my raid on Llindisfarne
Apr. 13th, 2019 11:03 pmToday was a serious win. Toured Lindisfarne with a bunch of archaeologists. The leader of the group has been doing the recent excavations there and knows LOTS about the island, so I enjoyed every moment of the tour.
It is a part-time island, connected to the mainland by a paved road that is underwater at high tide. There are prominent signs here and there on the island with photos of a car half-filled with water and a warning to check the tide tables, which are posted right next to the photo, and list all of the times that are safe to cross (highlighted in green), and all of the times that are not safe to cross (highlighted in red) for each day in the next few weeks.
We spent about 2.5 hours on the tour, walking a short distance, then getting more stories before moving on to the next spot. The south end of the island has a prominent hill composed of a basaltic dyke which probably explains why the sandstone and limestone that make up the rest of the island hasn't eroded away yet. Not surprisingly, that is the end of the island that contains the castle (post-medieval) and ruins of the monastery and churches, as well as the current churches, museum, and village full of tourist cafes, shops, Bed and Breakfasts, etc. that such an island needs. After the official tour ended we were turned loose to explore the island as we will. I had realised early on in the tour that I didn't have my glasses case with me (and thus when we went into the church I had to choose between looking at stuff through my sunglasses, or without any correction at all. Neither of these were very good options). Therefore, while everyone else scattered in small groups, I went on my own back to the bus, where I was pleased that the glasses case was still on my seat. Then I wandered back through the village and ate my lunch sitting on the edge of the ruins. I decided that it would be wise to take it easy, so rather than any serious exploring I wandered into some of the shops (I choose not to enter the museum or main church ruins, as those cost an unknown admission fee (why the price wasn't posted I don't know, but I didn't feel for asking)). The museum gift shop was selling various flavours of "all-butter curd", and had a taster jar of the black current variety. It was very tasty. The ingredient list was berries, sugar, butter, and eggs, so nothing I don't eat. I will have to look up recipes later and see about trying to make some from our black currants at home.
One of the shops was selling prints of some beautiful art that was both very modern and very inspired by the kinds of Celtic knotwork that features in the Lindisfarne Gospels. It was beautiful, but all very religious in theme, so I didn't want any for myself. However, one design made me think of a friend, so I bought a card for her. However, in hindsight, I realise that Kim isn't the only Christian I know and love, so I will share a link to the artist's on line presence. The rest of you might want to have a look anyway, despite the religious theme it is still very pretty.
Then I went to a cafe and bought a scone, jam, and clotted cream and curled up on the couch with my book. After I put the book down I realised that the three people sitting across from me were part of my tour group, and I got to talking to them. They asked me about the nålbinding I had been doing during the talks and I showed them how to do it. The conversation soon revealed that Robin and his wife Victoria do Medieval Re-Enactment (15th Century). She complained that their group is fussy about the "not one strand of hair may show out from under your head covering, but her curls aren't as easy to contain as the hair of the other ladies in her group. I told them to come play SCA with us, we have 1000 years of history to play with, and not all centuries were that fussy about hair covering.
Then I invited them to join me at the SCA gathering just outside Durham that I was heading to after the tour. Victoria had a cold, and has been organising the conference (which is why she was there anyway), so she opted to head home, but Robin was up for the extra adventure, and joined me at the Pub where the other SCA folk had gathered for a post-event meal before heading home. The ones at the pub were mostly from other areas--St. Andrews, Edinburgh, etc., but there was a local couple. Robin enjoyed hanging out with us, and we exchanged contact details, and I have sent him contact info for![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aryanhwy so they can do stuff with the SCA locally.
On the way back to the city center from the village pub Robin commented to me that during the day, while it was sunny but cold, with a constantly blowing wind, he was envious of my hood. I was glad to have the hood, Viking coat, and wool tunic. How lucky forme I heard of the event before packing for the trip.
It is a part-time island, connected to the mainland by a paved road that is underwater at high tide. There are prominent signs here and there on the island with photos of a car half-filled with water and a warning to check the tide tables, which are posted right next to the photo, and list all of the times that are safe to cross (highlighted in green), and all of the times that are not safe to cross (highlighted in red) for each day in the next few weeks.
We spent about 2.5 hours on the tour, walking a short distance, then getting more stories before moving on to the next spot. The south end of the island has a prominent hill composed of a basaltic dyke which probably explains why the sandstone and limestone that make up the rest of the island hasn't eroded away yet. Not surprisingly, that is the end of the island that contains the castle (post-medieval) and ruins of the monastery and churches, as well as the current churches, museum, and village full of tourist cafes, shops, Bed and Breakfasts, etc. that such an island needs. After the official tour ended we were turned loose to explore the island as we will. I had realised early on in the tour that I didn't have my glasses case with me (and thus when we went into the church I had to choose between looking at stuff through my sunglasses, or without any correction at all. Neither of these were very good options). Therefore, while everyone else scattered in small groups, I went on my own back to the bus, where I was pleased that the glasses case was still on my seat. Then I wandered back through the village and ate my lunch sitting on the edge of the ruins. I decided that it would be wise to take it easy, so rather than any serious exploring I wandered into some of the shops (I choose not to enter the museum or main church ruins, as those cost an unknown admission fee (why the price wasn't posted I don't know, but I didn't feel for asking)). The museum gift shop was selling various flavours of "all-butter curd", and had a taster jar of the black current variety. It was very tasty. The ingredient list was berries, sugar, butter, and eggs, so nothing I don't eat. I will have to look up recipes later and see about trying to make some from our black currants at home.
One of the shops was selling prints of some beautiful art that was both very modern and very inspired by the kinds of Celtic knotwork that features in the Lindisfarne Gospels. It was beautiful, but all very religious in theme, so I didn't want any for myself. However, one design made me think of a friend, so I bought a card for her. However, in hindsight, I realise that Kim isn't the only Christian I know and love, so I will share a link to the artist's on line presence. The rest of you might want to have a look anyway, despite the religious theme it is still very pretty.
Then I went to a cafe and bought a scone, jam, and clotted cream and curled up on the couch with my book. After I put the book down I realised that the three people sitting across from me were part of my tour group, and I got to talking to them. They asked me about the nålbinding I had been doing during the talks and I showed them how to do it. The conversation soon revealed that Robin and his wife Victoria do Medieval Re-Enactment (15th Century). She complained that their group is fussy about the "not one strand of hair may show out from under your head covering, but her curls aren't as easy to contain as the hair of the other ladies in her group. I told them to come play SCA with us, we have 1000 years of history to play with, and not all centuries were that fussy about hair covering.
Then I invited them to join me at the SCA gathering just outside Durham that I was heading to after the tour. Victoria had a cold, and has been organising the conference (which is why she was there anyway), so she opted to head home, but Robin was up for the extra adventure, and joined me at the Pub where the other SCA folk had gathered for a post-event meal before heading home. The ones at the pub were mostly from other areas--St. Andrews, Edinburgh, etc., but there was a local couple. Robin enjoyed hanging out with us, and we exchanged contact details, and I have sent him contact info for
aryanhwy so they can do stuff with the SCA locally.On the way back to the city center from the village pub Robin commented to me that during the day, while it was sunny but cold, with a constantly blowing wind, he was envious of my hood. I was glad to have the hood, Viking coat, and wool tunic. How lucky forme I heard of the event before packing for the trip.
