Kathleen's Cathedrals

It's Friday here now and I've just said good bye to Kath.  She is on her way to Paddington Station to take the Heathrow Express to the airport for her flight home.  We never quite got a second blog together about the other cathedrals she saw so I am going to attempt to list some of the highlights - and I know I will miss a lot of them!  So, please consider some of this heresy and forgive my mistakes.

The "Crooked" Spire of Chesterfield

As you know, we started by visiting the cathedrals in Winchester, Salisbury, Exeter and Wells.  After that, she saw big and small churches throughout the trip.  In Birmingham she got to play the organ briefly after attending a service in the Catholic church not far from where our friends live; Chesterfield, she went into the famous church with the crooked spire; and, all along the way, she popped into smaller villages churches.  We stopped in at York so she could visit the Minster.  There was an abbey in Hexham that we both went into and, after that, there were various little churches in the Lake District including the one which Wordsworth and his family attended.  In Liverpool, we visited the big cathedral but skipped going to the Catholic one - it is nicknamed The Wigwam, by the way, and you can see why from the photo.

York Minister

The Minster's Organ

Liverpool Cathedral - one of the largest churches in the world

Liverpool's Catholic cathedral - nicknamed the Wigwam - easy to see why!

Then, it was on to Ireland where she saw the two big cathedrals in Dublin, surprisingly neither of them Catholic.  We also visited the Book of Kells collection in Trinity College.  In Belfast, we went into a former abbey in the Catholic part of that city and further north, on the Antrim coast, she went to a village church service with the lady who ran the B&B where we were staying.  In Derry, she went into St. Colomb's, the first Protestant church built in the UK back in the 1600s.  On our walking tour there, we learned more about "the Troubles" and the ongoing conflict between the Catholics and Protestants which, while somewhat abated, continues today in some neighbourhoods.

Dublin's St. Patrick's Cathedral

Entrance to the Clonard Abbey, Falls Road, Belfast

One of the cathedral in Belfast

On the west coast of Ireland, I must confess, we went into way more pubs than churches.  In fact, I don't remember any except for the very ancient Gallarus Oratory (dating from around 500 AD) which we visited on our drive around Slea Head on the Dingle peninsula. 

The Gallarus Oratory

Back in London on Sunday, Kathleen went to St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey.  Sometime in there she also went to Westminster Cathedral but I'm not sure when.  I've already written about our day trip to Cambridge and her visit to King's College Chapel.  Yesterday (Thursday) she attended a lunch concert at St. Martin's in the Field.  So, I'm pretty sure I'm safe in saying she was pleased to have been able to see as many famous places of worship that she did.  I sure hope so!

St. Martin's in the Field near Trafalgar Square

So, that part of the trip is over.  I'm heading to visit friends outside of London for the weekend and then, on Monday, my adventures will continue on the continent starting with the south of France.  I am hoping you will continue to follow along.  Thanks to everyone who has sent me feedback about these blogs.  It is lovely to know I am not just a little voice alone in the wilderness, so to speak!