Durham W
ith an eventful history stretching back more than a thousand years, Durham has long impressed visitors. One of its most ardent fans is best-selling travel writer Bill Bryson, who is also the current Chancellor of Durham University. His reaction upon fi rst visiting, as he described in his 1995 book
Notes from a Small Island, was incredulity: “I couldn’t believe that not once in twenty years had anyone said to me, ‘You’ve never been to Durham? Good God, man, you must go at once! Please – take my car’”. In fact, though, the best way to approach the city is by train, as a raft of
countryside gives way to the view that blew Bryson away. It’s the highlight of the entire east-coast main line: a skyline punctuated by the grand towers of one of the world’s greatest cathedrals, and the city’s commanding Norman castle, sitting proudly above the River Wear. Legend has it that in 955, when monks from Lindisfarne were wandering in the
north, fl eeing Viking raiders, an apparition of St Cuthbert materialised before them, and instructed them to take the bier carrying his body to Dun Holm. They had no idea where this was, but later that day encountered a milkmaid who was searching for her lost dun cow, last seen at Dun Holm. Asking her to be their guide, they were able to fi nd the place – a wooded hill protectively encircled by the River Wear – and safeguard the relics of the revered saint.
Approaching Durham, you’ll see a skyline punctuated by the towers of one of the world’s
greatest cathedrals, and the city’s commanding castle, sitting proudly above the River Wear
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BRITAIN 83
PHOTO: VISIT COUNTY DURHAM/BRITAIN ON VIEW
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