Country Walks from Bath

Bath is surrounded by countryside of extraordinary beauty and diversity, much of it little changed since the city’s 18th-century heyday. These 14 walks, all of which start in the city centre, explore this fascinating landscape, following ancient holloways and green lanes to visit civil war battlefields, lost pleasure gardens, country pubs, lost canals, iron age hillforts, Roman roads, abandoned quarries and much more. Three of the walks explore the course of the disused railway where The Titfield Thunderbolt was filmed over half a century ago, and the final walk tackles the thorny question of whether stone circles once stood on the hills above the city. The book also looks at recent controversies, and explains why local people fought to defend the setting of the World Heritage site. All the walks come with maps, and there is a section on practicalities, in which author Andrew Swift advises what to take with you. He is an enthusiast for Ordnance Survey Maps, and provides details on which to use. There is information on pubs and other refreshment stops included in the walks. Although the official starting point is in the city centre, Andrew Swift helpfully provides information about public transport for those who prefer to take a short cut to the edge of the city, or cut the walk short.