Just recently, after walking through Abbey Church Yard, l was commenting upon the fact that this heritage space continues to shrink in size with more tables appearing outside the Pump Room.
Tourism, of course, is big business and there’s plenty of money to be made from feeding our guests – but where do we draw the line between extracting as much cash as possible out of our world heritage attractions and actually destroying the very spaces people come to see?
It’s an international problem for the tourist industry of course as visitor numbers pile more and more pressure on tourist sites – be it Machu Picchu or Bath. Both boast UNESCO credentials.
My comments brought an email from someone who wants to remain anonymous, but who drew my attention to another ‘photo opportunity’ site in our city.
This person writes: ‘How refreshing to see Bath Street, the country’s only double-colonnaded street with the World Heritage symbol embedded at its eastern end, cleared of the ridiculous milk float parked within the columns on its south side.
According to the planners, it was parked there legally!
How soon will the managers of Santander and Primark park up against their properties as well?’
i have mentioned Bath Street myself. It’s the same issue. While businesses have the right to use every means of attracting customers (including those dreadful plastic flowers) things like this clutter up what is a very picture-worthy heritage attraction.
What do others think?
Couldn’t agree with you more Richard – not only does all this street furniture become and eyesore, clutter up the place and reduce the public space but undoubtedly will end up ‘killing the goose that lays the golden egg’. Why would you want to visit somewhere that looks like everywhere else – you might as well go to Swindon or W-S-M – at least the coffee is cheaper and the restaurants better and more varied.
It is getting such that the only time you have any idea that this is a beautiful Georgian city is when someone is filming – and then you can only watch from afar.
So who actually licenses all this pavement clogging stuff?
Totally agree – the endless clutter – particularly in the already busy Abbey Churchyard, does nothing to enhance the city centre.
My friend from Australia told me she burst into tears early one morning when coming across the “perfect” Bath Sreet vista. Not one for mincing her words , I wonder what she would have said if there had been a flipping milk float parked there! What’s next ? An ice cream van next to the Roman bath? Portaloos in the Royal Crescent? Crazy Golf in The Circus? Actually I quite like that last one…
After living in the City for 82 years, survivor of the Blitz, watched ancestral homes swept away in the Sack of Bath. Now the Destruction of Bath being orchestrated by the LibDems is a real disgrace on us true Bathonian’s.