Durham

A beautiful morning in York, and we retraced our steps over the river back to the train station in glorious sunshine. The train to Durham belts along at 120 mph, and the 98 k to Durham with one stop along the way, only takes an hour. Though we left in Bright sunshine the was  dark band of cloud on the horizon in the direction we were heading, and it was raining when we got off at Durham. We found our way to the hotel, and had lunch. By the time we were finished the weather had cleared.

We walked down the hill over the foot bridge through the old Town, then schlepped up the hill again to the magnificent Durham Cathedral. It was impressive, right from the Sanctuary Knocker on the door. 

The church houses the Shrine of St Cuthbert, Abbot of Lindisfarne where we will be going in a few months. After the Vikings raided Lindisfarne, the monks took St Cuthbert body from the island and toured with it for a number of years before, legend has it, the coffin - located at the site on which the cathedral stands today - became so heavy that the monks could lift it. They built a simple chapel over the coffin which subsequently grew to the mighty structure of today. The Durham Choral Society was singing Mozart's Requiem. The space, with it's massive patterned columns, vast stone vaulted ceilings, and austere lack of decoration, really is profoundly impressive. After sitting awestruck for a goodly while we paid our respects to St Cuthbert, then headed to the nearby cafe on Palace green.

In the the courtyard where we drank our tea there is a recent plaque commemorating Scottish prisoners of war from the Battle of Dunbar 1650, who died and we're buried on the spot. We we're having a nice cup of tea on the site of a mass grave of Scottish prisoners who had been kept in the Cathedral or the Castle, and who had died in their thousands from disease and starvation.

We wandered down to the river next, to get a different perspective on the city, hired a row boat for an hour. Good to get some upper body exercise. And nice to just drift along a bit watching the sights and the river's goings on - ducks and ducklings, gung ho rowing skiffs, ancient bridges,  a trio of lovely Muslim women meandering helplessly as they tried to work out how to row. We tried to give them a few pointers but their boat seemed to have a fatal attraction for the river bank. We left them to it, perhaps they are still there now.

We found our way home, had a rest, then a very nice dinner in the pub, then wandered out for a walk, stumbling upon a completely unexpected park land, the Vale of Flass which is both the site of a Bronze Age monument, Maiden Bower, and a significant site for the Battle of Neville's Cross. The place is so deeply overlayed with history, you sit down for a cuppa or go for a random walk, and something significant will be there. And/or it will be an area of outstanding natural beauty, so common they are signified by an acronym:AONB.

Tomorrow we leave England for a while and head across the border to Glasgow.