The city has often been compared to York and given the amount of tourists pouring out of Bath Spa station at 10:30am, I can see what they mean. Trevor was already there when I arrived and we then waited a further ten minutes until Steve’s train pulled in.
We ambled slowly through the town and as we approached the cathedral, it was clear from the number of people in period costume that there was a bit of a Jane Austen theme to the day. But why had no one told us? We could have had Brian dressed up as the Mr Darcy gone to seed – or me as Mr Darcy on a bad hair day?
In fact it was the Jane Austen festival and this was their opening promenade – last year the world record was broken for the “largest gathering of people in Regency costume” at this event – 409 in case you’re interested.
As the cathedral bell rang out eleven times, we went to the Garricks Head to find the door open but we were given the "sorry, we don’t actually open until noon". Down with this sort of thing!
A quick retracing of our steps took us to the West Gate – one of those pubs with sofas and lounge-type seating but they had an interesting selection of several local ales and ciders. I had the Beech Blonde from Arbor Ales and it was a pretty tasty drop.(left) Steve and Trev enter the Raven
After a quick pint, we took the short walk to Queen Street and the Raven which is the current pub of the year. An excellent selection of beers: Blindmans Raven and Raven's Gold, Keystone Bottle-Strength Porter, Cottage Winston Churchill, Slaters Premium and Moles Rucking Mole. It was also good to see that they used lined glasses so that you get a full pint and not just a full glass.
The next pub on our list was the Royal Oak - this is on the main road to Twerton Park and has vied with the Raven for the pub of the year accolade for the past five years. Again an excellent choice: Renaissance, Plain Indulgence, Hip Hop Green Bullet and O'Kanes Wit from Art Brew, Glyph and Eye-Opener from Stonehenge Ales, Three Castle's Saxon Archer and Milk Stout from the Bristol Beer Factory plus a couple of ciders.
The pub was virtually empty when we arrived but slowly filled up with a few DAFTS and then a few Bath fans.(right) The Royal Oak
Iain and Paul had made their separate ways via the train which meant that for once they could have a drink or two. And then Mark and Simon (comeondarlo and spyman) also joined us for a quickie before they decided to wander off to the ground and try out the Bath City clubhouse.
Twerton Park is just a 15 min walk from the Royal Oak and we arrived in plenty of time before kick off. Another tidy little ground where the Darlo contingent had been given the open end - once again I was pitchside just in front of our fans in the away stand.
There were no major changes to the side from last week’s win over Forest Green though I was a bit concerned in the first 20 mins or so at the amount of possession that Bath had.
Twerton Park is just a 15 min walk from the Royal Oak and we arrived in plenty of time before kick off. Another tidy little ground where the Darlo contingent had been given the open end - once again I was pitchside just in front of our fans in the away stand.
There were no major changes to the side from last week’s win over Forest Green though I was a bit concerned in the first 20 mins or so at the amount of possession that Bath had.(left) The Darlo contingent
They spent a lot of time in our half but thankfully to little significant affect. It also meant that Liam Hatch spent more time defending that he did attacking which is not what we really want to see.
Sam Russell was almost caught out when he collected the ball on the edge of the box and only just stopped from being in the same postion as Eastbourne’s keeper a fortnight ago. The Bath City subs near me screamed at the linesman but I reassured them that he did not stray out of the box. I was surprised that they seemed to believe me.
Darlo had a few opportunities at the other end though we sent too many high balls that little Chris Senior had little chance of collecting. However he later did very well to lob the ball over a defender and then head it past the keeper to put us into the lead which was how we went in at half-time.
At half-time, Leon Knight came out with our other subs for a kick around – he looked a little on the "cuddly" side to me but he gave me a smile and a thumbs up as I tapped my belly.
Sam Russell was almost caught out when he collected the ball on the edge of the box and only just stopped from being in the same postion as Eastbourne’s keeper a fortnight ago. The Bath City subs near me screamed at the linesman but I reassured them that he did not stray out of the box. I was surprised that they seemed to believe me.
Darlo had a few opportunities at the other end though we sent too many high balls that little Chris Senior had little chance of collecting. However he later did very well to lob the ball over a defender and then head it past the keeper to put us into the lead which was how we went in at half-time.
At half-time, Leon Knight came out with our other subs for a kick around – he looked a little on the "cuddly" side to me but he gave me a smile and a thumbs up as I tapped my belly.
He looked happy to be out on the pitch but it was to goa bit of a shame that it all went wrong a few days later - perhaps it was a lucky escape given his propensity for tweeting every little detail (and posting topless photos of him and other members of the squad that the world could well do without!).(right) Chris Senior on the ball - star man for the Quakers
In the second half Darlo had the majority of possession with plenty of good work from Arnison, Hone, Hatch and Senior and it was the latter who almost doubled our lead with a shot at goal which beat the keeper but came back off the post.
The lead was finally doubled a little later when Hatch found some space and hit a cracking shot from the edge of the box – it had goal written all over it as the ball left his boot.
In the second half Darlo had the majority of possession with plenty of good work from Arnison, Hone, Hatch and Senior and it was the latter who almost doubled our lead with a shot at goal which beat the keeper but came back off the post.
The lead was finally doubled a little later when Hatch found some space and hit a cracking shot from the edge of the box – it had goal written all over it as the ball left his boot.
It should be noted that for once we had a decent referee who wasn’t overly fussy and who only booked one player (Hone) - he was certainly the best that I’ve seen so far this season.
Curtis Main was warming up by me when he got the call to come on as a late sub – “yes!” he said - and he raced off to the bench and on to the pitch to replace Hatch.
Curtis Main was warming up by me when he got the call to come on as a late sub – “yes!” he said - and he raced off to the bench and on to the pitch to replace Hatch.
Unfortunately he was soon in the bad books as he went on his first foray forward only to lose possession of the ball far too easily - he then ambled slowly back which earned him a mouthful from Mark Cooper who was later overheard on the radio to say that Main stood picking his nose rather than tracking back. Not the impact that Curtis nor his manager were looking for.
From then on, it should have been a simple matter of seeing out the game but as soon as the six minutes of added time were displayed, the team seemed to get the jitters. Bath pulled a goal back with two minutes to go – Darlo fans smiled, shook their heads and thought it was just a shame we hadn’t keep a clean sheet.
From the kick off Darlo quickly lost possession and the ball came out to the Bath left wing – it came in-field where Hector Mackie hit a leisurely lob over Russell to send the home crowd into a frenzy and the Darlo fans into a communal sense of stunned déjà vu.(left) Old geezer has a sneaky fag whilst Dryden and Cooper try to work out what has gone wrong
Thankfully Paul had ordered a cab back to the centre of Bath so we didn’t have to trudge away with the jubilant Bath supporters – whilst Iain and Paul caught trains home Steve and I wandered off to try a couple of other pubs to the north of the town centre.
The Bell is a large-ish pub that seems to be very community orientated judging by the noticeboard advertising various local services such as how to use a staff (which must come in handy for fending off the hordes of Regency-dressed folk once a year) - there was also a very respectable range of beers.
From here we went onto the Star Inn just a short walk away – this is a multi-roomed gem of a pub with about five beers on offer, most from the Abbey Bellringer brewery. We both had the Otley 05 which was very disappointing (to use the old football cliché) and we left to catch our trains without finishing our pints.
Thankfully Paul had ordered a cab back to the centre of Bath so we didn’t have to trudge away with the jubilant Bath supporters – whilst Iain and Paul caught trains home Steve and I wandered off to try a couple of other pubs to the north of the town centre.
The Bell is a large-ish pub that seems to be very community orientated judging by the noticeboard advertising various local services such as how to use a staff (which must come in handy for fending off the hordes of Regency-dressed folk once a year) - there was also a very respectable range of beers.
From here we went onto the Star Inn just a short walk away – this is a multi-roomed gem of a pub with about five beers on offer, most from the Abbey Bellringer brewery. We both had the Otley 05 which was very disappointing (to use the old football cliché) and we left to catch our trains without finishing our pints.
Despite the disappointing result - and I feel I'm saying this a lot recently - we had a very good day out in Bath and if we're still in the Conference next season then I'll be looking forward to a return visit - there are certainly enough decent pubs to make a weekend of it next time...
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