A Cultural Day?

© Gifford

Today Beccy and I went to the John Rylands Library which wasn't at the forefront of my to do list until I saw a book on the Most Beautiful Libraries in the World. Of course the John Rylands featured. If you followed the link above then you'll be massively underwhelmed and I'm afraid it isn't really representative of the experience you would have had if you were to walk through the door. I think one word will suffice... A-mazing! While I write I'm trying to find a decent picture to post and I've found the one above on the website of the company who recently refurbished the building. What a great job they've done.
We had much fun and there was a display of cartography in the reading room (pictured). There is also a display of "treasured" book related artefacts, which was in another exquisitely oak panelled room. As we gazed into the temperature controlled cabinets, bathed in a golden glow, under some of the most ornate carvings and listened to the hand held audio guide, I couldn't help but feel more intelligent and I had a sense that we had stumbled into a beautifully kept secret.
We meandered up the fabulously grand staircase into the reading room where I beheld the sea of tranquility that lay before me I was acutely aware of the bustling city beyond the walls. It is the same feeling you have when you're lying half asleep in a tent with the wind and the rain battering at the canvas and you're all warm and cosy inside; out of the elements.