To Coventry

Tigger is now back to full-time (5 days a week) working so that our opportunities for going on trips and outings are much reduced. Today is Saturday, however, and we are making a day trip to Coventry

A cloudy day

We caught a bus in Pentonville Road and, as you can see, it’s a cloudy day so far in London. What will the weather be in Coventry?

Euston Station

The bus brought us to Euston Station. Tigger had already bought train tickets online.

Descending to platform 10

At the appointed hour, we went down to platform 10 and…

Aboard the train

…boarded our train. We found a pair of priority seats which have extra leg room. We have to change at Nuneaton, three stops ahead.

Through the window

The landscape speeds past the window.

We changed at Nuneaton

The train reached Nuneaton on time, we switched platforms and boarded the Coventry train that was already in the station. Once it departs, we should reach Coventry in 20 minutes.

Arriving

We arrived at Coventry on time and, of course,…

Coventry Station

…took a photo of the slab-roofed railway station.

Coffee No 1

We went to a nearby branch of Coffee No 1 for… yes, of course, coffee.

Walking the streets

We now walked through the streets, not at random, but with a destination in view.

Catalpa
Photo by Tigger

We passed this unusual and beautiful tree which is, apparently, a catalpa.

Council House

This is the splendid Council House (Town Hall), built between 1913 and 1917, which, unlike much of the heritage of Coventry, survived the Blitz.

Herbert Art Gallery and Museum

We arrived here, at our intended destination, the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. The reason for the visit was that Tigger wished to visit their exhibition 2 Tone: Lives and Legacies, something in which I have not the least interest.

General view of the exhibition

Fortunately, though you had to reserve your time slot, tickets were free, so I went in with Tigger, found a comfortable seat and waited for her to finish her viewing.

Afterwards, we looked round the museum and I include a small set of examples of exhibits which, of course, does not do justice to the museum.

The Throne of Innocents
Gonçalo Mabunda

Artwork made of recycled weapons.

Face from a building

I didn’t see a label for this dramatic figure so know nothing about its provenance but assume it was part of a larger work or a building.

Rabindranath Tagore
Jacob Epstein

Political caricatures

Elizabeth Frink
F E McWilliam

After visiting the Herbert, we walked into town to look for lunch.

Fountains

Town was crowded and noisy and the least said about it, the better. I just photographed the fountains to be going on with. We bought a picnic lunch at Marks & Spencer and sat on a bench to eat it. Then we undertook the walk back to the station.

The old Cathedral

The old Cathedral of St Michael was hit by bombs during the Blitz and only a shell remains. It looks to have been a fine building,

The modern Cathedral

Beside it is its modern replacement which, but for the cross and Jacob Epstein’s sculpture of St Michael trouncing Satan, might be mistaken for a factory.

Church of St John the Baptist

Corner sculpture

The walk back probably felt longer than it was. I concentrated on walking and took few photos.

Back in Coffee No 1

We have tickets for a specific train and it was still early so we retired once more to Coffee No 1 to wait for train time.

On the platform

Still in plenty of time, we went into the station and waited for our train. This time, we change at Rugby.

Through the window

The train was 2 minutes late but now we are off!

Rugby Station

We had a short wait at Rugby.

Aboard the Euston train

We boarded the Euston train which will stop only once before London.

We’re off!
Photo by Tigger

The sun is lower in the sky now and the shadows are lengthening.

The 73 carries us home

Outside the station we catch a 73 bus for the last leg of the journey back to the Angel and home. Mission accomplished!