We decided we would have a bit of a sleep-in today and didn't get
going until about 9:30am. As mentioned yesterday, our accommodation
did not live up to the name "Royal George" - its WiFi didn't work
and the shower was cold! Also, when we arrived last night, the girl
at reception said that our payment had been declined and we would
need to pay. Without thinking too much, I did so. The cold light of
day and a bit of thought and research led us to the conclusion that
this was incorrect. The "declined" receipt had someone else's card
number and we had a receipt from booking.com. Fortunately, the lady
at the reception knew straight away that we were right. She asked us
to describe the person on reception last night. When we did so, she
remarked, "Oh yes, she's ditzy. There's one in every bunch!" A win
for us!
It rained all day today but that didn't really bother us as all our
planned activities were indoors. It took a little over two hours to
drive to Manchester and we made straight for the Cathedral.
The lectern was not the usual brass
eagle.
The carvings on the choir stalls were great!
This and other similar carvings are located under the seats in
the stalls. The seats fold up, revelaing the little ledge
called a "misericord".
These allowed the clergy to have somewhere to place their
posterior during long sections of services while appearing to
remain standing. The misericords at Manchester are considered
to be very fine examples.
I had not seen organ pipes used as a reredos before this example.
This screen separates the nave from the quire.
A detail of the above screen
The top panel of the screen depicts angels as musicians.
One of the angels above
The ceiling of the nave is wooden. There are angels helping to
hold up the ceiling and each one is playing an instrument.
I thought the pattern made by these stacked chairs was pretty
amazing!
These embroidered images are on the kneelers in fron of one of
the altars.
We wondered if these animals were kangaroos!
There were interesting carvings almost everywhere!
These tulips were in a garden in the grounds of the cathedral.
A pretty good photo, I thought!
Daffodils are everywhere but each one is beautiful and lifts
one's spirits.
If you look carefully, you will see Satoshi standing to the left
of the trunk of this tree, indicating its size.
Our next stop was the John Rylands Research
Institute and Library. This is is a late-Victorian
neo-Gothic building which opened to the public in 1900. It was
founded by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her husband,
John Rylands. It now houses the majority of the Special
Collections of The University of Manchester Library, the third
largest academic library in the United Kingdom. We were told
that it cost £240,000 to build at the time, a fortune. We were
overawed by this bilding. It is truly maginficent.
This statue was the first thing seen
by visitors to the library when it opened. It depicts
science on the left and the arts on the right both being
directed by theology in the centre.
The library was the first building in Manchester to be lit
by electric lights and the light fittings are original. It
was considered important to use electricity rather than
gas to reduce the risk of fire.
A statue of Homer (not Simpson).
John Ryland made his money from
cotton plantations. These days, it's considered to be
"tainted" money because of the mistreatment of the cotton
pickers.
Shakespeare
Even the grates on the heaters were
amazing!
As we walked around Manchester, we found
several humorous signs.
Just as well I don't need to use
my glasses outside (I only need them for reading!)
This sign was outside one of the (many) pubs.
In the evening we went to the Royal Exchange
Theatre to see Tenessee Williams' play "Cat on a
Hot Tin Roof". It was excellent.
The theatre is a removeable
"pod" built inside the beautiful old Royal
Exchange building.