A door...because I like doors.
The church ladies were setting up tables for tea. The abbey tea shop was due to open in a couple of minutes. There were already some expectant elderly folks milling about.
Hexham Abbey is smack dab in the middle of town with barely any room to wriggle its elbows. It was difficult to get a picture of the entire Abbey.
It was hidden by the farmer's market at one end. The fruits and vegetables put on quite a show, their colors vibrant against the mass of stone presented by the Abbey, ancient buildings, and walkways.
On the other side was this pile of old buildings, the heart of Hexham, navigable by these narrow alleys.
Shops and cafes lined the alleys. Once the day got going, these alleys were filled with tourists and regulars.
The sign gets to the point: "The Bike Shop."
Of course I went in. I knew I wanted to get Bill Bryson's "At Home: a Short History of Private Life" while I was in England, not only because it was available in the UK before America (where it wouldn't be published until October 2010), but because I wanted the British edition. After seeing the heft of the hardcover book (544 pages), and painfully aware of how little room there was in my duffel bag (especially with the books I had already purchased*), I decided to wait and get the book in London.
Another view of the Abbey. It's there wherever you are in town. It seemed no matter which alley we came out of, we walked into the Abbey.
Our bus to Corbridge was delayed by this Armed Forces Display. Most of the soldiers had guns, but this one had an axe. Does he know how to use it?
Little old ladies at the bus stop.
A blue door in Corbridge.
We saw these poppies while walking out to the Roman fort near Corbridge. Once we reached the fort, we decided we were rather tired with old things for the day and turned around without touring the fort. There would be plenty of opportunities to see Roman ruins (we would be seeing Vindolanda and Housesteads the next day), not to mention the Wall itself, as we were going to walk back to Old Repeater Station along Hadrian's Wall rather than take the bus back.
The townhomes in Corbridge are named. Did I mention that I love doors?
*I had already purchased the British edition of the first Harry Potter book (titled "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone") at Blackwell's in Oxford, and "Memoirs of a Highland Lady" at Waterstone's in Aviemore, Scotland.
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