Coventry Cathedral

I recently paid a visit to Coventry Cathedral, which was famously rebuilt after being destroyed by a Nazi air raid in World War Two.

The Cathedral was originally founded by Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and his wife Godiva in the 11^th century and then rebuilt in the 14^th century. The 90 metre (295 feet) high tower and spire was the third tallest in England and the size of the church indicated the wealth that Coventry enjoyed in the Middle Ages as the country’s fourth largest city after London, Bristol and York. The Cathedral contributed to a beautiful skyline that was dominated by the three church spires of the Cathedral, Holy Trinity and Greyfriars.

However, on the night of the 14^th November 1940, the city was attacked and destroyed by the Nazis. A large part of the city centre was devastated and over 500 people lost their lives. The lovely old Cathedral was left in ruins with only the tower and spire still standing.  Out of all the British cities that were bombed in the Second World War, only Coventry lost its Cathedral.

On the morning after the attack it was resolved to rebuild the Cathedral not as an act of defiance but as a sign of faith, trust and hope in the future of the world. When the ruins were photographed from the top of the tower it was seen that two timbers from the damaged roof had fallen in the shape of a cross.

Construction on the new Cathedral didn’t begin until ten years after the end of the war. The new one was designed by Sir Basil Spence (1907 – 1976) and the foundation stone was laid by Queen Elizabeth II on 23^rd March 1956. The immense project captured the imagination of the world and gifts arrived from Germany, Canada, Sweden and many other countries. On 25^th May 1962, the Queen returned to Coventry to attend its consecration.

The new Cathedral is considered a remarkable piece of craftsmanship and is filled with many beautiful works of art. The most famous is Sir Jacob Epstein’s “Saint Michael and the Devil”, a six metre high bronze sculpture hanging near to the entrance. Behind the altar is the world’s largest tapestry, Graham Sutherland’s “Christ in Glory”. The Cathedral’s windows are angled so that sunlight is thrown on to the tapestry.  The 22 metre high baptistery window, designed by John Piper, contains 195 panels of glass and is considered one of the most beautiful in England. The font is 3-ton boulder from Bethlehem that has been shaped into a scallop-shaped bowl by Ralph Beyer. The lattice spire was lowered into place by helicopter, which was unusual at the time.

A cross of nails was made out of three nails from the fallen roof truss of the old cathedral. It was placed on the altar of the new cathedral and has become a symbol of peace and reconciliation across the world. There are now 160 crosses across the world, all made from the original nails. One of the these crosses is kept in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, which was similarly destroyed in an air raid and is kept as a ruin next to a newer church.  A cross is also kept on all board all ships bearing the name HMS Coventry. The cross was on board when HMS Coventry was sunk by Argentine air attack in the Falklands War in 1982 and it went down with the ship. It was subsequently recovered by divers from the Royal Navy and presented to the Cathedral.

However, the most remarkable thing about the new Cathedral is that it has been built next to the ruins of the old. Indeed the ruins are incorporated into it so that the two parts form a single whole. The ruins can be clearly seen through the 22 metre high West Screen which was specially designed to unite the two.

A visit to the Cathedral commences in the old ruins where one notices that a replica of the cross formed from the two fallen timbers that now stands behind the old altar. The words “FATHER FORGIVE” have been carved into them. The original charred cross is now kept inside the new part of the Cathedral. There is also a statue by Joselina de Vasconcellos showing two human figures in an embrace. It is called “Reconciliation” and was designed by the artist when she was 90. The statue was donated to the Cathedral by Sir Richard Branson. A cast of the statue has been presented on behalf of the people of Coventry to the Peace Garden in Hiroshima, Japan.

One then walks from the ruins to the new Cathedral, which has been built at right-angles to the old church. The experience is compared to walking from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, from death to life.

The Cathedral has achieved its purpose of restoring hope to the future and reconciliation between Britain and Germany.  However, there is still a role for it to play in bringing reconciliation between the different races, religions and classes of the world, as well raising concern for the environment. The large numbers of international visitors, who take away a happy memory, are playing a part in this.

Please see below for the photographs of my visit.

1. The view of the old Cathedral from the top of its 15th century tower (above).

  2. The altar of the old Cathedral showing the replica wooden cross (above).

3. Close-up of the altar showing the words "Father Forgive" inscribed into the wall behind it (above).

4. The memorial of Huyshe Wolcott Yeatman, the first Bishop of Coventry (above) lies in the ruins of the old Cathedral.

5. The memorial includes a swastika. However, it predates the Nazis and at that time stood for good luck (above).

6. Fortunately the beautiful 15th century tower survived the bombing (above).

7. A view of the new Cathedral from the tower of the old (above). The lattice spire was lowered into place by a helicopter.

8. The view of Holy Trinity church from the top of the tower (above).

9. A statue entitled "Reconciliation" stands in the ruins of the old cathedral (above).

10. The old and new parts of the Cathedral stand together where they form a united whole (above). As one moves from the old to the new it is like moving from Good Friday to easter Sunday, death to life, war to peace.

11. The old part of the Cathedral can be seen through the large West Screen of the new (above).

12. The interior of the new part of the cathedral gives one the impression of space (above).

13. The world's largest tapestry, "Christ in Glory" by Graham Sutherland, hangs behind the altar (above).

14. The altar and the cross of nails (above).

15. A close-up of the cross of nails (above).

16. The original charred cross from the ruins of Coventry Cathedral.

17. The stained-glass window of the baptistery (above) is considered one of the most beautiful in England.

18. The font is carved from a three-ton boulder brought from Bethlehem (above).

 

19. "Saint Michael and the Devil" by Sir Jacob Epstein is the most famous piece of art at the Cathedral.

The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

I recently paid a visit to see the model dinosaurs that are the last remnant of the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace.  Also known as “Dinosaur Court”, they were the first dinosaur sculptures to go on public show anywhere in the world.  For the time people could see what prehistoric animals were like.  Not surprisingly, the world’s first “Jurassic Park” caused a sensation especially as the extinction of these creatures implied a timescale and a process of evolution that was at odds with the teaching of the bible.

The dinosaurs were designed in 1852 and unveiled in 1854.  Their creator, Waterhouse Hawkins, worked closely with the leading dinosaur expert of the day, Sir Richard Owen, to try and make them as accurate as possible.  However, further discoveries of dinosaur fossils since the mid-19^th century have revealed that the sculptures were sometimes inaccurate.

The sculptures show fourteen different species of extinct animals grouped on three islands in Crystal Palace Park.  The islands broadly correspond with three great eras of time.  The first island corresponds with the Palaeozoic era (550 – 250 million years ago), the second island with the Mesozoic era (250 – 65 million years ago) and the third island with the Cenozoic era (still ongoing after 65 million years). Thus, taken together, the three islands form a timeline showing the development of life on earth since the earliest times.  The monsters have been also been given the right setting among plants, ferns and suitable geological features.

Four species are gathered on the first island: Labyrinthodon, Plesiosaurus, Dycinodon and Icthyosaurus.  Six species are gathered around the second island: Mosasaurus, Hylaeosaurus, Pterodactylus, Iguanodon, Megalosaurus and Teleosaurus.  Four species are to be found on the fourth island: Megaloceros, Anoplotherium, Megatherium and Palaeotherium.  There are a total of 29 different animals.  Sculpted from stone they have carefully been repainted in their original colours.

Please see the photographs below.

Labyrinthodon (above) was a fish-eating carnivorous dinosaur that lived in the Permian and Triassic periods about 250 million years ago. It’s name is Latin for “maze tooth” as a cross-section of a tooth reveals a maze-like structure. There are three in the park, consisting of both smooth-skinned (salamandroides) and rough-skinned species (pachygnathus). As the Victorians had then only a fossilized skull to work on the body is shown as frog-like. However, subsequent discoveries have shown that it was more like a crocodile.

Plesiosaurus (above) is one of the better known dinosaurs in the park. It was a carnivorous fish-eating dinosaur that lived in the late Triassic and Jurassic eras about 200 million years ago, when it dominated the seas. It died out in the early Cretaceous period although the Loch Ness Monster (if it exists) is said to be a distant relative of the plesiosaur. The name means “ribbon reptile” and the earliest fossils were found in Lyme Regis, Dorset, England between 1800 and 1820. There are three species in the park namely macrocephalus (long-headed), dilochoderius (long-necked) and hawkinsii (named after Thomas Hawkins who discovered it).  The models are fairly accurate but subsequent discoveries showed the necks did not twist in the way shown.

Dycindon (above) was a herbivore that that lived in the Permian and Triassic periods about 250 million years ago. It completely died out in a mass extinction that took place at the end of the Triassic period. Its name means “two dog teeth” and the fossils were found in India and South Africa. Due to a scarcity of bones it was wrongly shown as a turtle-like creature. More recent finds have shown that it was more like a hippopotamus.  There are two in the park.

Icthyosaurus (above) is another of the more famous dinosaurs in the park.  It lived in the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and emerged about 220 million years ago.  The models are largely accurate except for the shape of the tail and the omission of the dorsal fin. The creature is also wrongly shown as coming out of the water to lay eggs on the land. It was actually very well adapted to life in the sea, as it name “fish lizard” implies, and gave birth to live young there. The Natural History Museum in London now has a fossilised specimen of a female and a baby who had both died during giving birth.  There are three species shown in the park – platydon (flat-toothed), tenuirostris (slender snouted) and communis (common).

Mosasaurus (above) was a marine carnivore that ate fish and other sea creatures in the late cretaceous period. Its name means “Meuse Lizard” after the river in which its fossils were first found in the early nineteenth century. At the time that the model was made the only fossils available were of the head.  Thus the creature was submerged in the lake to hide the fact that it was incomplete. Later complete fossil skeletons were found which showed that it had a serpent-like body with about 100 sections of backbone.

Hylaeosaurus (above) or “woodland lizard” was a herbivore that lived in the late Cretaceous period. The first fossils were found in Tilgate Forest in Southern England. It was heavily protected from predators by spikes along its neck and sides, and oval-shaped armoured plates along its back. It was 4 metres long and ate low-lying plant material.  Few fossils have been found and the model in the park faces away from the public as so much of its frontal appearance is presumed. The original head broke off some years ago and has been replaced by a fibre glass one.

Pterodactylus (above) or “flight finger” was a flying reptile that lived in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.  It ate insects, lizards and fish and also scavenged on dead creatures like modern day vultures. The fossils were widespread from England to East Africa. The original models were damaged and removed years ago but were replaced by restored versions based on contemporary photographs.

Iguanodon (above) or “Iguana tooth” is the most recognizable and most commonly shown of the Crystal Palace dinosaurs.  It was a herbivore that lived in the Cretaceous period about 120 million years ago. Its remains have been found in Europe and North America. The model was a constructed as a quadruped but later fossils suggested that it was a biped that walked upright.  However, fossilized tracks have shown that it could walk on either two or four legs. The model also shows a spike on its nose whereas today these are known to be thumb spikes situated on the front two wrists.  On New Years Eve 1853 a banquet was actually held inside the Iguanodon attended by Hawkins, Owen and 20 other leading figures of the day.

Megalosaurus (above) or “great lizard” was a carnivorous dinosaur from the cretaceous period and preyed on other dinosaurs such as Iguanodon. Its remains were found in England and it was the first dinosaur to be described. As no complete skeleton had been found at the time, this model is the most inaccurate one in the park. It is shown as a quadruped although later finds showed it to be a biped. Nonetheless it is a visually impressive model. 

Teleosaurus (above) or “end reptile” was a fish-eating carnivore from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.  It actually survived the mass extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period. It was like a salt-water crocodile with long thin jaws and small eyes.  The first fossils were found in Yorkshire, England.  This is considered to be the most accurate of Hawkins’s models.

Megaloceros (above) or “giant antler” was a giant Elk which emerged about 400,000 years ago and lived through the Ice Age. The best fossils have come from Ireland which is why they are sometimes called “Irish Elk”.  The family group of male, female and fawn were the last models to be made and were the most recent of the parks animals to become extinct.  The models used to have real antlers but these have been replaced.  They needed to eat a lot of vegetation to survive but suffered in the Ice Age when their habitats were covered with thick layers of snow.

Anoplotherium (above) or “short canine teeth” lived in the Tertiary period about 50 million years ago. Their remains have been found in Europe. They were omnivores and are now considered to be closely related to pigs or the hippopotamus. Two species are shown in the park – gracilis (graceful) and commune (common).  The modellers have given them hooves but they are now known to have been clawed animals.

Megatherium (above) or “giant beast” was a herbivore that lived in the Ice Age and only died out about 11,000 years ago.  Its remains have been found in North and South America.  It was like a giant ground sloth and used to pull up trees to eat roots and leaves. Samples of skin and hair have now been found to show that this creature was covered with long, dark, shaggy brown hair.

Palaeotherium (no photograph) or “ancient beast” was a herbivore that lived in the Tertiary period about 50 million years ago. The models show them as tapir-like animals but it is today thought that they are linked to the horse family. They were forest-dwellers that lived in herds and used their snouts to dig the ground for food.

The Olympics are Coming - 500 Days to Go!

As there are now only 500 days to go until the opening ceremony of the “Games of the XXX Olympiad” in London, I thought I would take a tour of London’s new Olympic Park in Stratford to see how the preparation for the games is coming along.

London will be hosting the Olympics for the third time having also held them in 1908 and 1948. On this occasion the capital beat off competition from Paris, New York, Moscow and Madrid to become the first city in the world to have hosted them three times.

The statistics are mind-blowing. 9.2 million people will buy tickets to watch 29 different sports and be served 14 million meals. The games will be broadcast to over 200 countries, watched by 4 billion people around the world and reported on by 20,000 journalists. The total cost will exceed £9 billion ($14 million USD).

Many of these sports will take place at the newly constructed Olympic Park in Stratford, in the East End of London. These include athletics, handball, cycling, swimming and basketball. The Olympic Park covers 2.5 square km and involves the construction of not only new sporting venues but also the cleaning of 1.4 million tonnes of contaminated soil, the building of 30 new bridges and the planting of half a million new plants. Transport links are also being improved. A new high speed rail link – The Javelin – will travel to Stratford in 8 minutes from St Pancras Station in the centre of London.

The staging of the games is being overseen by The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, chaired by Sebastian Coe. The construction of the new venues is being managed by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). The Government Olympic Executive (GOE), a unit within the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a government body is co-ordinating the games and its legacy.  Danny Boyle, the Oscar-winning director of Slumdog Millionaire is devising the opening and closing ceremonies.

My tour commenced at West Ham tube station, one of three “Gateway stations” to the Olympic Park (the others being Stratford Regional and Stratford International). I approached the park along the new restored “Greenway”, an avenue that leads right up to the new stadium. The Greenway passes the impressive 19^th century Abbey Mills Pumping Station, which seems like a cathedral dedicated to sewage. The Greenwich meridian crosses the Greenway about 1km to the east of the stadium.

On arrival at the Olympic Park I made my way up the “View Tube”, from which one gets a good view of the park. From left to right, the following structures were visible from the View Tube.

The Olympic Stadium – This will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics events.  During the Olympics it will have 80,000 seats, of which 25,000 will be permanent and 55,000 will be demountable.  The legacy will be a new home for athletics and football (West ham United).

The Velo Park – This is a velodrome that will be used to host indoor cycling events. It is the only structure in the Olympic Park to be completed so far and holds 6,000 permament seats. The legacy will be a cycling facility for local and elite use.

The Basketball Arena – This is a temporary facility housing 5,000 spectators. It may be used again at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.

The Olympic Village – This will house thousands of athletes and officials during the games. The legacy will be homes for local people including teachers and nurses.

The Orbit – This will be a 115 metre tower designed by Anish Kapoor and hosting a restaurant. It will tower over the Olympic Park.

The Aquatics Centre – This will host indoor swimming, synchronised swimming, diving and water polo events. During the Olympics there were will be 17,500 seats for main events and 5,000 for water polo. The legacy will be a 2,500 facility for local and elite use.

The River Lea – This surrounds the Olympic Park on three sides. The drainage of the area was a key engineering challenge during the construction of the Park. The regeneration of the Lea Valley, home to thousands of people, will be a key legacy of the Olympic Games.

The Warm Up Area – This is still being constructed and is currently under mounds of earth and machinery.

Please see my photographs below.

1.      The main Olympic Stadium (above), which will hold 80,000 spectators.

2.      The Velo Park and Basketball Arena (above).

3.      The Olympic Village (above).

4.      The Orbit (above), a viewing tower still under construction.

  

5.      The Aquatics Centre (above), which will host swimming, diving and water polo events.

6.       The Warm Up Area (above) – still under construction.

7.      Many parts of the Olympic Park are still under construction including these hotels and coach parks (above).

8.      The

Green Way (above)

 – leading to the Olympic Park from West Ham tube station.

9.      Abbey Mills Pumping Station (above) – a “cathedral of sewage”.

10.  The Olympics will help to regenerate an old industrial area. This was formerly the Bryant and May factory (above) that was the scene of the famous “match girls strike” in the 19^th century.

 

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