“Oats. A grain, which in England is generally given
to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.” Samuel Johnson
Carol writes:
THIRSK: Caravan Club campgrounds can sometimes have very unusual
locations, such as the one we stayed at in Thirsk in a grassy field just
outside the fence of a racetrack.
Thoroughbred horse races were being run the next day, so we were asked
to camp for one night in a lovely green field next to the racetrack fences so that
the race attendees could use the Caravan Club campground as a parking lot. Since we had no access to any of the
campground services in this lovely field, the nightly fee was reduced and was a
bargain at just 5£ (5 pounds is around $7.50).
The North
York Moors National Park was just outside of Thirsk, and we were eager to
experience our first views of the famous English moors. Small patches of heather were just starting
to bloom with lovely little purple flowers.
We took a short hike out onto the moors and found a cozy picnic spot where
we enjoyed the solitude.
We spent the
weekend in a peaceful little campground surrounded by open-range sheep pastures,
just a few
miles from the beach at Robin Hood’s Bay.
We got
caught up on laundry chores with a couple of loads in the Wonder Wash. We served as a
source of entertainment for our neighbor, who got a kick out of our laundry
methods and chatted away with us while he put up his TV antenna. We had some lighthearted kidding back and
forth and joked with him that we had two loads of laundry done before he even
had TV reception.
DURHAM: The next day we headed toward Durham to see the famous Durham
Cathedral, one of Britain’s best examples of Norman architecture.
Durham
Cathedral, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built as the final resting
place of England’s beloved St. Cuthbert from Lindisfarne, a 7th
century inspirational leader of Christianity in northern England. The other gravesite of major historical
importance inside the cathedral was the tomb of Venerable Bede, an 8th
century Christian scholar who wrote the first history of England. No picture-taking was allowed inside the
cathedral.
Since the
timing was right, we decided to attend an evensong service at 5:15 in the
cathedral. As we waited for evensong to
start, we had a sunny seat outside the church next to Durham’s ancient gravestones
and a stately Celtic cross.
Music plays
a big part of Anglican services. We were
told that the visiting choir that evening was from Glendale, Ohio, very near
where I spent my childhood, so that was even more incentive to attend evensong,
our first-ever Anglican service. We enjoyed
hearing the Glendale choir accompanied by the massive cathedral organ, and the
entire service was a very moving experience in our seats in the intimate choir
section of the cathedral. I was surprised
at the Anglican liturgical similarities to the Catholic faith that I am so
familiar with. Many of the prayer
responses by the congregation were identical to those used in Catholic Mass.
LINDISFARNE
(HOLY ISLAND): In order to fully appreciate the life
and times of St. Cuthbert, we decided to make a visit to his home on Holy
Island, formerly known as Lindisfarne. Lindisfarne
has a special allure because twice a day at high tide the asphalt causeway is
covered with sea water and Holy Island literally becomes an island. We checked local tide tables and found out
the next safe crossing time would be early afternoon, then we set off to see
Lindisfarne Castle and the ruins of the old priory where the magnificent
illuminated manuscript of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (known
as the Lindisfarne Gospels) were written around 700 AD. We hope to see the actual manuscript when we
visit the British Museum toward the end of our stay in the UK.
The most
dramatic feature on Holy Island was the National Trust site of Lindisfarne
Castle, which has had a long and varied history dating back to the 16th
century, long after the time of St. Cuthbert and the priory monks. Set into the bedrock of a prominent solitary
hill, the most impressive feature of the castle is its location, with views of
the North Sea from two sides.
The rooms
were furnished in early 1900s style from the era of its last inhabitant, a
wealthy Edwardian bachelor from London who sought a quiet country retreat.
One of the
most interesting parts of the tour was the lovely walled garden, all by itself
in the midst of a stark and barren landscape, with only the local sheep for
company.
The nearby
priory ruins were once the home and original burial ground of St. Cuthbert. The haunting skeletal remnant of previous
glory was reminiscent of others we have seen, a victim of the dissolution of
the monasteries, courtesy of King Henry VIII.
“The evil that men do lives after them;
the good is oft
interred with their bones.” William Shakespeare
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