(no subject)

I went to Durham for the weekend and was charmed; it's so wee, and there's a hundred-foot wooded gorge down to the river between the old and new bits of the city centre. I particularly liked Crook Hall, which had a pleasingly amateurish feel compared with eg National Trust properties (handwritten signs, the owner's paintings for sale and a cat eying you sceptically as you came out of the loo) and is also a really interesting building and truly lovely gardens. Must go back in spring sometime. Other highlights: choir practice in the cathedral, two different events going on in town that led to a mixture of air cadets and punks walking around the place, tiny Egyptian frog amulets and an interesting talk on Japanese woodprints in one of the museums. Also my knees hurt from all the steps.