Thursday 14th May 2026

Fourth day of the week, and it being Thursday means up and attem at ten past five so we could leave for the gym at ten to six. Though we were a little behind.

We arrive, find a place to park, and rush to the entrance, as although it is the middle of May, temperatures at night plunge and there are air frosts.

I struggle to do my forty minutes, though once over halfway its easy, downhill from there.

Once done we head to Tesco for supplies.

It was a big shop, and end up spending one hundred and sixty quid, which came as a shock. And yet there were no really expensive items.

Back home for twenty to eight. We pack the shopping away, make brews and breakfast.

Main issue of the day was a railtour going through the county, and because of an appointment at two, there would be a small window in which to snap the tour, and as the last time I looked, it was ten minutes down, so I made the decision to bail on that.

I spend the morning by cooking two pots of stuff for freezing. First up was a huge pot of ragu, which I start at nine, and soon is bubbling away, reducing down, so I could go about making a smaller pot of Boston beans.

That was put in the oven to cook for four hours, so was just ready when we had to leave for the city.

The morning flashes by, and soon it was midday, and time to go to Canterbury, for our two o'clock appointment at the cathedral.

We arrive at the car park opposite St Augustine's Abbey with half an hour to spare, then walk to the Buttercross and the Christchurch Gate. We pay our entrance fee, and enter the Cathedral Precinct, enter the Cathedral for a few minutes before leaving and waiting at the shop for the tour to start.

We had booked on a tour of the Cathedral's library, and I was expecting a Mediaeval chain library, where tomes written with quills on vellum would be secured to shelves by chains.

But little did I know that thanks to Good King Henry, the ancient and Catholic, books had been mostly disposed of, and the library now was a bequest from two benefactors, the Howley-Harrison donations.

As we were taken round, the history of the cathedral and its books was shared, and how the collection we see now are mostly two private collections.

That being said, it was interesting, and brought to life by our guide and librarian, who told us of the stages of the collection's history, and its disposal thanks to Henry VIII.

Several interesting books were on display for us, and their interesting history, and why each was significant.

I took lots of pictures you'll be glad to know.

We were done at quarter past three, well past lunch and well past opening time. We fix both issues by entering The Old Buttermarket pub, ordering two drinks and packs of pork scratchings.

All that was left was to walk back through the city centre, over the inner ringroad back to the car. Pay the charge, and leave, back along Old Dover Road to the A2 and home.

I portion out the ragu into dishes for freezing, then warm three ladle-fulls for dinner, along with boiling water for pasta.

In half an hour it was done. Seeded bread sliced and buttered, so by half four we sat down to eat, making sure we had fed the cats before, so we would not be interrupted.

And that was that.

We had pistachio Magnums as a dessert, which went down pretty well.

There was football int he evening, but I was shattered, so bailed at half time, so missed the only goal of the game as Bolton beat Bradford.