Pilgrimage

In 793 the Northmen came in their longships to Lindisfarne and sacked the monastery. It put the "dark" in Dark Ages. We arrived in a Nissan and paid £6 to park.

Lindisfarne or Holy Island can only be reached across a causeway when the tide is low. The landscape is somewhere between bleak and spectacular. 

We enjoyed our walk to the small castle and then back to the Abbey and church. This is where St Aidan, St Cuthbert, St Eadfrith and St Eadberht worked. There is a spectacular sculpture in the church remembering the journey of the monks carrying St Cuthberts coffin. Pilgrims still follow St Cuthbert's Way and walk barefoot across the tidal flats.

From Holy Island we went to the massive castle of Bamburgh.  Its mass dominates the Northumberland coast. The site features with its earlier name of Bebbanburgh in the Netflix series, the Last Kingdom. Costumes and props from the series are displayed here. Lyn was thrilled to finally get to see some old kitchens and laundries.

A short drive south is the little seaside town of Seahouses. On the way we passed the Grace Darling museum which remembers the most famous of many rescues on this coast. We resisted the lure of fish and ships but Lyn succumbed when she found an op shop. We returned to Melrose with a scarf and book.