City of culture

Coventry is the 2021 City of Culture. So we thought we better experience a bit. Among the items on our visiting list today was Lady Godiva, who holds pride of place in the town centre.

Just on from there we found our first real target – the Herbert art gallery and museum. I didn't bother with a photo of the outside, and the items inside were not easy to capture. However they were really interesting. The gallery currently has a exhibition of 2 Tone music and culture. This was totally new to us, as we had just gone to work in Brazil when it took off at the end of the 70s, and had really finished by the time we returned. A mixture of Jamaican music and punk, and associated with both an anti-racism ethic and the protests surrounding the early Thatcher years. It was fascinating to find a bit of British culture that we had completely missed, and to see its deep association with Coventry.

Just back from the gallery towards the city centre is the cathedral. However well you know the story surrounding the bombing of the mediaeval cathedral, the extraordinary movement of reconciliation that followed, and the way that was captured in the construction of the new cathedral, the whole thing is incredibly impressive. A nice feature, given our family links to Norway, was a small organ, presumably played on just special occasions, given by Norwegian people as a mark of identification with what the cathedral stands for.

When we got back to Erin Mae, we found another cultural event taking place in the canal basin. The library boat NB Scribendi, for which we had had to move up a space last night, was doing a great job of encouraging people to get into books.

A folk band got going with some some original songs focussed on the Coventry canal.

There were lots of different activities for children, and crafty stuff for all. It wasn't terribly well attended – the sky was grey and it was Friday afternoon – but those who were there had a really good time.