Brief History
The Hope & Anchor is an historic building well-located on the B3110, with some parts of it dating back to the mid-17th century.
The original 17th century building was enlarged at the end of the 18th century when the Somerset Coal Canal ran close to the east side of the Pub. It was about this time that the present name was adopted in an attempt to gain trade from the canal barges.
The advent of the railways saw the decline of canal traffic and the canal was closed in 1898. The Somerset & Dorset railway track ran across the Midford viaduct directly above the Hope & Anchor.
The single line section between Midford & Bath required a special safety device known as “The Tablet”. A train about to enter this section had to pick up the tablet by means of a mechanical catcher. If the tablet was not there it meant another train was already on that stretch of track. Sometimes the act of giving up the tablet on the outward journeywould result in the (accidental?) dropping of the tablet down the embankment into the garden of the inn.
By some strange quirk of fate, this seemed to happen a lot more frequently during opening hours and climbing down to retrieve it was thirsty work!
The Hope & Anchor was formerly owned by Courage Breweries and became a free house in 1976.
The British-Canadian Bauly family (from Somerset, Suffolk & Toronto) acquired the property in September, 2023 and have been working feverishly to make this historic and well-located Pub a standard-bearer of classic yet creative British food and drink.
Located on Cycle Route 24
The Hope & Anchor is ideally positioned for refreshments on the Bath Two tunnels cycle route.
This particular circular cycle route was created by combining that route with parts of the Kennet & Avon Cycle Route and the Colliers Way to create a fantastic 13 mile walking and cycling link between Central Bath, Midford, Monkton Combe, and beyond.
The route takes you from the centre of historic Bath (using National Route 244), National Route 24 and National Route 4, through two tunnels: the Devonshire Tunnel at Bloomfield and the Combe Down Tunnel at Combe Down, and over the spectacular Tucking Mill Viaduct and past the Dundas Aqueduct on the Kennet & Avon Canal, until you are back alongside the River Avon, closely following it back into Bath.
The Combe Down Tunnel, at 1672 metres, is just over one mile, and is the UK’s and possibly Europe’s longest cycle and walking tunnel. Travelling through the Combe Down Tunnel for the first time is an incredible experience – take in the extraordinary audio-visual installation, Passage by United Visual Artists.
You can start this circular route at any access points along the circuit. A recommended start point is either Bath Spa station or Oldfield Park station. Both are a short ride from the route, which can ridden in either direction.
The two tunnels project was part of the Sustrans Connect 2 National Lottery funded project. It is one of the biggest of all the 84 projects across the UK. This project would not have become a reality without the incredibly dedicated Bath Two Tunnels group.