Bath Abbey

I have always loved visiting churches, abbeys and cathedrals. I grew up in a very Christian family and attended Chapel every Sunday until I was around 14/15 years old. Even when I stopped attending regularly - my visits are now limited to Christmas services - I still love visiting these places whenever I travel.

There's something about the way they are blanketed in silence, even when they are full, that never fails to amaze me. I find them so peaceful that no matter what is happening in my life, no matter what mood I am in, I instantly feel calmer when I walk in. Whether it's the Notre Dame, hidden churches in Italy or just a small local church in a village, they all feel slightly mystical and powerful to me.

I had that same feeling when Anthony and I walked in through the doors of Bath Abbey. There was a horrible humidity outside and my discomfort had put me in an awful mood. I was disgruntled and annoyed as we walked towards the donation table.

It wasn't long before the cool air, the hushed atmosphere and the spectacular interior helped to improved my mood. I walked around the Abbey and gazed up at the stained glass windows. They never fail to amaze me. The colours and pictures and the way they look when the sign shines through them. It's never hard to imagine there might really be a higher power, an all-loving God when you're stood beneath one of those windows.

We paid £6 each to go on the tower tour and were lucky to have one very enthusiastic tour guide to show us around.

Our tour began by walking up a set of narrow steps that wound their way up through the tower. Poor Anthony hated them right from the start; his feet were too big to comfortably climb the stairs. Unfortunately, we had 212 of these steps to climb and it did not get better the closer we got to the top. He especially hated it when embers of our group paused on the stairs, I think he thought he would topple down them.

Our first stop was the ringing chamber. Our guide taught us how the ropes worked and how to tell what bells they were attached to. We were told all about the various methods that had been used to ring the bells and keep the clock to the right time, from the past to the present.

One stop of our tour led us through a very narrow (and strangely hot!) passage that ended with us sat behind the Abbey's clock. We were shown how the clock's hands worked and told a little history about how the clock face was lit up in the past. The poor watchman (ha, get it?!) used to stay behind the clock with a lamp for 12 hours at a time to ensure it was lit enough for the people of Bath to see. I can't imagine how awful it must have been to sit in that tiny room with a burning lamp for such a long time. It can't have been fun!

After visiting the bell chamber (one of the group even got to ring a bell!) we walked the final lot of steps to the roof of the tower. The views from up there were spectacular. We were so lucky with the weather, the whole of Bath was bathed in sunshine and stretched as far as the eye could see. Once again, the photos don't do it justice. Do they ever? Despite the height making my legs turn to jelly, I couldn't help but just stand and stare out over everything. Some things need to just be enjoyed without anything else, you know?

On our way back down the Abbey, we ended up looking over the courtyard that both the Pump Room and the Roman Baths entrance looks out upon. Feeling just a little like I should have been wearing a tiara and giving the royal wave, I thoroughly enjoyed looking out over the groups of people. It was like an extreme version of people watching and nobody could say that isn't fun.

The tour ended in the main part of the Abbey. It was very funny to see how glad Anthony was to not have to walk up or down those "ridiculous" steps again. After thanking our guide, we left the cool space of the Abbey and walked out in to the heat infused courtyard we had been overlooking just moments earlier. We set off in search of food, the sound of the bells filling the streets we were walking down.