F has seen a lot of England, Wales and Scotland in the last 30 years; both from land and from the sea.
Mr B has lived in England pretty much double that length of time and it was with horror that F discovered (while they were in Greece) that he had visited very little of his home island. It started with a conversation about Chester and on discovering he'd not been there, F started poking the subject starting with the biggish ones like ...
Closer...Winchester Cathedral? Not sure
Salisbury Cathedral? He had visited Salisbury. F remembers that day, years ago, they'd ridden their motorbikes up to Stonehenge because he hadn't been there either. They had not however stopped and visited Salisbury Mediaeval city or its cathedral or Old Sarum.
How about east...Norwich? Sutton Hoo? Lavenham? Snape Maltings? Woodbridge? No no no. Well further south then...anywhere in Kent? I've been to Dover. Dover Castle? Nope, just the ferry port.
This is serious. Don't even get started on Wales and Scotland. (there were a lot more but we don't have another 30 years to tackle it in).
Let's start with the Cotswolds. I've been there. Really? Where? Derry Hill. Well I never!
And we will visit Salisbury Cathedral en route.
[Putting photos into blogs in a phone is messy and (it turns out) back to front, so view them bottom to top. Outdoors the rain was torrential so no photos of the outside.]
Salisbury is a very open and light cathedral. There are ornate burial markers all carved in stone. This was the only painted one.
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| Audley Chapel - a chantry |
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| Parts of the massive organ - these pipes as wide as an adult human. One set of smaller ones off to the right. |
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| Tiny sample of stained glass, little to nothing of the original mediaeval glass remains. This is all much more recent. |
Great photos. I have a plate somewhere with a picture of Salisbury Cathedral on it. I have visited it a couple of times. Probably the most beautiful Cathedral in Blighty in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteHaving lived in the Nottingham, Birmingham, Bristol, London and Aberdeen, I'm pretty widely travelled in the UK. Salisbury Cathedral is such a special place. One recalls the famous Constable painting. No wonder those Russians wanted to visit!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Gail.
PS I was horrified when I moved to Aberdeen to find out how many of the locals had never been across to the West Coast. And so many Scots seem to think England=London.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteI have been to Salisbury Cathedral, but about half a century ago! That font has definitely arrived since then... and I am not entirely sure what I think of it... Love that detailed model and the ancient clockworks. Glad you are getting out and about! YAM xx
The Font is modern but appropriate. Reflective (in every sense). Calming. Shows the place has relevance to all the generations who have used it over 800 years and that it continues to adapt rather than be simply another ancient monument.
DeleteIt's true that people often don't appreciate what's on their doorstep - or just beyond.
ReplyDeleteOur local cycling group has been our best intro to appreciating what is right there in your own locale.
DeleteI think my comment disappeared somewhere!
ReplyDeleteWill Mr B get to visit more places before you go off to live down under?
Loads. I will force it upon him.
DeleteBob has seen NOTHING, nothing in any state, not the state he was born in and nothing in Florida. Atlantic ocean and Gulf of Mexico beaches, he knows those. as far as i know never been in a musuem other than one fort in my home place that i dragged him to and he complained so much never took him again. he did a few preserves. my first thought at the first photo, is Princess and the Pea with all those matresses he is laying upon... its beautiful. I like the model of the cathedral, small replicas make me happy. I have a first cousin in m home town that has never been out of Savannah, in her 79 years
ReplyDeleteMr B should definitely be taken here there and everywhere on his own isle. Especially since all the best places have the most descriptive? place names
ReplyDeleteDo you remember the 'Don't leave home until you have seen the country' campaign? I can nearly do a road map of SI from my head. A bit hazier on NI but have the general layout and plenty of memories to fill in some of the remarkably remote bits (like the Uruweras). I try to see as much as possible wherever I am after something an elderly cousin of my Mum said to 16 year old me the year I left home. He reckoned he'd spent all his holidays going BACK to places he had lived to see stuff he should have seen while he lived there.
DeleteA lot of English think England= south only! They've never ventured to the wonders of York and Durham and the Dales, and the shoreline. Put that on the schedule before you leave! It's typical that people don't tend to explore their own region, though. So many of my neighbors have never been west of Pennsylvania!
ReplyDeleteMr Bs sister lived in York (his Mum lived in Beverley after the kids left home). We have visited York and its delights and Lincolnshire where Mr B raised his own kids. We have also done several trips on the south west. He ain't great on north west, midlands generally and east Anglia.I love all of it.
DeleteI don’t remember if I saw this cathedral. I did see lots and they all merged into my mind so it looks familiar.
ReplyDeleteWe are all the same. We never explore our own backyard Hubby and I have visited a lot of Australia over the years. There is still so much more to see