In last week’s entry, K and friends had just seen The Tempest at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon and stayed at The Shakespeare, a historic hotel.
Sun p.m.—Aug. 4
Thought I’d mail this this morning then decided that it would reach you as soon if I mailed it in London, but we arrived later than we thought—and here it is time for bed, so I’ll just keep writing.
We planned to see Shakespeare’s birth place and Anne Hathaway’s cottage and take an early train into London. I asked the Hall Porter how far we were from Warwick Castle. Answer: 8 miles. Then he told me we would have to change trains at Leamington Spa. After some conversations we walked to the birth place—in the rain—and came back to the hotel.
Shakespeare’s birthplace is a 16th-century house in Stratford-upon-Avon that is open to the public as a museum and visitor attraction. It’s about a half-mile walk from the hotel where they stayed.
We took a taxi to Leamington Spa, where we checked our bags, and had the taxi take us to the Castle. Cost about one pound ($2.80) for the four of us. I had seen the castle before—on a tour from London—it was good to see it again, and to see the gardens, which there had not been time for before. The gardens were nice but not spectacular, but we saw peacocks, peahens, and baby pea chicks—which was fun.
Warwick Castle’s origins date back to 1068 and William the Conqueror. Here are a couple of pictures K took there.
Warwick Castle and Peacock
We walked to the village and had a bit of lunch—only it was called tea as it was too late for lunch. Sandwiches (beef) and tea—which was all that we wanted. On the way to lunch I spotted a sign that said 11 miles to Coventry—and it seemed a shame not to see the new Cathedral that has had so much controversy when we were so very near. The buses run only once an hour—which we were afraid to risk. The taxis had been so reasonable we decided to investigate that. The cost for the four was less than a pound. He drove us to Coventry, waited (half hour) while we “looked,” drove us along the statue of Lady Godiva (I jumped out and took a picture in the rain)—then to Leamington Spa where our bags were checked—and we had about a half our to get our bags and take the train.
I couldn’t locate K’s picture of Lady Godiva, but here’s one I found online. The statue, officially called “Self Sacrifice,” depicts her naked ride through the city to protest her husband’s oppressive taxes.
I was thrilled with the Cathedral—and I had not expected to like it.
The 14th century St. Michael’s Cathedral was destroyed in a German air raid in 1940. The radically modern design caused controversy when it was revealed in 1950, but it is considered a highly inspirational work of architecture. Here’s a picture K took on her visit.
They have cleaned up the ruins of the old, and it is connected with the new. It is, of course, Church of England. The spire is left. Above the altar is a charred wooden cross—and the ruins is used at Easter and a couple other times a year.
This video describes the cathedral with a blend of engineering and spiritual perspectives.
There were crowds of people going through the new building. There were some things I did not understand, but some things were breathtaking—especially the windows. They are placed something as the ones in the church in Paoli.
“They are in pairs—the first mainly green and represents beginnings, the second mainly red—God’s intervention in the World—the third, multicolored—conflict and struggle—the fourth, purple & red, represents maturity—the fifth, silver and gold, shed light on the altar—ultimate realities.”—Coventry Cathedral Guidebook
“As in Life, the colour of the windows is revealed only as you reach each stage—the past is known—the future is not. Only when you reach the altar the whole range of colour is seen for the first time.”—Sir Basil Spence
The above, of course, is mostly from the guide book, which I bought afterward—but I had been “aware” of what was happening as I walked up the side aisle.
I found the guide book she bought in a file folder of travel memorabilia. It has extensive details and photographs of the cathedral, and helped me figure out what I was seeing in another of the slides she took. This is the West Screen, a mostly clear glass window engraved by New Zealand artist John Hutton with 66 figures depicting saints and angels.
I could go on and on—I’m sorry we did not have more time—but I’m glad to have seen it for a bit. This is a holiday week end (tomorrow is Bank Monday). That may be one reason for the hundreds of people. Someday I’d like to see it when I had more time and there were not the crowds. No picture taking was allowed in the building—one couldn’t anyway for the people—so I did buy a few slides, mostly of the windows.
Coventry Cathedral was consecrated on May 25, 1962, just a little over a year before K visited, and has become a symbol of peace and reconciliation as well as one of war-time destruction and barbarity. Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, composed for the occasion, premiered in the new cathedral on May 30. Here’s a brief documentary on this performance.
It really has been a good day—partly because it was so very different from what we had expected. I know what I see I enjoy more than I would being entirely on a tour. In chatting with the Hotel Porter this morning, he told of a tour that came in at 5:45, ate, went to the play, and were off at 8:00 this a.m.
When we went into Anne Hathaway’s cottage I met a former Sussex mother and her son—Mrs. Allen. I had had two of her children. She was one of my favorite parents. They now live out of New York City. Perhaps you’ve heard me speak of her. She came over to meet her son who has been in France a year. The boy I had had in school was in France a year ago. I had been in the cottage before so I spent all the time having a good chat with her. The world is small.
Anne Hathaway was the wife of Willam Shakespeare. The cottage, where she lived as a child, is a 12-room farmhouse just west of Stratford-upon-Avon and is open to the public as a museum.
K taught for quite a few years at the Sussex Elementary School in Shaker Heights, OH (now the Shaker Family Center).
A week from today I’ll be on the ship—but this week looks interesting. As we came from the station we drove by Marble Arch, the Cumberland Hotel, Buckingham Palace, and several other places I recognized. Returning to some of the same places has some very great advantages. I’m not quite so overcome with the strangeness as I was before—a little oriented, as one might say.
St. Ermin’s seems to be a very pleasant hotel—it’s all paid for, and it looks as if I’d have a few dollars left over.
St. Ermin’s is in central London. A hotel since the late 1890s, it was—according to this article—a noted haunt of the British intelligence service before and during the Cold War, including serving as a liaison point between Soviet double agents Philby and MacLean and their handlers. MI6 headquarters were just around the corner until 1964, after which it fell out of use by spies and agents. It does make me wonder what might have been happening there while K was in London, especially given that the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by the US, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain the very next day. This exhibit on the Special Operations Executive (aka Churchill’s Secret Army during WWII) is featured in the hotel lobby.
