I've gotta leave old Durham town, and that leaving's gonna get me down.

   Roger Whittaker knew what he was talking about with those lyrics, for Durham is a very pleasant place and we shall be sorry to move on tomorrow.

  Amazon had done everything they promised, and a new water pump was waiting for us on arrival at the Durham Amateur Rowing Club. Half an hour fiddling around and all was well with the world again. The site here is compact, but tidy. We are right on the river's edge, and have access to the club facilities - unfortunately not the bar as it is too long and narrow to allow for social distancing.


The first night we took a stroll along the riverside path to the edge of the city centre and back, mainly just to gauge Ann's ability to do it. She managed but would not have been able to do any more, which meant we would need a taxi for our visit to the cathedral the next day.





The taxi driver gave us a great overview of the town on the way in this morning, which made up for the fact that the main bridge into the centre was closed - it had caught concrete cancer and needed extensive repairs.

Durham itself is very similar to Shrewsbury, in that the river nearly encircles it and has a lot of the same Tudor and Georgian buildings. It is very clean and tidy, but there is evidence that the lurgy has taken its toll on small shops and businesses. It is, however, a very pleasant town to visit.

They are very proud of their local regiment, the Durham Light Infantry, with some very well maintained memorials, and pristine park benches in their honour.





The cathedral is impressive, as you might imagine, and while spartan it had some beautifully carved pillars and fan vaulting, and some lovely rose windows. Unfortunately some of the chapels were closed off (presumably in case we gave the remains of Saint Cuthbert the lurgy), but the ornate marble pulpit was well worth seeing.



The Birthday Boy had a cracking good lunch in a restaurant called Bills, and because he could, he indulged in a fish overload - calamari with chilli and aoili, and two big sea bass fillets on what was basically colcannon and a lemon mayonnaise. Absolutely lovely. Ann had breaded haloumi sticks with aioli, and a grown up version of eggs benedict. She tucked in.




This is the town square.



I like Durham, and thoroughly recommend a visit there. We found the locals very friendly, and their accents intriguing - a sort of soft Geordie, but very sing song. There was no litter or graffiti.

Durham is a university town, with lots of students everywhere. They were all unfailingly polite and restrained. We saw no 16 stone tugs with blue hair and snot catchers in their nose trying to force their social agendas down your throat. At no time did we feel even uncomfortable in their presence.

Tomorrow we head north to Alnwick, just below Berwick on Tweed, for a stay at the Rugby Club there.













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