Last week was chaos! Our office move took place on the 8 May. Not a problem for me as I don't usually work on a Friday. At the start of last week I was not in the office as I was working on another site for two days. On Wednesday I entered our new office and looked at the crates that needed unpacking. It took quite a time to get everything unpacked and put back neatly in the cupboards and book cases. I like the new office better than our old one, it's smaller and feels more cosy and organised. Due to working elsewhere for two days and then completing the unpacking, I found I was a little (a lot) behind with everything. As a result I spent the evenings catching up on essential tasks for work and so very little sewing or embroidery got done over the week. It's amazing how a change from your normal routine can throw all plans out of the window. John and I had a trip planned for the weekend but by Thursday evening I really didn't feel like going. We had both been looking forward to our weekend away and so I didn't say anything to John, instead I packed for the weekend and added my embroidery to the case. Fortunately as we travelled along in the car I started to feel calmer and soon started to enjoy myself.
I took a small piece of cross stitch with me. I had forgotten all about this book mark but came across it when tidying my sewing cupboard recently. This is what it looked like when I found it
and this is what I achieved onSaturday evening. I know, it hasn't grown very much but the important thing that I have added more stiches. When the cross stitching is done there is a lot of back stitching to do!
Last week was a very slow week on the Chookshed challenge but I did manage some time.
So back to our weekend away. We were visiting Chester and very specifically we wanted to visit Chester Cathedral because there is a big exhibition on at the moment. The exhibition is called Threads through the Bible. Within in it there are 3 seperate groups of quilts or art works, Threads through Creation, Threads through the Cross and Threads through Revelation. In total there are 44 huge panels that have been created over a 10 year period by Jacqui Parkinson. Threads through Revelation was completed in 2016 and first toured cathedrals 2016 - 2018. Threads through Creation came next and was completed in 2021 and this series toured cathedrals from 2021 - 2025. The last series, Thread through the cross was finished late in 2024 and toured from 2025. I have posted all the panels from Threads through Creation, so I'm not adding them here but you can find them HERE Part 1 and HERE Part 2 I'm not going to post all the pictures at once as there are alot and I also want to show you some photos from Chester and the cathedral itself. Today is a photo heavy post so make a drink and settle comfortably. The photos are all from the cathedral but no quilts until tomorrow.
Starting with the visit to the cathedral itself. We decided to travel into Chester on the bus, leaving the car in the hotel car park. The plus of being old is the free bus pass that operates anywhere in the country after a certain time in the morning. From the bus stop we easily found our way to the cathedral. It was difficult to get a good photo of the cathedral as it was often covered by trees and did not sit on a large area of land away from other buildings.
Chester Cathedral is constructed primarily of new red sandstone (specifically Keuper Sandstone from the Cheshire Basin.The cathedral is celebrated for its warm, reddish hue, however the local sandstone is soft, friable and therefore crumbles easily. Unfortunately it weathers quickly and the building has required extensive 19th-century restoration and refacing. The stone is also badly affected by pollution.
When we arrived at the cathedral we both needed a cup of cofee so we headed first to the cafe. This is found in the refectory or the monk's dining hall, which is a beautiful space and still has the pulpit where one of the monks would have read from the bible during the meals. High on the one wall there is a beautiful stained glass window of the creation commissioned from Rosalind Grimshaw. It shows Gods hands working across six days to create the world. Unfortunately it was raining outside so some of the beauty of the window was lost due to the lack of sunshine.
Lower down the wall was a seventeenth century tapestry from the Mortlake Tapestry Works. It was previously hung behind the High Altar as a reredos and was later moved to the refectory.I'm always interested in Mortlake tapestries as they were made fairly local to us.
The Chapter House was built in 1225 - 1250 and this is where the monks would have met each day for business and heard a chapter of the Rule of St Benedict.
Under the window there was an Armoire. This is a piece of 13th century furniture with the scroll ironwork said to have been crafted by Thomas de Leighton. It did look rather magnificent.
Next we walked all round the cloisters, a four sided covered walkway surrounding a small garden or garth. Up to 40 monks lived at the monastry and all the domestic building opened off the cloisters. We walked slowly as the rain was starting to subside and we wanted to go into the garden to see a sculpture called Water of Life. The sculpture was created by Stephen Broadbent and was commissioned for the 900th anniversary celebrations of the Cathedral. According to the artist, 'the water feature depicts the encounter between Jesus and the Woman of Samaria, showing their shared bowl overflowing with water.
It is one of those sculptures that people either like or hate. I like it but some people feel it is inappropriate. I leave you free to make up your own mind.
There weren't many flowers blooming in the garden but these two trees were ensuring there was colour to enjoy.
There was a great model of the cathedral crafted using Lego. Everyone took time to look at the model and several young children were asking their parents if they thought they had enough Lego bricks to make it when they got home. I loved that the children weren't worried it would be too difficult for them, but were worried about the quantity of bricks needed. One child wanted to know how the stained glass windows were made.
When visiting old buildings I always find it useful to look up. Often the ceilings are beautiful and the cathedral was no exception. I certainly wouldn't have liked to be painting the ceiling, it was far too high.
This nice quiet area was the Chapel of St Erasmus. The mosaics depict women's role in ministry and were made by the Salviati mosaic company in 1879
As well as looking up it's also interesting to look down and see the surface you're walking on. I really liked the pattern on the tiles.
The Reredos behind the High Altar, near the Quire, depicts a traditional Last Supper. I would have liked a better photo of the altar front but I couldn't get any closer .
There are also banners. This one is for the cathedral itself and looked rather old.
I also found three kneelers in one of the small chapels. I like all three
Below is the fourteenth century shrine that once contained the relics of St Werburgh. It was disassembeld during the reformation and reused as a bishop's throne. It was 'rediscovered' and reassembled in the Lady Chapel during the 19th century restorations. Very few shrine bases remain in the UK so this is a rarity.
Within the same area as the shrine I found this sculpture. This Russian icon depicts the Mother of God. It was commissioned and paid for by the friends of Chester Cathedral to celebrate the link between the cathedral and the church in Kongopoda, North Russia.
Looking up again I found another beautiful decorated ceiling.
I found this gentleman at the end of a choir pew. He seemed very happy where he was perched.
The font had some nice carving on it but to date my favourite font is at Salisbury Cathedral. In defence of Chester's font it is much older.
Before we left I wanted to look for the roman mosaics. These were mainly covered as the textile exhibits were in front of them but you were able to see them high up on the walls. We plan to go back after the exhibition has finished so we can see them properly.
We also visited the Consistory Court. The information board below tells you what it is.
The court room.
A little bit more information about the court and the punishment.
I went looking for the cobweb picture and discovered this ceiling in the vicinity.
The cobweb picture is explained below.
The picture itself is small but very beautiful. It is back lit.
As I turned around to head out of the cathedral I spotted this area where different ages of stone work meet. Wandering around these old buildings is interesting especially when there has also been a lot of restoration work through the ages.
Before we left we returned to the cafe to enjoy a tasty lunch and to decide what we would do next. Tomorrow I'll tell you about the exhibition. I think it will take two days to show you all the textiles but there will be less photos than today (maybe).
Now I need to get on with some sewing. Today is a day owing for covering an open day in April. I have several projects I want to try and finish over the summer so I need to make use of all available time.
Take care
Lyndsey
