Durham

These two days are our "found" days. At the beginning of the summer, Phil was told to hold open August 18-20 for a meeting in Stratford-upon-Avon with the sales representatives who will be selling his book. As time neared, it turns out that he is only needed for an hour on Wednesday morning, so we had some time open. When we traveled from London to Edinburgh 16 years ago, we remembered seeing Durham's cathedral and castle from the train, so we decided to stop here and check them out. We left Edinburgh Sunday and arrived here in time to get to the cathedral to enjoy Evensong and the organ concert following in the cathedral.

Durham Castle (left) and Cathedral (right)

It was magnificent-- both the cathedral and the service. The cathedral is huge, towering over the river and valley below. It was built before 1100, with impressive stone walls and the highest bell tower from any Norman cathedral in Britain, maybe in Europe. It also houses the body of St Cuthbart and the Venerable Bede,and it was the site of many pilgrimages in the Middle Ages.

Durham Market Square

Durham is also the home of the third oldest university in England, which includes the castle. Unfortunately, the castle was closed today for a wedding reception, so we walked around the medieval town, with narrow passages, high bridges, and a stone-paved central market arena. This was a coal-mining area so there are many signs of the old mining economy. So it was a good free day, with an impressive cathedral, an excellent and inspirational Evensong service, and an interesting town.