Lichfield

A stop off on my journey at Lichfield. A very small cathedral city (a small town really) dominated by the three spires of the Cathedral.

I had a walk around the town centre. No time to look around Doctor Johnson’s house (his birthplace) or Erasmus Darwin’s house. I did pass 57 rescue greyhounds being taken for a walk (extra) - I chatted to a chap who thought I might like to take a greyhound on. Definitely not.

I finished with a look around the cathedral. There is currently an exhibition of the cathedral’s collection of old bibles, which was really interesting. The oldest is the 8th century St Chad’s bible (the gospels) which was made in Lichfield (extra). We forget how hugely political the bible can be, reading or translating the bible into English was dangerous, William Tyndale was burnt at the stake for doing it. It’s still political. I’ve listened this last week to “Intrigue - Word of God” on radio 4 (BBC Sounds) which sheds a fascinating light on the creation of the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC and what’s going on in the USA right now.