Around the Valley

The area around Valley Gardens has a rich and varied history. We've looked at the big houses around the Crescent, but only slightly further afield is one of the oldest purpose built museums still in existence, a now demolished and almost forgotten Aquarium and Pleasure Park, the Georgian Cast Iron Spa Bridge , the Victorian Spa and two working funicular railways, one of which is the earliest example in the United Kingdom.

Then of course there is the beach, popular with bathers from early Georgian times and arguably the first place in the United Kingdom to have bathing machines. The photograph below shows late Victorian bathing machines on the beach.