The Durham Trip

Aug 04, 2007 16:39



It rained the day we left. It rained, without a pause, all the way from Porthmadog to Wombwell, every inch of the 159 miles. It was not pleasant. Neither was the fact that I had failed to print out the directions for getting to the Premier Travel Inn we were supposed to be staying in, thinking that my aunt (R) had a directory in her car. She didn't. Having taken a not correct turning and ended up in the center of Wombwell, we were then mis-directed by the young man at the PTI and ended driving round and round the surrounding area for some considerable length of time. On one of our forays we found a police station, so D and I braved the rain to go and ask for help. It was shut. It had closed 10 minutes earlier. In panic I pushed a button on what looked like a communications panel and eventually a very nice policeman came and unlocked the door to speak to us. I pleaded for help and while he drew us a map we discovered he originally came from North Wales as well. We found the PTI just before we expired from lack of food and drink, went straight to the restaurant after dumping our bags and felt a lot better afterwards. D and I had a room facing a chilled foods factory - we watched the shift change at 10pm. I also watched it change at 6 am.

The next morning (Saturday)the rain eased the closer we got to Durham. The colleges where D and R and I were staying were relatively easy to find and fortunately accessible from two different directions. D settled in quickly to her OU Geology Summer School and R and I went and found our accommodation in a college just up the road. Ensuite accommodation, I might add. Never heard of in my day, but then single rooms weren't heard of in R's day! We were the only occupants of a 13 bedroom house and took breakfast each morning in the college dining room, along with a party of Italian/Spanish/Portuguese language students. Very nice cooked breakfasts of which I partook moderately (2 sausage, hashbrown, mushrooms and beans). We arrived each day in plenty of time, unlike some of our junior breakfasters.

Sunday we went to Eucharist at Durham Cathedral (yes, I know I'm a Latter-Day Saint, so what?), had a very big roast lunch for just over £5 each and then went out into the country to Old Washington Hall, a NT place with connections to George Washington of America. That was the only time we purposely used the A690 heading towards Sunderland. Bought sandwiches and cake and had tea in R's room, it being bigger than mine.

Monday, after two attempts which landed us back on the A690 towards Sunderland, we managed to get to Hartlepool Heritage Quay, where I was anxious to see the wooden frigate HMS Trincomalee. I think excited would be a better word, for my love affair with all things Naval started because of a week I spent on board this ship when she was named TS Foudroyant and moored in Portsmouth Harbour. I spent a second week there at the end of my school career, having been roped in as "another adult" when school was short of staff. It was wonderful to see her restored to the way she should be with all 3 masts, rigging and correct paintwork. (See http://www.hms-trincomalee.co.uk/ ) I had great fun showing R around, doing the guide out of his job *grin* and even finding the exact spot I had last pitched my hammock! Wished I could have spent much more money in their shop - restoration has cost them thousands of pounds. We also examined every other exhibit on the quayside, apart from the A/V ones (R gets migraine with films and television), giving ourselves quite sore feet in the process. We braved the wilds of an extra large Morrisons to get tea; stopped at a nature reserve to do our geology and botany lessons before ending up, once again, on the A690 heading up to Sunderland. Fortunately this time our return trip did not include going via the A1(M).

Tuesday we went into central Durham on the Park and Ride, then got a little bus up the hill to the Cathedral for a proper look round. Some of the marble-like stone in the Cathedral has fossils in it, so that was our geology lesson for the day. Had real tomato soup for lunch with so much tomato in it I feared for my insides, but it was good. Went to the Durham Heritage museum, found the Post Office which had the stamps R wanted and the M&S that didn't have the socks I wanted. These are apparently no longer in production. (Insert swear word here.) So we bought nice food for tea instead and wended our weary way back to our rooms. D phoned that evening to say that she had found a supply of my sugar-free chocolate while on field work in Cumbria, so I went to bed happy.

Wednesday we travelled west to go and see the Durham Dales Centre at Stanhope. Also found a fossilized tree (middle carboniferous period - geology again), a wayside pulpit and a disappointing lunch. Went from there with much up and down-ness to Derwent Reservoir and then on a food hunt for tea. Amazing the number of villages with no shop, even though new homes are being built around them. Took a circular tour of the area courtesy of a faded signpost and, as we were coming in from the opposite direction, didn't visit the A690 to Sunderland. I am now convinced that all roads west of the city eventually converge on that road, whether the map says they do or not!

Thursday was planned as a NT day, but on discovering that two of the properties we wanted to visit involved half a mile walks, we changed our minds and went to Hexham Abbey instead. After parking the car *right* opposite, we found a vegetarian restaurant which made the most delicious quiche. It was packed full of everything vegetarian one could think of and we each had a big wedge of it. Very filling so not much room for rabbit food. *grin* The Abbey is making a bid to reclaim some of it's former buildings for community use and I wish them well in that. I was saddened that it is now deemed necessary to put explanations on things like the altar and the font. Truely we live in a Godless age. Wish we could have spent more time in the Abbey, but we didn't want to get caught up in rush hour traffic. Found a Sainsbury and bought tea. Amazed the checkout person that the nearest Sainsbury to home is two and a half hours away. Tomato soup caught up with my insides :-(

Friday we checked out of our college with twenty minutes to spare and went to the Durham Light Infantry museum and then Crook Hall. The latter is supposed to be haunted, but I felt no vibrations and the photo that was suppose to supply proof could well have been double exposed. Good carrot and corriander soup for lunch. Got tangled up for the last time on the A690 looking for a petrol station, then headed back to collect D from her course. Poor thing had had a field trip that morning and an exam that afternoon. The A1(M) was remarkably free of traffic so we arrived back at Wombwell with plenty of time to set up for the night before dinner. Was very wicked and had profiteroles for dessert. I knew it was my last chance before strictness must be imposed once more.

Saturday was a fairly uneventful run home during which I gave D plenty of chance to practise her map reading. She's good, but needs to be just a tiny bit faster with her answers. We skirted Sheffield and came home via Ellesmere and the A5. Stopped at the Rhug farm shop for tea and thereafter it drizzled with rain. Got home some time after 7pm. Cindy was very pleased to see us; we actually managed to get *all* our things out of R's car and it was nice to be home.

It was a good week in all, saw R get better daily and arrived home much more relaxed. Now we are starting to tackle all the things about which we'd said previously "When we get back from Durham..." *big grin*
Previous post Next post
Up