Day 99 - Lichfield, home of David Garrick and Erasmus Darwin.

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0 locks, 411 in total.







Boat crew all present and correct once more so I was able to bus into Lichfield without fear of returning to a fried dog. Once in Tamworth it is just 5 miles to Lichfield yet it takes 35 minutes on the bus; the route is rather like a 'join up the dots' puzzle. One loop took me through Whittington Barracks, home of the Staffordshire and Mercian Regiments I learnt, and presumably the soldiers who fire guns in Hopwas Woods. We drove past the regimental museum with tanks outside, past soldiers on a teamwork exercise (lots of planks and balancing), the rifle range and married quarters area with its numerous speed humps. Elsewhere on the journey was a vast free-range piggery – more than 100 acres of happy piggies.







I liked the centre of Lichfield – some old buildings, very spacious shopping streets without traffic, lakes, parks and the cathedral, the purpose of my visit. It is beautiful, its three spires rising above the surrounding buildings. The stonework is absolutely superb, particularly the west front, restored in Victorian times. It is a large building and the nave seems to stretch ahead forever. There is a mix of stained glass styles, some older and fussier, some more modern with larger pieces of glass to give a clearer image. The inside of the cathedral does not have the wow factor of the outside but nonetheless is very worth seeing. The patron saint is St. Chad, one of 4 brothers taught by St. Aidan at Lindisfarne who each founded a Christian diocese.

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Photos

The Assmebly Rooms, Tamworth....
...whilst waiting for the Lichfield bus.

The famous 16th century chimneys of the Hospital of St. John Baptist Without The Barrs.
Hospitality outside the city wall for pilgrims coming to worship St. Chad. Refounded in 1495 to provide permanent accommodation for 16 men and also a school where Samuel Johnson was educated. He described his Latin teacher as 'very skillfull in his little way' - praise indeed.

Beacon Park.
The fountain has heron and seagull carvings.

Apostles on the lowest layer.....
..... next come the kings of Mercia and above them are the angels and archangels.

One of 3 medieval wall paintings in the cathedral.
This is of The Assumption. Most wall paintings in churches were destroyed either in the Reformation or after the Civil War.