Pictures from a trip to Hexham in mid February.
The 15th C gatehouse on the east side of the market place.
The night stairs in Hexham Abbey, which would have been used by the monks of the Augustinian priory to access the church from the dormitory.
Views from the balcony at the top of the stairs.
The nave (L) and north transept (R). The cathedral had been destroyed by the Danes in 875 and the nave was only rebuilt in the 19th C. The original Saxon crypt survives. Cuthbert was briefly bishop in 875 before moving to Lindisfarne.
The altar (L) and font (R) with its ornate canopy, the weight of which must make some parents rather nervous…
Stained glass (L) and medieval painted panel (R). Much of this decoration was destroyed in the Reformation period.
It seems particularly anachronistic for a company entitled Hexham Horseless Carriages to be a TVR and Lotus dealership!
Path from Hexham town centre to the meeting of the North (background) and South Tyne (fine for a stroll, but not worth much of a detour).
The “Meeting of the Waters”, where the North and South Tyne join.
Pictures (on a rather overcast day) of Finchale Priory, just outside Durham. Originally the retreat of the the hermit St Godric of Finchale (described by some as a former pirate before conversion to a life of piety following a vision of St Cuthbert at Lindisfarne), Finchale developed into a Benedictine priory and a retreat for the monks of Durham.