Day Eight - Rain, more rain, and a short rant
Basically, it rained most of the day and our day's plans changed about midday. We started out walking along Offa's Dyke Path towards Tintern Abbey to a spot known as The Devil's Pulpit. Here a large rock stands upright in the upper valley, overlooking the abbey ruins and the Wye. From this vantage point the Devil was alleged to conduct sermons on Sundays during the regular mass going on below. What a quaint idea, equal-time for sinners! Regardless of the lore surrounding the rocky overlook, anyone standing there has one terrific view of the river valley, abbey, and village.
The sky was solidly cloudy and continued to darken as we headed back to the car. As we headed up towards St. Briavels for the descent to the valley road below, the rain began to softly fall. We decided to stop at the George Inn for a bite to eat and watched as the rain continued with with greater intensity and volume, winds whipping the trees outside the windows. We sat and watched, realizing this wasn't a short afternoon sprinkle like we've seen several times during the past week. This was a real rain system and we had to adjust. Photographing during overcast days is one thing, rain isn't something I consider a reasonable weather condition. Not my cup of tea.
We decided to visit Hereford to see its cathedral and famous Chained Library. The story of the Cathedral is similar to many ancient religious structures throughout Europe, there was war and often a new religion followed. It was founded and built shortly after Edward the Confessor solved his difficulties with the son of the Duke of Mercia, or about 1110 A.D. Since then the cathedral has grown in various stages until today's edifice was completed with the adddition of a permanent home for the library, complete with a nice visual display combining the library with the cathedral's other great treasure, the Mappa Mundi or "Map of the World" from the 13th century. The exhibit was stylish and well layed-out and contained William Caxton's bible, representing the first printing in England. This printing followed shortly after Gutenberg's and represents a milestone in English history.
The main rationale for our visit was the "Chained Library" which has holdings from the 8th through the 19th centuries, arranged and contained in a unique chain-lock system. A survivor of wars, disease, and time itself the library is unique in the world. We were very glad for the rain, as it allowed this unscheduled visit to Hereford and its available historic treasures.
Upon arrival, we knew we were back in a large city as traffic was snarled for blocks, but we slipped into a car park close to the city centre and walked across the Wye on the old bridge. I snapped a quick shot of a river boat/house.
Upon realizing the library would close we hurried through the cathedral to the library building and were greeted by a gift shop, security cameras, and a cashier. We paid our £4.50 entry fee and walked towards the exhibit hall's doors and saw the sign -- the dreaded sign I've come to loathe on trips like this, the universal symbol of a war that rages in many artistic and historic sites the world over pitting the owners of private property against the rights of visual artists, particularly photographers
...NO PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED.
We got a tea and got up our energy to explore the cathedral. I love old churches and like to walk around and see everything that has happened in the confines of these old buildings. There is an incredible amount of history in these old churches and I tend to lose all sense of my surroundings while I'm so engaged. With no similar religious experience to those contained here (attended a small, funky Southern Baptist church of very modest means), I take photographs of everything that seems different, weird, interesting, or just unusual... that's everything folks. I'll post a few of the more scenic images here, but I'll add many more to the daily gallery.
As we left Hereford, we walked through an alley along the Wye, apparently part of the old city wall. We stopped to admire (?) the new development in the area; it's sometimes hard to appreciate the commingling of the ancient, old, and new.
Check out the Daily Gallery.
Basically, it rained most of the day and our day's plans changed about midday. We started out walking along Offa's Dyke Path towards Tintern Abbey to a spot known as The Devil's Pulpit. Here a large rock stands upright in the upper valley, overlooking the abbey ruins and the Wye. From this vantage point the Devil was alleged to conduct sermons on Sundays during the regular mass going on below. What a quaint idea, equal-time for sinners! Regardless of the lore surrounding the rocky overlook, anyone standing there has one terrific view of the river valley, abbey, and village.
The sky was solidly cloudy and continued to darken as we headed back to the car. As we headed up towards St. Briavels for the descent to the valley road below, the rain began to softly fall. We decided to stop at the George Inn for a bite to eat and watched as the rain continued with with greater intensity and volume, winds whipping the trees outside the windows. We sat and watched, realizing this wasn't a short afternoon sprinkle like we've seen several times during the past week. This was a real rain system and we had to adjust. Photographing during overcast days is one thing, rain isn't something I consider a reasonable weather condition. Not my cup of tea.
We decided to visit Hereford to see its cathedral and famous Chained Library. The story of the Cathedral is similar to many ancient religious structures throughout Europe, there was war and often a new religion followed. It was founded and built shortly after Edward the Confessor solved his difficulties with the son of the Duke of Mercia, or about 1110 A.D. Since then the cathedral has grown in various stages until today's edifice was completed with the adddition of a permanent home for the library, complete with a nice visual display combining the library with the cathedral's other great treasure, the Mappa Mundi or "Map of the World" from the 13th century. The exhibit was stylish and well layed-out and contained William Caxton's bible, representing the first printing in England. This printing followed shortly after Gutenberg's and represents a milestone in English history.
The main rationale for our visit was the "Chained Library" which has holdings from the 8th through the 19th centuries, arranged and contained in a unique chain-lock system. A survivor of wars, disease, and time itself the library is unique in the world. We were very glad for the rain, as it allowed this unscheduled visit to Hereford and its available historic treasures.
Upon arrival, we knew we were back in a large city as traffic was snarled for blocks, but we slipped into a car park close to the city centre and walked across the Wye on the old bridge. I snapped a quick shot of a river boat/house.
Upon realizing the library would close we hurried through the cathedral to the library building and were greeted by a gift shop, security cameras, and a cashier. We paid our £4.50 entry fee and walked towards the exhibit hall's doors and saw the sign -- the dreaded sign I've come to loathe on trips like this, the universal symbol of a war that rages in many artistic and historic sites the world over pitting the owners of private property against the rights of visual artists, particularly photographers
...NO PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED.
WARNING: BRIEF RANT ABOUT INSTITUTIONS FOLLOWS, IF YOU ARE INVOLVED IN HISTORIC COLLECTIONS, MUSEUMS, CHURCHS (WHO CHARGE ADMISSION), OR OTHERS PLEASE BE WARNED.
Really all I want to express is my frustration with the situation I found myself thrown into today, similar to many I've had elswhere with many different entities. If there is to be an exchange of ideas, like the world the Internet (or even independent journalism) may offer, it is quite unfortunate that photography isn't permitted in such important sites. I paid an admission, saw (and enjoyed) the exhibit, but can only talk about it here due to the "copyright" restrictions which Hereford Cathedral feels obliged to protect. I can buy a nice postcard, but I can't reproduce it. I can publish a photograph from my Ward-Lock guide of 1913 of the chained library.
I asked if the ban on photography was for protection of the materials -- the harsh UV light from a flash or something else and was informed it was due to copyright. Now I'm the first person to protect the rights of individuals and companies that create materials for their livelihood and their family, but a library (or museum or institute) which holds a priceless part of history should not hold a copyright, in my (less than) humble opinion. I would gladly pay a reasonable fee for the ability to photograph; I'd even sign an agreement. So, here's my photograph of the Chained Library exhibit.
END OF RANT
We got a tea and got up our energy to explore the cathedral. I love old churches and like to walk around and see everything that has happened in the confines of these old buildings. There is an incredible amount of history in these old churches and I tend to lose all sense of my surroundings while I'm so engaged. With no similar religious experience to those contained here (attended a small, funky Southern Baptist church of very modest means), I take photographs of everything that seems different, weird, interesting, or just unusual... that's everything folks. I'll post a few of the more scenic images here, but I'll add many more to the daily gallery.
As we left Hereford, we walked through an alley along the Wye, apparently part of the old city wall. We stopped to admire (?) the new development in the area; it's sometimes hard to appreciate the commingling of the ancient, old, and new.
Check out the Daily Gallery.
1 Comments:
What a shame you weren't able to take photos and share with us the unique treasures that the "Chained Library" has in its collection. The image from your Ward-lock guide made me very curious and wish I could have seen more. I wasn't aware that chaining books was a security system from the "middle ages to the eighteenth century (chained library website)." Very clever indeed. I imagine that books were quite valuable considering they must have been the main source for getting information, entertainment, and religious scripts.
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