Sent to Coventry

Forty-one parishioners and friends rather than being sent to Coventry set out quite voluntarily on a very bright Saturday for our coach trip to Coventry. After a trouble free journey we were soon alighting at the steps to the cathedral. Here you are immediately faced with the Jacob Epstein’s massive bronze sculpture of St. Michael with the Devil cowering at his feet, a very symbolic start to our visit. We had about two hours to kill until our prearranged guided tour was to start, so we made good use of the time in various ways. Certainly at least two of the braver souls, tackled the climb to the top of St Michael’s Tower, part of the original cathedral destroyed by German bombing. The tower is 300 feet high and there are 180 steps to climb on a narrow spiral staircase. As we soon discovered this is not for the faint hearted! The top was eventually reached and it would be nice to say that the views were worth the exhausting climb, but that would be exaggerating the beauty of the Coventry skyline. However, from this high up you were able to get a sense of the size of the original cathedral. The climb down was only slightly less exhausting and we joined some of the other travellers in the café of the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. The art gallery is well worth a visit in its own right and entry is free. As well as static displays there was a display of Indian dancing and stilt walking and the café serves carrot cake to die for! Purely on artistic and historical grounds the Lady Godiva gallery was particularly interesting. One painting depicting Lady Godiva’s naked ride through the streets was particularly intriguing as in an upstairs window there is depicted a male face, suspected of being the original “Peeping Tom”, however other experts suggest that the face belongs to Leofric, Earl of Mercia, Godiva’s husband. Of course, there are some who suggest the whole thing is fiction! Anyway, it makes a good story.

Sitting in the cathedral, as we waited for our guides we were bathed in sunlight pouring through the immense glass screen at the west end of the church. Looking down towards Graham Sutherlands famous tapestry of Christ in Glory it was easy to find a spiritual presence even amongst the hustle and bustle of a major tourist attraction. By the way, unusually, in order to become as one with the old cathedral the new one is aligned north to south, however the Church of England looks at the compass points in a liturgical, rather than a geographical way. The high altar although at the geographical north end of the church is described as being at the east end. So, when we were sitting in the sunlight, it was in fact coming from the geographical south through the west window! Easy, when you know how!

One group started the tour in the old cathedral with a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable octogenarian guide, Barbara. The other group were led by Derek an equally knowledgeable guide and they started in the new cathedral. Standing in the old cathedral grounds as our guide described the bombing and destruction of that fateful night in 1940, when so much of Coventry was destroyed, it was easy to get a sense of the glory that once was the old cathedral. The focal point is the reproduction of the cross of beams that was erected the day after the cathedral was destroyed. Immortalised in stone, behind the cross are the two words chalked up by one of the priests soon after the bombing “Father Forgive”. It is hard not to be moved by these simple words, written so soon after many lives were lost and homes destroyed.

We then moved into the modern cathedral. It is fair to say to say that the modern building is not to everyone’s taste, but whatever your views, you cannot fail to be moved by the work and skill that went into the design and construction of the building, equal to those that built the original cathedral. Your eyes move all round this large open building, from the glass screen which forms the west wall, with its amazing engravings of angels and saints to the beautiful baptistery window containing 195 panels of brilliantly coloured glass. Here they were preparing for baptisms the following day, but they would not be using the font created from a three-ton rock from Bethlehem, but a ‘tub’, which was being constructed by workmen for total immersion. Wherever you walk in the building, whether you find it moving or not, you cannot escape the massive Sutherland tapestry ‘Christ in Glory’ which replaces the traditional east window, behind the high altar.

There is so much to see, admire and be moved by in this building and our guides did an excellent job of pointing out everything of interest. We were even treated to the organist practicing for evensong, that evening.

There was just enough time left after our guided tour for those that had not been previously to visit Holy Trinity Church, just in the shadow of the cathedral. This church, one of the largest medieval parish churches in England contains a very rare 15 th century “Doom” painting, so called from the warning, “ prepare to meet thy doom”. Doom in this case meaning judgement. The painting, on the east wall of the nave, depicts Christ on the day of judgement deciding the eternal destination of all human lives. In the days when most people could not read, churches would have been full of paintings depicting the scriptures. Ordinary people entering the church would have been left in no doubt, seeing this painting as to what fate might await them, if they did not change their ways!

Everyone agreed that this was an enjoyable and informative day out.

Ken Amery

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