Birmingham, Lichfield, and Coventry

It seems I never actually made it to Birmingham's cathedral. Perhaps I confused St. Martin's church with the larger edifice. In any case, the church was quite the contrast with the very modern Selfridges department store beside it. 

That evening I also visited Victoria Square, where the statue of the eponymous queen and a Gateshead statue titled Iron Man stand before the Council House.  

After some time in the library I wandered the streets trying to find some of the houses of historical architectural interest, but eventually giving up and making my way to the hostel. There, I had some lively discussions with some Filipino students, ate soup, and watched Inglorious Basterds. 

In the morning I headed out to Lichfield to see the cathedral that was under siege three times during the English Civil War by various sides. 

The grotesques here have expressions even more horrified than usual.

Perhaps it is because the soldiers hunkering down here used the grotesques inside to sharpen their swords.

Back in Birmingham, I walked the university grounds and attempted to see the Barber Institute of Art, but it was closed for Good Friday (oh, right, that exists). Instead I spent a good portion of the day in the art and history museum. 

Before the daylight was spent, I headed out to Coventry, which has the odd distinction of having two cathedrals. The old St. Michael's Cathedral was blasted to ruins by the Nazis. 

The adjacent new Cathedral was visible from the remaining tower of the old. 

So, funny story about that bell tower. A more observant person would have seen the small sign at its base stating that there was a fee to climb it and that it closed at 4:00 pm. I, on the other hand, got locked inside. About the time I resigned myself to staying the night in the tower, the woman running the gift shop within heard my shouts and knocks and let me out, and I happily paid the entrance fee and left to explore the new cathedral at ground level. There was a service letting out, and I didn't feel like wading upstream to get inside, so I just toured the modern building's exterior. 

The statue of an archangel expelling Lucifer from heaven was very... detailed.

Another nude statue graces Coventry. The story of Lady Godiva is set in this city, where the lady's husband said he would let up his oppressive taxation if she rode naked through the streets. The term Peeping Tom also has its origins in this story. I hadn't realized that the legend had a supposed location until I was there.

That night I had a couch surfing arrangement in a university outside of Coventry. The Japanese student who had offered to host me ended up leaving for the holidays, but his roommate was kind enough to host me in his stead.  I hung out with Jens for hours discussing travel, politics in his native Norway, Buddhism, feats of academic intensity, and dolphins. 

Hereford, Great Malvern, and Worcester

Hereford's main draw is its cathedral. There is an idyllic old house, appropriately named The Old House, standing alone in the pedestrian market streets that lead to the cathedral. 

The cathedral itself isn't much to look at in comparison with many of the others in Britain (as evidenced by the fact that even I didn't feel the need to take pictures of the exterior), yet it holds fascinating treasures. Unfortunately, photography of them is not permitted, so for visuals all you'll get is this brilliant and scathing social commentary carved in wood, titled "The Law Suit". 

The aforementioned treasures are the mappa mundi and the chained library. Hereford is home to the largest medieval map of the world still extant. It's quite something to behold. In the medieval mind, the world was a disk, with Jerusalem at the center (obviously). Rumors and myth fill the gaps of medieval European knowledge of the world, leading to scenes of unicorns grazing with rhinoceroses, and headless people with faces in their torsos, among other oddities.  Landmarks worth noting include the garden of Eden (separated from the world), as well as Sodom and Gomorrah (along with the pillar of salt that was once Lot's wife). 

The chained library consisted of shelves of ancient books whose spines were literally chained to their shelves. Books were clearly highly valuable and in need of protection. The library is also home to another of the four remaining copies of the Magna Carta. 

On the train to Great Malvern I happened to be sitting near a woman with whom I had spoken on a bus ride in the Lake District. She was happy to hear I had toured her native Hereford as she had suggested. Great Malvern drew me in with its priory. 

More specifically, the priory's misericords (the underside of the monks' fold down seats) have fascinating carvings upon them, and the armrests were just as amusing. 

The day's penultimate stop was Worcester, home to another cathedral. 

The Cathedral is the burial place of King John, famed signer of the Magna Carta and enemy of his elder brother Robert the Lionhearted (not to mention Robin Hood). 

The king's unpopularity can be seen by the fact that the lion on his tombstone is attacking his feet instead of sitting there as a loyal guardian. 

On the train I heard a ringtone to the tune of that classic ditty "Uncle-fucker". I ended my day with yet another cathedral in Birmingham. 

Ludlow

I arrived in Ludlow in time to see the castle at sunset. 

The trees out front would have been at home in a Dr. Seuss book. 

The Feathers Hotel, unquestionably the town's most photogenic building, 

also turned a pretty shade of purple in the fading light. 

It still looked nice after a night in a bed and breakfast (which was far higher quality than the price would lead one to guess, with a great view over the town from the impressive home). 

I'm sure you're all shocked to hear that I took the tour of the castle ruin. 

Lonely Planet claimed that the castle was full of secret passageways, leading me to wonder if whoever wrote that section thought that sallyports were secret passages. Despite the lack of hidden routes through the walls, I thoroughly enjoyed the moss and fern covered ruin. 

From the castle tower I could see my path past the market square and the church spire on to the train station, and from there on to Hereford. 

Chester and Shrewsbury

It was a day full of old timber framed buildings. In other words, lovely.

I had a glance at Chester the evening before, as I searched for a hostel, which no longer existed, and ended up in a bed and breakfast.

In the morning I had a better chance to take in Chester by walking the old walls around it. One of the more notable points is the clock at the Eastgate, dating from 1897's Diamond Jubilee for Queen Victoria.

The city is also full of Tudor and Victorian wood-framed beauties.

My next stop along my southward trajectory was Shrewsbury -- birthplace of Charles Darwin -- which also had its share of gorgeous houses.

The Council House Gatehouse (above) was my favorite. 

A sign in an alley through these buildings read: 

"Notice: This wall is very old. DO NOT prop bicycles or prams against it."

Just across the river was the abbey. 

Extensions of the edifice were ruined, leaving odd bits across the street. 

The day was hardly done. I took a fairly fruitless detour to Much Wenlock, where I arrived just in time to see the priory grounds being locked. I then proceeded to wait for the bus for an hour so that I could head onward to Ludlow.