Cathedrals and gin in Ely
Last weekend I spent a few days in Ely, Cambridgeshire. Ely is the fifth smallest city in England and as it is officially a city it means it has a cathedral. Being the fens the area is quite flat, especially compared to Sheffield where I live, which means the Cathedral can be seen from a great deal of town it serves as a good compass if you get a bit lost!
The Cathedral is impressive and was first constructed nine hundred years ago but took three hundred years to complete. I can imagine all those years ago it would have been particularly amazing rising out of such a flat plain and everyone would have been able to see it for miles around and I’m sure it would have been the biggest structure many people would have ever seen. It’s really interesting to study the stone work and try to work out the layers of history and additions. In particular I found a section of wall that seems to have been made up from all sorts of odds and ends maybe left over from other things making a bit of a patchwork effect.
Whilst in town my friend told me about a gin shop that sells a wide range of local gins, needless to say I was a tiny bit excited to visit.
The Ely Gin Company is a delightful little shop with a lovely friendly lady to ask questions of. An eclectic range of nine flavoured gins and tonics to match which was a surprise the trouble was which one to choose. They had gift sets available with interesting combinations of gin and tonics, between you and me I would have liked an afternoon of tasting to try a little bit of everything….maybe another time. Well worth a visit if you are in town.
