Lichfield

Above, a glimpse of part of Cathedral Close in Lichfield.
Joe and I and the dogs walked into Lichfield this morning from our mooring here at Fradley Junction. It was a crisp bright day with plenty of snow and ice still under foot which is a bit of a boon when you are traipsing across farmland. We set off through Fradley wood and had the thrill of seeing a buzzard up close as he/she hunted in the fallow field alongside the wood. We passed large 'hangers' as we skirted Fradley Village and it turns out that these are the remains of RAF Fradley where Aussie airman trained in WW2.

Above, Lichfield Cathedral. There are more pictures but I am losing the will to live waiting for them to load so they will have to wait until I can get a better connection.

Lichfield is compact, or at least it was until after the WW2 when housing estates started to spring up on the outskirts of the old city. In 1931 (Census) the population was still only 3000, for centuries it averaged 1500 but now there are 29000 people living here - a dramatic change.

Apparently Lichfield was a Saxon settlement that developed into a small market town. In the Middle Ages the main industry in Lichfield was making woollen cloth. There was also a leather industry in Lichfield. There were tanners and also men who worked in finished leather such as saddlers and cappers (leather cap makers).

Much of Lichfield's history is linked closely with that of the Cathedral and Friary. Three heretics were burned to death here in the reign of Mary with the last heretic burned in England executed in Lichfield in 1612. Dr Johnson the famous lexicographer (writer of dictionaries) and literary critic was born in Breadmarket Street in 1709. A canal was built to Lichfield in 1797.