Böcker av Stephen Platten

Northumberland, one of the most sparsely-populated counties in England, with unique features like the Holy Island of Lindisfarne and Hadrian's Wall, was also a crucible of European civilization and remains a treasury of culture. Giving birth to railways worldwide through George Stephenson, it saw the beginnings of hydraulics, hydro-electricity and turbines and, with Joseph Swan, witnessed the earliest light from electric incandescent lamps; it was a laboratory of invention.Northumberland has, however, changed dramatically over the course of the last century: deep coal-mining, shipbuilding and much heavy engineering have gone, but new industries have flowered. So, the largest man-made lake in northwest Europe, lying within the largest man-made forest is set within the north west of the county, bringing water in abundance and supporting entirely new leisure and tourist activities. The lower Tyne has been transformed both architecturally, and culturally.This unique guide to England's most northern county explores the land, the people, the flora and fauna alongside its architecture and history. A gazetteer takes readers to Northumberland's towns and cities - Newcastle, Hexham, and Berwick-upon-Tweed, but also to villages, hamlets, castles, beaches, churchyards, great houses, ruined abbeys, and vast wild open countryside. Among the places visited are the castles at Warkworth, Bamburgh, Dunstanburgh and Alnwick, the Farne Islands and the remote valleys of Allendale and the South Tyne, battle sites at Heavenfield, Otterburn and Flodden, alongside Vanbrugh's final triumphant Palladian mansion at Seaton Delaval.Fully illustrated with more than 240 photographs, this guidebook invites travellers and locals alike to explore the unique features and the true character of Northumberland.

Rudyard Kipling's poem, Eddi's Service, from which this book takes its title, is a set of verses put into the mouth of Eddius Stephanus, St Wilfrid's earliest biographer. Set in the tiny chapel at Manhood End, close to Selsey Bill, it tells of a dedicated priest persevering with a midnight celebration despite appalling weather, and with just a donkey and bullock as his companions. Reflecting the challenges of the seventh-century missions to Britain and Ireland, it captures something of how all who would be disciples of Christ must take up their cross and follow him. This book focuses on those challenges in the early missions to these islands, set in the context of Jesus' passion and, ultimately his crucifixion, in the very first Holy Week of all, in Jerusalem. Each of us is invited to walk that same path in Lent, in Holy Week or at any time in our own life or pilgrimage.

Beautifully illustrated with over 130 stunning colour images, this is a guide to Britain's most notable abbeys and priories as well as a much-cherished souvenir of a visit.

What is pilgrimage? What does it mean to Christians who undertake pilgrimage? Each chapter of this book focuses on a popular place of pilgrimage within Britain and Ireland, offering historical background and exploring why each has become such a powerful magnet for pilgrims over the ages.

For centuries the great religious buildings of Great Britain have inspired and fascinated pilgrims and visitors from around the world. The beauty and diversity of British ecclesiastical architecture is superbly captured in this guide to over 60 of Britain's finest cathedrals.