A warm September morning in London turned into a warmish afternoon in Durham. The scenery on the way up was pretty unspectacular - mostly flat - until we actually drew close to Durham where the cathedral and castle towered above the trees and the station. Durham grew round the shrine of St Cuthbert who was a hermit monk who lived and died on Lindisfarne, attracting pilgrims until the Vikings threatened to invade in the tenth century. The monks took St Cuthbert's body and travelled around the north of England until they reached Durham and built an Anglo Saxon cathedral to house his shrine. A Norman cathedral, was then built round that, and became the frontrunner of the Gothic style of architecture with pointed arches across the ceiling, emabling taller building. Inhabitants must have thighs of steel
... read more
