Bath Christmas market - bedazzling! :: Christmas days out

Bath Christmas market - Bath Christmas market - bedazzling! - Short breaks & holidays - allaboutyou.com

If there is a better place than Bath to enjoy a Christmas market in the UK, then I’d like to see it. Bath’s winding streets and inviting walkways, its glorious Abbey with courtyard squares, are the perfect backdrop for the rows of wooden Alpine-style chalets that house the market sellers.

Jewellery and artworks, handmade wooden nativity sets from Bethlehem, Christmas wreaths and garden gifts, lacquered boxes and stationery sets, flickering tea lights in hanging lanterns, Bollywood baubles and hand-forged pokers, personalised clocks, angels and fudge, jam and puzzles, hot food to go, cheese hampers, a Bath Gin stall featuring a portrait of a very cheery looking Jane Austen, thousands of tree decorations and Christmas ornaments. And lots of mulled wine.

In fact there’s a bit of a mulled wine price war going on, with most sellers opting for a £3.50 charge (mulled cider is cheaper at £2.75 a glass). But down the walkway, past the oldest sweet shop in Bath, a multicoloured treasure trove of sugar delights, a large elf is offering mulled wine for £3 – with a free mince pie! Further along, there are carol singers on the corner, in the shadow of the imposing Roman Baths building. It’s a Friday evening, the light is fading and all over the market, fairy lights are being switched on to magical effect.

Shoppers' carols at Bath Abbey

Returning on Saturday, the market is even busier, the free mince pies are no longer on offer (though the mulled wine is still £3) and the carol singers are giving Shakin’ Stevens another whirl. But there are shopper’s carols inside the beautiful Bath Abbey, a light-filled soaring space of light-coloured stone and jewel-like stained glass windows. We’re welcomed by the rector and all join in the 20-minute programme that includes O Little Town of Bethlehem, Silent Night and Hark The Herald Angels Sing, as well as a Christmas reading and a Christmas ‘thought’. All soul-stirring stuff and we pour back out into the market courtyard full of Christmas spirit and a feeling of gratitude that Bath Abbey takes time to welcome us shoppers – fusing commerce with spirituality in the loveliest possible way.

Away from the Christmas market, there are plenty of other enticing emporiums for shoppers to seek out – for unique Christmas gifts and home decorations visit Roman Candle, Handmade in Bath and, for music lovers, Sharps and Flats, close to the Grand Parade river walk. Bath is a tea-lover's paradise, around every corner close to the Abbey is a tea shop or café; wonderfully atmospheric old buildings like the Bath Bun Tea Shoppe, Tilleys Bistro and Sally Lunn’s, home of the world famous ‘Sally Lunn’s bun’ and the oldest house in Bath, circa 1482. Yes. That’s old.

World Heritage shopping streets

Beautiful old buildings in general give Bath its unique and lovely character, all light-coloured sandstone and impressive architecture - the city was designated a World Heritage Site in 1987. Wander away from the market into the stylish High St area and you’ll find Jigsaw in the Old Post Office building, Waitrose in the Grand Library and the most glamorous-looking Holiday Inn I’ve ever seen in the York Buildings.

The Crescent is of course la crème de la crème of Georgian architecture, up on a hill overlooking the city. Among the discreet rows of regal terraces, there is more stylish shopping to be done; let the magpie in you be drawn to the glitter of Alexandra May jewellery, alongside Liz Cox handbags, Uber tweeds and Geoffrey Beene Mantiques.

Where to stay in Bath

If you want to experience a historic Bath building close up, simply choose your hotel wisely. And at the end of a busy day at Bath Christmas market, it’s a wonderful treat to have a taxi drive you a couple of miles outside the city and up the long sweeping driveway, where lights are elegantly entwined in the trees, to the fine mansion house of Bailbrook, dating from the 1700s.

There’s a huge Christmas tree twinkling in the hallway leading to the elegant Queen Charlotte Lounge with its armchairs and crackling open fire, outside the stone baulustrated balcony gives views onto the rolling grounds, 20 acres of land in total.

Choose a suite

Upstairs the rooms in the mansion house are all named after local dignitaries, Jane Austen among them – nothing as common as a number around here! The Lady Isabella King suite is ‘my favourite’ says the lovely gentleman who escorts us to it, and we see what he means when he opens the door – both bedroom and bathroom are both drawing room size, there’s a free-standing bath in the centre of the bathroom floor, facing a huge glassed-in double shower, alongside a giant TV screen. There’s a dressing room and walk-in refreshments area, with coffee machine, tea facilities and fridge. The bed is king size, the fireplace is enormous and large Georgian-style windows overlook the rolling lawns outside. If you’re coming to Bailbrook House for Christmas, do treat yourself to a suite – well, it’s Christmas.

Lady Isabella, it turns out, was a former occupant of the house. Designed in 1790, the building was completed in the early 19thcentury, around the time Jane Austen took up residence in the city. She eventually converted the house into a home for The Ladies Association – ‘a community for the ladies of gentle birth and their servants’. It next became a private nursing home, until it was purchased by the Post Office in the 1900s and converted into a training centre, passing through several hands (including Air Traffic Controllers who trained there). It has been a hotel since 2001.

The Cloisters

Dinner that night is in the Cloisters dining room, one of the hotel’s major renovations. Located on the lower ground floor, it had been used for storage and its wonderful cloistered ceilings hidden from view. Sitting in the narrow cloistered section, with floor-to-ceiling arched windows looking out to the grounds, is the thing to do; this is fine dining in elegant surroundings. So the plates aren’t packed but flavours are rich, presentation is excellent and the menu is mouthwatering – both table d’hôte (£37 for three courses) and à la carte (starters £7-£14, mains £20-£30). Provenance of the dishes, both at dinner that evening and breakfast the next day, is known and stated; the menu includes Brixham Bay scallops with Cornish brown crab, guinea fowl & foie gras terrine, roast fillet of sea bass and Lackham Farm duck. For dessert, there’s dark chocolate and pistachio cheesecake with Bailey’s sauce, and white chocolate parfait with Granny Smith apple ice cream.

Prices and information

Bailbrook House is a member of Hand Picked Hotels, and is offering festive breaks from £109 at from December 15 to 23. This price includes a Festive Afternoon Tea with mince pies, orange shortbread, mulled winter fruits and Christmas scones along with accommodation in a Classic double room and breakfast the next morning based on two sharing. For more information visit www.handpickedhotels.co.uk or call 0845 458 0901.

For further information on things to see and do during the Bath Christmas Market visit www.visitbath.co.uk or call the free accommodation booking service on 01225 322423.

Getting to Bath

First Great Western advanced purchase or off-peak day return train fares to Bath Spa: from London Paddington £17.80, from Cardiff Central £11.60, from Reading £12.80. For more information and to buy tickets visit www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk or phone 0345 7000 125.