I missed you all yesterday as me an OH decided to give the bus pass a ride out and went to the beautiful City of Durham . What a lovely day and what a beautiful cathedral I only live an hour away and this was my first visit.It just shows we have all these wonderful things on our doorsteps and choose not to visit them.Anyway Ive just had a shower and now off the club for a couple of pints and a game of dominoes ,hope you all have a nice day.
4 Replies
•
Morning Kenny
Like we gave the "bus passes " a day out made me laugh
How lovely though & shows we can move on from this anxiety & as you said enjoy what we have around us
Hope you enjoy your pint , not hot myself with Domino's only no how to make one of those things where you stack them up in a line & then watch them all drop down
That's great Kenny, glad you enjoyed your day out. ou're right, there is so much out there, sometimes we just have to get to that place where we can start 'living' again. But you have shown us all it can be done. x
Hello Kenny, glad to see you managed & enjoyed your day out.
When I read your post it reminded me of Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island. I don't know if you've read it. I'll post what he said about Durham, it's rather long, sorry but for people like us who are close to it I think it's lovely.
"I WAS HEADING FOR NEWCASTLE, BY WAY OF YORK, WHEN I DID
another impetuous thing. I got off at Durham, intending to poke around the cathedral for an hour or so and fell in love with it instantly in a serious way. Why, 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 that 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 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.
The cathedral, a mountain of reddish-brown stone standing high above a lazy green loop of the River Wear, is, of course, its glory. Everything about it was perfect - not just its setting and execution but also, no less notably, the way it is run today. For a start there was no nagging for money, no 'voluntary' admission fee. Outside, there was simply a discreet sign announcing that it cost £700,000 a year to maintain the cathedral and that it was now engaged on a £400,000 renovation project on the east wing and that they would very much appreciate any spare money that visitors might give them. Inside, there were two modest collecting boxes and nothing else - no clutter, no nagging notices, no irksome bulletin boards or
stupid Eisenhower flags, nothing at all to detract from the unutterable soaring majesty of the interior. It was a perfect day to see it. Sun slanted lavishly through the stained-glass windows, highlighting the stout pillars with their sumptuously grooved patterns and spattering the floors with motes of colour. There were even wooden pews.
I'm no judge of these things, but the window at the choir end looked to me at least the equal of the more famous one at York, and this one at least you could see in all its splendour since it wasn't tucked away in a transept. And the stained-glass window at the other end was even finer. Well, I can't talk about this without babbling because it was just so wonderful. As I stood there, one of only a dozen or so visitors, a verger passed and issued a cheery hello. I was charmed by this show of friendliness and captivated to find myself amid such perfection, and I unhesitatingly gave Durham my vote for best cathedral on planet Earth.
When I had drunk my fill, I showered the collection pot with coins and wandered off for the most fleeting of looks at the old quarter of town, which was no less ancient and beguiling, and returned to the station feeling simultaneously impressed and desolate at just how much there was to see in this little country and what folly it had been to suppose that I might see anything more than a fraction of it in seven flying weeks."
Bill Bryson - Notes From a Small island
P.S. Keep it to yourself won't you, we wouldn't want everyone to know
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.