Day 7: Durham to Washington

Maurice writes "In the morning we shall be following the route of Cuddy's Corse [Northumbrian for Cuthbert's Body] which is represented by a red cross within two concentric red circles. This may be the route that St Cuthbert's body was carried from Chester-le-Street to Durham. Finchale Priory en route is the place where St Godric finished up. In the afternoon we shall follow a railway path before turning left through the Princess Anne Park and so to Washington Village."

Having cleared the hall, we started the day with a Eucharist, Jonny read the lesson...

...and Ania the psalm.

Afterwards, Bruce and Aruna cleaned the church.

Last minute route planning for the support cars, and pilgrims gather for setting out prayers.

Into the middle of Durham, through the Market Place...

...over the Wear again...

...and alongside the river.

Passing Frankland Prison.

Birthday-girl Philomena and Mike.

At Finchale Priory we stopped for refreshments prior to prayer...

Michael and Joyce have joined us again.

Julia and Annie.

Euan and Mike.

Ania and Sam.

Then a heavy shower - pilgrims retreated to various shelters, but John's was the most inventive.

Patrick prays for sunshine before he leads the reflection.

Pilgrims gather in the dry.

...but it doesn't stop Joan "dancing in the rain".

We explored the ruins before pressing on.

The undercroft.

Francis provides evidence that the sun came out.

Peter, Doug and Pat on one of the few non-paved paths of this day.

Patrick "improves" a local viewing point.

The backmarkers try it for size.

Godwin crosses a stile.

Sarah strides through the pretty flowers.

Caroline leads Godwin as we approach Chester-le-Street.

The front markers in a pub (quelle surprise!)

Aid takes advantage of a 2-for-£7 lunch offer, and Peter looks jealous despite having had his own lunch.

We reconvene at St Mary and St Cuthbert for prayers.

It's an impressive church.

David gave a talk about apathy, drawing on his detailed knowledge of the history of coal mining in the area.

Sarcophagus at the church.

Anne abused other pilgrims with her stick, which then found its way into a tree - just beyond her reach.

Lois leads through the town.

Two young girls were among those who asked us what we were doing and took one of our leaflets.

Up the hill under the railway.

We crossed the East Coast Main Line and got some train pictures for Julian (at last!). Julian says: "This is a pair of class 220 Voyager units now working for Arriva Cross Country. (They were called Virgin Voyagers before Virgin lost the Cross Country franchise)"

"This is a Mark 4 DVT Driving Van Trailer (DVT) as Part of an ex-National Express East Coast IC225 unit (now run by the government). Sometimes referred to as a Driving Luggage Van (DLV), it's a purpose-built railway vehicle that allows the driver to operate a locomotive at the opposite end of the train; in this case it would be a Class 91 electric loco originally branded by British Rail as Inter City 225 when first introduced in the mid 1980's."

Mark and Lois

Claire and Henriette (tailed by John)

Backmarkers in a park

A bit showery as we approached Washington

We're split between 2 sites, and convened at the village hall for supper.