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.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Setting the Scene Walk 1 Along the Southern Escarpment Walk 2 Along the Northern Escarpment On the Edge of the City Walk 3 Along the River & Canal Walk 4 The Lost Pleasures of Lyncombe Vale North to the High Hills Walk 5 Kelston Round Hill, Saltford & the Avon Navigation Walk 6 Lansdown & the Woolley Valley Beyond Batheaston Walk 7 Bannerdown & Little Solsbury Little Solsbury & the Battle of the Bypass Walk 8 St Catherine’s Valley, Marshfield & Charmy Down Charmy Down: A Forgotten Landscape The Avon Valley Walk 9 Trains & Boats & Planes The Titfield Trilogy An Introduction to the Titfield Trilogy Walk 10 Return to Titfield Walk 11 Along the Coal Canal Walk 12 Over the Wansdyke to Coal Country The Legend of Twerton Round Hill Into the East Walk 13 Farleigh Down, Box Hill & Corsham Walk 14 Claverton Down, Avoncliff & Bradford on Avon The Riddle of the Stones Bibliography Acknowledgements & Picture Credits Extra Features The Pleasure Gardens of Lyncombe Vale Kelston Round Hill The Metamorphoses of Kelston Langridge The Woolley Valley Railway Bannerdown & the Battle of Mount Badon Eagle House The White Horse and the Caterpillar St Catherine Marshfield The Bathampton Inclined Plane Browne’s Folly The GHQ Green Line Midford Castle: A Difference of Opinion The Lyncombe Moot-Tree The Mystery of the Wansdyke Dunkerton Colliery