The Bath Abbey Diptychs

And he said unto them, 'Go cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find'.
They cast therefore and now they were not able to draw for the multitude of fish.

A panel from the thirty five pairs of the Bath Abbey Diptychs, an extraordinary work that combines embroidery and Appliqué with calligraphy. On display for half of every year at the famous Bath Abbey, it never fails to lift and amaze. The book entitled One Man's journey to Heaven, by Sue Symons, is available at the usual online stores as well as at the Abbey.

As you might have gathered by now, I was in Bath for the day. This time with my friend Dave from Cheltenham, on a Stagecoach Summer Special. On arrival, we took a city bus back up the hill to Combe Down, to visit Prior Park, a delightful landscaped park/garden high on the hillside over looking Bath. It was designed in 1700 to complement the mansion owned by Ralph Allen, who modernised the postal service and did wonders for deliveries in the West Country. It's a large park with some spectacular views, and we wandered around for a few hours, stopping for tea, and in my case, endless photo-opps. One of the world's four Palladian bridges lives here in the park, but the light was DFO (dull, flat and 'orrible, as TussockTales says) so I didn't get any decent shots.

Eventually we meandered back to town, where I accidentally bought myself a fabulous climbing harness. Then we got ourselves some Thai food for lunch and two glasses of Gewurtztraminer. Later we sauntered into the charity shops, only slightly confused! I got some cassettes (yes, cassettes!) for the car, then we visited the Abbey, which was spectacular, as ever. I was pleased to have sobered up by then.

The coach trip home was uneventful apart from a huge traffic jam outside Stroud. I did get back in time to have about an hour to reconfigure myself before going out to a supper party, which was also delightful. I am very relieved that my bad back, which had threatened to put the whole day in jeopardy, is very much better today and I think it appreciated the gentle walking around town and country.