Day 6 of our England trip was a day for folks to scatter for their own interests. I made a trip with our resident scholar to Durham. We chatted about the Holy Roman Empire (which I still don’t fully understand) and mottes and baileys and what it’s like to be an academic at colleges that prioritize teaching. (Overall it’s pretty great, although it makes it hard when you feel like you should be producing more academic content.)
Durham was chilly and beautiful on this day. It’s a steady climb to the cathedral, but worth it. It may be worth asking why I would ride a train for an hour to see another cathedral. I mean I’ve seen a lot of the past few years. And yet they continually amaze me. Durham, in particular, has some unique charms. The Venerable Bede is buried there, as is Cuthbert. One of my favorite modern theologians, N. T. Wright was bishop there. The cathedral is more Norman than Gothic, and while I prefer Gothic, this was something new. They also have incorporated a lot of modern art in the windows and installations. Durham is old, and yet still a vibrant religious community. As an added bonus they filmed scenes from Harry Potter and Avengers: EndGame here. (I talked the volunteer coordinator into letting me into the chapel that they used for McGonagall’s classroom. She also showed me the hallway they used for Fluffy’s corridor in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, but it is no longer safe for visitors to traverse. Venerable Bede’s shrine was used for scenes from Thor’s home in Avengers: Endgame.)
Upon returning to Harrogate I strolled the city and took in the wholly surprising views of the surrounding countryside from my hotel. I planned to visit the spot where Constantine was crowned Emperor in York, but there is only so much a person can handle in one day.
