The train managed to pick up food at York. The announcements about it put me in mind of a interstellar cruise liner stalled by a lack of lemon soaked paper napkins from Douglas Adams' œuvre. I wolfed down a bacon roll before getting off at Durham.
I chose Durham to start with as it features in several novels by Bernard Cornwell. Unfortunately, about the only thing extant was Durham Cathedral, which features in only one novel. Most of the novels in question are set prior to the Cathedral and feature a resolutely pagan character, viz Uhtred of Bamburgh in the era of Alfred the Great and later. He has an antagonistic relationship with the Church. At one point, he is the Lord of Durham. I couldn’t help but wonder at what he would make of the Cathedral where his fortress stood. As well, it is the resting place of St-Cuthbert whose corpse is featured in one of the novels. Cuthbert’s coffin and some of the contents were on exhibit, biz a cross, a comb and a portable altar.
The Cathedral also houses the tomb of the Venerable (or Venomous) Bede, the first English historian. He is figure from my career as a historian and thus significant.
I had lunch of roast beef in the undercroft of the monks dormitory. This felt indulgent, but proved a useful calorific indulgence as it turned out to be “one of those days” from a biking perspective. The heavens opened up for one thing.
It was a short ride to Newcastle but I managed to lose the A167 twice in Chester-Le-Street. Contrary to what might be inferred from Flanders and Swann’s “On the Slow Train”, the place still has a train station.
Still, I managed to get back on track. The Angel of the North statue of a man with what looks like aircraft wings helped to orient myself. I found my way across the Tyne into Newcastle and then to my hostel. I hope to two young German lads sharing my room don’t snore!
My theory about Campaign for Real Ale Pubs having better food has failed as both of the ones I popped into in Newcastle have had no food.
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