Worcester Cathedral as a day trip from Moreton in Marsh

There's loads to see and do in Worcester as well as the cathedral. Have a look at this historic walking trail around the city centre which highlights the many different attractions. There are the links to the English Civil War., Worcester pottery, Edward Elgar, walks along th river... Check out details on the different places from this website.

Absolutely the Cathedral is worth it, I was there about 6 weeks ago. Apart from the architecture, of particular note is the stained glass, two Royal tombs, the Cloisters, the Chapter House and St Wulfstan's crypt. The crypt is one of those special places. Do go out of the South door and see the wonderful Cathedral close then go down to the Watergate. It is the only English cathedral to have its own ferry, runs only on a Sunday, but has been in operation for around 1,000 years (not the same boat!).
And @wasleys has linked to the other attractions including the birthplace of Sir Edward Elgar - the famous English composer. I believe there is a bus out there.
He is thought to be the only modern Roman Catholic to be commemorated in an Anglican Cathedral, such was his importance to the city.

I was there for about 90 minutes on a day trip from Cumbria which also had to get to Birmingham airport, so was really pushed for time. I could have spent longer in the Cathedral if the time had physically existed.

I've been to the City several times before on boating trips.

Do be on your toes at Foregate Street station. Both platforms are bi-directional so trains to anywhere can leave from either platform. The day I was there was one of service disruption and they were using that feature to the full.

in addition to above comments, I'll mention that Worcester Cathedral's bells are exceptional.

Note especially that the bells are a war memorial, the 5th heaviest ringing peal, and in my mind one of the very best rung by a highly qualified band. I hope your journey falls at a time that they are ringing.

Instead of typing out all the unique features, I'll quote from the Worcester Cathedral Guild of Bell Ringers,

"Church bells are the biggest and loudest musical instruments in the world. They are rung for worship, for state and civic events, to celebrate, to commemorate, to mourn, and simply for the enjoyment of hearing their sound. English change ringing is a performing art with a 400-year-old heritage.

The Cathedral’s bells were cast at Taylor's of Loughborough in 1928 as a Great War memorial under the direction of Dean Moore-Ede. The 16 Cathedral's bells are the fifth heaviest ringing peal in the world and are regarded as one of the finest ringing peals ever cast. The bells are part of the aural landscape of the City of Worcester.

The Cathedral is the only church in the world to have a ring of ten bells in a harmonic minor key. These are rung half-muffled for special days or events: for example, Good Friday, the Armistice, Remembrance Sunday, and New Year’s Eve.

The Worcester Cathedral Guild of Bellringers is one of the largest ringing bands in the UK and is internationally recognised for their work teaching. The Guild comprises 40 members and ten regular visitors who voluntarily give their time, talents, and funds to the Cathedral.

The tower houses the first Teaching Centre for Bellringing in the world in 2008. Using dumbbells linked to computers, the physical experience of ringing bell creates a perfect ringing environment for the pupil.

Ringing Times

The bells are rung by the Guild every Sunday morning and on Christmas Day between 09.30 and 10.30, and on some Sundays (usually once a month) for an hour before Evensong. We practise on most Monday evenings between 6:30pm and 9:15pm, and the Young Ringers practice on Saturday mornings either at the Cathedral or other city towers.."

Nigel- Thanks for that. You can tell that for the first time in 25 years I was on a UK trip but almost off duty that day and for a full 8 days. The IWM was not aware of that. Do you know, please, where I can find the bells specifications- size, tone, weight etc.

OP- If interested there is also a 5 light stained glass window in their memory in the cloisters. The centre light records the names of the 23 men of the Cathedral ringers who fell, plaques below the 100 (I am told) who served and returned. That is a slightly below average loss rate, such was the scale of the war. Not for nothing do we say that we lost a generation of men in the war

Thank you all for all the great info, about the Cathedral and also about Worcester generally. I think it will be a great day trip. And yes I am interested in all the historic and architectural details! I am excited and fascinated by the history that lives in your buildings in the U. K.! One of my top reasons for making repeated trips, another being the walking and being in nature opportunities.

I've been checking this morning, from the work of Alan Regin.
The stained glass window has been misunderstood. It is for the County Association of Ringers.
I'm vanishing down a rabbit hole with the bells. I don't doubt there are 16 bells now but the Cathedral Library says there were 15 bells in 1928, recast from an 1863 peal of 12.
Most of the cost was covered by Diocesan clergy who had lost sons in the war. Bell 11 at least has an individual dedication.

Stuart,

Everything you need for bells is in Dove’s Guide for Church Bell Ringers

My go-to guide. It used to be a book, now all on line. It doesn't format very well here, but the original is good reading - https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/tower/11299

The numbers (xx-x-x) are the weight of the bell in hundredweights.

Ring of 12, tenor 48–0–2 in B
Bells 12 (full-circle ring)Edit details
Tenor 48–0–2 (5378 lb or 2439 kg) in B (488.8 Hz)
Extra bells 2♯, 5♯, 6♭ and 9♯
All rings

12 48–0–2 in B 12 as tenor
10 34–3–4 in C♯ 11 as tenor, using 9♯, 5♯ and 2♯
8 20–0–6 in E 9 as tenor, using 6♭
8 14–3–26 in F♯ 8 as tenor, using 2♯
6 12–0–1 in G♯ 7 as tenor, using 5♯ and 2♯
10 (HM) 34–3–4 in C♯ 11 as tenor, using 6♭ and 5♯
Practices Mon
Projects & events 1List
Peals View 251 peals in the Felstead Database
Also Simulator
Additional information Teaching centre (with 8-bell chime)
Bell Weight Nominal Note Diameter Dated Founder Canons Turning Hanging
1 6–3–8 1468.0 F♯ 28.88″ 1928 John Taylor & Co B N FC

2 7–1–16 1308.0 E 30.38″ 1928 John Taylor & Co B N FC

3 7–2–20 1235.0 D♯ 31.00″ 1928 John Taylor & Co B N FC

4 7–3–25 1099.0 C♯ 32.50″ 1928 John Taylor & Co B N FC

5 8–2–19 980.5 B 34.88″ 1928 John Taylor & Co F N FC

6 10–0–6 922.0 A♯ 36.50″ 1928 John Taylor & Co F N FC

7 12–0–1 823.5 G♯ 39.50″ 1928 John Taylor & Co F N FC

8 14–3–26 733.0 F♯ 43.50″ 1928 John Taylor & Co F N FC

9 20–0–6 652.5 E 47.88″ 1928 John Taylor & Co F N FC

10 25–2–10 616.0 D♯ 50.88″ 1928 John Taylor & Co F N FC

11 34–3–4 548.5 C♯ 56.88″ 1928 John Taylor & Co F N FC

12 48–0–2 488.8 B 63.88″ 1928 John Taylor & Co F N FC

2♯ 7–3–3 1385.6 E♯ 30.25″ 2017 Westley Group B N FC

5♯ 8–0–15 1036.0 B♯ 33.50″ 1928 John Taylor & Co F N FC

6♭ 10–2–24 871.0 A 38.00″ 1928 John Taylor & Co F N FC

9♯ 16–1–16 692.0 E♯ 44.88″ 1928 John Taylor & Co F N FC

Source: A Higson; D Bryant; D Bagley; C Pickford; JCB; M Walker(WoA); TimJ(REMRKS270)
Contributed by: John Baldwin

the webpage of the ring guild is https://worcesterbells.org.uk/

Nigel, thanks, I can see the extra bell there from 2017. It's a while since I've done bells - the new ones at Moresby, when I went crawling round the bell chamber to get photographs of the dedications were my last, just before Covid.
I had asked the tower captain for photos, but was invited to go up instead.

Worcester is worth it, as mentioned for the reasons above.

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers is a good little mystery focussing on a group of bell-ringers. A Lord Wimsey novel.

Thank you all for the info. I put Worcester on my list for one of my future trips to the UK.

Especially the tomb of King John in the Cathedral interests me and the escape of Charles II too.

And with a bit of luck I can hear the bells ringing, must be really impressive.