Canterbury Cathedral is not just a building, nor even just
a cathedral. It is England in stone.
In search of England
By
Roy Hattersley
*
Daily Mail
(A Weekly article)
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
*
The Cathedral that marks the spot where St Augustine
baptised King Ethelbert of Kent and Christianity was born is decaying faster
than the damaged stone is being restored.
*
Masons
giving
mother a
makeover
*
Canterbury
Cathedral is not what it used to be.
Time and weather have taken their toll.
So according to Eamonn Lee, the foreman of the masons’ workshop, there
is very little left of the original ancient outer wall.
The
process of restoration and renewal has been gradual. Only once in several lifetimes is the whole architectural feature
removed and replaced.
Five
years ago, the 26- foot crumbling Candle Tower -which stood above the
south-west transept -was demolished and rebuilt.
The job was done with such precision that not
even William of Sens (the master mason who fell from the scaffolding in 1178)
would be able to tell the difference.
But most of the mason’s work ends with pieces being fitted into a
limestone jigsaw.
It
begins when lorries - carrying five - tonne slabs of French stone -rumble into
the yard outside the Broad Oak masons’ workshop. The Setting Out masons’ workshop (a cricket enthusiast who keeps
bats beside his desk) draws a plan of the replacement for the crumbling cornice
or eroding architrave.
A
circular saw, which performs with the precision of a scalpel and the force of a
high velocity bullet, cuts out a block of exactly the right size.
Then
the laymen’s idea of real masons’ work begins.
Men with mallets and chisels carve the stone into intricate shapes.
They
are only one small part of the great enterprise to preserve, ‘The Mother
Church of England’. Much of the
conservation work is done ‘on site’ from scaffolding which hangs like a
spider’s web outside the cathedral.
High
on a windy platform on the wall above St Anselm’s side chapel, I talked to
Heather Newton - Officially entitled ‘stone carver conservationist’, but in
fact, a mason in the great tradition of the craftsmen who built Canterbury.
Women
masons said Heather Newton rarely work at the ‘hard end of the trade’
-industrial building where the money is made.
Conservation,
on the other hand, is ‘often regarded as women’s work’. A great deal of washing is involved and’ it
is more concerned with quality than speed.
In
typical English style, Heather Newton
‘does
not want to get mealy-mouthed about her job’, but says it is a ‘privilege’ to
work on one of the great edifices of English history.
Kneeling
among the dust and debris, which covered the scaffold platform, she illustrated
the overriding principle of her calling - replacing only when conservation is
not possible.
The
delicate tracing on the wall is, she announced, ‘Victorian not the original
Romanesque’. The Victorians are not popular among Canterbury
conservationists.
They
recklessly cut away and replaced barely damaged stone - often in designs of
their own that they thought superior to those of the medieval masons.
The
inferior stone they used quickly cracked and crumbled. Worst of all, they used cheap mortar-sand
and cement-, which rots the walls it holds together.
Five
hundred years ago, the outside of Canterbury Cathedral was painted. Whatever the aesthetic merits and
theological significance of coloured walls, pigment protected the stone. Most of the paint was scraped away when the
Reformation broke England’s ties with the flamboyant Church of Rome.
What
remained was scrubbed off by the Victorians.
Now, the restored and replaced stone is covered by a protective ‘lime
wash’ in the same colour as the walls it covers. The English have no taste for painted churches.
We
have, however, retained our enthusiasm for stained-glass. But glass like stone, is ravaged by
time. And the great windows of our
cathedrals withstood the rain as well as glorifying God and honouring His saints.
Old
glass, like old stone, deteriorates in hard weather. Examining a soon-to-be -restored window under one of the
workshop’s microscopes, it seemed impossible that the pitted and corroded glass
could ever be restored to anything like its original glory.
But
the conservationist dabs away with cotton wool in the certain knowledge that
care and patience removes all manner of blemishes.
Dr
Sebastian Strobl (head of Stained Glass Conservation and the fourth generation
of glass conservationists) dismisses the myth that the vulgar colours of the 12th
century can no longer be reproduced.
When
glass must be replaced, the problem is cost not craftsmanship. Only fragments are needed. Yet to obtain an exact match, Canterbury
must buy a full square metre for £100.
Conservation
costs Canterbury Cathedral £9,000 a day. And according to Eamonn Lee, that is not enough.
The Cathedral
that marks the spot
where St Augustine baptised
King Ethelbert of Kent
and
English Christianity was
born
is decaying faster
than the damaged stone
is being restored.
*
All power to the new conservation
appeal, which is to be launched next year.
Canterbury is not just a building, nor just a cathedral.
It is England in Stone
* * *
APRIL/05
*
*
The abolition of Britain
by The Reform Treaty
- Second Reading-Passed by majority of 138
*
Veteran parliamentarian TONY BENN speaks of the
absolute necessity of a
REFERENDUM
HEAR HIM ON
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=o0I-ZdvQz1o
*
*
13th October,2007
So You Want Out Of The EU
THEN WHY NOT SIGN THE
RENUNCIATION of EU CITIZENSHIP
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Optout
Details from petition creator
With the signing of the Maastricht Treaty the
people of Britain were given
DUAL CITIZENSHIP
-both
EUROPEAN and BRITISH
The extra tier of citizenship was thrust upon
the people without their consent -and in many cases knowledge.
The PEOPLE of GREAT BRITAIN should be allowed
the option of opting out of the EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP if they so wish. The
GOVERNMENT will then be able to provide those who have opted out with
BRITISH DOCUMENTATION
-only such as British (not EU) passports,
driving licences and other national documents.
EU laws will also NOT APPLY to those who
HAVE OPTED OUT OF EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP
[PETITION OPEN UNTIL OCTOBER
08]
*
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!
A
BLUNT REPLY TO THE QUEEN'S SPEECH ON CHRISTMAS DAY-25th DECEMBER ,2007.
*
TIME FOR DECISION
THE BRITISH
LEGACY-AUSTRALIA-CANADA-NEW ZEALAND-WHY THEY MATTER.
*
The Act of
Settlement of 1701-WHY IT SHOULD CONCERN -YOU!
*
The Common
Law of ENGLAND is the LAW of
THE
COMMONWEALTH and AMERICA
*
The
Commonwealth Realms V The Constitution for Europe- 4-PARTS
*
MESSAGE FROM AUSTRALIA-SUPPORT THE CROWN
*
WHY WE MUST
BE ALERT AND WITH OUR COMMONWEALTH PATRIOTS MAINTAIN CONSTITUTIONAL
MONARCHY
*
IF WE
DESTROY OUR RIGHT OF FREEDOM TO FIGHT A WAR ON TERROR-WHO WINS?
(John Mortimer)
YOU CAN'T HAVE BOTH.
WILL THIS CHRISTMAS
QUEEN'S SPEECH
BE THE
LAST
IN A FREE INDEPENDENT ENGLAND -SCOTLAND AND WALES?
Will HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN ASSURE YOU
THAT YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR FROM BECOMING A PROVINCE OF EUROPE.
OR
WILL THE QUEEN MAKE IT PLAIN THAT OUR
FREE INDEPENDENT NATION STATE IS SACROSANCT BUT THAT IF THE PEOPLE WISH
TO BECOME SLAVES -THEN A REFERENDUM THERE MUST BE.
WE BELIEVE THAT NO ENGLISHMAN SHOULD BE
ASKED WHETHER HE WISHES TO BE A SLAVE OR FREE!
THIS CHRISTMAS WE WILL FIND OUT IF OUR
PROTECTOR OF THE
'Rights and Liberties'
of
Englishmen
Will keep by HER SACRED OATH
or the MONARCHY be nothing more than
a THEME PARK in the future
THIS IS THE TIME FOR BLUNT SPEAKING AS
THE VERY EXISTENCE OF OUR UNIQUE NATION STATE IS IN DIRE PERIL.
We are told on
the BBC (Brussels Broadcasting Service) at 11.30 pm on Saturday the
23rd December, 2007, that the QUEEN now has a website which has footage
of the Royal Family in the past and that the QUEEN is NOT
'Stuck in the past'
Well! as far as many patriotic subjects
are concerned we need to remain in the PAST when it concerns the
protection of our
FREEDOM and COUNTRY.
Change we have had and will continue to
have but it must not threaten our very WAY-OF-LIFE our Common Law of
England and all which makes our country the most unique parliamentary
democracy in the world.
THERE CAN BE NO SURRENDER!
Should the Monarch fail to protect our
inherited RIGHTS and Liberties then we shall have to fight for a
REPUBLIC as happened in the 17th century because the Monarch of the day
ignored those very
'Rights and Liberties of Englishmen'
which will still survive in the English Speaking World today in December
2007. How can the MOTHER of PARLIAMENTS give away what is already our
and our children's INHERITANCE which cannot be taken away by
PARLIAMENT or the QUEEN.
If the above publicity exercise is to
be used to soften the impact to the population of the BETRAYAL of their
CONSTITUTION and COUNTRY then it would be the greatest TREASON by a
Monarch since James II who wished to sell our COUNTRY to the FRENCH for
MONEY and RELIGION.
WE ASK WHAT
PRICE ARE OUR RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES WORTH?
THEY ARE
PRICELESS!
*
*
The Choice is Yours!-but time is
running out FAST!
6 months to be EXACT!
*
THE EU
WE-AND
THEM!
WE are
to join THEM
THEY are
not joining US
WE have more to LOSE
THEY have
more to GAIN
WE have been clear of
dictators from EUROPE for most of our HISTORY
THEY have
been cursed with that abomination for most of their HISTORY and NOW!
*
Our Queen
and the EU Constitution
*
The Spirit
of England
by
Winston
Churchill
*
THE ENEMY IS EVERYWHERE
*
MESSAGE TO HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH
THE II
*
We now learn
from the Daily Mail COMMENT on Christmas Eve that the Queen's Speech
will cover the catastrophic fall in Values and Moral behaviour since the
beginning of her 56 -year reign. This has been brought about by the
actions of HER MINISTERS and the greater number of those in HER
PARLIAMENT who have placed THEIR CONCERNS before the INTERESTS of THE
PEOPLE and NATION STATE.
As for the
fact that HER PEOPLE feel LOST that has been the direct result of the
actions of HER SUCCESSIVE GOVERNMENTS and the TRAITOROUS POLITICIANS
including PRIME MINISTERS who have stealthily over the 56 years of HER
MAJESTY'S REIGN have almost achieved their aim of ENSLAVING the PEOPLE
to a FOREIGN POWER.
The reason for
the marked drop in the number viewing THE QUEEN'S SPEECH is no doubt
because the mass of people have realised years ago that the MONARCH is
powerless to PROTECT their WAY-OF-LIFE and events up to now have PROVED
THEM CORRECT.
There is a well know saying
'Nero fiddled while Rome burned'
Is it the case on Christmas Day 2007 while the Monarch
talks our Rights and Liberties are being taken from us under our very
noses?
Of course the QUEEN under HER CONSTITUTIONAL ROLE can
only 'Advise and Warn' HER MINISTERS but when the matter concerns
the very LIFE of an INDEPENDENT STATE we expect that HER MAJESTY
consider the arrangement to be AT AN END as it would make a MOCKERY of
the PRIME IMPORTANCE of the MONARCH to protect our inherited Rights and
Liberties which HER MINISTERS are endeavouring TO GIVE AWAY.
We as loyal
subjects of the MONARCH who is the living embodiment of OUR RIGHTS and
LIBERTIES ask at this late stage with only months to the eradication of
a FREE NATION STATE some veiled comments that HER MAJESTY will PROTECT
our RIGHTS and LIBERTIES.
As for the
MORAL tone of the NATION STATE at this most crucial time in ENGLISH
CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY this matter should be left to CHURCH LEADERS
who's responsibility it is to CARE for their FLOCKS particularly at this
FESTIVAL of CHRISTMAS.
IF HER
MAJESTY'S SPEECH has not been pre-recorded we ask HER MAJESTY to give
those MILLIONS of HER subjects some hope that their PROTECTOR has NOT
FORGOTTEN THEM.
Should
this APPEAL not be answered we can at last confirm that the MONARCHY is
after all nothing more than a talking shop suitable for YouTube and
therefore nothing more than a
THEME PARK
*
Hear Tony Benn's comments about the
despotic and corrupt
EUROPEAN UNION
and the need for a
REFERENDUM
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=o0I-ZdvQz1o
From a politician with INTEGRITY and love
of country who has for decades witnessed the growth of the monstrous
creature soon to be a
UNITED STATES OF EUROPE.
*
Liberties of Parliament-
Birthright of Subjects of England.
*
[All
words/word underlined have a separate bulletin]
|
*
A
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
TO
ALL OUR
VIEWERS.
WE WISH YOU ALL A
HAPPY
CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY
NEW YEAR
IN
2008
[Since our
Xmas message to you all last year we find
that our sentiments remain the same with the
added emphasise on the coming danger to YOUR
COUNTRY from those many traitors in YOUR
HOUSE of COMMONS who intend to sell YOUR
COUNTRY to a FOREIGN POWER]
We Remember The
Year 2006
The
Spirit of England-Winston Churchill-1953
[We
were warned in 1953 to beware of wreckers of
our Constitution and Way-of- Life but it had
taken Tony Blair just 10 years to do just
THAT while everyone had their minds they
thought on more important matters. Well! in
2007 his predessessor Gordon Brown is
leading you to SLAVERY and only awaits the
final signature of the present holder of the House of Wessex the over 1000 year
PROTECTOR of our inherited
RIGHTS and LIBERTIES of ENGLISHMEN
HER
MAJESTY-THE QUEEN
Of the House
of Wessex since King Alfred 'the Shepherd
and Darling of England' in the annals of 893
-897
'We still
leave it to the work of
Alfred the Great
that
England was saved to become the first
individual nation -state which over 1100
years later a member of that same House of
Wessex has already signed away much of those
ancient Rights and Liberties and
fundamentals of justice and Rule of Law and
only awaits a final signature to enslave her
people into a despotic undemocratic godless
police state to call itself a
UNITED STATES
OF EUROPE
It is
within the power of Her Majesty the Queen to
refuse to ratify the New EU TREATY because
whatever lies her ministers have given her
over her long reign the TRUTH is now clear
for ALL TO SEE.
In the
Netherlands a number of years ago their
MONARCH resigned for a day rather than sign
the Bill put before him. The New EU TREATY
is the death of a NATION STATE of over 1200
years in the making. It is the treasonable
actions of HER MINISTERS which has placed
THE QUEEN in the forefront in the protection
of the Rights and Liberties of HER SUBJECTS
as on no one else can HER PEOPLE DEPEND.
GOD SAVE
THE QUEEN
*
WILL THIS CHRISTMAS QUEEN'S SPEECH
BE THE LAST IN A
FREE INDEPENDENT ENGLAND -SCOTLAND AND WALES?
*
A
WARNING MESSAGE TO THE FREEDOM LOVING PEOPLE OF ENGLAND
by
Harry Beckhough
[Author of Germany's Four Reich's]
2004
*
'There'll always Be an ENGLAND'
-NOT any MORE
|
|
|
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|
THE EU
OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS WILL PORTRAY ITSELF
AS THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD
'Don't tell the voters-or you
will ruin everything '
"...we have to make sure
that there are no discussions taking place
in the open air"
Guenter
Burghardt, a former EU ambassador to the US,
warning that details of the new EU
diplomatic service (officially to be known
as the External Action Service) should not
be discussed in public before the
UK
PARLIAMENT
had
ratified the NEW EU TREATY
and Ireland has held
its TREATY REFERENDUM early next summer
(source: EU Observer on 27th
November ,2007
The EU has also stated
that none of its institutions should rock
the boat until the English have ratified
their TREATY.
Over the next few months
you will hear more than ever the wonderful
benefits of the EU. Whether it is Global
warming or whatever they feel shows them in
a good light and when you have swallowed the
bait you will not know what has hit you.
They intend to show how reasonable they are
and that they are there to make you happy.
If you all fall for this con-trick then you
will deserve the SLAVERY that is in store
for
YOU!
Referendum: how Labour
could still smell of roses.
and
'Money to spare'
when we leave the EU in
2008?
Open Europe says:
-
Build 40 brand new
general hospitals each year 2007-13
or
- Cut council tax
by nearly 50 per cent
or
- Cut the
basic rate of income tax by 3p
or
Cut petrol
duty by 75 per cent
or
Pay the
total bill for the London Olympics
in less than a year
AND MUCH
MORE
Commons debate
on the European Communities
(Finance) Bill on Monday 19th
November,2007.
REFERENDUM
DAY
will be
RECOMPENCE
DAY?
*
A TIME FOR EUROSCEPTICS TO LEARN
FROM THE PAST-ONLY A TWO-PRONGED ATTACK CAN BRING
VICTORY AND SAVE YOUR FREEDOM -CONSTITUTION AND
COUNTRY.
|
|
www.noliberties.com
[Latest Addition - June07]
*
www.eutruth.org.uk
*
www.thewestminsternews.co.uk
*
www.speakout.co.uk
*
Daniel Hannan - Forming an OPPOSITION
to the EU
www.telegraph.co.uk.blogs
*
VOTE
MAY -2007
TO
LEAVE
THE
EUROPEAN
UNION
WITH THE ONLY PARTY WITH A MANDATE
TO SET YOU
FREE
THE
UK
INDEPENDENCE PARTY
www.ukip.org
TO RECLAIM YOUR DEMOCRACY DON'T VOTE
FOR THE TRIPARTITE PARTIES IN WESTMINSTER
BUT
SMALL PARTIES THAT SPEAK THEIR MINDS
WITHOUT SPIN AND LIES.
*
ONLY
PRO-PORTIONAL
REPRESENTATION
WILL
BRING
DEMOCRACY
BACK
TO
THE
ENGLISH
PEOPLE
*
Home
Rule for
Scotland
WHY NOT
HOME
RULE
for
ENGLAND
*
MAY/07
[All underlined words have a
separate bulletin