I've been to the two great churches, St Paul's and Westminster Abbey. Both were fascinating in different ways. At the Abbey it was the history which attracted me. The tombs of the Kings, of Elizabeth and Mary and the politics of their placement and the plaques of famous people, especially in the Poet's corner. At St Paul's it was the beauty that surprised and overwhelmed me. I didn't realise it was so richly decorated with mosaics. Their sparkle and the brilliance of the colour can't possible be captured on a photo (not allowed anyway) or a postcard. I sat a few days later at evensong and revelled in their beauty as the choir's voices reverberated through the quire, dome and nave. I went up into the Whispering Gallery, which gave a magnificent view, but the other sections weren't open so I wasn't able to get out to the top view.
I also visited the St George Chapel at Windsor. Gay Knox and I spent the day at Windsor. She had been there years before, but was happy to revisit it. We saw the extraordinary huge Dolls House with its amazingly detailed interior. Apparently even the toilets flush, although they have turned off the water. There were lots of galleries and rooms with paintings, china, furniture and silverware. One set of china that caught my eye was fashioned after Greek pottery. The plates had designs from famous vases and the serving bowls etc were shaped like the vases. Apparently it isn't used because there is a suggestion that lead was used in the decoration. There were two long entertaining rooms. The Wellington room was lined with paintings of important British and foreign dignitaries all painted after Waterloo at the Peace talks. The table in there sat about 60 but that pales into insignificance compared to the other one where they recently sat 150. This room has all the heraldry of the Knights of the Garter on the ceiling, and their names listed on wood panels in the window alcove. Some of the crests have been whited out, because they had their title stripped due to various reasons - treason etc. It was entertaining to identify the number of one of them, then go to the list to find out who they were. This room was one that had been damaged in the fire, and has been beautifully restored. We went through several other rooms which were restored, one of which was set up with Victorian Christmas decorations. In one of the other rooms a printing had been removed for an exhibition in London. The guide was saying that it is difficult when paintings are removed at random for various reasons. They have to find others to fill the gap. As an example, the three Rembrants in the previous room had been put there because the usual paintings were on a tour somewhere. Imagine having three spare Rembrants in your store room.
The St George Chapel is dedicated to the Knights of the Garter and in the quire each of the present knights has a stall. When they are installed it is literally that - placed in a stall in the quire. The back panel has a metal plaque with their details, and those of all the previous knights who used that stall. They are never removed so some of the panels are quite full! Above them hangs a flag with their heraldry symbol. Of course, many don't actually have a family one, so they go to the Heraldry institute and have one designed. The one for Maggie Thatcher was surprisingly royal in appearance, 'for the daughter of a grocer' as the guide reminded me, and John Major's had a 3 pronged portcullis with three red circles at the top, representing cricket balls on a wicket!! Their stalls are allocated according to which becomes vacant when a person dies. There was some quiet amusement I suspect when it turned out that Maggie Thatcher and Ted Heath ended up next to each other.
I also visited the St George Chapel at Windsor. Gay Knox and I spent the day at Windsor. She had been there years before, but was happy to revisit it. We saw the extraordinary huge Dolls House with its amazingly detailed interior. Apparently even the toilets flush, although they have turned off the water. There were lots of galleries and rooms with paintings, china, furniture and silverware. One set of china that caught my eye was fashioned after Greek pottery. The plates had designs from famous vases and the serving bowls etc were shaped like the vases. Apparently it isn't used because there is a suggestion that lead was used in the decoration. There were two long entertaining rooms. The Wellington room was lined with paintings of important British and foreign dignitaries all painted after Waterloo at the Peace talks. The table in there sat about 60 but that pales into insignificance compared to the other one where they recently sat 150. This room has all the heraldry of the Knights of the Garter on the ceiling, and their names listed on wood panels in the window alcove. Some of the crests have been whited out, because they had their title stripped due to various reasons - treason etc. It was entertaining to identify the number of one of them, then go to the list to find out who they were. This room was one that had been damaged in the fire, and has been beautifully restored. We went through several other rooms which were restored, one of which was set up with Victorian Christmas decorations. In one of the other rooms a printing had been removed for an exhibition in London. The guide was saying that it is difficult when paintings are removed at random for various reasons. They have to find others to fill the gap. As an example, the three Rembrants in the previous room had been put there because the usual paintings were on a tour somewhere. Imagine having three spare Rembrants in your store room.
The St George Chapel is dedicated to the Knights of the Garter and in the quire each of the present knights has a stall. When they are installed it is literally that - placed in a stall in the quire. The back panel has a metal plaque with their details, and those of all the previous knights who used that stall. They are never removed so some of the panels are quite full! Above them hangs a flag with their heraldry symbol. Of course, many don't actually have a family one, so they go to the Heraldry institute and have one designed. The one for Maggie Thatcher was surprisingly royal in appearance, 'for the daughter of a grocer' as the guide reminded me, and John Major's had a 3 pronged portcullis with three red circles at the top, representing cricket balls on a wicket!! Their stalls are allocated according to which becomes vacant when a person dies. There was some quiet amusement I suspect when it turned out that Maggie Thatcher and Ted Heath ended up next to each other.
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