First Few Miles of the Coast-to-Coast Walk

Another gem from our stay in St. Bees, doing the first 2-3 miles on Wainwright's (St. Bees-Robin Hood's Bay) Coast-to-Coast Walk:

What a great lookout point to the coastline below:

During this start of the Coast-to-Coast Walk, we got many great views of the rugged coastline:

Never going too near the edge of the cliff, of course:

Feeling blessed with a sense of freedom:

But by the time, we reached St. Bees Lighthouse, things were getting a bit murky:

And a warning sign, about the danger of the upcoming cliffs, put us off going any further to see the full beauty of St. Bees Head:

Still, we got a 5-6 mile walk and a decent taste of things high above St. Bees.

Visiting St. Bees Priory

 Of course, the jewel in the crown of our visit to St. Bees was always going to be the Priory:

Having read Wordsworth's St. Bees' Head poem, I knew that St. Bees Priory was founded on a pre-Norman religious site in the early 12th century, through which the Benedictines played a prominent role in actively Christianising the local area and further afield.

Sadly, much of the Priory was destroyed during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries but the main body of the church survived (somewhat like what happened at Bolton Abbey). 

Entering the Priory church:

I saw an ancient (pre-Norman) cross:

Showing that a Christian site existed here long before the Norman Benedictine Priory was set up around 1120.

Of course, the Priory church now has a very much Anglican feel:

And on the Sunday evening, I spent 15-20 minutes at an Anglican evening prayer/hymn service.

After which, I studied the church interior a little more:

Then, observed the Priory from outside again:

Ancient (and remote) places like this remind me that full reality resides in a Christian message now almost forgotten, away from the petty materialism of the contemporary world.

Yeah, St. Bees Priory is my kind of place, a spur to instinctive reflection, this I felt as I left the Priory grounds:

Will I ever visit St. Bees Priory again? 

Who knows?

I'm almost 61-years-old and live thousands of miles away in a foreign land.

St. Bega Statue

At some point in St. Bees, we spent time at St. Bega's statue, near the Railway Station, which contained a short summary of the saint's story:

Having read Wordsworth's Stanzas Suggested in a Steamboat off Saint Bees' Heads, on the Coast of Cumberland, I was already aware of St. Bega's story: crossing the Sea from Ireland to the Cumberland area in the late 7th century to plant an active form of Christianity/Catholicism there.

What surprises me is that the St. Bega statue, near the Railway Station, was only erected in 2020, as it looks a bit weatherworn:

Not far from St. Bega's statue, we came across the St. George and the Dragon (First World) War Memorial which was equally impressive:

Passing St. Bees School

 After spotting St. Bees Abbey in the distance:

We first encountered St. Bees School (where Mr. Bean, Rowan Atkinson, studied, of course):

Have read that the School was established in 1583 by Edmund Grindal, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who came from St. Bees himself.

The Foundation block, facing St. Bees Abbey, said to be the oldest part of the School:

Moreover, despite closing due to falling student numbers in 2015, the School resurrected itself in 2018 and seems to be growing from strength to strength.

A heart-warming story in our days of despair. 

St. Bees: High Street

Before visiting St. Bees Abbey, we had a quick look at the village which is centred on the charming High Street:

What struck me was the wonderful difference in size and shape between the buildings:

And the fantastic, old-worldly, English feel to the place:

The (non-pictured) post office/local store is the life blood of the village, selling delicious, freshly-made pies/pasties in the morning, and provided all the food/drink that we needed for our stay in St. Bees.

St. Bees: Greeted by the Coastline

 

Upon arriving at St. Bees, we were greeted by the rugged coastline:

Knowing that a fascinating couple of days lay ahead of us.

And thankfully, the friendly/helpful campsite was just a stone's throw away.

Workington-St. Bees Train Journey

These pictures offer something of the atmosphere of travelling along the coast by train from Workington to St. Bees.

But they far from tell the whole story.

As we had to get off at Whitehaven (to catch a coach onward) where I had my best BLT sandwich ever and my friend, Dave, got hit on the head by a seagull while eating his butty.

During the train part of the journey, we passed through obscure seaside stations:

Being glued to the sea:

The reward for our Sunday journey was arriving at St. Bees, of course: