On Wednesday, despite heavy rain, we set off to visit Lichfield, one of my favourite places within striking distance of where we live. The weather seemed to change as we arrived and we were able to spend a pleasant afternoon strolling around the shops and the cathedral.
I always make a point of looking at the inscription placed on one of the houses close to the cathedral commemorating the death of Lord Brooke during the English Civil War. He must have thought he was well out of harm’s way but, somehow, a shot fired from the battlements of the great steeple struck him in the forehead and killed him. It was quite a shot given the distance and the primitive nature of the muskets used at the time and, I suppose, it was the royalists who eventually erected the inscription to celebrate the marksman rather than mourn the victim.
What strikes me is the wording; Mr Dyott had placed himself on the battlements to ‘annoy the besiegers’. This makes it sound like he was making rude gestures or playing loud music to keep them awake. As for Lord Brooke, I don’t think his last words, if he had been able to deliver them, would have been: “Oh, that’s a bit annoying! How rude!”
The stained glass has been removed from behind the altar in the cathedral for renovation. The clear glass, which is in place temporarily, gives the interior a strange brightness which seems all wrong. It also looks as if some extra lucky double glazing salesman has pulled off the biggest con of his career: “Nobody has coloured glass these days. I could give this place a lovely modern look!”
Now that would be annoying!
Having helped bolster the economy of Lichfield (we bought some poop scoop bags from Wilkinsons) we made our way home – in the rain!
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