What A Wild Night...

The blustery wind started as I reached home yesterday and it was good to be home as I was being blown around somewhat and when you are unsteady on your feet/mobility impaired its more difficult.

Now perhaps I'm glutton for punishment...I have discovered that something does happen outside Durham Cathedral today before the inauguration service but space is limited and I have been told to get there early. At least forty five minutes before. I may get swamped and see nothing but allowing the travel time by bus, my slowness and getting to the Cathedral once in Durham I shall make tracks in the next hour or so.

I have the rest of the day to recover...the weekend actually.

I may also make an early start on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday as I understand you can watch the locomotives that have been on show this past week being taken away from the museum but that's between 8am-9am so it will depend on the buses. One requires a journey and change of bus and that takes approx an hour or the other is fifteen minutes, one bus and arrives fifteen minutes later than the other one. So that's the easier option.

I have slept not too badly(considering my cough)and have my throat sweets at the ready. I will wrap up well in case its cold, wet and windy.

Update:The Right Reverend Paul Butler Bishop of Durham arrives at Durham Cathedral before the service of Enthronement. I like him and he has a very easy friendly manner about him and I have high hopes that he will bring something good to the position.              







Again not unlike yesterday we were told to move though we were not in the way and the crowd was really small. The clergy had no problem with us but someone who obviously works in the PR department was a jobsworth. That person disappeared so in hindsight I probably could have returned to my originally location. And I suspect everyone else did, its all about control of image and cynically I perhaps did not fit it, that's how I feel rightly or wrongly. Over sensitive? Perhaps...

Until the children appeared I would guess there were only about six people to witness the ceremony and perhaps four people from the press taking pictures. The above is the genuine knocking on the door but earlier the pose was rehearsed for the press*. In general we were able to see what was happening. Perhaps I should have stayed to see him come out.

So much better than yesterday. The clergy even went out of their way to find me a seat for the service but I thought this ceremony where the new Bishop knocks on the door would probably be worth seeing and I would be so far away from the service I would not see anything. I was torn though.

I have some video footage I will try and tidy up and post a link to.

*Click on the link and that figure bottom right in my photo you can see the image he took.

I am not taking credit for this image(It is the Evening Chronicle)but I hope they don't mind that I put it here because I am in the background in the green hat.



Here is a link to the story and more images in the Evening Chronicle