April 27: Gloucester

Today we visited Gloucester Cathedral, and then visited the National Waterways Museum.  Gloucester was very important in the canal system, and I learned so much about this transportation system that was a big part of Britain’s economy until well into the last century.  We wandered around the historic docks and admired the sailing ships and the canal boats, and then enjoyed a really nice lunch.  We enjoyed poking around some lovely little shops, and Kathleen got some lovely real silver jewelry that we admired in the window of what turned out to be a Pawnbroker!  I just might visit every Pawn shop we see, and am definitely on the lookout for brass balls.

We began our day by saying good-bye to Alanna, who began her four hour bus ride back to London.  The bus came right on time, and we were all remarkably dry-eyed as we launched into our next adventures.  The bus is really the way to travel, wince the round trip from London to within walking distance of our cottage (although we never walked it) is only £20.  

We just love our “landlord” Clive, who has never steered us wrong on food or adventures.  When we returned from dropping off Alanna, he asked us, as he does whenever he sees us, “All right, then?”  When we told him our plans for the day, he told us not to miss the Mariner’s church (we didn’t) and about a great place to eat.  “It’s rusty, rusty coloured – you can’t miss it!” he told us.  We love the cottage itself, and all of the creatures in Clive’s loving care.  As I type this, the rain is falling softly on the pond outside, and I can’t believe how lucky we are to live in this perfectly beautiful country, even if just for a week.

Clive's pheasant, out strutting its stuff.  In addition to Ewes and lambs, we can see blackbirds (A birdie with a yellow bill, hop upon our windowsill), rabbits, ducks, pheasants, and several birds we don't recognize.

 Kathleen and I came back and tidied up the cottage, and were still ready to go by 8:30, so we got to the cathedral just after it opened.  The down side to this was that there were no pamphlets, no docents, and the gifts store wasn’t open, but the fact that we were among maybe 20 people in the whole cathedral (not counting a school group of Islamic girls in traditional dress) more than made up for it.  We armed ourselves with the laminated “Big Print” version of the pamphlet (we returned it afterward) and off we went.  

"The Beast" parked in a the civic parkade. 

Our first glimpsae of the cathedral.

Gloucester cathedral has amazing soaring ceilings and spectacular stained glass.  Neither Kathleen nor I can figure out how it exactly works for ordinary Sunday services in the nave, when the choir (quire) stalls are smack dab in the middle of the church, effectively cutting off the transepts.

There are so many things to admire in the cathedral, which has an incredibly long history.  It gets a bit confusing in these cathedrals, because they are so unbelievably old, and yet they are built upon even older buildings, and many of the artefacts, including huge monumental tombs, get moved into the new building.  As a result, we saw tombs that are older than the building they are in.  Down in the crypt one can see the original Norman cathedral, acting as foundations, and ten there is the soaring Gothic cathedral above.  Of course, there is also the abbey that was here since the early Anglo-Saxon days, and then reorganized after 1066 – and everything gets referred to as “Gloucester”.

We picked a perfect time of day for our first view of the Cathedral.  The saints were glowing over the south porch door, and the cathedral itself was staggering against the clear blue sky.  Yes, even though we were assured that the weather definitely would turn today, the rain held off until we were walking back to the car park at the end of the day.  We saw the tower of Gloucester against a brilliant blue sky.

 The stained glass is the first thing that arrests your attention as you walk into the cathedral.  Some of the glass dates from the last decade of the eleventh century, and some were put up in 2005.  There is nineteenth century stained glass commemorating the crowning of Edward II in the cathedral in 1307.  There are memorials to Gloucester veterans of the Korean War, and modern abstract panels.  

The coronation of Edward II - aged 9.

Eighteenth Century angels.

 We also found the tombs fascinating.  The most famous, and deservedly so, is the ornate tomb of Edward II.  The carving of the stone canopy makes stone look like lace, and the marble effigy gives a real sense that this was a real person.  

 A close contender for “most famous tomb” would have to be that of Robert, Duke of Normandy, and the eldest son of William the Conqueror.  His dainty little ankles are crossed and his feet dangle in the air – maybe his wooden effigy had a real pillow.

A touching pair of effigies are those of two sisters, Elizabeth and Marjorie, who died in childbirth within a year of each other.  Marjorie was only 17 when she died.  Kathleen and I were imagining the fears of Elizabeth, as she neared her own confinement, and the sorrow of their family.

By now we have learned that bishop’s tombstones from before the Civil War are going to be horribly disfigured today – especially if they are made of alabaster.

We also liked the tombs that showed Mom, Dad, and the kids.  The Machen family had 13 children, and the ones who died at birth are shown as tiny figures.

Of course there were many more unique monuments:

This couple were really stylin'.  Honestly, the carving of this monument was amazing, and I get Kathleen and I have 15 closeups between the two of us.

Like this one.

Kathleen loved this medieval couple who looke like they are asleep in their bed at home.

This is St. Osric, who founded the cathedral, as symbolized by the church in his hand.  Although made three hundred years after his death, this monument is still older than the church and platform it sits in and on!

The older the effigy, the less comfortable the effigy looks.

An unusual feature of the cathedral was a small “mason’s stone” which is a small sculpture in the South Transept that commemorates an apprentice mason who fell from the roof above.  

They decided to repaint the frescos in one chapel in the Nineteenth Century, and the result is a bit pre-Raphaelite, but rather pretty.

Kathleen and I climbed up to the Whispering Gallery which actually runs behind the base of the main stained glass window.  The gallery really works.  Kathleen and I could see each other across the cathedral, but couldn’t hear each other unless we whispered directly down the corridor.  It also gave us a great opportunity to see the cathedral from above.  About halfway along the choirmaster of King’s School has carved the following verse:

          Doubt not but God who sits on high

Thy whispered prayers can hear

When these dead walls thus cunningly

Conveys soft whispers to the ear.  

Although the choirmaster who wrote these words died in 1712, the whispering gallery still “conveys soft whispers”.

The tiny person you see across from me is Kathleen.  We can't hear each other from across, but we could whisper through a curved passageway and it was very clear.  What we kept saying is, "Where are you?  Go back to the entrance to see if it works!"  We were at the entrance!

 

The main "east" window, the largest example of medieval stained glass in any British church.  The entire window is 22 metres across.

Looking down at a school group below.

Our next stop was the cloisters, which were used in the filming of Harry Potter.  There was an art collection on display in the cloisters, as well as study carrels that the monks could use.   

 

We enjoyed a cup of tea and some sponge cake in the refectory, and then headed off to the docks.

I found the National Waterways Museum to be full of information I didn’t know, but Kathleen has learned a lot about locks and knots and canals, and felt right at home.  A network of canals links the River Severn to the sea, and linked the industrial heartland to the ships that crossed the Atlantic.  The canal boats are long and thin, and there was a real lifestyle lived by the people who ran these boats.  

Kathleen proving the advantages of a block and tackle.  This exhibit reminded us of Dad.

The bluebird, given by a riverboat captain to his daughter, who used it to travel from her home into Tewkesbury.  It is one of the first pleasure boats.

I was really surprised to hear that the canals were used industrially until the 1960s, and that there was a group of women trained to be canal boat captains in WWII, because the canal boats did not rely on petrol, and were cheaper to use.  Poor Kathleen, I think I would still be in there reading!

We enjoyed walking around the historic Docks, with their uniform warehouses. 

A dredging machine from at the museum dock.

People still use these boats.

We went to the Mariner’s Church that was used by the (up to) 1000 sailors that would be in port on any given Sunday.

The pulpit in what is still a very active church.

This is the "rusty coloured" building, the Vining Restaurant.  We didn't expect it to be literally rusty!  The food was excellent and very reasonable.

Pretty fantastic view, n'est pas?

 We spent another hour wandering the streets of Gloucester, and visited the former site of Greyfriars priory, near the venerable St. Mary of the crypt.  It was a great day, and the best thing about it was that we were home in time to plan our trip to Wales tomorrow.