h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The best view of Durham cathedral, aside from being there in front of it, is from the train as it's pulling into/out of Durham station. From up on high you can look across the city to the cathedral, built high above a loop in the river Wear.

That view is good from the hill where the station is. I have a wonderful photo my friend took from there, someday I'll find a scanner and scan it in...
I tend to get the opposite view, which I like too... http://www.dur.ac.uk/~d91h46/room.jpg a bit blurry.but recogniseable... I hope...

Nice pic. So that's your view At least you get a view of the cathedral over the tops of the houses and it's a rather good building to have a view of which ever side you look at.
Similar to the other great abbey/cathedrals built around that time isn't it.

I had a couple of nice views when at uni, one year I lived on the oposite side of the town (built in a valley) from top college (the main admin and arts stuff for bangor uni) and getting lovely views of the Snowdonia mountains walking to the department during another year.
I miss all that type of stuff living in London, travelling by tube and all that.

Yeah I took it out the window to finish the film I took in Hyde park...

A city built on a hill cannot be hid... I guess they built it right up there to install fear and trembling into the people of Durham and potential Scottish invaders... Imagine how it must've looked when there were no other buildings between where I took the photo and the cathedral

I navigate by the cathedral, I think, which side do I want to see from my destination?
One can't do that in Manchester either, so well.

It's what it was all about. To show the power and might of those running the show. I imagine it'd be an awsome sight if the valley was all covered in mist and just the cathedral at the top of the hill showing. It'd certainly instil fear into anyone.

When I used to work at UCL, you could sort of navigate by the BT tower

We got to wondering whether the cathedral would have been visible from people my side of the valley at night when it was built...

...its very beautiful now, all floodlit in greens and blues....

for the Jubilee 2000 campaign they had the cathedral and castle turn out their floodlights for some time, it was weird, as if someone had deleted them...

I'm sure they would have had some sort of lights even back then.

Illuminating buildings at night is all well and good, but it should be done better as most of the light is wasted and just ends up causing skyglow meaning that you can't see the stars. I mean can you imagine what it'd be like to see that view out of your window, with no street lamps and just by the light of a full moon...

Phil, you just have to see this... http://www.dur.ac.uk/~d91h46/future.html

you're right. One can already see lots of stars here, well, more than M/cr for example, but that would be amazing...

Lovely one that
You could just imagine it couldn't you

I *am* doing something worthwhile, honestly...

Work of 45mins... the hard thing was finding the replacement building!

One could imagine it, thats the scary thing...

sorry to burst your bubbly guys but the best view of the cathedral
is from the library window of St Marys College. And I know 'cos I live there.

FABT

Hi FABT
I guess each to her own.... although I'm not qualified to give an opinion on your view since I don't tend to go as far as Mary's ever...

Strange, I believe I've met your brother but I wouldn't know if I've met you although we live in the same town...

My brothers the one with the red bedroom and
a worrying bow and arrow collection. In case you were
wondering.

I'm so glad you've met him, I haven't seen him for ages,
how's he doing?????????

FABT

He seems fine...

Appearances can be deceptive

did he tell you he's actually Zog from the planet twiddle
and has been exiled to earth after refusing to spend his
life as a toilet roll holder polisher in a posh hotel there????

No, I didn't think he did.

fabt

Well, the view from the dining hall of Hild Bede College isn't exactly bad...

I used to have a pretty good view from my Bailey Court (D16) balcony (on Palace Green, with a view down to the public loos if I cared to look that way).

But I think my favourite was always the view from Prebends, especially late at night when there was a mist from the river and just before the floodlights went off. The building just hangs there in space like the Starship Enterprise....

My favourite cathedral recollection from my Durham days is of an interviewee (subsequently a Castleman, heaven help us) who emerged into the light of day after breakfast along with me and a friend, and when asked "What do you think of the cathedral, then?" replied "Oh, that's the cathedral, is it? I was wondering." He later became personal assistant, or something similar, to the Bishop of Chester. Go figure.

Rob

I like the view across the river to it - hence the new picture for the article.

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