hear Bath is fabulous at Christmas, and real and very yummy goodies are baked in the kitchens of No 1 Royal Crescent!
Lovely ladies, I hope your lunch was delicious, that you enjoyed your time in Bath as much as I did, and that you come back soon. Nudge, wink, I hear Bath is fabulous at Christmas, and real and very yummy goodies are baked in the kitchens of No 1 Royal Crescent!
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