In Durham

July 20, 2024

The weather promises to be surprising fine again today, at least until the early afternoon when we’re time boxed anyway by a pressing social engagement. Rachael’s planning a walk of course, and even though there’s enough time for me to take a ride somewhere it doesn’t sound as appealing as getting a look at this striking small city we’ve landed in.

If you’re anywhere near as ignorant about Durham as we were coming in you might want to read up on its complicated history, at least to the extent of learning that the city was founded in 955 AD BY Northumbrian monks looking for a safe refuge for the relics of Saint Cuthbert to protect them from the Vikings. They found one in a tight meander of the River Wear (which our local domain expert informs us is pronounced like weir, not ware). You might take the next step to learn that Northumbria was once a kingdom, one that encompassed all of what’s now northern England and southern Scotland; and that Cuthbert was their patron saint. And jumping ahead a thousand years there are the essential facts that the cathedral and castle at Durham are now a world heritage site, and that the cathedral is an important site in the Harry Potter tales.

Every one of those interesting facts about Durham was news to me until we closed in on this place. I think my knowledge of Durham was pretty much limited to knowing that there’s a city in North Carolina named for it, and that fellow CycleBlazer Polly Low calls it her home. If you’re at all like me, a few visual aids might help ground you to this place:

Central Durham: an ideal place to stash some saintly relics, where they’d be easily defended by its huge natural moat.

Northumbria, at its greatest extent at around 700 AD.

So back to our plans for the day. I’m only good for a pathetically few miles at one go on foot any more, so I stare at the map and decide that’s good for a walk around the perimeter on one of the riverside trails, followed by a visit to the cathedral and perhaps the castle. We both have to be back by around one, so I’m out the door at nine. I do well enough to earn myself a B grade on my departure prep, having remembered my glasses, wallet, phone, Garmin,and my rucksack with the iPad inside in case I decide to hole up in a coffee shop somewhere at some point since there’s only one set of keys and Rachael’s taking those. I’d have merited an A if I’d also remembered my camera; but I hadn’t: so I called Rachael to confirm it was up there and she was kind enough to trot it downstairs for me.

When she show up she also hands me the second set of keys, which she just discovered we had. So the rucksack and iPad get sent back up with her because I can just head straight up to the room when I get back. Just as she disappears from sight she says that she forgot to bring her phone down with her; and too late it occurs to me that she’ll be in a jam if she has trouble finding her way back to the room for some reason.

I set off on my walk and am down by the river when it occurs to me that I’d better call her to confirm she made it back up OK. She doesn’t answer, but it’s only been a few minutes so I continue walking. It’s been five minutes and there’s still no answer so there must be a problem. I quick walk back and find her still outside the building, stuck because she can’t get inside. The key doesn’t work in the first door she tried, but she hasn’t found another entry point either. So I try the door myself and manage to open it - it’s one of those trick locks and doors that you need to find the magic combination for before it will open.

She goes up to the room and calls me once she’s there, and then I start off again. This has set my schedule back though so I decide I’d better start with seeing the town and its attractions and save the riverside walk for the end. I walk around the corner and then over the pedestrianized Elvet Bridge, and I’m there - right in the heart of a thousand years of history.

It works well that my delayed start caused me to reverse my itinerary, because I get to have a look at the city before the streets and squares start filling up. Saddler Street is all but vacant as I walk up it on my way toward the cathedral.

Unless you like mingling in crowds or browsing through shops, early in the day is one of the best of times to appreciate places like this.

The narrow lower entrance to Moat Lane, on Saddler Street. The lane gets its name from when it was a dry moat protecting the castle.

Owengate leads up from Saddler to the Palace Green, the broad open space fronting the cathedral.

I see a slice of the Cathedral as I walk up Owengate, but when I get up to the green the first thing that catches my attention is a row of heavily weathered sandstone structures. I’m not sure what the original role of these buildings was, but one of them was an almshouse at one point and now I take it that they’re all a part of or associated with the university.

It’s not quite right to say that we’ve gotten blasé about cathedrals by now, but we don’t really seek them out the way we did when we first started coming to Europe thirty years ago. Durham’s cathedral really captured my imagination though, and I spent a considerable time staring at it from outside and then exploring its fascinating interior. It definitely helped my appreciation that I was here so early in the day because it was very quiet. There were only a few others out on the green, and even fewer inside the cathedral when I entered it. I don’t think it had been opened long for long, and none of the guides or volunteers would come on duty for another half hour.

The Sanctuary Knocker adorned the North Door of Durham Cathedral for centuries. It takes its name from the fact that in the Middle Ages people who had committed a great offence could touch the knocker and would be granted sanctuary for 37 days, during which time the person had to choose between trial and voluntary exile.

The nave is an immense space, both in depth and height. I especially admired the cylindrical pillars etched with varying geometric patterns.

I was glad to be able to zoom in for an unobstructed view of the rose window from the opposite end of the cathedral. The present glass is from the 19th century. In the center is Christ surrounded by the 12 disciples in the inner circle, with the 24 elders from the Book of Revelation in the outer circle.

The arches and columns in Galilee Chapel made me think of the Mezquita of Cordoba.

the Galilee Chapel wall paintings date from the 1100s. They give us a glimpse of what medieval visitors to the Cathedral must have seen when the whole Chapel was painted with colourful Bible scenes. Look carefully and you can see St Peter being crucified upside down, and other disciples being martyred.

A partially painted arcade. Its unclear when the painted section was added, but it’s not original from the Middle Ages.

This paintwork does not date from when the Cathedral was first built, but helps give an insight into how the Cathedral may have looked in the Middle Ages, when the interior was painted to reflect the glory of God. To a population who could not read, paintings and illustrations told stories and helped to explain their faith.

Prior Castell’s clock, placed in the cathedral around 1500.

The Book of Remembrance in the Chapel of the Durham Light Infantry. The book is opened to the pages of those lost on July 18th and 19th, 1918.

Above the Book of Remembrance are colors carried into battle by battalions of the regiment.

After I finally tore myself away from the cathedral I shrunk down my original plan for the day considerably, basically just walking down to the edge of the river for a few photos from the Framwellgate Bridge and then walked back to the room after stopping at a coffee shop for an americano and pastry. I could think of something meaningful to say about this, but I’m going to cut it short here because there’s a more important part of the day to save room for.

A view of the castle from the Framwellgate Bridge.

A view from the bridge, with one of the cathedral towers rising above the canopy.

Town hall, from across the Market Place.

There’s much more afoot on Saddler Street than when I was here earlier.

Crossing the Elvet Bridge I stopped to check out the rowboats for rent. Rachael and I should come here and check one out after our social engagement this afternoon. Its been forever since we were out on the water together.

The sharper readers out there will have probably already figured out what this social engagement is, having picked up on hints here and there. We’ve wanted to meet Polly for a long time, having enjoyed the insightful and wryly humorous comments she’s dropped in our blog from time to time while feeling both admiration and envy of the challenging tours she tackles that we wish we still had it in ourselves to do. Our time together wasn’t a disappointment. We had a fine visit, and I really like being able to round out the impressions we already had of Polly with a first hand encounter. Hopefully it won’t be the last one!

With Polly Low at Whitechurch Restaurant.

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Annette SchneiderWhat a very interesting day! My uncle (now deceased) was a history professor at Shasta College in Redding CA. He and my aunt took his sabbaticals in England and sent interesting letters to the folks Stateside. While in England, they owned a little 3-wheeled "car". It was all so eccentric.

Thanks so much for the historical commentary and photos that the two of you provide.
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4 months ago

Polly LowGreat photos of my home town! The tourist board should put you on commission. (And it was wonderful to meet you both, too...)
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4 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Annette SchneiderIt’s certainly interesting for us, and eye-opening. There is no end to captivating spots like this in the UK. I wonder now why we didn’t start coming here years ago.
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4 months ago

Lyle McLeodDurham, and the cathedral in particular, have been a special place for us. During the Easter school break in 2002 we did a family road trip tour (by car) of the walled cities of England and Durham was our second stop. We arrived on a rainy (surprised??) Saturday afternoon and had a wander around. Our daughter, who was 9 at the time and a big Harry Potter fan, was excited to see the cathedral, and that was teed up for the next day, 31 March, Easter Sunday no less.
I was up early and out for a (rainy!!!) morning run on Sunday morning when I noticed the flags were all at half mast. I then saw the morning papers announcing the death of The Queen Mother, who had passed the previous evening at the age of 101. Regardless of anyone’s thoughts about the monarchy, she was a beloved figure to pretty much everyone in the UK.
When we eventually made our way to the cathedral, it was packed with people (literally standing room in the aisles) and the full Easter Sunday service, as well as a commemoration of The Queen Mother, was underway. The pipe organ was thundering, the thousand or more people in the congregation were in full throated song, the light coming through the stained glass windows gave a jewelled appearance to the spectacle. It was simply amazing.
We all came away from that with life long memories … and there wasn’t a mention of Harry.
Happy to see that you and Rachael liked Durham too!
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4 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Lyle McLeodThanks so much for sharing that experience, Lyle. Isn’t that the best of travel though, exceptional experiences like this that are completely 7nanticipated, moving and transporting. You end up feeling so gifted to have by pure luck shown up at exactly the right time.
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4 months ago