When I was young we had several very happy holidays in the North East. We stayed with some friends of my parents in Felling near Gateshead and ventured around the beautiful Durham and Northumberland countryside. I can remember seeing Dunstanburgh Castle in the distance as we travelled along the coast road, all I could see in those days from a distance were the remnants of bygone towers looking almost like rotting teeth in the distance.
I always wanted to explore the ruins in more detail and in the summer of 2017 we parked up in the picturesque fishing village of Craster, well known for its kippers. Karen sat on a bench overlooking the small harbour and taking my camera, I walked across the the ruins of the castle. I have walked that same walk several times since and I think that it is one of my favourite walks, leaving behind the beauty of Craster and walking with the north sea to my right with the castle ahead of me.
The Northumberland coastline is dotted with castles, Lindisfarne, Bamburgh, Alnwick and Warkworth are all more complete than Dunstanburgh, the castle was constructed in the forteenth century and must have covered a considerable area in one of the wildest parts of the coastline in its heyday and during its lifetime it must have withstood the battering weather conditions. I feel so small and insignificant as I stand in the place where people stood almost six hundred years before I was even born. I think of the people who lived here, the horse drawn carriages making their way over the rough roads to this place, I try to imagine what they must have looked like, how they might have lived and how they shaped life in their time and place.
I look at the constant stream of people today, parking in Craster as we have and walking across the grass track amid sheep grazing to come and see this ruin, a reminder of a bygone era. Who are they? Where have they come from? What is on their minds as they walk, some with families, some with dogs and some solitary walkers like me. In moments like this as I stand in this special place all thoughts of what is happening in my daily life, the stuff on my computer, the decisions I have to make the events that need planning for, the burgeoning to do list melt away. In this moment, they can wait, they are not important.
I feel that it is important for us to have special places that take us away from our day to day lives. As I read through the gospel stories in the Bible, it does my heart good to see that Jesus takes himself away to a private place where he can be alone with God and as I stand in the grounds of Dunstanburgh Castle, I feel to be at one with God. Sadly the castle is almost three hundred miles away from where I live and there are places nearer to home. Where is your special place?