Sad to see the fountain in Laura Place has been damaged with stonework on the basin broken away. Was it the weather or a vehicle passing too close?
I know talks are continuing between B&NES and the City of Bath College in the hope that students – who are training to be stone masons – might be involved in doing some structural renovation.
It would be nice to see it working again instead of lying derelict and full of weeds and rain-water.
Maybe the alternative it to plant it up as a proper flower bed – if they cannot get the water going again.
This is interesting Richard…Having the same problem on our historic street in Haworth. Its all listed buildings and paving. Never intended for heavy duty vehicles to drive up and down. As its narrow, steeps steps get clobbered as big lorries try to manoeuvre. Trouble is the council don’t seem to have any money or a vested interest in maintaining it all….
Thanks for that! Also there’s the issue of kerbstones. They park their cars, vans and lorries with the wheels up and pull out the kerb stones with the weight! They lie on their sides for ages letting all weathers get into the pavement and the rot has set in!
Check out our paving stones Richard. Council decided to buy & use a mighty powerful wash and suck cleaning machine. Trouble is it’s sucking all the mortar from the joints. Result, water gets in and under, frost freezes, slabs loosen & lift. Pavements dangerous.
I lived at No10 Laura Place in the late 70s and early 80s, and the fountain worked quite often in those days. The new central stonework, which gives the whole fountain an ash-tray look, was designed by one of the city architects, who were then based in Abbey Chambers (where Bath Tourism is now). One day a giant fag and box of matches appeared in the fountain. It was Rag Week. Students regularly dumped whole packets of soap powder into it, and huge, foaming tumble-weeds would blow down Great Pulteney Street. Happy days!