Coventry Cathedral

We took today at a leisurely pace. That is, all we did off the boat was to walk to the cathedral for the main Sunday service and then back again.

As we crossed the footbridge over the ring road a screaming sound of emergency vehicles could be heard and underneath was a long stream of emergency vehicles from ar4ound the world. Most of those that we saw seemed to by police cars from the US. This was a MotoFest parade known as One Big Alarm. They sped down the outside lane, leaving the inside to 'normal' traffic.

We passed another section of the displays - this one from a Standard Cars Club (a marque long forgotten by most folk other than true enthusiasts!) Christine took a close look at a Standard Ten wondering if it was the same make and model as the one her parents had when she was at school. In then end she thought that although very similar, not quite the same. (She later recalled it being a Ford 8)

As we neared the New Cathedral, we had a good view of the old and the new cheek by jowl. A much more harmonious juxtaposition than most of the re-built city centre.

The size of the cathedral and its clean, uncluttered design gives a really impressive sense of space.

Around the walls are the eight panels forming the Tablets of the Word work by Ralph Beyer, featuring key Bible passages. The artist's mother died in Auschwitz but Beyer himself served in the British Army during the war. Much of the impact that the work has lies in the carefully crafted individual letters, different yet harmonious.

At the end of the service we looked back at the huge West wall that lets so much light into the interior of the building.

We walked back much the same route as we arrived. A large cross once stood outside the front of Trinity Church and for much of its time it venerated Henry V1. It gradually decayed in the late 18C it was demolished. A replica was commissioned in the mid 29C, initial plans formed in 1930s but it was not until 1978 that it was unveiled. Initially very close to the position of the original cross, it was moved in 2023 to its present more prominent position. This photo is not ideal but every time we tried something better, the crowd in search of the MotoFest walked in front of us!

Buildings old and new.

Apart from calling at Tesco Express close the the canal basin, the rest of the day was quiet - a couple of boats left early and by lunch time their spaces had been filled again by new arrivals.

Mike spent some time preparing our roast beef evening meal. Actually a little bit of a cheat as we brought from home a piece of cooked beef from the market which we have had in the freezer for a wee while! We also had a punnet of nectarines and three of them were in need of being used so Christine prevailed on the chef to devise a use for them in a pudding. What emerged was a sort-of riff on a classic clafoutis but in a puff pastry case and somewhat cakier than the traditional dish. It looks OK (the rough, folded edge was deliberate! but only later will we know if the inside is also OK.