Highlight The 2 cathedrals.

It was a lazy start to the day and then we headed north to Cheltenham to see the houses, see the pump rooms, do some banking and have a coffee. For us it was three out of four is not bad.

With Cheltenham being a smaller town we had no problem getting a road side park near Montpellier gardens. We walked towards the centre of town, admiring the Regency Houses on the way. We did the banking then sat over hot chocolates to plot a cache to find as a memory.

We found there was cache in honour of Edward Jenner in a small garden named for him. The listing pointed out that Jenner Gardens is a little-known gem of tranquillity in the heart of Cheltenham. Having seen his statue in Gloucester Cathedral we headed for this instead of the pump rooms.

 Edward Jenner was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire in 1749. He studied medicine and worked first in London. He moved his practise to the area when his wife’s health improved by taking the waters.

Sadly, this first sign we saw in the gardens described his work was graffitied so it was lucky the listing told us what the sign indicated, although in less detail, as only the sign made the link to milkmaids that we already knew. (The milkmaids picked up cowpox which made them immune to the more deadly smallpox).The gardens were an old cemetery that operated from 1810 to 1889, and were rather overgrown.

We spotted the cache but were aware of 2 people on a nearby seat. When one left and the other was on his phone we made a quick grab to sign and return the cache.

We then started talking to the interesting man (Sean) who had stayed on the seat. He works from home for a company in Australia and so works by night and is free by day, and often comes here. Sean was both puzzled and disappointed that the usual daffodils were not on display for us to admire. He had a ‘picker upper’ given to him by the council because he often cleans the park when visiting, including having to remove syringes. He pointed out that by the only 2 entrances/exits were rubbish bins so people had not excuse to litter.

He was passionate about the work of Jenner as well. He believed he should be posthumously knighted for his work and made a good case for it. His final comment here was ‘if people get knighted for riding cycles in circles, he should not be overlooked’.

He asked about our GPS and we told him how we knew of the park through geocaching. He was pleased to know why people wearing such items often looked lost and wander around but don’t need help when he has asked. He may try the game but was probably just polite.

Once back at the car we headed for Coventry. Both of the map routes to our overnight stop went through there and it was an easy decision. It was far less easy to find a park, and we explored more of the town centre than we wanted to trying to find an open car park. The first had the P sign but was closed as was the second. We stopped, plotted and headed for the Park and Ride at the War Memorial park, which should have been our first choice really.

By the time we got to the cathedrals we were hungry, so our first stop was actually the café. We were pleased with our choice as it was called Rising, themed with the 40’s and run by Betel UK, a charity raising money to support addicts. I had the Clark Gable salad and John the Farmer’s Special (a ploughmana). We could see why the café is highly recommended.

We then went to look around the new cathedral, designed by Basil Spence. We did it in an odd order because we started from the café. So the first thing we saw was the Charred Cross. When the original cathedral was bombed by the Luftwaffe, 2 medieval beams fell in the shape of a cross. The groundsman bound them together and set them up and they were moved here in 1978. The theme of the cathedral is reconciliation and three medieval nails form the cross of peace and reconciliation.

Next we saw the largest tapestry in the world, woven in France and filling the wall of the Lady Chapel. The high altar has the original cross of nails from 1940 and a silver cross reminiscent of the charred cross. Much of the other artwork in the cathedral has been donated by other churches from such places as the USA and Germany.

The Baptistery window is stunning, full of colour, as modern stained glass often is. The designer said it was a burst of glory. Basil Spencer said it was just right. The nearby font is unusual as it is a boulder from a hillside near Bethlehem.

Our visit was made special by the music that followed us around. BBC2 were rehearsing and we had orchestral music, choral music a soloist and someone doing readings. We never did find out what it was about, but it made a great backdrop. I had tried to take a photo of the tapestry, but the best one was taken from the far end of the cathedral with the rehearsing players in the front.

When we later walked around the outside of the cathedral, we found it was stark from the outside and a couple of walls seemed ‘boring’ to my unartistic eye. It was certainly designed to be viewed from inside.

We went to the ruins of the original cathedral. From inside we could see the tower still standing (we were too late to do the walk up) and the nearby spire of the Holy Trinity Church. It is amazing that one was destroyed and the other still stands, yet they are only metres apart. We did read the strengthening of the cathedral with steel prior to the bombing actually contributed to its destruction. The severe heat caused the metal beams to buckle, crumbling the outside walls. There was a special plaque here to honour the work of the Home Guard as well as a Reconciliation Statue and other modern works. However, it was the standing walls with the empty spaces and the open sky that was most moving.

It was also very moving to read how a group of German Parishioners after the war volunteered to work on the new cathedral. As a result, a group from Coventry went to Dresden to rebuild the hospital destroyed by Allied bombing.

When we waited for the bus back to our car we started talking with another John. After he stopped being cross about the late arrival of the bus he told us several snippets about the history of the city. One part I recall is about the city wall, which previously had 13 gates in it. As it was used to block Edward II ((corrected from Charles) nentering the city, Henry VIII demanded it be dismantled when he came to power. John also said the early residents had upset the authorities by using the top of the wall for allotments.

Our overnight stay had been booked at a rather random place, The Redwings Lodge, Rutlands, which was really on a large layby off the main road but in the middle of the English countyside. The drive was very picturesque, with lots of narrow, hedged roads and open fields. It was fine for a night (a bit musty but clean and comfortable) and the centre of lots of walks. We chose it because it was in the country between Gloucester and Kings Lynn!! We drove out to find a light evening meal but instead found a couple of caches, one of which was part of what would be a great walk if we had time. We then had our light meal at the café next to the place we were staying. It was great and if we had been hungry the pizzas would have been top of our list.