July 18-Gloucester/Salisbury Cathedral

After breakfast at the hotel we boarded our coach for Gloucester, a beautiful, ancient (originally Norman-style) cathedral.  Having given a lesson on Gothic architecture to the choristers, we stood outside and looked for things like flying buttresses and pointed windows but only saw one structure that looked like a thick buttress.  The walls were thick and inside we saw rounded windows and doorways with thick columns needed to support the weight.  Our enthusiastic tour guide knew how to appeal to boys and showed them elements of architecture including fan vaults, first used in that cathedral as well as gargoyles, grotesques and stone mason marks as they were paid by the stone,  We saw where some Harry Potter scenes were filmed and then the boys were given time to sketch in the gardens.  I hope in the next day or so we can have time to sketch in Salisbury Cathedral.  There was a quick drop off of bags at the hotel and we walked to Salisbury. We were warmly greeted and changed into vestments and rehearsed.  Back to the vestry to put on surplices and conduct the Evensong.  What a glorious sound!  There was no screen and the sound was just amazing.  There is a recording I will attempt to download tomorrow for your listening enjoyment.  On to Bath tomorrow.

 Ms. Banks' chaperone group enjoys ice cream near our hotel.

 The pig from Mary Arden's farm.

Anson-the blue period.

 Amrit gives Case a temporary turban-the scene that greeted us when we did our wake up visits this morning,

 Chloe on the way to Gloucester Cathedral.

 Inside the cloister at Gloucester Cathedral.

 Gloucester Cathedral

 Fan vaults at Gloucester.

 Two view of the choristers.

 Sketching at Gloucester gardens.

 A stone mason's mark.

 Post-Gloucester frolicking

On the road to Salisbury.

Rehearsal at Salisbury cathedral just prior to the Evensong service.