Durham in a Heatwave :: Day 3

Hi there everyone 😀

It was the last full day of our annual get together with friends … exploring the very lovely city of Durham … and the plan was to explore the cathedral, which really is the city’s jewel in the crown.

Whilst we had seen some rain early morning … by the time we were meeting up it was another glorious day.

We decided to drive in again and, this time, it was us that had a tricky journey. We headed for the same car park as the previous day … but the traffic was horrendous and there were huge queues for the car park. We did find out later that it was a university open day and it made such a difference to both the traffic and the number of people around.

We ended up having to find another car park, which was a bit of a trek and, this time, it was our turn to be late 🙈

The city was considerably busier than it had been the previous day, with lots of young people milling about. We made a mental note to avoid university open days should we decide to visit again. It had been so much nicer on the previous day … when we had almost felt like we had the city to ourselves 😜

Once we had finally all met up we headed up to the cathedral … which, along with the castle, is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site …

We were greeted by the pretty impressive door knocker on the main entrance door to the cathedral. It is known as the Sanctuary Knocker and played an important part in the Cathedral’s history. Those who ‘had committed a great offence,’ such as murder in self-defence or breaking out of prison, could rap the knocker, and would be given 37 days of sanctuary within which they could try to reconcile with their enemies or plan their escape …

Though none of us had completed any such crime … the sanctuary of the coolness within the cathedral was very welcome.

I’m not very good at capturing photos inside in low light but I can say that cathedral was absolutely stunning. It was huge and there were so many interesting and beautiful things to see. Whilst you don’t have to pay to visit … a donation is welcomed and there are plenty of cathedral staff around to guide and provide any information you may need. We all just generally meandered around at our own pace … taking it all in.

Here are a few of the photos that I did take that look ok …

Once we’d all finished looking round inside we headed out into the cloisters … 

… where it was nice and cool with plenty more to see …

… and maybe the odd bit of messing about …

… and more selfies …

Once we’d finished in the cathedral we had hoped to have a bit of look round the castle …

It was not to be … the place was swarming with students and there was no public entry because of the open day. We did try … but they were having none of it.

We had to make do with photos from outside …

We headed back to The Shakespeare for a quick one before finding a spot for an ice cream. We then decided we needed to find someone to sit and chill outside by the river for a while and The Swan with Two Cygnets fit the bill perfectly …

After a well needed sit in the shade it was time for Martin and I to head back to The Mayoress for a bit of downtime before meeting up again for the evening. This time it was our turn to be hosted and we had another lovely evening of chat and good food … before heading back to The Mayoress for one last time.

We’d had another really lovely few days together and the following day it was time to head for home … with a few stops along the way 😀

We will all be back together again next year … this time in Ambleside in The Lake District. Hopefully we will see you there 😀

*******************************************************

Durham in a Heatwave :: Day 2

Hi there everyone 😀

We had a very warm day forecast for our first full day exploring Durham … and the plan was to all meet up on the Market Place and take it from there.

We decided to drive in … on the basis I wanted to save my energy for exploring the city, rather than walking in. Also … I knew by the end of the day I really wouldn’t fancy walking back to The Mayoress. 

We parked in the first multi-storey car park we came to and it just happened to be right on the river … with these our first real views …

It was just lovely and we couldn’t wait to explore some more. 

We got to the Market Place early, which gave us plenty of time to find the pink jacketed Durham Pointers I’d read about on line. They are a group of volunteers who basically point you in the right direction depending on what you are looking for from your visit to the city. 

We picked up city maps and lots of useful information before heading into The Market Hall, whilst waiting for the others to arrive …

It was a real treat. A real traditional indoor market with a lovely variety of stalls for mooching around. We only had a quick look as we needed to make sure we were in the right place when the others arrived. 

They had an interesting walk in … opting for a scenic route along the river, which didn’t end up being as idyllic as it sounded, and they were very warm and in need of a breather. We were very glad we had decided to take the easy option.

Leaving a couple of our party at a very nice table, outside a lovely looking cafe, where they could chill out with a refreshment break … four of us decided to do The River Walk and headed down Silver Street towards Framwellgate Bridge for our first crossing of the river for the day. The views looking along the river to the cathedral were just beautiful and we couldn’t wait to crack on …

We headed left and took the path alongside the river heading towards Prebends Bridge. We could just see the tops of the cathedral towers beyond the Japanese Knotweed and above the trees …

Before long we got our first sight of the weir and Prebends Bridge …

Looking back across the river a bit more of the cathedral was now on view …

Once at the bridge we crossed the river again … stopping to take in the view …

… and a few selfies …

On the other side we passed The Count’s House …

… before carrying along the river until we came to Kingsgate Bridge … which was way above us. At this point we took the very steep steps up away from the river to bring us up to North Bailey with the cathedral ahead of us …

The cathedral wall, in the shade of a tree, made a very good spot for a breather after all of those steps …

We made our way back down the pretty cobbled street to The Shakespeare, one of the oldest pubs in the city, according to the Durham Pointers, where we met up with the rest of our party for some well needed refreshment …

After our pitstop we headed back down to the Market Place where we had a bit of a closer look in The Market Hall, bought a few bits and pieces … including fruit and some seafood … for an al fresco lunch sat in the sunshine …

Before moving on we all had a good look in the Town Hall, which was surprisingly huge and very impressive, with lots to see. It’s definitely worth a look if you get the chance …

We then finished our day of exploring with another quick pitstop in The Market Tavern … another very old traditional drinking establishment. 

At this point it was time for Martin and I to head back to The Mayoress as it was our turn to host for the evening. We had a bit of time to chill out before putting together our meal for the evening … which we managed to eat sitting outside on the decking …

It had been a lovely day. We parted for the evening … agreeing to meet up again the following day to explore the cathedral. Rain was forecast for the morning so at least that would be a good indoor option if it materialised. 

**********************************************

National Trust :: Crook Hall Gardens

Hi there everyone 😀

Because of the heatwave, we’d skipped our usual National Trust stop on our journey to Durham, not wanting to leave a car full of fresh food baking in the heat. That meant we were keen to make the most of the couple of hours we had before needing to get ready to meet up with the rest of our party.

Having dropped everything off at The Mayoress and transferred all the fresh stuff from cool boxes to the fridge we pretty much headed straight out for Crook Hall Gardens.

It was literally a few minutes drive from where we were staying … right on the edge of the city. Our short drive there gave us our first views of the cathedral and the river …

It really was a lovely place to visit, with a series of interlinking gardens, set against the backdrop of a Grade 1 listed medieval hall. There is a maze, walled gardens, a wildlife pond, lots of cool shady seating areas and views of the cathedral.

It was our first visit and we couldn’t wait to explore. As ever … I took lots of photographs so sit back and enjoy a wander round the garden with us.

From the moment we entered the garden we were enthralled … by rose covered arches …

… swathes of wildflowers …

… and stunning summer perennial borders …

Our first real stop was the walled gardens … which were looking absolutely fabulous … 

The walled gardens are a joy to wander through … with almost hidden paths and gateways leading deeper into the gardens … revealing more and more surprises and colour around every turn …

The views looking back up the gardens to the hall were sooooo pretty …

Once out of the walled gardens we couldn’t resist a selfie with the toad …

… before heading through the vegetable garden …

… and into the wellbeing garden … where we just couldn’t resist sitting for a while …

We moved onto the wildlife pond … where we found a lovely shady spot with a perfectly placed bench to sit and enjoy the view and a welcome cool breeze for a few minutes …

We then made our way through a row of interlinking gardens starting with the silver and white garden …

… moving on through the orchard and the Shakespeare garden …

We ended up in the Cathedral garden … where the shape and vibrancy of the beds are designed to echo the stained glass windows of the cathedral itself …

There were some lovely views of the cathedral from here too …

By now time was getting on and we really needed to get back to get ready to meet up with everyone for the evening.

Crook Hall was a really lovely garden and somewhere we would definitely want to visit again when we have a bit more time. It would definitely be easy to while away the best of a day there 😀

*******************************************************