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Showing posts from September 1, 2024

How can I put this nicely?

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This is the Jesus Chapel in Blackburn Cathedral. I arrived here after an early start camping in the woods just outside the city. I'd been rained on the night before, slept in damp air surrounded by cold mists, and packed everything up in drizzle the next morning. After a few weeks on the road I've learned to cope with these kinds of discouraging nights, but they still sap morale a bit. I was hoping for a little something to help kickstart the day.  And Blackburn could well have been it. The cathedral was superb. It's very modern - for a cathedral - and it looks it. And sometimes that doesn't work well; certain modern building and art styles have not worn well alongside the greatest traditions of the past (yes, brutalism, I'm looking at you and the revolting glass and concrete apocalypse you've visited on most British cities). But Blackburn shows how magnificent modern design and art can be when done right. The cathedral's main body and the Jesus ...

How to offer a warm welcome

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This beautiful carving of the Madonna and Child was tucked away at the back of St Andrew's, Greystoke. It was carved from a holly log by a German wood carver held at the nearby castle at the end of the Second World War. All he had available for carving was a small pocket knife and a tiny chisel. It's a beautiful and moving piece of art. It was only one of many delights in this church (which, as usual, I happened on by pure good fortune). There's a magnificent sculpture of Christ, a terrific east window, some medieval carved tombs, and plenty more for the avid church-bagger. Oh, and of course, it's a very congenial place to pray!  But beyond all this lay something absolutely wonderful that had nothing to do with the bricks and mortar. St Andrew's is a church that has absolutely nailed hospitality, and I found out why.  First, an idea of how the place has been opened up to strangers like me. At the church gate was a sign giving times of the services, but a...

The things you see ...

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Tootling along the back lanes, as I do, I found myself passing the most extraordinary sight: what appeared to be a collapsing castle with a house built inside - just take a look at the left side of that photo for a minute.  Turns out it was Blencowe Hall. Never heard of it? Neither had I. Apparently the story is this. Cromwell was ranging around the north with his New Model Army and decided to stay attack nearby Greystoke Castle. But he had trouble finding it, or got distracted, or something like that. His troops arrived at Blencowe, apparently decided that would do, and started shooting their cannons at it until one of the towers shattered and began to split apart.  Well, what's a person so do with their little 12 bedroom hall after a mishap like that? Pull the whole thing down and start again, or fix it, or just abandon the place? It seems that at some point in the recent past some genius thought: why not just go with it, and live stylishly in the wreckage? ...

Small and beautiful

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Carlisle Cathedral is ... not big. I don't mean any disrespect; Leicester Cathedral (in my own diocese) is pretty compact by cathedral standards too, and I'm very fond of it. Likewise, here at Carlisle the small footprint contains much to love.  The choir takes up most of the cathedral's interior, so had been imaginatively arranged to include the entire congregation within it, being held by the choir stalls in a kind of woody embrace. They've also turned the area around the font (which would be a entire huge nave in many cathedrals) into a very beautiful chapel / prayer space.  The altar is magnificent - see the photo. Now that kind of lavishness (or gaudiness) may not be to your taste, although I rather liked it. But it reminded me of something my Old Testament tutor, Philip Jensen, talked about during my training days. He said that in all architecture we have a tendency to put the things we most value in the centre and at an elevated height. The Holy of Ho...