Extolling tranquil virtues of Durham

10:16am Saturday 6th September 2008

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SLOWNESS guru Carl Honore reckons County Durham is the ideal place to take time out from the rat race to find peace and tranquillity.

Sitting in an armchair on rain-lashed Durham City’s Framwelgate Bridge, yesterday, the author of In Praise of Slow, said: “I think Durham is a perfect place to slow down.”

The Canadian former journalist was hired to help the County Durham Tourism Partnership launch UK Peace and Tranquility, which it designed to promote the county as the destination to recharge your batteries.

Mr Honore’s best-selling book, which has been translated into 30 languages, expounds how people race through modern life and forget to slow down, relax and savour the moment.

The partnership, which aims to promote tourism in County Durham, says it was rated the fourth most tranquil destination in the country by the Council for the Protection of Rural England, and is using that as a selling point to encourage visitors to sample the delights of places such as Durham Cathedral, Weardale and Teesdale.

Mr Honore, who was born in Scotland, spent childhood holidays at his grandparents’ bed and breakfast at Alston, just over the border in Cumbria, and paid visits to places such asRaby Castle.

Now living in London, he said: “I get a lot of offers to do things like this but I turn them down because they don’t feel right, but this one does.

“The idea of peace and tranquility is another way of slowing down.

“As a society we are stuck in fast-forward – we are trying to do everything we can, trying to fill every minute, and it is taking its toll on us.”

He said the county boasted countryside that was “glorious, unspoilt and quiet”, and that its residents appeared to have time for people.

“This county may be the only one in the country that doesn’t have fixed speed cameras – that says something. I have been here for three days and I think it is enchanting. I am tempted to move here.”

Partnership chief executive Melanie Sensicle said: “Durham has all the ingredients for a truly restful and relaxing break, from our breathtaking heritage coast and unspoilt Durham dales to our charming market towns and sleepy villages.’’ For further details about the campaign, go to durhampeace.co.uk