When a Walk Became a Celebration of Women
On Friday the 6th of March, I hopped on the train to Bath with a friend. Our plan was to buy some new running trainers, have lunch at the delicious Green Rocket Café, and tackle the Skyline Walk for fresh air and amazing views.
We went to the World Heritage Centre to pick up a map, and one of the staff members, positively brimming with enthusiasm, suggested we join the International Women’s Day walk, ‘Women Who Dared’. He explained that the walk aimed to highlight Bath’s lesser‑known women, whose contributions have often gone unacknowledged.
Suddenly, the steep climb to the start of the Skyline Walk felt far less appealing and we decided to do as he suggested. As a long‑time Jane Austen fan, I assumed she would take centre stage, but it turned out the walk focused on the women you rarely hear about. Jane didn’t get a mention at all this time!
We gathered outside the Pump Rooms, welcomed by volunteers clutching their notes, slightly nervous, but full of joy at the way they were spending their retirement. The Mayor opened the walk with a short introduction, and I noticed a flicker of inner conflict. Shouldn’t a woman have opened a women’s history walk? Still, he came across as genuinely engaged and supportive, and I found myself holding both thoughts at once; as I often tell my clients, two things can be different but true at the same time.
The first woman we learned about was Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, yes, I had heard of her before. She lived in Bath for a time, navigated significant personal trauma, and left behind a legacy that continues to resonate. We also learned about her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, (I had also heard of her!) who lived in the city and famously fought for women’s rights.
We then heard about Elizabeth Montagu, the “Queen of the Blues,” who led the Blue Stockings Society, an influential circle that championed women’s education and intellectual life. Her sister, Sarah Scott, was a novelist and social reformer who imagined utopian communities run by women. Yes please!
The stories continued: Caroline Herschel, England’s first paid female scientist, who discovered several comets; Catharine Macaulay, the historian whose multi - volume History of England challenged assumptions about women and intellect; and Alicia Macartney, who lived at the Royal Crescent and unapologetically flouted social conventions, making her presence unmistakably felt. I noticed a quiet sense of envy here, in the best possible way. Maybe something to aspire more to?
My favourite story was Margaret Graham, the first British woman to make a solo balloon flight. I remembered doing a school project on hot air balloons and learning almost exclusively about the Wright brothers-of course. Yet here she was: a woman who was also daring, airborne, and remarkable.
The whole experience felt like a small but powerful reflection of Women’s History Month; noticing the unsung, celebrating the overlooked, and finding inspiration in stories I didn’t know I needed to hear.
As a psychotherapist, I’m struck by how this can mirror our inner worlds. So many of us carry resilience, creativity, courage, and brilliance that have never been fully seen or named; sometimes by others, and sometimes by ourselves.
If you’d like to uncover and celebrate the hidden stories in your own life; the strengths, insights, and possibilities that are already there, I’d love to hear from you. Together, we can gently shine a light on what’s waiting to be seen and support you in stepping more fully into your own power.