The Covers are Off!

Durham Cathedral

The Tower covers are finally off, the scaffolding is down after 3 years & the main tower is open again! 

This is what it looked like with the covers on and often a lot of stuff in front of it.

It's sad that most of the time these lovely buildings have to have so much work going on which maskstheir beauty but it's the price of keeping them alive for future generations. Here's the BBC article about the work.

St Mark's Basilica was covered for ages, I stopped taking photos of it when I was doing the Great Rail Journeys tours. I can't imaging what Notre Dame will look like as it is being renovated. Think it will take more than the 5 years they forecast but I'm sure they will do it even if it doesn't look like the original. It's hard to get the specialist people to produce the craft work necessary. Durham have their own team & train apprentices as I suppose all cathedrals do but the amount of work needed to renovate Notre Dame is colossal.

Now there's lots of work going on inside Durham cathedral providing new entrances to improve access and to show more of the architectural features of the doorways which have been hidden. Hopefully it will be finished by Christmas.

Today there were visitors from many countries including France, Canada, Australia & the USA. Hope they enjoyed their visit even though they are not seeing the cathedral at its best.

Durham Miners' Gala

North & South West Towers of Durham Cathedral

It's many years since I went to the Miners' Gala or rather the Big Meeting as we called it. I was just little and I remember my sister got lost amongst hundreds of people on the racecourse, she was 3 years old & I'm not sure we ever went back. However I do remember the procession leaving the the Miners' Institute with the brass band & the miners' banner every year and then going to watch them returning home with crowds following the band & the banner.

The event was a huge one in the life of the communities around the Durham coalfield celebrating their mining heritage and the miners' unions.  The colliery bands marched from the villages early in the morning arriving in the city where the streets were closed to traffic. They paraded in their thousands to the old racecourse where political speeches were made. Afterwards new banners were taken to the Cathedral to be blessed in a special service.

Today I went along as I was working at the Cathedral, it was the 134th Big Meeting and the atmosphere was amazing. The weather was fantastic and it was great listening to the brass bands playing as they waited to go down the the old racecourse to hear the political speeches. 
Sorry my photos are not brilliant had to take them with a phone on the hoof as I wound my way through the crowds on the paths up to the Cathedral. They were taken at 9.30am as the banners and bands were assembling with the banners and waiting to march to the old racecourse.

 Unison (my union)

Thousands more came to the old racecourse there despite the fact that there are now no deep mines in Durham due to closure by the Thatcher government in the 'eighties. There's no racecourse now either but that wasn't her fault!

You can guess there were lots of things on the agenda today when Jeremy Corbyn the Labour leader spoke, education, the NHS, the importance of trade unions and yes Trump! I'm not a great Corbyn fan but I agree with what he said today, he reminded people that nobody gave us the right to vote or to be discriminated against. We had to fight for these things and the unions played a big part. 
It's a hundred years since women (over 30) were given the right to vote!
Politics over!!!

I was on duty at the Cathedral this morning for tours of the North West Tower which you can see here in the photo above. Note the colour of the grass, yellow in contrast to the older photo at the top as we have had no rain for weeks now. It looks like sand.

The flowers are struggling to survive too in this heat.

After the tours were over I decided to stay for the service for the first time and it was wonderful. There were five new banners being blessed by the Bishop of Durham and were brought in with their local bands. Four were brass bands with lots of children in them and the fifth was a pipe band (which I'm not a great fan of) however it was great. The sound totally filled the Cathedral and the acoustics were absolutely wonderful.

The Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler gave a wonderful sermon reminding us that the days of terrible conditions working in mines are still with us. Apparently in the Democratic Republic of Congo child labour is used to mine cobalt, the mineral used in our mobile phone, laptop & electric batteries in cars. You can see more here in this CNN report. What a nightmare for these children & all for our lifestyle!

It was quite an emotional service as many present remembered their husbands, fathers, grandfathers, uncles and brothers who had worked in the mines. All my male relations worked at Dawdon Pit a huge mine which had a massive output of coal. Both my granddad's & my husband's dad died due to pneumoconiosis. My Dad, all my uncles & my brother worked there as there were no other jobs to have in the town. Once the mines closed the effects were terrible, whole communities were devastated as there were so few jobs available.

It was great to see that community spirit is still thriving in these places and thousands turned up today to celebrate the Big Meeting. The atmosphere as I said was great as I walked back down from the Cathedral into the city the brass bands were still playing around the streets and some people were dancing to Is This the Way to Amarillo?   Such fun!!!!!

The police were in great humour too chatting to everybody & apparently there were only two arrests of local men who were drunk & disorderly! 

Roll on 2019 & the 135th Big Meeting.

Happy Christmas

Durham Cathedral December 2017

Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas & a wonderful year in 2018.

Favourite Places

Durham Cathedral

There are some places you visit and they stay with you, they're so special.  This is mine!

I've blogged about it before, probably more than once. It's a place I've visited since I was young and countless times over the years.  I can't even describe the feeling I get when I go there. I've Skywatched it too!

This is part of the view I see when I'm returning home from my tours by train.  I know I'm home when I see it.  It has such a grand position overlooking the little city and has stood there for centuries surviving all kinds of events, wars, the Reformation and reminding us that it amazing people built it and have continued to maintain it for us for centuries.

I decided this year that I wanted to do something to help share and pass on the love for the building that so many people have so I decided to become a volunteer steward to welcome visitors to the Cathedral. 

I spent my first morning as a volunteer yesterday and I can't describe how much I enjoyed it. There were so many visitors from all parts of the world and all ages; to help them enjoy their visit is our remit.  My face was aching from smiling but it wasn't a forced smile, I felt so happy speaking to visitors, answering questions (some I had to pass over to others who knew more about the Cathedral than I do) and listening to the other stewards and learning from them.  It was such a joy to be there I came home beaming and on a high!

On Friday I'm doing a tour with a Cathedral guide so I will start the huge amount of learning I need to do before I'll feel comfortable in my new role. Meanwhile I'm reading up on the Northern saints, St Cuthbert whose shrine is in the Cathedral & St Bede who is also buried there.  Hope I can remember the dates people always ask about them.

Wish I could post some photographs of the interior of the Cathedral but sadly photography isn't allowed without a special licence.  If you want to take a look inside you can here with photographs much better than I could take.

Another road to follow

This is a place I love, Durham Cathedral. Lots of other people love it too, it's recently been voted Britain's best loved building, not a bad thing to be.

When I'm travelling back from London up the East coast after my tours and I see it from the train, I know I'm home. It's often referred to as the greatest example of Romanesque architecture in Europe or as US author Bill Bryson described it "The best cathedral on planet earth."

I've visited it numerous times and I've probably posted about it earlier. Last time I was there it was being used for the production of the Marvel film Avengers: Infinity War and it was closed for some of the time which must have been annoying for those who had travelled a long way to visit it. So if you are an Avengers fan look out for it. Have to say I'm not but might go to see the film just to see the Cathedral. There were some additional bits of "furniture" there and all the benches had been removed which changed the look of it but essentially it was the same place.

Over the last three months I've been there about 6 times and I realised I didn't really know a lot about it. Mostly over the years I've gone for a carol service or just wandered around with the children and grandchildren taking in the atmosphere mainly. 

I visited in March for a day where you learned about the Cathedral's Benedictine heritage; it was a Benedictine monastery until 1539 when it was handed over to King Henry V111. It is now an Anglican cathedral but it still carries on some of the Benedictine tradition of being a place of prayer and of welcome and hospitality to visitors just as it was when it was first built in 1093. There is no charge for visiting the cathedral itself unlike many other UK places of worship such as Westminster Abbey & York Minster; it is up to the visitor to make a voluntary donation. I find it offensive to have to pay to go into churches but I understand that it is expensive preserving them for future generations never mind heating & cleaning them. I hope there never comes a day when they have to start to charge in Durham.

I decided recently to become a volunteer at the Cathedral to welcome people and help them get the most out of their visit. I now have to start the training which is extensive, there's a health & safety course, gaining knowledge of the cathedral and sadly a course in awareness of potentially dangerous situations and what action to take. 

I will have to do some guided tours of the Cathedral to pick up more about the architecture, the history of how it was built as well as more knowledge of the Northern saints who are buried there. 

Just hope my brain is up to all this and I can blog more about my progress.

The Lindisfarne Gospels Exhibition

                           

"One Amazing Book – One Incredible Journey", that's how the press described The Lindisfarne Gospels which has been on display for three months in a wonderful exhibition staged on Durham’s World Heritage Site in the Palace Green Library. Even the buses were customised with the exhibition's logo.

The Lindisfarne Gospels is one of the greatest books ever created, a masterpiece of European book painting. The exhibition presents the full story of how and why it was created.  

The Lindisfarne Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John was created by one man, the monk Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne at the end of the 7th and beginning of 8th Centuries in the priory on the holy island of Lindisfarne in Northumbria. 

Lindisfarne Priory, Lindisfarne           Source Wiki Commons

They were written "in honour of God and Saint Cuthbert". Saint Cuthbert is one of the North's honoured saints who is buried in Durham Cathedral. 

It would have taken 129 calf skins to produce this book. The text was written in Latin and beautifully illustrated, bound in leather and studded with precious jewels and metals. The Lindisfarne gospels is the most amazing example of 7/8th Century Anglo Saxon Northumbrian art. In the 10th Century an English translation was added between the lines and it is the earliest surviving English translation of the gospels. 

The illustrations are amazing. The colours are still vibrant despite the passage of time. This is the page that was on display when I visited the exhibition, it's the page which begins St Mark's Gospel. 

Source Wiki Commons

Each gospel has an illustration of the saint and then a carpet page follows it. 

They are named carpet pages because they resemble oriental rugs. 

This is the carpet page for St Matthew's Gospel. The detail is absolutely wonderful.

Source - Wiki Commons

You can see more here on the British Library's website. However this doesn't give you any perception of the beauty and the amazing detail of this manuscript or how on earth one man produced it in such difficult conditions. No central heating, no electricity, and no modern equipment.

The Lindisfarne Gospels was written at a time of great upheaval in Britain and you can read more about them on the BBC website, how due to the Viking invasions they had to leave Lindisfarne and eventually found their home in Durham Cathedral along with the body of Saint Cuthbert. The Gospels survived in almost perfect condition despite Viking raids, the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry V111, wars and the ravages of time. The book is now kept in the British Library in London and only goes out for exhibition every seven years for a maximum of three months. 
I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, seeing the wonderful collection of artefacts brought from a wide range of sources telling the amazing story of people's faith, creativity and courage.

Sadly now the exhibition has ended, the book has travelled back to the British Library in London where it is kept on display for the world's visitors to view. I must admit I feel very strongly that it should remain in Durham Cathedral with Saint Cuthbert, the saint it was created to honour. Religious books don't belong in museums, they belong in places of worship like this. 

If you ever get the chance to visit Durham Cathedral, take it! It was recently voted the UK's Number One Landmark by Tripadvisor users. It is often described as the greatest example of Romanesque architecture in Europe however the US author Bill Bryson described it as "The best cathedral on planet earth" and I agree with him!

Durham Cathedral

Durham Cathedral

Durham

Durham Cathedral

This is where I've been today. How lucky am I?

It's my favourite place on earth, Durham Cathedral. I didn't go in, I just wandered around the riverside. I'll save my trip inside for another day. For today, I took a walk along memory lane.

About twenty five years ago, I used to work in Durham City in the Careers Office on the riverside, overlooking the Cathedral. This was the view! If I was going into a meeting, I made sure I got there early to get a seat facing the window overlooking the Cathedral. Well if I got bored, I could always take in the view! Must have been the best view from any office in the whole of England!

In the summer holidays, a friend and I, when we didn't have to be in school all day, (we were careers advisers), used to take our sandwiches down to the riverbank and sit, relax and take in the view. It was so peaceful and we often saw little water rats running about. Other times we'd walk up to the Cathedral and just sit.

Today it was especially quiet. Hard to believe as you're about two minutes from the shops and traffic and you can't hear anything other than the river.

River Wear looking to Framwellgate Bridge

If you're ever in Durham, just take a walk along the river bank, it's wonderful. It's a bit more overgrown than I remembered, but as you see hardly anyone goes there, even in the middle of the summer holidays. Peace, perfect peace!

Bill Bryson in Notes From a Small Island, wrote about Durham:

"...it's wonderful - a perfect little city - and I kept thinking:"Why did no one tell me about this?"

I knew of course that it had a fine Norman cathedral but I had no idea it was so splendid. I couldn't believe that not once in twenty years had anyone said to me, "You've never been to Durham? Good God, man, you must go at once! Please take my car."

I had read countless travel pieces in Sunday papers about weekends away in York, Canterbury, Norwich, even Lincoln, but I couldn't remember reading a single one about Durham, and when I asked friends about it, I I found hardly any who had ever been there.

So let me say it now, if you have never been to Durham, go at once. Take my car. It's wonderful.

Now I haven't got Bill Bryson's address for you ask to borrow his car, but he's the Chancellor of Durham University, (you can see he really did fall in love with the place) so just address any requests to Durham University, I'm sure they'll find him!

Post 112

Now can anyone tell me why these photos don't enlarge when I've added them in exactly the same way as the ones that do?

Blogger? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update

Got some information from Abe Lincoln and so I reduced one of the photos to see if that would work. It seems to have done the trick, for now. Thanks Abe. If you haven't seen his fabulous photos already take a look here http://pickapeckofpixels.blogspot.com