Edmund and Laura visit a king

Laura was all safely strapped into the car seat for a trip to Leicester with her girl

"get off me, you're heavy" came a muffled voice from inside Laura's travel bag

With a wriggle a small head emerged  from the bag as Edmund appeared from his stowaway hiding place.  Laura looked at him in surprise "What are you doing Edmund? You weren't meant to be coming too.  There isn't time to turn round and take you home again".  "Wanted to come" said Edmund.

Edmund climbed out of the bag and found a seat and seatbelt for the remainder of the journey.  Laura told him stories about Kings and Queens and battles.

When they arrived in Leicester they went to the Cathedral (St Martin's).  Laura had to take her hat off to go inside.  They found the tomb of King Richard III who was buried in the Cathedral in March 2015 after being discovered under a car park in Leicester in August 2012 (he was buried hastily in the old Greyfrairs church after he was killed in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485).

A guide explained that the tombstone of King Richard III is made of cream coloured Swaledale limestone (it is filled with fossils) resting on a black slab of Kilkenny marble.

Edmund and Laura stood respectfully beside the King's tomb and gazed at it in wonder

The cross on the tombstone is deeply incised into the limestone.  Viewed at the right angle the light and shadows produce a sword shape in the base of the cross.  This seemed entirely appropriate - King Richard III was killed by the sword in battle.

The base of his tomb was engraved with his years of birth and death

In a display case in the side aisle was the pall which had been draped over the coffin of Richard III for his reburial services.  It took several months to embroider the pall with the various figures of people who had been involved in his rediscovery and those who would have lived in his time.  The detailed needlework was incredible.

Edmund and Laura were very impressed with the crown which was resting on top of Richard III's pall.

Outside Leicester Cathedral Laura put her hat back on and stood with Edmund beside the sign about the services and opening times.

Edmund was still a bit overawed by the King's tomb and crown and stood nicely with Laura.

Leicester Cathedral is small compared to many English Cathedrals, however it had still impressed young Edmund.  Laura explained that the churches she visited in Rome were MUCH bigger than Leicester Cathedral, Edmund found that quite hard to imagine.

On the way to Leicester market Laura and Edmund saw an antique doll sitting on a chair in a shop window.  She looked very grand in her richly decorated clothes.

 Beside Leicester Market Laura and Edmund found a fabric shop which had an extensive range of fabrics for sale in a small space (it was about a quarter of the size of Dressew in Vancouver).

Laura and Edmund helped choose some fleece fabric for warm winter dressing gowns, Edmund was very excited about the turquoise and Laura liked the purple.  They watched as the fabric was measured and cut for them.

Soon it was time to go home.  Laura and Edmund shared a seat as DollMum's elder daughter was in the car for the journey home.  Edmund was very tired - his first outing into a city had been very exciting and a bit overwhelming for a toddler boy, so he was glad to cuddle up to Laura and listen to stories until he fell asleep when he dreamed about Kings, pyjamas and dressing gowns and cars.

(The outing to Leicester was prompted by the need to bring a certain person back home for the Christmas holidays at the end of her first term at University.  I had spotted the fabric shop when we took her to University in September.  The prices were much cheaper than in John Lewis, but still more than Dressew.)