A Trip with a Twist

In February, Matthew and I travelled to Durham with the intention of renewing our visas at the post office in town.  For some reason, you can do this there but not anywhere in Scotland, not even in Edinburgh, the capital city.  Go figure.  We got a good deal on a hotel, packed all our paperwork and set out on the train which is my favourite mode of transportation because it affords views of cattle, sheep, the coast, and - if in season - lambs and canola fields.  Oh yeah, and it means I don't have to drive on the wrong side of the street. :)

To make a long story short, we had not been sent all the required paperwork in order to renew our visas at a post office.  We were informed that we'd have to make an actual appointment at a UK Border Agency office.  After a rather tense, stressful hour of sorting this out we decided not to let it ruin our trip and set off to see the sights we had come to see.  Day 1 was Matthew's choice: Durham Cathedral and Castle. 

Durham Cathedral as seen from the bridges.

Durham Castle as seen from the bridges

We had a lovely time exploring these impressive structures.  They do not allow photos inside of the Cathedral proper, but we also got to stroll through the cloisters and climb up the square tower for views over the whole region.  Durham Cathedral is built on the highest point in the whole county - so it would have been super cool if only I weren't so afraid of heights...

Durham Cathedral's impressive main doors.

We found a solar clock in the cloisters!

The cloisters

The cloisters

Heading up to the tower fearlessly.

Arriving at the top of the tower and sitting, paralysed with fear, while Matthew took a few photos.

View from the top!  Look at Durham County.

Matthew admires the architecture.

I just thought this was a fun shot.  :)

After the Cathedral, we had a guided tour of Durham Castle.  This is a unique castle because it is the former home of the Prince Bishops of Durham County (they could mint their own money and were in charge of kind of defending the north of England) and is currently a university residence.  Lucky students!  They actually live in a castle!  Again, because it is a residence, we could not take photos of the interior, but hopefully you will enjoy these exterior shots.

Grand Entrance

The Keep

Main entrance from courtyard.

Clock tower in the courtyard.

Day 2 we went to Beamish - the attraction of my choice.  Beamish is what is called an "open air" museum here, but would be called a "living history" site in North America.  So in other words, I was finally getting to go to a museum like Black Creek Pioneer Village!  I was through the roof with excitement and the weather was absolutely gorgeous, all of which made for a great outing.  Beamish is not in the city of Durham itself, so we enjoyed the bus trip out of the city and fairly quickly arrived at the green fields and hills of Beamish.

This is a very large site, divided into 4 sections, and it is therefore able to represent the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian periods at different locations within the site.  In the winter, the Pitt Village and the Town are open and those 2 locations alone were more than enough to fill a day!

Our first view of Beamish.  I love that there are sheep!

We were transported from section to section in fully-restored, vintage trams.  Awesome!

Our favourite shop in the Town section.  We got to see hard candy being made.

Buying hard candy at Jubilee Confectioners.

I got to see a real-live English Omnibus (labelled Borwick's).

Still need to figure out what exactly sheep dip is... There were plenty of vintage signs advertising it.

The print shop.

A February day warm enough to have a picnic lunch outside?  Yes, please!

Home Sweet Home - A Victorian Parlour in all its crazy glory.

Hey! - I know those folk in the mirror...

It's as if they knew I was coming.

Can I have a kitchen like this?

Another fun sign found in an original Co-Operative building.

Hee! Hee!

The Pitt Village - The mining section

Houston, we have a problem - these desks are too wee.

A Magic Lantern set up in the church at the Pitt Village.  Matthew points to the innovative blinds that roll upwards to accommodate the arched windows.

Mining canaries!

We spotted a furry friend on the settee.

Historic "Back-to-backs"

In the yard of a back-to-back.  One shed was for coal and one was the loo and we can't remember what the third was for...

Mining machinery

Apparently, people stand in line for hours for this fish - it's that good!

Good-bye, Beamish!

We had a lovely trip, despite not being able to renew our visas (put your minds at ease that we did successfully renew them in Glasgow in April) and I would definitely recommend Durham as a worthwhile place to visit.  And don't let Beamish's remote location dissuade you from going for your own fantastic day out!