UK 2026 Diary, Day 4
In which Twyla starts her workshop, we visit the Ironbridge, and I recap the book haul to date
Greetings, my dear readers, from Telford. I am pleased to share with you this diary entry, in which I recap yesterday (Friday) wherein Twyla and I visited the Ironbridge in Telford (pictured above), and I recap my book haul to date.
It is a blessing to have you read this diary! Do comment or write me if you have any questions or feedback about it. It is always lovely to hear from you, my readers. And I very much appreciate your prayers and support for this endeavor!
Yesterday was for Twyla beginning her icon board preparation workshop, which began at 10 am. I met her teacher, Dylan Hartley, who invited me into his workshop for tea with his wife, another student, and Twyla. Then I was off to a local cafe to write my first diary entry. I got an update photograph from Twyla. Here it is:
Those three boards have a layer of linen on top, and under the linen are two coats of rabbit skin glue. Yes, you read that correctly. It is derived from boiling rabbit skin down to extract its collagen. Her three boards are rectangular, arched, and a cross. She was given several more unprepared boards for her to prepare back home to master the technique she is currently learning. Twyla also used a very large table saw to do some cutting of the trusses that are on the back of icon boards for support against warping. She said she was very nervous to use the table saws, but was proud that she was able to, and happy she still had all ten of her fingers fully intact.
After her workshop was done, I picked her up (after spending time in the workshop of her teacher getting introduced to various things Dylan Hartley, her teacher, is working on). Then Twyla and I went to visit the Ironbridge, and the neighborhood it inhabits. The air was brisk (around 45 degrees F, I would guess) and the town extremely picturesque. We stayed for dinner at a pub (risotto for both of us) before heading back to the hotel.
That’s the summary. What follows below is the fulsome description of day 4, with more photographs, including of all the books I got in Norwich. If you are not a paid subscriber, consider becoming one, because doing so supports my public ministry of Akenside Institute. Click the button below:
Before I provide the longer diary entry, let us reflect on this account of S. Chad of Lichfield. S. Chad was a 7th century Anglo-Saxon abbot and first Bishop of Lichfield. He is celebrated for his missionary work, humility, care for the poor, and devotion to Christ. His feast day is 2 March, and the account below comes from the Venerable S. Bede:
He approached the day of his death with joy, having always lived in fear and hope for the day of the Lord. For if ever a high wind arose while he was reading or working, he immediately implored God’s mercy for the whole human race. Should the story become fierce, Chad would close his books, prostrate himself on the ground and devote himself to urgent prayer. If it turned to thunder and lightning he would go straight to church and recite prayers and psalms until the weather cleared. When people asked him why he reacted in this way, he told them that God moves the weather in order to alert people to their spiritual state, and to induce a healthy fear of Him. Storms challenge human pride, and remind people of the dreadful day of judgment when God will come to judge the living and the dead, and heaven and earth will be consumed by fire.
And now to the long recap:
Yesterday was a chill day, compared to the previous days of this pilgrimage. I will say that I found it all quite refreshing to relax and not do a whole lot. There was no reason to get up early; no destination to drive a long way towards; no food nor drink to consume on the go; nothing really I woke up wanting or planning to see. Much of my time was spent in a cafe working up the diary entry of days 1-3. If you have not yet read it, here it is. I put a lot of work into it!
Twyla and I woke up at a godly hour, and proceeded to the restaurant which is part of our hotel for breakfast. I ordered avocado toast with poached eggs, Twyla ordered fruit yogurt, and we both partook of the croissants in the continental breakfast table. Coffee, of course, was consumed; though it really was of gas station quality. It was a serviceable meal (maybe five out of ten?), and then we hopped into the car to get Twyla to the location of her icon board preparation workshop, the whole reason we are in England. Just a short ten minute drive through about 3,000 roundabouts and we were there. This is the outside:
When I intended to simply drop Twyla off and head to the cafe, before I got away, Twyla came back out and told me Dylan and his wife Christine invited me inside for tea. I readily accepted, and spent a lovely 20 minutes with them, and meeting as well the other student in the workshop. Dylan asked me to lead the morning prayers according to a form he uses as part of his devotional society, and then I was off. Here is a short video I made of his studio. You can see Dylan at its end:
The cafe I found was lovely to allow me to stay for four hours. I needed all that time to get my head in order, and all my photographs from the previous, stupidly ambitious day. Right as I was finishing up, Twyla texted me that she was ready to be picked up. So I quickly published the diary entry and headed over to the shop.
She was very excited about her first session, and told me about the table saw that she used. Here is a video she took for her own learning. You do not have to watch all of it; I share it so that you can hear Dylan teach and see the same table saw that Twyla herself used to do the same cutting task:
After saying goodbye to Dylan and Christine for the day, Twyla and I decided to visit the Ironbridge, a historic site in greater Telford. It was a short drive of about 15 minutes, through a part of Telford we had not yet seen. Upon reaching its environs we noticed that it was situated in the valley of the River Severn, with houses and shops nestled very closely together on the hill side. Extremely picturesque!
The GPS (called in the UK the “Sat Nav”) had us on a path that took us through extremely narrow alleys and streets within the residential area on the crowded hillside. And then … disaster seemed to strike! GPS said take a right turn and the right turn was impossibly narrow for even our small car. I got about 75% into the turn before I realized that if I went an inch further, the car might be stuck. We were certain to at least scratch the car under the best scenario, I thought. Things got extremely stressful! I kept my cool as I analyzed the situation, and Twyla was quite helpful when the determination was made to try and reverse course, going backward through the turn we had almost completed, and back up the steep hill we had come down. It was six inches backward, four inches forward, turning the wheel at each motion, for about 15 minutes before we were able to extract ourselves and the car from this tight space. Backing up the hill and then out we where. AND OF COURSE it was at that moment that we saw signs posted on this path indicating that taking this course to reach the Ironbridge was a “SAT NAV ERROR: DO NOT ENTER.”
But by the grace of Jesus Christ, the car was unscratched, disaster was averted, and we were back on the hunt to find the Ironbridge. Strangely, there were no signs as to which way to go.
But we found it, parked the car, and walked to it along the gorgeous River Severn and its valley. Here are photographs of the experience:
After slowly meandering through, and savouring, the bridge and its lovely, paradisiacal setting, we found a pub and had a light, Lenten supper of risotto, with a cheesecake dessert. Cute spot, average food.
Again, although we did not do a whole lot of “tourism,” this day was great—obviously because Twyla began her workshop successfully, and because we met Dylan, but also dialing everything down and engaging local pace and beauty. Tomorrow will probably be conducted in a similar vein, but that I will leave for the next diary entry.
Finally, as promised, these are the books I found yesterday in Norwich at Tombland Bookshop. See the captions for brief descriptions:
Here is the Table of Contents:
