Stratford via Coventry

Monday  9th October

Another slow start. Chatted with another couple over a lovely cooked breakfast, finally packed and ready to go at 10.20! We really are getting used to this relaxed life-style but not sure how we will keep it up when we get home - I think we might hire a maid. Decided to walk around 'our Estate  village' before leaving, took at least 15 mins - we are going to miss it.

Royal Mail delivery and local Pub



 

High street from the village green

At last we were on the road and travelling mainly on main highways to Coventry. The trip had two highlights, the first was seeing 3 deer with large antlers next to the road whilst still in the Chatsworth Estate - we have seen many 'beware of deer' signs but had not seen one until today. The second was, as we were travelling fast along the M1 (but not as fast as the Merc's, BMW's or Audi's) we passed a large sign welcoming us to the Nottingham District - the home of Robin Hood, and at that exact moment the music on the BBC Classic station was the theme from the film 'Robin Hood and the den of thieves' - that made us laugh. Coventry is a very large city and it was very, very difficult to find a car park. Finally we crawled into a narrow space, paid our 4 pounds and walked into the city centre for soup of the day. Our reason for being in Coventry was to see the Cathedral, which was easy to find between the City and the University and which was most impressive. We wished we had had more time to explore everything. The very modern building is huge, light filled, with amazing glass windows and a tapestry at the end which is the largest in the world. It is attached to the ruins of the earlier cathedral which was destroyed, except for the exterior walls and bell tower, when the Germans fire bombed it during WW2. Following the war the decision was taken not to restore the cathedral but to build a new one next to the old and to have a theme of reconciliation as the theme for everything the church does. We were most impressed with the building, it's art work and fittings, and especially with the work they are involved with concerning reconciliation between people around the world.

 

 

Travelled on to busy Stratford - Shakespeare has a lot to answer for! The Youth Hostel is in an old mansion quite a way out of town in a village. It is quite nice but once again, a 'double with private facilities' means a double bunk with hardly any floor space  - not enough room for cases on the floor or to swing a cat, in fact much less space than a moderately sized caravan. Still, it is cheap, the kitchen/dining room is good and the lounge is warm, comfortable and a good place to write a blog. Also, we have met some nice people. All is not lost!