Gloucester

Our time in England is planned around the cat sits we do. Occasionally, though, there are a couple of days when we have to rent a place for a few days between sits. The place we choose is usually somewhere close to halfway between destinations. Bruce thought that Gloucester sounded like a good spot, so I booked an Airbnb there. Our departure from Bicester coincided with the arrival of Storm Darragh which brought massive amounts of rain and high winds. It was only about a ten minute walk from the rail station to the flat and though we thought about catching a taxi or an Uber, there were none available. Happily, the rain subsided as we walked and we arrived only a bit the worse for wear. The next day we headed out to explore and to find the home of Beatrix Potter's Tailor of Gloucester. It's down a tiny lane in the heart of town.

If you're not familiar with it, The Tailor of Gloucester is a charming little tale of a tailor who lives in Gloucester with his cat, Simpkin, and some mice that live in his shop. The tailor has many small pieces of cloth and ribbons that he can't use, but the mice take them and make clothes for themselves.

One day the elderly, impoverished tailor is commissioned by the Mayor of Gloucester to make a finely embroidered coat for his wedding on Christmas Day. After carefully cutting out all the pieces, he realizes he needs one more skein of cherry-colored twist for the last button hole. That evening, he asks his cat Simpkin to take their last penny and go buy some twist. While he's gone, the tailor discovers the cat has trapped some mice under a teacup, and frees them. Simpkin returns, only to find his dinner has disappeared, and angrily hides the twist as revenge. Unsure how he'll finish the coat with no more twist, the tailor goes to bed dejected. That night, the tailor falls ill and is stuck in bed for days, unable to work. By Christmas Eve the coat has still not been finished. During the night the mice sneak into the tailor's workshop and repay him for his kindness in freeing them, by sewing together the coat. Seeing their kindness, Simpkin feels guilty and gives his master back the twist. The tailor wakes up on Christmas morning and finds the coat is ready, apart from the last button hole. Attached to it is a scrap of paper that says, in the tiniest writing: "No more twist."

The waistcoat below was created in 1980 by members of the Women's Institute.)

The tale is based on an actual event. John Pritchard, a tailor in Gloucester was, in fact, commissioned to make a waistcoat for the mayor and he did fall ill. His three apprentices, noting the absence of their boss, went out on a Friday night and got very drunk and they slipped into the tailor's shop to sleep it off. The next morning they realized that they couldn't be seen leaving the shop so they decided to wait until nightfall; to stave off the boredom, they finished the waistcoat, except for the last buttonhole. Naturally, they couldn't tell the tailor about it or he probably would have sacked them for drunkenness. The tailor found the completed vest when he opened his shop and was convinced that fairies had done the work. He put up a sign in his window advertising his enchanted shop where the fairies help with the work. Beatrix Potter was visiting her cousin in Gloucestershire and heard the tale of the tailor and the fairies and decided to write a children's story about it, substituting mice for fairies. The rest, as they say, is history.

There is a one room museum dedicated to Potter and in it is a darling little wind-up scene of the mice in the tailor's shop with Simpkin the cat meowing at the window.

Downstairs there's a gift shop as well as a little room where kids can watch cartoons based on Beatrix Potter stories. The whole experience doesn't take very long so we walked down Gloucester High Street (main street) toward the Cathedral. Along the way there are mosaics here and there that tell bits of Gloucester history. This one says "College Court, Ironmongers Row In 1445 this was a medieval route to the Cathedral and the heart of Gloucester's metal working industry, supplying weapons, tools and church bells."

"St. John's Lane, Grace Lane A herb and fish market selling locally caught salmon and lamprey was held on open ground here known as The Knapp. St. Mary de Grace Church once stood nearby."

This one says, "Three Cocks Lane, Abbey Lane, Named after an inn that stood here in the 18th century. Bishop John Hooper was burned at the stake opposite St. Mary's Gate down this lane 1n 1555."

They're all kind of interesting, but I wonder if these are the most interesting things about the high street and worthy of commemorating in mosaic.

three Cocks Lane mosaic there was a carving on one of the buildings with a plaque that explained, "The Armorial Bearings above were carved in 1745 by Thomas Ricketts and adorned the front of the old Booth Hall in Westgate Street until 1957 when that building was demolished. Re-erected in this position in 1961."

Just past this we came upon St. Nicholas church

and a lady out front invited us to go in and take a look. I'm so glad we did because there's a wonderful art installation called "We Are Gathered Here." It depicts a congregation in silhouette and pays homage to the people who have contributed to Westgate Street and Gloucester's fascinating heritage over time. These wonderful individual artworks created by Art students from Gloucestershire College fill the pews of the church creating a striking visual impact. Each one is inspired by a person who once lived, worked, visited or supported Westgate Street in Gloucester, with an artist representation of an aspect of them on one side, and the often interesting historical information on the rear provided from research by the Gloucester Family History Society.

The church was built in the late 1100s and by 1203 was known as St. Nicholas of the Bridge at Gloucester. It was largely rebuilt in the 13th century, retaining some of its earlier features. Further alterations were made in the 15th century, and the west tower and spire were added. During the 16th century, the parish was the wealthiest in the city.

In 1643 during the Siege of Gloucester in the Civil War, the spire suffered a direct hit by cannon fire. It was reduced in height and capped in 1783 by John Bryan. The church underwent several restorations after that but was declared redundant on 7 May 1971, and was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 25 June 1975. I don't know how often the church is open to the public but besides the art installation, local charities were selling Christmas cards, ornaments and toys.

Across from the church is a building known as The Folk of Gloucester.

Bishop John Hooper is said to have lodged in the buildings now occupied by the museum the night before he was burned at the stake in 1555. It's now used as a sort of museum-cum-community gathering space. When we visited they were setting up for a children's Christmas party.

It holds some very odd pieces like this highly decorated porcelain toilet

and this lark roaster (!)

The interior beams are tremendous.

We walked to the Gloucester Cathedral but had just missed the start of the guided tour so decided to come back another time. It was time for Bruce to begin his crawl, so I walked back up through town.

It's another one of those towns that's a bit down-at-the-heels. This was especially evident in the shops. There were a lot of charity shops selling quite nice things at very low prices, and even things in the local antiques shop were well-priced. I got a lovely vintage crystal necklace for £4.50.

I loved the facade of this jewelry store.

Look past the Costa coffee shop on the ground floor to the highly decorative upper floors of 9 Southgate Street.

This building was built in 1665 for Thomas Yate, apothecary, mayor, and younger son of the Lord of Arlingham. Nearby I spotted this mosaic which reads "Cross Keys Lane, once called Scroddelone, was a center for the cloth trade in the 10th century."

This mosaic reads, "Bell Walk took its name from William Henshaw's Bell Foundry which opened in the 16th century."

After I left Gloucester I read that there's a whole series of these mosaics dedicated to trades. I'll have to return to find the rest.

Not far from the foundry mosaic is this statue of Marcus Coccieus Nerua Augustus, Emperor, after whom Roman Gloucester was named.

There are several malls in town. Most of the stores sell really cheap clothing, toys and gifts. I can't even think of an American equivalent. Walmart and Target are upmarket by comparison. Within one of these malls is an even cheaper mall.

I can understand cheap clothing and jewelry, but there's a discount fish store and a discount pork store as well. I steered well clear of both of them.

On the way back to the flat, I saw these carvings on the side of Boots pharmacy.

There's no signage to say what they are meant to represent, so I guess they're just a generic nod to Gloucester's past.