I’d like to thank everyone who left a comment on my last entry. I’m enjoying researching the places we are visiting and also studying the people we meet for example today we watched a couple open what I thought was a wallpaper pasting table but in fact turned out to be a ramp. They put the ramp up to the back door of their car and out struggled a Black Labrador. He was very old but once on level ground his tail was wagging and he enjoyed his short walk. Back at the car he was lovingly dried with a blue fluffy towel and given a drink out of a stainless steel bowl (we couldn’t tell if the drink had been warmed!). He then waited patiently while his slaves put the ramp up against the car and he took a step or two back and made a dash for it almost falling onto the back seat of the car. This is an idea that we must remember for our future!!!!!!!!!!

At Lindisfarne the tide was out so we decided to check out some directions given to me by a colleague who works in Newcastle. We found the track which led to the Northern point of the island called the Snook. We took some kite aerial photographs of The Snook Tower and Cottages and then tried to find out the definition of ‘snook’.

After doing a bit of research, we realised it was another name for fish, Mackerel, Herring etc and then we had a flashback to an old radio programme/TV serial ‘Dad’s Army’ where in one episode the fish pie was snook, much to Captain Mainwaring’s disgust. He had the Toad in the Hole in the end.

It was a lovely windy and sunny day nearly perfect for kite flying and photography and we ended up with a few reasonable shots.

Lindisfarne also known as Holy Island is where St Aidan (then a monk) came and founded a Monastery in 634. He came from Iona after King Oswald had asked him to convert the Northumbrians to Christianity. The famous Lindisfarne Gospels were written and illuminated here in the 7th Century and survived the destruction of the monastery by the Danes in the 9th century. The Gospels, a masterpiece of Celtic art, are now one of the British Museums treasures.

The building of the Norman priory was started in 1093 and the weathered red sandstone ruins are now in the care of English Heritage.

We visited the small harbour and it’s difficult to imagine it ever being busy with boats but until the decline in the Herring fleet it was bustling little harbour. You can still see the old Herring boats which were cut in half and turned upside down to make storehouses, the shape of the beautiful curved hulls evident.

The Castle was originally a 16th Century fort but in 1902 Edwin Lutyens recreated it to what it is today. Standing on the hilltop it’s an impressive sight.

Today we visited the shops in Lindisfarne and I found a clutch of Dragons Eggs for sale. They were different breeds, like Amethyst and White Quartz but seemed to be hard and old and I left without purchasing any.

Forever the optimists we have decided Berwick on Tweed may be a good hiding place for the elusive Border Dragon and we will begin that search tomorrow.