St Cuthbert is the North of England’s best-loved saint. He lived as a monk, bishop, and then hermit, on Holy Island – Lindisfarne. Revered during his own lifetime for his preaching and holiness, Cuthbert was acclaimed a saint in 698.

His community fled Lindisfarne following the Viking invasion in 793. They travelled around the North of England with his body and extraordinary relics for years. They finally settled in Durham in 995.

This Cathedral has grown from the Anglo-Saxon church built to house his shrine and the monks who cared for it.

In September 1104 St Cuthbert was moved into the newly-built Norman Cathedral. The new shrine was made of marble studded with jewels and semi-precious stones.

During the Middle Ages it became a centre of pilgrimage, which continues today. Large numbers of people flocked to the shrine to seek the saint’s blessing and healing powers.

The elaborate shrine no longer exists as it was destroyed in the Reformation. Instead it was replaced in 1542 by the simple marble slab marked ‘Cuthbertus’. The stones around the slab are part of the original construction.

This part of the Cathedral continues to be a place of pilgrimage, prayer and quiet reflection.

• Many people were praying and reflecting next to the shrine so my only photos are taken from below, outside the sacred space.

We arrived at breakfast to find that it was a self service buffet arrangement. The choice was extensive although the experience wasn’t entirely pleasant. Some guests picked up bread then changed their mind and put it back in the stack. Others were crowding around the toast machine and coughing and sneezing whilst waiting for the toast to cook. Yuk!!

After breakfast we walked into Durham to visit the Cathedral and on the way visited a board game shop called ‘Meeple Games’. We intended to buy a game but couldn’t make up our mind so decided to return later when we had done a bit of research.

When we arrived at Palace Green we visited the Heritage Centre with its archeological display and small exhibition about the Durham Light Infantry.

We arrived at the Cathedral to find that it was currently closed to visitors due to a service taking place so we walked to the nearby Church of St Mary the Less, so named because the much larger Cathedral is also dedicated to St Mary. Sadly this too was shut with no indication of when it might be open.

With time to spare we set off on a river walk crossing over both the Prebends’ and Framwellgate bridges before returning to the Cathedral for lunch in the Undercroft Restaurant.

We explored the Cathedral using the short guide pamphlet that we were given on arrival. This pointed out the most significant features including St Cuthberts Shrine and Venerable Bede’s tomb. I was pleasantly surprised to find that photography, with a few perfectly reasonable caveats, was now allowed and even encouraged. At the time of our visit, the Galilee Chapel was hosting an art display, LIGHT by Chris Lavine. This bathed the Chapel in soft blue ripples of light accompanied by gentle music.

Over lunch we did our board game research so we returned to the board game shop and bought Everdell. Next, we purchased a couple of cheap mugs and spoons for the hotel room so that we didn’t have to use paper cups. After the poor bar experience of the previous day we also bought some sherry and glasses so that we could enjoy a pre dinner drink in our room as we got ready to go out for our evening meal.

We dined in Akarsu Turkish Restaurant & Grill. Our table was a little bit too close to bar waiting area but the food was delicious. After dinner we visited the Swan & Three Cygnets which is a short distance from the hotel and which we found to be more welcoming and relaxing than the hotel bar.

It is tempting to think of cathedrals simply as places of worship, but theire civic function was as a place of sanctuary. People who had committed a ‘great offence’, for example killing in self defence or escaping from prison, could clame sanctuary within the cathedral for 37 days. after which they either had to have solved their problems or were given a safe passage out of the country. The state of sanctuary was a bit like ‘refuge’ status today – one lost some of one’s rights as a citizen. Durham’s famous sanctuary knocker was allegedly what those claiming sanctuary had to grasp. The current knocker on the cathedral’s door is a replica; the original is on display inside the cathedral.*

*Durham World Heritage Site, A Guide to the Castle and Cathedral – Published in 2013 by Durham World Heritage Site.

After breakfast we set out for Durham in order to visit the cathedral and the Lindesfarne Gospels exhibition.  Unfortunately when we enquired at the visitor information centre about tickets to see the Gospels we were advised that the earliest time slot possible for that day was 7.30pm.  We didn’t fancy hanging around all day so we decided against it and chose to visit the castle instead.

When we arrived at the castle gates we were told that visits were by guided tour only and the last tour was in a few minutes due to a wedding being held there later that day.  The only snag was that tickets had to be purchased from the visitor information centre which is where we had just come from…  After some grumbling Mr C went back to purchase the tickets.  The castle tour was interesting and informative.  The hall and stairway reminded me of Hogwarts from the Harry Potter films.

After the castle tour, we visited the cathedral and had lunch in the undercroft.  I also spent some time in the book section of the gift shop.

We then made our way back to Newcastle where I went into M&S to quickly purchase a pair of trousers to replace the ones that had got soaked and muddy the previous day.  This was not to be.  The lengths looked different so I had to try them on.  The assistant reliably informed me that the lengths had been changed by what she called a ‘cuff length’!!  This means that M&S trousers no longer fit me as I am between lengths.

We returned to the hotel to freshen up before our evening meal.  The weather was fine and dry so we walked along the Quayside before settling on dining in Cafe Rouge.  After the meal we returned to the hotel for a cool glass of wine before retiring for the evening.