The 3 C’s — Coventry, Canal and Cathedral

And a wonderfully surprising amble on a Sunday afternoon.

And a wonderfully surprising amble on a Sunday afternoon.

Amid the magnificent remaining ruins of Coventry Cathedral, a 50th anniversary remembrance of reconciliation following World War II (Author’s Collection).

Prior to Sunday 21st August 2022 I’d only been to the city of Coventry on two occasions and both times were highly disappointing affairs following a struggling football team who would lose on both occasions, and at a football ground now long since cast into the dark shadows of long forgotten English footballing history. The old joke could be cast that my girlfriends of a long ago dating past “sent me to Coventry” on far, far more occasions than just two though. I even inflicted an embarrassing 4–0 hammering on Becky, but that was over three decades ago and whilst I hope she’s forgiven me, she sent me to Coventry on a permanent basis a long time ago!

For those unaware, Coventry is famous for many things: Lady Godiva riding her horse naked through the streets for instance or the heavy bombing raids of the German Luftwaffe that destroyed the city, and it’s famed cathedral, nine centuries later. The city was a huge “production line” for the UK car industry in times past, famed for having “three spires” and to continue a sporting theme, the team that embarrassed my footballing heroes (twice) repeated the trick in a famous 1987 FA Cup Final victory over heavily favoured Tottenham Hotspur.

A brief potted history, no more, but “sent to Coventry”?

It’s a quaint old English phrase meaning to be deliberately silenced, ignored and ostracised, and I’ve always rather enjoyed the open ended void of nothingness that this saying infers. If you know, you know. But if you don’t, you may as well be saying that someone has gone to Arkansas for all the good it means!. I love the randomness of this localised language and I bet wherever in the world you read this you’ll have something similar. I’d also wager that the village or town a few miles away have their own localised language and sayings. Expand that across a country, let alone a continent, and you see something quite beautiful don’t you? Young men in the town I live in are called “Jockey” but trust me, there aren’t many horses tethered on the high streets awaiting the return of their owners!

So what does all this have to do with sending myself to Coventry on an overcast and occasionally blisteringly sunny Sunday afternoon? In truth, not a great deal but please bear with me as I hope I’m leading you somewhere vaguely interesting. My trip to Coventry was planned to be the next in my continuing series of articles of walking the final stretches of canals into major English cities, and following my recent walks in the sun into Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Chester. This article differs in that I only focus on the somewhat disappointing canal “basin” but rather like my beautiful afternoon in Chester, I veered away from the canal and was astonished at what I found.

This article will also differ from the previous city canal strolls in as much as I’ve tinkered with the actual walk itself and the images that follow are out of strict order. The canal basin was first but will appear in the middle of a sandwich of beauty as I unexpectedly encountered two of Coventry’s three spires, a beautiful church, the remains of a centuries old cathedral, as well as its modern 21st century religious stable mate.

Being as I am a football fan who gazes wistfully into sunsets thinking about his sporting heroes and the quaint and satisfying way language can still be beguiling in a befuddling world, I was completely unaware of the history of Coventry Cathedral and assumed as I walked toward it I would be seeing a magnificent structure from centuries ago, and that’s exactly what I saw, and magnificently so. I just had no idea it was in ruins, nor did I realise the architectural beauty (in a 21st Century sense) of it’s cavernous replacement or, just yards away, the spire of Holy Trinity Church towering into the sky.

And nor can I adequately describe the sheer pleasure of watching my favourite animal being fed nuts by a lovely young couple in the church yard of the Holy Trinity Church. To prevent the invasion from five or six pigeons and the stealing of his precious nuts, our friend the squirrel (a magnificent creature who eternally appears to be on the edge of an acid flashback) hissed and scurried around his feathery predators until such time as he was relaxed enough to be fed by human hand and relish his delicious booty. Bliss.

When the pigeons reinvaded?

Rinse and repeat of the above!

So after the minor disappointment of the canal, this was an afternoon of “making memories” to remember and I sincerely hope you enjoy the pictorial roll of images that follow.

*All images captured by me on 21st August 2022*

Welcome to Holy Trinity Church!

At a towering height of 237 feet, your first view of the incredible spire of Holy Trinity Church.

A little dark but here’s the entrance to the Holy Trinity Church.

(1) One of three towering images of the church and it’s famed spire.

(2) One of three towering images of the church and it’s famed spire.

One of the numerous magnificent stained glass windows of Holy Trinity Church.

(3) One of three towering images of the church and it’s famed spire.

I originally planned to walk the route from Hawkesbury Junction but not today. Coming soon late Summer 2022 or Spring 2023!

All you could ever wish to know about the “basin” of Coventry’s canal.

(1) “Father of the canals: James Brindley continues to oversee his work. The sculpture was created by world renowned sculptor James Butler”.

The Coventry Canal branches south east at Hawkesbury Lock in 5 or so miles and north west toward Tamworth where it again branches either south to Birmingham on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal or continues on its merry way north and continuing again as the Coventry Canal all the way to Fradley, whereby it merges with the Trent and Mersey Canal.

(2) “Father of the canals: James Brindley continues to oversee his work. The sculpture was created by world renowned sculptor James Butler”.

Welcome to Coventry Cathedral!

“The magnificent west tower and spire built 1374–1450 is 295 feet high. It dominates the city centre and survived the air raid of 14th November 1940 which destroyed the remainder of the church.

The magnificent and beautifully ornate west tower of the ruined Cathedral Church of St Michael.

(1) A three piece jigsaw of the magnificent remaining tower of the original Coventry Cathedral.

(2) A three piece jigsaw of the magnificent remaining tower of the original Coventry Cathedral.

(3) A three piece jigsaw of the magnificent remaining tower of the original Coventry Cathedral.

Three external images of the ruined cathedral of Coventry — Part 1.

Three external images of the ruined cathedral of Coventry — Part 2.

Three external images of the ruined cathedral of Coventry — Part 3.

The old and the new, the bombed and the blue? Or the ancient and the modern with the remains of the Cathedral Church of St Michael and the adjoining “new” Coventry Cathedral.

The sun always shines on the righteous apparently, and here, the ruins of the Cathedral Church of St Michael.

One of many brilliant information boards scattered around the site of the ruins.

View as if you were standing in the church’s “Chancel” and admiring the “Sanctuary”.

A closer up view of the “Sanctuary” ruins of the original church and the marvellous juxtaposition with a mother earth that continues to spin around her centuries later.

Side view of the remaining ruins and what were various chapels of service as well as the glass fronted entrance to the “new” cathedral.

The “Drapers” or “Lady Chapel” inside the ruins of the Cathedral Church of St Michael.

Another beautiful welcome to Coventry Cathedral.

Although this image is used alongside the main article heading, it’s far too good not to share again.

View of the west tower climbing into the sky from inside the main “Nave” and now courtyard of the Cathedral Church of St Michael.

View from the far corner of the church and “Dyers Chapel” with the reconciliation statue far left and the various chapels beneath the roof of the adjoining new cathedral and the “Lady Chapel” and “Vestries” flanking the “Sanctuary” at the heart of the church.

A final view of the entirety of the west tower climbing high into the Coventry sky.

“As I went into the ruined Cathedral on the morning after the destruction, there flashed into my mind the deep certainty that as the Cathedral had been crucified with Christ, so it would rise again with Him. How or when, we could not tell, nor did it matter. The Cathedral would rise again”.

A final long view of the remains of the Cathedral Church of St Michael with (L to R) the chapels, the centrepiece “Sanctuary” and the vestries, organ and further chapels mirroring those on the left.

A final side view of the chapels both left and right flanking the “reconciliation” memorial to World War II.

My camera doesn’t like inside images! But this is the magnificent “Baptistry Window” inside the new Coventry Cathedral.

The “heroic torso” of Jacob Epstein (1880–1959) outside a private chapel inside the new cathedral.

The magnificent “Chancel” of the new cathedral in Coventry.

My mate the squirrel, patrolling his territory for pesky pigeons to hiss at!

Your humble narrator at Lilleshall Abbey, Shropshire, early August 2022 (Author’s Collection).

Thanks for reading. My “Summer Project” has taken me to the waterways and many historical castle ruins as I’ve crisscrossed the border between England and Wales and my three most recently published travel articles are linked below:

Shakespeare in the Stratford Sunshine — Part 4
Deleted Scenes! Volume 1.medium.com

Shakespeare in the Stratford Sunshine — Part 3
A return to the canal and more from the River Avonmedium.com

Buildwas Abbey
A 12th Century Cistercian Monastery in 21st Century sunshinemedium.com