Durham & the North

With the clock winding down on our time in England, we had a few key spots that we hadn't reached quite yet on our list.  So, over February half-term, we ventured way north to see the ancient city of Durham, home to the third oldest university in the country and a host of other fun things.

Along the way, we passed a ruined castle called Bolsover just off the motorway, so we made a pit stop in the afternoon and explored.  The kids had a blast throwing poo in a children's activity with a guide that really wringed all the comedy out of medieval toilet habits.

It was a gorgeous sunny (but windy) day and we enjoyed wandering around the grounds and seeing the great vista from its high perch on a ridge line.

Onward we traveled and found our Airbnb on the outskirts of Durham.  It surprised us that it was directly on a main road with no good parking, but the inside was quiet and it was a good distance from the sights.

The next morning we decided to see the Beamish Museum, a living history folk museum that depicts and preserves the northern way of life in England from the early 1800's until WWII. There were several villages set up in a bowl-shaped valley focused on recreating a certain time period.  A circular road connected the villages with old trams, buses and a steam train ferrying the visitors to and from. 

We immediately observed how central coal was to Northern England, both as an industry and as the primary fuel to heat homes.  Every building had at least one coal fire burning, with its acrid and distinct smoke creating a haze inside and outside.  It's hard to imagine how horrible the air quality was a 50-100 years ago with millions of coal fires burning all over the country.

We decided to visit the chippy (fish and chips shop) since the smell wafting on the breeze from there was tantalizing.  Inside we observed the kitchen staff frying the fish and potatoes in beef drippings as opposed to vegetable oil which is the modern and more healthy method.  They kept the fryers going with heat from coal stoves.  Every 5 minutes or so they would shovel a dozen coal chunks into the oven and then wipe down the surfaces since the coal dust would never cease to accumulate.  The fish and chips was amazing, but we don't think we could eat it very often with how rich it was.

We left after lunch since we were not far from Hadrian's wall and had promised Callum that we would go to the Roman Army museum about an hour away.  We drove through the North Umberland ountryside and reached the museum about an hour before closing.

It had a plethora of interactive and multi-media displays that really captivated the kids' attention.

After having our minds flooded, we grabbed a quick snack at the museum café and then started driving home along the country road that paralleled Hadrian's wall.  We zoomed past a parking lot for an old Roman fort and decided we would have a little peek. We ended up hiking about 15 minutes across a small valley at sunset and had the ruins completely to ourselves. 

The most interesting and intact part of the fort was the latrines.

It also had fabulous views of the surrounding hills in all directions. 

It was blustery and chilly, but it was a great adventure. 

The next day we ventured into Durham proper, following Rick Steve's walking tour.  

We ate lunch at a fun little Turkish place in a 600 year old building before catching the very last tour of the day through the university.  The cathedral, university and castle all sat at the top of town with the river Wear arcing around it on three sides forming an impressive defensive barrier to attack.

We had a fairly eccentric graduate student give us the hour-long tour that included the dining hall, the chapel, a Norman arch and crypt from the 1100s and all sorts of fun factoids and tidbits.  Callum really worked up his nerve and asked a question at every invitation.

We caught part of the Evensong service at the cathedral and admired its soaring nave and interior while the choir sang.

There was an extremely detailed lego model of the cathedral inside that the kids really loved pouring over.  It had a few view windows to the inside of the cathedral with little lego people walking everywhere.  It even had lights inside - very cool!

The next day was our travel day back home (around 5 hour drive), but we had loved the Beamish museum so much that we decided to go back and try to see the villages we hadn't been able to see on the first day.

We're so glad we came back as we were able to tour the coal mine first thing and talk to a real coal miner who had worked in the mines until the last one closed down in the UK due to government mandate in 2015.

We spent most of our time in the Victorian turn of the century village.  We bought yummy old-time pastries, dressed up for an old-timey family photo shoot and even played some old-timey carnival games.  It was a lot of fun.