Coventry Cathedral

October 1, 2019

We had planned to fly into Manchester Airport, but our original flight was with Thomas Cook Airlines and they went bankrupt a few weeks before we travelled. As a result, we had to rebook with Norwegian into Gatwick.

We landed at London Gatwick around 8am and after picking up our rental car we headed to Coventry Cathedral. Kristine had never seen the cathedral and as it is approximately half way between Gatwick and our destination Lytham St Annes, it seemed like a good place to break the more than four hour journey that was ahead of us.

The gothic style cathedral built in the 14th century was badly damaged on November 14, 1940 during the German Luftwaffe blitz on Coventry. Today all that remains is the tower, spire and part of the outer walls.

Then.....

And now.....

The foundation of the new cathedral was laid by Queen Elizabeth II in March 1956 and was consecrated in May 1962.

Stained glass windows

The massive tapestry which hangs above the altar.

The original charred cross placed on the altar the day after the bombing. There's a replica outside, but this is the original cross. Who placed it is still unknown.

We spent about an hour at the Cathedral and after a light lunch set off for Lytham . After a long and tedious drive we finally arrived at our hotel around 3pm.