epw024938 ENGLAND (1928). Westminster Cathedral, Westminster, 1928

Alas, the interior, planned by John Bentley to be a dazzling Aladdin's cave of marble surfaces up to 30 feet, and above that colour-and-gilt mosaic pictures, has never been finished (except in the dramatic Lady Chapel). Alan's splendid picture reveals this stark contrast between the decorated interior and the bare, dark brick above.



Readers are recommended to consult a copy of Patrick Rogers' text on "Westminster Cathedral: From Darkness to Light", published in 2003, the same year that I last visited this building, during the course of which I met Patrick in the South Transept! His book is the story of the Cathedral from its planning stages in the late-Victorian era to the present day.



My first awareness of Westminster Cathedral coincided exactly with that of Sir Roy Strong, which is mentioned in his Prologue to the book. In Alfred Hitchkock's film, "Foreign Correspondent", there is a sequence on the balcony of the Cathedral's tower, so my introduction to the building was also on celluloid! I recall that this thriller was shown on BBC TV during a prolonged rain delay in the Fourth Test against New Zealand, at The Oval, in August 1958.

Thanks for prompting the memory, Alan! Go dte tu slan...Sean Og MacS (Ros Mhic Thriuin, Chontae Loch Garman, An Poblacht na hEireann, 1997-2008).