England/Scotland 2024 Pilgrimage – Day 9: Lindisfarne

September 9, 2024

Correction:

First things first. My husband gently encouraged me to actually do the math from yesterday’s post. St. Andrews school was begun 611 years ago. Not over 1,000 years ago, as I had said. So sorry!

Goodbye, Scotland

This morning we began heading south. After taking the Edinburgh bypass, we left Scotland. Goodbye! You were a lovely hostess!

Lindisfarne, Northumbria, England

Lindisfarne is a tidal island which means, when the tide is in, it is an island. When the tide is out, it isn’t an island. King Oswald, King of Northumbria, requested that someone come from Iona to Northumbria. St. Aiden and 12 other men came and set up a monsetary on Lindesfarne.

When you visit Lindisfarne (or Holy Island as it is currently called on the map,) you must first check the tide schedule. There IS a road from the mainland to Lindisfarne, but only when the tide is out. When the tide is in, and it comes in QUICKLY, Lindisfarne becomes an Island. Today’s “safe crossing times” were between 9:50 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Several people had asked if we planned to walk barefoot over to the island, which many pilgrims do. We weren’t sure. There were a fair number of walkers on the paved road which is a windy mile long with no pedestrian pathway. I said that I had NO desire to walk down that road, with or without shoes.

We noticed tall poles in the sand, a bit out from the road. Come to find out, they (roughly) mark the way for walkers who want to cross in wellies or barefooted. OK, I’d be willing to do that. (But I don’t think we will.)

All vehicles, except those with special permission, must park just outside the town area. We walked around town, wandered into St. Mary’s Church, found the toilets, then walked a path out to Lindisfarne Castle which was closer to the North Sea beach.

We didn’t go inside the castle since there was a fee of $13 each, and we didn’t want to take the time to be inside. It was a lovely day to walk, albeit windy and a bit chilly. I had on layers of clothing and my ear warmers.

Walking back into town, we took a different path to see the old priory ruins and church with graveyard.

St. Cuthbert’s Island

From the graveyard, we could see St. Cuthbert‘s Island with nothing but a hill and a wooden cross to mark it. Since the tide was low, we decided to walk over. That meant finding a dry path through rocky places, then cross sand, and finally come to a grassy area. It was nice to be out of the crowd. There was only one other woman there with us.

Reformed Church

Once we were safely back on the main island, we walked around town a bit more and found St. Cuthbert’s Centre – The United Reformed Church on Holy Island. It was a small church. The priest was welcoming. The inside didn’t look like a church anymore. The building was modernized with an open floor plan. Groups are able to rent it for special events. There was a small circle of chairs and a table in one corner. It looked as though she leads morning prayers there. She pointed us towards a tiny chapel behind the church. It had two chairs. Yes, it is TINY.

Bamburgh

Tonight and tomorrow night, we are staying in another town which claims significant history to Christianity, Bamburgh. St. Aiden’s monastery was on Lindisfarne, but he set up a church in this town. There is a castle on a hill by the sea here, too. This is the town that the Liverpool priests told us was a hidden gem. Well, no more. I guess it has been featured on too many “hidden gem town” shows.

We walked to St. Aiden’s Church. They have a Eucharistic service on Tuesday mornings at 10am so we plan to attend. We walked around their grounds and graveyard. And we went down to the crypt.

Comforting Pub Food

We decided we had seen as much as we wanted to see. We were hungry and decided to pass on the local crab and/or lobster sandwiches to see what was around our hotel. After checking in and then finally finding a place to park on the street a few blocks away (by-product of this town not being secret anymore), we wandered around the small town for something to eat.

Several of the places recommended to us seemed to serve fancy food. That just didn’t sound enticing to either of us. When we looked at the menu for The Middle Inn Pub, we knew this was where we wanted to eat. I had a delicious “fish pie.” It had lots of mild fish in it along with a mild smoked or salt cured fish (?) and some small shrimp in a cream sauce. Creamy mashed potatoes were around the inside edge of the bowl. It was served with green peas. Gregg had a roast beef sandwich and chips (fries.) It hit the spot!

Nighty Night!

Friends, if this doesn’t make sense, it is because, once again, I’m falling asleep as I type. It is “only” 9:23. I think all the walking, fresh air, wind and sometimes sun just takes it out of me. I’ll add some photos into this post and then connect with you again tomorrow.

PS – Thank you!

Many of you have replied to my emails saying you are enjoying traveling vicariously with us. Thank you so much for reading and for taking the time to write. You encourage me, especially at times like this when I’m zzzzz Love and hugs to all! 💛