Calendar

Saint Cuthbert: Life & Legacy

Aug 31, 2014 16:00

Puckham Barn, Whittington
Cheltenham, GL54 4EX

A talk by author Katharine Tiernan

Katharine will speak about the life of St. Cuthbert, with readings from the Venerable Bede, and extracts from her new book: Place of Repose: a tale of Saint Cuthbert’s last journey

In 875 the monks of Lindisfarne fled the marauding Danes, taking with them their most prized possessions: Cuthbert’s relics and the Lindisfarne Gospels. This fascinating historical novel tells the story of the monks’ seven-year quest for a safe haven for their treasures. Katharine will also consider the subsequent history of The Saint of the North and why he matters to us today.

Tea and refreshments from 4.15pm 
Donations welcome

Enquiries: Tel 01242 820014
enquiries@puckhambarn.org

 

 

 

Katharine Tiernan has worked as an English teacher, arts administrator, shiatsu practitioner and carer. A Northumbrian from childhood, she now lives by the sea in Berwick-upon-Tweed. Place of Repose: a tale of Saint Cuthbert’s last journey Ningaui Press, 2013, paperback £8.99, kindle edition available on Amazon.

Book review:
Carrying a saint’s coffin all around the bleak and windy wastes of 9th century Northumberland, chased by marauding Vikings, tempted by Norse wenches, is all in a day’s work for the laddish monks of Lindisfarne. Katherine Tiernan brings to life a period of less well-known British history that is often bypassed in the smokescreen of King Alfred’s more obvious adventures in southern parts during this period.
Beautifully written, the writer has a native’s sensitivity to this brooding land, and the story skips along at a good pace as we try to keep up with our itinerant pallbearers who, guided by the spirit of St Cuthbert, endeavour to avoid capture in the ravaged land and bring his earthly remains to safe haven. 
This historical novel has evidently been meticulously researched by the author, sourced, we are told, from Simeon of Durham’s History of the Church of Durham, written in 1096. But 'Horrible Histories’ aside, a warm love story threads its way among the sackcloth of monkish trials, and we are given unusual insights into this era of clashing cultures and the pragmatic resolutions that the prevailing realpolitik required. Anyway, enough said; I really enjoyed the book and it filled in a lot of gaps in my own knowledge of this part of Britain where I live, and which comes under the spiritual aegis of St Cuthbert. Christopher Ryan, 2014

Puckham Barn, Whittington
Cheltenham, GL54 4EX

A talk by author Katharine Tiernan

Katharine will speak about the life of St. Cuthbert, with readings from the Venerable Bede, and extracts from her new book: Place of Repose: a tale of Saint Cuthbert’s last journey

In 875 the monks of Lindisfarne fled the marauding Danes, taking with them their most prized possessions: Cuthbert’s relics and the Lindisfarne Gospels. This fascinating historical novel tells the story of the monks’ seven-year quest for a safe haven for their treasures. Katharine will also consider the subsequent history of The Saint of the North and why he matters to us today.

Tea and refreshments from 4.15pm 
Donations welcome

Enquiries: Tel 01242 820014
enquiries@puckhambarn.org

 

 

 

Katharine Tiernan has worked as an English teacher, arts administrator, shiatsu practitioner and carer. A Northumbrian from childhood, she now lives by the sea in Berwick-upon-Tweed. Place of Repose: a tale of Saint Cuthbert’s last journey Ningaui Press, 2013, paperback £8.99, kindle edition available on Amazon.

Book review:
Carrying a saint’s coffin all around the bleak and windy wastes of 9th century Northumberland, chased by marauding Vikings, tempted by Norse wenches, is all in a day’s work for the laddish monks of Lindisfarne. Katherine Tiernan brings to life a period of less well-known British history that is often bypassed in the smokescreen of King Alfred’s more obvious adventures in southern parts during this period.
Beautifully written, the writer has a native’s sensitivity to this brooding land, and the story skips along at a good pace as we try to keep up with our itinerant pallbearers who, guided by the spirit of St Cuthbert, endeavour to avoid capture in the ravaged land and bring his earthly remains to safe haven. 
This historical novel has evidently been meticulously researched by the author, sourced, we are told, from Simeon of Durham’s History of the Church of Durham, written in 1096. But 'Horrible Histories’ aside, a warm love story threads its way among the sackcloth of monkish trials, and we are given unusual insights into this era of clashing cultures and the pragmatic resolutions that the prevailing realpolitik required. Anyway, enough said; I really enjoyed the book and it filled in a lot of gaps in my own knowledge of this part of Britain where I live, and which comes under the spiritual aegis of St Cuthbert. Christopher Ryan, 2014

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