The Ham Nomads

11 Aug 2014. <GB-ENG> Rudchester, Northum; Rowlands Gill, Tyne & Wear; Durham, Durham; Bardon Mill, Hexham, Northum —

Woke up, with the wind still buffeting us. Noticed some hikers in the field beside us, and a plaque within the field. Went in to check it out — the plaque detailed the excavations of the Roman fort Vindobala that occupied this site. Nothing of it is obvious today, but just think — we slept the night in the middle of an old Roman fort!

The Orangerie at Gibside

Susie walking the woods

Campfires for the kids

After breakfast, we decided we were too close to Durham to give it a miss, particularly as we had just visited Lindisfarne. Cuthbert's community of monks arrived at Durham with his body in 995, and interred his body in the "White Church" here within four years. The Cathedral grew from this humble beginning. So we set off towards Durham and its cathedral. On the way, we were passing Gibside, a National Trust property just outside Rowlands Gill, a stunning landscape park and nature reserve. We stopped off and spent a couple of hours wandering the property — after all, Susie cannot do without her daily walk! The weather, windy, and threatening at times, treated us well and we enjoyed our time here.

Mary Eleanor Bowes' wedding dress

Gibside was the setting of Mary Eleanor Bowes' true story of torture and escape from her ruthless husband, which inspired the Stanley Kubrick 1975 film Barry Lyndon — and we were wondering why the biography Wedlock was being sold in their giftshop! In spite of the wind, they were setting up for campfire and marshmallow toasting in the West Wood — the place is a haven for kids!

The Chapel at Gibside

Then we continued on to Durham, only about 40 minutes further on. We stopped at a park-and-ride on its outskirts and took the bus in to the town centre. We walked across to the town square, and then up to the cathedral. Wow! Huge! And it's been there about 900 years! We went in and explored — no photos inside, unfortunately — and went into St Cuthbert's shrine — remember St Cuthbert from Lindisfarne? — where prayer cushions surround his tomb, a marble slab in the floor bearing the simple inscription 'Cuthbertus'. The whole place is mind-blowing. The axis of the nave and quire runs an impressive 143 metres! The nave is virtually as it was 900 years ago!

We wandered the cathedral, just enjoying its ambience, and then left to take the bus back to our van. We left Durham, and started back towards Hadrian's Wall. We noticed that there was an inn on the way that was a part of Brit Stops, so we phoned ahead and asked if we could park there overnight. No problem! So we dropped in to The Manor House Inn, Carterway Heads, Northumberland for the night. Warren dropped in to the bar for a cider, then came back out to the most magnificent view — the car park overlooked the rolling hills, fields of sheep, the setting sun, and approaching rainstorms! We settled in for another cosy sleep, oblivious to the wind gusting around us again during the night.

View from the parked van

Distance driven — today, 50 miles ( 81 km ); to date, 5,664 miles ( 9,116 km )