SOME OF THE GLORY THAT IS ENGLAND

Chronicle (Levin), 2 July 1946, Page 8

SOME OF THE GLORY THAT IS ENGLAND

W ■ MOVING EXPERIENCES FOR MR. R. H. BILLENS COVENTRY CATHEDRAL VISITED To stand in the skeleton of Coventry Cathedral with its lovely spire and four shattered walls while the story of the night of terror was told and the Bishop led- in prayer, was the moving experience of Mr. R. H. Billens, managing-director of "The Chronicle." Writing on June 15 he states: — "It is raining steadily and we leave in a few moments for our fiver trip, an all-day tour of "Old Eather Thames", the greatest slxipping lane of the world. I do not just lcnow how we will fare m this mixture of moisture and mist bm at the moment looking out of my window the view is very lovely. I had my lirst vision of St. Paul's, th'e soul and centre of London. Its nxajesty. seeined more majestic across the wastes oi devastation and more than ever its serene grandeur dominated tlre who.ie seene. The Bank of New Zealand had a miraculous eseape and stands almosi undamaged amid the ruins. "I wandered baek along the Thames embankment watching the ever-eliang-ing beauty of the gentle sunlight filtered tlirougli that haze which tempers tne harshness of outline and turns tne industrial ugliness to a symphony or vari-tinted greys. And always fSt. Panl's dominated the changiug seene.. I continued along the embankmenr drinkiug in the grey symphonies, the lovely eurves of tlie arches of the bridges with my baek to the roar of the unending trafiie and then as usual I losl myself.en route to the Strand. "By accident I stumbled across New Zealand House, and went in for a moment. I had a date for afternoon tea with Lawrence Irving, so set off for 11 Apple Tree Yard, Duke of York Streei, St. James Square. I was ushered upstairs- into a delightful studio full oi Henry Irving relics ineluding the immortal actor 's Death Mask, a brilliant study in ehalk of him in his later years, and a lovely little bronze of him in oue of his famous eharacters. My host's wife and his partner were present anu you should have seen Mrs. Irving 's faee when I handed lier a food parcel; their delight was almost pathetic. My hour with the Irvings was sheer delight. Be is a fipe landseape painter and at tne moment is fmishing the script of a new movie. Our views on art and the movies were in close harmony, and it has been not the least thrilling of my experiences to get to know him intimately. At Royal Academy. "On my way baek I went into the Royal Aeadcmy where the annual shovv was on. It has not been enthusiastically reeeived and the Modernists were a flop. They are steadily losing their hold. I was more interested in tne flower paintings, some of which were superb. It was most interesting to see that 75 per cent of them earried tne little red circle indiiuiting that they. had lieen sold. Very few otliers were in tne. same class." Home of Immortai Bard. 8tratford-on-Avon, .Tune lb. "I am sitting in my luxury one-bertn eompartment of our iuxury train, atter another day of womlers — in its- way to me at least, the most Avonderful experience of all. In a few moments we wii* be on our way to Coventry to see one of the most bombed cities of Britain. We left London at 3 p.m. yesterday and arrived at 8tratford-on-Avon at 5 p.m. in a eold drizzle. It is one of the loveliest cities imaginable — a iit home for England hs greatest son. We "went straight away to Ann Hathaway's cottage which is preserved with lovmg care by the Shakespeare Memorial Association. We came baek tlirougli raniDling lanes and winding sfreets to " Will's" birthplaee which is the headquarters of the trustees and guardians of 8hakespeare 's birthplaee with all the priceiess relics and proofs of his lite and works. "We returned to the train for our lirst meal on board — a very niee change from the rich fare of the Grosvenor — served in luxury pullm.an - ears.. .. Theii,sonie of us walked baek into tlhe-v.eitjY Nlueh, by thb Avay, tjh^ 'e^iiie--pppm i Ralm&rstoit-'YNo/tlh/^ It ' tlien-' 0 p.m. but broad daylight and fon '' two hours vA*e wandered where our footsteps led us along the quaint, lovely streets with their 400-year-old shops and taverns, down bye-ways that might have been born in Fairyland, losing and linding- ourselves, and iinallj^ wandering baek to the train at II p.m., when a new fairyland widened on our view as we'saw the city streets in the darkening twilight. Next day we spent at Coventry retnrning in the afternoon to witness a performanee of "Love's Labour Lost". Visit to Coventry. "We arrived in Coventry after runuing through some of the most glorious English countryside linked with the spacious days of Queen Elizabeth. The green-hedged countryside had much m common with New Zealand and as it was threatening rain it resembled a Manawatu December. We had oniy one glimpse of the sun all day and ic was ehilly. We really have not had one warm day yet in England. Our route took us through the lovely old towns oi Warwick and Kenilworth both with straggling streets up and down hil], Jmt not very steep inclines. They are about the same size as Stratford-on-Avon and go further baek still into the past than 8hakespeare's home. The very old and the near new mingled nicely and with few jarring- notes and when I tell you some of the houses are 13th Century you will realise some eflfort is being made to preserve the antiquities4 Tlie entrance to Coventry is "elaimed by Covemtrians to be the most beautiful in England and it probably is because the highway runs through a magnifieent avenue of trees about three miles long and almost perfeetly straight — a lovely prospect. lirst sight like most other

places the city does not appear to have been very badly bombed but we were soon disillusioned on that score. We were welcomed in the City Ball by the Mayor, Lord Iliffe, a newspaper ovvner, and head of the British Empire Red Cross during the war, the Bishop aml otliers. After speeches we liad refreshmfents and then came the great moment. "The Cathedral is just next door to the City Hall and we did not see it until we stepped out of the side entrance. Then there towered ahove us the loveliest spire in Europe hut the Cathedral is only a spire and four hattered waiis — a memorial of one of the most dastardly crimes of the Nazi raiders, hui also a memorial of the heroism ana devotion of the Coventrians. - "We walked into the enclosure thar was once a glorious monument to Chrisjtianity, now only a pathetic skeleton, our only roof the sky. Here for the first and only time today the sun shone on our hared heads as the history of the Cathedral going baek. to the 11th Century was told and then the story of the night of horror, when the incendiary bombs rained down on the roof so fast the tired fighters had to give up at last and watch their beloved church go up in flames. Then the Bishop led us an into- the remains of the Centre Altar 4where -:a ' cross has been devised out of Flat.Qkened;u-afters and here he offerprayer for Coventry, Brit|hin,':ithe Empire and the Empire press. It was a great moment and everyone came away deeply moved and impressed. "We immediately board'ed our buses and worked our way baek to Stratford by another route in order to see two of the noblest castle ruins in England — Warwick and ' Kenilworth. Tlie former we saw from a bridge over the Avon and it rises from tlie high banks of thu river, a great grey pile, majestic and aloof in its slow decay. Kenilwoth is older still and more advanced in its decay but all the lovelier because it is of red stone mellowed by the unimagmable touch of time. "Baclc in Stratford we went straight to the Memorial Theatre where we were entertained at a fine luncheon by the Theatre Trust and'players. I sat next to Sir Barry Jackson, the noted theatrical actor, manager and direetor of productions. "