Browsed by
Tag: Cathedrals

A round, another round and around.

A round, another round and around.

Comments 5 Comments

On our last trip to London we started where we had finished on the previous trip – St. Paul's Cathedral. On our previous visit we were there in the late afternoon which meant that the west end of the cathedral was nicely lit but the east end was in deep shadow but this trip it was the east end which was nicely lit by the morning sun.

 
 
On this side of the cathedral there were some nice gardens, nothing spectacular – but nice, and altough we could see the Stone Gallery round the dome there was nobody on it.
 
After we finished here we walked down Ludgate Hill (did you know that Ludgate Hill is the highest point in london?) and on into Fleet Street where we spotted these two buildings.
 
 
Known as 'Mary Queen of Scots House' they look a bit Tudory but we didn't really believe that, in view of the Great Fire of London, so we did a bit of digging – metaphorically you understand. It appears to be one building, erected by Sir John Tollemache Sinclair a scottish politician and landowner who was born in 1825 and died in 1912, so it can't be much older than 100 years. Appearences can be deceptive!
 
On the way along Ludgate Hill and Fleet Street I was trying to get a decent picture of the said streets but that turned out to be nearly impossible because of traffic getting in the way – especially buses. It then occurred to me that the best way to do that would be from the front seat on the top deck of one of those very buses. That is something I plan to try sometime but this time I did get a picture of one of the buses.
 
 
You may be able to see that there is a person in one of the seats on the top deck on the side nearest to the centre of the road and when I enlarged that section I could see that they had a camera in their hands. I'm not the only one with that idea then.
 
On our diversion to Lincoln's Inn we found this unusual sign.
 
 
So don't try and take any of the windows out without asking otherwise you could be in big trouble (no souvenirs please!).
 
Our second 'round' was the round nave of the Temple Church – a pretty amazing place.
 
 
It also had a pretty amazing Norman doorway which, having been built in the 12th century, is around 800-900 years old.
 
 
We saw this in Inner and Middle Temple –  a complex of gardens, courtyards, passageways and little lanes between Fleet Street and the Embankment. We discovered once we were home that we'd actually managed to miss half of it so we plan to go back and rectify that.
 
We emerged from the Temple onto the Embankment to our first view of the London Eye.
 
 
You can probably see that the Houses of Parliament are not very far away. Then a little further along I took this next picture of the Golden Jubilee Bridge – well half of it to be precise as it consists of two pedestrian walkways, one on each side of the railway bridge. We went up onto the bridge but didn't cross to the other side of the river. The bridge that you can't see, on the other side of the railway bridge, gives a good view of the London Eye.
 
 
Further along the Embankment we encountered Cleopatra's Needle together with the two sphinxes and two of the elephants that Marie mentioned of which only one is shown in the picture.

 
 
The sphinxes should have been installed so that they were facing outwards, guarding the needle, but someone blundered and they were installed facing the wrong way. Ooops!
 
We went from here to Westminster and eventually finished up at Trafalgar Square details of which are on the main web site in the London, Westminster pages.
 
We will, of course, be going back when we get the chance.
A power station that isn’t and a wobble that isn’t.

A power station that isn’t and a wobble that isn’t.

Comments 7 Comments

Wednesday was a delightfully sunny day and we had planned our next trip to London today so it was off to the station and on to the train again.

We changed, as we did last time, at Stratford on to the Docklands Light Railway headed for Tower Gateway. We were luckier this time and managed to get one of the front seats (there is no driver – remember?). This is how it looked through the front window.

I asked Amanda if she was steering and she said "No, I thought you were" so things got a little tricky but we didn't come off the rails. smilies

We had to change at Poplar which meant waiting seven minutes for our train so we took a few more pictures of the DLR. This is Poplar Station looking back in the direction from which we'd come.

And this is from Poplar Station looking in the direction of where we were headed. You do like looking at trains don't you?

We had planned to start roughly from where we'd left off last time so after getting to Tower Gateway Station we walked the short distance to St. Catherine's Dock going past the Tower of London on the way.

Just ignore the plastic covered scaffolding around the towers; 'they' always do that to me when 'they' know I'm going to take photographs.

We were soon back in St. Catherine's Dock for a leisurely walk round. There are some very large privately owned yachts here and lots of flats overlooking the water. Anyone tempted to buy here? You could then invite us up to stay together with a trip on your private yacht.

From here we crossed Tower Bridge to Shad Thames where we didn't have time for a long look round last time. We walked through to the far end and guess what we found?

These.

The outside boat is a replica of a 19th century Mississippi Paddleboat but I haven't been able to find out anything about the other boat. We didn't expect to see these within view of Tower Bridge.

There are lots of eateries around here and we went into one called 'Teapod' (no it's not a typing error) in Shad Thames on our way back towards Tower Bridge and had some lunch. They offer tea, coffee and various snacks including such things as soup and afternoon tea with scones, jam and clotted cream. Amanda had a sausage sandwich whilst I had some meatball soup, with bread, which was absolutely wonderful. It is only a small place with just a few tables but we would recommend it unhesitatingly for a light lunch.

We walked back to Tower Bridge and continued past on the Thames Path where we looked across to the Tower of London. This is the view that I would like to photograph but without the plastic covered scaffolding. They do it on purpose, you know, whenever I appear with a camera so I suppose it will have to wait for another time.

Then on past HMS Belfast now moored permanently in the Thames for visitors to look around.

After passing HMS Belfast we spotted the entrance to a place called Hay's Galleria. It turned out to be a converted wharf with an arched glass roof housing some shops and restaurants together with an interesting modern sculpture.

Our next stop was where we had to deviate slightly from the River Thames. The riverside path ends at London Bridge so we went inland for a very short way to the first turning which continued in the direction that we had previously been headed. This brought us to Southwark Cathedral.

I took far more pictures inside than I did outside. That's mainly because the cathedral is surrounded by buildings so the space available in the precincts is relatively small. Those interior pictures will appear on the web site in due course (whatever that means).

After leaving Southwark Cathedral we once again found our way to the continuation of the riverside path and it wasn't long before we had our first glimpse of the dome of St. Paul's cathedral.

The bridge directly ahead is a railway bridge connecting with Cannon Street Station; the two square towers are at the entrance. Soon after, we found the Golden Hind, a full-size replica of Sir Francis Drake's 16th century galleon which has sailed the world covering over 140,000 miles in the process.

A little further along the riverside path is the replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre complete with thatched roof.

A few hundred yards along there is the Millenium Bridge and the Tate Modern. When the Millenium Bridge was first built it wobbled when people walked along it which I think some found disconcerting. That has been corrected and there is now no wobble. Pity really – it might have been interesting.

Behind the Millenium Bridge is the Tate Modern art gallery in a giant building which used to be a power station and has now been converted to an art gallery – some gallery. We went in to have a look at the building rather than the exhibits and came out with two interesting pictures. The first picture is of the old turbine hall of the power station.

I'm not sure if the item on the left is a section of scaffolding or an exhibit.

The second picture I took from the restaurant which is on the top (seventh) floor.

You can see the Millenium Bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral across the river. We set off across the Millenium Bridge hoping for a little wobble, but – nothing. Then just before we reached the far side I took this picture of St. Paul's Cathedral.

After leaving St. Paul's we cheated and caught the tube to Holborn. Our legs were getting a little tired by this time. When we came out of the station we saw Staple Inn – a timber-framed building which survives from before the great fire of London.


Then, having threatened our legs with dire consequences, they walked us a relatively short distance to Lincoln's Inn Fields. A group of ancient buildings, housing various members of the legal profession, and enclosed gardens such as you see here. At this time of year and in the late afternoon sunlight they looked very pretty.

At this point our legs mutinied and refused to go anywhere but the nearest tube station. So we toddled off to Liverpool Street Station to get our train back home.

That was yesterday, as I write this, and my calf muscles still ache and so do my thighs and I suppose we'll be silly enough to it again sometime soon.

Oxon-Hants-Wilts: Two rings and a spire.

Oxon-Hants-Wilts: Two rings and a spire.

Comments 2 Comments

Day 3 – Tuesday 18th August 2009

Today is Salisbury day. We head off to the Park & Ride Car Park on the outskirts of Salisbury but just before we get there we find ourselves at a junction with the entrance to the Old Sarum site opposite so we elect to go in This is our first ring.

Car parking turns out to be free but entrance to the central part of the ring is chargeable so as it is now cloudy overall we decide not to go into the central area. There is a good view from where we are, allowing for the cloudy conditions, and we can see Salisbury Cathedral with its very prominent spire.

This is the central, raised, area which we didn't visit on this occasion which was the original site of the City of Salisbury including a castle, palace and cathedral. I gather that there are some remains of the old Normal Castle but nothing particularly spectacular and I believe that the original cathedral was completely demolished leaving just the foundations laid out like a floor plan.

The mounds and ditch were built during the iron age then adopted by the Romans and subsequently taken over by the Normans. The defensive ditch around the central area of Old Sarum is pretty deep and steep.

On to the Salisbury Park & Ride then a short bus ride into the city. As it was a cloudy day we went straight into the cathedral which we found, on first glance, a little disappointing. It didn't generate the same levels of interest that we found in, for example, Winchester, Wells and Norwich. The nave looked rather empty with little in the way of stained glass in the windows.

They did, however, have the oldest (Medieval – 1386) working clock in the world which has no face and only strikes the hours.

This view shows one of the arches around the crossing under the tower looking through into the Quire which had some remarkable medieval wood carving on the stalls which date from 1236 – the oldest complete set in England.

Looking from the Quire, past the Audley Chapel, towards the East Window which was designed in 1980.

We rather liked this next view around the tower crossing. It reminded us a little of the Scissor arches in Wells Cathedral.

The Cloisters are rather nice and are, in fact, the largest of any British cathedral. They are also unusual in that they have never been part of a monastic foundation which is normally the case.

From the Cloisters one gains entry to the Chapter House which holds one of the four surviving original Magna Carta, written on vellum in abbreviated medieval latin, sealed in 1215 by King John. Photography is not permitted in the Chapter House.

We finally ventured outside and managed to capture a five second spell of sunshine lighting up the West Front of the cathedral. The sky gives a good idea of what it was like generally throughout the day.

We left the cathedral precincts by this gate and were back in the surrounding city. As it was around lunch time we started to look for somewhere that would provide a substantial lunch to substitute for the meal we weren't going to have back at the Danebury Hotel in Andover.

Wandering around we stumbled across 'The Polly Tea Rooms' and liked the look of the menu. We were both glad that we chose to go in because the prices were reasonable and the food and service was excellent. Recommended! It's near Bridge Street not far from here.

We didn't really have as much time here to explore as we would have liked. This was one of the streets we wandered through where we noticed this old timber-framed building.

And we eventually found the old market cross complete with a little market.

It was getting late in the afternoon now, 5:30 PM, so we decided to call it a day and headed back to Andover. However on the way back we noticed that we would be going past Figsbury Ring, our second ring of the day, and as the weather was now taking a turn for the better, we thought we'd pay it a visit.

Figsbury Ring, like Old Sarum, is a prehistoric Hill Fort and the evening light up here was absolutely wonderful. Here is Amanda standing on the outer bank looking back towards Salisbury and we could see the spire of Salisbury Cathedral in the far distance.


On our way around the ring we spotted an Adonis Blue butterfly. Not a common sight although there is a colony known to exist here. Very pretty.

So back to our palatial lodgings and tomorrow we leave for home.

Wells – Day 3 (Tuesday)

Wells – Day 3 (Tuesday)

Comments 0 Comment

We woke up this morning to sun and a blue sky. After breakfast we went out to try to take some photographs before the sun disappeared. This is one of the gates into the cathedral precincts and the building just outside is our hotel.

Wells

Walking through the cathedral precincts we emerged into the Market Place. Through to the top of High Street we looked back to see this view.

Wells

The structure in the middle of the market place is the fountain fed by the natural springs in the Bishop’s Palace grounds. To the right of the fountain is one of the twin towers on the cathedral West Front and to the right of that is the central tower. On the right of the market place is the Bishop’s Palace Gatehouse.

The cathedral West Front is an amazing piece of work with all those carved stone figures.

Wells

We stopped for a lunch break and then continued our wanderings. Needless to say this mornings session was interrupted by banks of cloud coming across and obscuring the sun for 30 minutes or so at a time and this afternoon we had two thunderstorms the second including hail. This is an English summer after all.

You may have heard of the swans which live on the moat surrounding the Bishop’s Palace and which have learned to pull a rope to ring a bell when they want food. Here one of the current brood of cygnets has learned the trick already even though they can only be 2-3 months old. When the bell is rung food is thrown out of the open window. You should be able to see that it has hold of the rope with its bill with the bell just above it.

Wells

Tomorrow, I suppose, we shall have some more of this wonderful August weather ( I hope you recognise sarcasm when you see it).

Wells – Days 1 & 2 (Sunday & Monday)

Wells – Days 1 & 2 (Sunday & Monday)

Comments 0 Comment

We set off from home in sunshine and as we progressed further west so the amount of cloud increased. We arrived in Wells at around 2 o’clock, 4 hours later, under total cloud cover complete with the occasional shower.

After a quick lunch we went for a walk round the city. This is England’s smallest city and, being a city, it has a cathedral. A walk around the outside soon convinced us that this was indeed an impressive cathedral. The city centre certainly is compact with some attractive corners.

With the weather being the way it was I didn’t take any pictures on our brief walk but after dinner just before it was nearly dark I took this picture of the cathedral West Front partly lit by the surrounding street lights.

Wells

The next day (today) it was still cloudy with more rain forecast so we thought that indoors would be good. A trip to see the inside of the cathedral was our plan. We spent a few hours there and finished our visit with lunch in the cathedral refectory. This was the first photograph I took.

Wells

We also had a look round the Bishop’s palace after lunch both inside and outside. No pictures in the garden though as it was raining but it would certainly provide some good pictures in the sun. If we get any sun this week and we happen to be in Wells at the time then a return visit to the Bishop’s Palace gardens will be on the cards as will some outside pictures of the cathedral.

We shall have to wait and see what the weather brings.

Norwich – Thursday 15th June 2006

Norwich – Thursday 15th June 2006

Comments 0 Comment

We decided to have another wander around the city today with two particular things in mind; to visit the Castle and Pull's Ferry. On the way to the Castle we went via the Market Place and discovered the 15th Century Guildhall on one edge of the market. The external appearence is decorative and certainly interesting.

Guildhall

The Castle is only a short walk from the Guildhall so we were soon inside. Apart from being a Norman Castle it is also an excellent museum and we spent some time looking round but the part that I was particularly interested in was the tour of the battlements. There is a walkway all the way around providing very good views across the city.

Cathedral from Castle

As the cathedral was only a short distance away we decided that another look would be in order. This time we had a much longer look around the cloisters and I must say that they have some amazing bosses on the ceiling – each one being different from the next.

Cathedral Cloisters ceiling boss

We walked through the cathedral close as far as Pull's Ferry on the River Wensum – a picturesque little spot.

Pull's Ferry

From there we walked up to the lower part of Mousehold Heath. Now there's an interesting name – I must find out its origin. This area of land comprising woodland and heath is now totally within the city boundaries. The original heath was much, much larger and was outside the old city.

Mousehold Heath

From there a longish walk back to the hotel made us pretty tired after a hard day's enjoyment.

Norwich – Tuesday

Norwich – Tuesday

Comments 2 Comments

Today dawned cloudy with a forecast of possible showers so 'inside' looks good. We made our way over to the cathedral to look round the inside as we saw only the outside yesterday.

The Nave is the second longest, after Winchester, in England. Whilst we were in there we saw a young blackbird perched on a ledge in one of the aisles alongside the nave giving a plaintive cheep ocassionally. A little later on all the lights went out and it turned out that they were trying to encourage the bird towards a bright door opening that went straight to the outside. They apparently succeeded and shortly after the lights came on again.

Norwich Cathedral Nave

In the North Aisle there is a small exhibition of Church Plate in a loft near the Jesus Chapel and within that loft there were some medieval paintings on the roof and part of the walls.

Norwich Cathedral Medieval Wall Painting

A little later we noticed a strange rushing noise had started and suddenly realised that it was heavy rain – an excellent time to be inside. We decided to have a break and retired to the Cathedral Refectory – very bright, very modern and built alongside one wall of The Cloisters. You can see part of the Refectory on the left and the Cloisters wall on the right.

Norwich Cathedral Refectory

Afterwards we looked round The Cloisters and the maze within it then decided it was time to move on – Dragon Hall called!

We had a street plan with us and, believe me, you would never find your way around the maze of city streets without one. We managed to find King Street and there was Dragon Hall!

Dragon Hall

An extremely interesting medieval merchants house and trading hall. They even had some medieval clothes for visitors to try on so Amanda took the plunge.

Medieval Clothes

We went back to the hotel to un-emcumber ourselves, well me really, of the rather heavy tripod used to support the camera inside the two buildings. After some refreshments and a short rest I decided to walk along to Carrow Hill to look at part of the old city wall whilst Amanda decided to stay in the hotel.

Norwich City Wall

I returned to the hotel and that is where we stayed until the next day.