A few days ago I took part in a training course that will allow me to lead community walks around Attingham Park. Community walks within Attingham Park is something new and I will be helping shape which walks will be on offer to start off the project.
After the training, which finished mid afternoon I put my best foot forward in the glorious sunshine. I walked my extended ‘mile walk’ route and took advantage of my favourite benches to sit and rest a while. Nearing the end of my walk I had to wait until the cows came home.
Tags: #walk1000miles, Attingham Park, Shropshire, Walk, Walk Leader, Walk Leader Training
Details from Coventry Cathedral website:
The artist John Piper was asked to design the stained glass. His view was that with 198 small areas of window to fill, the glass needed dazzling colour and an abstract pattern to create unity.
Working with glassmaker Patrick Reyntiens, he created the window from thousands of differently-sized pieces of glass to visually vary the space and rest the eye.
The baptismal font is situated in front of the baptistery window and is carved in the shape of a shell. The Inner City Peace Trail provides further information:
The font is carved into a boulder that was donated by the government of Jordan as a gesture towards Muslim, Christian and Jewish cooperation. It was shipped from a hillside near Bethlehem in 1960 and placed before John Piper’s stunning Baptistry window.
The font was carved into it by Ralph Beyer. He was a German letter-cutter, sculptor and teacher. He is most noted for his work on the new Coventry Cathedral, including carving not only the baptismal font but also the foundation stone of the cathedral, the greetings set into its floor and, what is perhaps his most famous work, the huge inscriptions in the nave.
Born in Berlin, Beyer served in the British Army during WWII. His mother was murdered in Auschwitz.
Tags: Baptismal Font, Coventry Cathedral, Coventy, John Piper, Ralph Beyer, Stained Glass Window, The Baptistery Window, Warwickshire
Thornflower has its roots deep in the artist’s childhood in Prague (which she left in 1939) in happy memories of her grandmothers’ home “Das Rosel Haus (the house of rose)” and in the death of her grandmother in Treblinka in 1942.
It is a reflection not only on the Nazi Holocaust but on “man’s inhumanity” across history, representing, in Charlotte Mayer’s own words “an urgent wish to make a sculpture uniting opposing elements of thorns and flowers, to speak of reconciliation, peace and oneness”.
Roses and thorns are never far apart in life, but it is the beauty of the rose that we remember.*
*from a signboard next to the artwork
Tags: Charlotte Mayer, Holocaust, Oneness, Peace, Reconciliation, Rose, The Thornflower, WW2, WWII
From Wiki:
The tapestry depicts a seated Risen Christ, within an oval mandorla on a green background, surrounded by the four living creatures mentioned in Chapter 4 of the Book of Revelation, which are also symbols of the Four Evangelists. The tetramorph (four shapes) of the title are the lion for St Mark, eagle for St John, calf for St Luke, and angel for St Matthew.
For the four living creatures, Sutherland sketched eagles and lions at Maidstone Zoo. The composition also draws influences from Egyptian sculpture, Italian mosaic, and images of Christ Pantocrator in Greek and Romanesque churches.[5]
The face of Christ is bearded, and is deliberately made more human than divine: it is based on several sources, including photographs of cyclists in Paris Match magazine.[6] The Christ figure wears a white robe, and is sitting on a throne, face on, with both hands raised towards his face. Loops around the head suggest a halo.
Between his feet is a life sized figure of a man, made diminutive by the colossal scale of the Christ-figure. At the base of the tapestry is a small Crucifixion scene.[4]
Tags: Altar, Christ in Glory, Coventry Cathedral, Tapestry, Warwickshire
The reflection of the ruined Cathedral Church of St Michael is reflected in the glass that surrounds the entrance to the new Cathedral in Coventry.
On 23rd March 1956. Her Majesty the Queen (Elizabeth II) laid the foundation stone for the New Cathedral.
*The ruined Cathedral Church of St Michael dates from 1300AD. One of the largest parish churches in England, built originally for the Earl’s half of Coventry, it became ‘The Cathedral’ of the diocese of Coventry in 1918.
The magnificent west tower and spire built 1374-1450 is 295 feet high. It dominates the city centre and survived the air raid of 14 November 1940 which destroyed the remainder of the church.*
*information from a plaque within the ruined church
Tags: Cathedral Church of St Michael, Coventry Cathedral, Warwickshire, WW2, WWII
History of the hospital quoted from a sign on the gateway that enters the courtyard:
“Take a moment to imagine coming home to me more than 500 years ago for very little here has changed. Founded by wealthy wool merchant and benefactor William For, I began life in 1509, the same year Henry VIII ascended to the throne…. I wonder did he ever visit during his dissolution of Coventry’s monasteries?
I am proud to be a Grade I listed building and generally considered to be one of the finest examples of 16th century domestic building in England.
I was originally built to house 5 elderly men along with a lady housekeeper but with later endowments I grew to accommodate ii couples all of whom would also receive a weekly allowance. Presently I have 5 residents of “good character” under my roof. along with many of my neighbours I suffered badly during WWII. My matron, her assistant and 6 residents taking shelter in the matron’s chamber all perished when on 14th October 1940 I took a direct hit during an air raid. While searching through the bomb damage Coventry historian John Shelton discovered some 14th century floor tiles, one of which bore the Black Eagle, a design of the Earl of Leofric. It is now believed that even before me a Chapel once stood on this site.
By 1953 I had been resorted, using wherever possible original materials and I remain an attraction to many visitors to the city today.
So as you look through the iron gate into the courtyard you are witnessing the site of a meeting between two of the nation’s great literary figures. Dr Who meets William Shakespeare!! Yes in 2006 David Tennant and his crew filmed and episode right here in my yard.
Who knows what else the future, or the past may hold for me?”
Tags: Almshouses, Coventry, Dr Who, Ford's Hospital, Warwickshire, William Shakespeare
I recently obtained the North Telford Coronation walks booklet and I am hoping to tick off all the walks before the end of 2025.
I started with one of my local walks where I could walk from home. I started the walk from the pedestrian crossing rather than Leegomery Community Centre. Along the way I detoured taking in Apley pool and Leegomery pools extending my walk to around 4 miles.
Tags: #walk1000miles, #walk1000miles2025, Apley, Apley Pool, Apley Woods, Bridle Path, Leegomery Pools, Portrait, Red Oak, Self Portrait, Shropshire, Silkin Way, Telford Coronation Walks, Walk 5, Woodhenge, Yew Walk
