British Saints (2) : St Chad

St Chad of Mercia was born in about 634CE in Northumbria. Chad was one of four brothers who became active in the church, his brother Cedd also becoming a saint. Chad travelled to Ireland as a monk, it is here he joined the priesthood. He returned to England to help Cedd establish a monastery in Yorkshire. He later succeeded Cedd as Abbot of Lastingham monastery.

Chad was chosen to become the Bishop of Northumbria however he was deposed in 669 but later returned to favour as Bishop of the Mercians. King Wulfhere of Mercia provided Chad with land for monasteries in Barow and Lichfield close to the location of the cathedral. Chad died in 672, he was venerated as a saint almost immediately and his remains were moved to Lichfield cathedral. These relics remained at the cathedral until the reign of King Henry VIII. 

However, unlike many relics the remains of St Chad are not thought to have been lost. The relics were retained by families in Staffordshire. After a time at a seminary in France, the relics (which have been carbon dated to the 7th century) were returned to England and are now stored at the Catholic Cathedral of St Chad in Birmingham above the altar. St Chad's feast day is March 2nd. Many churches, especially in the Midlands, are dedicated to St Chad of Mercia.

St Chad, Wishaw

Inside St Chad, Shrewsbury

St Chad, Sutton Coldfield

Shrewsbury

I go to Shrewsbury station to change changes quite a lot (three times this year already!) However, i haven't ventured out of the station into the town for years and so much of the town was yet to be explored. I did just this on Monday, visiting no less than five churches and also the river side too. A lovely town indeed, i need to step out of the station more often. You can see my photos here.

Model week : Boomerang

Project #105 is a Commonwealth Boomerang (an Australian fighter - you could probably guess that! - from the Second World War). It is quite a simple kit and is in an advanced stage of building. Painting should begin by the end of the week.

Modern Collins (2) : Sea-change

Sea-change by Philip Loraine starts off what seems to be a standard case of a missing person in Spain but slowly builds into a full blown Cold War spy drama in central Europe as more and more is revealed about some the main characters. This is a very well written story with various layers of intrigue and really conveys the world of secrecy, disguise and double lives of top level espionage. Even those nearest to them cannot know the truth.

A highly entertaining book, not sparing some of the cruelties of this way of life. The question is though, is it a crime novel and thus should be in the Collins Crime Club? Well the club did have tales covering a wide variety of criminal activity even the paranormal so why not the international spy game, which includes plenty of criminal activity! It is a great read anyway.

Droitwich departure

Heading off from Droitwich Spa.