Next morning, it was obvious that the cold had taken strong hold of my immune system and was shaking it by the boots. Laughing in the face of my do nothing white cells. Dribbling out various orifices like columns of soldiers on the way to attack more innocents. Blah. Hack, cough.
I seem to be drifting into hyperbole here, it actually wasn’t too bad. I could feel the cold for sure, but a slug of Nyquil (or was it Dayquil?) every four hours really knocked back any symptoms. I’d had worse colds, this one was comparatively mild.
Had a leisurely breakfast and sloshed down a pot of coffee while web surfing. It was afternoon when I finally ventured out clutching a pocketful of tissues. My choice of activity was to wander over to the river and maybe take a boat tour up the river. I was curious about whether or not there were any Roman ruins upstream. As you can see, the weather was glorious. Mild, warm, plenty of sunshine. And this is the river Avon. Though Avon just translates as River. And it’s not the famous Avon. That’s a different river. You’ve heard of it I’m sure. I had about a half hour to kill while waiting for the next cruise so the next few pictures are from the general area of the boat dock.
This is the Pulteney Weir. Note the slack water on the left. It’s slack in front of the weir that’s thrown open during floods. The old mechanism was pretty interesting. The doors, gears and works are all old metal craft designs. Should have taken a picture.
There’s Bath Abbey in the distance. I think that’s a hotel in the foreground.
I wandered up the street a ways and found them working on planting grass in this soccer field. The picture’s subject is really about the buildings and hill in the background. I wanted a picture in case I could find a reason to go over there. Never did.
Then the boat from Pulteney Cruisers started loading and off we went. I was kind of surprised how small the Avon river is. We almost immediately passed under the Pulteney Bridge (no picture taken until later), built in 1769. I’d crossed it the day before during our walking tour and it’s pretty cool. Tiny business kiosks are built right into the bridge structure.
We were treated to a running commentary of the history of nearby structures and the work done to keep the river inside it’s banks. Yearly floods were once expected, but not an issue these days. The black line on the building there is flood level.
Punts! This kind of boat eventually morphed into the sleek competition boats you see in the Olympics. Look at the scenery here and those homes. This is the Victorian Bath Boating Station (1833). Very cool. Hail Britannia! 
Ain’t that neat? Fully expected some young men in tan pants, white shirts, and straw hats along with young women holding frilly pink sunbrellas to come waltzing down to the river at any time.
Historic bridge but I don’t recall the story. Grosvenor Bridge (1923). Maybe Hitler crossed it as a boy?
Snake just dropped off a branch as we passed. There in the water.
Then we docked at Bathampton Weir and toll bridge. There was a young man fishing off the dock as we few that disembarked passed but I’ll get to that later. Here you can leave the boat while it heads further upstream. This gives the chance to explore an ancient British farmtown, Bathampton. I browsed through this old graveyard and stepped inside that very old church. Very small. Very interesting. Pictures inside forbidden.
Then following the ancient road, wide enough for one vehicle, I got into Bathampton and stopped into this 300 year old refurbished Pub for a light snack and coffee.
After an hour or two I went back to the dock to await the return of the boat. They happen by every hour or so. The kid got a bite and a fish just a couple minutes after I got there. I asked him how fishing was and he says he comes every day and usually doesn’t catch anything. He had been there for 4 hours without a bite. Five minutes later he gets another bite and reels in another fish. So I ask him for a free fish since I’d brought him luck and all. We both laugh. Then the boat comes around the corner, the kid casts again, and less than 5 minutes later has another bite. Lost it while repositioning out of the way so the boat can dock. No matter, he was happy. Patience is it’s own reward.
And we’re off again. That old mill is a pub now. Pretty nice too.
That toll bridge there is private, built to allow access for farmers to both sides of the river.
Now this weir has some history. The archeologists are not exactly positive about it, but they believe the Romans built this weir. On top of an even earlier building. Since it’s underwater year round, it’s a little difficult to do archeology there.
And on the trip back, got a shot of Cleveland Bridge (1827). Freed from tolls 99 years later.
And back to Pulteney Bridge. Easy to see the little shop windows there. What a great way to pay for a bridge back then. Rental spaces. Our guide told us that this bridge was 1 of only 4 bridges in the world where there are business shops on the span.
That building there, and the columns underneath, have a interesting historical story but I lost the explanatory document I had. I think that is a walkway, exclusively for woman, who could take a stroll unmolested by men, along the Avon river. With a more modern hotel above. I believe it was built in the 1700’s. Or maybe the Roman’s built it. Damn. 
And after a day on the river, back into downtown. With it’s modern and upscale shops and such.
I did stroll around town, but my Nyquil was wearing off and I headed back to the hostel. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent nursing myself.
See you next time, thanks for reading…
How did the boats get up and down the Avon with the weir(s) in the way?
The Avon is 75 miles long, but it only travels 19 miles as the crow flies. So it’s not all that useful for boat traffic, commercial or pleasure. At Bathampton, there is a small set of locks fit for small boats and canoes, but the river is too shallow to be of commercial use. It is navigable below Bath, and there is a ‘roller spillway’ set of locks for that purpose at the weir, but because of all the building on the lower section of Avon, beginning in the 13th century, it’s not navigable below Bath.
In my post, I should have noted that I thought that the tour boat kept going upstream after it dropped me off at the dock in Bathampton. When I got back on later, I found that it just motored upstream a slight distance nearer the weir, then used the increased water flow to help turn it back downstream.