On Friday October 8th, the Classics department took 64 Year 10 Latin students on a trip to the glorious town of Bath.
The main purpose of the trip was to visit the historic Roman Baths themselves – a complex based around natural hot springs and consisting of various rooms such as the tepidarium (warm room), frigidarium (cold plunge bath), the apodyterium (changing room) and the mysterious Great Bath itself (which can be seen in the pictures). We also learned how the Baths were heated and viewed genuine ‘curse tablets’ which superstitious souls hurled into the waters to curse their enemies. This inspired the students to hastily begin scribbling down the names of their Latin teachers.
We also met a real life Ancient Roman attendant at the Baths who regaled us with tales of her daily life. We emerged from the ancient mystery of the Baths at the reasonably priced gift shop where the students did a bit of early Christmas shopping.
After partaking of lunch, Mr Adams led the party on a tour of the city and amused the crowd with anecdotes about his time living and teaching in Bath. We saw Bath Abbey, the lovely River Avon, Bath Rugby club, Pulteney Bridge (one of only four bridges in the world with shops on both sides of the street), the Assembly Rooms (as featured in Jane Austen’s novels), the Circus (home to Gainsborough) and the world-class tourist attraction that is the Royal Crescent.
From there, a delightful jaunt through the Crescent’s park back to the coach and the short journey back to Emanuel. It was a fabulous day enjoyed by all. One student described the trip as ‘amazing’, that he was ‘impressed by the level of organisation’ and that he ‘didn’t want to go.’ As such we left him in Bath and drove off. My thanks to Miss Ferstman, Mr Morrison and Miss Williams in assisting me on this memorable event.
Mr Adams (Head of Classics)
