April 5, 2009

Breakfast at 8:15 so I could catch the 9:00 bus to Chichester. Temperature is about 15 and the sun is shining. I wanted to attend the Palm Sunday Service at the Cathedral. I had looked for a Catholic Church but they were all outside and not easy to get to, so I thought, oh well it used to be a Catholic Church before Henry VIII so why not? It started at 11:00 so I had lots of time to do the other thing I had wanted to do in Chichester, which was to walk the Roman walls. I started on the south side by the Bishop’s Palace Garden and continued West. After about only 500 yards I had to come down to the streetscape. It was then I realized that the walls weren’t continuous. I asked al lady walking her dog and she told me how to get back on at the North side. So I went back to the Centre of the city, through the Cross, and up North Street to its end. There I was able to go up some stairs and was able to walk the entire north side which may have been a kilometre. From the elevated walls you are able to look down into the backyards of the adjacent neighbours. Many have gardens in their space which may only be 15 feet wide running back to the wall some 40 feet. One had chickens in a little coop. There was an old bastion that had come away from the wall but was still largely intact except for some surface erosion, but amazingly it was in someone’s yard.
I walked the northeast quadrant of the walls, which is relatively short and was surprised to see lots of new residential construction on either side and several sold signs in the windows. This was the only piece of the wall where it appeared as if the inner surface was not even and I observed several examples of bowing. Yet the structure appears very sound. Chichester is very civilized in that it has lots of clean, accessible public bathrooms. In one they even had a 3 in 1 soap, water and blow dryer unit for your hands. I swear you could nearly take a shower in it.
I arrived at the Cathedral about 10:45 and was asked to join the procession with the majority of the parishioners. I would say 200 processed and another 1oo were inside. It was a long procession with readings, singing and parading along West Street to the front doors of the cathedral. The service was very nice and lasted about one and a half hours. Afterwards, I attended a reception of parishioners and was able to talk with a few people. I took some interesting photos of the inside of the building to compliment lots from the exterior.
By now I thought rather than put in a full day, I would do some preparation for the coming week. I searched out a grocery store called Iceland and was able to locate all the things I would need for lunches this week and even a 4 pack of Irish Stout; what a civilized country. I popped into the tourist bureau to gather information on Fishbourne Palace which will likely be an all day excursion next weekend and to find out about National Trust and English Heritage properties. There are several in the region. Caught the 3:10 bus back to Lavant (it is only about 7-8 minutes) and plan to relax for the rest of the day with possibly a book and stout for company.