One of my favourite places to visit in Kent is Rochester Cathedral.
Virtually every time we are in Rochester we drop in for another look around and no matter how many times we've been before we always seem to notice something interesting we've previously missed.
One piece of artwork that is totally unmissable, however, is the fresco painted by Russian artist Sergey Fyodorov in 2004 to mark the 1400th anniversary of the founding of the cathedral.
The upper part of the fresco depicts the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. The dove above Jesus's head symbolises the spirit of God and the fish/sea monster represents the old pagan religions being superseded by the new religion of Christianity. Jesus is attended by angels.
Below Jesus's feet is a portrait of the Virgin Mary flanked by the two main apostles Peter and Paul and the four evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The lower section of the fresco depicts events of great significance to Kent (and indeed British) history.
The lower left hand side of the fresco shows the Anglo Saxon King Ethelbert being baptised by Saint Augustine in 597 AD at Canterbury.
Augustine was a Christian missionary sent to Kent from Rome by Pope Gregory I - possibly at the behest of King Ethelbert's wife Bertha (who was already a Christian and daughter of Charibert, King of the Franks).
King Ethelbert later went on to establish many churches during his reign.
The lower right hand half of the fresco depicts Bishop Justus giving communion to newly baptised Anglo Saxons emerging from the River Medway.
Justus was another missionary sent from Rome to Kent in around 601 AD. In 604 AD he became the first Bishop of Rochester and in 624 AD the fourth Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Cathedral is open daily and admission is FREE.
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Thursday, January 03, 2013
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Goodbye Kingswear Castle
This morning the steam paddle steamer Kingswear Castle made her final trip down the River Medway under tow from the tug Christine.
The Kingswear Castle has been a regular sight on the river for the past thirty years operating popular pleasure cruises particularly from the Historic Dockyard at Chatham.
She was built in Dartmouth, Devon in 1924 and plied the River Dart until 1965 when she was saved from the breakers yard and brought to the Medway for restoration.
The process has now gone full circle.The Kingswear Castle is currently heading back home to the River Dart.
She has been chartered by the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company and will be kept busy carrying tourists for the foreseeable future.
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UPDATE 15.12.12 - Kingswear Castle is currently sheltering in Portland due to bad weather in the Channel. She was only built as a river ship so not really ideal for the open sea.
UPDATE 20.12.12 - Kingswear Castle made it safely to the River Dart!
Thursday, December 06, 2012
Final Voyage of the Pride of Dover - update
Further to my last post about the Pride of Dover, it appears that she is now indeed on her final voyage to Turkish shipbreakers after all.
She spent several days sheltering in Lyme Bay waiting for a weather window to safely cross the Bay of Biscay.
Any seafarer will tell you that the Bay of Biscay should be treated with utmost respect - especially at this time of year.
The latest report (at around 6 AM this morning) was that she was passing Brest at around 5 knots heading for Tuzla, Turkey.
UPDATE - The Pride of Dover arrived at Aliaga, Turkey on 27th December 2012.
She spent several days sheltering in Lyme Bay waiting for a weather window to safely cross the Bay of Biscay.
Any seafarer will tell you that the Bay of Biscay should be treated with utmost respect - especially at this time of year.
The latest report (at around 6 AM this morning) was that she was passing Brest at around 5 knots heading for Tuzla, Turkey.
UPDATE - The Pride of Dover arrived at Aliaga, Turkey on 27th December 2012.
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