Catherine's first blog post Hello! My name is Catherine Ayres and I’m going to be (hopefully) writing poems as part of this project. I say ‘hopefully’ because I’m a slow writer, sometimes excruciatingly so. I could take up a whole blog of my own writing about my slow writing, so I’ll stick to Hexham Abbey for now. I first visited the Abbey a couple of months ago, with Bridget and Melinda, which is shameful because I’m a Northumbrian who’s lived here most of my life. My first impressions were coloured by my main interest, which is the lives of women in history. I’m currently (again, very slowly and in-between working full time as a teacher) researching for a PhD in creative writing, which is centred around writing poems about the women who lived on Hadrian’s Wall at the time of the Roman occupation and how I can make sense of their lived experience, as archaeologists say, by linking their lives with the lives of modern women. Hexham Abbey was built after Etheldreda, Queen of...
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Melinda's first post
I am a volunteer guide at Hexham Abbey, which I love as it allows me to see the everyday running of this great place of refuge. Historically, pilgrims have visited the abbey for both solace and redemption. I feel that Hexham Abbey is one of the few places in society where you will be welcome irrespective of creed, colour or gender. Above is a drawing I made of the Frith Stool in the Abbey. Frith, means peace and this 7th century Frith Stool could be sat on and provide the person with impunity- a seat of sanctuary! I like the fact that there is a candle placed on the right hand corner of the stool because it has obviously been left there by accident where as the stool is very firm and solid, a permanent fixture. The Abbey could be thought of as a solemn place, but it also has signs of life - the remains of a custard cream biscuit lying on one of the recesses ! I like the fact that the pattern on the biscuit might ech...


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