Guildford Cathedral

At about the time that I left the world of work, there were some colleagues who were always saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. And while it is true that a graphic can sometimes tell a good story, the people responsible for the artwork on public facilities have gone a bit overboard these days, making use of a profusion of pictorial symbols, many of which I feel to grasp, with this van parked in the car park of Guildford Cathedral being an example of the genre. A bit of simple text might have been easier than the obscure pictorial symbol.

The opening vista down the nave to the altar, impressed as it usually does. Perhaps helped along by it being the first time we have been there since they finished the redecorations incidental to dealing with asbestos in the roof, a popular and useful material at the time the place was built.

Oddly, this impression rather dissipated as one got nearer the altar, which appeared to be decked out with a rather eclectic collection of trim and furnishings.

Visited the Treasury where we learned that a morse was an ornamental clasp, used with a cope. I wonder if the famous inspector of this name, known for his skill with crosswords, knew this? We also picked up a booklet about samplers by one Jane Toller. Was she some relative of the Toller who gave his name to the farm noticed at reference 1? Further investigation when we had got home revealed that she was only a Toller by marriage, being married to one Charles Toller, antique dealer of Mayfair and Datchet. But the trail goes cold there, with gmaps showing the house in Datchet as being up for sale.

Continuing with Treasury matters, we asked a trusty about reports that the cathedral was bankrupt and might have to close. It seems that this was all about the continuing story of the cathedral wanting to sell some land for houses to provide a capital cushion, an endowment if you will, while the heritage folk on the council were saying green belt. To which there is no easy answer in these days of austerity - particularly given that one supposes the regular congregation to be small in relation to the size of the place.

Out to tea and scone in the café. Tea not so good, but scone, a fruit scone, as good as I have ever had from a café - with sweet scones being apt go stale with great speed, turning into something which sticks in the mouth in a rather unpleasant way.

From there to Ripley to take in the tulip festival at Dunsborough Park, webbed at reference 2 and noticed at reference 3. The tulips were rather past their best and it was rather cold, but there was enough left to see that they must have been quite something a week or so previous. Learned on the way out that there might not be another opportunity, with the place up for sale. And having touted it, we failed to find the history society hut noticed at reference 4.

Back home to try the micro-brewery which has been set up in the Coopers (reference 5). Needs must these days, I took white wine rather than beer, but I did stretch to a half of something called Fuzzchat, alleged to be slang for the argot once talked by residents of Epsom Common. I thought it rather good, a pale yellow bitter of a sort that I used to like.

Later on we got to try the wine from Vesuvius, noticed at reference 6. Adequate rather than good.

Wound up the proceedings by taking a second look at the famous documentary from 1934, by Robert Flaherty, about life on the Arran Islands. All very impressive, but this time around it also seemed a little contrived. While the documentary might have captured the tone of the place, a lot of the detail did not work. For example, the leading man put in an improbable amount of time on the sledge hammer and we were given no clues as to how the cash needed to sustain this life - to pay, for example, for pots, pans and rope - was raised. But one could certainly see why they packed it in for war work in the factories. Of Ireland that is - they might have been neutral, but they did contribute in other ways. Furthermore, one might think that people who could spend a day and a night killing a basking shark from a small and fragile boat might lack some of the civilities and sensitivities of people from the suburbs.

PS: it is a while since we have been to Guildford Cathedral, but it can't be more than a few years. However, search of blogs and blog archive has failed, so far, to reveal when we paid our last visit, possibly for nothing more elevating than a spot of tea and cake from the café there when coming home on the A3. Maybe some cunning search term will come to me during the afternoon.

Reference 1: http://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=farthing.

Reference 2: https://dunsboroughpark.com/.

Reference 3: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/a-surrey-church.html.

Reference 4: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/history-society.html.

Reference 5: http://jollycoopers.co.uk/home-1/.

Reference 6: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/tunbridge-tipple.html.

Group search key: gca.