THURSDAY GROUP TRIP TO COVENTRY CATHEDRAL (AND HINCKLEY)

On Thursday 21 July, two ordinands, the Rev Michael Beckett, the Rev John Quysner, volunteer Sharon (from Indiana) and 9 regular Thursday lunchers sped up the A14 to Hinckley. Our destination was St Mary's and a meeting with Lady Catherine Buckland (fifth from right far right photograph) who used to live in Russell Street, Cambridge. The journey was uneventful apart from the dull thud of an errant wood pigeon hitting the windscreen.  Lady Catherine was delighted to see us and we all enjoyed St Mary's coffee bar and book stall. The church looked great despite its wonky buttresses. At a charity shop opposite the church, Max bought another hideous electro CD and JQ snapped up a vinyl LP of the Muppet Show.
	And so to Coventry cathedral. Coventry has had three cathedrals in the past 1000 years: the 12th century priory church of St Mary, the medieval cathedral of St Michael and the modern Coventry Cathedral, also named for St Michael. In 1539, with the dissolution of the monasteries, the See of Coventry and Lichfield was transferred to Lichfield and the former cathedral fell into decay. Only in 1918 was the modern diocese of Coventry created in its own right, and the church of St Michael designated as its cathedral. On the night of 14 November 1940, the city of Coventry was devastated by bombs dropped by the Luftwaffe. The Cathedral burned with the city, having been hit by numerous incendiary devices.
The shell of the old parish church cathedral has been retained, minus windows and roof, at right angles to the new cathedral which was consecrated in 1962. We were very moved by the old cathedral and the inscription "Father forgive" where the altar would have been. It's hard to imagine what it must have been like when this country was at war and so many people died. We marvelled at the John Piper windows but were less sure about the Graham Sutherland tapestry. The downstairs caff served up good grub but disabled access was poor. Ordinand Amanda learned a great deal about Armenia in the course of the day. And to cap it all, Max, usually so camera shy, actually asked to have his photograph taken. In short, another extraordinary day out.