Sabbatical Diary – Day 27

Whitby Abbey.

Another great day. Odd start around the docks and industries of Teesside, but lots of nice beaches in amongst all the industry, and Middlesbrough’s impressive Riverside Stadium. And the Tees Transporter Bridge! Which is amazing. I’d never seen a transporter bridge before, which isn’t that surprising as there are only 10 in operation in the world today. Basically a transporter bridge carries a platform suspended by cables that carries vehicles and/or passengers. It’s a bit freaky, because basically you are on a small section of ‘road’ hanging about 50 feet below a bridge structure, with fresh air in front of you, behind you, and, obviously, below you. I loved it. Almost as much as the ticket guy loved my trike. He was taking photos as we went across.

The platform on the Tees Transporter Bridge making its way across to pick me up. Perhaps a more substantial barrier would be a good idea given what is beyond. i.e. Nothing, but air and river. The river being a long way down.

After Teesside, a great run down the coast, visiting Whitby, Scarborough, Filey, Bridlington, Hornsea, Withernsea, and everywhere in between. All wonderful. Weather mainly good until mid-afternoon, then fairly constant rain. Appropriately dressed though, and all ok.

Rain in Hornsea.

Whitby Abbey has come up quite a lot in my reading about Lindisfarne and the Northumbrian Saints. Northumbria should not be confused with the current county of Northumberland. Northumbria ran from North of the Humber, (hence the name), and up into Scotland. (So, from Hull to Edinburgh.) The Synod of Whitby met in 664 effectively to decide whether the Kingdom of Northumbria would follow Celtic (Irish, via Iona) traditions and teaching or Roman (Catholic) traditions and teaching. The big issue in the short term was the method for calculating the date of Easter, but the implications were much bigger than that. The decision, made by King Oswiu of Northumbria, was in favour of Rome and this set the course of Church history for years to come. Cuthbert, despite his Ionian training and background, became a Rome advocate after the Synod.

God bless.

Mike