The original live/work lofts.

These houses were built by John and Joseph Cash in 1857, to provide both housing and workspace for ribbon weavers. The first two floors were accommodation, and the top floor with the big windows was a “top shop” or weaving workshop. The ideas was that all the weavers could use a single steam engine for power, while working on their own looms. Though the idea of independent weavers sharing a power source did not work out following competition from cheap French ribbons, Cash’s factory remained on the site until 1984, and they are still in business making name tags for clothing.

We left Coventry today, and headed back to the Hawkesbury Junction where we turned onto the Oxford Canal. On the way we stopped at a water point and scrubbed the top of the boat with beach. It still looks bit grungy, but it’s a lot better than it was. Sometimes you have to settle for better than it was.

I haven’t got around to posting pictures of the new Coventry Cathedral yet, so here you are. This is the view as you walk in.

The Christ on the green background is a huge tapestry, 75 feet tall and 38 feet wide, believed to be the world’s largest.

The organ is four stories tall.

The Gethsemane Chapel.

The charred cross, made from burned timbers from the old cathedral.

Stained glass window.

This is on your right as you enter, but the rest of the stained glass windows you don’t see until you walk up towards the altar and turn around.

It’s a striking building. As 20th Century English cathedrals go, I would rate it far better than the Anglican Liverpool Cathedral, but not as good as the Catholic Liverpool Cathedral, otherwise known as the Mersey Funnel.