Leisure, travel, charity events, social gatherings; the Island’s business community with their suits off. THE FREEDOM OF THE OPEN ROAD Beautiful Bath and wonderful Wiltshire are waiting to be explored… By Simon Richardson W hat constitutes the perfect menu for a fantastic UK break? Having the freedom of the open road with your own car is a tasty hors d’oeuvre; picking a route that takes in the kind of locations you like is an unbeatable starter, and finding fabulous places to stay provides a memorable main! Our recent sojourn to the south-west of England – with a two-centre break, taking in Bath and rural Wiltshire proved what we Beautiful Bath 52 | already suspected – you don’t have to fly half way round the world to enjoy a perfect stress- busting break. Holidays are all about relaxation and setting your own agenda, and the moment we drove onto the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company’s fastcraft, Manannan in Douglas harbour a sense of wellbeing descended upon us! With none of the well-documented hassle associated with airports and flying, the process was smooth and easy. Two hours and 45 minutes later we berthed at Pier Head, Liverpool and having read our newspapers and magazines from cover to cover over a tasty breakfast, we were ready to start our road journey. The drive to Bath is perfectly straightforward involving the M6, M5 and M4. If you are doing it in one go you can expect it to take around three hours and forty minutes. We were in no hurry and broke the journey by catching up with friends in Cheshire en route.