Durham Days
We've had a lovely time in Durham with family. We took the train from York to Durham last Thursday afternoon and were met at Durham station by Darren's mum's cousin Jean. The following morning we went with Jean to Beamish Museum- it was a great opportunity for the kids to learn about our family coal mining history, and to see what it was like to live in the north of England in years gone by. Beamish is great, a really authentic experience- all the staff including cleaners and maintenance wear period costumes. The maintenance people drove around in a 1940's truck. We learnt about dentistry and printing in the late 1800's and into the 1900's. They've recreated a town at Beamish including a brick by brick reconstruction of a general store that Darren's great grandmother used to shop at when it was in its original location.
We continued the learning about mining the next day in Durham- it was the Durham Miners Gala or 'Th' big meetin day'- about 250,000 people jam the streets of Durham as all the colliery banners and bands march by- there are no mines operating now, but the villages keep the memories alive at the gala. It's now a celebration of socialism, and trade unionism- teachers and health worker unions join in the parade. It was a scorching hot day and absolute madness trying to get through the crowds- we met up with Uncle John and James and Aunty Olwyn and Uncle Dave and made our way to the fields where there are fun fair rides, food trucks, communist and socialist groups with propaganda, and the banners from all the mines line the fields. On the stage, speaker after speaker, frequently using the word comrade, talk about how things should be. The speeches finished with the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn speaking, to many cheers and applause from the crowd. Each year, some of the bands are selected to play in the Cathedral Service at the end of the parade. We walked up to Durham cathedral, one of Darren's favourite places in the world, and walked in as the choir was singing. Durham cathedral is beautiful - compared to many of the other cathedrals it has a simple, uncluttered reverence about it- and the music of the bands and voices of the choir fill the space. Jack was happy to miss all this, instead spending the day with Cormac, the grandson of cousin Jean's husband, Ken. Jack enjoyed a day of soccer and technology! Cormac's sister, Lucy, spent the day with us at the gala- she and Karis had a great time together. That evening we left Jean's place in Lanchester and moved to Esh Winning to visit with Darren's mum's cousins - Olwyn and David- we all went out for a stunning curry at an Indian restaurant on the outskirts of Durham.
On Sunday, it was a gathering of the clan for a picnic at a park south of Durham, there were about 20 of us- all relatives of Darren's family! A huge privilege when in New Zealand, there's just Darren's dad and sister!
Olwyn and David are wonderfully hospitable people- we used to spend our Christmases here when we lived in England about 15 years ago- it was great to bring Karis and Jack here, all the cousins were just lovely to them. We spent a day travelling up to Bambrugh Castle on the Northumberland Coast, a beautifully conserved castle, right on the beach that looks out at the Farne Islands, and up to Lindisfarne, or Holy Island. We drove back along the beautiful Northumbrian coast, past the ruins of Dunstanburgh and Warkworth castles. The following day we drove through the beautiful Durham and Northumbria countryside to Hadrian's wall and the ancient Roman fort at Homesteads- almost 2,000 year old ruins. From there, we went to the village of Twice Brewed, ( believe it or not, the village of Once Brewed is a couple of miles down the road)! At Twice Brewed there's a lovely pub that brews it's own beers- we enjoyed a nice range of hand- pulled beers-apart from Karis and Jack who had lemonade! That evening James and David cooked a BBQ, including a stunning trout caught by Dave- it was a balmy evening- stunning food, local beer, boules on the lawn- bliss!
Wednesday morning, there were tearful goodbyes to Olwyn and David, and to James who was on the train back to London, and then John drove us back to York - a wonderful few days in Durham.
We continued the learning about mining the next day in Durham- it was the Durham Miners Gala or 'Th' big meetin day'- about 250,000 people jam the streets of Durham as all the colliery banners and bands march by- there are no mines operating now, but the villages keep the memories alive at the gala. It's now a celebration of socialism, and trade unionism- teachers and health worker unions join in the parade. It was a scorching hot day and absolute madness trying to get through the crowds- we met up with Uncle John and James and Aunty Olwyn and Uncle Dave and made our way to the fields where there are fun fair rides, food trucks, communist and socialist groups with propaganda, and the banners from all the mines line the fields. On the stage, speaker after speaker, frequently using the word comrade, talk about how things should be. The speeches finished with the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn speaking, to many cheers and applause from the crowd. Each year, some of the bands are selected to play in the Cathedral Service at the end of the parade. We walked up to Durham cathedral, one of Darren's favourite places in the world, and walked in as the choir was singing. Durham cathedral is beautiful - compared to many of the other cathedrals it has a simple, uncluttered reverence about it- and the music of the bands and voices of the choir fill the space. Jack was happy to miss all this, instead spending the day with Cormac, the grandson of cousin Jean's husband, Ken. Jack enjoyed a day of soccer and technology! Cormac's sister, Lucy, spent the day with us at the gala- she and Karis had a great time together. That evening we left Jean's place in Lanchester and moved to Esh Winning to visit with Darren's mum's cousins - Olwyn and David- we all went out for a stunning curry at an Indian restaurant on the outskirts of Durham.
On Sunday, it was a gathering of the clan for a picnic at a park south of Durham, there were about 20 of us- all relatives of Darren's family! A huge privilege when in New Zealand, there's just Darren's dad and sister!
Olwyn and David are wonderfully hospitable people- we used to spend our Christmases here when we lived in England about 15 years ago- it was great to bring Karis and Jack here, all the cousins were just lovely to them. We spent a day travelling up to Bambrugh Castle on the Northumberland Coast, a beautifully conserved castle, right on the beach that looks out at the Farne Islands, and up to Lindisfarne, or Holy Island. We drove back along the beautiful Northumbrian coast, past the ruins of Dunstanburgh and Warkworth castles. The following day we drove through the beautiful Durham and Northumbria countryside to Hadrian's wall and the ancient Roman fort at Homesteads- almost 2,000 year old ruins. From there, we went to the village of Twice Brewed, ( believe it or not, the village of Once Brewed is a couple of miles down the road)! At Twice Brewed there's a lovely pub that brews it's own beers- we enjoyed a nice range of hand- pulled beers-apart from Karis and Jack who had lemonade! That evening James and David cooked a BBQ, including a stunning trout caught by Dave- it was a balmy evening- stunning food, local beer, boules on the lawn- bliss!
Wednesday morning, there were tearful goodbyes to Olwyn and David, and to James who was on the train back to London, and then John drove us back to York - a wonderful few days in Durham.
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