Originally shared on Instagram on December 4, 2025. Photography and story by Mark Middleton.
I’ve been wandering around Europe since I was 20 years old, and on my very first trip to London in the early 90s, I took a day trip out to Bath, England. I still remember stepping off the train and feeling like I had walked straight into a storybook—golden stone buildings, narrow streets, the smell of fresh pastries, and that quiet, old-world charm that feels completely untouched by time. And what’s funny is that every time I’ve returned—decades later—that same feeling washes over me again.
Bath is one of England’s oldest and most historic towns, built around natural hot springs that the Romans discovered nearly 2,000 years ago. They made it a place of healing and gathering, building the famous Roman Baths that still sit at the heart of the city. Later, in the Georgian era, Bath became the “it” place in England—Jane Austen lived here, artists painted it, writers romanticized it, and high society came here to see and be seen. Even today, you can feel all those layers of history sitting quietly under the glow of its honey-colored architecture.
On this particular trip, I decided to head out at night with my camera and tripod to see what kind of long-exposure image I could capture. The city just spoke to me that night—the calm river, the warm golden lights reflecting off the water, and the silhouette of the church rising behind Pulteney Bridge, one of only four bridges in the world lined with actual shops. I framed the scene through the autumn leaves, opened the shutter, and let the light paint itself across the frame.
Here in Bath, I didn’t just want to take pictures—I wanted to capture how a place feels. Bath has always felt magical to me, and on this night, with the reflections dancing on the River Avon, I felt like I finally caught a piece of that magic on camera.
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