I failed to mention that Go Topless day was last week, though Paula did flash me while working a lock gate. However, perhaps I can make up for it today with a brief visit to the busts in Bath Abbey.

This is the memorial of Dorothy Hobart (1697-1722). Apparently it was quite acceptable for an ambitious young lady in the early 18th Century to go around with one tit hanging out, even on her tombstone. One of Dorothy’s sisters became mistress of King George II, and another married into the Churchill family.

The memorial next door is to Mary Frampton.

According to the poet Dryden who wrote her epitaph,

…she had no guilty thoughts to hide.
All white, a virgin-saint…
So pious, that she had no time to spare
For human thoughts, but seemed confined to prayer.

It’s nice to know all that is still compatible with visible nipples.

A couple of tombs down is this guy.

You can pretty much tell from the hairdo that he was a royalist in the Civil War. I can’t believe all the cavaliers had naturally curly hair, so to get the authentic King Charles look they must have used a lot of product, and their camp followers had to be half hookers and half hairdressers.

“Sir Philip, that blackguard Cromwell and his rebel forces are nigh upon us. They would give battle tomorrow.”
“Oh, not tomorrow, please. I’m booked for a perm at 9:30 and I just can’t keep Maurice waiting or he’ll throw a hissy fit.”

Of such decisions are republics made.

Probably the best bit of Bath Abbey is the roof, which is a lovely bit of 16th Century fan vaulting, fairly recently restored.

They are currently at work restoring the floor which is subsiding due to a couple of thousands of years of tombs and coffins underneath it slowly collapsing. They are also putting in geothermal underfloor heating from the hot springs that gave bath its name.

Bath has the only hot spring in Britain. It has been an important resort town since the Romans, though it reached its heyday in Regency times. Jane Austen lived here. In fact the whole town is littered with plaques saying so-and-so lived here. Clive of India lived a couple of doors down from Dr. Livingstone (I presume) though not at the same time. That’s a pity as it would have made for an interesting block party.

I have a hard time taking Jane Austen seriously after Philip the Foole’s devastating review: “All these people’s problems would go away if only they would be honest with each other about their feelings.”

Here’s a few photos of scenic Bath.

The bridge is lined with shops and tea rooms.

Happy birthday your majesty.

We could not work out what was going on with this roofline.

There would be a scenic view of the Royal Crescent here, but it was obstructed by scaffolding and it had started raining by the time we got there, so you’re just going to have to Google it.