Trip to Bath: Milsom Street

Inquiring Readers: Tony Grant has been on holiday visiting Bath and the West Country. He has sent me some glorious images. These, taken on Milsom Street, remind me of the post I had placed on this site just a month ago: Shopping and Milsom Street, Bath.

I had always thought of Milsom Street as being a shopping district, but when Catherine Morland sets out to find Miss Tilney in Northanger Abbey, it turns out that the General has rented a house in Milsom Street:

Catherine cheerfully complied, and being properly equipped, was more impatient than ever to be at the pump-room, that she might inform herself of General Tilneys lodgings, for though she believed they were in Milsom Street, she was not certain of the house, and Mrs. Allen's wavering convictions only made it more doubtful. To Milsom Street she was directed, and having made herself perfect in the number, hastened away with eager steps and a beating heart to pay her visit, explain her conduct, and be forgiven; tripping lightly through the church-yard, and resolutely turning away her eyes, that she might not be obliged to see her beloved Isabella and her dear family, who, she had reason to believe, were in a shop hard by. She reached the house without any impediment, looked at the number, knocked at the door, and inquired for Miss Tilney.

Studying the images that Tony sent, the street must have been loud and bustling with activity. Granted, today's Bath is filled with tourists and cars, but back then, on rainy days, women wore pattens that clattered on cobblestones, carriage wheels rattled, horses' hooves clopped, and the cries of street sellers rang through the air.

Image from Victoria Art Gallery, Bath; Photos from Tony Grant, London Calling