In 1900, there were 600 Turkish baths in Britain and Ireland. Today, only a handful survive. We enjoy a revived hammam in Newcastle and take a look at 10 more around the countryMy sister and I are lying on slabs like flounders in a fishmonger’s. Instead of a bed of ice, though, we’re stretched out on heated marble. We move between three hot rooms, each resembling little chapels with vaulted ceilings, chatting quietly in the cooler one, applying face and hair masks in the middle one, and simply lying still, sweating, in the hottest one. Later, we will be scrubbed and massaged. In between, we cool off under a rain-mist shower, or retire to a bed in our own private mahogany-panelled booth beneath a glazed dome.It sounds like a luxury spa, with prices to match. In fact, we’re at a century-old public bathhouse. The City Baths in Newcastle reopened in April after an £8m restoration – and a decade-long campaign. A two‑hour Turkish bath session here costs about £20, which includes a swim in the pool upstairs. Continue reading…
