Wednesday 26th February we visited Sheffield Cathedral. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield. The style of architecture is gothic and the church dates back to the twelfth century. 

Sheffield is a large city in South Yorkshire.  Sheffield played an important role in the Industrial Revolution with many significant inventions and technologies developed in the city. In the 19th century, the city saw a huge expansion of its traditional cutlery trade. Stainless steel were developed locally, fuelling an almost tenfold increase in the population. 

Wednesday afternoon we drove to Durham which is a city in northeast England, south of Newcastle upon Tyne. The River Wear loops around the Romanesque Durham Cathedral and Norman Durham Castle.

The present cathedral was begun in 1093 and is regarded as one of the finest examples of Norman architecture in Europe.

Durham Cathedral holds the relics of Saint Cuthbert transported to Durham by Lindisfarne Monks in the ninth century. In addition, Its library contains one of the most complete sets of early printed books in England, and three copies of the Magna Carta.

Thursday morning we had breakfast in the centre of York in a very nice cafe adjacent to the cathedral. York is a historic walled city in North Yorkshire, England and was founded by the Romans in 71 AD. The centre of York is medieval. It has famous old streets (‘The Shambles’ for example) and a cathedral called York Minster.

The Cathedral and Church of Saint Peter in York commonly known as York Minster and is the second largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe. The title "minster” is attributed to churches established in the Anglo-Saxon period as missionary teaching churches. The present church was designed to be the greatest cathedral in the kingdom. It was built over 250 years between 1220 and 1472. In July1984 a lightning bolt hit the south transept of the cathedral causing 2.25m pounds of damage. 

These three cathedrals are different in so many ways but are also very similar with regard to history, architecture and their purpose - Christian worship. On each occasion, we were met by very friendly folk who were willing to share information and show us around these beautiful cathedrals. Wherever we travel, as much as we enjoy ourselves, we experience a degree of anxiety. It could be time constraints, too much driving, struggling with a throat virus or constantly hearing about the coronavirus. The one constant during our time in the UK has been the opportunity to visit churches and cathedrals. Being 'immersed' in beautiful historic buildings and gaining knowledge in these places of worship has provided a sense of peace and food for the soul!