Country diary: hand-chiselled headstones speak in rural accents

Hamsterley, Weardale, Durham As the centuries passed, the memorials in the village churchyard became more formal and decorative, less idiosyncraticThere has been a place of worship on this spot since 1180 but no one seems to know why St James' church was founded on this hillside half a mile from the village."Man fleeth as it were a passing shadow," cautions the sundial above the porch. Perhaps the grandeur of the rising sun, as I watched it lifting deep shadows from the valley cut by the river Wear, moved its founders to build here. Continue reading...