The Ham Nomads

25 Aug 2014. <GB-ENG> Coventry, Warw —

A wet Bank Holiday Monday. Wouldn't think there'd be much to do, but we went into Coventry to see what we could see. Parked the van in the Memorial Park park and ride, took the bus in. It dropped us in Trinity Street, just at the right end of town to visit the cathedral. As this was the main reason for visiting Coventry, off we went!

Coventry was devastated in a Nazi bombing raid on the night of 14 November 1940. It was particularly devastating when the inhabitants later came to believe that the codebreakers at Bletchley Park had read and understood the German communications that presaged the raid (although this has subsequently been debunked). The medieval cathedral at Coventry fell victim to German incendiary bombs, and on the morning after, only the spire and the peripheral walls were still standing.

After the war was over, instead of rebuilding the cathedral, a totally new and modern cathedral was constructed, leaving the ruin of the old cathedral across its entrance as a memorial to the futility of war. The new cathedral was primarily a huge empty space which numerous artists would be able to decorate. The stained glass is incredible, but the star of the whole is the tapestry hanging behind the main altar (and behind the Lady Chapel which sits behind the high altar). The design for this tapestry by Graham Sutherland (a watercolorist) was faithfully rendered by the tapestry workers in Felletin in France, so faithfully that you can see his very brushstrokes rendered in the threads. The tapestry is huge, the size of a tennis court. To give you an idea of the scale, the figure of man between Christ's feet is near-life-size, at 5'1" tall!

The new cathedral was consecrated on 25 May 1962. For the occasion, a new work was performed — Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.

We wandered the building, exploring its many nooks and crannies — there's something new every way you turn. One of the most exquisite parts is the Chapel of Christ in Gethsemane, with a concrete and gilt mural, and a steel crown-of-thorns screen at its entrance.

We left to have lunch, returning before 1pm, when their Monday Lunchtome Concert featured the organist Tim Campain, with a varied concert of Henry Smart, Buxtehude, Ireland and Georgi Aleksandrovich Mushel — and one anonymous 17th century work, "The Lord Mayor's Swan Hopping Trumpet Tune" — altogether a wonderful, relaxing half-hour in this wonderful cathedral!

We walked about a little more, then wandered into the Herbert Museum just opposite.

They had a few rather disparate exhibitions going — one on art and legend surrounding Coventy's medieval celebrity, Lady Godiva; another on various representations of the four elements, earth, air, water and fire; another on the history of Coventry from medieval times to the present.

One exhibit intrigued Warren — an 1840 jacquard ribbon-weaving loom. Warren's interest was because the punched cards used to control the loom were the precursors to the punched cards used for early computer input.

We enjoyed the Herbert, then returned to our van and to the same site we used the previous night — it was easier doing this than going in search of another, and the site was really quite good!

Distance driven — today, 11 miles ( 17 km ); to date, 6,448 miles ( 10,377 km )