May 18 (Sat)
Check-out The Silver Cup
Driven to the station by Simon
Harpenden→St Pancras
(Train) St
Pancras→Canterbury West (Train)
Canterbury West Station →
Cathedral Gate Hotel
Check-in
Cathedral Gate Hotel
Cathedral Gate Hotel
Left
The Silver Cup at 8:30 by Simon and driven to Harpenden Station. Departed St
Pancras by the 9:36 train for Canterbury West. Took a taxi and arrived at
the hotel at 11 o'clock. The hotel was located next to the gate of the
Cathedral, a very convenient place. The room given was on the top floor (4th
level loft with a skylight). There was no lift but the hotel staff kindly
acted as a 'human lift'. Since it was rain, had a rest throughout the day.
Bought foods and drinks in M&S in the town.
May 19 (Sun)
Cathedral Gate Hotel
The weather was fine. The full English breakfast at the hotel was extremely good. Walked around the town, discovered the Roman Museum and entered when it opened 10:30. Collections of relics were not so rich but learnt the Romans built a town here. However, the museum. showed nothing about the subsequent arrival of Anglo-Saxons and the Norman Conquest, giving an impression as if the Ancient Roman time had directly connected to the Middle Ages (Cf., "Canterbury Tales - General Prologue Introduction" at the end of the list of contents). The Cathedral Gate was opened at 12:00 when the Sunday service finished. Looked around the Nave, Quire, St Augustin's Abbey etc. Pictures of stained glass taken with Nikon Z6 (Electronic Finder) + NIKKOR Z 24-200mm was not as good as expected. Bringing another camera, Pentax K-3iii (Pentaprism Optical Finder) + DA 18-270mm, might have been better. (Below, some pictures were copied from books and websites.) Took a light lunch at M&S Food Court, bought a long-sleeve shirt in the shop. BritRail M-Ticket was successfully activated for tomorrow.
The Roman Museum and The Cathedral
(Left) Cantertbury town centre from the hotel restaurant. (Right) The full English breakfast, all on the table for one person.
(Left) A lane to the Canterbury Roman Museun, (Middle) Entrance wall to the Museum, (Right) Entrance floor to the Museum.
(Left) Front view of the Cathedral,
(Right) Entrance of the Cathedral.
(Left) Guide board of the Cathedral,
(Right) Ground plan of Canterbury Cathedral. Copied from: https://stepneyrobarts.blogspot.com/2021/07/pevsner-canterbury-cathedral.html. and cleaned.
,
(Left) St. Thomas Becket Window (Synthesis of 4 shots), in Trinity Chapel.
(Right) Bottom part of St Thomas Becket Window,
(Left) St Thomas Becket in the above window (From Wikipedia, modified).
(Right) St Thomas Becket's Martyrdom (https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/visit/explore-discover/stained-glass/).
(Left) Parable window. Old Testament, Present, New Testament,
(Middle) Enlargement of a frame depicting the Sower (https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/visit/explore-discover/stained-glass/)
(Right) Enlargement of another frame depicting the Sower (Wikipedia)
(Left) Window with saints, (Right) Close up of the middle low.
St Alphege Window to show the seizure of Canterbury by Dane (Part,
https://x.com/CburyCathedral/status/1781246784532107456/photo/1)
Top:
Canterbury was attacked, Bottom-Right: Archbishop St Alphege was ransomed,
Bottom-Left: St Alphege was taken on board a Viking ship to Greenwich where
the Danes had their camp.
The window of Archbishop Stephen Langton (Part, https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/our-story/). Archbishop Stephen Langton played an important role in the negotiations preceding Magna Carta sealed by King John in 1215.
