The North Sea

We got a late start today, as we didn’t have much planned. We left around 10am and headed north to Durham. I don’t suppose Durham is a huge tourist stop, but it did get a few pages in Rick Steves’, Guide to Great Britain. Its attraction is the Durham Cathedral. Not only is it an imposing site, it was used for filming a scene in the Harry Potter series and the Avengers saga. Although it is a gothic design, like the York Minister, this one is more impressive in my humble opinion. Inside, the stone architecture was punctuated with ornate wooden structures, and the stone pillars were carved with designs. The cathedral has the tallest bell tower in Europe, stretching 218 feet into the heavens. We happened to be there when one of the official looking people used the ropes to ring the bells. Oddly, you cannot hear the bells ringing inside the church. One of the tour guides said that the stone architecture absorbs the sound, despite the loud ringing outside. It was surreal to watch him ring the bells, while we stood in silence. Also strange, this cathedral has an astronomical clock, as well. This one is much older than the one in the York Minster. It was originally installed in the church in the late 1400’s to the early 1500’s. I need to do some research, as I don’t understand why these clocks are in the cathedrals. Maybe they were used to keep track of religious holidays. Anyway, we discovered that the staff at the Cathedral were preparing the space for a visit from the king this Thursday. Although we won’t be here, we did get to see some of the preparations. Specifically, they had volunteers assembling incredible floral arrangements from flowers and trees grown locally. There were tulips and daffodils and tree branches arranged in a multitude of combinations. The room where the florists worked smelled of Spring; the air filled with fragrance.

While we grabbed lunch in Durham, we decided to take a detour and go see the North Sea. There is a special beach in Seaham that has more beach glass than any other a beach in the world. How can they make such a claim? Back in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, there was a bottle making company in town that threw its waste into the sea. Seaham Hall Beach is now littered with small fragments of glass that have been tumbled and turned by the waves, creating smooth and rounded edges. We spent hours raking the rocks and sand with our fingers to find the tiny treasures. Not only did we find sea glass, but there were a thousand different kinds of rocks that have also been tumbled to a smooth texture. They were a multitude of colors, shapes, and sizes. All of us filled our pockets with souvenirs and made it back to the car as the sun broke through the clouds. Although there was no rain, it was overcast today. When the sun did come out, it shown down the coast, illuminating a lighthouse just south from the car park. I suspect it was at the harbor of Seaham, which has a little protected marina.

Our day ended in Newcastle Upon Tyne. From here we will make one last sightseeing stop in England tomorrow before driving into Scotland. We’ve had over a week and a half with mostly sunshine and no rain, but that may be changing tomorrow.Read more