Glass history on BBC radio programmes - part 1                                           

Chester Cathedral's Millennium window, is said to be so beautiful it's moved some visitors to tears. Now a book has been published to celebrate the achievement of the woman who created it. Ros Grimshaw made the window while coping with Parkinson's disease - she put together part of the design during a stay in hospital. To find out more about the inspiration for the window and its creation, Judy Merry spoke to Ros Grimshaw, Trevor Dennis the Vice-Dean of Chester Cathedral, and Painton Cowen, author of Six Days, a book an Chester Cathedral. Visit the BBC.

  creation window Chester

Situation: You are working as a trainee at the glass museum in Rheinbach. The director of the museum has begged you to give him some information on the Chester glass window because he will soon travel with a group of students to Great Britain.

Task 1: Listen to the radio show and and answer the following questions. Put your texts into the Glass Classroom.

1) What is so extraordinary about the Millenium window?
2) From which famous historical text do they quote in this report?
3) How did Ros decide what to put into the window?
4) Repeat what happens in the windows according to the six days!
5) Which modern symbols can be found in the window? Explain.
6) To which two aspects is this window related?
7) Why does Ros like to work with stained glass?
8) Why is stained glass said to have a "magical quality"?

vocabulary
lights	windows (in this context)
to suffer	to make an experience of something bad or unpleasant
border	a boundary between two countries or other areas
square	a plane figure with four equal straight sides and four right angles
firmament	the heavens, the sky
arctic night	relating to the night in regions around the north pole with a special light
panel	a distinct, usually rectangular section of a door, vehicle, garment
equivalent	equal in value, amount, function, meaning or having the same or a similar effect
bottom	the underside of something, the lowest part or place of something
to pour	flow or cause to flow in a steady stream, e.g. to pour a glass of water
brain scan	a medical examination of the brain (Hirnszintigraphie)
poverty	lacking sufficient money to live at a comfortable or normal standard
supply	provide with something needed
huge	very big
abundant	existing or available in large quantities, having plenty of
astonishing	to surprise or impress greatly

Task 2:
Visit also the webiste by Painton Cowen and read the articles on Ros Grimshaw (PDFs), which include beautiful pictures of the window drafts. Take a look: Choose one PDF and comment on the artist's attitude towards life and her creative imagination, so that your boss can form an opinion. Post your comment in the forum.

http://www.littleearth.co.uk/sixdays/