As we are unsure of the mooring availability at Worcester, we decided upon a land based visit and caught the bus from Pershore this morning. We took the scenic one which went through a lot of villages; the driver did warn us that it took nearly an hour, but the journey was very nice owing to the greetings from each passenger as they joined the happy band of pilgrims on board. After passing through some beautiful countryside, villages and a torrential downpour with lightning, we arrived in Worcester. We headed for the cathedral.
We had thought that Pershore Abbey was a fine building.
Worcester Cathedral is magnificent. It was founded in 680AD and dedicated to St. Peter, in 983AD St Oswald founded a Benedictine monastery with a church dedicated to St Mary; this took over as the cathedral. The present building was commenced in 1084 by Bishop Wulfstan. The monastery was dissolved in 1540 and extensive damage was done by the parliamentarians during 1640 -1660; during this time they had troops housed and horses stabled inside. Around 1857, the victorians began an extensive restoration over the next 20 years. A further restoration was started in 1988 and is ongoing.
We spent over three hours on our visit; we will return as we were by then
suffering from an overload of information. The quality of craftsmanship is breathtaking. We had a very informative personal tour from Henry, not one of the guides on duty. He saw us admiring some fine stone tracery and politely enquired if he could show us something that he thought may be of interest. He showed us an unusual effigy of a knight.
There is a story which Myra raised and Henry chooses to believe: when a knight has been on one crusade, his effigy has legs crossed at the ankles. After two crusades, his legs are crossed at the knees; for a third crusade, his legs are crossed at the thighs.
Worcester cathedral has an effigy of a knight in the third category. Over the next 45 minutes, Henry shared some of his passion for this wonderful place, by showing us various little things that are not usually part of a tour. This lovely man made our visit that much more enjoyable; our visit to the top of the tower (255 steps) was another high point (ouch!). The weather was sunny and the surrounding area laid out beneath us was spectacular. The aerial view of North Road ground with the home team playing the last day of a match against Somerset was a scene that was essentially English. We travelled back to Pershore on the same circuitous route with the same friendly passengers; this time the sky was clear and we could see all of the views this time. We have had a really enjoyable day.
2009 Totals: 415 Locks – 707.5 miles – 18 Bus pass uses
