Gloucester Cathedral

Formally known as the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, this is an huge and imposing place.

Worcester Cathedral - V

St. George's chapel is filled with old military flags to honor the country's fallen.

Worcester Cathedral - IV

Amidst the scaffolding of the repair and reconstruction is the tomb of King John. He was a strong and successful king of England and it was his efforts that shaped the country to become what it is. However, his last decade or so was not so successful and he really was gouging the barons and earls for money constantly. Hence, in 1215, he was forced to sign the Magna Carta. He died in 1216.

Worcester Cathedral - III

The cloister garden is a very pleasant place to meditate. I suppose that was the original purpose, after all. It is also a dandy place to see the tower and structure of the building.

Worcester Cathedral - II

This cathedral is certainly a big place. Looking along the ceiling, it seems to recede into the distance without end.

Worcester Cathedral

In downtown Worcester we visited the Cathedral. Like all the other Anglican churches at the time of our visit, there were memorials out front for the Queen.

Hereford Cathedral - IV

Somewhere, at some time, this lion was part of the structure of the cathedral. It either fell or was removed and placed here on the floor.

Hereford Cathedral - III

Nearly all of the burials in the cathedral are bishops. This one, setting under the stained glass, I thought made an especially nice image.

Hereford Cathedral - II

This is huge place with really enormous stained glass. The height of the ceiling over the crossing is impressive.

Hereford Cathedral

I pointed out two to the more amazing things to see in Hereford Cathedral yesterday... the Mappa Mundi and the Chained Library. Today we start our walk through the Cathedral itself.

Hereford Cathedral - Mappa Mundi and Chained Library

The cathedral in Hereford is famous for several thing. One of the wonders I've yet to see touted is the marvelous ironwork on the front door.

About the Village

The village of Stow-on-the-Wold is small and holds few things that are amazing to photograph. However, it is a place to see and just take in the village atmosphere. This nondescript building has a plaque that reads...

St. Edward's Church

Our next house sit was just outside Stratford-upon-Avon as you keen observers will remember from the few postings I made back in September of my morning runs through our small village. This gave us a jumping-off place for exploring the Cotswolds just to south.

In the Cotswolds, is a the village of Stow-on-the-Wold. In this place is the medieval church of St. Edward.

Peebles, Scotland

For those of you who are wondering what just happened...I figure you've already had a lot of time jumping around this year as I keep switching from the present to various places/times in the recent past...so another interruption in linear time is not a big deal. I missed this entry util too late to correct before you saw subsequent posting. So here is our last entry from our trip to Scotland.

St. Oswald's Church, Grasmere

In the village of Grasmere stands St. Oswald's church. A church of some description has been here since 642 (no leading "1" in front).

Levens Hall Topiary and Flowers

Just keeping the large sculpted bushes in the proper shape is a lot of work, never mind getting them into the right shape to begin with.

Levens Hall

In the village of Levens, just a few miles south of Kendal, near the entrance to the Lake District, sits Levens Hall. While the inside is pretty amazing, I did not visit the house itself. Rather, I opted to have a go at the gardens.

Kendal Castle

Just east of the town of Kendal in Cumbria (where the Lake District is located) are the ruins of the Kendal Castle. We see so many castles with lush grass growing inside, it is sometimes hard to image how the working castle actually looked.

Ambleside

Most of the photos one sees from the Lake District are taken on moody days with dramatic clouds or at sunrise or sunset to provide fog or some other scene enhancing atmospheric addition. On our visit, we did not get up early or hang around on location until after dark. And we were blessed (?) by clear blue skies.

But do love me some reflections in a completely still pond.

Into the Lake District!

 After leaving the Dunbar area, we headed south towards our next house sit and this took us through the Lake District. Naturally, we had to spend a few days to see what this as all about.