Our apartment in Lincoln was located just outside the old city that surrounded the Lincoln Cathedral. We had to walk through a stone arch that was hundreds of years old to get to this part of Lincoln.
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| Lincoln (not Nebraska) |
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| Lincoln Cathedral |
The inside was a bit more austere then others but still awe inspiring. All of these cathedrals are built in the shape of the cross with the congregation sitting in the lower part of the cross and the alter and places for the celebrants in the upper part of the cross. In English cathedrals the area directly in front of the alter is called the choir, probably because it is where the choir sits. The choir is very ornate with several rows of pews facing each other across an open aisle leading to the altar. This is also where the priests who are conducting the service sit. The choir in other cathedrals partially blocks the congregations view of the altar. In Lincoln Cathedral it completely blocks the view. There is a pulpit suspended from one of the columns in the area where the congregation sits. We assume a priest comes down from the choir and climbs the few steps up to the pulpit to deliver the sermon. There were two large movie screens in the congregation that we again assume allows the congregation to see what is going on up front. A bit strange in our minds. These cathedrals also have small chapels, usually located in the cross piece of the cross and also behind the altar. In the Lincoln Cathedral the chapel behind the altar had been recently remodeled with very contemporary furnishings. These furnishings were in stark contrast to the rest of the Cathedral but no less beautiful. In the middle of the last century the Lincoln diocese was the largest in England, hence, the Bishop of the Lincoln Cathedral was a very powerful and rich figure. Accordingly, his Palace was also impressive. Part of the palace remains as offices for officials of the diocese. The rest of the palace is basically ruins. This is because centuries ago an earthquake partially destroyed the Cathedral and stones were used from the palace to rebuild the damaged parts of the Cathedral. There was an original tower still standing that had two rooms. Tim climbed the circular stairway that the Bishop undoubtedly used to reach these rooms. Because of the heights of the ceilings, these rooms were probably on what we would consider the 3rd and 5th floors of the tower. Once back down, Tim offered a silent "thanks" to the inventor of the elevator. We spent the rest of the day exploring the varied mix of shops, having a pub lunch and going back to the apartment to read and nap.
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| Modern chapel in Lincoln Cathedral |
Our original destination for Tuesday had been Peterborough with the primary attraction being Burghley House, one of the largest Elizabethan houses remaining in England. Turns out this house was not located in Peterborough, but in Stamford, about 10 miles south of Peterborough. Again, poor research on Tim's part. While in Lincoln, Lynda spent time on the internet arranging another Airbnb apartment for us near Peterborough. The best she was able to come up with was about 20 miles south of Peterborough in a village called Buckden. Needless to say, we never made it to Peterborough. Our hosts at our apartment told us we had not missed a thing by skipping Peterborough. Stamford was another wonderful surprise. While Lynda communicated with our Buckden hosts they suggested we stop at the George Hotel in Stamford for lunch. This hotel is almost a thousand years old and has hosted two queens amongst other celebrities. We had lunch in the cozy bar and then explored some of the other public rooms. It was all very impressive. After lunch we crossed the street to visit the Mr. and Mrs. Clark Art Gallery. There was a sign over the door that said David Hockney, the name of a famous contemporary British artist. When we entered we were greeted by Mrs. Clark who explained to us that all of the art in the small gallery were either original pieces or prints of work by David Hockney. It took us only about 15 minutes to view all of the works, 15 minutes that we enjoyed. Before leaving, Tim asked the owners how a gallery with original work by such a famous artist ended up in Stamford. Mr. Clark explained that he had started collecting Hockney prints 10 or 15 years ago which eventually resulted in opening the gallery. They were in Stamford because their children were in various schools in the area and they liked Stamford. Next door to the gallery was an interior design store that specialized in modern Italian design. We spent 15 or 20 minutes in this shop oohing and aahing over several different pieces that we would have loved to have in our house until we looked at the price tag.
The Burghley House was as grand as advertised. It was built in the 1500's by William Cecil, the first Marquess of Exeter. He was Secretary of State and then High Treasurer to the Queen. He felt he had to build a house suitable to host Her Royal Highness, thus Burghley House. The house is still owned by the family of William Cecil. In the early 1900's the 9th Earl of Exeter tried to sell the House to the National Trust. When those negotiations fell through, he set up a trust that would allow the House to stay in the family and provide money to maintain it. Previous to setting up this trust, the family had been forced to sell a lot of the original artwork accumulated over 500 years in order to maintain the house and pay the substantial taxes. This scheme worked. Eventually they also opened the house to the public (for an admission charge, of course). The present owners, the Marquesses of Exeter and her husband, still live in the house with their 4 children. Of more interest, particularly to Lynda, were the gardens which were designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century. He is one of the most famous of a long line of famous British garden designers.
From Burghley House we drove to Buckden and checked in to our apartment. Buckden is a small village about 20 miles west of Cambridge. After a leisurely Wednesday morning, we left for Cambridge. As is our wont, actually more Lynda's want then Tim's, rather then the most direct route to Cambridge we took back roads. We drove through charming villages, finding a nice pub for lunch. Lynda had a cheddar cheese and pear toastie, and Tim had a pulled ham hock, Emmental cheese, and mango chutney toastie. They were as delicious as they sound. Shortly after lunch we were surprised to come upon the Cambridge American Cemetery. We stopped briefly. As with all U.S. Military Cemeteries, the Cambridge Cemetery was tastefully done and a fitting tribute to those who have died in service to our country.
In Cambridge we were headed to the Cambridge University Botanical Gardens. To get there we took a slight detour through the village of Grantchester. Those of you who watch Masterpiece Theater on PBS will recognize Grantchester as the name of a wonderful series that the network has run. We are going to have to watch an episode when we get home to see if the series was actually filmed in the village. When we got into Cambridge we encountered horrific traffic including almost as many bicycles as motor vehicles. We also were unable to find anyplace to park at the Garden. There was no dedicated car park. We decided to give up on the Botanical Garden and fight the traffic leaving Cambridge and return to our apartment.
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| Lovely English village |
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