Giving thanks

Around the year 650 AD, when twelve year old Irish girl Bega was to be married to an old Viking chieftain, she was helped to escape by her nanny and two elderly monks. She, supposedly single-handed, sailed across the Irish Sea in a small boat and when she landed on the Cumberland coast, at what is now St Bees, she knelt down on the turf to give thanks for her safe escape. Looking up she saw a vision of Mary and baby Jesus. She then lived as a hermit close by and later a Priory was founded, the Priory that bears her name - St Bega. 

Of course, no one knows whether any of this legend is true, but her name became attached to the area anyway. Eventually Norse-speaking settlers called the place Kirkby Begoc which means ‘settlement by the church of St Bega.” This later became ‘St Bees’.

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When we saw sunshine forecast this morning, we headed for the West Coast and St Bees. The last time we were there we did some exploration of the remains of the Priory but the church was locked as a precaution against Covid. Today we returned to the church and enjoyed a wander round this beautiful building. There is so much history there and it is well recorded throughout the church. My Blip is the 1955 statue of St Bega in the Lady Chapel by Josefina de Vasconcellos. I thought this was so beautiful. (In extras is another statue to be found in the village near the railway station. It was by Colin Tefer of Maryport and placed there in 2000.)


We then went down to the sea and the weather did not disappoint - it was sunshine all the way. We had a bit of lunch and then spent a few hours by the sea. The  sun shone, the sea was blue and calm, there were very few people about. A real joy. My second extra is a view of St Bees Head - the one figure climbing the cliff top footpath is Gordon. I have done that walk many times in the past, but today I was content to wander by the sea and sit in the sunshine with my book, the sound of the sea as background.