Old Cathedral and Church of St Michael

Thanks for that, it's nice to see those all together, plus a few I'd not seen. There are a lot more pieces. They found where the windows were stored during the war and are trying to restore them, including recreating the medieval groups. Like a really delicate jigsaw. Even before the war, the medieval bits were jumbled as the later glass workers weren't very skilled and just patched windows. I hope that the modern team have a fair bit finished by 2021.

mcsporran, that's absolutely brilliant, the whole topic is, and all who contribute, I'm simply amazed.

On a dark murky morning in 1949 I was in High Street when on a whim I turned down Hay Lane, narrow cobbled lanes and courtyards, a memory stirred of threadbare tapestries, and suits of armour. There was something about the atmosphere of these old lanes and buildings that made me carry those images through my childhood. I turned towards the old cathedral and stared up at the spire of St Michaels, the weathered tower that crowns the city. A silence is the welcome that awaits me, a high austere monument, its peachy tone of the stone makes it more awesome - peace and harmony impregnated this place created centuries ago through prayers. I'm baffled by what I'm discovering, the old grave headstones have been removed from around the cathedral, inside the memorial stone of the King's visit seems to be missing. The clearance of hundreds of tons of charcoaled debris no doubt. I climb the worn spiraled steps, placing my feet in the well worn grooves - how many thousands of feet have climbed these steps over the centuries? Shafts of light through the slits in the walls probe the gloom. I recall it's been over ten years since the last time I climbed these steps as a boy. The steps grow narrow as I near the summit. Looking out over the city desolation draws the eye instantly, and instant anger, but the new statue of Lady Godiva is waiting to be unveiled and the new city is about to be reborn, and the anger subsides.

Hackjo, that is really stunning, thank you so much for placing it on the Forum for all to see!

Thanks to Helen F for "St Michael's Coventry, The Rise and Fall of the Old Cathedral". I ordered this from the Cathedral, it arrived very quickly and I would thoroughly recommend it to all who love Coventry and its history.

Helen. What happened to my money? Nov 1940. Pop Barnes was my Sunday School teacher, the Rev Standing my vicar (Longford). Pop Barnes gave us kids leaflets to distribute to shops and houses for donations to restore (I assumed) the Cathedral, even some of our paper rounds money donated. But no restoration. After centuries of prayer, deaths and births, services to fallen soldiers, miners etc. a new cathedral was not going to be the same - why could some people not understand that? The windows in Iceland are completely new to me, so when did that appear, before 1950 or after? Who gave the right to distribute or sell donated articles? Old English papers were safely stored, I'm sure Coventry could have stored anything that could be moved. Money wasn't the problem, all countries wanted to donate, including our government. There was a lot of skull-duggery to my mind, certainly a lot of questions.

Hi Kaga. Your money is safe... sort of. I can update the Iceland window story. When the authorities checked it out, it turned out to be a myth, but they discovered the stored windows exactly where they were put before the war. Some stately home somewhere (I'll look it up). The pieces are being cleaned and restored by a university team. It's a bit of a jigsaw, not least because some of the windows were already scrambled by previous glaziers. Article about St Michael's windows

See 'St Michael's Coventry The Rise and Fall of the Old Cathedral', which has a section on the medieval glass and is very up to date. (Published 2015) The glass was stored during WW2 at Hampton Lucy Rectory.

Helen F, Prof. Thank you, we knew it had been stored, but then no one thought the cathedral would be hit to that degree.

More about the glass Thanks Prof, I couldn't look in the book because I was away from home.

It is a stunning pic, although the comment on rebuilding the cathedral to have a view like that is quite baffling, seeing as practically everything except the window glass in that view is still visible? View of Cathedrals

Here is another stunning photo of the old Cathedral of the East End by night. I received it via a website I use and so I credit it to Arnold Frederick Storey, the photographer.

As the tram turned out of Burges mother and I were looking out of the window looking for the cathedral. "There they are!" I cried, "How big they are, bigger than all the houses, bigger than all the streets". Mother hushed me to be quiet. We got off the tram, plcked our way to the front of the largest spire. Mother's face seemed to shine as we looked skywards to the spire, noble against the sky. Mother walked towards the large door. I grabbed her hand as we entered, we sat side by side for a few minutes, the quiet, the dazzling reflections of the coloured windows, then mother pointed out the different chapels - the Childrens' Chapel, the Lady Chapel, the Vestry and much more I have long forgotten - her face and eyes bright. I knew she was wishing I would take more interest in her religion. As we left I was hoping to hear a peel of bells for close by in Butcher Row the sound caught up in the buildings, seemed to bounce of the cobbled yard and stopped you in your tracks. All the time there was a feeling of sadness and warmth, We came away.

Oh my Kaga, that's as close as we'll ever get to that time machine I've always wished for. For a while there I was transported back 80+ years by your wonderful narrative. Thank you so much for painting a scene in my mind.

Rob. Thanks. Damned trouble is I can remember these things as if today. But I pick up my walking stick and have to ask the wife what it's called. I can be in the middle of typing and wham everything has gone, can't remember what I'm talking about or typing. I have to leave my chair and wait however long for things to return. Don't get old, son, it's a bummer.