A self-guided walking tour of Durham

We usually do a walking tour when we first arrive in a new city. On this occasion, there was nothing available to book on the days we had available. I guess it was just too early in the season. Instead, I downloaded a self-guided tour voiced by Peter, a local geography teacher. Whilst I would have preferred having a real-life guide, it was really interesting and informative.

We started in the Market Place in front of the wooden doors to St Nicholas's church, next to the Town Hall. We then followed the 42-metre-long granite heritage timeline which is set into the paving slabs and shows different events in Durham's rich history. We paused to take a photo of a statue of Neptune, Roman god of the sea. This was erected to mark the many failed attempts to make Durham an inland port.

The timeline ended at a statue of Charles William Vane-Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry. He was a distinguished soldier, but here in Durham, he was best known as the owner of many mines and had a reputation as a brutal and ruthless tyrant. He opposed reforms to employment law and blacklisted businesses that gave credit to striking miners.

From there, we went to Framwellgate Bridge, the oldest of Durham's three historic bridges. The original bridge was built by Ranulf Flambard (|Bishop of Durham 1099 - 1128). It was defended by a tower and gateway which were later demolished. The present bridge was built by Bishop Langley in the early 15th century and was widened from 6.2 metres to 8.6 metres 400 years later.Read more