St Oswald's Way Wander and Wonderings

An incredibly bright, sparkling day and I decide to walk part of St Oswald's Way from Budle Bay to Bamburgh Castle whilst I wait for Rachel to arrive. The official route goes inland from Lindisfarne before joining the coast at the golf course above Bamburgh; but I walk from our hideaway cottage on Budle Bay, walking out to Budle Point then along the beach, instead of the cliff path. I check the map, its probably about 2 miles each way. I can do that.... The wind is almost constant along Budle Bay, but I love its wildness, and the sun is warm. The sea sparkles, the beaches are vast and open. It's an Armani colour palette of soft browns and beiges and that signature blue-grey or blue-green.   I walked with this wind in the winter, hunkered down into the hooded warmth of my padded coat but today the wind, though wild and blustery, is milder, my blue cardigan, that blends with sea and sky, is warm enough.  At Budle Point the wind lifts the soft white sand from the dune edges ...

At the bottom of the Night Stairs in Hexham Abbey stands a tombstone to a Roman soldier named Flavinus. It was discovered beneath the Abbey floor in 1881. At nearly nine feet high it's the largest of its kind in England. I'm just sorry my quick phone snap isn't clearer. The original site of the grave marker is unknown but it's thought that it may have come from the nearby Roman settlement at Corbridge. This is where Wilfrid sourced most of the stone to build the original Abbey. Stones bearing Roman carvings and inscriptions can also be found in the 7th C entury crypt. The inscription at the bottom of the tombstone reads as follows, To the Venerated Departed: Here Lies Flavinus A Horse Rider of the Cavalry Regiment of Petriana Standard Bearer of the Troop of Candidus Aged 25, of 7 Years’ Service The scene carved on the stone shows a mounted Roman soldier riding over a cowering 'barbarian', a member of one of the ancient British tribes that the Romans defeated whe...