St. Alkmund’s Church is nestled between the buildings that have sprung up around it. Founded in 912 it stands as the highest part of the town – indeed is reached up some steep steps – and after renovations over the years is now largely of Georgian design. The tower and spire were added around 1475.
I’d heard of Shrewsbury Abbey of course which is why it was on my list of things to see in the town but I had completely forgotten that the Cadfael series of books was based there (I’ve seen the TV series with Derek Jacobi but never read any of the books). I mention this to start with because the lovely friendly volunteer who greeted me on entry was surprised that Cadfael wasn’t my main reason for visiting and directed me to a very nice stained glass window dedicated to Cadfael author Ellis Peters (real name Edith Pargeter).
On the day that I was travelling via the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway I knew that I wanted to visit somewhere in Keighley and settled on Cliffe Castle Museum. I knew almost nothing about it other than it was an easy 20 minute walk from Keighley Railway Station and had free entry. I’d given myself roughly an hour to an hour and a half to explore before I had to head back to the station to catch my next train but could have spent a lot longer there as I was blown away by just how great the place was.
After my visit to the Brontë Parsonage I headed next door to St Michael and All Angels, more commonly known as the Brontë church. This is the third church building on the site dating between 1879 and 1881; parts of the older church survives but not as it would have been during the Brontë’s time when their father was the parish priest here.
I’d heard that Arundel Cathedral was a beautiful example of Gothic architecture so on my first afternoon in the town I’d gone to take pictures of the exterior before exploring inside a couple of days later. In 1868 Henry Fitzalan Howard commissioned Joseph Hansom (who also designed the famous hansom cab) to design a cathedral that would be in keeping with the impressiveness of Arundel Castle.
The Church of the Holy Rude is directly next to Stirling Castle – I’d spotted its interestingly designed building on the way up to the castle and made sure to visit on my way back down. One of the church’s main claims to fame is that Mary, Queen of Scots worshipped here and her infant son James was crowned here as James VI of Scots in 1567. This church and Westminster Abbey in London are the only churches in Britain where a coronation has taken place and that is still used regularly for worship.
You can’t really miss St. Giles Cathedral, its looming presence in the Old Town of Edinburgh means its visible from all over the city. Saying that, I found I wasn’t really as impressed by St Giles as I have been of other cathedrals I’ve visited. One of Scotland’s most important medieval buildings the current structure was begun in the 14th century and has been a centre of Scottish historical events ever since.
Part of my reason for travelling to Scotland last year, and Greenock in particular, was to do some family tree research. My paternal grandmother was born in Greenock, her grandfather having been moved up there from Kent in the early 1900s to work at the Torpedo Factory which was, at the time, an extremely secretive job. My first stop therefore was to the McLean Museum where I had been hoping to find more information about the factory. There was, in fact, barely any mention of it that I hadn’t already found elsewhere – a veil of secrecy seems to still hang around the details – but there was plenty of other items of interest in the museum.
Long time readers will know that one of my favourite things to do is visit churches – not for any spiritual reason but architecturally and historically, and if it’s possible I take the opportunity to climb up into towers and onto roofs. Great St Mary’s is often recommended because its tower gives great views of the city, so I duly put it on my list of things I wanted to do.
Last March I went on a five night trip to Cambridge. One of the reasons I wanted to visit the city was to see King’s College Chapel. I’m not at all religious but I do like a good Christmas carol and watch the carols from King’s programme each year and have always admired the setting. Needless to say I was not disappointed.
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