UK 2026 Diary, Days 1-3
In which we arrive in London, visit friends and begin a whirlwind tour
Greetings, my dear readers, from England! I am beginning this diary as I sit in a cafe in the town of Telford, which is in the West Midlands. I am in Telford because my eldest daughter Twyla is taking an iconography course today, tomorrow, and Sunday. Specifically, it is a course in gesso board preparation, and doing so with a close friend of her teacher Aidan Hart; his close friend is Dylan Hartley. She will learn the traditional process of preparing wood boards to be painted upon with iconography. She just sent me a photograph of the three boards she will prepare. Here it is:
I will hope you post photographs over the next two days to illustrate the progress she makes.
The brief recap of Days 1-3 is this: we landed at London Gatwick airport on Wednesday morning around 7:30 am. We rented (or “hired” in UK-speak) a car and hit the road to the seaside town of Bexhill-on-Sea, along the Sussex coast between Hastings and Eastbourne. There we visited friends Father Ian Edgar, an Anglican priest, and his son Luke. It was basically a day for us to recover from jet lag, which we did decently. Then early Thursday morning we hit the road at 5 am to do a mighty, mighty thing: a day-trip in which we visited Norwich, King’s Lynn, and finally ending in Telford. The total driving time was nearly nine hours over 370 miles! In Norwich, we first visited the Cathedral, then Julian of Norwich’s home church, and finally a glorious used bookstore. Then we were off to King’s Lynn, about 90 minutes away; here we visited the church of Margery Kempe. Both of these visits were great! It was definitely bucket-list to see these places in person, and I would visit all of them again.
Finally, we had the last four-hour leg to Telford, much of which was driving through the Fens, which are marshy and flat lowlands. We were oddly reminded of Florida, without the humidity of course. We got our our lodging in time to catch dinner at the pub nearby: Twyla had sirloin steak and I had a rack of lamb, with sticky toffee pudding for dessert! Then it was to bed.
That’s the very brief account. What follows below is the fulsome description of Days 1-3, with tons more photographs. If you are not a paid subscriber, consider becoming one! This goes to supporting my public ministry of Akenside Institute. Click the button below.
Before I provide the longer diary entry, let us meditate on this teaching from the Blickling Homilies, one of the oldest surviving collections of sermons (homilies) in Old English from Anglo-Saxon England. (You can find out more about the Blickling Homilies here.)
Let us be mindful now of our daily sins, and all our acts, which are contrary to God’s loving will. Let us with all our power atone for them with fasts and prayers, with acts of charity and with true penitence. True penitence means sincere confession of all sins and an earnest attempt to make amendment for them. Let us weep now, and remember the Lord’s words: ‘Blessed are they that weep now, for they shall afterwards be comforted.’ These assure us that we may with true penitence merit eternal bliss. Let us be mindful of God’s commandments and of our soul’s need while we can. Let us earnestly beseech the Lord to deliver us from eternal death, and to bring us to the joy of His glory, where there is eternal bliss in His everlasting kingdom. Amen.
And now to the long recap:
The flight was, as one might expect, basically fine but low-key annoying. It was an 8 and a half hour flight, direct from Orlando to London-Gatwick. Personally I never really fit in airplane seats, and so to sit so long and (probably the more significant factor) not really sleep much at all makes for … endless discomfort.
The food was acceptable, and Twyla insists that I did sleep. It was very foggy in London as we approach the landing, so much so that we did not realize we were close to land until we felt the tires on the runway! Because we did not check any bags, and because customs at this airport is entirely electronic with no actual agent to speak with, we were out of the airport very quickly. Hannah had arranged a car rental with an agency that was itself next to the airport, just a short walk. After having to upgrade to a better car (a Volvo) because of our need for an extra day on the end of our trip, we had keys in hand to hit the English pavement with full gusto. Here is the car:
First stop was Bexhill-on-Sea and our friends Father Ian Edgar and his son Luke (his other son Kieran was, sadly for us, away in Bristol). It was a 90-minute drive to the Sidley area of Bexhill-on-Sea, a drive I did without much trouble, despite being on the other side of the road (from America) and on the other side of the car, and on very little sleep. Having been first driven in the UK 18 months ago, putting over 1,400 miles on the car during our stay, that whole experience being a genuine “baptism by fire,” this one was like “riding the bike.” Thank God for automatic transmission!
Father Ian Edgar is the vicar (parish priest) of All Saints Church, Sidley in Bexhill-on-Sea. He and I have known each other for over twelve years, and this was the third time seeing him in England. We were ordained about the same time, and he has been part of Akenside Institute as a Fellow for some time, himself being a student of Martin Thornton and English spirituality. He had told me beforehand that he had a full morning schedule the day of our arrival, and when we did get there, we found him celebrating Mass in the church’s Lady Chapel, as he said he would be. We sat just outside the chapel with a view of the Altar; he was just starting the Eucharistic prayer. I stealth-snapped this photo (I hope he forgives me).
It was a lovely Mass, though having arrived well after the reading of the Gospel, I declined to receive Holy Communion. (This was how I was taught by my mentor, Father Thomas Fraser: “no Communion unless you hear the Gospel first.”) But I was delighted to participate in spiritual communion with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The Mass concludes shortly after we arrived, and Father Edgar graciously let us in to the rectory, and Twyla and I both proceeded to crash into slumber. By now it was around 11 am UK time, which meant 6 am Florida time, and I had had maybe two hours of sleep over the last 24 hours. After the nap, Twyla and I were led by Father Edgar back into the church for a tour of All Saints. Here are a number of photographs:
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He took us through all of the place, including up a spiral staircase to the top of the church tower, which had a view of the whole area, all the way to the English Channel.
We lingered for a while, chatting on the roof, before returning to the ground level and to the Lady Chapel to pray Evensong together—as one does.
The evening concluded with the four of us enjoying take-out food from a local South Indian curry shop. Quite delicious, and different from the Indian food I had previously had. After dinner, Father Edgar and I talked theology and parish life until after midnight, and then we all conked. But not for long!
The next day began at 4:30 am, when my alarm went off. Why, pray tell, did we awake at such an early hour? It was to hit the road by 5 am so as to miss the traffic around London, which starts to jam around 6:30 am, we were told by Father Edgar. Twyla was a good trooper (though she, and frankly I, definitely could have used more snooze time). It was dark, damp, and foggy when we left Sidley. The first hour of driving was by turns haunting and beautiful, for the countryside showed forth the early rays of sunrise, and did so in a light pink/purple sort of hue through the fog. We made it through London and the Dartford Crossing tunnel under the River Thames.
As the sunlight filled the sky, we arrived Norwich at 9:30 am. We found a parking lot very near the Cathedral, and headed in.
Once in the close, the first stop once on the grounds was the cathedral cafe, our first meal of the day. We both ordered a sausage roll and a pot of Earl Grey tea.
What is a sausage roll? This is a sausage roll…
… and it was a delicious sausage roll—slightly warmed, with a good spice to the sausage as a lovely and flaky pastry. The tea also hit the spot. This is a very good cafe!
After that, we hit the cathedral proper, starting with the cloister covered walkways.
Lots of Harry Potter vibes!
On the ceiling of the walkways were “roof bosses.” Tons of them, both here and inside the church. For example:
You may not know him, but does he know you, haha.
Norwich Cathedral is one of the best in all of England, and probably the world. There is way too much holy beautiful things to capture at once. Here is a good sampling that I hope conveys the experience of being in this Spirit-filled place:
And there are so many smaller stain glass windows that are just as stunning, such as this one:
And this one:
Here is one dedicated to important English Benedictine Christians and the Benedictine history of the cathedral. It is in the Bauchon Chapel of Our Lady of Pity:
In it are S. Benedict, S. Gregory the Great sending S. Augustine of Canterbury, S. Æthelbert, S. Benedict-Biscop, the Venerable S. Bede, S. Dunstan, S. Oswald, S. Æthelwold, S. Anselm, and finally with Dame Julian of Norwich.
Into the Choir area, where the Evensong services are held. Here are two short videos of the space
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After spending a couple of hours in the cathedral; here is a parting photograph:
We walked 10 minutes down the street to St Julian’s Church, which is the name of the parish church where Julian of Norwich was lived. In fact, we only call her “Julian” because of the church to which she was consecrated as an anchoress. An anchorite (man) and anchoress (woman) are religious people who withdraw from normal society and live an intense life of prayer, usually in a small, domestic structure attached to a church. You can find out more about anchorite life here.
Dame Julian (she is also called Mother Julian and Lady Julian) was a parishioner, but a special and unique one who experienced a remarkable vision of Jesus Christ, as she was thought to be on her death bed, dying from the Bubonic plague. She survived, and years later was able to chronicle her vision in a book that is called The Revelations of Divine Love. She is a tremendous figure in English spirituality.
Here are photographs of our visit:
Here is the nave and sanctuary:
And that icon up close:
And the Altar:
There is a small chapel which is located on or near where the anchorhold (cell or house) was. It was destroyed in the 1530s during the very unfortunate era of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
It was a holy and lovely place, well worth visiting and experiencing.
Before leaving Norwich we bopped into a used bookshop near the cathedral: Tombland Bookshop. I found many gems, which I will share in a future diary entry.
Having spent four hours in Norwich, we returned to our car and hit the road for our next stop: King’s Lynn, about 90 minutes away. This was the parish church of another famous English parishioner, Margery Kempe. She, along with Julian, is a favorite of mine, and she is a tremendous example of how to be a holy and ascetical parishioner, cultivating a daily prayer life amid the struggles against sin and temptation. She dictated her autobiography, The Book of Margery Kempe. It was the first autobiography by an English woman ever published. She travelled throughout England and on pilgrimages to Rome and the Holy Land, which she described in her book. Her church was called St Margaret’s, King’s Lynn in her day, and since 2011 is known as King’s Lynn Minster. Like Julian, Margery is a tremendous figure in English spirituality.
Here are the photographs:
Here is the church, with many amazing stained glass window presentation. I encourage you to click the images to enlarge, and study the details closely.
Here is the Altar:
It is a beautiful church. It could use some love both for the interior and exterior. But what a blessing to experience this spiritual site.
We said goodbye to King’s Lynn, and hit the road to Telford. We arrived safe and sound just after dark, having navigated the four-hour drive without trouble. Twyla slept for much of the drive. We checked into our lodging, and walked across the parking lot to a pub for dinner. Twyla had sirloin steak and I had rack of lamb. Sticky toffee pudding concluded our meal, and we returned to our room and went to sleep. We both slept soundly, our first good night of sleep since we arrived.
Till we meet again in the next diary entry! God bless you.
This entry is wonderful. I look forward to reading the rest. Thanks for posting.