Overwhelmed by coaches – says local resident.

Richard Wyatt

I’ve had an email from a regular follower of this website who was pleased to read that the city’s tourist numbers were on the way back up again after the Pandemic. See https://bathnewseum.com/2023/03/17/making-a-good-recovery/

She writes: “Whilst it is good to read that Bath’s tourist figures are showing strong recovery (link from Richard Wyatt’s Bath Newseum), there are unintended consequences. 

Just as there are problems in Dover with the return to coach use, we seem to be overwhelmed by coaches who are now driving across Pulteney Bridge and around the narrow streets such as Edward Street and Vane Street.

Coaches are also parking with engines running at the end of Vane Street opposite St Marys church (on double yellow lines) and in resident parking bays (as recent photo on Bathwick Hill shows). 

Bath is a small city and the infrastructure is not keeping pace with the impact of increased visitor numbers.

Will Bath be following the lead of Manchester regarding tourist tax and will this also apply (smaller sum) to day trippers?”

Published by Richard Wyatt

Freelance Journalist, broadcaster, columnist and local historian. Director of Bath Newseum. Married and lives in Bath. Interested in local history, architecture and visual display in museums and urban spaces.

2 Comments

  1. One wonders what benefit there is from some of these coach loads. Sitting outside the Abbey Hotel last summer we noted (and breathed in!) the regular arrival and departure of huge coaches labeled ‘England in a Day’. They do Oxford, Stonehenge, The Cotswolds and Bath I think. The passengers looked exhausted. They disappeared in the direction of the Roman Baths. Whether they went in or not is questionable as about 50 minutes later they crawled back laden with carrier bags displaying the logos of the big chains, most of which have branches in our major airports, which would have saved them the effort. A modest tourist tax on day trippers would at least have directed a few pennies towards the city coffers!

  2. They used to do the same on the Circus until one resident and the Circus area residents association recorded just how many coaches there were in a day, 64 in one day. They recorded the numbers of coaches and time spent parked illegally and took their findings to the council. The coaches were banned from the Circus, Gay Street, Bennet St and Rivers Street in 2017. Talk to the Circus Area Residents Ass for more info.

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