Bald Explorer - Tunbridge Wells Spring
I am the Bald Explorer and in this programme I am tasting the spa water at Royal Tunbridge Wells, the Chalybeate spring that is fortified with iron.
Discovered by Lord North in 1606, the spring water turned the town is into a place of high fashion in the 18th and 19th centuries.
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Places to see in ( Royal Tunbridge Wells - UK )
Places to see in ( Royal Tunbridge Wells - UK )
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a large affluent town in western Kent, England, about 40 miles south-east of central London by road, 34.5 miles by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex. Royal Tunbridge Wells is situated at the northern edge of the High Weald, the sandstone geology of which is exemplified by the rock formations at the Wellington Rocks and High Rocks.
The town of Royal Tunbridge Wells came into being as a spa in the Restoration and had its heyday as a tourist resort under Beau Nash when the Pantiles and its chalybeate spring attracted visitors who wished to take the waters. Though Royal Tunbridge Wells popularity waned with the advent of sea bathing, the town remains popular and derives some 30 percent of its income from the tourist industry.
Royal Tunbridge Wells is the administrative centre of Tunbridge Wells Borough and the UK parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells. In the United Kingdom, Royal Tunbridge Wells has a reputation as being the archetypal conservative Middle England town, a stereotype that is typified by the fictional letter-writer Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells.
Tunbridge Wells is at the hub of a series of roads. Tunbridge Wells town historically had three railway stations: two of these are still in use by National Rail services. Tunbridge Wells station is, as its former name of Tunbridge Wells Central suggests, centrally located within the town at the end of the High Street, whilst High Brooms station is situated in High Brooms, to the north of the town. Both stations are located on the double-tracked electrified Hastings Line; services are operated by the Southeastern train operating company.
Alot to see in ( Royal Tunbridge Wells - UK ) such as :
Bewl Water
Groombridge Place
Dunorlan Park
Spa Valley Railway
Scotney Castle
Bayham Old Abbey
The Pantiles
Tonbridge Castle
Grosvenor & Hilbert Park
Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery
National Trust - Chiddingstone Village
All Saints' Church, Tudeley
Eridge Park
Marle Place Gardens and Gallery
Barnett's Wood
Eridge Rocks Nature Reserve
Birchden Wood
Friezland Wood
Shernfold Park
Matfield House
Stonewall Park
Saxonbury Tower
( Royal Tunbridge Wells - UK ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting the city of Royal Tunbridge Wells . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Royal Tunbridge Wells - UK
Join us for more :
Royal Tunbridge Wells with Sammy Oliver | Where Next? - S4E1
We're kicking off the New Year with the start of our fourth series! Actor Sammy Oliver joins the show as our guest with Woody, and Grace is back with Amber as we race around the town. Where Next? continues in 2020. Show more for Game Rules & Landmarks...
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----- Landmarks -----
01) Beau Nash Tavern
02) Royal Wells Hotel
03) Thackeray's Restaurant
04) Times Square
05) Royal Victoria Place
06) Opera House
07) Trinity Theatre
08) Town Hall
09) Hotel du Vin
10) Calverley Grounds Café
11) Tunbridge Wells Retreat
12) Train Station
13) Birdcage Walk
14) The Grove
15) Grove Tavern
16) The Forum
17) Chalybeate Spring
18) King Charles Church Hall
19) Polar Dancer Statue
20) The Pantiles Sign
WALKING IN KENT | ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS | RUSSIAN IRP
SEE BELOW FOR MORE HISTORY AND DETAILS OF THE ROUTE:
Ever since a chalybeate spring was discovered here in 1606, Tunbridge Wells has lured tourists from far and wide. Expanded by the Georgians and preserved by the Victorians, the spa town's colonnaded shopping area, The Pantiles, is much admired.
Not only does this station to station walk take you through some of the more refined parts of the town, which gained it's Royal prefix in 1909, it also leads over rolling Kent pastureland and visits quiet villages like Spledhurst.
Distance: 8.5 miles.
OS Explorer map required: 147.
Taking the Waters in Tunbridge Wells - Bald Explorer Full TV Episode
In this episode I am searching of the spring water of a Spa town in Kent.The Chalybeate of Royal Tunbridge Wells -- that's pronounced 'kal-eeb-ee-ot' by the way, means iron water. I tell the story of how the original orange coloured waters were discovered, by whom and how a fashionable resort arose from a wilderness in the beginning of the 17th century.
This is the 8th full length in the series of programmes, funding by Richard and some of his followers. You can find out more at BaldExplorer.com
Spring in Tunbridge Wells
Why does it rain so much in the UK?
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MENTIONED IN THIS VLOG:
* Scotney Castle (National Trust), Lamberhurst
* The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells
* The Chalybeate Spring, Tunbridge Wells
* The Cake Shed, Tunbridge Wells
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Chalybeate Spring, St. Jame's Garden, Liverpool
Chaybeate springs are to be found in different locations around the country. They are meant to provide health giving properties, but I wouldn't recommend drinking from this spring!!
The word chalybeate is derived from the Latin word for steel, chalybs, which follows from the Greek word khalups. Khalups is the singular form of Khalubes or Chalybes, who were mythical people living on Mount Ida in north Asia Minor who had invented iron working.
Ferruginous comes from the Latin word ferreus meaning made of iron, which is derived from the Latin word ferrum which means iron.
History
Early in the 17th century, chalybeate water was said to have health-giving properties and many people have promoted its qualities. Dudley North, 3rd Baron North discovered the chalybeate spring at Tunbridge Wells in 1606. Dudley North's physician claimed that the waters contained 'vitriol' and the waters of Tunbridge Wells could cure:
the colic, the melancholy, and the vapours; it made the lean fat, the fat lean; it killed flat worms in the belly, loosened the clammy humours of the body, and dried the over-moist brain.
He also apparently said, in verse:
These waters youth in age renew
Strength to the weak and sickly add
Give the pale cheek a rosy hue
And cheerful spirits to the sad.
The English physician Thomas Sydenham prescribed chalybeate waters for hysteria.
Sedan Chair racing Championships
The championships which are very competitive are a series of races with teams of five members per squad. Four male bearers who end up carrying the chair and the fifth team member is a female - the passenger inside the chair. I know which one I would rather be! The course is approximately 600 metres long and involves performing tasks at various points, such as bobbing for apples, drinking ale and eating cake. Who ever said the British don’t know how to enjoy themselves!
Once the playground of visiting royalty and gentry who came to sample the health-giving spa waters of the Chalybeate Spring, the Pantiles lies at the heart of historic Royal Tunbridge Wells. This famous colonnaded walkway owes its name to its original pavement of square clay tiles (‘pantiles’) which once covered the walks of the promenade laid in 1698 at the request of Queen Anne after her son the Duke of Gloucester fell on the slippery ground. Although the walks were repaved in 1793, the Pantiles retain much of its original character and unique charm – and visitors can still sample the water of the Chalybeate Spring served by the traditional Dipper during the summer!
On the sound of the starter gun, the lady will run down the steps to the Chalybeate spring and take in a glass of spring water before running back to the chair to be carried along what was the old fish market. Then it’s another dismount and the lady has to quickly eat a piece of ‘Pantiles cake’. At the bandstand the lady has to bob for an apple. Finally at the bend in the course the carriers put the chair down whilst taking in a jug of ale, after which they sprint with the chair to the finish.
[Wikipedia] Dorton Spa
Dorton Spa is a Chalybeate spring located between the villages of Dorton and Brill in Buckinghamshire, England in a grove of trees called Spa Wood. Chalybeate is defined as a water or other liquor containing iron, the word's origin is Greek chalyps; chalybos, meaning steel; Chalyps being an ancient nation in Pontus famous for its steel. A nineteenth century Chemical Dictionary describes the Dorton Spa as the most celebrated Chalybeate and from the account there is nothing in England to compete with it, which is nearly four times as strongly impregnated with iron as Tunbridge waters and almost as powerful as the famed waters of Toplitz, Germany.
The discolouration of the turf of Dorton by the iron oxide in its water was generally known by local people for hundreds of years. Little was heard of its medicinal effects apart from some skin disorders that could be cured and the custom of washing mangy dogs and diseased cattle in the water. With some improvements in the area's roads in the late 17th century and increased communication, more people heard of the Dorton waters. The number of people visiting became so great that damage to crops and fences made it necessary to restrain the peasantry to one path and to regulate the supply of water. The well was enclosed and 50-100 gallons were disposed of daily at a fixed price.
The proprietor of the Dorton estate, Mr Ricketts of Dorton House, wished to allow public access to the water, so he erected a pump room and baths of an extensive and ornamental manner. This handsome structure, modelled on Greek architecture, was entered by a flight of stone steps and through a semicircular portico supported by nine circular columns with Corinthian capitals. A dome rose above the centre; and the ceiling of the spacious and lofty pump-room was supported by eight columns painted to resemble Sienna marble. Twelve acres (4.9 hectare) of park were laid out, and planted with evergreen and deciduous shrubs, and also a serpentine lake covering an acre. A large opening ceremony took place in 1830. For a short period it gained some celebrity; Dorton Spa had become a fashionable resort. A Grand Fête was held in 1837; other efforts were made to bring the establishment before the public.
The fame of Dorton spread and stories of the effects of the waters grew. A man from Oxford with leprosy for more than 20 years was cured by the water. A woman of Buckingham, with scrofula was cured within six weeks. An elderly resident from Tetsworth who had been unable to walk, received great benefit in a case of a bleeding cancer; after treating with the water he walked a considerable distance. Cures were also cited for hysteria, indigestion, bilious affections, worms, haemorrhages, rheumatism, fevers, ague, St Vitus's dance, dropsy, herpes, ulcers, abscesses, general nervous diseases, a host of skin disorders, and even total blindness. A depot or agency office was opened in London for the sale of the water. The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has a label from a bottle of Dorton water. A surgeon who lived in nearby Oakley, Buckinghamshire wrote a book which discussed and praised the Spa.Grandiose schemes were proposed showing ten separate baths, two ballrooms, a reading room and a billiard room. Whether all these schemes were completed is subject to conjecture. A hotel in Brill was also built, the Spa Hotel, overlooking the spa to accommodate the visitors. (The hotel was pulled down after damage sustained by a German doodle-bug exploding nearby in World War II).
But in 1841 the new Queen Victoria did not come to Dorton. Because of Royal patronage, Tunbridge Wells became Royal Tunbridge Wells, and Leamington Spa became Royal Leamington Spa. Dorton missed out, its isolated situation made it impossible to obtain popularity; the sanguine expectations of the promoters were not realised.
All that remains is a small circular brick well building with a curved wooden door which is hidden within privately owned iron fenced Spa Wood. Parts of the original columns can also be found within the wood.
Taking The Waters - teaser 1 - The Bald Explorer.
The Bald Explorer is back and the next production is under way (Autumn 2013). In this episode, 'Taking the Waters', Richard Vobes, aka the Bald Explorer is investigating the story of the spring water discovered at a spot near the medieval town of Tonbridge in Kent - later it was to become Royal Tunbridge Wells.
Richard wants to find out what makes the water so good, how it became popular and why is there today for visitors who are keen to make the excursions today.
This is a teaser video, partly filmed on the common near Royal Tunbridge Wells (twcommons.org) and at High Rocks, a popular tourist resort and wedding venue (highrocks.com). The full production will be available in early 2014 on the Community Channel (communitychannel.org).
Find out more about the Bald Explorer at BaldExplorer.com or follow him on Twitter: @BaldExplorer or Richard Vobes @Vobes.
Crew: Producer/Presenter - Richard Vobes. Photography - Jason Reeve. Sound - Billy Lindsey.