The Magdalene Steps, named after a medieval hospice, lead onto Saddler Street which in turn is the route up to the centre of the Durham World Heritage Site. Elvet Bridge, to the east, is home to several independent shops and two branches of Oxfam, one specialising in vintage clothes and the other in second-hand books.

A Literary Pilgrimage of Durham is written by Ruth Robson and was commissioned as part of Durham Book Festival 2020