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Coventry grew up around a tree belonging to Cofa, hence its eventual name. In 1043 Leofric, the local Earl and husband to Lady Godiva, founded a Benedictine monastery there – and the Lady, it is said, rode naked through the town!
Local industries included dyeing wool and silk weaving, before becoming a centre for bicycle and car manufacture in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Badly damaged in WWII, the city has a famous modern cathedral, based on a celebrated Ministry of Reconciliation.
Coventry apparently is the 13th largest city in the UK and when I was growing up in the midlands is where family friends lived so we visited quite alot. Now that I have rediscovered my love of photography Mr B and I are lining up some weekends away in various towns and cities to wander aimlessly and take photos. I remember Coventry being full of great buildings so its high on our list because that’s what I like photographing best and I have happy memories of weekends in the city.
Room is booked at the Holiday Inn Coventry as they are always well located and great value for money and we can get a great nights sleep ahead of a day’s walking the city.
There are three cathedrals in Coventry and the ruins of the the first one – which had been expanded from the monastery founded by Godiva – were unearthed by Channel 4’s Time Team and can be seen at Priory Visitor Centre and Gardens. Relics found there include the Apocalypse Mural, a medieval wall painting with a vision of the end of the world. The Coventry Cathedral website has loads of information on events and is high on my list of places to visit
If it rains we are going to head to the Herbert Art Gallery:
Discover what life was really like in Coventry through the centuries, through personal stories, historical films and our amazing collections. Wander through dazzling interactive displays and investigate the natural world, modern art, and the old masters in our eight permanent galleries
There are also a couple of organised walks set up by “Curious About” that take a couple of hours each and take in most of the sites. The routes are downloadable from the website which makes things so much easier. I love the sound of Walk number 2, I think there will be lots of photo opportunities on that one, and its only a mile, and no doubt there will be a nice pub such as the Farmhouse Rests at the end of it for a spot of lunch.
I don’t know about you but that is shaping up to be a cracking weekend, don’t you think?
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