Airy

A wet day in Blackburn, but with plenty to do and see.

I started in the cathedral (main image), completed in 1977 after forty years of work enlarging St. Mary’s parish church. A very modern, light and airy building, full of modern religious art. 

I walked through town (yes, you can have a cathedral and still be a town) to the museum and gallery. A classic, northern, civic space where you can bathe in victorian and contemporary art, turn a corner and find a spinning jenny, turn another and be surrounded by stuffed birds. The visiting exhibit (‘Come as you really are’ by Hetain Patel) was right up my street, given it had been built around various peoples’ collecting passions (extras).

Then a longer walk out to Ewood Park for the day’s football, enjoying various murals, plaques and ghost signs along the way (extras).

I was here to watch my team, Everton, in a pre-season friendly, but there were nice memories of previous visits a few years back, to watch Nephew #3 play. It was a pretty dour game, with an early goal from Blackburn being the only one of the match. Still, I rarely get to see Everton and it was nice to see some of the up and coming youngsters alongside what is currently a very thin first team squad. 

My previous visits to Blackburn have been fragmentary: a gig at St. George’s Hall, an interview on BBC Radio Lancashire (I cannot remember about what, or how it came about), and the football. I’ll come back on a nicer day - there is apparently a lot more street art around that I didn’t see. And I didn’t have time to count the holes.

An eclectic collection (literally) in extras.