a brilliant week

we have spent the last week in the south of England.we made it as far south west as torquay and spent a night in lyme regis so we have now had a taste of British seaside life. it was very pretty and we had to take this shot of the beach huts

a highlight for john and a new experience in cold for me was attending the football match between reading and ... can't remember their name but according to reading supporters they cheat a lot and can't really play soccer (so perhaps their name doesn't really matter). reading is our friend Richard's team. they wear blue and white, they have a mascot called Kingsley who was very entertaining throughout the game and, whilst they will not win the premiership in their league they now have a very good chance of not being relegated at the end of the season because they have been winning a lot lately the following day john was given the choice between more time spent in contemplation of Jane Austen or a castle that would tell the story of a different femme-fatale. he chose Ann Boleyn so off to hever castle for us. this was quite a homey (not as in home-boy more as in domestic) castle but the grounds were truly on a dramatic scale. even in the winter (not spring yet) the scope and the setting made it a fantastic place to be.
a view of hever castle

the lake at hever castle

Thursday saw us off to Canterbury cathedral. this was where Thomas Beckett was murdered. he was made a saint and, as the repository for his bones, the cathedral became a site for pilgrimage. this assured the prominence and prosperity of both the cathedral and the town. the spirit of pilgrimage still seems to be in the essence of the town.

we had a lovely talk to one of the the cathedral chaplains who bid us 'come as tourist but to leave as pilgrims'. we waylaid a cathedral guide who explained to we ignorant free-churchers the purpose of cloisters and a chapter house and the differing functions of a dean and a cannon.

did you know that the archbishop of Canterbury- the leader of the anglican world must ask the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral's permission to come to the cathedral because it is the Dean's church and not the Archbishop's?

this guide sought us out later, as we had identified ourselves as Baptist, and told us of the location of a Strict and Particular Baptist church just outside the walls of the cathedral. of course we went to find it so in one day visited a massive center of worship with an international profile and one of the smallest places of worship it is possible to imagine. we weren't able to go in but did take a photo.

must find out what Zoar means or perhaps one of my blog followers can tell me. there's a challenge.