We are about four miles outside Durham. I was hoping to cart the gear down there having been inspired by a couple of excellent posts here at J_ON_TOUR. The weather is better today but not good enough to warrant dragging a bag of equipment four miles in the dark to get pictures of an undoubtedly beautiful city before it becomes thronged by it’s populace. I suspect it is a venue for the summer but a quick scout round is rarely wasted.
We are looking out over the remains of Finchale Abbey or Priory. I suspect the Abbot lived in Durham and Priors here. It is very very old, over eight hundred years with odd bits even older than that. It’s pronounced Finkle. If you would like to know more then it’s on Wikipedia.
It is all fenced off and managed by English Heritage. There is a key available so hopefully if the light improves I’ll pay them for the loan of the key and spend an hour taking some pictures. It does look rather impressive.
Finchale Priory……………or what remains of it.
The footbridge over the River Wear and the farmhouse where the key resides. So no hassle at all to gain admittance and as a bonus I will have the place to myself.
The entrance to the footbridge. I only include it because the little sign to the left of the top hinge says No Horses. Were I engrossed in negotiating this on my horse I suspect I could well miss the sign…….It needs to be much, much larger. We are sign crazy in this country. It seems no one can erect anything without it having a notice to accompany it. I would also like to see a large sign banning buses and lorries.
The River Wear.
I hope I get some reasonable light. I could have fun here……….already had a little with this one.
And this………Tomorrow I’ll try and put my serious head on and do a proper job.
That’s it for today. I am here tomorrow and maybe Wednesday but if it looks like snow I’ll get away as I want to be in the Lake District for the next cold spell…………….Cruel I know but I get endless amusement from watching geese landing on ice and crashing into each other. I had a week or more of this behaviour last winter and they never seemed to get any better at it.
Have a good week whatever you are up to.
That priory looks very interesting Adrian. Hope you manage to get in there.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the geese too, if you get to the Lake District. A cruel man; but I admit, entertaining to watch lol
Oh, the poor geese. The priory was an extraordinary shots.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking into my blog. In the same way that I have inspired, you have returned the favour by inspiring me to visit Finchale Priory.... shame on me for neglecting it for so long. Nice work, I'm beginning to see why you operate in the snow.
ReplyDeleteThere is always the Durham park and ride for £1.70 .... I can just see you dragging your bag of equipment onto the minibus with all those Christmas shoppers and tourists !! J
Keith, It is a grand spot here. The geese Canada are the dimmest they come in twenty at a time and expect to stop in a yard........twenty if they are lucky.......never seems to be any harm done but they kick up a hell of a racket.
ReplyDeleteBob, I'll try for a proper abbey tomorrow. The geese take no harm.
Jay, It's quiet for a start in winter. I suspect to get the best out of Durham will mean a 5 am sorty in summer. Lights good early and there is no one about. No way would I get on the bus this time of the year.
The Priory looks ready made for some good photographs. As you probably have guessed old ruins are right up the Abbots alleyway.
ReplyDeleteThe last shot reminds me of White Ladies Priory Staffordshire.
Happy hunting tomorrow...I wish I was up there with you.
Trevor, right up mine too, we have a lot in common. It is cold and miserable but looks to be getting really cold for the weekend with some fresh snow.......we will see.
ReplyDeleteThe priory looks interesting but, oh boy, does the river look cold!
ReplyDeleteGraham, many of the rivers have been freezing over in their languid sections. The cold comes back on Thursday.....Called global cooling....should be self regulating the more oil, coal and gas we burn to keep warm the warmer the earth will get.
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