Postcard Friday #10: Ferry Meadows

Ferry Meadows is the 200ha (500acre) Country Park located at the heart of Nene Park in Peterborough.

Postcard Friday #9: Guildhall

Guildhall (1669-1671) is located in Cathedral Square, Peterborough city centre.

According to Wikipedia, Peterborough's magnificent 17th century Guildhall was built shortly after the restoration of King Charles II. It is supported by columns to provide an open ground floor for the butter and poultry markets which used to be held there. The market place was later renamed Cathedral Square.

Postcard Friday #8: Town Hall, Bridge Street

This postcard shows Bridge Street during winter, which is located in Peterborough city centre. In the middle of this old picture is the iconic Peterborough Town Hall, which was built in the early 1930s. This building is still being used by Peterborough City Council as offices and also includes the ceremonial parts like the Mayor's Parlour and the Council Chamber. I have been to the Town Hall a few times, most memorably when our family took oath as British citizens two Decembers ago in the Council Chamber.

Postcard Friday #7: The Custom's House

Here's a description of the Custom's House according to The City Scene for Peterborough magazine (pp 4-5 of December 2011 issue):

Postcard Friday #6: Peterborough Cathedral Cloisters

This postcard shows the Peterborough Cathedral Cloisters. You can go to it via a huge door from the Cathedral's right side. If you wish to go directly to it there is a pathway to the right of the Cathedral in which you can go to.

Postcard Friday #5: Peterborough Cathedral from top

Peterborough Cathedral is one of the finest Norman buildings in Europe today and is a UK landmark.

As seen from the top, you will see that Peterborough Cathedral is shaped like a cross. Personally, this postcard is very interesting to look at. I'm imagining myself hovering at the top and looking down below. The cathedral is just as amazing from the top as below.

The origins of the Cathedral can be traced back to King Peada of the Middle Angles who founded the first monastery on the site in 655AD. The monastic settlement was almost entirely destroyed by the Vikings in 870 and rebuilt as a Benedictine Abbey between 960 and 970. The Abbey church then survived Hereward the Wake’s attack on the Abbey in 1069, and remained intact until an accidental fire destroyed the second Abbey here in 1116. It was rebuilt in its present form between 1118 and 1238. It became the Cathedral of the new Diocese of Peterborough in 1541 and it is now known as the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew.

Source: Peterborough Cathedral



Postcard Friday #4: Bishop's Gardens

Bishop's Garden in Peterborough is a small ornamental garden just south of Peterborough Cathedral and north of The Lido. Bounded by Bishop's Road, the garden was created as part of the Bishop's palace in the 14th century. The gardens, unlike the palace, is open to the public and is nicely laid out with rose beds and various other features.

Wordless Wednesday #4: Bluebells

Postcard Friday #3: Rivergate

Rivergate is one of the smaller shopping centres found in Peterborough city centre. I don't go to this place very often these days. From memory national retailers like Comet and Peacocks are just some of the shops you can find in Rivergate.

In the postcard, the picture was taken from the door that leads to the supermarket Asda. When I was new to Peterborough I used to go to Asda to buy groceries and Georg products. However, since it is some distance from where I work I soon got tired of going to it. My visits to Rivergate are getting sporadic these days.

Peterborough's Filipino Catholics joined One Mass celebration

The small Filipino Catholic community in Peterborough contributed to the One Mass celebration held in Peterborough last July.

Graphic Tees thanked me recently for sharing the story of Filipino Catholics from the eyes of a foreigner. Then, I remembered the SMS or "text" my kumpare sent relaying to us our local parish priest's message of thanks to all Filipinos who joined the One Mass celebration held in Peterborough Cathedral.

The One Mass was held to mark the rich cultural mix of the Catholic religious community in the city. More than a thousand people of 50 different nationalities attended the celebration. In particular, the small Filipino community was asked to provide the choir. Apparently, the parish priest was impressed with our singing during a mass he celebrated for the local Filipino Catholic community a while back. Unfortunately, our family was unable to attend One Mass. Still, I was proud of the others who attended and provided some of the angelic singing during the mass.

There is a news article from the local Evening Telegraph that reported about this event, which you can read here. In the main picture, the Filipino girl holding a red and white flag is my son's classmate at his primary school.

Peterborough holiday souvenir

As promised a while back (better late than never), here is my take on substituting the tourist spot with that of a souvenir depicting it. I used a fridge magnet for this photograph of the Peterborough Cathedral, using my 3.2 megapixel mobile phone.

Cathedral Church in Peterborough

It is considered as the most beautiful Norman Cathedral in England and is dedicated to Sts Peter, Paul and Andrew.

A monastic church was founded in Peterborough by King Peada in 655 AD, destroyed by the Danes in 870, rebuilt as part of a Benedictine Abbey and reconsecrated in 972, burned down in an accidental fire in 1116 and re-built in its present form between 1118 and 1238. The porch was added about 1380, the eastern extensions around 1500 and the central tower was re-built in the mid 1300's and again in the 1880's. In 1539 the monastery was closed by Henry VIII, but eighteen months later in 1541, the church became the Cathedral of the new Diocese of Peterborough, with the last abbot as the new bishop, and Peterborough became a city.

The information above was taken from the Peterborough Cathedral website. In it, there is also a link that describes a short history of the Cathedral. Aside from its huge and beautiful structure, both inside and outside, the Cathedral's other claim to fame is that it is where two queens during the Tudor period were buried: Katherine of Aragon (one of the wives of Henry VIII) and Mary Queen of Scots. The latter's grave, however, is now empty as she was re-buried in Westminster in 1612. The Abbey's most valued relic - St Oswald's Arm, disappeared from its chapel about the time of the reformation but the chapel still has its newel staircase or watch-tower where monks kept guard over it day and night.

Nowadays, the Cathedral still follows its centuries old pattern of daily worship. However, the medieval monastic pattern of eight sessions per day has been reduced to morning prayer, daily Eucharist and evensong on most days of the week.

Note: the text of this post are mostly taken from the Peterborough Cathedral website (http://www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/).

Peterborough Cathedral

A must-see attraction for every visitor to the city of Peterborough!

This shot is taken from my Sony Ericsson W850i and then published through mobile blogging. It's cool, huh! In the future, some of my posts (shorter and with pictures) will be published through my mobile phone (or as it is most commonly known in the Philippines, celphone).