ST PETER'S CHURCH HEYSHAM

As the weather was so good today G and I decided to make the most of it and we headed for Heysham as it would be nice and quiet and St Peter's Church there is so lovely, small and peaceful.  Hubby went up his allotment of course.

My favourite cafe, Curiosity Corner was closed today for some reason.  So we went to the Cottage Tea Rooms instead.   OK for what we wanted but not great.  The good thing is as they do not have WC facilities you can use the ones in The Royal across the road, which are very nice.

St Peter's Church, Heysham
We then went into the Church.  |I have blipped it before, but it's worth another blip as it's a fantastic little church, so full of history. There were some lovely people from Germany looking around.  So we just sat and enjoyed the ambience and had a few quiet moments (much needed by me).  As we were looking around a local man came in with two visitors.  It turns out that all three of them actually come from Ireland originally, but the "local" man has lived in Heysham for a long time.  They had lovely Irish accents.  We had a lovely chat to them.  

We had a good look at the Viking Headstone, known as the Heysham 5 Hogback (see extras),  The Heysham 5, I believe, are 5 ancient stones worth having a look at.  I will have to look more closely at that.

Hogbacks are stone carved Anglo-Scandinavian sculptures from 10th to 12th century England and Scotland. Singular hogbacks were found in Ireland and Wales. Hogbacks fell out of fashion by the beginning of the 11th century. Their function is generally accepted as grave markers.


Apparently the Heysham Hogsback was found in the churchyard and taken into the church for protection in the 1960s. It is a Viking stone from the 10th centry, and is possibly the best-preserved stone of its kind. It is considered that this side depicts, in 'strip cartoon' form, the story of Sigmund. This is about his escape from wolves, and is too long to reproduce here, but can be obtained in the church. The overall design of the stone is an arched roof with a bear's head at each end.


We then went around the grounds to soak up the views and the amazing cemetery.  It looks out right over Morecambe Bay (see extras).


We then walked on up to St Patrick's Chapel ruins and enjoyed further views and the history of the place.   

Once we'd  had our fill of history and stunning views we went to The Royal for lunch.  A lovely lunch.  Only a cheese "sandwich" (a huge freshly made sort of triangular roll, with a small side salad, some homemade chutney and a small portion of chips.  Actually the sandwich was way too big the chips were just right, a small handful really.  All delicious.  Served beautifully by a very kind local man who was very helpful and efficient.  

We were going to go into Morecambe to go to the Old Pier Bookshop for G, but we'd already done a  lot for him so decided to come home. 

All in all a nice day and just what I needed.  Hubby had a great time up his allotment and got home not long after us.

That's all from from me for today.  Do take care and stay safe and I will see you all tomorrow.