British Spas as Health Resorts

BATH. -

Joins Woon began to replan the city of- Bath in the year 1727, and it is wisely suggested that in the late autumn of this year there should be a meeting in the city and a tour of the nuist interesting examples of the famous architect's work. Efforts are also being made to arrange a small exhibition of plans and prints. No doubt the President of the Royal Institute of British Architects will take an interest in cele- brating the bi-centenary of a man whose work marks an epoch in the history of civic architecture. By arranging celebrations of this kind, 4hich have a distinctly -artistic and intellectual interest, Bath makes sure' of receiving widespread notice not only in this country but in-the 'United States.

On the outskirts of the city there are four golf courses, of which three : are _ full-sized - and . -Sunday play is available. The beauties of .Clifton, near Bristol, as .well as the ancient Wells Cathedral, the holy ground of Glastonbury, and the wonders of Cheddar Cliffs are only a few of the places of interest which can be yisited. with-ease.from Bath.

October 3rd is the opening day of the Pump Room Concert Season, and this year it will be of special interest, as it has been arranged to coincide with the Conference in Bath of the British Federation of Competitive Musical Festivals. The Opening Concert will be attended by the Mayor and Corpo- ration, and Sir Henry Hadow and . Sir Richard Terry and others prominently associated, with the advancement of music in this country will be present. The Pump Room Orchestra is a particularly fine one, and Mr. Jan Hurst, the well-known conductor, has arranged an excellent programme of symphony and popular concerts for the Autumn Season.

Famous artists who will visit the Pump Room during the autumn include Arthur Rubinstein, Cortot and Melsa, Edna Thomas with her negro spirituals, Jean Sterling Mackinlay, Flotsam and Jetsam (the popular " Wireless " artists), and many others.

C1IELTE- Having grown from a small -village in the course of two centuries, Cheltenham has naturally developed on modern lines. In fact, much of the town has been _planned" in the typical Parisian style, its long tree-lined roads (sixteen miles of them) resembling closely the famous boulevards of- the French capital. The Promenade, the Spa's famous street, is so clustered with trees that they very nearly eclipse its wonderful shop-windows—truly a Continental shoc,ring street ! Many a delightful hour can be spent in the public gardens, which are principally Pittville-Park, covering fifteen acres and offering drives and walks of a total of nearly six miles ; the Montpellier Gardens, containing a bandstand and an all-weather pavilion ; and the grounds of the Winter Garden itself. The winter season is hardly less attractive than the summer season, for concert-world celebrities follow one another at the various county concerts. A morning orchestral concert is held each week-day in the Town Hall, and in the afternoons at the same rendezvous further orchestral concerts alternate with This Dansants, exhibition dances, and social meetings. Out- door pastimes comprise tennis on hard courts, badminton, hunting, as well as hockey, football, and golf. Two 18-hole courses are situated within easy reach, namely, at Cleeve Hill, 1,000 ft. above sea-level, and at the Lilley Brook Golf Club, nine holes of which are on the level, the second nine holes being on Hartley Hill and providing quite sporting play. Cheltenham has much to recommend it as a motoring centre. Gloucester and Tewkesbury are only nine miles distant, while Evesham, Ross-on-Wye, Stratford-on-Avon, Worcester, Cirencester, Broadway, Malmesbury, and many other scenic and historic spots are within an hour's run by car. Very wisely, Cheltenham has taken steps in the last few weeks to preserve Leekhampton Hill as an open space for ever..

DROITWICII.

A world-wide reputation has been built up by this Spa, not so much through its holiday attractions as through the curative excellence of its waters. Yet a great deal can nowadays be said of it as a holiday centre. In Saxon times it was known by the name of " Wich " and is said to have given the name of " Wiccia " to the county now known as Wor- cestershire. In fact, it was a town of such importance that letters were once addressed, "Worcester near Droitwich." The manufacture of salt has long been the chief industry of the town. Nowadays, the salt works have been moved some miles from the main town, and although the picturesque Salter's Hall remains, it has been converted to public uses and now serves the purpose of a concert and dance hall, a cinema, a theatre, and a reading-room. In the winter an orchestra provides attractive programmes in the Hall, Which in the summer usually plays in the grounds of the Brine Baths or in the Brine Baths Park. The latter has all the attributes of a fine 'public park, as apart from its charming landscape and its splendid specimens of 'natural gardening, which include a rose garden and beautiful 'orchard, it contains excellent lawns on which croquet, bowls, and tennis can be played. In recent years the old nine-holes golf-course has been considerably enlarged and attractively laid out as a hill eighteen-hole course, chiefly under the direction of James Braid, and,- together with a well-appointed club house, has proved very popular with yisitors. The St. Andrews Brine Baths, which can be classed with the most up to date of such establishments, has Only recently been enlarged, and by reason of the addition of a new wing, the treatment of a further one hundred patients ean comfortably be effected each day.

LF.AmINGTON.

In hardly more than a century the population of Leamington has increased from 315 to 28,941. The wonderful rise shown by these figures is due to its quickly growing recognition both as a Spa and as a holiday centre. Not until 1813 was a pump room erected for the drinking of its waters. The beauti- ful planning of the town from about this date has served to popularize it as 6 resort. Since the advent of the Motor-car

it: has grown as a centre for the Shakespeare country. The view of the town as you enter the Parade—a wide thoroughfare with a host of fine shops on one side and the picturesque Jephson Gardens on the other—makes you realize what a cheery place is Leamington. Facing the entrance to the Gardens is the Pump Room and the Baths establishment. Bandstands are to be found in both the Jephson Gardens and those attached to the Pump Room. Playing by noted military bands alternates with popular concert parties in the covered pavilion of the former, which 'seats '1,200 persons, while in the latter bands play twice daily-. In the spacious Pump Room café an orchestra trio, ranking amongst the foremost in the Midlands, also plays each day. Other forms of entertainment are provided in the Theatre Royal, first-class cinemas, and a newly opened Palais de Danse. So whatever the season, Leamington offers the visitor anything but a dull time. The Jephson Gardens occupy fifteen acres. At nearby Whitnash is the fine eighteen-hole course belonging to the Leamington and County Golf Club, while another course of nine holes is situated at Milverton. Hunting is exceptionally good in the district. There are the North Warwickshire hounds with kennels at Kenilworth, the Warwickshire hounds at Kineton, and other accessible packs include the Atherstone, the Pytchley, the Bicester, and the Heythrop.

BUXTON.

The greatest virtue of Buxton as a winter resort is the dry- ness of its climate. This has not, perhaps, been fully grasped by those would-be visitors in the past who have imagined its height above sea-level (1,000 feet) to have given it a climatic disadvantage during the " off " season. The concert hall holds 2,000 people and its popular café is open all the year round. In the gardens, ice and roller skating, curling and badminton and tennis (on hard courts) are available, as well as putting on an eighteen-hole course. The town already possessed a good eighteen-hole golf course on Fairfield Common before the New Cavendish Golf was recently inaugurated under the direction of Dr. Mackenzie. Not least of the out- door sports is hunting. The celebrated High Peak Harriers hold their meets in the district around Ashbourne, Buxton, Bakewell, and Hartington.

HARROGATE.

Our most northern English Spa and its cure are famed in many parts of the world, but the town has flourished not only because of this. Its situation on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors has long made it popular purely as a country holiday place. The visitor will find good concerts are held all the year round in the Royal Hall. The Harrogate Musical Festival takes place here from September 21st to 23rd. Many of our most noted artists and conductors will take part in the Festival, including Miss Florence Austral, Mr. Robert Easton, Mr. Leff Pouishnoff, Sir Edward Elgar, and Mr. Eric Coates.

Of outdoor sports, golf perhaps claims the largest number of votaries, as there are three golf clubs in the town. Tennis ranks second in favour, the Corporation owning en tout eas courts in the Bogs Field and grass ant hard courts in the Royal Hall grounds. The many rivers round Harrogate offer plenty of sport to the angler, while hunting can be enjoyed with the York and Ainsty and the Bramham Moor hounds. The motoring facilities offered by using Harrogate as a centre are obvious to all who will take a glance at a map of Yorkshire. First-hand information regarding places of interest and state of the roads can always be obtained from the Harrogate and District Automobile Club. We must not leave the town without a look at its famous common, known as The Stray, which covers an area of 200 acres. It is the town's heritage from the old Forest of Knaresborough and an Act of Parliament has ordained that it should never be closed or built upon. Visitors can thus be assured of plenty of pleasant walking exercise, particularly as there are also other open spaces, such as Harlow Moor, Birk Crag, and the gardens in the town.

MATLocx.

The original home of the Hydro in this country is Matlock. In 1853 John Smedley founded what is now the largest and most completely equipped Hydro of its kind. Having started the water cure for the benefit of his own mill workers, Mr. Smedley was soon induced to purchase a house on Matlock Bank to enable neighbours and visitors to avail themselves of his treatment. Since his death in 1874, numerous alter- ations and extensions have occurred and the most up-to-date

installations fitted. Though not conducted on the large scale of Smedley's Hydmpathic, several other Hydros have been

erected in Matlock. These have had the latest bath appliances installed, which are in charge of resident or visiting physicians. In the case of the Rockside Hydro, both a resident and a visiting physician are available.