Monday's Child - Edinburgh

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Day 10 - Edinburgh St. Giles Cathedral

What is the difference between a cathedral and a church? Upon googling I found:
The fundamental difference between a church and a cathedral is that the latter contains the seat for bishop. The distinction has nothing to do with the size of the building or its location; it's all about the bishop.


The following history is taken from their website.

There is record of a parish church in Edinburgh by the year 854, served by a vicar from a monastic house, probably in England. It is possible that the first church, a modest affair, was in use for several centuries before it was formally dedicated by the bishop of St Andrews on 6 October 1243. The parish church of Edinburgh was subsequently reconsecrated and named in honour of the patron saint of the town, St Giles, whose feast day is celebrated on 1 September.
That St Giles, a 7th century hermit (and, later, abbot) who lived in France, became the patron of both town and church was probably due to the ancient ties between Scotland and France.
According to legend, Giles was accidentally wounded by a huntsman in pursuit of a hind and, after his death in the early 8th century, there were dedicated to him hospitals and safe houses for cripples, beggars and lepers were established throughout England and Scotland within easy reach of the impoverished and the infirm. St Giles is usually depicted protecting a hind from an arrow, which had pierced his own body, a fine relief of which rests in the tympanum over the west (main) doors of the Cathedral.

Day 12 - Edinburgh

A day to stroll and snap photos!

The Royal Mile runs up and down the rocky ridge of the Edinburgh like a spine, dark narrow passageways extending on either side like fish-bones are called Closes. This website has amazing details and maps of the Closes.

Speaking of fish-bones:

And finally

This huge gothic tower was built to commemorate the work of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832).

The foundation stone was laid on August 15th 1840 and it was completed in 1844 at a cost of little over £16,154.00.

Rising to 200ft 6 inches high it contains a spiralling staircase of 287 steps and offers magnificent views from the top spire. yes, we gave those stairs a miss also!

Built of light sandstone, the pollution from traffic over the years has darkened it considerably.

Seated under the huge arches of the tower is a solid marble sculputure of Sir Walter Scott sitting in his chair of Carrara marble with his beloved dog ' Maida' carved by sculptor John Steell.

There are 64 statuettes of characters from Sir Walter Scott’s books.

Along the Royal Mile

Day 17 - Manchester

Taken on the drive to Manchester

Manchester hadn't been on the agenda for this trip, and in hindsight I would probably have elected to stay another night in Cumbria especially since I have now "discovered" Moresby Hall!
Manchester, to me, is Coronation Street. Or Manchester United. Other than that I didn't really know much about the city.

Once again, another Eye or Wheel.

I knew about Canal Street being the heart of the Gay Village from watching Sean on Coronation Street.

Sean from Coronation Street - a spoiler as we are approx 9 months behind the UK episodes

How many statues are there of Queen Victoria???

I love this window display of old sewing machines

Day 17 - Carlisle to Manchester

Located in the far North of England, Carlisle is just a few miles from the Scottish border. This city has had a very turbulent history. The Romans built a wall through it, Vikings invaded it and the Scots and English fought over it for many years.

Carlisle also has a cathedral which is a must see. Does one ever get tired of visiting "churches"? Not me, but some members of our party confessed to be "churched out"!!!

The Cathedral, founded in 1122 and battered by centuries of warfare, was built for the glory of God, and services have been said and sung daily in it for nearly 900 years. It is mainly built with local redstone but there are some white stones incorporated that were taken from Hadrian's Wall.

The following plaque is speaking to the recent car crash on May 25, 2010 in which a local girl was killed on her 16th birthday. It also references the ever more recent June 2, 2010 Whitehaven shootings. This was also part of the speech given by the minister at the Whitehaven memorial on June 6. Today is June 7.

  

Outside the cathedral I found this lovely bench.

Some photos of the town itself.

Time to head to Manchester in the rain. The Lake District is very beautiful and I wish we had dedicated more time to the area. Next trip.

Our plan was to stop in Whitehaven on the coast for lunch. Just outside the town we came upon this which dictated a stop.

Moresby Hall - check out the photos and especially the aerial shot! It is one of the oldest residences in Cumbria.

Since August 1999 the Hall has has been owned by Jane and David Saxon, who now offer accomodations to visitors at the Hall - both bed and breakfast and self catering, with dinner provided if required. Cooking classes are also given and you can even have your wedding here. I wish I'd researched this more carefully as it looks like a wonderful place to spend a night or two.

Behind this magnificent house I met a man coming out of here. He stopped to tell me that he had lived around here all his life. These buildings were originally part of the working farm but were now being turned into vacation rentals.

Across the road was St Bridget's Church

At the end of the church graveyard is part of the old Roman wall. When the "new" church was built in 1822 many old Roman coins were found while digging.

On a clear day you can see the Isle of Man - still on my bucket list.

And we have to have the requisite lamb

Whitehaven - this website has some amazing photos of the town taken from the air. This is a very pretty town which has just gone throough an horrendous event making it one of the top news stories of the week.

St. Nicholas's Church

The taxi xtand with the floral memorials still in place. We came upon this accidently while looking for somewhere to eat.

Manchester next.