Return to Europe (in style)

[RooFlyer]

Inside the cathedral. Its huge - 160m long, with a tower of 70m! In fact its the second largest gothic style cathedral in northern Europe, and the largest completed in its time - Cologne only completed in the 19th centrury.

The nave



Vault of the nave - its wood, painted to look like stone.



Looking up to the Crossing



And the bosses there




Looking towards the North transept and the 1200s 'Five Sisters' window, which used medieval grey glass



The early 15th century Great East Window, Britain's largest expanse of medieval stained glass; almost the size of a tennis court. It was restored in the 2010s and given a UV resistant coating. It depicts the Creation and the Apocalypse.





with some detail

 

[RooFlyer]

The 1200s Chapter House, notable for having no central column, the roof being made of wood.









As with some of the other cathedrals, the canopy is decorated with carved heads and again, some pulling faces.



Back in the main space, the screen at the back of the quire



and just part of the King's screen with 12 Kings since William the Conqueror.

 

[RooFlyer]

The Rose Window, dating from about 1500. The glass shattered in the 1984 fire, but the lead held it in place and allowed it to be restored. It commemorates the union of the Houses of York (white roses) and Lancaster (red roses) after the Wars of the Roses.







The crypt contains only a few items of historical interest, one is the Norman 'Doomstone' or 'mouth of Hell'. It shows a boiling cauldron in Hell into which the damned are being pushed by devils. Other demons stoke the fire below.



You can pay to climb the tower - the highest point in York. Of course I was there.





The above taken as you scoot along this:



As promised, great views from the top:

 

[RooFlyer]

The grotesques (mainly) and gargoyles

 

[GarrettM]

Colmar has a history from early in the second millennium AD and, in spite of being close to the present-day border with Germany, has been mostly spared the destructive forces of WW1, WW2 and even before. There is an extremely pretty medieval old town with many buildings from the 14th-17th centuries.

The town's best known former inhabitant is Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the designer of the Statue of Liberty.

Chocolate-box scenes are a-plenty. Some of the buildings have been sexed-up a bit, but most are authentically very old.

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I'm only part way through your excellent report, and I am sure someone else has mentioned it already.
But I have a 1000 piece jigsaw which represents almost this EXACT image.

 

[RooFlyer]

A few bibs & bobs from a walk around York.

Nice row of cottages near the Minster



Clifford's Tower, the original keep of York Castle, built by William the Conqueror to suppress the local Viking settlers.



Of course the Romans were here - I didn't know Constantine I was - well, you can read it . Nice tie-in to Constantinople.



Another nice house adjacent to the Minster



You'd hope those gargoyles are firmly attached -



There was more, but the weather closed in again and it was time to hit the road again.

 

[RooFlyer]

Only a couple of hours to Lincoln.



where, forewarned by @VPS that the cathedral was atop a steep hill (in fact, reached by 'Steep Street'), I booked at The Old Palace Lodge which is right next to the cathedral, with 16 rooms in a converted chapel. Easily accessible by car (with a GPS!) and lots of parking behind locked gates. Its not attended all hours - not even in the morning, as far as I could tell. Electronic fobs operated the front door, the exit walking gate and the gate for cars. For your first arrival, they won't let you in the gate before 12:00 noon "under any circumstances", I think because no-one is in attendance then.

The main negative was that they gave you two choices for breakfast. Either a bag hanging on your door by 7:30 with a croissant, spread & yoghurt, or buy it at a local tea-room. While I understand the choices given, the contents of the hanging bag were a bit basic. BUT offsetting this was the fact that the minifridge in the room had a carafe of nice OJ, one of milk and one of water.



Cathedral from the car park



Reception. Its overall a bit pokey other than this area.



Room was small, but OK. No aircon, just a fan and fin-type heater.



High bath to step in and out of.



The porthole window opens and there is a sort of view



Steep Street up to the cathedral precinct. Several pubs in close proximity.

 

[RooFlyer]

So, Lincoln Cathedral.

Began construction in 1072 and continued for over a century. With the completion of its spire, at 160m, it was possibly the world's highest building until 1548 when the spire collapsed. As usual, fire and in this case, an earthquake caused damage in the early century and rebuilding occurred in the early 1200s.

The cathedral holds one of the four surviving June 1215 Magna Cartas (there are a number of later original versions) as the then Bishop of Lincoln was one of the signatories, and its presently held in the nearby Castle.

From Lincoln Castle - a great "cop that" factor.



A number of views of the outside. Like I said - "Cop that, Lincoln!"

 

[Flyfrequently]

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There was more, but the weather closed in again and it was time to hit the road again.

Enjoying your TR @RooFlyer , very comprehensive

 

[RooFlyer]

The nave, and its ceiling vault. Unfortunately at the time I failed to notice how the vaulting changed in the different areas, such as the transepts. Described as 'original and experimental'. Not something you'd expect in a cathedral!!





A Tournai font, as seen in Winchester cathedral. Rare; made from limestone at Tournai in Belgium during the 12th century. Made from a single block of stone.



The crossing - looking up into the tower



Quire





Some of the stained glass.

 

[RooFlyer]

Filming of The Da Vinci Code occurred at the Chapter House and Lincoln cathedral, substituting Westminster Abby & its chapter house, which refused filming. Isaac Newton's tomb you see in the film was polystyrene (the things you read in TRs!!).

The Chapter House.





Wonderful flying buttresses to the Chapter House





Lincoln Great Window







Back outside - someone's having a bad day

 

[TheRealTMA]

The nave, and its ceiling vault. Unfortunately at the time I failed to notice how the vaulting changed in the different areas, such as the transepts. Described as 'original and experimental'. Not something you'd expect in a cathedral!!

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A Tournai font, as seen in Winchester cathedral. Rare; made from limestone at Tournai in Belgium during the 12th century. Made from a single block of stone.

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The crossing - looking up into the tower

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Quire

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Some of the stained glass.

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Great photos of the windows!

 

[RooFlyer]

Can't miss the gargoyles and grotesques!

 

[RooFlyer]

Great photos of the windows!

It was one of the advantages of taking a camera with a proper zoom, and not relying on the phone. Frankly, I felt a bit silly walking around with a 'big' camera swinging on its strap, but whatever ...

Nearby is Lincoln Castle. Built by William the Conqueror in the late 11th century on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress Lindum Colonia , its easy to se why they chose the location - atop the hill which has extensive views around the countryside.

Inside the castle (fee payable) is a vault with one of four original June 1215 Magna Cartas (no photos). Within the walls is a Victorian gaol and county courts still used today. A walk around the tower walls is available for I think an extra fee. I did it, but as a thunderstorm was looking, I did it in record time.

Inside the east gate showing the tower and the red brick Victorian gaol front. The Magna Carta vault is accessed from within that.



The Magna Carta vault entrance. A small complex paid for by a local tech industrialist (IIRC)



The Victorian gaol - not very interesting



Cathedral from the castle walls









Rain on the way



Another telephoto view from the castle wall!! We are in the east midlands.

 

[RooFlyer]

Around LIncoln.

The Castle and cathedral precinct is accessed via Steep Street





Bloody skip bin left right outside one of the better sights - some people have no sense of history!!



The only Rpman arch still used by traffic in the UK




Which has led to some issues.





That evening, I went to a local pub for dinner. It was early



Smoked mackerel came out in a bit surprising way, but very nice



Lamb pie was only just.

 

[VPS]

Around LIncoln.

The Castle and cathedral precinct is accessed via Steep Street

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Bloody skip bin left right outside one of the better sights - some people have no sense of history!!

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The only Rpman arch still used by traffic in the UK


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Which has led to some issues.

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That evening, I went to a local pub for dinner. It was early

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Smoked mackerel came out in a bit surprising way, but very nice

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Lamb pie was only just.

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I think that's the same pub I went to - was it the Wig and Mitre. I was there on Valentine's day and everyone wanted a 3 course set menu for some ridiculous amount of money so I just went to the pub.

Where's your photo of the Lincoln imp. My P&S camera I think is now inferior to my iphone so I tended to just use my phone and most of the time it was OK but there are times when I wish I had a better camera. Your photos of the windows and the Chapter house are great.

 

[RooFlyer]

The next morning, I woke to a horrible text from home saying my best friend had had a heart attack and was in ICU. A few texts swapped with his family didn't reveal much more detail, other than it was 'serious' (I didn't realise then how serious) and he was being subject to tests over the next few days.

I continued that morning south to Ely Cathedral and after thinking hard during the drive down, I called my Travel Agent's after hours number and put them on notice that I would probably require a return to home in the next few days and to start looking at options.

Nothing else to be done, I stayed at Ely and looked at the cathedral, but not enjoying it much. But it did have one remarkable feature, its lantern.

Ely cathedral, on first glance doesn't look terribly special, but it is much bigger than it looks from the side (limited field of view). Built in about 1083 on the site of Ely Abbey built by St Etheledra in 672. It stands out above the surrounding flat and boggy fen landscape.

West tower





Subsidence was a problem, and structures on one side of the west tower collapsed, and was buttressed (quite ugly). The absence of original flying buttresses is notable.



In February 1322, the Norman-era central crossing tower collapsed and replaced with the now-famous and beautiful octagon, the upper part made entirely of wood.



The nave



The ceiling of the nave, rather than the high vaults that are conventional in cathedrals, is a Victorian-ear wooden structure decorated with old and new testament scenes.

 

[RooFlyer]

I think that's the same pub I went to - was it the Wig and Mitre.

Yes. Was OK, except the usual issue with pubs - a sticky table surface, not fixed when i asked for it to be wiped down.

Where's your photo of the Lincoln imp.

I couldn't find it!!

 

[RooFlyer]

The octagon from below











And the north transept

 

[love_the_life]

The photos and information are wonderful RF, but I felt I couldn't 'Like' post 257 with the news of your friend's heart attack.
The windows are amazing - I have forgotten how superb they are as it's been a very long time since we were in the UK.