Syrian Migrants September 2015

I along with many others have watched as the crisis in Syria has unfolded.
The failure of the UN, European Union and the Arab world to address the double whammy of the Assad governments repressive actions in Syria and the pincer movement of IS has culminated in an already growing problem of refugees and a growing xenophobia in the UK to become the humanitarian crisis it is today.

Britain's response has been to take just over 200 Syrian refugees last year until this week when the public outcry of the response of  the Bullingdon Club that now run this country has brought about a u turn. This u turn is not a heart felt compassionate response but an embarrassed political move designed to silence critics. As yet there are no increase in Syrians reaching our towns and cities and the local infrastuctures have yet to inform us of how these refugees will be housed, fed and generally cared for. But already the government is talking about the money needed coming from the Overseas Aid budget, a rejigging of monies for political gain.

The crisis brings to a head weeks of media propaganda about the movement of peoples across Europe, in fact across the world in response to a fortress mentality, epitomised by the UK and Australian responses to asylum and refugee peoples.

Sadly the death of a little Syrian boy and his body floating in the sea has finally prompted a compassionate response. Hopefully the UK will change and people will begin to develop an ideology based on compassion rather than separatism and undermine the prevailing selfish, class ridden constructs which have brought into power a government not of the people but of 25% of us who we can eventually remove to build a better more utilitarian society of equal opportunity for all, including migrants and refugees.

Lindisfarne, Holy Island

Holy Island or Lindisfarne is a small tidal island of the North East coast of England near Berwick. Its written history can be found from the 6th century. Monks from Iona went to Lindisfarne in the 6th century to establish a Christian mission under Cuthbert. Cuthbert was known for his holy life and the order was established. He retreated to the nearby Farne Islands in his later life and on his death Aidan took over the order. The island became the centre for the Christianisation of England. The Vikings invaded  and destroyed the priory. The bones of the saints were taken by the monks to Durham for safety. After the Normans invaded England a new priory was built which is now a red sandstone ruin. Lindisfarne castle was built on the island in 1550 and designed by Luteyns in the twentieth century along with a garden designed by Beatrice Jekyll. Both are own by the National Trust.

The island of Lindisfarne appears first in Old Welsh as Medcaut in the 9th century in Historia Brittonum.

Both the Parker Chronicle and Peterborough Chronicle annals of AD 793 record the Old English name, Lindisfarena. Holy Island was in use by the 11th century when it appears in Latin as Insula Sacra. 

The name Lindisfarne has an uncertain origin. The name may be Celtic in origin, with Lindis- meaning "stream or pool". Farne probably comes from Farran meaning "land", but may come from Faran, a traveller or the nearby Farne Islands are fern like in shape.

The island measures 3 miles (4.8 km) from east to west and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from north to south.It is accessible at low tide by crossing sand and mud flats which are covered with water at high tides. These sand and mud flats carry an ancient pilgrims' path, and now a causeway. Lindisfarne is surrounded by the 8,750-acre Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve, which protects the island’s sand dunes and the adjacent intertidal habitats. The island had a population of about 180.

For drivers, tide tables are prominently displayed at both ends of the causeway. The causeway is generally open from about three hours after high tide until two hours before the next high tide, but the period of closure may be extended during stormy weather. 

Despite these warnings, about one vehicle each month is stranded on the causeway, requiring rescue by HM Coastguard,Seahouses Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboat, or RAF helicopter. 

 Trinity House operates the lighthouses to guide vessels entering Holy Island Harbour, named Guile Point East and Heugh Hill. The first is one of a pair of stone obelisks standing on a small tidal island on the other side of the channel. The second stand on the hill, the Heugh. The obelisks are leading marks which, when aligned, indicate the safe channel over the bar. Since the early 1990s, a sector light has been fixed to it about one-third of the way up Guile Point East. 

A daymark for maritime navigation is built like a white brick pyramid, 35 feet high and built in 1810, and stands at Emmanuel Head, the north-eastern point of Lindisfarne. It is said to be Britain's earliest purpose-built daymark.

The monastery of Lindisfarne was founded by Irish monks, first Cuthbert and then Aidan, who had been sent from Iona off the west coast of Scotland to Northumbria at the request of King Oswald. The priory was founded before the end of 634 and Aidan remained there until his death in 651. 

Lindisfarne became the base for Christian evangelising in England. Monks from Iona settled on the island. Cuthbert the founder and  later abbot of the monastery, had his miracles and life recorded by the Bede. Cuthbert later became Bishop of Lindisfarne. An anonymous life of Cuthbert written at Lindisfarne is the oldest piece of English historical writing. From its reference to "Aldfrith, who now reigns peacefully" it must date to between 685 and 704. Cuthbert was buried on the island but his remains moved to Durham Cathedral (along with the relics of Saint Eadfrith of Lindisfarne). Eadberht of Lindisfarne. The priory was abandoned in the late 9th century.

Cuthbert's shrine was the major pilgrimage centre for much of the region until its destruction by Henry VIII in 1539 or 1540. The grave was preserved however and when opened in 1827 yielded a number of remarkable artefacts dating back to Lindisfarne. The inner (of three) coffins was of incised wood, the only decorated wood to survive from the period. It shows Jesus surrounded by the Four Evangelists. Within the coffin was a pectoral cross 6.4 centimetres (2.5 in) across made of gold and mounted with garnets and intricate tracery. There was a comb made of elephant ivory, a rare and expensive item in Northern England. Also inside was an embossed silver covered travelling altar. All were contemporary with the original burial on the island. When the body was placed in the shrine in 1104 other items were removed: a paten, scissors and a chalice of gold and onyx. Most remarkable of all was a gospel (known as the St Cuthbert Gospel or Stonyhurst Gospel. The manuscript is in an early, probably original, binding beautifully decorated with deeply embossed leather.

The Synod of Whitby in 663 changed allegiances to Canterbury and Rome. 

Thousands of tourists and pilgrims still visit the island every year.

Lindisfarne Gospels

At some point in the early 700s the famous illuminated manuscript known as the Lindisfarne Gospels, an illustrated Latincopy of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, was made probably at Lindisfarne and the artist was possibly Eadfrith, who later became Bishop of Lindisfarne. Sometime in the second half of the 10th century a monk named Aldred added an Anglo-Saxon (Old English) gloss to the Latin text, producing the earliest surviving Old English copies of the Gospels. Aldred attributed the original to Eadfrith (bishop 698–721). The Gospels were written with a good hand, but it is the illustrations done in an insular style containing a fusion of Celtic, Germanic and Roman elements that are truly outstanding. According to Aldred, Eadfrith's successor Æthelwald was responsible for pressing and binding it and then it was covered with a fine metal case made by a hermit called Billfrith. The Lindisfarne Gospels are now in the British Library in London.

Present day

The lime kilns were used to burn lime on the island until at least the end of the 19th century. The kilns are among the most complex in Northumberland. Horses carried limestone, along the Holy Island Waggonway, from a quarry on the north side of the island to the lime kilns, where it was burned with coal transported from Dundee, Scotland. There are still some traces of the jetties by which the coal was imported and the lime exported close by at the foot of the crags. The remains of the wagon way between the quarries and the kilns makes for a pleasant and easy walk. At its peak over 100 men were employed.Workings on the lime kilns stopped by the start of the 20th century.

The island is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the Northumberland Coast. The ruined monastery is in the care of English Heritage, which also runs a museum/visitor centre. 

Lindisfarne also has the small Lindisfarne Castle, based on a Tudor fort, which was refurbished in the Arts and Crafts style by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Lutyens also designed the island's Celtic-cross war-memorial on the Heugh. Lutyens' upturned herring buses near the foreshore provided the inspiration for Spanish architect Enric Miralles.

One of the most celebrated gardeners of modern times, Gertrude Jekyll (1843–1932), laid out a tiny garden just north of the castle in 1911. The castle, garden and nearby lime kilns are in the care of the National Trust and open to visitors.

Turner, Thomas Girtin and Charles Rennie Mackintosh all painted on Holy Island.

Lindisfarne was and is even today mainly a fishing community, with some farming.

The Island is well known for mead. In the medieval days when monks inhabited the island, it was thought that if the soul was in God's keeping, the body must be fortified with Lindisfarne mead. The monks have long vanished, and the mead's recipe remains a secret of the family which still produces it. Lindisfarne Mead is produced at St Aidan's Winery, and sold throughout the UK and elsewhere.

The Church of St Mary the Virgin

When the abbey was rebuilt by the Normans, the site was moved. The site of the original priory church was redeveloped in stone as the parish church. It is now the oldest building on the island still with a roof on. Remains of the Saxon church exist as the chancel wall and arch. A Norman apse (subsequently replaced in the 13th century) led eastwards from the chancel. The nave was extended in the 12th century to the with a northern arcade, and in the following century with a southern arcade.

After the Reformation the church slipped into disrepair until the restoration of 1860. The church is built of coloured sandstone.

Holy Island Partnership

In response to the perceived lack of affordable housing on the isle of Lindisfarne, a group of islanders established a charitable foundation known as the 'Holy Island of Lindisfarne Community Development Trust' in 1996. They built a visitor centre on the island using the profits from sales. In addition, eleven community houses which are rented out to community members who want to continue to stay on the island were built. The trust is also responsible for management of the inner harbour. 

Tourists

Tourism grew steadily throughout the 20th century, and the isle of Lindisfarne is now a very popular destination for visitors to the area. Tourists staying on the island while it is cut off by the tide experience the island in a much quieter state, as most day trippers leave before the tide rises. At low tide it is possible to walk across the sands following an ancient route known as Pilgrims' Way. This route is marked with posts and has refuge boxes for stranded walkers, just as the road has a refuge box for those who have left their crossing too late. The isle of Lindisfarne is surrounded by the 8,750-acre Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve which attracts bird-watchers to the tidal island.

Lindisfarne in culture

Sir Walter Scott wrote:

For with the flow and ebb, its style

Varies from continent to isle;

Dry shod o'er sands, twice every day,

The pilgrims to the shrine find way;

Twice every day the waves efface

Of staves and sandalled feet the trace.

Birds

Lindisfarne is famous for its over wintering bird populations. Six internationally important species of wildfowl and wading birds winter here. For the pale-bellied brent geese from Svalbard, this is their only regular wintering place in all of the United Kingdom. Pinkfooted and greylag geese, wigeons, grey plovers and bar-tailed godwits are the other visiting birds.
(with thanks to Wikipedia!)

Day 29

The final day had come to leave Northern Beeches, New South Wales, Australia. I packed my things up and went with My daughter to take My grandson to his singing lesson. In the car we did spelling with The other grandson while we waited. Then we went for a last meal at Curly's in North Curl Curl. It actually wasn't raining then. The pavement was still up from the uprooted gum tree. We had a great final meal and then Dan drove Sam and I to Manly ferry. Paolo and Dan said goodbye and we headed off for me the last time across Sydney Harbour to Central Quays in the Fast Ferry. It was very choppy. We took the airport train to Sydney International at Mascot and as I had checked in online it was easy to give over my luggage and spend a few precious hours with Sam at the airport.

We said our farewells as I entered the security check in. Again all the water is emptied from your flasks or bottles, liquids aerosols and lotions checked and electrical items have to be shown as you go through the check. I moved on to the transit lounge with its airport tax free shops largely things I'm not interested in buying like perfume and alcohol. I had a sandwich And made the 20 minute walk to the Gate check in. We boarded over half an hour late which was a worry as I only had 50 minutes in Singapore for my transfer. But as soon as we left the pilot announce they were asking flight control in Singapore to give them a different route to speed up the journey. 

I sat between a student going back to Switzerland and a mane going to visit relatives in India. I read most of the journey and had very little to eat as it was nighttime in my body. We arrived at Singapore 8 hours later and quickly rushed to the London plane. This time I was squeezed between a oouple who didn't want to sit together and didn't read but watched endless movies. As we entered the Bay of Biscay the plane went into an air pocket and dropped about 6 feet. I was shaking with fear. But that was the worst we experienced apart from turbulence. But as we approached Heathrow we landed to immediately take off again. No reason was given. Some 10 minutes later we landed again permanently. It took some time to go through security catch the u dee ground and a train back to Birmigham. I was struck by the greenness of the country side and the colour. And by the weather which though cooler was sunny. It was good to be met by Becky in Brum and to be reunited with the cat, and granddaughters who woke me from a deep nap. 

Farewell Australia...

But what will May bring? Watch this space.

Day 28

Today was a very sad day because of it being my last day here in Northern Beeches with Sam and family. I spent some of it looking after the children and participating in homeschooling. Conor was doing Ocean Science. He and Amber made a beech and calculated the impact of the waves on the sand. Great fun.

Paolo wanted to do something out of cardboard and designed a very neat building.

Later as it was pouring with rain I started packing for the return journey tomorrow. 

I've had a wonderful time in Australia and quite understand why people come to live here. It is a vast country. Tomorrow I will begin the return journey going back through umpteen time zones. Eight hours from Sydney to Singapore then 13 hours to London. 

Day 27

Today we have sadly returned home from the Blue Mountains but not before we took another look at the amazing scenery and bush at Blackheath. The area is designated as a. World Heritage Site, see 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Blue_Mountains_Area for more info.

The canopy of trees goes on for as far as the eye can see but as you go further north this turns increasingly to desert in the outback. The roads become narrower and population scarcer. 

The waterfalls are fantastic.

Can you see the stone steps cut into the rock to create a path down the mountain?

I think I can just see someone in the middle of this photo.

Sam says the Aborigines use the red seeds of this plant and grind them to make a flour.

Marcus and I travelled back from Katoomba on the train. It seemed to be a fast train. We went to Central Station and then to Circular Keys to catch the fast ferry to Manly which was the scenic route back home.

This is the slow ferry. Once on the fast ferry I went out to take some shots of us leaving the wharf and got caught by the spray.

Farewell Sydney!

Farewell Sydney Harbour Bridge! We caught the bus from Manly Wharf back home to join the others.

Day 26

Today we went to Scenic World in the Blue Mountains.

  

This meant that I went on a cable car three times and the steepest railway in the world once!

Sam and Amber are on this cable car! We are standing below Katoomba Falls.

This is the cable car down the mountain. These are not things I normally do but I'm getting braver! A lot! After a picnic we walked down to the Falls and the boys and I decided to walk down to the railway station rather than go in the cable car. 

This is the start of the Falls. Little did I realise that this was a sharp 50 minute descent like coming down Snowden 700 meters involving hundreds of stairs and mud through the cool rainforest canopy. 

Pausing for a rest 

The boys were very good natured throughout it all and we were encouraged by other climbers coming up. We managed to finally meet up with the others after a scary train journey back up. The sandstone of the Blue Mountains is famous for The Three Sisters and the oil of the eucalyptus tree causes the blue mist of the mountains. 

We also walked through an interesting Scenic Sculpture trail. 

Back home the owners had text to warn of an intruder reported by a neighbour lurking around! Unfortunately I think it may be me as I was lurking around taking photos this morning and they may not be used to strange UK woman with a camera lurking round the bush! Anyway lock up your doors!