While the Foreign Office is advising all Britons in China should leave the country if they can to minimise the risk of exposure to the new coronavirus, the effects of this new outbreak are being felt closure to home.
I found these warnings stuck to the front of the Guiildhall’s reception desk. There is another hung in the toilets.
It remains to be seen what effect China’s self-imposed quarantine will have on tourist visitor numbers in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, evidence of a more central city problem with the continual erosion of the fabric of Westgate Street from pavement parking by delivery lorries.
Bath eventually will have to set up a distribution site for lorries to unload onto more street-friendly vehicles – and also put a ban on deliveries say from ten am to 6pm.
New hoarding is appearing to the side of the West Front of Bath Abbey.
Though the access through to Abbey Courtyard will be greater than was originally intended to allow free passage through to shops and create less disruption to queues for the Roman Baths.
The hoarding is all part of the multi-million-pound Footprint Project which includes stabilising the church floor and creating new facilities for both the Abbey and the public.
Meanwhile, it’s not only pavements that feel the tourist wear of thousands of passing feet each year. Look at this damage to the stonework on the Abbey Courtyard side of the Roman Baths.
Finally, the continuing problem of Bath’s homeless people and how they should be supported. For those who would rather not hand over money directly to those living in empty shop doorways, there is a new charitable facility in Union Street which allows you to ‘tap and go.’
