Our journey through the heritage and art of the North-west comes full circle, starting on Day 1 with the Spanish Gallery dedicated to the Golden Age of Spanish Art and ending with the quirky installations at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, our final stop on the way home to Dorking.
On three of the five days we were accompanied by our talented and knowledgeable Blue Badge guide Jan, who was able to direct us through all the battles, the scientific and industrial successes that have gone to make Northumbria a thrilling place to visit and live in.
Situated in the 500-acre Bretton Estate, the Sculpture Park features the very best of modern art, from Barbara Hepworth’s Family of Man (left) to Joan Miró’s Déesse (right), not forgetting the less well known Big Mutter (2015) by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm.
This afternoon, before the mist and rain finally caught up with us, we were treated to amazing views of the Farne Islands from the battlements of Bamburgh Castle, once an Anglo-Saxon citadel and home to a succession of kings from Henry VI to James I.
Today a trip to Holy Island and Lindisfarne Priory entranced the group as they learnt how St Aidan founded the first monastery, a centre of religious life and learning and the home of the Lindisfarne Gospels. Lindisfarne was also the home of the celebrated monk bishop St Cuthbert, whose shrine became an important pilgrimage centre.
In the afternoon we visited the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, which rivals the V&A in its eclectic mix of art treasures and textiles and boasts a life-size automaton of a swan in silver. Here we took the opportunity to get a photo of the whole group together.
On day three we paid a visit to the Angel of the North and the medieval city Durham, in particular the cathedral, dedicated to the Saxon saint, Cuthbert. It took 40 years to build and is a fitting symbol of the power of the Norman prince-bishops.
On a visit to Alnwick Castle, home of the Percy family since 1309 and the largest inhabited castle in the UK after Windsor. It houses a fine collection of Sèvres and Meissen china and two ebony cabinets mounted with pietra dura that previously belonged to Louis XIV. It also served as a setting for some of the Harry Potter films.
Members enjoy a welcome drink at the Gibside hotel near Newcastle after a long day travelling and a visit to the Spanish Gallery in Bishop Auckland
The Spanish Gallery in Bishop Auckland focuses on Spanish art of the 16th and 17th centuries expressing the transience of life and human yearning for life eternal. The gallery may be small, at less than 800sq m, but it takes its inspiration from a set of 13 Francisco de Zurbarán paintings which left Spain over 300 years ago and have been at Bishop Auckland since 1756.
photographs by Beryl Sinclair