Two new firsts today. For the  first time we went to church and the first time we went for a swim We have two nights in Exmouth and so today was a “rest day”.

I was keen to go inland to Exeter to see their magnificent cathedral and Barbara was keen to go to the beach for a swim. So we did both. A suburban train runs from Exmouth to Exeter, £6.10 return each for a trip of about 30 minutes. All the tourists sit on the left hand side of the carriage to see the view going up the Exe River. All the locals sit on the right as they have seen it many times before. Exeter is a medium sized city of 130,000 dating from at least Roman Times. It became a religious centre in the middle ages. Like most of the cities in southern England it was heavily bombed in WWII and much of the city has been rebuilt since then.

The cathedral was started in 1112 and the present building was complete by about 1400 over two hundred and fifty years later. The cathedral started with the building of the two towers, the choir, transept and part of the walls of the nave. The cathedral was completed in the Decorated Gothic style. It was originally a Roman Catholic cathedral but after the Dissolution of the Monasteries it became Church of England.  Because there is no centre tower, Exeter Cathedral has the longest uninterrupted medieval vaulted ceiling in the world at about 96m. I love visiting these magnificent spaces. Over 50 years ago when studying architectural history at the School of Architecture these places could only be imagined from text and pictures in books. We could only access part of the nave today as there is major restoration being undertaken. We read it takes £6,000 a day to run the cathedral (includes long term maintenance) and it cost us £6 each as seniors to enter, so 1000 seniors per day! They get no funds from the government and no funds from the Anglican Church.

Barbara is not really into large cathedrals. She finds them a symbol of an elite class oppressing the masses (her words not mine). She does like the small village churches and chapels because they are more intimate and on a human scale so you can relate to them more. She did like the Exeter Rondals we saw today.  These are embroidered tapestry cushions located on the edges of the nave and there are dozens of them tracing the history of Exeter and its Cathedral from its beginnings. Its proper name is the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter.

They must have had a different sense of time in medieval times. Can you imagine your great grandfather starting work on a project, then your grandfather, father, you, your son, grand son and great grandson continuing the work and it is still not finished! In Wellington we bitch and moan about Transmission Gully Motorway taking a year longer than planned.

We only came to Exeter to see the cathedral but there is a lot else to see and do there. It was another hot day and we were supposed to be “resting” so got the train back to Exmouth. In the afternoon we went down to the beach. Although the beach is several kilometres long it is only safe to swim in one area (where the life guards are) due to rips. Ian our host at the guest house told us where to go. He swims every day in summer and said the water temp was 15 degrees. It sure did feel colder than the water in Paraparaumu but it was super refreshing though.

Tomorrow it is back on the path, theoretically refreshed.