Pulteney Bridge in Bath

 

The Royal Parade is a good place 

to view Pulteney Bridge.

The bridge was designed by Robert Adam around 1770. He used an original, but unused, design by Andrea Palladio for the Rialto Bridge in  Venice. 

Along with the Rialto Bridge and the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, which it resembles, it is one of the very few surviving bridges in Europe to have shops across its full span

 on both sides.

The weir was built in the late Middle Ages to prevent the river from flooding the town of Bath. It was completely rebuilt in the early 1970s and given a more effective and now iconic V-shape design.

We took the steps down to get to the Avon

The arches of the bridge on our right

and the weir in front of us.

The buildings on Grand Parade as seen from riverside

The sluice and control gates which were added in the upgrade of the weir to more effectively control water level and regulate flow.

The aptly named cafe on our left

The Beazer Garden Maze is right next to the cafe. Although called a maze the design is technically a labyrinth. Unlike a maze, which has a branching pattern, a labyrinth has only a single line woven back and forth in a complex pattern but never branching. Despite the story of the Minotaur - in which the labyrinth described would be correctly called a maze - true labyrinths are impossible to get lost in, go in either direction and you eventually reach the place where you began.

At the centre of the maze is a large Roman-inspired mosaic.

Ken successfully reached the centre.

We continued on our way

it was a dull day but the walk was very enjoyable

the path ended here. We could have crossed on the other side of course, but it was our last morning in Bath and there was still a lot to do before heading for home, so we turned back

retracing our steps

good views of the hills surrounding the city and soon we were in the middle of the city centre again.