Cuddy's Corse
Apr. 5th, 2009 09:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustThe Northumbrian Association has put together a walk cheerfully entitled "Cuddy's Corse". When Viking raids drove the monks away from Lindisfarne, they naturally took with them their greatest treasures: Saint Cuthbert's body, and his book (the Lindisfarne Gospels). They wandered around Northumbria for seven years, then settled at Chester-le-Street; a century later they set off again, and came at last to Durham. The walk traces this last journey, from Chester-le-Street to Durham, by way of Finchale. Since Finchale is somewhere I like to go at this time of year, we thought we'd try out the walk.
The short version: parts of it are better than others. No surprises there: in essence it's the route I used to walk, long ago, to Washington, and I've walked pretty much all of it, though not necessarily recently.
And here's the longer version. We took the bus to Chester-le-Street, admired the shopping centre with its banners of St Cuthbert, and its Saint Cuthbert's cross set in the pavement outside. It being Sunday, we didn't explore the church, which is the starting point of the walk, but went straight down to the river. There was a huge crowd of swans clamouring for crusts of bread, but we were more taken with a couple of very distinctive ducks (which I think I have now identified as tufted ducks) with bright yellow eyes and slate-blue beaks.
The route leaves the river and climbs up through the fields to Great Lumley, with wide views back to Lumley Castle and the Angel of the North. By the time we reached the village, we were well ready to sit in the magnificent sculpted seat and drink some water. According to the sculptor's web site, the seat is conceived as a viewpoint on the Weardale Way, so it's pure fluke that - as you can see if you click through, and then click for 'all sizes' to see the original large image - the framed aperture centres on the spire of the church where our trail started. Then round the houses in Great Lumley to pick up the waggonway, after which there's a long stretch of roadwork to Finchale - and another after, though not before we'd sat on the riverbank opposite the priory and eaten our lunch. Spring seems to have exploded in the woods - there are starry carpets of wood anemones, and a generous sprinkling of violets, too.
The road from Finchale leads, eventually, to Frankland prison, which isn't the pleasantest walking - though we made a detour to Brasside ponds and soothed ourselves with water and a swan and screaming gulls. Then farmland and woodland to Frankland farm, coming out on the upland with a fine view of the cathedral, and back into town to the sound of bells - pity the route brings you into Durham along the side of the sewage works, though (which could have been avoided, with a short detour).
The instructions tell you to follow the riverbank to the Framwellgate Bridge, and then take the stairs up onto the road, and through the Market Place to the cathedral. If I were advising a visitor to Durham, I might suggest rather that they cross the river on the footbridge and go up the stairs to Millennium Place, where they would see a sculpture depicting the monks with their precious burden (not that I like the thing, but that's just me, and anyway, it seems appropriate). We did neither of these things, though - we called in at Tesco's for a pint of milk, and came home.
The short version: parts of it are better than others. No surprises there: in essence it's the route I used to walk, long ago, to Washington, and I've walked pretty much all of it, though not necessarily recently. And here's the longer version. We took the bus to Chester-le-Street, admired the shopping centre with its banners of St Cuthbert, and its Saint Cuthbert's cross set in the pavement outside. It being Sunday, we didn't explore the church, which is the starting point of the walk, but went straight down to the river. There was a huge crowd of swans clamouring for crusts of bread, but we were more taken with a couple of very distinctive ducks (which I think I have now identified as tufted ducks) with bright yellow eyes and slate-blue beaks.
The route leaves the river and climbs up through the fields to Great Lumley, with wide views back to Lumley Castle and the Angel of the North. By the time we reached the village, we were well ready to sit in the magnificent sculpted seat and drink some water. According to the sculptor's web site, the seat is conceived as a viewpoint on the Weardale Way, so it's pure fluke that - as you can see if you click through, and then click for 'all sizes' to see the original large image - the framed aperture centres on the spire of the church where our trail started. Then round the houses in Great Lumley to pick up the waggonway, after which there's a long stretch of roadwork to Finchale - and another after, though not before we'd sat on the riverbank opposite the priory and eaten our lunch. Spring seems to have exploded in the woods - there are starry carpets of wood anemones, and a generous sprinkling of violets, too.
The road from Finchale leads, eventually, to Frankland prison, which isn't the pleasantest walking - though we made a detour to Brasside ponds and soothed ourselves with water and a swan and screaming gulls. Then farmland and woodland to Frankland farm, coming out on the upland with a fine view of the cathedral, and back into town to the sound of bells - pity the route brings you into Durham along the side of the sewage works, though (which could have been avoided, with a short detour).
The instructions tell you to follow the riverbank to the Framwellgate Bridge, and then take the stairs up onto the road, and through the Market Place to the cathedral. If I were advising a visitor to Durham, I might suggest rather that they cross the river on the footbridge and go up the stairs to Millennium Place, where they would see a sculpture depicting the monks with their precious burden (not that I like the thing, but that's just me, and anyway, it seems appropriate). We did neither of these things, though - we called in at Tesco's for a pint of milk, and came home.
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-06 05:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-07 10:13 am (UTC)I have to laugh when thinking about the monks and their burden, since I have the fabric that covered them before the unveiling. Mwah-hah-hah. I love that you went for a pint of milk and headed home. Because that's what a local would do. It's authentic. ;-D and I especially love the seat with the frame included. I'm surprised that hasn't been done more often.
What a great post.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-07 10:22 am (UTC)