From the west door, Ely Cathedral

We’re in St Ives (Cambridgeshire) for three nights prompted by the Old Riverport Ukulele Festival on Saturday at the Corn Exchange in St Ives.

There’s a packed programme with a Uketok strum at a local pub on Friday evening and various events on Saturday. Stay tuned for more updates.

Today we visited Ely and were pretty impressed. Our first glimpse of the Cathedral took your breath away, rising majestically and massively from the surrounding Fens.

Close to, the cathedral was being surrounded and invaded by a mighty host of media equipment and attendant personnel for an event from 17th - 22nd October which nobody was able tell us anything about. Much better to view it from afar. When approached from the river it seems like you’re in the depth of the countryside so splendid is it in its isolation.

Inside, the Cathedral enthralled. Built by the Normans and extended over centuries the Victorians added loads of stained glass and ceiling paintings to bring the place to life. Like all ecclesiastical buildings it suffered from the reformation and one or two overzealous bishops. The original monastery was of course, destroyed by that Henry and other people followed his lead.

A trail took us through all the main parts of the city ending up at the Great Ouse waterfront which was very pleasant in the warm autumn sunshine. We walked a loop along the river and back into the city then on our way to the Airbnb in St Ives. Went to the Golden Lion Hotel in the town for a drink after dinner.