Durham Cathedral

Sunday morning, we were on our way again. 

Mr. and Mrs. C dipped back down into Yorkshire to visit his sister before returning to Peterborough.

Neil, Esther and the boys went to visit James's godparents whom they hadn't seen in a while.

On their way, they dropped me off in Durham so that I could explore.

Like St. Andrews, Durham is a university town.

However, it's not by the sea, and their cathedral and castle aren't in ruins.

The River Wear
Durham sits on a peninsula formed by the river.

I liked this pub's hanging baskets.

On the way to the Cathedral.

Built in the 1100s, it is the only English cathedral to still have most of it's Norman craftsmanship.
I don't think it was ever destroyed and rebuilt, so the original structure is still mostly intact.

The River Wear runs through the gorge here.

An absolutely ginormous stained glass window.

This is the castle.
There was a wedding or some such event happening, so it wasn't open to the public.
This is about as much as I could see of it.

This is the old almshouse, built on the same square as the Cathedral and Castle.
Apparently, it still houses some of the Cathedral congregation's elderly.

The city market square.

Military chappie on a horse.

After lunch, I walked back up to the Cathedral and climbed up the Tower.

Benedictine monks used to live and work here.
You can just imagine them in their dark robes walking back and forth along these walkways
high up on the cathedral walls.

The view at the top.
Worth the 325 steps to get there!
That's the castle just beyond the cluster of trees, and the almshouse perpendicular to it.

Old graffiti.

That's the cloister area to the left of the tower, and the River Wear just beyond.

Looking out over Durham.

The cool train bridge.

I asked a nice gentleman to take my picture as proof that I was actually there.
My eyes are closed, of course.

Three hundred and twenty-five spiraling steps.
I felt a wee bit dizzy by the time I reached the top, and again at the bottom.

Down one of the side aisles.

The tomb of St. Cuthbert, a favourite saint in northern England.

Amazing.

There were altars set up throughout the building in remembrance of various important personages. 

The choir stalls are behind this screen-thing at the front of where the congregation sat.

I unwittingly wandered down the main aisle just before the service began 

and a nice man handed me a program.
So I sat down. After all, I wasn't attending my regular service this week...
I had never been to a Catholic service before, and they actually do all that parading
up and down with the Bible and with a crucifix.

As the Mass part of the service drew nearer, I wrestled with the decision whether or not to be rude and walk out, or stay and possibly have to take part in something I didn't agree with.

Thinking about it now, of course I wouldn't have had to take part in it at all, 

but I wasn't thinking clearly at the time.
In the end, I "sneaked" out.
"Sneaked" is in quotation marks because the end of the row I was sitting in 

was blocked by a huge pillar.
It would be more accurate to say I scuttled nervously up the main aisle, 

pretending no one could see me.

They all probably thought I was a terrible heathen.

These pillars were massive.
Two men wouldn't be able to link hands around them.

Yup, I was way up there.

I tried to walk all the way around the Cathedral, but it didn't work.
I did find these lovely gardens though, even if I wasn't actually supposed to be there.
I found a sign that the wind or something had knocked over saying that there was no public access.
Oops.

Oodles of roses!

Norman carvings on the outside of the building.

I had quite high expectations going into Durham cathedral, because 

Neil had told me it was his favourite one in Britain.

They were far surpassed.

My pictures don't do it justice.

If you ever have the chance, it is well worth a visit.

This was the last day of my trip down south.

Later that afternoon, I caught a train back up to Scotland.

I realize that I am ridiculously behind in my posts, but hopefully I'll be able to get caught up before I actually head home before Christmas.