The Unesco world heritage city facing up to the horror of knife crime after two teenage murders
The clock on the city’s magnificent Gothic-style abbey hasn’t yet struck 10am. But already, under the shadow of Bath Abbey, there’s a gaggle of tourists busy taking pictures while an animated tour guide stands with a clipboard in one hand and a colourful umbrella in the other.
“Now if you follow me,” he shouts, as he slowly leads the brigade toward the entrance of one of the city’s highlights, the 2,000-year-old Roman Baths, surrounded by honey-coloured Georgian architecture.
It’s a damp and cold winter’s day but the streets are alive with visitors happily marvelling at the many historic attractions on view that make Bath a famed Unesco world heritage site.
But there are hints of a disturbing story to be told in the ancient city.
The first clue is two mounted police officers on patrol who, although stopping for pictures, are not out for show. The second is a decorated memorial in the main Southgate street in memory of a murdered teenager.
After a stabbing in January next to the Royal Crescent, another one of the city’s most popular tourist spots, police have stepped up patrols as a 17-year-old arrested on suspicion
