Footsteps of Aidan

Our aim today was twofold - find some of the places where Aidan might have wandered and to stay away from the crowds.

The story is told that King Oswin gave Aidan a fine horse to help him on his missionary journeys. However, Aidan felt this elevated him from the people he met and made it more difficult for him to communicate with them, so he gave the horse to a beggar he met on the road and he travelled by foot on his missions. He went from place to place, visiting settlements and setting up churches and centres for teaching. 

I think today, as we wandered the plains below the Cheviots not far from Lindisfarne, we might have been walking in his footsteps. We went to the Maelmin heritage trail at Milfield, where a henge has been reconstructed, but which is also the site of a large Anglo-Saxon settlement called Maelmin with which Aidan would have been familiar. 

However, the place we were really heading for was Norham, a lovely village, not far from Berwick. We had been to the castle on a previous visit and been in the fascinating church, but this time we set off on a walk along the River Tweed. Starting in the village, a road leads down to the river. A slight detour takes you to a viewpoint where JMW Turner painted the river and the castle. Then you can walk along a really lovely grassy path right by the river, which at this point is the border between England and Scotland. Eventually you reach the beautiful Ladykirk bridge which, built in 1864, links England and Scotland. This bridge replaced a wooden bridge and prior to that there was a great ford, where it is said Aidan crossed the river on his way from Iona to Lindisfarne. 

A lovely day, if a trifle windy, and we hardly met anyone.