Joy in the (extra)ordinary...

We’ve had a ‘big week’ here at St Cuthbert’s House, and it feels good to be tidied up after breakfast on this beautiful sunny autumnal Sunday morning, and to relax and feel able to ‘breathe out’. A cup of tea makes the feeling of well-being complete…

On Tuesday night, in the midst of a busy week, we all went to the North-East Tourism Awards, held at a swanky hotel in Durham. It was lovely to be there as a complete family – all of us are involved it this business to some extent, and so it had the feeling of a special night out in celebration of a hard season’s work.


We were delighted to win the Gold Award for best B&B/Guest Accommodation 2010. Fantastic! There are some great B&B businesses in the North-East region, so be judged amongst the best was a real honour, in reaching the final. To win Gold feels a little surreal – but we will enjoy the moment (the year!) and seek to use the accolade to get the word out – not only about St Cuthbert’s House as a great place to stay, but also about the Northumberland coast as a great place to visit. The Tourist Board have dropped the ‘Secret Kingdom’ strapline recently, but we think it sums up so much of what this area is about in just two words!

The Award ceremony came in the midst of a ‘Northumbrian Heritage’ holiday week here at SCH, when we had a full house exploring the history, spirituality and ‘ethos’ of Northumbria, ancient and modern. We love these weeks, even though they are incredibly hard work – three fantastic meals a day to prepare and serve, as well as guiding the group to lots of special visits, and giving presentations in the evenings.

But it is lovely to witness the same characteristics with each group; they arrive from all quarters of the country, filled with the struggles of life and work… and slowly we see Northumbria do a work in their heart. They rediscover quietness, solitude even. They begin to feel 'remote' or set apart somehow, and they marvel and are amazed at this beautiful landscape. Not just the things we 'see' but the work it does in the heart. We see them becoming refreshed and renewed, and reinvigorated, to return home to deal with the stuff of life - which hasn't changed of course - but with an approach which might just be subtly altered…

Two very different episodes – one a glitzy exciting Award ceremony, and the other set amongst predominantly grey skies in an autumn week. But both offering opportunity to find joy and fulfillment in the stuff of everyday life. ‘The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places…’