When I woke up on Saturday morning, I asked Mr C if there was a plan for the day. He replied ‘a plan is emerging’. This is code for there is no plan.

I emerged from the bathroom to get dressed ready for the day and was informed that we were going to Liverpool to visit the Anglican Cathedral. Mr C nipped out to do a couple of things and by the time he returned I was dressed and ready for our adventure.

Unlike our recent adventures by train, we travelled by car. The journey went smoothly with no delays. We arrived at the Cathedral carpark just in time for lunch in Welsford Bistro. We both chose toasties, mine was falafel and chilli jam, it was delicious.

Our first impression of the Cathedral was “WOW!” because of its immense proportions. The architecture is certainly impressive but I felt the building had a lack of soul (atmosphere). My thought was enhanced by witnessing a church service taking place in the nave at the same time that people from the Bistro were eating at tables on the edge of the nave, just behind the congregation. Some sort of portable screen would have made the service more intimate and meaningful even for those not taking part.

The Cathedral is constructed of dark sandstone and, due to the height of the building, even the amazingly large stained-glass windows were unable to cast bright light into the body of the Cathedral. We visited on a dull day so maybe I would feel differently on a bright sunny day.

The lady chapel is quite a contrast. It is bright, airy, and full of light and also peaceful with a ‘sit and rest a while’ air about it.

On our way home we detoured by Cheshire Oaks; Mr C was in search of new frying pans. I think this was Mr C’s main destination to which he added something he knew I would enjoy, a Cathedral and one I hadn’t visited before so that I could get another stamp in my Cathedral passport.

Getting my passport stamp is often an interesting experience. In Liverpool Cathedral, they weren’t really engaged with it and it was just a thing that was available. Whereas on our recent visit to Southwark Cathedral the lady who greeted visitors was interested to know if I was on a pilgrimage or if I was collecting stamps from the Anglican Cathedrals listed in the Passport. I am collecting stamps from the Cathedrals listed, that is my pilgrimage. I was able to show her the front of my passport where all the cathedrals I have visited over the years are highlighted, the ones in green are those that I have visited since I obtained my passport.

She has the passport too and asked which were my favourite Cathedrals…

PS: we got the required frying pans from Boundary Mill a few days later.

After breakfast our first port of call was Ripley where we enjoyed a stroll round the village. Although Mr C wasn’t particularly taken with it, I enjoyed the church which had some interesting historical features including the base of  a medieval cross known as ‘the weeping cross’ and which is thought to be a unique survival of a structure of this type.

The next village on our list was Pateley Bridge where we went for a brief walk along a pathway by the river Nidd to find the Pillars Past sculpture before exploring the town.

Before we left the area I suggested that we made a detour to view Coldstones Cut, a massive sculpture with viewing platforms looking over the nearby quarry and surrounding countryside.  The effort of climbing the short steep walk to get to the monument rewarded us both with a WOW moment!

We had walked up an appetite so we headed to Ripon for lunch which we enjoyed sitting on a bench in the gardens by the war memorial. After lunch we toured Ripon Cathedral which I had not been to before. Over 10,000 origami angels were suspended from the ceiling. I learned that it was a project called ‘A Wing and A Prayer’ which had been designed in the early days of lockdown to recognise the work done by keyworkers and those on the front line. I found the installation breathtaking.

Whilst there I was able to get the first stamp in my 2020 Year of Cathedrals Pilgrim Passport. At the beginning of 2020 it had planned to visit many Cathedrals this year. Maybe next year…

We weren’t ready to go back to the hotel so we detoured via Knaresborough. We walked through the town spotting the window murals known as the ‘Knaresborough windows’ ending up by the castle and war memorial which due to their elevated position treated us to spectacular views of the Victorian aqueduct and the gorge below. We returned to the car via the Bebra Gardens where I spotted a beautiful memorial bench.

Back at the hotel we had our last evening chill out before dinner in the restaurant. When we arrived at the restaurant we were told that our table wasn’t quite ready. I said that’s OK and suggested that a seat could be found for us and we would order a pre-dinner drink. There were no seats were available so with our agreement we were taken to an outside table to wait with our pre-dinner drink. Our drinks didn’t arrive a promptly as we expected and, after some time, we were seated in a back room away from the bar area and restaurant, not quite what we expected as hotel residents who had booked.

As time passed, we found ourselves alone in that area with two tables of loud non-residents. In normal circumstances we would have moved to a more ambient area but due to Covid-19 rules we stayed put rather than introducing more cleaning areas for the hotel staff. A lovely waitress that had been looking after us during our stay was a bit put out that we had been sidelined into a back room and made a point of coming to say goodbye to us before she clocked off for the evening. How special was that!

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