The Pilgrimage continues to Iona
Words on a wall in the Iona Abbey.
After completing our Pilgrimage Hike on the Way of St. Cuthbert we would take 3 days to travel across England and Scotland before reaching the island of Iona where we would spend our last 3 nights in the United Kingdom before flying home to California. All of our accommodations were grand and each one unique. After leaving Lindisfarne on May 20, we headed to Blanchland, to spend two nights at Lord Crew Arms' "storybook" lodging.
The entrance to Lord Crew Arms on the right in the village of Blanchland.
The building where our room was.
We were in Eggleston.
The letter greeting us with history of these unusual accommodations.
Our room.
The bathroom with old fashioned tub.
Another view of Blanchland.
Lord Crew Arms from a distance.
A painting depicting Lord Crew Arms.
Of course I took a walk early in the morning before we headed to Durham for the day. While we had a wonderful and interesting itinerary planned for the two days after our pilgrimage hike on St. Cuthbert's Way, I would have appreciated a full day at Blanchland to explore the nearby trails and countryside, and to process the experience of the hike. I had to be satisfied with two short morning walks.
A reflecting creek on the nearby trail.
Which fork should I take?
Actually they joined back together.
A field of flowers across the creek.
Following breakfast on May 21, we boarded our bus to head to the city of Durham and the church where St. Cuthbert's remains were finally buried.
A replica of the statue we saw in Lindisfarne of the monks carrying Cuthbert's coffin.
Durham church.
A Celtic cross in Durham.
More crosses.
The door knocker outside the church.
Inside the church.
Faded paintings on the wall above the arches.
More faded paintings.
A very ornate and restored section.
And finally, Cuthbert's final resting place.
And there he is under the slab on the floor.
A banner nearby.
And another banner.
Description at St. Cuthbert's Shrine.
A sculpture of a milk maid on the outside church wall.
We were told a legend about the milk maid, but I don't remember it.
The gardens below the Faith Museum.
Inside a chapel in the museum.
The ceiling of the chapel.
A description of the Faith Through Art Display.
Each artist was to answer one of three questions:
Am I alone?
How do I live?
Where do I belong?
Once again on the morning of May 22 I headed out for a short walk from Lord Crew Arms to explore a bit more of Blanchland.
The Blanchland Abbey
Inside the Abbey.
Sheep in the field nearby.
A bright yellow tree in the neighborhood.
An old shed in a pasture.
My beloved lilacs!
After breakfast on May 22, our luggage was loaded onto the bus and we headed toward Oban with a couple of stops on the way to visit a castle and a church.
Baumburg Castle in Northumbria.
Over 1400 years old and still inhabited.
The view of the sea from the castle.
Inside the castle.
The ceiling.
Beautiful artifacts.
Armor that was actually worn in the day.
A view out a window.
Looking into the village.
And again looking at the sea.
The next stop was the Rosslyn Chapel with an interesting history and architecture. It was founded in 1446 and is known for its mysterious symbolism in its ornate stone work.
Descriptive quotes about the chapel.
The outside of the chapel.
View of the front door.
A sculptured Trillium inside.
Photography was forbidden inside the chapel.
But I couldn't resist "stealing" a picture of the Trillium while no one was looking.
Prince Charles, now King Charles, opened the restored chapel in 1998.
A view of horse sculptures from the bus on our way to Oban.
The waters near our hotel in Oban.
My dinner salad.
And of course, I went for another early morning walk before breakfast and our departure for the ferry on May 23.
Looking toward the harbor and where our ferry to Mull would depart from.
A monument to the war dead.
A sail boat in the bay along my morning saunter.
Interesting history of the Oban area.
A lighthouse along my walk.
Where I turned to go back to the hotel.
DunOllie Castle
There was more to explore, but not more time to do it.
A ferry.
Another ferry.
Our Hotel.
On the walk to our ferry we paused to look at St. Columba's Cathedral.
Inside St. Columba's
Truth be told, the true "carrot" for this European adventure with Judith was the prospect of going to the island of Iona in the Inner Hebrides of the Isle of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. I first became intrigued with visiting this beautiful and isolated place many years ago. Iona is known as the birthplace of Celtic Christianity in Scotland. St. Columba arrived there in 563 to establish the Abbey which still stands. The island is about 1 mile wide and 4 miles long and is home to about 125 permanent residents and lots of sheep and some cattle. It is considered a "Thin Place," a place where the boundary between the physical and spiritual world is especially "thin." As we prepared to board the ferry on the morning of May 23, I became very excited about the prospect of finally visiting Iona. We would take a ferry ride of about an hour to the Isle of Mull, then an hour bus ride across Mull on a one way road, and then another 10 minute ferry ride to Iona.
We're now on the ferry headed to Mull
Arriving at the port on the Isle of Mull.
A view of the Mull countryside through the windows of the bus.
More of the view through our window.
A pretty creek.
More of Mull's beauty.
Now a picture of the granite shore from the ferry between Mull and Iona.
The Isle of Iona with the Abbey on the left and Dun I to the right.
Dun is Gaelic for hill and I is what Iona was once called. The Hill of Iona is the highest point on the island standing 333 feet above sea level.
Off the ferry and headed to the hotel.
Walking to our hotel from the ferry port.
The white building on the left is our hotel.
I didn't want to miss any chance to explore this beautiful place so as soon as we got settled in our room I headed out to Dun I. Throughout our time in Scotland and England we had not had any of the gloomy, rainy weather for which the UK is known, but on our arrival at Iona the sky was cloudy and during our 3 night visit we had a fair measure of rain, winds and clouds. I was actually very grateful to experience the more usual weather of the region.
Approaching Dun I
It wasn't a strenuous or long climb to the top, but there were some tricky spots and more than one route to take up and down.
A stone monument on the top.
A closer view.
Me at the blustery top.
A view from the top.
Another view from the top with the Abbey.
Sheep below me.
Not sure what the tower is - perhaps I'll have to return to find out.
The Well of Eternal Youth on the top of Dun I.
This natural pool of water is associated with the 6th Century St. Brigid of Ireland who is said to have blessed this little pool while visiting Iona on the Summer Solstice.
Another view to the north.
One of many crosses on the Isle of Iona.
Another cross.
Early on the morning of May 24 I headed out to explore some more before breakfast at our hotel.
Ruins of the old nunnery.
A wall of the nunnery.
A newer cross constructed in memory of those killed in WWI.
Walking along the shore.
Following breakfast in the hotel we all went to morning worship in the Abbey. We attended services there Saturday and Sunday, mornings and evenings. I knew something of the wonderfully inclusive, ecumenical nature of the Iona Community, and it was a true joy to be part of it.
Inside the chapel.
The baptismal font inside the Abbey.
Note the white marble streaked with yellow green serpentine.
This marble is unique to Iona.
Another view in the Abbey Chapel.
Following worship I went off to explore more of the island, beginning in the garden of our hotel.
A view of the Abbey from the garden behind our hotel.
A fountain in the hotel garden.
A chicken along my walk.
Yes, it's a golf course! Kept mowed by the sheep, all 18 holes of it.
Some of our group checked out clubs provided by our hotel and played the course.
But I was just passing by on my way to St. Columba's Bay on the South end of the island.
The rock formations were captivating!
A lake along the way.
Heading down to the bay.
I was happy to walk alone, but once or twice I questioned whether I was still on the right path.
More awesome rocks!
St. Columba's Bay.
And a plague on the rocks commemorating Columba's arrival in the year 563.
The water appears calmer in the picture than it was in person.
A beautiful variety of colors in the rocks.
Yes, I put some in my pockets!
A beautiful rock garden on my way back.
Pretty pink "Thrift."
A cow amongst the rocky landscape.
Looking back to say farewell to the bay.
A small black slug - there were lots of them.
The west shore of Iona on the way back to the hotel.
Walking by some curious sheep.
A garden not far from our hotel.
This Episcopal Church was also not far from our hotel.
A beautiful space inside the Episcopal Church.
Sunday morning before worship in the Abbey I headed out to explore the north end of the island, past Dun I.
Looking toward the mainland in the east.
A view of the Abbey as I passed by.
A view of the Abbey from it's eastern side.
Close up.
A ruin close by.
Another view of the Abbey.
Another view to the east.
Another perspective of the Abbey.
Geese in Flight.
Arrived at the white sands of the North Beach.
Crystal clear tide pool water.
Barnacles on the rock.
Interesting patterns in the sand.
And of course, more sheep.
We went to worship on Sunday morning and enjoyed a very meaningful sermon by a young adult volunteer on Iona. He was on the last day of his 7 weeks of volunteering. In addition to preaching, he spent his hours volunteering in the community's gift shop. After worship Judith and I browsed in the shop and then asked the clerk, who had been the morning's preacher, for a recommendation of some place to explore that we had not already been. He suggested a trail that was a bit hidden to find that would take us to the site of an old hermitage and/or across the island from east to west.
In a window in the Abbey.
Beginning our adventure on the "hidden" trail.
Passing Dun I on the way.
The hermitage site was out that way some where, but between us and it was what felt like an impassable bog, so we continued a different way. Along the way we encountered fences to cross, some with stiles, one where we had to climb through the wires. Together we encouraged each other, and we both wondered if we were safer together or alone. We got far enough away from the Abbey and crossed enough obstacles that we really didn't want to have to return the way we came. But we had fun and saw lots of beautiful sites along the way. We couldn't get lost on an island only 1 mile wide, but we could have gotten stuck!
One of the easy passages.
That was a narrow, rocky, pass we came through.
Awe inspiring rock formations, and of course sheep.
More sheep and rocks.
This creek looks less intimidating in the picture than in person.
We wondered if we'd find a good and safe place to cross.
We did.
Back to the golf course!
Opposite end from where I'd passed it before.
Easy going from here.
A village scene on our return.
Our whole group gathered on the last evening on Iona.
A rainbow to bid us farewell after dinner on Sunday evening.
Following are two sayings printed amongst others on a wall in the Iona Abbey. Both have caused me to ponder while I was there, and after leaving this unique and wondrous place.
Walking to the ferry on Monday morning - it was bittersweet to be leaving.
Though the skies were blue it was a very windy morning.
The ferry was being tossed to and fro as it approached the landing.
We had to trust that its handlers were competent!
But I did wonder at what point do they cancel passage.
It was a rough, but short crossing.
A Highland Cow on Mull as seen through the bus window.
The Mull scenery was stunning - I could envision spending more time on Mull.
More of the scenery from our bus.
More of the beautiful Isle of Mull.
Yes, that is another big bus coming towards us.
More than once we had to back to a wide spot to pass other vehicles.
And a campground is visible up ahead on Mull.
After leaving the bus we again boarded a ferry to cross to Oban and then got on yet another bus to take us to Glasgow, but it would not be a non-stop journey. We stopped at a Whiskey distillery for a tour - would never have been my first choice of a tourist stop, but it was interesting and I even tasted the whiskey offered - reminded me of the times my father let me take a sip of his before dinner cocktail - didn't like the taste any more than I did as a child, but a good memory none the less.
California Family Animal Feature
Here is Erin's Onny enjoying supervised outside time at Big Basin State Park.
Wonderful photos and story! I'm delighted to follow in your footsteps a bit as you went to Iona. Thank you for sharing your journey to this thin place!
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