Valerie Wills Interiors: Durham, England

As well as interior design, I have a passion for architecture. I studied the History of Architecture & Interior Design at UC Berkeley Extension and loved it. I particularly admire Georgian architecture - it's the symmetry, gets me every time! The size of the sash windows, the door placed slap bang in the middle and painted a wonderful dark colour and the brick work.

With architecture in mind, I was thinking of Durham. My parents are from Durham and most of my family still live there. So I had many vacations and visits there, all through my childhood, hanging out with my fabulous cousins and having a great time. When I look at these photos, I can just see myself growing up - for instance Durham's viaduct takes me back to my Grandmother taking me to the park near there and it also reminds me of being a teenager when my friends and I would take the train and get off at Durham station, which also reminds me of my exams as I was studying the Industrial Revolution and the train station was part of that movement. Then there are memories given to me by my parents - my Mother used to work at a store next to Elvet Bridge and it's on this bridge my Father would wait to walk her home... I think they were only 18!! May have been younger.

Durham is so beautiful to walk around.... there were no shopping malls.... as teenagers we wandered around the shops, threw stones into the River Wear from Elvet or Framwellgate bridges, walked around the Castle and Cathedral and checked out all the trendy (or we thought so at the time) students who went to Durham University.

So with architecture in mind..... Durham Cathedral, of Norman descent was founded in its present form in AD 1093:

The Castle was originally built in the eleventh century as a projection of the Norman power in the north of England:

Elvet bridge was constructed in 1160, during the time of Bishop Hugh de Puiset (1153–95). Hugh Du Puiset, also known as "Bishop Pudsey" was a powerful Prince Bishop, who instigated a significant amount of building work in northern England. The bridge has a total of ten arches:

Framwellgate bridge is a mediaeval masonry arch bridge across the River Wear. It is a Grade I listed building. The bridge was constructed in the early twelfth century (around 1120) on the orders of Bishop Ranulf Flambard:

The centre of Durham sits on a peninsula created by the River Wear. At the base of the peninsula is the Market Place, which still hosts regular markets; a permanent indoor market is also situated just off the Market Place. The Market Place and surrounding streets are one of the main commercial and shopping areas of the city: