Durham

DurhamPanorama1. Panoramic view of Durham City from Whinney Hill. It's impossible to see from here but the River Wear cuts across this view twice in a gorge nearly a hundred feet deep in places flowing from right to left just the other side of St. Oswalds (on Church Street, the first church from the left in this view) then doubling back completely to flow from left to right on the other side of the city centre including the Cathedral, Castle and Market Place. This great loop in the river was an easily defended position giving Durham great strategic importance.

Just to the right of the Cathedral is St. Mary le Bow reputedly built on the site of the first church in Durham- a temporary affair set up by St. Cuthbert's order whilst they built the White Minster which was replaced by the Norman Cathedral over a century later. That story is repeated with no guarantee about its accuracy. Mary le Bow is now Durham Heritage Centre and Museum. The Castle keep was completely rebuilt to serve as the original University college. Just to its right but about a quarter of a mile further away is the station which northbound trains approach across a viaduct (hard to see in this thumbnail but you might just make out the regular electrification supports behind St. Mary le Bow) giving rail travellers one of the best views of the City. The graceful spire to the right belongs to St. Nicholas's church in the Market Place.

P1000131. Prebends Bridge.

P1000166. The Cathedral from Wharton Park above the station.

P1000187. The Church of St. Mary le Bow on North Bailey. Its name refers to an arch that connected it to a defensive wall (a bailey) that used to enclose the Cathedral and Castle.

P1010039. From Prebends Bridge.

P1010051. Another viewpoint in the same eerie storm-brewing light. Everybody takes photo's from here but you can see why. The Fulling Mill now hosts the University's Archaeology museum and, thanks to its position, is probably the second most photographed building in the City.

P1010242. The Cathedral from the South.

P1010281. The Cathedral and Castle from Observatory Hill.

DurhamPanorama3.

P1010517. At night from Wharton Park overlooking the station.

P1010626. Fenwick Lawson's original wooden statue of St. Cuthbert which used to be in the Cathedral cloisters but is now displayed by Durham Heritage Centre and Museum. A bronze casting stands on Lindisfarne. This photograph (or, at least, the top half of it) has been used in The Durham Times.

P1020895. Elvet Bridge at night.

P1020907. At night with Elvet Bridge and Brown's Boathouse in the foreground.

P1030359. On North Bailey by the Heritage Centre again. I don't know- I didn't ask them.

P1030665. The Market Place statue of Neptune. It was erected to celebrate a hopelessly ambitious plan to make the Wear navigable to Durham and add a port to the City.

P1030667. The Market Place.

P1030668. The Church of St. Mary the Less on South Bailey. The little bell-tower is visible in the panorama at the head of this page so, if you know where to look, you can see where it is. It's about five pixels across in the thumbnail so you can't actually see it but you can see where it is.

P1030678. Looking North from Prebends Bridge.

P1030686. I know- yet another shot from the Corn Mill. I just like the reflection.

P1030720. The West end of the Cathedral from the riverside footpath.

P1030740. The Castle and Cathedral with Framwellgate Bridge in the foreground.

P1030932. One of the joys of Durham is its riverside footpaths like this. None of these photo's is taken more than five minutes walk away from the City centre.

P1030935. River bank footpath.

P1030937. River bank footpath.

P1030941. River side footpath.

P1030949. An Autumn view of the West end of the Cathedral and the Fulling Mill.

P1030988. Looking West from about half way along Kingsgate footbridge. You can just see St. Mary le Bow through the trees on the right.

P1030991. The Cathedral from the East on a crisp November morning.

P1040345. Cathedral and Castle in silhouette.

DurhamPanorama2. ...and in Cinemascope.

P1040346. Market Place at Sunset.

P1040347. Market Place statue of Neptune at sunset.

P1040476. St. Oswalds Church in afternoon light, late November.

P1040484. The old summer house commonly but incorrectly known as The Count's House near Prebends Bridge. Although this is in the afternoon the gorge is so deep that direct sunlight doesn't reach the bottom at this time of year so the frost remains.

P1040497. The Cathedral and Fulling Mill yet again on the same November afternoon.

P1040520. The Cathedral again from South Street.

P1040523. Neptune again in the sunset just after the Christmas lights came on.

P1040538. The same evening with the Cathedral and Castle in silhouette again but I make no apology for repeating myself.

P1040544. And the Cathedral from the East.

P1040560. Looking South from Kingsgate Footbridge only a couple of minutes walk from the City centre.

P1040664. I think it's going to be a while before I get tired of sunsets. The Cathedral and Castle are viewed from a footbridge over Leazes Road (the A690). This photograph has been printed in The Durham Times.

P1040671. The Market Place the same evening.

P1070510. Yet another view of the Cathedral and Fulling Mill but taken during the City's biennial Lumiere event. This photograph has been printed in The Durham Times.

P1070523. In contrast to the tumult below the water above the weir allowed mirror sharp reflections.

P1090767. Across the river from the Racecourse looking towards the City centre during rowing practice.

As noted elsewhere these are thumbnail pictures. Most of the originals are saved in .RAW format and are at least eight megapixels. All of them are available at my discretion. For reference each caption begins with the photo's filename

Re-using these pictures as presented on this site (i.e. preserving my contact details and this site's URL) for any non-commercial purposes is fine, indeed welcomed, so if you need a picture to illustrate your own site and like one you see here help yourself though please do let me know. If you want to edit off the contact details then print and sell hundreds of postcards move along.

If you have a non-commercial use for an unbranded thumbnail, or even one of the originals, you can but ask. The worst thing I can do is say no and I'll try to be polite even then.

If you have a commercial use for any of these pictures you are still very welcome to get in touch. In fact I'll be tickled pink.