Tuesday July 28th – It wasn’t forecast to be a great day weather-wise, but I decided this was the day to head off to Ely rather than leave it to later in the week when the weather may get even worse. Ely is about a 30 minute drive from where we’re staying and I remembered it as a lovely little town on the river Oast with a very large cathedral. All of the travel brochures suggest it’s not to be missed!

I was going to take the train, but then you’re at the mercy of their schedule and the fellow in the Visitor’s Bureau in Cambridge suggested it was an easy drive with lots of free parking in town. I arrived just after 10am and found a car park without any problem.

The cathedral definitely dominates the landscape! I booked a guided tour of the cathedral and bought a ticket for the stained glass museum as well. I had about 45 minutes to put in before the tour so sat in the cafe and had a coffee. Our tour guide was wonderful and shared much of the history of the area and the Saxon church that was first built on the site. She also helped us understand how the cathedral was built and all of the modifications that have taken place over the years, especially during Cromwell’s time when the church was closed but not destroyed. He grew up in Ely and his mother still lived there during his tenure as Lord Protector.

The stained glass museum is the only one in the UK and has quite a wide selection of windows from a number of closed churches and private homes. It was started in the 1970s as a repository to rescue stained glass from destruction.  The displays provide insight into the making of stained glass, an art form that has existed from the 13th century through to the present.

The next stop was The Almonry for lunch…a delightful little restaurant in the 13th century undercroft. I had a nice window table overlooking the garden.

It was beginning to look a bit like rain so I decided that rather than walk down the big hill to the riverfront, I’d take the car down and park somewhere down there. Imagine my surprise when I got back to my car to find a bright yellow plastic bag attached to the windscreen. Inside was a parking ticket for having stayed in the lot for more than two hours! So much for free parking in Ely – you only get two hours and then you get a $100 ticket. There was a sign which I missed on my way in since I was trying to avoid cars, bicycles and generally watch where I was going. There was also a sign in front of where I parked…partially hidden by a leafy green tree. Sum total of the experience is that it’s ‘free parking’ in the Short Term Lot if you’re going to be less than two hours. Otherwise, you park in the Long Term Lot farther out and walk in. Funny, I didn’t read that in any of the tourist brochures!! At that point it absolutely poured buckets of rain, so I just headed the car towards home and arrived back at the B&B for a cuppa and a rest.

The hymn festival tonight was in the beautiful Queen’s Chapel. Although the seats weren’t that comfortable it was a lovely setting and the North American group was in charge of the evening. The last hymn was “We’re Marching to Zion” and we all paraded out into the Common singing and clapping our hearts out.

 

The college is within walking distance of our B&B so we stopped in town for a hot chocolate, a treat (& a bathroom break) on our way back. As cool as it is during the day, the temperature stays quite warm making for nice evenings to be out and about.