Things have been quiet here of late because I’ve been working hard on the next book in my dragon-shifter series. In the Dragon’s Lair is about Nate, Rufus’s brother, and the mysterious dragon he meets in the English city of Bath.

It will be released early in June. In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy a quick guide to parts of Bath featured in the book (credits for photos are at the end of the post).

Above: Aerial view of The Circus; street view of The Circus.

The Circus is a ring of Georgian townhouses built in creamy Bath stone. It’s central to the book.

Georgian Bath was designed in large part by John Wood the Elder and his son, John Wood the Younger. The Elder was responsible for The Circus. Although I know the place well, I didn’t realise how much mystical symbolism is present in the architecture until I began researching In the Dragon’s Lair. Without giving too much away, that’s rather apt for the book.

The Elder believed there had been druidic temples on one of the hills just outside the city, and along with various Masonic symbols, there are acorn finials adorning the houses in The Circus.

John Wood the Elder was fascinated by myths and legends as well as Freemasonry, and he’s said to have taken inspiration from Stonehenge when planning The Circus. The Circus is supposed to represent the sun, the Royal Crescent the moon, and Queen Square, where Nate and Alex have their first proper conversation, the Earth.

Apparently, the street connecting the Royal Crescent and The Circus follows the path of a ley line.

In the aerial view of the The Circus, you can see the Upper Assembly Rooms at about one o’clock. They’re a treat to visit if you’re into Georgian history. My characters, Nate and Alex, attend a function there. Sadly, neither is the type to describe the setting in any detail — never have I been so tempted to add a picture to a book!

Above: exterior of the Upper Assembly Rooms. Interior, looking towards front door.

Above: the ballroom, with the balcony where the band played; the ballroom’s moulded ceiling.

Just down from The Circus is Queen Square, so named because it was dedicated to Queen Caroline, George II’s wife. Palladian townhouses surround a garden, in which a tall obelisk is the focal point. The obelisk was erected in 1738 by Beau Nash in honour of the Prince of Wales. It used to rise from a circular pool of water, but sadly that pool is long gone, along with some of the obelisk’s height (it was damaged in a gale in 1815).

Most importantly, for my purposes, the garden has benches and privacy.

Above: Pulteney Bridge and weir; The Royal Crescent.

Something I discovered when writing this book — two of the angels on the carving of Jacob’s Ladder on the front of Bath Abbey are going down headfirst. Or perhaps they’re going up bottom-first. It sounds uncomfortable, whichever way it is.

Roman Baths – Photo by David Iliff License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Bath Abbey – Photo by David Iliff. License: CC BY-SA 3.0.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this dragons’ eye view of another of my favourite cities. I can’t wait for you to meet Nate and Alex!

Photo credits:

• Aerial view of The Circus – photo by Iliya Grigorik. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en. Source.
• The Circus – photo by Keith Edkins. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Source.
• Assembly Rooms Ballroom – photo by https://www.flickr.com/photos/dschander/. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Source.
• Queen Square – photo by Richard Croft. Licensed under licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Source.
• The Roman Baths – photo by Paul Harrop. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Source.
• Pulteney Bridge and weir – photo by Pedro Szekely. . Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Source.
• The Royal Crescent – photo by Mike Searle. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Source.
• Unattributed photos are by Joy Lynn Fielding.