In May, OH and I walked St Cuthbert's Way - St Cuthbert is mentioned in "Lords of the North" ... After Uhtred frees Guthred from Sven, the One-Eyed; Guthred raises an army under the banner of St Cuthbert. Abbot Eadred was Guthred's chief supporter and was in charge of St Cuthbert's corpse/relics. Uhtred would have been familiar with some of this area, and more particularly Northumberland where his own castle Bebbanburg was (and still is).
St Cuthbert's Way starts at Melrose in the Scottish Borders and finishes 100kms on Holy Island, Lindisfarne, (although we walked 116kms owing to sight-seeing "detours"), where St Cuthbert was Abbot for many years. Cuthbert would have walked over much of the land we did .... but he was much faster!!
DAY ONE: Melrose to St Boswells (17kms)
Melrose Abbey
View from Eildons
Woodland paths with wild garlic (below)
DAY TWO: St Boswells to Harestanes (13kms)
Eildon Hills (above). Path along Tweed River (below)
DAY THREE: Harestanes to Morebattle (19kms)
Cessford and castle (below)
Templehall Inn Morebattle
DAY 4: Morebattle to Kirk Yetholm (11kms)
DAY FIVE: Kirk Yetholm to Wooler (23kms)
The weather closed in for our longest stretch, so no photo opportunities. somewhere in the mist are hillforts.
DAY SIX: Wooler to Fenwick (21kms)
St Cuthbert's Cave (above).
The monks of Lindisfarne were believed to have carried St Cuthbert's body here following Viking raids on Holy Island.
Holy Island in the distance (below)
DAY SEVEN: Fenwick to Holy Island (10kms)
The pilgrims' way across the sand and mud flats to Holy Island (below)
Our destination (Lindisfarne Priory, Holy Island)
Not far south - Bebbanburg (Bamburgh Castle) - Uhtred's Castle