Wednesday, 25th May - (Catch-up, at sea on the Azura, heading for Dublin)
We are to be in Cornwall on Friday, at the next self-catering place in St. Mawes.
Today we headed for Torquay, but on the way we decided to visit Wells Cathedral, which was recommended to us by Colin's cousin, and/or Linda from the small cruise, who said it was beautiful and worth a look.
After negotiating our way through and out of Bristol, we went through some very pretty countrside, (isn't it all?), and some nice towns like Chelwood, which reminded Lee of Carbridge up in Scotland.
There were the usual towns with odd names like Chewton Mendip, and more beautiful stone buildings and walls, and of course plenty of green space. This part of the country hasn't had much rain this spring.Like most, Wells Cathedral is visible from a distance, but not as spectacular as Lincoln or Ely. Parking isn't easy in some towns, as we've mentioned but we found a spot, and also found the required coffee place for our morning fix. This one is Coffee #1, which is quite good.
You approach a town gate, and the cathedral and buildings are through this gate. The design is very much different, with two towers at front, and one at the back.
Inside the cathedral is breathtakingly beautiful, with what they call scissor arches, apparently invented in Wells, to counteract the problem of sinking foundations.
The stone is beautiful,, and the columns are fluted quite deeply, and how on earth they 'designed' them and constructed them is a real mystery. Everything seems to fit together so perfectly.
I am falling in love with cloisters! I know they had their use in being able to walk around and meditate, etc., out of the weather, but they look so inviting and cosy, and 'comforting', I guess that was their purpose? There is also a very interesting undercroft, with a display area, and Lee also took a photo of some roman numerals, but the C's looked like D's, and there was an effigy dating back to the 13th/14th Century, AND it had graffiti on it, some dating back to the 1500's!!
more in next post...
