The Holy Island - forever on my bucket list
Paul Topping
CEO at Tractopping | Owner of The Glasshouse Victoria | The Wine Man of Sri Lanka | Author of a number of travel/ humour books | Weekly article in the Daily Mirror
For a certain generation in England (approx. 1970 to 1980) if you mention Lindisfarne, they would tell you they were a band from up north England with hits like, “Run for Home, Fog on the Tyne, Meet Me on the Corner". Lindisfarne, however, means "Holy Island".
This Holy Island has been on my bucket list since I was sixteen years of age. I was then living near Hartlepool, the monkey-hanging town. Only ninety minutes away from Holy Island.
Read more about The Monkey Hangers of Hartlepool in my book two. (The Whinging Pome - On the Road Again)
We are driving down the A1 from Edinburgh to Newcastle last year and one of the crazy moments hit me. We are in the vicinity of Lindisfarne and I’m determined to visit the location as it’s about ten miles off the highway. Jezzabel sees the sign and we head for this Holy Island and the North Sea.
The history of Lindisfarne goes back to the Anglo-Saxons. In 635 Saint Aidan, an Irish bishop at the time, chose the island in Alnwick to set up a church.
In 793 the Vikings attacked the island and many monks died as martyrs, since then it has been called the Holly Island. It had a mixed history in the Middle Ages spinning from Irish origin to Scottish and English. It is 45 miles from the Scottish border and it was one of the most important centres for early English Christians.
There are the ruins of the parish church dating from 1066. In the 18th century, it became the Presbyterian Scottish church.
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Things to do are numerous and there are also great walking opportunities, it’s a national nature reserve with the Viking coasts, stunning massive sandy beaches and the Pilgrims Path to the mainland. History presents itself with Lindisfarne Castle, amazing views, walled gardens, and some buildings converted into holiday homes.
Nearby in Barnburgh is the castle of the kings of Northumbria. To support this site, see the Lindisfarne Heritage Centre, nature exhibitions and the gift shop with Celtic crafts.
A peaceful, awesome place with stunning massive sandy beaches.
We reach the crossing to the island, but the tide is in. Jumping out of the car to check things out there is an ice cream van standing in about 3 inches of water I’m hopeful the tide is going out but the ice cream man informs me is coming in, so we can’t drive to the island. We have to be at Newcastle airport for a night flight. My dream of getting on the island is thwarted. There is only one thing to do - buy a “99” ice cream cone with a flake chocolate bar in it and put my feet in the salty seawater.
I stare at the Holy Island and wonder if I’ll ever get on to it.
We arrived via Hadrians wall, Newcastle, Seahouses. The tide was out, on the way in. One hour till exiting the road before closure. Unfortunately scaffolding was up and the island buildings closed. We sat in wonder. Pick nick in the car park. Never found the fog, or saw the Tyne again. Chip stotties for tea back at our digs in a town. We called home for a week. We are Saxons from angleland. We came to see the wonders of the North. We experienced all we saw and gave our wishes back to the Sea. In ships. Friendships. Thank you. Paul. Terry. Post. TPQAOK. waveyline.
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1 年A great blog Paul Topping. Lindesfarne, aka Holy Island, is an icon of the north! As a child of the 70’s and growing up in the 80’s my parents used to send me to summer camp on Holy Island. I loved it, it really gave me an appreciation of the outdoors, walking, fishing with handlines, football / cricket on the beach. We used to collect St Cuthberts beads on the shoreline, fossils of some kind that used to break off in segments. At night the camp leaders would tell nightmare inducing stories about a fabled “Seal Man”. The gentry used to shoot clay pigeons over the mud flats, my knee still bear the scars of falling onto one while mucking about. Last year I returned to Lindesfarne with my wife. The place had hardly change, except bigger car parking facilities and the iconic Lindesfarne Mead factory now had a pretty good range of mead products - they even produce gin. I do recommend you try to make it back there, especially visit the castle and learn about all the shenanigans that went on there ??. I’d also recommend visiting Seahouses, buying Craster Kippers and heading out to the Farne Islands if you enjoy nature at its wildest!