You know I lived in Coventry for three years. Not sequentially, of course. But in my time there, I had been to the Cathedral countless times. The more devoted Cedric Suggestibles among you will recall that I reviewed Rising Cafe very early on in the Cedric Suggests archives. This was in fact the first place I reviewed for food, despite being the second eatery on the blog. I remember it fondly and was glad to eat there again this weekend with my closest friends and confidants.
The original St Michael’s Cathedral in Coventry was built between the late 14th century and early 15th century. It now stands ruined, bombed almost to destruction during the massive attack on the city by German bombers on the night of November 14th, 1940. AtlasObscura
Little remains of the original Cathedral except the tower which emerged from the bombing relatively intact. It is now open to those who wish to climb the 106 steps up to have one of the finest views of the city I have ever seen. See of the views pictured below.
One can see Holy Trinity Church in its splendour, the Cathedral Lanes Centre, which is home to the Cosy Club, part of Godiva Place and the Lower Precinct shopping centre. If you have spectacles, or if you’ve decided to come from Hull and not bring your spectacles, squint, you’ll see Coventry Market. This is home to Ed’s Coffee and Vinyl Destination where I bought Abraxas by Santana – a superb album. Listen especially to Black Magic Woman, if you have ears of course.
The view from another side of the tower(apologies for not giving you these in the standard North/South binary, I wasn’t wearing my hearing aids so I forgot to bring my compass. Silly of me, really. One can see the corner of the Transport Museum (now £14 entry!), part of Coventry University and a lovely urban sprawl of purest green.
The final side I shall be sharing with you showcases the hull of St Michael’s Cathedral. We discussed the architecture while there, concluding the Romans did a good job in setting out the layout of most modern Cathedrals. Of course the question then asked was “Where did the Romans get the idea to do that?”. Perhaps this is too great a question for this humble blog.
One can also see the Hubert Art Gallery, which is free and delightfully well thought out, as well as FarGo Village. The latter deserves a post all by itself, and may well get one.
I really recommend the St Michael’s tower to you. It’s a fantastic way to get a great view of the city as well as some exercise. You can even see the mechanical bells which St Nick lectured me on at great length, being a bellend of some repute himself.