Cathedrals have always been in the business of getting people to visit them. Back in the Middle Ages, saints' relics were a big draw, as was having the very latest in pointy Gothic architecture. These days, they host concerts, invite you to experience the sun or moon , and have cafes in the cloisters. moon at Lichfield Cathedral One of the latest wheezes from the Association of English Cathedrals is the Pilgrim Passport . This neat blue booklet enables you to collect stamps from each cathedral you visit. Sucked in by the idea of pilgrimage and the prospect of yet another tick-list to complete, I purchased a passport and set out. My first job was to review the list. There are 42 English cathedrals, not including Westminster Abbey (which is a Royal Peculiar) and Peel Cathedral on the Isle of Man. Wales has six, and Scotland technically has none, as its church has no bishops. For some reason I was also interested in minsters, which is a more nebulous category. Originally the word mea...
My final walk based on the Portway had taken me neatly back to the Derwent, so that I could finish off with one more section of the Derwent Valley Heritage Way. I knew Darley Dale had a 2000-year-old yew tree; I also knew I could get an ice cream in Matlock. That was the two ends sorted. Now to join up the middle. view over the Derwent Valley There is a small free car park near Darley Bridge (card machine on a stick if you feel moved to make a donation). I set off up the lush, large valley of the River Derwent, heading northwards at first to reach St Helen's Church. The yew was fenced off. There were iron railings close around the trunk, and temporary mesh panels blocking the path. To these, someone had affixed a peevish handwritten note: "Quite obviously there is no danger on this closed-off path." I was expecting the tree to be hollow-trunked and propped, like the specimen at Doveridge , but instead it had a fat, solid-looking trunk and relatively compact crown. Agreei...