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Itinerary

Day 1, Wednesday
Arrive in Durham
Durham may be reached from all parts of the UK by train. We take a taxi from Durham Station to the ideally located and comfortable Three Tuns
Hotel for our six night stay. After registration and allocation of our rooms, there will be an opportunity to meet together over pre-dinner drinks.

Day 2, Thursday
Seahouses – Holy Island – Bamborough
After breakfast we drive by coach to the tiny seaside village of Seahouses to board the Motor Vessel ‘Glad Tidings’ for a cruise to Holy Island. Holy Island or Lindisfarne is known as the “cradle of Christianity”. It was from here that St Aidan and St Cuthbert spread the Christian message in the seventh century. This excellent unforgettable trip lasts 4 hours including
the 2 hours spent on the island. Commentary is given en route. Leaving Seahouses, we sail around Inner Farne where Cuthbert spent 10 years as a hermit, viewing many nesting sea birds and visit the Grey Seal colony at Megstone before sailing up the coast to Holy Island. The journey to and from Holy Island provides a good opportunity to see porpoise. The boat reaches Holy Island at high tide when the island is cut off from the mainland and the true peace and tranquility of island life can be experienced. Two hours are spent ashore, allowing time to visit Lindisfarne Priory, founded by St Aidan in AD 635.. We hope that Brother
Damian SSF will be present to talk about his work. On our return journey we sail along the beautiful coastline allowing magnificent seaward views of both Lindisfarne and Bamburgh Castles. On our return journey we visit St. Aidan’s Church in Bamburgh where Aidan is said to have died.

Day 3, Friday
Durham
The shrine of St. Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral is one of the great pilgrim destinations in Europe. The Cathedral was built because of him: not to house his shrine but as his shrine. The community of Holy Island, founded by St. Aidan, was increasingly at risk from Viking invasions in
the Saxon era. So they fled the Island, taking with them their most treasured possessions, the relics of St. Cuthbert, the head of St. Oswald and the book we know as the Lindisfarne Gospels. Today we have a guided tour of Durham Cathedral which houses the shrine of St. Cuthbert and the tomb of Bede, the chronicler of Cuthbert’s life. Later we will visit the Cathedral Treasury in which is Cuthbert’s coffin with its image of Christ surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists, as well as his pectoral cross and portable altar. In the city is a new piece of public
art by Fenwick Lawson which depicts six monks carrying Cuthbert’s coffin on its way towards Durham.

Day 4, Saturday
Whitby Abbey
After breakfast we drive to the ruined Whitby Abbey founded in AD 657 by the Anglo-Saxon King of Northumbria, Oswy and sited spectacularly on Whitby’s East Cliff on the North Yorkshire coast. Oswy appointed Lady Hilda, Abbess of Hartlepool Abbey and niece of Edwin the first Christian king of Northumbria, as founding Abbess. The double monastery of
Benedictine monks and nuns was the site of the Synod of Whitby, at which King Oswy ruled that the Northumbrian Church would adopt the
roman calculation of Easter. There will be some free time for lunch and to explore the picturesque town before returning to Durham.

Day 5, Sunday
Durham Cathedral – Hexham
This morning there is an opportunity to attend the 11.15 am Sung Eucharist in Durham Cathedral. In the afternoon we travel the short
distance to Hexham Abbey founded by Wilfrid, Bishop of York c.674.
Of Wilfrid’s Benedictine Abbey, the Saxon crypt and apse still remain. Hexham is a very attractive town in which to relax before returning
to Durham.

Day 6, Monday
Bede’s World and Monkwearmouth
After breakfast we travel by coach to Bede’s World in Jarrow, an interactive Age of Bede exhibition set in a new museum on the site of the
Anglo-Saxon monastery of St. Paul. We visit St. Peter’s Church in Monkwearmouth, dating back to the time of Bede to hold a service of the Word.

Day 7, Tuesday
Ripon – Lastingham - York
This morning we leave Durham for our journey home, driving first by the fast A1 road to the historic cathedral city of Ripon. The Cathedral stands over a Crypt built by St. Wilfrid in AD 672 as a place of prayer and devotion. He believed it to be a copy of the tomb of Jesus. The crypt is kept empty as a memorial of the emptiness of Christ’s tomb. From
Ripon we travel to the tiny village of Lastingham at the foot of the North York Moors. In AD 654 St. Cedd founded a monastery here as an outpost of St. Andrew’s at Lindisfarne. The monastery was abandoned during the Viking period and rebuilt after the Norman Conquest with the present crypt dedicated to St. Cedd. Uniquely it has two aisles, a small chancel and an apse and is low and cell like. The Crypt is a fitting place to celebrate the Eucharist and end our week of journey and discovery. From Lastingham we drive to York Station for our journey home or alternatively back to our Durham hotel to collect a car.

Location:

Three Tuns Hotel (***)

The Three Tuns hotel is located in the heart of Durham and dates back to the 16th century. The hotel retains a traditional atmosphere with much charm and character. There are many features within this popular hotel such as the stained glass ceilings, extensive oak panelling, original woodcarvings and open fireplaces providing a unique experience. Dining is in the Browns Restaurant which provides a comfortable and relaxed setting in which to enjoy excellent freshly prepared cuisine and a wide selection of dishes and drinks. All bedrooms have ensuite bathrooms, satellite TV, tea and coffee making facilities and fridge with fresh milk and mineral water.