Feline supervision

My stroll through London on Thursday took me past Southwark Cathedral and it would have been rude of me not to pop and say hello to Hodge, the Cathedral cat. Named after Samuel Johnson’s cat, Hodge has now been in residence for over two years and he’s thoroughly settled in.

Last time we met he was lounging around in the nave, but today Hodge was supervising in the Cathedral shop, although quite how anyone was supposed to use the computer was a mystery as he was sitting on the keyboard!

After a quick stroll around the Cathedral I discovered Hodge sitting outside the vestry door, hoping to be let in. We had a brief chat (you can see him meowing in this photo!) and I knocked on the door to see if anyone was home. Sadly there was no reply, but the steward at the Cathedral entrance assured me it wouldn’t be long before he was let in!

Photos taken 12 January 2023

Cats and cathedrals

It’s not that unusual for a Cathedral to have a resident cat - I’ve met several over the years. However, Southwark Cathedral’s cat, Hodge, has his own Twitter account and has quite the cult following. Each August the Cathedral hosts a feline themed day of talks and this year I was able to go along.

The day started with a stroll down from Liverpool Street Station, taking in some of the city architecture in the early morning sun.

I arrived at Southwark Cathedral early so I went inside to look for Hodge. Fortunately, he was in a chilled out mood, lounging near the door to the vestry, one of his favourite snoozing spots.

A couple more snaps from around the Cathedral as I headed to Borough Market to grab some lunch.

Photos taken 6 August 2022