St Brides the Wedding Cake Church

Advantages: free, interesting crypt, peaceful
Disadvantages: not so many memorials to look at

...Have you ever wondered how the tiered wedding cake came about? Look no further than the distinctive spire of St Brides just off Fleet Street. An 18th century baker William rich used the three tired spire as inspiration in a range of wedding cakes and it has became the standard ever since. However there is so much more to this delightful little church which I often visit to get away from it all. Saint Bride's has a long and interesting history. Named after Saint Bridget, a 5th century Irish saint who turned well water into beer (a nice party trick me thinks and always a welcome guest) there has been at least been seven church buildings on the site since Saxon times. Being on Fleet Street it is known as the Journalist's church and it is associated with a number of literary figures such as Boswell, Dryden, Lovelace, the diarist Evelyn...

duskmaiden 15.07.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of St Bride's Church

Temple Church: A Curious Congregation of Knights and Lawyers

Advantages: Excellent original features. Beautiful interior restoration.
Disadvantages: Variable opening hours

...?, and all of a sudden, a whole cottage industry sprang up tracing the fictional Robert Langdon?s breathless dash across London on so-called Da Vinci Tours. One of the most popular stops on that tour is Temple Church, and for a short time after the release of the film, it was a virtual no-go area for regular visitors, having been swamped by oversized Americans in daft clothing and breathless snap-happy Japanese. If it sounds like I am lazily reverting to national stereotype it?s because I speak from personal experience. I?ve lost count of the times that my quiet contemplation was interrupted by squeals of delight from ?Marty? and ?Mabel? as they discovered something they?d seen in ?that movie?. Sigh. If I am taking a little while to come to the business end of this review, it?s because I am not a ?Grail tourist? and felt it imperative to...

Hishyeness 11.08.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of The Temple Church, London

The Sacred Heart Church, Tibidabo, Barcelona

Advantages: Beautiful church, great views of Barcelona below.
Disadvantages: None

...On a recent trip to Barcelona, I went on a city tour to take in some of the sights that we had missed on our last visit. A place I was really looking forward to visiting was Tibidabo Mountain, which is the highest peak in Barcelona at over 500m above sea level. Anyone who visits Barcelona will not fail to notice Tibidabo, and this is due to the imposing church of Sagrat Cor (Sacred Heart) which stands at the top of the mountain, and the impressive statue of Jesus Christ on the highest spire of the church. On travelling in and out of Barcelona, seeing this church and statue on top of the mountain is a fantastic sight. The church is the work of architect Enrique Sagnier, and building commenced in 1902 and took 60 years to build, so it is actually not that old! The church is unusual in that it is built as a church on top of a church...

JEFFJEN 20.07.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of The Sacred Heart Church, Barcelona

Church of the Poisoned Mind?

Advantages: A few fairly decent pop songs
Disadvantages: A few not so decent pop songs

...I'm quite possibly the kind of person that Charlotte Church was aiming at when she decided to take a change of direction into pop music. I would never even have considered buying her "Voice of an Angel" style CDs, purely because classical and operatic style music isn't my thing. I do, however, have a liking for well crafted pop music, so I'd always be likely to give her pop debut a chance, if it seemed worth it. Church certainly seemed to have all the attributes to have a decent career in pop music. After all, she had the sports star boyfriend like Posh Spice and Cheryl from Girls Aloud. She had been pictured falling out of nightclubs like the Gallagher brothers of Oasis. And she has an ex-boyfriend selling all her secrets to the tabloids like?well, just about everybody, really. Of course, living the life of a pop star doesn...

Soho_Black 04.10.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Tissues And Issues - Charlotte Church

Small church big history

Advantages: Lots of history
Disadvantages: Not good for wheelchair users

...St Paul's Church On a recent visit to Bede's World in Jarrow, we also went to St Pauls church, which is a short walk through a park from Bedes World. Visitors wanting to visit the church should follow signs for Bede's World, and parking is available either just outside the church or in Bede's World The church is actually the parish church of Jarrow, and so sometimes there are services on, but when nothing is happening, visitors are welcome to have a look around. The church can be accessed from an open gate at the front, with a path leading to the door of the church or from the side, which is the entrance which leads from the park. At the time we went to the church, it was undergoing some restoration work to the roof, so there was lots of scaffolding, and once inside the church, there was also evidence of building work in the form...

danielalong 23.05.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of St Paul's Church, Jarrow

Halifax Parish Church

Advantages: Lots of history, friendly staff
Disadvantages: None for me

...During a recent visit to Halifax the weather was miserable so I took shelter inside the parish church for a short while. The Parish Church of St John the Baptist is one of several churches near to the town centre but it is distinctive because of its square tower and rather black appearance due to centuries of dirt and grime. A Norman church has stood on this spot since at least 1120 and the eastern wall of this church is original but the early Norman church was much smaller than the present church and had a location a little further to the north. Its eastern wall that still survives was actually the exterior wall of the southern end of the original church. When I arrived I instantly noticed that there was some renovation work taking place, several dustsheets were sprawled across the floor and tradesmen were banging and drilling...

micksheff 18.05.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of The Church of St John the Baptist, Halifax, West Yorkshire

Another church called St Mary's

Advantages: Lots of history, free to visit
Disadvantages: None for me

...I would hazard a guess that St Mary's is probably the most common church name in England. Where I live in Sheffield there is a large parish church on the fringe of the city centre called St Mary's and within a 5 mile radius of my house there are at least two other churches that bear that same name. About a decade ago I lived in a 16th century cottage under the shadow of another St Mary's in Chesterfield which is more commonly known as The Crooked Spire, but the St Mary's Church that I now see from my window is the one at Hansdworth. If you mention St Mary's Church round here it can certainly be confusing exactly which church you are actually talking about. Historically Handsworth was a small hamlet, which is mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1089 although nowadays it has been absorbed into the sprawling suburbs of the city of Sheffield...

micksheff 01.03.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of St Mary's Church, Handsworth, Sheffield

St Mary's Church, Scarborough

Advantages: Fantastic architecture, lots of history, free to visit
Disadvantages: Limited opening hours

...Any visitor to the East Yorkshire resort of Scarborough will know that its castle dominates its skyline but in my opinion, The Church of St Mary adjacent to the ruins of the castle is almost just as impressive. Perched high on top of the hillside, like its more famous neighbour, the castle, this church is a landmark that can be seen from miles around. The Church of St Mary is the largest church in the town and it is the parish church of Scarborough. It is a large church and a grand one by any standards, indeed it is as large and grand as many cathedrals that I know. From the outside the first thing that struck me when I visited here a few weeks ago was how neat and tidy its church yard was. This might have something to do with the fact that the graveyard is the burial place of the 19th century writer Anne Bronte and in recent years...

micksheff 21.09.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of St Mary's Church, Scarborough

St Peter's Church, Edensor

Advantages: Lots of history, beautiful setting
Disadvantages: Not everyone's ideal place to visit

...the main road into the village. At the centre of the village is St Peter's Church, which dominates the village. The entrance to this is best accessed via Japp Lane and the spire of this Church can be seen from many miles away. This Church was built in 1870 and was originally created as a place of worship for the Duke of Devonshire, his family and his staff. Today the current Duke and Duchess still use this Church as their regular place of worship and they can often be found here during Sunday service. For such a relatively modern Church this is quite a grand affair. It has an architectural style that predates its true origin by a couple of centuries and there are wonderful stained glass windows and lots of fancy gold decorations on both the inside and the outside of the Church. This is a true demonstration of the amount of wealth that...

micksheff 25.09.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of St Peter's Church, Edensor

The Church Farm Museum, Skegness

Advantages: Lots to see, free admission
Disadvantages: Limited opening hours

...Skegness on the east Lincolnshire coast of England is a typically English seaside resort famous for its amusement arcades, sprawling caravan parks and theme parks. Everything here it would seem is geared towards the family and family fun, but this is young family fun, a place for toddlers to teens whose holiday fun includes ice cream and candy floss as well as lots of running around screeching and screaming. It might therefore be no great surprise to discover that I loathe Skegness and everything that it represents, but it might be surprising to hear that Skegness is home to at least two fantastic attractions. These include the Church Farm Museum (the subject of this review) and Gibraltar Point, a nature reserve to the south of the resort (and a likely future review). The Church Farm Museum is located on the edge of a housing estate...

micksheff 16.10.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Church Farm Museum, Skegness