While Cartmel now seems like a pretty sleepy town, it once was a bustling center of commerce. The Priory was the heart of a local agricultural economy. While that might have changed a lot, the Priory itself is still an impressive structure and reminder of how things had once been very different. While not as grandiose as some of the UK’s cathedrals, it is still a pretty grand building to come across in an otherwise small town.
We made a stop at St Paul’s while we were in London. It was Sunday so it was not open for tourist visits but was operating as a church. You were able to go in and listen to the service and the choir which is certainly worth hearing. However, we didn’t spend much time inside and, instead, took a look around the outside of the cathedral.
It is a great looking building, even if it is a little squashed in amongst the other buildings in the City which impacts on the view a little. Apparently, there are laws that protect certain sight lines of the cathedral but, when close in, it is quite hard to appreciate it all. Even so, we did have some fun checking it out from various angles.
We also got a good look at it from up at the top of The Shard. The aerial perspective is a good one, much like what we saw a couple of years ago when in the helicopter. With the height of the Shard, it is hard to tell the difference from flying.
