Durham writer sets off on Lindisfarne Gospels journey

Durham University's writer-in-residence Richard Hardwick is retracing the steps of Lindisfarne monks, who left the island carrying the remains of St Cuthbert and the Lindisfarne Gospels.

He is marking this year's loan of the gospels to Durham by the British Library,

After Vikings attacked the Holy Island monastery in the ninth century, the monks were forced to flee inland.

Mr Hardwick said their journey was "vital in preserving and galvanising Christianity, at such a time when the Vikings seemed about to take control over the whole country".