June 4, 2010 St. Ives to Esh Winning
20.07.2010
Our outing of the day was a trip to Ely cathedral, where we got a longish guided tour including much of the history of the cathedral. I was much impressed and disturbed by the presence of business in the cathedrals, such as gift shops and cafés; although I understand that it takes thousands of pounds even daily to maintain these glorious tributes to a past Christian culture, I wish that money-making ventures were arranged so that they were not IN the house of God.
At any rate, the history of the place was interesting; I wish I remembered more of it. If you ever go, don't miss the horrific statue of Mary in the Lady Chapel! She reminds me of Galadriel when she is tested by the power of the ring.
After a fair chunk of driving and missing evensong at Durham cathedral, we arrived in a tiny town outside of Durham called Esh Winning, where Fr. Clavier had arranged for us to sleep at the Methodist church. Fish and chips for all! We invaded the local fish and chips joint (or rather, flooded the sidewalk outside and waited until our 23 orders were ready), returning the piqued glances of the regulars with studied innocence.
I loved our stay in Esh Winning! The setting was wonderful. We were surrounded by high wooded hills here, on the outskirts of the economically-depressed village; and the church property adjoined the public footpath, so we had a steady stream of curious young passers-by. The spacious church building allowed for us to spread out--for the first time, the guys and girls got separate rooms. The days to come were to bring still more good memories.
