Cathedrals, Coffee and Tea Tour

Book excerpt: A Cathedrals, Coffee & Tea Tour takes you on a whistle-stop tour of 110 of the UK’s cathedrals and suggests the best place to go for a tea, coffee and cake afterwards.Focusing on the stories our cathedrals tell rather than the architecture or the theology, Simon Duffin explores the Native American Chief buried in Southwark Cathedral graveyard; the Alice in Wonderland stories inspired by Lewis Carroll’s time as a choirboy; or the Portuguese Princess who landed in Portsmouth and demanded tea rather than beer before her wedding.In seeking out places for a refreshing cuppa after a tour of the cathedral, this guidebook lists top-quality, independent coffee shops and tea rooms within walking distance of the featured cathedrals. Some of these are contemporary, others artisan and some sell themselves on their historic location. For each venue suggested, there’s a description to tempt you in. Some are about the coffee beans they use, the type of tea they serve or it can focus on the owners or buildings, like the twin sisters in Blackburn who remember seeing The Beatles in 1963 or the 900-year-old house on Lincoln’s Steep Hill.This is the perfect guidebook to have with you on a day trip to one of the 89 UK towns and cities featured. You’ll get a sense of the cathedral’s place in history and the coffee shop or tea room’s place in the town centres of today.