I was glad to have gone to St Petersburg in early May. This is the time of year when Russia remembers the great sacrifices it – and the Soviet Union of which it was a part – made during World War 2 (which in Russia is known as the Great Patriotic War.) It is salutary to think that without that sacrifice the war against Germany would have been a much greater struggle for the Western Powers than it was. It is not too great a statement to make that the war in Europe was in fact won by the Soviet Union.

Britain’s contribution to overcoming Nazi Germany is much over-estimated by many in these islands. It really amounted to not losing – or at least not admitting to, and therefore not giving up. From the Normandy landings onwards it was even overshadowed by the US (which of course – British victories at Kohima, Imphal and Burma notwithstanding – won the Pacific War more or less by itself.)

St Petersburg in early May 2019 was covered in banners commemorating the Victory Day in 1945.

1945-2019 Remembrance. (Unfortunately seen through rainy coach windows):-

Corner of Palace Square:-

There are 1941-1945 banners in front of this building in Palace Square:-

Close-up view of banner:-

More banners in Palace Square. (St Isaac’s Cathedral in distance):-

1941-1945 Remembrance Banner, Nevsky Prospekt, St Petersburg:-

After Newcastle we scooted down to Durham (passing Antony Gormley‘s Angel of the North on the way.) The main attraction there is, of course, the Cathedral. I’d seen it before from the train, dominating Durham’s skyline.

This is a side view I took from the south.

This one is from the north: a stitch of two photos as I couldn’t get back far enough to get the whole thing in.

Just to the right of the cathedral entrance in a grassy area there was a large stone cross.

We crossed the grass to investigate and it was another memorial to the South African War, if not quite as ornate as the one in Newcastle (see two posts ago.)

The cathedral itself is impressive while more intimate than York or Canterbury. It apparently costs over £60,000 a week to maintain it.

The stone columns supporting the structure are carved with different patterns. The chevrons were the most attractive. The shrine to St Cuthbert is a bit over the top though. Its canopy has iconography you would more expect to see in an Orthodox context rather than C of E. (But it would have been constructed in the RC era I suppose.)

On one wall there were lists of previous abbots, deans and bishops. I noticed one Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal, in the latter. He seems to have been the only Bishop of Durham who was also a Cardinal. The early names were all single. When did the practice of adopting surnames come into being?

The part of the cathedral I found most moving was the side chapel devoted to the Durham Light Infantry (DLI.) There were lists of battle honours dating back to beyond the Napoleonic wars. Books of remembrance of both World Wars were open at the relevant week’s dates showing the names of those DLI who died on the corresponding days in the war years, and where they fell. I saw no blank days for either war. So it goes. Several small crosses with poppies were laid in a niche. There was one for a former DLI soldier with the dates 1910-2010 and annotated “Veteran of Kohima.” Kohima was a particularly vicious battle on India’s border in World War 2. He did well to survive it, and to reach such an age.

There was also a memorial to miners who had died in pit disasters and such, not the sort of thing usually found in cathedrals I think. And a modern piece of stained glass showing the cathedral’s and Durham area’s history.

There’s a lot to see.