Purr ‘n’ Fur Salisbury, a city in the county of Wiltshire in southern England, has one of the country’s finest cathedrals and the one with the highest spire, at 404 feet. There have been cats at Salisbury Cathedral for a number of years in modern times and probably much longer altogether. The first ‘official’ cat in recent times was Captain, a blackand-white gentleman described as ‘debonair’; he was clearly a great character and took his duties seriously. One early morning he followed the verger, assistant priest and bishop in procession as they moved into the cathedral for the day’s first Communion service. The Cathedral News commended Captain and reported that he “never flagged in the vigilant pursuit of duty”, so when he disappeared in March 1980 he was greatly mourned and missed. Amber – affectionately known as Ginger or ‘Ginge’ – and his sister Tiddler –’Tid’ – were workshop cats and reigned over the stoneyard. Ginger has a claim to fame in that there is, in a side chapel of the cathedral, a modern stained-glass window commemorating the laying of the foundation stone of the edifice in the year 1220. A tiny image of a cat can be seen on the window and is said to be in honour of Ginge. In the early 1990s Simpkin appeared on the scene with her family, who had moved from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire. Simpkin kept a close eye on the family by following them everywhere. She graced the occasional morning service with her presence; on one memorable Palm Sunday she obviously thought that if there could be a donkey in the procession, there should certainly be a cat too! She remained at the donkey’s heels from beginning to end of the service. The present incumbent is Wolfie which is short for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; he came as a kitten with Canon June Osborne when she was appointed Dean. However, after living with her for six months he became more nomadic and although she still funds his upkeep he has now befriended the craftsmen of the Works Department – especially the glaziers, whom he will follow up ladders and scaffolding; the pupils at the Cathedral School; the staff at the Visitor Services desk and the librarian – although he’s not actually allowed in the library. Like Captain he has been to early-morning services; he spent one Eucharist gazing at the dean and accompanying her when she went up to read the Gospel for the day.
A procession consisting of altar boy-verger-bishop-cat is considered quite normal at Salisbury! One of Wolfie’s less popular exploits occurred when one Christmas, having found the Nativity crib a nice, comfortable place to sleep, with straw thoughtfully provided to burrow under, he was unknowingly locked in overnight. Waking at around 3am and wishing to go out, his movements set off the alarm system – and a none-too-pleased verger had to crawl out of bed to find out what was going on! We’re happy to say that Wolfie is thriving and bringing in useful income for the cathedral in the form of fridge magnets, sold in the gift shop, with his image on them! Extract taken from www.purr-n-fur.org.uk by Patrick Roberts, log on to read more of Patrick’s feline fables, folios and fun! Patrick Roberts
Illustration: Rasoul Hudda
Cathedral Cats at Salisbury, Wiltshire
Sudoku Fill in the empty cells so that the digits 1 through to 9 appear: • only once in each row • only once in each column • only once in each 3x3 box (shown by the thicker lines)
Answers appear on page 33.
A.P Tentpeg 2010
Kate and Wills are looking to appoint a new warmer of the royal lap. Could it be... ROAR!!
We’re looking for a ferocious mouser...
...a noble beast, proud...
...brave...
...and with a right royal pedigree, of course.
I’m partial to Prince’s Tuna. Does that count?
The Cat Spring 2011
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