Anneke's degree graduation ceremony was scheduled for midday. We met up with Eddie and Ann outside the Cathedral at ten thirty, and then joined the queue to enter Carlisle Cathedral, while participants of the previous degree congregation made their joyful exit.
Carlisle Cathedral was established as an Augustinian Priory in the eleventh century and became a Cathedral church in the twelfth. Two thirds of the modestly sized (for a Cathedral) building is taken up by the monastic choir, with a huge East window and high decorative ceiling. The nave is disproportionately small, reflecting the building's history as a collegiate institution. It's constructed of the old red sandstone characteristic of the region.
The degree congregation was an occasion designed to impress and promote the activities and achievements of the University of Cumbria relevent to public life and service. Baroness Cox was made an honorary fellow and gave an inspirational address in response to the Chancellor's account of her history of humanitarian service and advocacy. After the ceremony we went to the Crown and Mitre hotel nearby where we partook of a festive drink and nibble together with the new graduates.
Then, it was time for me to take my leave and drive home, a three hundred mile trip back to Cardiff. Clare stayed behind to spend a night with Anneke, Eddie and Ann. Thankfully, the weather was good and the drive easy, apart from the usual congestion in the Midlands. Over seven hundred miles in the past five days - something of an achievement, more than I've driven in a short period for many years.
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