Great Western Coffee Shop

Here are seven places which won't be busy today (Good Friday) - can you name them?   Usual rules - one each for the first 24 hours.

(All these were photographed after travelling on public transport before the current government guidelines came into force.)

1. Buckfast Abbey - Bob_Blakey
(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/ch1.jpg)

2. St Mark's Swindon - stuving
(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/ch2.jpg)

3. Tewkesbury Abbey - TonyN
(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/ch3.jpg)

4. Durham Cathedral - JontyMort
(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/ch4.jpg)

5. Salisbury Cathedral - Western Pathfinder
(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/ch5.jpg)

6. Truro Cathedral - plymothian
(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/ch6.jpg)

7. St Davids Cathedral West Wales - ellendune
(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/ch7.jpg)

1. Buckfast Abbey

Correct!

No5. Salisbury.

Another one gone.

Is 4 Gloucester Cathedral

6. Truro Cathedral

No it isn't - I was going to include that one but couldn't find the photo.

Correct

3) Wells?

Afraid not.

7) St Davids

Correct - probably my favourite of the seven.

4. Winchester?

No sadly not.

No, 4 is Durham.

Thankyou Bob I'm rather enjoying your Ecclesiastical Excursion.

It is indeed.

For a bonus point, the photo is probably taken from the station - usually the best view.

I also know No 3. But I will play by the usual rules.

I’ve got it too.

A short hop can help u remain calm here.

"Showoff"  ;D ;D ;D

No3 Tewkesbury Abbey

It is. Hope you got it without my acrostic railway-themed clue  :)

Well as my assistant has pointed out - correct!

These are 7 Buildings I can't get anywhere near,

Thunderbolts and Lighting. ;D ;D

2 - St John's Taunton (applying the Coffee Shop Taunton rule with a bit of help from Wikipedia)

Although the answer is wrong, that is a very interesting piece of research.

The church in question was designed by the same architect as St Johns in Taunton.   It also follows the same branch of the Anglican church.

In that case, Saint Mark the Evangelist, Swindon would be apt in many ways. It's even right next to the railway, and:

The correct answer.   I can see the spire from my office window above the rooftops over Faringdon Road (GWR) Park.   Often known as the Railway Church, you can see it on the left as you leave Swindon on a westbound train just past the water tower.  I feel sorry for the new priest there - he was appointed after the parish went more than a year without one.  His first task after being installed was to receive the keys so he could go round and lock up all three churches under his authority as the lockdown began.

Thanks to all those who took part in the quiz.

Thanks for organising it. Good fun.

The only thing I know about the church is that Britten’s Festival Te Deum was written for it in 1945 - a staggeringly difficult piece for a parish church choir.

From reports I’ve read I don’t think he was too impressed by the end result. 

Yes it was written to celebrate their centenary.

The Royal School of Church Music describes it as "Britten's Festival Te Deum is a classic of the 20th Century, and not nearly as difficult as you may think."

I understood it was the organ part that was difficult.


Yes I heard that too

Wikipedia suggests that. But presumably the money was OK.

The organ part is certainly tricky, but the chorus isn’t really parish church stuff either, and there’s a deceptively simple treble solo towards the end. I’ve sung it in a cathedral choir - not one of those in today’s quiz, and not the solo, I hasten to add!

I have never sung it so I really can't comment beyond what the RSCM says