We left Whitby after the usual mammoth north of England breakfast which means we won’t need to eat again for 24 hours, especially after our northern fish and chips in Trenchers restaurant last night. There was a nice red sky sunrise across the sea and then a full rainbow behind the colourful beach huts, goodbye Whitby and hello Durham.

Durham, a historic city in the County of Durham in the north of England, a place we know well for a variety of reasons, some extremely personal.Durham was founded in the year 995AD when the bones of St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (better known as Holy Island) were carried and buried here for safe keeping from the many Viking raids further north. Today his bones rest in the magnificent Durham Cathedral. 

Durham is also famous for its history connected to the Prince Bishops, the aristocratic clergy who had virtually as much power as the king and included such as Bishop Hatfield, Bishop Van Mildert to name but two.The city also has a prestigious university made up of 16 residential colleges, similar to Oxford and Cambridge named after the Prince Bishops and a number of particular saints including St Cuthbert, St Aidan, St Hild & St Bede, the latter college having been attended by our late son who led the college to two consecutive inter college rugby trophy victories in 1996 and 1997. A memorial to his achievement is housed in the Hild/Bede bar, an oddity because he was 100% teetotal!The cathedral here is a magnificent building and houses the tombs of The Venerable Bede and Saint Cuthbert amongst others, the wonderful Rose Stained Glass Window, and has awe inspiring stone columns towering upwards. But sadly I have no personal photos from inside the cathedral from today as cameras are now banned inside! Here’s a few outside plus some I nicked from the internet:

Categories: English History

Tags: Durham, Durham Cathedral, Prince Bishops, St Cuthbert, Venerable Bede, Whitby, Yorkshire