In the morning, we packed up and said goodbye to our excellent hotel, the Hotel du Vin. We decided to walk to Waverley Station, where we would be taking the LNER (London North England Railway) down the North Sea coast to Berwick-upon-Tweed.
After checking our bags with the concierge we had some time to kill, so we explored the area.
The Balmoral Hotel (where J. K. Rowling finished Deathly Hallows).
The Royal Scotsman line. Posh. Maybe next time!
And off we go! This was a very short trip, a bit under an hour.
Hmm, we don't seem to have done a very good job documenting Berwick. We didn't really see much other than the station and a quick stop at an Aldi's for groceries for the weekend.
The Lindisfarne Causeway. It's only crossable at low tide. Apparently HM Coastguard has to fish quite a few people out of the sea who think they can beat the tide.
Our home for DigNation, Athel Brose. The cottage was absolutely gorgeous, on the edge of the village nearest the castle, had plenty of room, and very comfy.
Lindisfarne Village. This place was... incredible. Despite the modern elements, like plastic bins and asphalt streets, it felt timeless, both in the sense of its age and in the manner in which time passed during our stay. Simply experiencing this place was unexpectedly profound.
The Inflatable Pub was a DigNation addition. It was not terribly roomy, but was fun.
The Lindisfarne Priory ruins. The arches and higher walls are remnants of the post-Norman building. The goal of this year's dig was to find some of the older Saxon foundations.
Trench 1. Many human bone ecofacts, fully articulated and fragmentary. Possible substructure, but that will have to wait until next year.
Me and our roommate, Doug Hopper. He was our driver to and from Berwick, and was a very able guide for the island.
This place is beautiful, and entirely without contrivance.
Fish and chips at the Ship Inn.
Crossman Hall, the location for the weekend's lecture series.
Sir Tony!
Julian Richards, archaeologist and former host of BBC's Meet the Ancestors.
After the morning's lectures we convened at the cottage to welcome Lee and Vicky and their kids. They spent Saturday and part of Sunday with us at Athel Brose.
We all wanted a closer look at the parish church and the priory.
It really does look like this.
Morris dancing. Not just a Red Dwarf punchline.
The discussion panel. A Time Team reunion.
More Athel Brose. Sunday morning, our last full day on the island.
A trek out to the castle. Sadly, the storm earlier in the week (we saw the very tail end of it as we first arrived in Berwick) damaged the scaffolding being used for restoration work so we weren't allowed in, but we got as close as we could.
First Sunday lecture. We were expecting a Geophysics presentation from John Geter, but it was moved to an earlier spot (which we missed due to the excursion to the castle) in exchange with Francis Pryor's lecture on fens, specifically the Must Farm Bronze Age settlement. Really quite good!
More exploring between lectures.
The parish church. We didn't even think about going inside (oops!) but pictures of the interior were remarkable. There is a life-size woodcarved statue of a group of monks carrying the body of St. Cuthbert to safety when the Vikings raided. Wow!
Past the churchyard, a path to the beach. No time to explore now, as the next lecture series is about to begin.
Helen Geake on the dichotomy of archaeologists and metal detectorists in the UK. The interesting bit was that the two groups are beginning to work much more closely with one another in the name of site conservation.
Professor Chris Gerrard from Durham University, on the history and archaeology of the University's recent unearthing of the Scottish Soldiers from the Battle of Dunbar during a university construction project. It was extremely profound, as it included genealogy to locate living descendents of battle survivors.
And a final wrap-up, mostly Q&A and discussions on the future of Archaeology and whether a show like Time Team would ever be possible again.
Another ramble, this one taking us down to the beach, where we could hear the seals calling out over the water. Haunting. Incredible.
Jen tried to get a clip of the seals calling here. Mostly just wind on the mic.
All sorts of man-made flotsam, mostly modern sherds, glass, and bits of brick.
The island was very brisk in the evening. It was a delightful change to our 90 degree September in Austin!
We stayed out well past sunset, knowing that we'd soon have to say goodbye to this remarkable place. I miss it very much.
Monday, and time to say goodbye to Athel Brose and the Isle of Lindisfarne.
The station at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Next stop: Oxford.
