Durham Cathedral and a Reunion with Cousin Christine

Another gray rainy day, however Julie and I would NOT let the weather discourage us. We traveled to the city of Durham to meet Cousin Christine and to visit the Durham Cathedral.

Julie and Christine had not met face to face in 50 years. We visited her at their family Craft Brewery. Reuniting with her cousin was a wonderful experience for Julie and soon they were best of friends again sharing many tales of their youth and family.  

Steve, Christine and her daughter Elly work together, operating their Durham Brewery. Christine gave us a tour and explained their award winning process. Stan left with a complimentary six pack of Christine's favorites.

After a lovely lunch in town we visited the old town of Durham complete with a Norman Castle and the famous Cathedral. The Cathedral is a World Heritage Site and is the best example of a Norman (Romanesque) building style dating from the year 1093. William the Conquerer (known locally as William "the Bastard") built the Cathedral to put his brand on Christianity in the North of England. The Castle served as a fort to supervise the local population and to conduct military operations against those raiding "barbarians" from Scotland.

This Norman style Cathedral was built in 40 years, 1000 years ago. Norman style, imported from the continent, consisted of a massive stone structure, that proclaimed Glory to God with its sense of permanence.  Heavy supporting stone would not support large windows. Stained glass was inserted in small windows in the walls. The later Gothic style churches would perfect the technique of building large windows supported by delicate stonework. Having seen many Gothic Cathedrals in Europe and learning about how they replaced the Norman style, it was interesting to see such a classic example of these earlier buildings.

Among the many interesting events and people we learned about we saw the tomb of the Venerable Bede. He was the monk at Durham in the 700's who wrote the earliest history of the English people and recorded his history in  Old English rather than Church Latin. Without his work we would not know about the early kings, or the viking and anglo saxon settlements. My contemporaries will remember The Venerable Bede as an answer on the SAT's, crosswords and on the game show Jeopardy.

The Castle Keep in Durham adjacent to the Cathedral was the palace of the Prince-Bishops of Northern England. Stories of these unions of church and state and their poltical power made Ken Follet's  "Pillars of the Earth" come alive in my mind. In the 1800's the role of the Bishop's changed to be strictly a religious leader. The Bishops home and castle were used to begin the University of Durham and the college houses today 600 students. The impressive dining hall of the college was the setting for Hogwarts Hall in the Harry Potter movies.

 As our day came to an end we shared afternoon tea with Christine and thanked her for being our wonderful tour guide for the day. Julie and Christine said their goodbyes with hugs and a hope that they will not have to wait so long to see each other again. As we returned to our apartment in York we drove through the countryside which was in full bloom with Rape seed. The seed used for cattle feed and for the making of rape seed oil (Canola Oil) fills fields to the horizon with these beautiful yellow flowers. Even the gray drizzly day could not diminish their beauty. Thanks for following our journey with us.